Posted on 08/09/2003 12:13:28 PM PDT by GoRepGo
Illegals held at gunpoint discuss ordeal
By Louie Villalobos Aug 9, 2003
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. — The two female illegal immigrants who authorities said were detained at gunpoint by three American citizens a week ago said they initially thought the men were U.S. Border Patrol agents.
But when two of the men pointed guns at them and the three boys traveling with them, Lorena Ocampo said she knew something was wrong.
"(The Border Patrol) doesn't do that to women and children," she said.
More than a week after the incident, Ocampo, 26, her friend Guadalupe Lopez Rodriguez, 31, and the three boys were sent back to Mexico under the agreement that they would return at a later date to testify against Matthew Hoffman, 23, and Alexander Dumas, 26.
The men are each facing six counts of aggravated assault and five counts of unlawful imprisonment and one count of conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment, after the Yuma County Sheriff's Office said they handcuffed the group of illegal immigrants and held them at gunpoint until Border Patrol agents arrived.
Authorities said a third man, Martin Hoffman Jr., was with the two suspects but isn't facing charges because he was unarmed and didn't take part in the detention of the illegal immigrants.
Bond for Hoffman and Dumas was recently set at $68,000 and $88,000, respectively. The incident remains under investigation.
Both officials and the women said the incident began just after 1 a.m., a few minutes after the group entered illegally through the Colorado River at County 18th Street.
Rodriguez said they were traveling with a larger group that included the two women's husbands, but the smugglers decided to split everyone up to allow the children to cross at a shallow part of the river. The women said they wanted to go with their children.
"It wasn't that deep," Ocampo said of the river. "The kids crossed easily."
Minutes after crossing, the women said they heard a noise and were told to duck down behind some bushes by the 16-year-old smuggler who was guiding them. After waiting for a while, they decided it was safe to continue, Ocampo said.
"Then these men came out," she said. "I don't know where they came from."
The men started yelling directions in English and motioning the group to get on the ground, Ocampo said. At first, because one was wearing military-style clothes and they all hand handcuffs, the women thought they had been caught by agents and told their boys not to worry.
But when the guns were pointed at them, Ocampo knew the men weren't agents.
"We were all scared," she said. "We didn't know what they were yelling."
After Ocampo said the men handcuffed the women, the smuggler and two of the boys, a helicopter — which belonged to the Border Patrol — arrived at the scene and the men began to flag it down with a flashlight.
Soon after that, the women said agents arrived, uncuffed the group and put them in the back of their vehicles.
"(The agents) told us what those men did was against the law," Ocampo said.
After being taken to the Border Patrol's station house and being questioned about the incident, the women said they were kept in an area hotel and eventually given the option of staying in the United States until it was time for them to testify against the suspects.
Ocampo said they decided to return to Mexico because they are still scared that something will happen to them. She said the group will most likely not try another illegal entry into the United States because of the incident. Their husbands were caught and deported, Ocampo said.
She said they were headed to New York, where they planned to live with family members, get a job and put their children into public school.
Ocampo did promise to return when it came time to testify, though, saying she wants to make sure Hoffman and Dumas are punished.
"What they did was wrong," she said.
--- Louie Villalobos can be reached at lvillalobos@yumasun.com or 539-6858.
© Copyright, YumaSun.com
The three children who were held at gunpoint by Matthew Hoffman and Alexander Dumas sit in the back of a van waiting to be taken back to Mexico at the U.S. Port of Entry at San Luis, Ariz., Friday. Photo by Alfred J. Hernandez
My one piece of adive is to quote "Q" in his final appearance in a Bond film: Never let them see you bleed.
You haven't been in a courtroom lately have you ?
Justice is dead in this country.
You bet. But the mentallity of the American people is all screwed up. In the past few days, I have heard probably a hundred people ask or inquire about how Schwarzenegger feels about illegal aliens. LOL! He's running for state governor! When they should be saying, "Why in the hell isn't President Bush doing a damn thing about our federal borders"?
I do admire those who win through, despite the odds, even if I might question their reasoning as to just how desperate they really are.
Get yourself educated. Go down to Texas, Arizon, or Cal and look at this government approved, criminal invasion of our country and attack on our sovereignty.
From the point of view of those coming here today it's a better deal than it was for our ancestors. They also face the risks of discovery and deportation, which our ancestors really didn't have to worry about. There are always trade offs. Don't blame them for the failings of our system. Blame our politicians.
And I do think people who would risk their kids' lives ----it's obviously not necessary, it's not even like Cuba where that government won't let them legally leave are really just child abusers. What kind of parent would bring their child through 100+ heat with all the known dangers. It's like that 5 year old who died in the semi-trailer ---there was no need in that, the parents can risk their own lives but they're willing to sacrifice their childrens'.
But the big problem is ---we're seeing it in California and all along the border ---the welfare classes coming over from Mexico like our failing welfare system. It looks pretty good to them ---free money ---and they like the politicians who promise them more of it.
They are not immigrants.
....when in fact it would take hundreds of thousands of men and billions of dollars to effectively seal the border in the manner that you desire.
You mean like we are doing all over the Middle East and elsewhere? Why shouldn't we be protecing our own borders?
Mass migration like this is always difficult to deal with and inevitably causes tension; tension that isn't going to be allieviated by a couple of jackasses with shotguns threatening a mom and her kids.
This isn't 'mass migration'. It is a destructive Third World invasion. You haven't a clue who is sneaking in, and neither do the feds (it's their job to take care of the borders, you know). They appear to be avoiding the problem like a plague. More power to those civilians who make the effort to keep the loathsome sponges out.
Huh. When the INS agents came, the pillows were fluffed and the towels were replaced, right?
Our border patrol is weak and ineffectual.
...and worthless by design.
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