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.
Nice one. Too true.
L
Most certainly!
lol!
Yes - what an idiot - instead of actually patrolling, this yahoo is sending bills to foreign governments. LOL
If a Mexican sent you an illegitimate bill and you just threw it in the trash, do I get to call you a "deadbeat"?
The other option is to use Letters of Marque and Reprisal, to seize Mexican property in the US (say products on the way to Wal-Mart), report it to the prize court, pay 10 percent to the fed, and sell the rest at auction.
Course the Fed has to agree...
If a Mexican sent you an illegitimate bill and you just threw it in the trash, do I get to call you a "Cheap b@st@rd"?
That's the sticky part, of course. Last time I checked my copy of the U.S. Constitution, only the FEDERAL government can send bills to foreign governments.
You can send bills. There is no recourse to speak of if they don't pay.
Really? Where exactly does it say that?
L
U.S. Const., Art. I, 8, cl. 3.
So maybe if this county privatized its jail, the new owners could bill the Government of Mexico for services rendered. That might be the way to do things...
L
My original statement WAS entirely correct - I never said anything about private businesses - as you noted, they'd better not run afoul of any Customs and other laws, but they also can't be a "State actor" and expect to get around the prohibitions against States.
P.S. - I hope you took to heart Jim Robinson's warning to you recently: "Keeping the monsters out of the majority is keeping them out of power."
I doubt he sent you he to warn me of anything.
Now you be sure and have a real nice evening.
L
You too.
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