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
The U.N said No
What would you propose instead of citizens' arrest in this situation? You're quick to criticize but you're not offering any suggestions as to how we can solve this problem. Or do you think we should have open borders? I see the border militias as a form of civil disobedience. It comes with a price, but the accused are putting their freedom and safety on the line to get our attention. They are already starting to pay for it. But they are acting in the common interest and apparently with deeply held convictions. How can we obviate the need for their protest?
Nope, but then that's not a felony. Invading our country illegally should be a capital crime.
Women and children oh my, Women and children oh my, Women and children oh my, Women and children oh my.......
Get your carcass down there and go protect them women and children Cultural clown.
Since you asked, I am in favor of instituting a bracero-type program again to bring in those who choose to work in North America. Once the work is completed the guest workers are sent home.
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The Making of Bustamante ....Martha and the Latino caucus responded with a press conference to offer a moderate plan to stem immigration. But it ended in chaos when Cruz Bustamante, a farm-country Fresno Democrat, said, "We could not conduct business without the immigrant." Dumbfounded reporters asked if he supported illegal immigration. "My district requires it," he answered. Bustamante restricted future press conferences to the Spanish language media. See: MotherJones ND93: Can we all get along? |
No, we are a Christian nation. We do not shoot unarmed economic refugees because we dislike how our liberal politicians cater and pander to those who need their labor.
Constitutionally impossible. The recall is on and Arnold will win.
Can you tell an illegal by looking at them?
These are the very people who, when they make it to Phoenix, tend to shove guns in our faces. Let's hear from you again when one of them jacks your car.
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