Posted on 08/07/2003 8:27:02 PM PDT by AZ GRAMMY
Second arrest made in immigrant incident
BY LOUIE VILLALOBOS, Staff Writer Aug 7, 2003
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Yuma County sheriff's deputies have arrested a second man in connection with the alleged unlawful detention of six illegal immigrants on July 31 in Gadsden.
Alexander David Dumas, 26, was arrested Tuesday evening after driving to Yuma from his home in Big Bear Lake, Calif., for an interview, said sheriff's spokesman Lt. Eben Bratcher.
Dumas was charged with six counts of aggravated assault and five counts of unlawful imprisonment following the early morning July 31 incident where deputies said he and Matthew Paul Hoffman, arrested on the same charges on Monday, detained a group of six illegal immigrants that had just entered the United States through the Colorado River.
A third man, Martin Hoffman Jr., was with the two suspects but won't be charged because he was not armed and did not take part in the handcuffing of the illegal immigrants, Bratcher said.
Bratcher said the department will continue to investigate the case and warned citizens against taking the law into their own hands.
He said anyone who sees a group of suspected illegal immigrants should call the Border Patrol, and not take it upon themselves to apprehend the group by using guns and handcuffs. Asking a group to stay put while making a phone call is permitted and would constitute a citizen's arrest, he said.
"When you have someone holding someone against their will with the use or the threat of the use of force, you've crossed the line between a citizen's arrest and unlawful detention," he said. "There was no justification for the use of force."
Deputies said the two men handcuffed five members of the group, which included three children and two women, and held them at gunpoint until U.S. Border Patrol agents arrived.
Agents have said they were dispatched to the scene when a surveillance camera operator noticed the incident unfolding. The agents called the sheriff's department, who then identified and interviewed all three men before letting them go, officials said.
Bratcher said the men are not believed to be part of a larger group, such as the citizen patrol groups that operate on private property along the Tucson border and use various forms of technology to alert Border Patrol agents to the presence of illegal immigrants in the area.
Also being charged with five counts of endangerment is a 16-year-old Mexican national who Bratcher said was paid $600 to bring the illegal immigrants into the United States. Bratcher also said the illegal immigrants were planning to meet with a taxi cab in Gadsden and were to be taken to a unidentified Yuma hotel, according to interviews done of the illegal immigrants by detectives.
William Robbins, Border Patrol spokesman, said the six illegal immigrants were in the agency's custody as of Wednesday morning but couldn't be interviewed.
Hugo Oliva, Mexican consul in Yuma, said the group was in good condition following the incident and that his office is encouraged by the sheriff's department's efforts regarding this case.
"This is a very disturbing thing to happen here," Oliva said. "We can't have people with guns do the job of law enforcement agencies."
http://yumasun.com/artman/publish/a...tory_6619.shtml
Illegals could be carrying any number of things. The least of which are drugs or small explosives. How about highly contagious diseases. TB, SARS, this list could be quite long.
You have equated 8 million illegal immigrants (many of them children ) with terrorists. Your comments do anger me, and even more sad you still don't get it.
From the story above: "Dumas was charged with six counts of aggravated assault and five counts of unlawful imprisonment following the early morning July 31 incident where deputies said he and Matthew Paul Hoffman, arrested on the same charges on Monday, detained a group of six illegal immigrants that had just entered the United States through the Colorado River.
How big is that river anyway? BTW, they would have had to have used Superman's telescopic vision, not X-ray vision.;-)
I will agree with your "temporary worker" (Bracero Program) if, and only if, all illegals are deported first, then reprocessed for this privilege.
"This country has lost control of its borders..."
"A country that doesn't control its borders isn't a country anymore."
The 1986 Simpson/Mazzoli amnesty bill that Reagan unfortunately signed contained strong enforcement mechanisms such as employer sanctions against illegal immigration as well as the hiring of 5000 additional border patrol guards. The employer sanctions have yet to be taken seriously, which is the fault of subsequent administrations.
Reagan was clearly against illegal immigration, as we all should be, it's against the law and a crime.
Well, if the law enforcement agencies would put down their donuts and get off their fat asses and do their job, us civilians wouldn't have to do it for them!
And I have seen no indication that the immigrants were repeat offenders, either. I was basing my statement upon the math, since the vast majority of cases are indeed misdemeanors.
But we ARE all agreed that they are offenders, and have broken the laws of this country by crossing the Rio Grande without permission, correct?
Perhaps the NM state police could enforce the state's border, one inch inside the federal border, and train and deputize these people to patrol that border. The could safely apprehend the invaders (my choice of words, based on definition) and turn them over to federal authorities with the power to deport them. It would probably save a bundle since they seem to want to volunteer for the duty. Everybody's happy!! Well, except the illegals.
You might want to sell that one to the Isrealis and Palestinians, both claiming some sort of ownership of the land based on assignment by God. What about the "promised land?"
You might want to sell that one to the Isrealis and Palestinians, both claiming some sort of ownership of the land based on assignment by God. What about the "promised land?"
You know, if you send them money instead of hiring them up here, their money will go a lot further and you will still have the satisfaction of having aided the poor. Similarly, you could go Mexico and support their economy by spending money there.
The point is, they don't have to be here for you to help them.
As I recall, there was no U.S. border either, due mainly to the fact that there was no United States at the time.
I guess the simple answer would be a confrontation with a large number of people. There is power in numbers, and the illegals would realize that and sit and wait for the BP.
Excellent point! Also, citizenship should be bestowed upon those with parents (okay, one would be fine) that are citizens, either native or naturalized. No more "stroll across the border and give birth to a citizen" abuses.
It aint the same thing. Parking infractions and such are mere misdemeanors by US residents. Illegals are felons crossing international boundaries with illegal intent. They are criminals and must be treated as such.
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