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
You call anyone who believes in the Bible a "fundamentalist" and "pro-slavery".
I'm neither.
If you help stop a RINO like Aaaaaaaahnold, then you will do more for your movement than Tancredo ever will. OR, if you think Tancredo is effective as I do not, send him to California which has a lot of people who agree with you to hold Aaaaaaahnold to account. If Tancredo won't do that, how much does he really care for your cause and how much does he care for himself?
Aaaaaaahnold is being pumped as such a sure thing that dramatic punishment for his support for services to illegals WILL put politicians in fear of you far easier than will self-annointed Barney Fifes on the border.
I have never said that I support slavery, but keep repeating your anti-Christian mantra.
Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Yes or no?
It is this attitude that is pushing so many Americans to the border in defense. The Illegal population believes they have a RIGHT to be here. Clearly something needs to happen so they are too afraid to sneak in. It's the only way to force them through proper ports of entry.
Are you a godless atheist? Are you a pagan?
I have never said that I support slavery.
For the record, I do not support slavery.
Why don't you answer the question: "Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God?"
The reason there are government indoctrination centers (schools) is so that your grandson and my daughters will have sheep to govern.
LOL! Never thought of it like that but I think you're right!
No, my grandson doesn't learn about the pro-abortion, pro-gay, etc., that the public schools spend more time learning that the things they should be learning. In fact, the Christian School is 2 - 3 grades ahead of the PS. The kindergarten in the Christian School doesn't spend time coloring & the like, such as public schools.
My grandson's class actually WORKED! Before Christmas, he could write (cursive), read spell (third grade words.)
At the end of the yr., my grandson won 6 awards. One was for "Best Christian Citizen". I am soooooo proud!!
Since you seem to an amoral godless atheist, you have no scruples about throwing around your false accusations.
I have never said that being anti-Christian equals being anti-slavery.
You called me a “pro-slavery fundamentalist” because I quoted the Bible, period.
I have never said that I supported slavery, and the record is open for everyone to see.
You wanted to know about the historical justifications for slavery, and I kindly provided you with a biblical quote commonly used during the slavery epoch to justify slavery.
I have never said that I supported slavery, godless atheist.
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