Thread: Iowa City pastor arrested on federal immigration charges

Iowa City pastor arrested on federal immigration charges

Zach Berg, Iowa City Press-Citizen
4:51 p.m. CST March 6, 2015


(Photo: Zach Berg / Press-Citizen)

An Iowa City pastor and father of four has been arrested on immigration charges and faces deportation to Honduras.

According to a statement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Max Villatoro, of Iowa City, was arrested Tuesday during a "targeted enforcement operation."

"As a convicted criminal with an outstanding removal order, Mr. Villatoro is an ICE enforcement priority," according to the statement.

Villatoro is the father of four children and is a pastor at First Mennonite Church in Iowa City. The church's website states he has been involved with the church for more than two years.

Villatoro came to the U.S. in 1995 illegally and pleaded guilty to record tampering four years later, according to The Associated Press. The Department of Homeland Security then pursued deportation starting in 2006, according to AP, and are looking to deport Villatoro to Honduras.

The statement from ICE, an agency of Homeland Security, said the department is "focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes the removal of convicted criminals and public safety threats. The agency exercises prosecutor discretion, on a case-by-case basis, as necessary to focus resources on these priorities."

The statement said Villatoro is pending removal from the U.S.

Villatoro is being held in the Linn County Jail in Cedar Rapids, according to the AP, and jail officials are unsure when he will be moved.

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen, or follow him on Twitter at@ZacharyBerg.

http://www.press-citizen.com/story/n...rges/24524489/

DHS has been pursuing this guy for deportation since 2006? This is 2015! He's been here since 1995, and was convicted of record tempering in 1999 but in 2006, he's still here? And in 2015 9 years after DHS finally decided to deport him, he's still here?

This is DHS's definition of "smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes the removal of convicted criminals and public safety threats."

This is not an effective department.

In bold type it say Villatoro is pending removal. I see no inference of assured deportation, yet?I would be willing to bet a dollar in is still here 2 years from now.

Originally Posted by kevinssdad

In bold type it say Villatoro is pending removal. I see no inference of assured deportation, yet?I would be willing to bet a dollar in is still here 2 years from now.

I'll raise you $1 and bet he's given amnesty, a work permit, a job, tax credit welfare, Obama Care, Social Security, food stamps, subsidized housing, citizenship and the right to vote.

US move to deport Iowa City pastor, father of 4 draws criticism from community, advocates


By KOURTNEY LIEPELT Associated Press
March 06, 2015 - 7:29 pm EST

DES MOINES, Iowa — The wife of a longtime Iowa City pastor facing deportation to Honduras said Friday she is "devastated with this situation" but encouraged by the outpouring of support, including that of more than 100 people who rallied for his release this week outside the jail where he's being held.

Max Villatoro, 41, was arrested by immigration officials when he left his house for work Tuesday after more than 16 years of legal complications and two denied appeals to stop his removal from the country, culminating in his now imminent deportation. But Villatoro's wife, Gloria Villatoro, 33, and others in the Iowa City community say the man has turned his life around since his initial charge in 1998, and they're fighting to keep him here.

Max Villatoro is a pastor at First Mennonite Church who has lived in Iowa since he left his northern Honduran town in 1995 and arrived in the U.S. without legal permission. Deportation would separate him from his wife, a native of Mexico who was brought here when she was 8, and his four children, ages 7 through 15 and all U.S. citizens.

In a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, spokeswoman Gail Montenegro classified Max Villatoro as "an ICE enforcement priority" because of his criminal history.

"ICE remains focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes the removal of convicted criminals and public safety threats," she said in the statement.

In 1998, Villatoro was convicted of drunken driving.

And in 1999, he pleaded guilty to record tampering for purchasing a Social Security number that he used to obtain a driver's license.

His plea resulted in an order of supervision for the duration of a 180-day suspended jail term, but the convictions stayed with him until his recent arrest.

In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security took action to deport Villatoro, and a judge has twice declined his appeals.

Gloria Villatoro said her husband's past doesn't reflect who he is. And Margaret Richer-Smith, a fellow pastor at the Iowa City church, described him as a "person of great integrity and wisdom."

Richer-Smith, Gloria Villatoro and others have scrambled to keep Villatoro in the country, making calls to a congressman and local immigration organizations, signing petitions and organizing the rally at the Linn County Jail. The case has drawn interest from national immigration interest groups, which question ICE's proceedings.

"There are clear factors in Max's case indicating that he is not a threat to national security, border security, or public safety, and should not therefore be an enforcement priority," Matt Hildreth, digital director for the immigration reform group America's Voice, said in a statement.

Gloria Villatoro on Friday traveled to an immigration court in Omaha, Nebraska, to seek a stay of removal.

A judge at the court could approve his release, but lawyers said that's rare and they expect Villatoro will be returned to Honduras within the next couple weeks.

That's an option Gloria Villatoro can't imagine.

"In my mind, there is no answer for that," she said. "It would be the worst thing that can happen."

http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...or-Deportation

A convicted drunk driver, a convicted identity thief, an illegal alien. 1, 2, 3 .... yep 3 strikes you're out. Americans would be in jail for the rest of their lives. So count yourself damn lucky you aren't subject to our jurisdiction and are being deported instead of facing a life sentence in a US prison like Americans with 3 convictions.

In the article it states his wife is a native of Mexico. I think we all know what the means. Yep, she's an illegal too and has 3 anchor babies, which are drawing welfare (food stamps, medicaid, etc.), to boot.

You know, stories like this just amplify the fact that the deportation system and the way it's handled is flawed. This guy should have been deported to Honduras as soon as he was caught the first time for drunk driving in 1998, and in 1999 when he was caught for identity theft. He served no jail time for the crimes, so why wasn't he deported? For the past 9 years, he tried two appeals to his deportation order, but has been allowed to remain here during the time of his appeals.

If the law presently allows this, this needs to be changed and pronto. Deportation is a simple removal from this country to the country of their citizenship. Any appeal or trial should be based solely on whether they had documents when they entered the US or if they did but they expired, whether they'd been renewed prior to expiration, a simple produce it or lose it. If you have no documents that would prove an error, then off you go, whether you're present at the hearing or not, whether you have counsel or not, off you go. Then, if you want to file an appeal on some solid ground that you had documents, but you chose not to present them or couldn't find them or whatever, then you can file an appeal from in this case Honduras. There is a law however that requires all immigrants to carry their immigration cards or documents with them. So in any event, the fault is not with our courts, it's with the alien who didn't have their papers with them. Whatever the issue is that is legitimate and right now I can't think of one, because there's plenty of time between the arrest and the hearing to get copies of your documents, for this not to be a clerical matter, that doesn't even require courts and judges, but simple administrators.

What you need judges and lawyers for is all the nonsense of advocating for someone to stay in the US who has violated immigration law, the plead their cases on non-legal issues, cry out for mercy for the illegal alien who is looking for a better life, who's procreated here, who has kids and/or a wife or whatever.

We need to prohibit those excuses or pleas from the appeal system and make these deportation rulings fast and permanent based on the simple issue of do you have permission prior to the arrest to be in the US and have documents or records to verify that. If you claim the documents are lost, then you are required to advise the arresting officers of that fact at the time of arrest and request copies from the issuing agency or Department. A simple form of due diligence to be sure that by the time of hearing, a document and record search has been conducted and verified prior to the deportation hearing. If in the rare instance following deportation, you find a document or record that proves you were not an illegal alien, then you can notify the arresting agency and it will be incumbent upon that agency to verify the document and request the court to over-turn the deportation ruling based on new evidence in favor of the deportee. Once vacated, you would be notified that you can return to the US for the remainder of the term of your permission document to be here.

So what needs to be stream-lined and fast-tracked is not processing new legal immigrants, but the deportation process for those in the country illegally. No docs, you're done. Period. Very simple, and the way it's supposed to work. That's why we have a law to deport illegal aliens.

We are taking up a lot of courts time, in addition to never getting anything done while providing for those that have no right here. In the realm of simplicity, if you have been ordered deported, committed any crime, refused to leave after overstaying work permits, visas etc by 90 days, been brought here by parents, guilty of displaying absolutely no respect for law and order of this sovereign. You are granted one court hearing to prove you are not guilty of these infractions, if you are the penalty shall be death without appeal executed within 40 days of hearing.

How many thousands, or even millions of people like Max Villatoro has America let in, then much worse, allowed to stay. One sick nation that allows that while citizens are losing their lives and children their innocence to these kinds. Embarrassing and shameful!

Our country is every bit as important as a movie theater, wouldn't everyone agree to that? Even Democrats? Well, if you want to get into the movies, it takes a ticket. If you don't have one, you can't get in. And there are guards and ticket takers and bouncers to make sure no one gets in without a ticket. Now how many hearings or appeals do you get if you sneak into the movie theater without a ticket? And how many times would they let you stay in the movie theater watching movies without a ticket while you wait for a hearing and file appeals? Exactly. Zero.

So, we need to stream-line our deportation system so people who are here without a ticket are bounced out immediately, and then they can whine and appeal from their own country. Therefore, we need immigration administrators whose only task is to process illegal aliens within 24 hours of their arrest and detainment who don't have tickets, i. e. green cards or unexpired visas or other official permit to be in the US, and then a removal agency has 48 hours after that to remove them directly from the jail to their country of citizenship or the nearest Consulate or Embassy.

According to this link, 81% of all illegal aliens are from Mexico (57%) and Central and Latin American countries (24%), so for these, our obligation will be to get them to the border to be picked up by Mexican and Central and Latin American countries, for further transport to their final destination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal..._United_States

And no, we don't fly them home. We just load 'em up on buses and take them to the border to meet and greet Mexican, Central and South American authorities who make the arrangements from there including bringing their own buses and shackles for the rest of the trip including plane tickets if they so desire to fly back to the countries farther away from points in Mexico or Central America. Any country that doesn't fully cooperate will face sanctions starting with the loss of all non-business non-citizen remittances from the US.

It's quite clear that DHS is incapable of handling this. They've proven their ineffectiveness in perpetuity. Therefore, there would need to be a new agency created within the US Marshall Service that does nothing but arrange for and execute removals of non-citizens with deportation orders and do so within 48 hours of the issuance of a deportation order, and a deportation order would be issued within 24 hours of arrest and detainment. The reason we have a law that all legal immigrants are supposed to have their cards and/or papers with them is to avoid mistakes, so if mistakes occur because you didn't have your documents with you, then that's your fault, not ours. Americans have the same issue to deal with when we're driving a vehicle.

What's been going on in this country is a travesty. And it must stop, it must be corrected, and the system fixed so that the Department responsible for enforcing our laws isn't financially rewarded by fees for failure to do so. This is an inherent conflict of interest that any first year law student would know, so how this has developed and been allowed by a Congress consisting primarily of lawyers and an Executive Branch which has lawyers in the White House and in every Department including the Department of Homeland Security and every agency within it has no viable, credible or acceptable explanation.