Did policy misstep kill child?

A little over six months ago, a 10-year-old Minneola boy died at his south Lake County bus stop after an illegal alien allegedly ran over him. And it should never have happened, one immigration expert contends.

The program -- managed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) -- was designed to identify foreign nationals, mainly illegal aliens, who are involved in crimes so they are removed and not allowed to continue living in the United States in defiance of immigration laws.

The problem, Vaughan recently told the Homeland Security Advisory Council's Task Force on Secure Communities, is that local authorities all too commonly drop felony charges upon learning that ICE has issued a detainer on a subject they believe is removable.

"Thus, ICE becomes an unwilling pressure valve used by prosecutors and police to mitigate the effects of burgeoning state and local criminal court dockets, although they are often ignorant of the adverse impact this has on ICE's ability to timely and effectively remove aliens charged with crimes," she said.

Vaughan, who worked as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department before joining the Center for Immigration Studies, specifically mentioned the Saucedo case when addressing the task force.

Moore was struck shortly before 8 a.m. on May 10 at the corner of Lake Minneola Shores Road and Oklahoma Street, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Nearby residents said they heard boy's body being struck by Saucedo's pickup truck a second or two before they heard him hit the brakes, meaning he never saw Moore. Saucedo did not flee the scene and there was no question that he hit and killed Moore.

According to Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, DC, the death of Anthony Moore at the hands of Mario Alberto Saucedo is a perfect example of why changes are needed in the deportation program called Secure "Saucedo had at least two prior charges for DUI and a probation violation, but prosecutors had declined to pursue convictions, or charge Saucedo with the criminal offense of unlicensed driving in the prior offenses, enabling him to escape the ICE attention that could have saved the little boy's life if he had been removed promptly when first brought to the attention of police and prosecuting authorities," Vaughan said.

The day after his arrest by the FHP last May, ICE put a detainer on Saucedo because he had been identified as a Mexican national. Although he could have faced felony charges of driving without a license and causing death or serious injury, and driving with an expired license for more than six months, court records show he was given a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license.

Walter Forgie, an assistant state attorney in charge of the Lake County prosecutor's office, said this week the decision to charge Saucedo with a misdemeanor "had nothing to do with Saucedo's immigration status or ICE in any way, shape or form."

Forgie said a review of the FHP investigation and interviews with witnesses indicated that Moore may have been at fault. In fact, one witness said the boy "ran across the street to retrieve an orange and did not see the oncoming vehicle."

A memo from Forgie about the State Attorney's Office decision to not pursue further charges against Saucedo, written in June, said "the State of Florida could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant caused the death of the deceased."

Saucedo's was convicted of driving without a license on July 14 and released from the Lake County jail one week later. Jail documents say he was turned over to the custody of ICE, which deported him to Mexico.

Craig Moore, Anthony's father, said the family is still upset that Saucedo was not charged with anything other than driving with a suspended license. He says he feels the State Attorney's Office did a poor job pursuing the charges that could have been levied against Saucedo.

"That he (Saucedo) was deported is something, but not really," Craig Moore said. "We still feel like he should have been charged, being that he broke several laws."

Secure Communities has been criticized for not sticking to its original goals. Vaughan, who has a master's degree in government from Georgetown University, said the program needs to identify system breakdowns and correct policy or procedure gaps.

The task force plans to continue looking at ways to improve information sharing between Secure Communities and other agencies, and to prioritize enforcement actions to ensure apprehension and removal of dangerous criminal aliens.

"It's really a shame and it just seems that the DA had no desire to pursue it at all," Craig Moore said. "Someone dropped the ball."

I am just speechless..

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