Linda Chavez, Chair of Virginia State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, quoted Lisa Johnson-Firth’s testimony before the Commission in her editorial on the Pope’s visit to the US and his stance on immigration issues calling for humane and dignified treatment of immigrants.

Chavez cited Lisa Johnson-Firth’s describing the experiences of her law partner who is from Eritrea: “She's been pulled over in the last two months three times by Prince William County policy officers and Manassas police officers for apparently no lawfully-stated reasons that either of us as lawyers could ascertain.”

Chavez cited other examples from Johnson-Firth involving the harassment of Latinos. In one instance, a Latino male — a lawful, permanent U.S. resident — was harassed by police for 30 minutes at a local convenience store; another legal resident, who was a passenger in a car, was ordered out of the vehicle, searched, and handcuffed and held for over two hours until his immigration status could be verified. Chavez cited Johnson-Firth’s testimony of numerous other incidents, some involving U.S. citizens, who described being routinely stopped for questioning by police when going about their normal business, simply on the basis of appearance or accent.