Hey Jorge. What do y'all think?
Posted on 08/24/2006 8:51:27 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
DEL RIO, Texas - Standing in a cramped federal courtroom last month, illegal immigrant Walter Oscar Portillo-Machado pleaded with a judge for mercy. But he came to the wrong place for that. The Salvadoran man was caught along a 210-mile stretch of the Texas-Mexico border that has been set up as zero-tolerance zone for illegal immigration. Instead of merely getting sent back home, immigrants here are arrested, prosecuted, and sometimes sentenced to prison before they are formally kicked out of the country.
The effort began late last year along a border area that includes the Rio Grande border towns of Del Rio and Eagle Pass. It has been hailed by federal officials as a creative use of local and federal resources to tighten the border.
While other border sectors avoided strict enforcement because they did not have enough jail space or prosecutors, authorities in the Del Rio area found bed space elsewhere in the region, assigned federal agents to help prosecute cases and began running illegal immigrants through a courtroom at a rate of one case per minute.
Immigration advocates have criticized the practice, saying it only moves the problem elsewhere along the border and may sacrifice civil liberties for the sake of efficiency.
``There's nothing we're doing that wasn't already on the books,'' said Hilario Leal Jr., a supervisory Border Patrol agent in the Del Rio sector. ``It's nothing new. We just started enforcing the law.''
The Del Rio sector also ended the widespread practice of ``catch-and-release'' that freed most non-Mexican immigrants with a piece of paper ordering them to show up in federal immigration court a month later and almost no one did.
Most Mexican citizens with no criminal record who cross outside the Del Rio sector are still escorted back shortly after their arrest. Those from other countries are held in a detention center not as criminals serving time while the paperwork is being completed to return them to their home countries.
But in the Del Rio sector, every adult illegal immigrant, regardless of their home country, is criminally prosecuted and removed from the country after they have served his sentence.
``They know if they come (to Del Rio) they are going home, they are going to jail,'' Leal said.
Before the effort began, illegal immigrants came across the river near Del Rio in droves, with Central and South American citizens often surrendering to agents because they knew they would be let go after receiving food, water, medical care and sometimes a ride to a bus station, along with their notice to appear in court.
In recent years, the situation had become so hectic that Del Rio sector agents were lucky if they patrolled the border for two hours during an eight or 10-hour shift, Agent Cynthia Bilyk said. The rest of their time was spent processing the immigrants.
Agents in the sector were averaging about 500 arrests a day, Leal said. Now there are fewer than 100 daily arrests, and the reforms are credited with reducing arrests by about 29 percent so far this fiscal year.
While the changes have curbed arrests, freed up agents and other resources, they have not slowed the traffic at the federal courthouse.
The day Portillo-Machado stood shackled and handcuffed in the courtroom, he was surrounded by more than 30 defendants facing the same charge. The judge handled about one guilty plea a minute.
When his name was called, Portillo-Machado said ``Cupable,'' which means guilty in Spanish. He then asked the judge for forgiveness and was later sentenced to 120 days in jail.
Court staff said the day's docket was light in comparison with the average crowd of would-be immigrants that often overflows the courtroom.
Magistrate Judge Dennis Green said the cases are heard quickly, but each defendant meets with a court-appointed lawyer before going to court. If there is any question about an immigrant's potential defense, that person's case is heard separately, the judge said.
The federal court's two Del Rio magistrate judges are hearing about 2,100 cases a month. Their counterparts farther from the border in West Texas are averaging about 140.
Opponents say the process just pushes the problem to other sectors.
``The border is like a balloon,'' said El Paso immigration lawyer Felipe D.J. Millan. ``If it expands in one area, guess what? It still comes in from another area.''
Millan also worries that the reforms in the Del Rio sector and a similar plan in southern New Mexico are simply backdoor efforts to criminalize immigrants.
``It's a wasted resource,'' Millan said. ``It's a way of criminalizing someone who just wants to come here and work.''
I like it.....no....I like it ALOT!!!
It's a start.
So, W, are we a nation of laws or is just in this one sector?
ping
Then adopt the same process in those sectors.
Bump. 14 million illegals late, but better than never... unfortunately, it appears catch-and-release still holds sway outside of Del Rio...
Can't do that. It makes too much sense. /s
The one thing not mentioned in the article is that these people get court-appointed attorneys at taxpayer expense. They get an interpreter at taxpayer expense and 120 days room and board with free medical care. They're let loose at the border at the end of their sentence, then enter the country again.
Hey Jorge. What do y'all think?
You know why there aren't any good swimmers for Mexico in the Olympics?
The ones who could swim made it to Texas.
That sector was apparently the only one with adequate jail space. But there is more space available if the following is used.
The US Army has made preparations to deal with large numbers of civilian inmates (like in WWII). The following is a US Army Website.
210 Series -- Official Department of the Army
Administrative Publications -- Installations
Army Regulation 210-35: Civilian Inmate Labor Programs (PDF file)
The following are quotes from the above PDF file. Note the date of the regulation -- 14 January 2005
---------------------
Summary. This regulation provides guidance for establishing and managing civilian inmate labor programs on Army installations. It provides guidance on es-tablishing prison camps on Army installations.It addresses recordkeeping and reporting incidents related to the Civilian Inmate Labor Program and/or prison camp administration.
Chapter 1
Introduction
1 - 1. Purpose
This regulation provides Army policy and guidance for establishing civilian inmate labor programs and civilian prison camps on Army installations. Sources of civilian inmate labor are limited to on - and off - post Federal corrections facilities, State and/or local corrections facilities operating from on - post prison camps pursuant to leases under Section 2667, Title 10, United States Code (10 USC 2667), and off - post State corrections facilities participating in the demonstration project authorized under Section 1065, Public Law (PL) 103 - 337. Otherwise, State and/or local inmate labor from off - post corrections facilities is currently excluded from this program.
*This regulation supersedes AR 210 - 35, dated 9 December 1997. AR 210 - 35 . 14 January 2005 UNCLASSIFIED
I'm confused. If they're here illegally, aren't the illegal immigrants criminals?
I would like it a lot more if they prosecuted the people who hire them.
There are legal ways to come here, and there are illegal ways to come here. If someone comes here by illegal means, then coming here and working (or coming here and not working) is a criminal act. No one is criminalizing anything new. We're just enforcing the law.
While I think this effort will produce relatively little result by itself, it's a step in the right direction. If we took enough little steps, we'd get to a better place.
Bill
How about prosecuting every doctor and lawyer who employs an illegal maid/babysitter?
While I think this effort will produce relatively little result by itself, it's a step in the right direction. If we took enough little steps, we'd get to a better place.
Let's take the big step of prosecuting every tom, dick, and harry who hires illegals, including soccer mom who needs a live in maid. Do you think they might stop breaking the law if we stop breaking the law?
all these posts and not one person talking about the criminal employer.
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