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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Prosecutor: Mexico trying to dismantle Arizona smuggling law

    http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4880896&nav=HMO6

    Prosecutor: Mexico trying to dismantle Arizona smuggling law


    PHOENIX A prosecutor seeking to convict dozens of illegal immigrants for illegally crossing into Arizona has accused the Mexican government of organizing legal efforts to dismantle a state law targeting immigrant smugglers.

    Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas says the Mexican government has arranged for a lawyer to challenge his legal opinion that illegal immigrants suspected of using smugglers to cross into the state can be charged as conspirators.

    The lawyer also argues that the state can't regulate immigration.

    Thomas has asked the U-S State Department to protest the Mexican government's alleged involvement in the case.

    A call to the office of the Carlos Flores Vizcarra, the Mexican consul general in Phoenix whom Thomas has accused of seeking to weaken the state law, wasn't immediately returned late this morning.

    Forty-eight illegal immigrants were charged as conspirators under the 9-month-old law.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member crazybird's Avatar
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    No other government should have diddly to say with what goes on in our country. It may be nice to consult, but the bottom line is our decision.
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... y0510.html

    Thomas irate at Mexico official's challenge of law
    Envoy discusses Ariz. measure with attorney


    Michael Kiefer
    The Arizona Republic
    May. 10, 2006 12:00 AM

    Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas lashed out Tuesday against the Mexican government because its consul general in Phoenix contacted a Los Angeles-based attorney to question Thomas' policy of charging undocumented immigrants with conspiracy to commit human smuggling.

    "You have a foreign government coming in and trying to organize the defense efforts of criminal defendants in an attempt to attack the coyote law, and in fact, attack the right of any state in the nation, effectively, to pass anything meaningful to stop illegal immigration," he said. "That is an extraordinary act. And I'm not aware of a parallel to this in our history."

    Thomas was so angry that he faxed a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking for her "assistance and that of the U.S. State Department in protesting this extraordinary attempt by a foreign government to deprive Arizona of its ability to defend itself against the tide of illegal immigration fomented by that same government."

    Peter Schey of the Los Angeles-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law said he is not trying to dismantle the coyote law, only to question Thomas' interpretation.

    "He is acting illegally and unconstitutionally," Schey said.

    Thomas believes that the Arizona human-trafficking law not only allows him to prosecute smugglers, known as "coyotes," but also to prosecute those people who pay to be smuggled into Arizona.

    On March 2, Maricopa County sheriff's deputies arrested dozens of undocumented immigrants.

    One was charged with human smuggling; 48 were charged with conspiracy to commit human smuggling and were offered plea agreements to the lesser crime of solicitation to commit human smuggling with the understanding that they would be immediately deported.

    So far, four defendants have accepted the offer.

    But many of the rest are awaiting the outcome of motions to dismiss the charges. One was filed by Deputy County Legal Advocate Timothy Agan, arguing that a person cannot conspire to smuggle himself or herself, and two were filed by Schey, arguing that Thomas had misinterpreted the Arizona Legislature's intent in passing the human-trafficking law and that he was using it as a de facto control of illegal immigration, which falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

    Those motions will be argued May 23 before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Thomas O'Toole.

    Thomas was incensed that Schey had been contacted by Carlos Flores Vizcarra, the Mexican consul general in Phoenix, and he questioned whether the Mexican government was underwriting the cost of the immigrants' defense. Schey said his organization is non-profit and funded by donations.

    "The consulate has not paid us and never will," Schey said. "We do not work for the Mexican Consulate. We don't work for any consulates. Consulates refer cases to us.

    "These defendants are entitled to legal representation."
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