· USA Today · By John S. Adams · From the Border Crossing Law Firm media archive.
USA Today reports on MIJA's class action alleging a widespread Montana Highway Patrol practice of prolonging minor traffic stops to investigate Latino motorists' immigration status. The article describes U.S. citizen Jose Rios-Diaz's detention, the orders attributed to a former patrol chief, and the constitutional claims brought by Shahid Haque. It also compares the suit with the federal racial-profiling ruling against Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio.
National coverage placed Shahid's Montana litigation alongside one of the country's best-known challenges to local immigration policing. It showed that the constitutional issues raised by a Montana traffic stop were part of a much larger national debate.