Thread: Deportation Warning Closes Case

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... -headlines

Deportation Warning Closes Case
Substitute judge tells an illegal immigrant to leave his courtroom or be sent back to Mexico.
By Sam Quinones
Times Staff Writer

8:26 PM PDT, July 19, 2006

A substitute judge hearing the case of an illegal immigrant seeking a restraining order against her husband threatened to turn her over to immigration officials if she didn't leave his courtroom.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Bruce R. Fink told Aurora Gonzalez during last week's hearing that he was going to count to 20 and that if she was still in his courtroom when he finished, he would have her arrested and deported to Mexico.

In an interview Wednesday, Fink said that the woman had admitted in court that she was in the country illegally and that he didn't want her to get in trouble with immigration officials.

"We have a federal law that says that this status is not allowed," Fink said. "You can't just ignore it. What I really wanted was to not give this woman any problems."

He said he thought the couple "obviously wanted to get back together" and that he was trying to avoid granting a restraining order that would keep them apart for at least a year. He said he also thought the court order might lead to Gonzalez's deportation, because her husband would not be able to continue helping her get legal residency.

Gonzalez could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Allan Parachini, spokesman for Los Angeles County Superior Court, said the July 14 incident was under review. "We will take appropriate action after a full investigation of the circumstances," he said, adding that Gonzalez was welcomed to refile for a restraining order.

In her initial court petition, Gonzalez alleged that Francisco Salgado, 51, her husband of six years, was "verbally and emotionally abusive" to her and their two young boys. Gonzalez, who moved into a domestic violence shelter last month, accused Salgado of referring to her with a derogatory term and threatening to call immigration authorities.

In last Friday's hearing in Pomona, Fink asked Gonzalez if she was in fact an illegal immigrant.

"I'm illegal," she said.

"I hate the immigration laws that we have," the judge responded, according to the court transcript, "but I think the bailiff could take you to the immigration services and send you to Mexico. Is that what you guys want?"

Fink then asked Salgado if he wanted his wife deported. Salgado replied he was helping his wife get her legal papers, according to the transcript.

"But she's an illegal alien, right?" Fink said. "She has no right to be here at this point, correct?

"Yes," Salgado said.

At that point, Fink warned Gonzalez to either leave his courtroom or risk arrest.

"I'm going to count to 20, and if you people have left this courtroom and disappeared, she isn't going to Mexico forthwith," Fink said, according to the court transcript. "One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. When I get to 20, she gets arrested and goes to Mexico."

After Gonzalez left the courtroom, Fink asked Salgado if he wanted to stay, and he said yes.

Fink then dismissed the case: "Well, she brought the proceedings, and if she's not here to go forward, I guess all of the requests are denied."

On Wednesday, Fink, who has been a family law attorney for 35 years, insisted he was seeking what he thought was an agreeable solution for both parties.

"What I saw was nothing more than some yelling and screaming between a husband and wife," he said.

"I also saw that they really didn't want to not be together anymore."

If he had issued the restraining order, Fink said, "we'd wind up with exactly the opposite of what these people wanted."

"The cure could be far worse than the illness," he said.

"I hate the immigration laws that we have," the judge responded, according to the court transcript, "but I think the bailiff could take you to the immigration services and send you to Mexico. Is that what you guys want?"

Man am I getting sick of these activist judges! What he thinks of our immigration laws is irrelavant. The judge should have ordered her deported immediately after she confessed to being illegal. Basically by allowing her to go free, he ignored his responsibility as an official of the law.

I wish someone would bring a lawsuit on his butt for picking and choosing the laws he wishes to enforce.

He should be taken off the bench! No one, especially a judge. A person who took an oath to enforce the laws of this country on behalf of the American people should ignore his duty.

As far as I am concerned this judge is a seperatist! He is no patriot!

Originally Posted by MW

"I hate the immigration laws that we have," the judge responded, according to the court transcript, "but I think the bailiff could take you to the immigration services and send you to Mexico. Is that what you guys want?"

Man am I getting sick of these activist judges! What he thinks of our immigration laws is irrelavant. The judge should have ordered her deported immediately after she confessed to being illegal. Basically by allowing her to go free, he ignored his responsibility as an official of the law.

I wish someone would bring a lawsuit on his butt for picking and choosing the laws he wishes to enforce.

I agree but did you notice this was in Los Angeles? People there aren't even afraid of being illegal so I'm surprised he did anything at all.

I agree but did you notice this was in Los Angeles? People there aren't even afraid of being illegal so I'm surprised he did anything at all.

You must be right about Los Angeles, because Aurora Gonzalez (illegal alien) had no fear in facing a judge to resolve her husband problems. Illegals in California certainly aren't living in the shadows!

Aiding and abetting while setting on the bench.


Yuh gotta respect them.

You have to respect them.

We have no choice. We have to respect them.


Of course, then again, if we are going to have any respect for ourselves we are going to have to start making some citizens arrest on the lowlifes that blatantly act in a treasonous manner.

P.S. If the person has been arrested and stopped more than once and repeatedly entered this country illegally I think it is a felony. The judges own court records would be more than enough evidence I would think. Even if she wasn't a felon they are still evidence of a crime against the United States.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 5523.story

L.A. Superior Court Drops Volunteer Judge Who Threatened to Deport Woman
Bruce R. Fink is removed from a list of substitute jurists after telling an illegal immigrant seeking a restraining order against her husband that he'd have her sent back to Mexico.
By Sam Quinones
Times Staff Writer

July 22, 2006

A substitute judge who refused to hear a woman's request for a restraining order against her husband because she was an illegal immigrant has been dropped from the roster of part-time judges used by the Los Angeles County Superior Court, an official said Friday.

Judge Pro Tem Bruce R. Fink was removed this week from the list of 1,200 lawyers used as voluntary substitute judges by the county, said Allan Parachini, spokesman for the court. The decision was made by a committee that oversees the program, he said.

At the same time, Aurora Gonzalez, the woman at the center of the controversy, resubmitted her request for a temporary restraining order and was granted one, Parachini said.

Gonzalez, who lives in a domestic violence shelter, could not be reached for comment.

Fink, an Orange family law attorney of 34 years, said he was unfazed by the court's decision.

"A lot of people run from controversy," he said. "It doesn't bother me. Remember, I was doing this as a volunteer."

The incident stems from a July 14 hearing on Gonzalez's request for a restraining order against Francisco Salgado, 51, her husband of six years. Gonzalez, a mother of two young boys, had accused Salgado of emotional and verbal abuse and of threatening to call immigration officials.

During the court proceeding in Pomona, Fink asked Gonzalez if she was an illegal immigrant, and she said yes.

He told her that he could have her arrested and deported. He then warned her that he was going to count to 20 and if she were still in his courtroom "she gets arrested and goes to Mexico."

At that point Gonzalez left, and the judge dismissed the case.

Fink later said that he was trying to help Gonzalez avoid problems with immigration officials, since she had just admitted to breaking a federal law.

But experts said that Gonzalez had no authority as a state judge to order an arrest for violation of a federal immigration law.

Removed for all the wrong reasons.