A Long Flight of No Return -- Illegal aliens deported via Boeing 737

washingtonpost ^ | Tuesday, July 25, 2006; Page A01 | N.C. Aizenman

[dennisw]

The passengers -- 105 men shackled at the wrists and the ankles--grumbled their assent. Then they peered out the thick, blurry windows for a last glimpse of Virginia. Once, they had been hopeful newcomers to the United States. Now, they were about to leave for good on a deportation flight.

Jose de Jesus Galea, 37, stared morosely out his window, unmoved. The burly Salvadoran pet store owner had called Virginia home for 21 years. It seemed incredible, he said later, that he would never again see the flat, forested landscape that was receding rapidly from view.

Just as strange was the thought that he would soon be back in a country he last saw when he was 17. The year was 1985, El Salvador was in the throes of civil war, and Galea had just been discharged from one of the army's most ruthless battalions. Pressed into service when he was 14, Galea said he was taught to torture the unit's captives by pushing needles under their fingernails. He had buried innocent civilians alive, and he was haunted by guilty flashbacks of their screams. Now he was being deported back because of a drunken assault.

Those who are deported often come to the attention of immigration officials only because they commit a crime. Authorities in the Washington area often wait until they have a critical mass of deportees, then charter a plane to fly them to a detention facility near the U.S. border for final transport to their home countries.

Watching over them were 16 marshals, who had reason to be wary. About 45 percent of the deportees had been convicted of violent crimes. Others had committed offenses as minor as public drunkenness. Although most were Salvadorans, there were natives of the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica and Honduras.

[dennisw]

Brings to mind that "Con Air" movie

[texson66]

They all committed a crime ...they all entered illegally! Send them ALL home NOW!

[Pro-Bush]

Hasta la vista; adios!

[Utahrd]

We should have to rent those Antonovs; those big Soviet planes that you can fit a locomotive into.

[CitadelArmyJag]

Another Hit for Airbus, lol...

[VOA]

"A Long Flight of No Return "

What a load! They'll be back.
Because many do the mental calculus and decide it's worth risking that
long prison term if caught again.
And that sitting in a US jail beats living in their broken countries.
And hey, the Yankees don't really don't guard the border, so why not?

[Utahrd]

"Long flight of no return", what a joke.

Thanks to our useless president and our worse congress and their campaign contributors who need cheap labor; everyone on that flight will be back in the US by the time I'm done typing this.

[cripplecreek]

Leavin on a jet plane.....

[hipaatwo]

See if you can get through this Washington Post sob story about 100 illegal alien criminals being deported without getting your eyeballs stuck in your head from rolling them upwards repeatedly. Don't miss the multimedia slideshow full of poor, shackled deportees...with MS-13 gang tattoos!:

Hard for me to decide which takes the cake--the reporter's failure to corroborate the criminal deportees' anecdotes, the downplaying of the violent nature of the crimes committed by nearly half of those on the plane, the alarmism over mass deportations that will never happen under the Bush administration, or the foolish belief that the criminal deportees are on a journey of "no return."

Open-borders journalism at its worst. All that's missing is a hyperbolic slavery analogy.

Well, there's always a next time.

http://michellemalkin.com/

[gaijin]

Now he was being deported back because of a drunken assault.

Gosh, he got drunk and physically assaulted people in a country he knowingly invaded.

We're sooooooooooo strict....!

[Jameison]

Time to charge their home governments for the expense of transporting these people.
And charge the Mexican government for every penny we spend on Mexican illegals, including the tens of thousands of the suckers we put in jail.

[COEXERJ145]

Calling the President "useless" isn't a good idea for a newbie.

[gaijin]

Michelle Malkin.com

[hipaatwo]

Picture must be blocked

[spanalot]

isnt a boat cheaper?

[Ben Mugged]

Where is the gag alert!

[sheana]

Although U.S. authorities turn away or deport more than 1.6 million people attempting to cross the border illegally every year, once an immigrant manages to sneak into U.S. territory, the chances of getting caught are minimal. In 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available, authorities deported only 104,000 immigrants who had been in the United States for three days or longer before they were apprehended. That's less than 1 percent of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

in 2004 only 104,000 deported. Wasn't President Bush and then someone on this board recently touting the 1.6 mil number? rofl guess they were wrong and the President spinning as usual.

[martin_fierro]

Once, they had been hopeful ILLEGAL newcomers to the United States.

There. Fixed.

[Aria]

Cry me a river, scum!

[TheBattman]

with MS-13 gang tattoos

And that is one of the most terrifying parts of all - MS-13 and their ilk are some of the most dangerous thugs on the planet - as violent or more so than radical Islamists.

[Baynative]

"The burly Salvadoran pet store owner had called Virginia home for 21 years. It seemed incredible, he said later, that he would never again see the flat, forested landscape that was receding rapidly from view."

I find a strange irony in the fact that this guy has been a decent citizen for many years nad has had his life ripped to shreds because of illegals filling our streets to demand rights they don't have in their own country.

Another liberal political ploy destroys to dreams of hardworking folks.

[TheBattman]

Actually - at least on the subject of the borders and immigration - the POTUS HAS been pretty useless.... and I'm no newbie. I personally find that GW is actually a step worse than worthless on the subject - he is acting in a traitorous manner... in fact, GW's attempts to give Amnesty and to keep the borders wide-open are nearly as impeachment-worthy as Clinton the traitor-in-chief's treason...

[kittymyrib]

Can you imagine some unwary US citizen having a time-bomb like Jose de Jesus Galea living next door to your family? That should scare the pants off any sane person. Shame on our government for letting criminals invade our country over the past 30 years.

[Sonar5]

Are you serious...

Did you not read the next paragraph....

---

Pressed into service when he was 14, Galea said he was taught to torture the unit's captives by pushing needles under their fingernails. He had buried innocent civilians alive, and he was haunted by guilty flashbacks of their screams. Now he was being deported back because of a drunken assault.

*******

His life was ripped to shreds because he is a CRIMINAL, and admittedly a war criminal...

I guess you missed that part....

Hardworking my eye... He is pondscum as are those who support him staying in this country.

[fabriclady]

"Thanks to our useless president and our worse congress and their campaign contributors who need cheap labor; everyone on that flight will be back in the US by the time I'm done typing this."

And just where did you drop in from. You won't find many friends here.
Calling our President "useless" makes me very angry.
Don't mess with this 71 year old conservative, loyal Bush supporter.
At a time we have wars our President needs all the support we can give him and our prayers.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

"You are now free to move out of the country."

[GretchenM]

Where's a crocodile when you need one, to produce some tears?

So nice to see the WaPo trying to generate sympathy for the illegals among us.

[Richard Kimball]

Writing like this reminds me of the Oscar Wilde quote: One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing.

The poor, poor criminals. Returned to a land with no easy marks to mug.

[lilylangtree]

Appears from this article we're suppose to feel sympathy. Not if they're lawbreakers.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Apparently Bush being pro-life, cutting taxes, defending Israel, and fighting the Islamofascists isn't good enough for some people.

[biff]

He is useless when it comes to his illegal alien policy.

On most other things I will agree with you though.

[COEXERJ145]

Some people just have a one track mind.

[LauraleeBraswell]

I feel sorry for this guy too. It's unfortunate from his perspective, but also from ours. We really have no other choice as a nation.

[fabriclady]

Can't say I disagree with you. The guy just got under my skin and I reacted.
Best response is no reaction.

[jocon307]

"Now, they were about to leave for good on a deportation flight."

If only I could believe that. These flights should be leaving daily, AFTER the gosh darn border is C.L.O.S.E.D!!!!!!!!!!

[beethovenfan]

One improvement - the Mexican government should be billed
for the cost of these flights.

[imahawk]

Its too damn bad huh?

[at bay]

has been a decent citizen for many years

Not a citizen at all. A violent illegal that should have been prosecuted and jailed before being deported. If you think this individual is a decent fellow with his past, it makes me wonder what's in yours.

[MrEdd]

One improvement - the Mexican government should be billed for the cost of these flights.

And the parachutes.

[gubamyster]

ping

[Iscool]

Apparently Bush being pro-life, cutting taxes, defending Israel, and fighting the Islamofascists isn't good enough for some people.

It's not good enough for a lot of people...

Besides, those things you mentioned are part of the job...

We pay him 400,000 a year to do his job...

[taxed2death]

"Another liberal political ploy destroys to dreams of hardworking folks."

Apparently you missed the fact that this guy is a criminal.

[jackieaxe]

Cry me a river! Wouldn't it be cheaper just to shoot them? Getting a flight back home is more than magnanimous.

[Netizen]

Time to charge their home governments for the expense of transporting these people. And charge the Mexican government for every penny we spend on Mexican illegals, including the tens of thousands of the suckers we put in jail.

Do you honestly think that Mexico would send even one peso?

[stevio]

Awwww. Sniff sniff.

[Jameison]

"Do you honestly think that Mexico would send even one peso?"

Nope.
But that hasn't stopped quite a few cities/counties from sending a bill to the Mexican embassy.
It's good to keep an account of how much it's costing us to do the job the Mexican goverment is supposed to be doing.

[Utahrd]

We all know that the border is a joke, and it will remain so as long as we have a Republican congress whose contributors need workers that they can pay less than US citizens and legal immigrants.

Just because a Democratic president would be worse than useless does not mean that Bush isn't useless on border issues.

Here's a question:

After an illegal alien sneaks in a couple of dozen times and is deported, will he or she be able to save up their Frequent Flyer miles to upgrade to First Class?

The handcuffs would be real leather, lined in fur.

[Katya]

Actually not all in this article are illegals...some have permanent resiidence visas, or asylum status...but if you committ a crime you can also be deported home, which may mean nothing more than the country in which you hold a passport. This is nothing new, and people have been harping about it for years. It is particularly hard for young adults who grow up in America, no longer speak their native language and break the law and are sent home. Alot of these people could have applied for citizenship, but failed to do so...which would have saved them from deportation.

[TheLion]

What really gripes me is that many manufacturers have passed up more expensive (in the short term) automation, because of all this cheap labor.

We would all be much further ahead without one illegal!