Photographer questioned about citizenship after reporting dead body

  Eyewitness News

(Newark - WABC, September 18, 2007) (WABC) -- A freelance photographer who discovered a dead body in a Newark alley was questioned about his immigration status after reporting the murder to police.

Authorities say Geraldo Carlos was taking photos of the garbage-strewn alley for a newspaper story about illegal dumping when something far more disturbing caught his eye: a woman's body in a plastic bag.

Carlos reportedly called editor Roberto Lima, who works for a Brazilian-voice newspaper, and the two went to the East Ward police station. They led officers back to the scene, where a homicide investigation began.

But instead of receiving thanks for the tip, both journalists say they were shocked by one of the first questions police asked Carlos at the crime scene - if he had a green card.

Carlos and Lima say Carlos was asked by Newark Deputy Police Chief Samuel Demaio if he was in this country legally. Carlos told police his visa had expired and officers confiscated his camera. Later, when Lima went to the police station to object to the demand that the newspaper turn over all of the photos Carlos had taken, Lima said he was handcuffed to a bench and briefly detained.

The incident has brought into sharp focus a deep and widespread fear in the immigrant community about reporting crimes for fear of being questioned about immigration status.

Those fears have been further exacerbated by a new directive issued last month by the New Jersey attorney general that orders police to inquire about immigration status of people arrested for serious crimes.

Although the new directive specifically prohibits police from questioning victims or witnesses, like Carlos, about their immigration status, many people say it will have a dampening effect on cooperation with police.

Newark City Councilman Augusto Amador has called for an investigation into the incident, fearing it has damaged a relationship between police and the immigrant community that local leaders have spent years trying to build.

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