Posted on 02/16/2017 6:15:13 PM PST by SJackson
LILBURN, Ga. - Even if a foreign-born person is in this country legally, they can still be deported if they break the law.
But there's one law they're allowed to break multiple times and still stay here.
The FOX 5 I-Team discovered dozens of cases in Gwinnett and Cobb where immigrants were only referred to immigration authorities after their third DUI conviction.
"They shouldn't be here," agreed Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck. "The reality is if you've been convicted more than once for a DUI, you should be gone."
The rule for immigrants here illegally is a lot tougher. As long as they are convicted of drunk driving and not just charged, they can be deported after just one DUI. But for someone here legally, like on a work permit or green card, they usually can't be kicked out unless they commit a felony. And that takes three DUIs.
Jose Lara-Rostro got the hat trick in 2015.
Lilburn police found the Mexican-born legal resident passed out at a traffic light. When they tried to wake him, he took off, running several red lights.
"He's all over the road," one of the officers calls back to dispatch. "If he doesn't stop he's going to kill somebody."
Luckily, Lara-Rostro did not kill anyone on this crazy night. He crashed into a ditch and was carried away on a stretcher. Last August the Mexican-born legal resident would plead guilty to his third DUI. Only then could he be deported.
Our analysis of immigrant arrests in Cobb and Gwinnett counties found lots of multiple DUI offenders.
Adan Herrera-Mata... pled guilty in 2009, 2012 and 2013 in Gwinnett County.
Phat Ngu Lam - guilty in 2009, 2012 and 2015.
Jose Chavez... guilty in 2014... 2015... and later tested positive for cocaine.
Because immigration records are often private and public records for these cases contain limited information, it's impossible to know whether these men were here legally or were eventually deported yet came back to drive drunk again.
"If you're a guest in our country, why would you give someone more than once chance at killing somebody?" asked Gwinnett County sheriff Butch Conway. He thinks not matter what an immigrant's legal status, the rule should be one DUI and you're gone.
"The dangers of drunk driving I think are underestimated in a lot of the immigrant populations," explained Kuck.
Because it's one of those minor crimes that can lead to so much tragedy. Like what happened on a two-lane Hart County road the day after Thanksgiving, 2014.
"I was putting up some Christmas decorations and I was trying to call her to see if she knew where it was," remembered Louise Cannon. "But she never answered."
That's because her daughter-in-law Kathryn, son Russell and five-year-old granddaughter Rose Marie had been killed by a drunk driver as they headed to Hartwell to go Christmas tree shopping.
Before they left home, someone had given the little girl a dollar to spend.
"And she died with that dollar in her hand," Ms. Cannon explained. "That's the most heartbreaking thing."
The man who would plead guilty to vehicular homicide was Guatamalean native Marco Hernandez Ramirez. He was in this country illegally, coming back even after being deported once before. On the day of the crash prosecutors said he drank 24 beers before getting into a work van and weaving his way toward Franklin County. His blood alcohol level - point 27, more than three times the legal limit.
"DUI is a very serious offense because it turns our roadways into war zones," lamented district attorney Parks White. "We're a nation of immigrants certainly. But if we're not a nation of laws then we have nothing but chaos."
But under this nation's current laws, if Ramirez had been a legal immigrant, and driven drunk without killing someone, he could not be deported until he was caught three times.
He got his wish, just not the address he wanted. Ramirez will now get to stay on U.S. soil for perhaps the next 40 years. In prison.
"He gave them the death sentence," Ms. Cannon stressed. "And the rest of the family, we got a life sentence because of the heartache we'll always have to live with."
The law should be changed. They shouldn’t be given two more chance to kill a car full of innocent people.
One offense of any kind and gone. Bam! That should be the law for legals. Illegals should be gone. Why do we have to give them the chance to hurt someone before deporting them?
Dead people = automatic dim voters is a theory of mine.
Maybe that’s why those who’s native language is Spanish sometimes are “cut loose” since police departments don’t want to open that can of worms.
The law is not being enforced for public safety, it is about revenue for cities, counties, courts, and lawyers.
If a US citizen has one dui in the past 10 years he is refused entry into Canada, even at the arrival airport.
No one should be released from custody without having to be interviewed by ICE to determine the immigration status of the individual. Failure to prove citizenship or legal residency means immediate incarceration.
Immigrants should be deported after the first DUI.
Illegal aliens should be deported. Period.
First contact with any law enforcement should result in detention and deportation.
Illegal aliens should not be afforded the opportunity to harm or kill Americans before we deport them.
We should not have to wait until they have been caught and convicted for other crimes, deportation upon discovery.
At first I thought it was a FReeper joke that the writers name was Randy Travis concerning dui’s. Real name.
I wouldn’t deport them for jaywalking or speeding tickets or other minor misdemeanors.
If police arrest an illegal alien for anything they should be deported immediately after serving any time in jail
If you have a DUI conviction, good luck emigrating to another country. Most countries will file your application in the trash can if you’ve got a conviction on your record (also for drug convictions as well.)
So I find it really impossible that you can get a DUI in the United States and NOT be deported. But love of the undocumented illegals who are stealing the places of lawful immigrants who actually want to be part of this country has blinded liberals to this. They’ll publish people’s names and photos in the paper if it is a citizen who gets a DUI; it just is unfair if you do it to an illegal in their twisted world view.
Can anyone link to a valid cost/benefit analysis of DUI/DWI enforcement? Would love to see a realistic analysis!
Make the first DUI a felony, problem solved.
chances.
Can’t get into Canada, even as a visitor/tourist if you have even one DUI.
If a Canadian citizen has one conviction for simple possession of marijuana, even if it was 35 years ago, he/she is denied entry to the USA and is listed by DHS, CBP and ICE as “inadmissible”.
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