Posted on 12/10/2003 8:04:34 PM PST by AnimalLover
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO PROPERTY RIGHTS?
A monastery official and a human rights advocacy group sued a southern Arizona ranch family Wednesday, accusing them of impersonating federal agents and violating the rights of undocumented immigrants.
Border Action Network, a human rights organization, and Donald J. Mackenzie, groundskeeper for and vice president of Summerland Monastery Inc., filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Roger Barnett; his wife, Barbara, and his brother, incorrectly identified as Ralph. The lawsuit will be amended to correct the name Ralph to Donald, attorney Jesus Romo said.
The civil action accuses the Barnetts of conspiracy to interfere with the civil rights of immigrants and seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions against them.
Reached at the office of a towing company he operates in Sierra Vista, Barnett said he was unaware of the lawsuit and declined to comment.
For at least four years, the Barnetts have patrolled their 22,000-acre ranch about five miles north of Douglas, apprehending illegal immigrants crossing their property and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol.
Arizona has become a crossing point for hundreds of thousands of migrants annually, and the flood of undocumented people has drawn several armed civilian groups that act as self-appointed border watch organizations.
The groups have come under increasing fire recently. One member of Texas-based Ranch Rescue was arrested last month near Douglas on suspicion of felony flight to avoid prosecution, accused with another person of unlawfully detaining and beating a Salvadoran couple in Texas.
None of the civilian patrol groups was named in the lawsuit.
But Border Action Network announced during the summer that it hoped to sue on behalf of migrants allegedly victimized by organizations patrolling the border - with hopes of bankrupting them. Jennifer Allen, the network's director, called Wednesday's lawsuit a start.
"We have been working with border residents, ranchers, elected officials and with migrants to challenge the growth of the anti-immigrant movement along the Arizona-Mexico border," she said.
"The Barnetts and other vigilante groups have created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation for both migrants and community members."
She said many state and federal authorities have ignored border watch groups' activities.
Allen said Roger and Donald Barnett detained a group of 30 undocumented immigrants on Mackenzie's ranch.
Mackenzie said he initially thought Roger Barnett was a Border Patrol agent because of his weaponry and clothing, including a cap that said "U.S. Border Patrol."
Mackenzie said in talking with them, he discovered the Barnetts were not federal agents but did not challenge their presence or report them later. He said he never gave the Barnetts permission to enter the property.
Mackenzie said he got more concerned and angrier as he subsequently researched the issue.
"These vigilantes who have come into southern Arizona from out-of-state don't belong here," he said. "We don't need them here. The Rambo wannabes are not the kind of people that live in Arizona."
Allen and Romo said they did not have identities or statements from any of the 30 people allegedly involved in the Oct. 11 Summerland Monastery incident.
A spokesman for the Border Patrol said the agency does not disclose information on citizen calls that result in arrests.
__
On the Net:
Border Action Network: http://www.borderaction.org
Roger Barnett is a friend of mine. He's no knuckle-dragging vigilante. He is good people and would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. At the local Republican club, of which he is a member, he is introduced along with the other VIPs before every meeting - his introduction is that of a "Homeland Hero."
His wife Barbara, also named in the lawsuit filed by the leftist scum, is one of the nicest ladies you'll ever meet.
I suggest you tread lightly when speaking of Roger. He has many friends here.
Once again, don't go believing everything you read. Roger is in his sixties. So he's not young unless, of course, the writer is an octegenarian...
I know Roger. Your 'if' is wrong, so your conclusion is wrong.
There you go ignorantly implying that Roger Barnett doesn't like people with brown skin. You're trying to paint him as a racist and he is not.
The border intruders were, in fact, committing crimes whether Barnett saw the initial crossing or not. Barnett was proved right when he assumed that they were here illegally. If he saw someone with a stolen car but did not see the person initially steal it, he would still be able to lawfully make a citizen's arrest in Arizona.
Also, never believe a word that leftist scum like Jennifer Allen say. She's a proven liar.
Unfortunately, we usually end up having to wait until an illegal alien "murders while brown", "rapes while brown", or "steals while brown" before they can be arrested.
About that "misdemeanor" status . . .
It would seem that not only is America (American government) unable and unwilling to stop illegal criminal border crossing, the American government is abetting the criminal border crossers by arresting and jailing anyone that attempts to enforce the law.
A Yuma County Superior Court judge in Yuma sentenced Matthew Paul Hoffman, 23, of Yuma to 120 days in jail, and Alexander David Dumas, 26, of Big Bear Lake, Calif., to 30 days in jail. Both men also were placed on three years of probation and ordered to perform 360 hours of community service.
Hoffman and Dumas each pleaded guilty in September to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment. According to an indictment, Hoffman, Dumas and a third man went out on July 31 and confronted a group of six undocumented immigrants in Yuma County and at gunpoint handcuffed them until the U.S. Border Patrol arrived.
The group of undocumented immigrants, who reportedly crossed the Colorado River, included two women, three children and the 16-year-old smuggler. Charges against the third man, Martin Hoffman Jr., 25, of Yuma are pending.
Now, there is a solution that will appeal to all Americans and is applicable to all the illegal mexicans. Just in case any wimpy little lurkers are scared of a real solution, it does not involve arms.
I ran it by a legal bud of mine and he just smiled. First comment was "Yep, the crime of conspiracy is committed as soon as the illegal sets foot on u.S. territory. Therefor, anyone questioning a suspect illegal border crosser that receves an answer of "looking for work" as the illegal's reason for crossing the border and currently being in u.S. territory is no longer facing a simple tresspasser. The illegal has at that point confessed to conspiracy to violate federal money laundering laws. And if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the illegal border crosser is breaking major federal laws and is no longer a simple tresspasser, that American citizen (in most states) can legally detain the criminal border crosser.
Here is the full text .....
Just a thought, what if the IRS began to receve reports regarding the transfer of funds to locations outside of the united States and it became apparent that is is a nationwide trend.... therefor invoking conspiracy laws.
Say for example, an individual living in the united States ILLEGALLY had conspired with other individuals living in the united States ILLEGALLY to create a hideout from the investigative Branch of INS or whatever the heck they are called these days. They have rented the hideout under a fake name and all of the conspirators chipped in to pay the rent on the hidout. Then, in order to avoid local law enforcement agents, all of the ILLEGAL Aliens live in the hidout, thereby curcumventing the reporting regulations for an alien ILLEGALLY living in the u.S. That would be a crime, right?
OK, let's say those same aliens living ILLEGALLY in the u.S. all had jobs and because they are paying very little to support themselves, (they are all living in the hidout, thereby paying 1/5 to 1/10 what the average American pays in rent and lest than 1/20 what the average home owner pays in monthly mortgage payments) they are sending regular sums of money out of the county, money that was earned during the course of ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, i.e. not reporting there illegal status, hiding their address from law authorities, and falsifying federal IRS forms with fake SS numbers. This would all constitute crimes, right? Well, what kind of a crime?
STRUCTURING, IE money laundering......
4.18.1956(a)(1)(B)(ii) Money Laundering-Illegal Structuring,
18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(ii) See Statute
[Defendant] is charged with violating that portion of the federal money laundering statute that prohibits structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements. It is against federal law to engage in such conduct. For [defendant] to be convicted of this crime, you must be convinced that the government has proven each of the following things beyond a reasonable doubt:
First, that [defendant] entered into a financial transaction or transactions, on or about the date alleged, with a financial institution engaged in interstate commerce, involving the use of proceeds of unlawful activities, specifically, proceeds of the [insert crime here ];
Second, that [defendant] knew that these were the proceeds of unlawful activity;
Third, that [defendant] knew that the transaction or transactions were structured or designed in whole or in part so as to avoid transaction reporting requirements under federal law. ------- The defendants are also charged with knowingly conducting and attempting to conduct financial transactions that involved the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, knowing that the transactions were designed in whole or in part to avoid a transaction reporting requirement and while conducting and attempting to conduct such financial transactions, knowing that the property involved in the financial transactions represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(a)(1)(B)(ii).
The Treasury Department has published a booklet entitled, "Money Laundering: A Banker's Guide to Avoiding Problems," which contains a list of suspicious activities that the Treasury Department says fit the profile of a "money launderer." These activities include: 1) Paying off a delinquent loan all at once; 2) Changing currency from small to large denominations;3) Buying cashier's checks, money orders, or traveler's checks for less than the reporting limit (i.e., under $10,000); 4) Acting nervous while making large transactions with cash or monetary instruments; 5) Opening an account and using it as collateral for a loan; 6) Presenting a transaction that involves a large number of $50 and $100 bills; and 7) Presenting a transaction without counting the cash first. . . .
"Structuring" is defined by the IRS as any effort to avoid reporting cash or other monetary transactions over $10,000 by breaking them down into smaller "related" transactions over any 12-month period (defined by USC 31, Sec. 5322-5324-Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, as amended). A structuring violation carries with it a criminal penalty with a mandatory prison term, heavy fines, and confiscation of structured funds and money "connected" to them. (A civil penalty of a $25,000 fine with confiscation of structured funds also exists.) Monetary instruments included in structuring are cash, cashier's checks, money orders, and traveler's checks.
"Structuring" is now defined as money laundering, and is a criminal offense. You can now go to jail for dealing in cash to protect your financial privacy, if the IRS thinks you're trying to hide or structure your transactions or monetary instruments.
It seems to me that that the above is describing a nationwide conspiracy of ILLEGAL ALIENS that are defrauding the government and a guilty of a long list of federal conspiracy crimes.
It also occurred to me that the crime was committed, or rather, under the definition of conspiracy, the crime began when the illegal alien set foot on u.S. territory with the intention of getting a job "that nobody else wanted."
TLI
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.