Feds Help Criminal Aliens Escape Justice In Texas

More than 1,000 illegal immigrants awaiting trial for serious crimes in one major U.S. county were instead deported by federal immigration authorities and freed in their home countries.

The released offenders include at least 128 murderers, more than 400 child rapists and molesters, some 300 charged with aggravated assault and dozens more accused of sexual assault, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and other grave felonies.

The offenders’ newfound freedom came courtesy of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that provided a one-way ticket home after bail was posted in their state criminal case. This sort of voluntary deportation to escape justice occurs nationwide, but this batch focuses on just one county in Texas.

Dallas County prosecutors provided the data to a local newspaper, calling it a “wish list” of people they would have liked to see tried. Instead the illegal immigrant criminals got away after bonding out and getting transferred to immigration facilities where they agreed that returning home was better than going to prison in America.

The 1,000 figure doesn’t even include all the illegal immigrant criminals the feds helped get off in the nation’s eighth-largest county, only the most serious, according to frustrated Dallas County officials. They assure defendants knowingly use the system as a means to avoid prosecution. The sad thing, of course, is that a federal agency is aiding and abetting them.

It could be worse, however. The criminals could be released in the U.S., which ICE does regularly and attributes to resource shortages. Earlier this year a Houston newspaper obtained public records that revealed the agency has freed hundreds of illegal immigrants convicted of felonies—including homicide, sexual assault and weapons violations—in the last few years alone. In many cases ICE doesn’t even know the whereabouts of the criminal aliens, who were released in various different states.

There are two sides to this story, which deals with two systems, one federal and one state, that often are in conflict by their very nature.

When ICE orders a local agency to hold an illegal alien defendant for pickup by ICE, both agencies incur a risk. Ideally, the timeline should look like this: Alien arrested and charged by State; ICE places the detainer on the alien with the arresting agency; the alien is tried, convicted and sentenced; alien satisfies the sentence; ICE picks him up and removes him to his country.

The risk ensues whenever the timeline is interrupted by bail. When he posts bail, ICE is obligated to pick him up, under the terms of the detainer. Once he’s arrested by ICE, that agency is required by law to issue a warrant of arrest within 24 hours and to serve it on the alien within 48. The law also requires that he be informed of the bail conditions; for some immigration offenses, he can be held without bail, while for others, bail must be set. He has the right to appeal the bail to immigration court, in which case his fate is in the hands of a judge and lawyers.

Now he’s under the jurisdiction of two unrelated agencies. If ICE wants him to stick around for the state trial, and assuming he doesn’t bail out on the immigration charge, they have to put him up while waiting for the state trial to go forward, however long it takes. But, when ICE arrests him, they can’t keep him hanging around indefinitely waiting for some outside agency to move. If, as one suspects, the Fed can’t afford indefinite hotel stays for aliens, ICE has to get rid of him one way or another; let him bail or remove him from the US. Imagine the reaction from counties and States if they learn that they can arrange free (to them) lodging for their defendants awaiting State trial. If ICE wants to avoid this mess, they can drop the detainer when the alien bails on state charges, in which case he moves back into the community he just violated.

Sometimes, cooperation happens and it works out ideally. On the other hand Judges and prosecutors sometimes agree that it’s more expedient and cheaper to the county to dump their defendants on ICE and rid the community of the creep, but only temporarily, since he’s back three days after being deported. Or maybe the judges just decide it’s better to clear their docket and move on to the next case, so they set bail and start the ball moving.

Ain’t the law fun?

t was rumored that the price Mexico extracted from the United States to keep quiet about the US’ involvement in the House if Death in Juarez, included the Prosecution of Ramos and Compean.

Now some congressmen are suggesting an investigation may be in order,

This is a complicated but important story

http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m11d19-US-gives-Mexico-keys-to-open-border-and-amnesty

http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m11d2-House-of-Death-in-Juarez-prelude-to-a-massive-murder-coverup

Original Story:

http://www.narconews.com/Issue33/article962.html

The House of Death

On the other hand Judges and prosecutors sometimes agree that it’s more expedient and cheaper to the county to dump their defendants on ICE.

You are exactly right. For the prosecutors to fain outrage is rather silly as they know exactly what they are doing.

During the bail hearing they can argue that by the very nature of the illegal aliens status and the fact that the alien has an immigration detainer makes the defendant not only likely to abscond but virtually guaranteed not to appear for trial as a removal from the US would ensure his absence.

What is not mentioned in the article is that the county and the state are reaping in big money (wink wink nod nod) in their breached bond accounts when these defendants fail to appear. Follow the money.

The hypocrisy runs deeper than that, as well. Often, the excuse given by judges, and prosecutors, is that the charges against the alien defendant should be dropped BECAUSE of the immigration detainer. They try to couch it in terms of clearing the way for ICE to exact more timely justice by dropping the annoying local charges; they called it “dismissing charges in favor of administrative action.” There were offices in the old INS that put out word to counties that they would immediately cancel a detainer whenever a judge or DA pulled this stunt, then let the communities know the identity of the judge who put the scumbag back in their midst, free of all charges. Sometimes it worked.

There were offices in the old INS that put out word to counties that they would immediately cancel a detainer whenever a judge or DA pulled this stunt.

While practical that is a very dangerous to an agents career and personable liability as these aliens have been known to commit murders (several law enforcement officers I can remember) while on bond.

Sounds like we worked some of the same ground. I worked the criminal alien program in Central California (Fresno) for several years.

My favorite paradox was when they convicted an alien of an aggravated felony and then let him bond out before sentencing. By virtue of his conviction INS had no choice but to remove him and give him a free get out of jail card.

I worked around this paradox as best I could, sometimes I would contact the bonding agency and explain the situation and they would revoke the bond. The system was buggered up beyond belief.

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