Oregon sheriff bills Mexico for jailing illegal immigrants

PENDLETON, ORE. - Out of ideas and low on cash one cold morning, the man with the biggest badge in town put his meaty fingers on a keyboard and tapped out a letter to the leader of Mexico.

"My name is John Trumbo. I am Sheriff of Umatilla County in northeastern Oregon." Illegal immigrants "from your country" who committed crimes here, the letter said, cost Americans lots of money.

Last year, more than 360 of "your citizens" spent time in jail "at a cost of $63 a day which equates to a request for payment of $318,843," the letter concluded. "At this time, you will not be billed for medical, dental and transportation costs. Your prompt attention to this request will be very much appreciated."

Three months later, Trumbo reports, Vicente Fox still has not paid up. The Mexican president has issued no response.

The silence has reverberated at the Umatilla County Justice Center. Here, the influx of Mexican immigrants — many of them illegal and a portion criminal — has become an increasingly prickly issue.

The county has a daily jail capacity of 252 inmates but can afford staff and services for only 135 inmates. The sheriff's office should have a minimum of 27 patrol officers but can fund only nine. Between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., no patrol officer is on duty.

"When people call the police, they expect to see the police," Trumbo says. "They see it on TV all the time. But there are times when I can't send anybody, because I don't have anybody because I don't have the money."

One reason, he says: The department spends much of its $6.5 million annual budget on apprehending and jailing illegal immigrants.

He has no problem with Hispanics personally, he says. "Some of my best friends," Trumbo says, "are Hispanic." He just wanted to tell someone, anyone, about the situation.

In the past 16 years, the Hispanic population in 20 of Oregon's 36 counties has as much as tripled.

Many of them end up in places like Umatilla County, where they take the hardest farming jobs or work in food-processing factories.

The population increase has led to a corresponding rise in the number of undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. Trumbo says between nine and 15 of his jail beds are occupied each day by illegal immigrants from Mexico.

The majority of jailed illegal immigrants are in for property crimes. One man arrested on burglary charges, Juan Flores-Romero, has been in the Umatilla County jail 20 times. Flores-Romero, 62, was deported in almost every instance.

Says Trumbo: "The old joke among the immigration agents who shuttled these guys back to Mexico was, 'I hope we make it back to Pendleton before they do.' "

Some found the sheriff's letter disturbing. Shelley Latin, an attorney who represents mostly low-income Hispanics, says Trumbo's letter hinted at a type of racism pervasive within local law enforcement.

"The implication is that Hispanics are the cause of the crime problems here," Latin says. "It suggests that if Hispanics were all taken away, we would suddenly be crime-free. That's just silly."

The Mexican consul general for Oregon, Fernando Sanchez Ugarte, who received a copy of the letter, says he doesn't know whether Fox will respond.

One man arrested on burglary charges, Juan Flores-Romero, has been in the Umatilla County jail 20 times. Flores-Romero, 62, was deported in almost every instance.

That's 19 Felony charges that could have been laid against this person. At two years in prison per count he should be in a Federal pen for the next 38 years.

But....we all know that won't happen because:

we can't deport these people that would be impossible that poll is flawed the people who conducted it are nuts and probably Dems or agents of Zogby those people just come here to build buildings and grow food what's your problem do you want Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House and Harry Reid as President of the Senate when did you become a Bush Hater a wall will cost too much money and it won't work you people are just a bunch of Mexican hating racists don't you know that lettuce will cost $40.00 a head if all those people go home most of those people just want to work hard and do the jobs Americans won't do didn't you hear the President say he was against illegal immigration this country was built by immigrants so who are you to deny them the chance to come here for a better life my parents and grandparents were all immigrants why can't you just leave these poor day laborers alone all they want to do is paint houses or build houses or live in houses or be around houses or be above houses but not below houses unless those houses have a finished basement finished basements are nice I like finished basements never mind about the basements don't you know those people pay taxes just like the rest of us they're not breaking any laws ok so they are breaking the law but just little itty bitty laws not great big laws that are serious laws just the laws that we passed when we were kidding or drunk so don't worry about those laws it's only a felony the second time they come here the first time its a misdemeaner so cut them some slack ok Michelle Malkin hates President Bush she's a nutcase who's never been right about anything ok she is really hot but she's still nuts Peggy Noonan is nuts too we used to like her but now she's criticized the President so she goes in the nuts column who really really wants to see Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House because she really wants to see Bush impeached and don't you know that Pat Buchanan is nuts too well we always knew that just thought I'd toss that in there even though he really hasn't said much about this illegal immigration thing maybe Peggy and Michelle have a secret plot to get Bush impeached so the Dems can crown them the first two women President and VP no way that would never happen and how could you possibly suspect the Chamber of Commerce they're just hardworking businessmen and women trying to make a buck who cares if they hire a few illegals what's the big deal I don't see why everyone here gets so worked up about it I mean like I said it's only little bitty laws they break not like the really important tax laws ok so they break tax laws but that doesn't really matter etc etc etc...

According to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City website, the United States paid the following to Mexico in foreign aid from 2001-2004:

Foreign Aid from USAID (in millions of dollars)

Category	FY 2001 (Actual)	FY 2002 (Actual)	FY 2003 (Actual)	FY 2004 (Actual)	FY 2005 (Request)
Development Assistance	7.885	8.116	13.224	17.895	14.777
Child Survival and Health Porgrams Fund	5.987	9.500	5.205	3.700	3.230
Economic Support Funds	6.178	10.000	11.685	11.432	13.392
TOTAL	20.050	27.616	30.114	33.027	31.399

Seems to me that the U.S. should be deducting the amounts it costs us to incarcerate/deport these illegals from that foreign aid.

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