Posted on 07/21/2005 3:54:20 PM PDT by 4.1O dana super trac pak
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Prosecutors and law enforcement officials blame an understaffed, underfunded immigration system for failing to deport an illegal immigrant charged three times with driving while impaired -- before being charged again Saturday in the death of a Gaston County teacher.
Ramiro Gallegos, an illegal Mexican immigrant, remained in the Brunswick County jail Tuesday on charges that include second-degree murder and DWI following the crash in coastal Brunswick County.
Gallegos' truck slammed into a Subaru station wagon driven by Scott Gardner of Mount Holly. Gardner died. His wife, Tina, remains in critical condition. Their two children suffered minor injuries.
The case raises questions: why Gallegos was never deported, and why the stiffest sentence he got for DWI was 30 days in jail, after his third charge.
Lee Bollinger, an assistant district attorney in Brunswick County, said law enforcement officials rarely notify immigration officials when undocumented residents are charged.
"Law enforcement officers ... will tell you it does no good to report cases to (immigration officials) because they have so few agents that nobody shows up," he said. "Common sense tells you when you look at the number of illegal immigrants here in North Carolina, it's pretty clear that we don't have the resources to keep these people out."
North Carolina has about 300,000 illegal immigrants, one of the highest populations in the country, according to one recent study.
North Carolina has a single deportation officer. He's among fewer than 10 people in North Carolina who work for the Department of Homeland Security's Detention and Removal Operations.
Sue Brown, a spokeswoman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said immigration authorities arrested Gallegos in 1998. But neither the reason nor the result of the arrest were available.
"We have finite resources like everybody else," Brown said. "And with 100 counties in North Carolina and the DWI cases that come every week, it's kind of staggering. So we're constantly reassessing where to put our resources."
According to records, Gallegos was first charged in early 2002. But prosecutors dismissed the case when he failed to appear in court. His first DWI conviction came in 2002 in Duplin County. His sentence: probation.
In April 2004, Gallegos faced a third DWI charge, in Brunswick County, when he registered a blood alcohol level of 0.16 percent, twice the legal limit. The Supply resident was found guilty of DWI Level 1, the most serious level.
Records show that Judge Tom Aldridge ordered a two-year prison sentence, the maximum. But he suspended that sentence and allowed Gallegos to spend 30 days in jail, serving those days over a period of 15 weekends. He also ordered 30 months probation, $600 in fines and $740 in restitution.
On Tuesday, Aldridge refused to accept blame for the lighter sentence or for not addressing the suspect's immigration status. In fact, he said he can't recall the suspect's name and doesn't like to discuss his judgments.
He said in 10 years on the bench, no officer or prosecutor has ever mentioned a drunken driver's immigration status.
"Nobody has ever told me that any of the Hispanic people that are through here are legal or illegal," he said. "It just has never been an issue that has been raised or addressed." -- STAFF WRITER MELISSA MANWARE CONTRIBUTED.
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© 2005 Charlotte Observer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.charlotte.com
My aunt was run down in a crosswalk by an illegal alien and almost died. She spent a year in the hospital and rehab learning how to walk again. She never did find out what happened to him.
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
1. The act of invading; the act of encroaching upon the rights or possessions of another; encroachment; trespass.
Hopefully I will get a response. I was actually hoping to get the message out there, maybe through creating a website, that gathers all of these trajic stories and allows people to send them to their congress men and women. I really want to get this message out. Tragedies such as these are always tough to deal with, but knowing that they are entirely preventable makes it even worse. Anybody who has any ideas just let me know.
It's not an uncommon story, and each time it happens the citizenry expresses its outrage at the judge and prosecutors who repeatedly return drunk drivers to the streets to drive drunk again.
But wait! Something is different this time. The citizenry on FR is not outraged at the behavior of the Judge and prosecutors. Not one word of condemnation of the Judge and prosecutors comes from the Antis.
To a three year old with a hammer, everything looks like a nail, to an Anti every problem looks like an immigration problem. Crowded hospitals; seal the border. Crime; seal the borders. Welfare abuse; seal the borders. High real estate prices; seal the border. Repeat DWI offenders; seal the border. Terrorism; seal the border.
You see. the Antis don't really care about DWI deaths, or crime, or welfare abuse, or crowded ERs; they care only about one thing: "illegal" aliens. (that's giving them a great deal of the benefit of the doubt)
He's here.
Declaring illegals as residents now.
Such a needless tragedy! I see that you're in California too, where we read stories about the crimes of illegal aliens here on a daily basis, and yes, most of them end up in Mexico, only to cross back over with new identities.
I'll never understand why that filthy border wasn't closed tight after 9/11/01, yet it's still virtually open. Our politicians are definitely to blame. I wonder how they sleep at night.
If he had been deported per existing law he would not have committed murder in America.
Dispute this fact.
To a three year old with a hammer....
He's a cartoon character fancying himself some kind of martyr to some noble cause - a parody of himself.
Cops in Nashville (a safe haven according to illegales) routinely let them go for vehicular citations that you or I would have to post bond for.
Why?
They claim it's too expensive to hold them for INS that may or may not come for them.
My own brother has witnessed this first hand downtown in the "party district" of Broadway and Second Ave.
I was encouraged by DeLay's remarks yesterday, in which he said he was looking to psss some sort of law enforcement bill to deal with immigration. Even though we should despise the people who commit these horrible crimes, we should be even angrier at our officials for not giving law enforcement the resources and ability to actually deal with the problem. By the way, there was a discussion here yesterday about those comments by DeLay. If you read it carefully, we should all be in support of what he said. he calls for strict enforcement first, followed by a "temporary" guest worker program later. I checked, he does say "temporary." let's give it a chance.
Don't give me this stupid bullshit about a 3 year old with a hammer either. That is just stupid.
Yes or no. Should this illegal have been deported and the border guarded to keep him out?
YES OR NO?
Shouting a demand for an answer demonstrates the emotional maturity of a three year old.
Why don't you try what must probably work for you at home. Clench your fist, scrunch your face, stamp your feet and threaten to hold your breath until you die.
If that hasn't gotten you your answer after an hour or two, get back with me and I'll give you another suggestion.
Of course then he'll accuse you of failing to refute his "facts".
If you don't answer then I will change my tagline to reflect the fact that you support amnesty for illegal aliens that have multiple DWIs.
Should I add amnesty for illegal alien murderer's too?
I loke to watch him squirm. He does it so often.
Nope. Just trying to emulate other Americans
Six die in Raleigh wreck (Drunk driver kills 5 Samaritans helping at scene of accident)
"He said in 10 years on the bench, no officer or prosecutor has ever mentioned a drunken driver's immigration status.
"Nobody has ever told me that any of the Hispanic people that are through here are legal or illegal," he said. "It just has never been an issue that has been raised or addressed."
Let 'em see if the dude's sister is cute.
he was banned once. He should have stayed banned. He is nothing more than a troll.
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