Thread: Anti-'coyote' law arrests split family

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July 30, 2006
Anti-'coyote' law arrests split family
By Sarah Lynch
Tribune


After almost two months of separation, 17-year-old Isabel Sanchez was finally reunited with her mother inside the Estrella Jail in Phoenix earlier this month. But Sanchez barely recognized her diabetic mother as she limped out to the visiting area, clad in handcuffs and stripes. "She lost a lot of weight," the California teenager said. "She had long hair. She looked totally different, and when I saw her, I cried. I couldn't really talk. My mom couldn't talk, either."

Before that day, Sanchez had never heard of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio or the new law targeting "coyotes," or human smugglers, that has ensnared half of her family. Now, the American-born teen and her two younger brothers, Alberto Cortes, 12, and Juan Sanchez, 14, are living temporarily in Mesa with a local pastor while their undocumented mother, father and brother sit in jail on charges of conspiring to smuggle themselves over the border.

The bail for each family member is set at $5,400 - far too high for the family or local activists to afford to post, even though the family has the support of several local Hispanic groups, including Mesa's Palabra de Vida church. Because of financial constraints, along with an immigration hold, Juan Manuel Cortes, 40, his wife, Ernestina Diego Cegueda, 40, and their 19-year-old son, Hugo Sanchez, have remained in jail since their May 22 arrest.

The family's situation is unusual in comparison to other recent cases involving illegal immigrants also charged with conspiracy to commit smuggling, said Rob Webb, the attorney representing Cortes.

"Most of the guys I've represented have been young men in their early 20s and late teens that are basically coming across here to try to get a job and go back to Mexico," Webb said.

"Here, you have a situation now where these people have been living here a long time. They have property, jobs and a family. The kids are Americanized."

Since March, Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas have been using a year-old anti-coyote law as a tool to also charge the people that seek out smugglers' services. So far, 258 people have been arrested under the new law, and about 30 of those have pleaded guilty, Arpaio said.

Arpaio said the children's status as citizens should have no bearing on the case.

"If they violate the law, we will still enforce the law," Arpaio said in a phone interview Thursday. "That's the way it would go unless the courts decide differently on that. But if they are coming in here illegally and meet all the criteria, they will be arrested even if they have relatives here."

The story of this family's plight began when Cortes' ailing father asked him to come to Mexico to see him before he died last June, several family members said. The family also made the long drive to Mexico because Cegueda was having health problems, and they could not afford medical services in the United States.

They drove from their home in Monte, Calf., to Mexico where Cortes' children met their grandfather for the first and last time.

Shortly after Cortes' father died, Cegueda had a tumor removed from her uterus and later also underwent a hysterectomy, said both Hugo Sanchez and Cortes during an interview Friday at Durango Jail in Phoenix.

After Cegueda finally recovered, however, Hugo Sanchez came down with appendicitis and had to have emergency surgery. Bad luck struck him yet again after he slipped, hurt his shin and had to have surgery for a second time.

This series of events prolonged the family's stay in Mexico and caused Hugo Sanchez to miss the last three weeks of high school and his graduation. It took the family almost a year before they were able to return to California, he said.

But little did they know that more bad luck was yet to come.

In May, the three undocumented family members dropped off Isabel, Juan and Alberto at their aunt's house in Juarez and told them they'd send for them after they crossed back into the U.S.

Isabel thought her parents would call in a few days.

Over a week later, she was still waiting for them, unaware that her parents and brother had been stopped early in the morning on May 22 by sheriff's deputies on state Route 85 and Baseline Road in Buckeye. The three were traveling in a Ford Bronco with 13 other people, according to Webb's case file.

Cortes and Cegueda told the officers they had arranged for a ride across the border in the Bronco. The driver promised to take them to Los Angeles in exchange for roughly $2,000 per person.

Hugo Sanchez said that during his interview with deputies he was told that what he had done was "worse than drug smuggling" and that he would have to spend 60 days in jail, plead guilty and be deported. He did not know where his parents were being held until several weeks later when he saw them in court. His parents cried when they saw him, but he said he waited to cry until he got back to the jail.

Sitting in a visiting room at the Durango Jail on Friday, Cortes appeared helpless.

"I feel bad, but I can't do anything," he said in Spanish. "Who can I speak to? No one."

Cortes and his son said they don't understand why they are being treated worse than people caught smuggling drugs or transporting weapons.

"Sometimes I dream that I'm home, and when I wake up, I think I'm in my house," Hugo Sanchez said. "But when I wake up, I hear the voices and I try to go back to sleep."

After their arrest, at least two weeks passed before Isabel finally heard from her mother. Her mother told her she was in jail, but she had little knowledge about why she had been arrested.

A distraught Isabel hung up the phone.

"I cried. I screamed. I got so mad because of the law. I felt it wasn't fair," she said.

For more than two months, the three teens waited it out in Mexico.

But little did they know, local advocacy and faith-based groups were reaching out to the people who have been arrested under the new anticoyote law, including their parents and brother.

Mesa residents Magdalena Schwartz and her sister, Elizabeth Cruz, both pastors at Palabra de Vida, were making their rounds about two weeks ago when Cruz happened to meet Cortes.

He told Cruz about his wife and children. She vowed to visit his wife in the Estrella Jail, and afterward pledged to find a way to bring the siblings back to the U.S.

"It was a sad experience, but it was the most rewarding," Cruz said. "I believe we are their voices calling for justice on behalf of this family."

Through the help of a cousin in California, Cruz and Schwartz were able to contact Isabel by phone in Mexico. The sisters quickly booked three plane tickets for the teens online, and flew Isabel, Juan and Alberto to Phoenix.

Now, the three are staying with Cruz and her husband in their Mesa home while awaiting the upcoming trial.

Bill Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the county attorney's office, refused to comment on the family's specific case. Generally speaking, however, these types of unfortunate situations do not dictate how the county enforces the law, he said.

"The law must be applied to all defendants impartially, regardless of their marital or household circumstances," Fitzgerald wrote in an e-mail.

Cortes first came to this country in 1988 where he later met his future wife, who also was undocumented.

The family has tried over the years to obtain green cards, but they were never successful, Hugo Sanchez said. Both times they tried, immigration attorneys took their money and then disappeared before they offered their services.

"Nothing more than just crossing the border is a great sin, and yet, there are people for example that have drugs, guns and a lot of money on the street," Cortes said in Spanish. "And (the police) don't do anything to them."

Hugo Sanchez, who speaks fluent English and had plans of becoming a mechanic, said he fears he'll never be able to earn his high school diploma and that he will be deported with a felony on his record.

If this happens, he said he'll never be allowed to return to the place that has been his home for 18 years of his life. Now, he regrets ever agreeing to take the trip to Mexico.

"If I had just said no, I probably wouldn't be in this mess," he said.

Webb said a hearing to reduce the bail is scheduled Monday morning. But even if the bail is posted, the three would likely be transferred to an immigration jail because they all have holds on them. Cruz said she and her sister are trying to raise the money to pay for all the bail.

The trial date for all three is set for Aug. 18 and Isabel said she remains hopeful.

"I feel everything will come out good because there's a great God. He's seeing everything - the injustice," she said. "Hopefully, my family will be together pretty soon." Copyright © 2006 Freedom Communications / Arizona. Displayed by permission. All rights reserved.
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I'm getting really sick and tired of hearing about the tragedies that these people have, literally, brought on themselves.

When are we going to start hearing about the tragedies that have been inflicted on American citizens by the illegals?

Sorry, Ms. Lynch - that sword cuts both ways!!! Pay attention!!!

Nevermind spending anymore money on them deport them all including the children who are not citizens.

After their arrest, at least two weeks passed before Isabel finally heard from her mother. Her mother told her she was in jail, but she had little knowledge about why she had been arrested.

Pleeeeeeeese, someone tell me she didn't say that she had little knowledge of why she was arrested! Smuggling aside, illegal entry into the United States is a crime.

Is this why we're having the problem we are? Do these people honestly think it is okay to cross the border illegally? Heck no, these people know exactly what the laws are - it just that they choose to take their chances. Well, they must be ready to serve the time if caught doing the crime!

I am sure if this woman in jail lost a lot of weight, it will be good for her diabetes, that just goes to show, with every cloud there is a silver lining!

Originally Posted by nittygritty

I am sure if this woman in jail lost a lot of weight, it will be good for her diabetes, that just goes to show, with every cloud there is a silver lining!

Now that was just plain "catty"!!! BUT TRUE!