Posted on 05/13/2006 8:07:04 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
PENDLETON, ORE. - Out of ideas and low on cash one cold morning, the man with the biggest badge in town put his meaty fingers on a keyboard and tapped out a letter to the leader of Mexico.
"Dear Precidente (sic) Fox," it began.
"My name is John Trumbo. I am Sheriff of Umatilla County in northeastern Oregon." Illegal immigrants "from your country" who committed crimes here, the letter said, cost Americans lots of money.
Last year, more than 360 of "your citizens" spent time in jail "at a cost of $63 a day which equates to a request for payment of $318,843," the letter concluded. "At this time, you will not be billed for medical, dental and transportation costs. Your prompt attention to this request will be very much appreciated."
Three months later, Trumbo reports, Vicente Fox still has not paid up. The Mexican president has issued no response.
The silence has reverberated at the Umatilla County Justice Center. Here, the influx of Mexican immigrants — many of them illegal and a portion criminal — has become an increasingly prickly issue.
To anyone who asked, Trumbo explained:
The county has a daily jail capacity of 252 inmates but can afford staff and services for only 135 inmates. The sheriff's office should have a minimum of 27 patrol officers but can fund only nine. Between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., no patrol officer is on duty.
"When people call the police, they expect to see the police," Trumbo says. "They see it on TV all the time. But there are times when I can't send anybody, because I don't have anybody because I don't have the money."
One reason, he says: The department spends much of its $6.5 million annual budget on apprehending and jailing illegal immigrants.
He has no problem with Hispanics personally, he says. "Some of my best friends," Trumbo says, "are Hispanic." He just wanted to tell someone, anyone, about the situation.
In the past 16 years, the Hispanic population in 20 of Oregon's 36 counties has as much as tripled.
Many of them end up in places like Umatilla County, where they take the hardest farming jobs or work in food-processing factories.
The population increase has led to a corresponding rise in the number of undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. Trumbo says between nine and 15 of his jail beds are occupied each day by illegal immigrants from Mexico.
The majority of jailed illegal immigrants are in for property crimes. One man arrested on burglary charges, Juan Flores-Romero, has been in the Umatilla County jail 20 times. Flores-Romero, 62, was deported in almost every instance.
Says Trumbo: "The old joke among the immigration agents who shuttled these guys back to Mexico was, 'I hope we make it back to Pendleton before they do.' "
Some found the sheriff's letter disturbing. Shelley Latin, an attorney who represents mostly low-income Hispanics, says Trumbo's letter hinted at a type of racism pervasive within local law enforcement.
"The implication is that Hispanics are the cause of the crime problems here," Latin says. "It suggests that if Hispanics were all taken away, we would suddenly be crime-free. That's just silly."
The Mexican consul general for Oregon, Fernando Sanchez Ugarte, who received a copy of the letter, says he doesn't know whether Fox will respond.
I have children and grandchildren in Texas, Myriddin.
The border states and cities near the border are going to become a hot spot in the very near future. Hopefully your children have a plan B to get out of the line of fire.
Plan B is to lay down some return fire ourselves.
Morris Dees will be there with the Southern Poverty Law Center to sue you for everything you own. That already happened to an Arizona rancher. The illegals now "own" his property.
Quite right, but then Mexico would end up owing us!
"The illegals now "own" his property."
Should be, "The dead illegals buried out back."
We are talking about Plan B aren't we?
Not a bad idea. How about ordering a bunch of stuff -- oil or whatever -- from Mexico, and then not paying ?
Instead of sending payment, refer the Mexican seller to the Mexican government for payment.
Or just get a court order to seize Mexican assets in America ?
All of this money should be stopped immediately and used to pay for rounding up and deporting these Mexican citizens. Looks like there's plenty there to build an effective fence as well.
This county probably has 100% gun ownership. Most burglaries occur during work hours when the houses are empty, not during the night when they are home.
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