Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 16

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Santa Clarita Ca
    Posts
    9,714

    Border Patrol creates zero-tolerance zone for illegal immigr

    http://www.az


    Published: 08.24.2006

    Border Patrol creates zero-tolerance zone for illegal immigration
    By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
    THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
    DEL RIO, Texas - Standing in a cramped federal courtroom last month, illegal immigrant Walter Oscar Portillo-Machado pleaded with a judge for mercy. But he came to the wrong place for that.

    The Salvadoran man was caught along a 210-mile stretch of the Texas-Mexico border that has been set up as zero-tolerance zone for illegal immigration. Instead of merely getting sent back home, immigrants here are arrested, prosecuted, and sometimes sentenced to prison before they are formally kicked out of the country.

    The effort began late last year along a border area that includes the Rio Grande border towns of Del Rio and Eagle Pass. It has been hailed by federal officials as a creative use of local and federal resources to tighten the border.

    While other border sectors avoided strict enforcement because they did not have enough jail space or prosecutors, authorities in the Del Rio area found bed space elsewhere in the region, assigned federal agents to help prosecute cases and began running illegal immigrants through a courtroom at a rate of one case per minute.

    Immigration advocates have criticized the practice, saying it only moves the problem elsewhere along the border and may sacrifice civil liberties for the sake of efficiency.

    "There's nothing we're doing that wasn't already on the books," said Hilario Leal Jr., a supervisory Border Patrol agent in the Del Rio sector. "It's nothing new. We just started enforcing the law."

    The Del Rio sector also ended the widespread practice of "catch-and-release" that freed most non-Mexican immigrants with a piece of paper ordering them to show up in federal immigration court a month later - and almost no one did.

    Most Mexican citizens with no criminal record who cross outside the Del Rio sector are still escorted back shortly after their arrest. Those from other countries are held in a detention center - not as criminals serving time - while the paperwork is being completed to return them to their home countries.

    But in the Del Rio sector, every adult illegal immigrant, regardless of their home country, is criminally prosecuted and removed from the country after they have served his sentence.

    "They know if they come (to Del Rio) they are going home, they are going to jail," Leal said.

    Before the effort began, illegal immigrants came across the river near Del Rio in droves, with Central and South American citizens often surrendering to agents because they knew they would be let go - after receiving food, water, medical care and sometimes a ride to a bus station, along with their notice to appear in court.

    In recent years, the situation had become so hectic that Del Rio sector agents were lucky if they patrolled the border for two hours during an eight or 10-hour shift, Agent Cynthia Bilyk said. The rest of their time was spent processing the immigrants.

    Agents in the sector were averaging about 500 arrests a day, Leal said. Now there are fewer than 100 daily arrests, and the reforms are credited with reducing arrests by about 29 percent so far this fiscal year.

    While the changes have curbed arrests, freed up agents and other resources, they have not slowed the traffic at the federal courthouse.

    The day Portillo-Machado stood shackled and handcuffed in the courtroom, he was surrounded by more than 30 defendants facing the same charge. The judge handled about one guilty plea a minute.

    When his name was called, Portillo-Machado said "Cupable," which means guilty in Spanish. He then asked the judge for forgiveness and was later sentenced to 120 days in jail.

    Court staff said the day's docket was light in comparison with the average crowd of would-be immigrants that often overflows the courtroom.

    Magistrate Judge Dennis Green said the cases are heard quickly, but each defendant meets with a court-appointed lawyer before going to court. If there is any question about an immigrant's potential defense, that person's case is heard separately, the judge said.

    The federal court's two Del Rio magistrate judges are hearing about 2,100 cases a month. Their counterparts farther from the border in West Texas are averaging about 140.

    Opponents say the process just pushes the problem to other sectors.

    "The border is like a balloon," said El Paso immigration lawyer Felipe D.J. Millan. "If it expands in one area, guess what? It still comes in from another area."

    Millan also worries that the reforms in the Del Rio sector and a similar plan in southern New Mexico are simply backdoor efforts to criminalize immigrants.

    "It's a wasted resource," Millan said. "It's a way of criminalizing someone who just wants to come here and work."


    All content copyright © 1999-2006 AzStarNet, Arizona Daily Star and its wire services and suppliers and may not be republished without permission. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the expressed written consent of Arizona Daily Star or AzStarNet is prohibited.

    starnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/143533.php
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  2. #2
    Senior Member loservillelabor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Loserville KY
    Posts
    4,799
    Immigration advocates
    Advocates of criminal invasion of our country have nothing to do wth immigration. Immigration is a legal process. Where did our media writers go to school? Geeez
    Unemployment is not working. Deport illegal alien workers now! Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  3. #3
    Senior Member AlturaCt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Roanoke, VA
    Posts
    1,890
    For real loservillelabor.


    Immigration advocates have criticized the practice, saying it only moves the problem elsewhere along the border and may sacrifice civil liberties for the sake of efficiency.
    Exactly and that is why we need to do this on the whole border. Thank you for pointing out that deficiency. Isn't team work great?
    [b]Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.
    - Arnold J. Toynbee

  4. #4
    Senior Member moosetracks's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Kentucky
    Posts
    3,118
    Dagnabit! They are criminals! Crossing the border made it so!

    These bleeding hearts we have here are giving me a giant pain!
    Do not vote for Party this year, vote for America and American workers!

  5. #5
    Senior Member CCUSA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    7,675
    The El Paso immigration lawyer Felipe D.J.Millan is whining when he says,

    " This is a way to criminalizing people who just want to come here and work".

    He better get use to having the laws already on the books enforced! There are rules to abide by before coming here to work! It's against the law to just walk over the border ILLEGALLY!! The American citizens eyes are now on the border and that is what we are all talking about securing! What part of against the law does this LAWYER not get?!!

    No sympathy here! If they are willing to break the law to come here, what other laws are they going to break?! I already know and the list is a mile wide!

    [/quote]
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    7,377
    BEing an immigration attorney, Mr. Millan probably wants longer, drawn out immigration cases - he can make more money that way.

    Good for Del Rio -

    The answer is simple - if every place did this, we would have no problem.

    But for those who say it is criminalizing them - they criminalized themselves.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  7. #7
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Heart of Dixie
    Posts
    36,012
    nntrixie wrote;

    Good for Del Rio -

    The answer is simple - if every place did this, we would have no problem.

    But for those who say it is criminalizing them - they criminalized themselves.
    I agree with you 100%.
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Pickerington, Ohio
    Posts
    96
    Immigration advocates have criticized the practice, saying it only moves the problem elsewhere along the border and may sacrifice civil liberties for the sake of efficiency.

    Man! I am so sick of hearing this! civil rights and liberties are for citizens of the USA not illegal invaders!!
    "What will you do without freedom"

  9. #9
    Senior Member WavTek's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    1,431
    "There's nothing we're doing that wasn't already on the books," said Hilario Leal Jr., a supervisory Border Patrol agent in the Del Rio sector. "It's nothing new. We just started enforcing the law."
    It's amazing what you can do when you just do your job. We don't need immigration reform, just immigration enforcement.
    REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!

  10. #10
    Administrator ALIPAC's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Gheen, Minnesota, United States
    Posts
    67,706
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •