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  1. #1
    Senior Member FedUpinFarmersBranch's Avatar
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    CO-'Failure of the system'

    'Failure of the system'
    Despite tough laws, driver managed to slip through cracks
    Judi Villa
    Wednesday, September 10, 2008

    Brian Lehmann / The Rocky

    An array of candles, photos, food and stuffed animals have been left outside a Baskin-Robbins in Aurora in remembrance of Marten Kudlis, 3, who was killed Thursday night when two vehicles crashed into the ice cream shop. Two women were also killed.

    Brian Lehmann / The Rocky

    Lydia Wilson, 5, touches a teddy bear at a memorial for Marten Kudlis, 3, who was killed inside a Baskin-Robbins near East Mississippi Avenue and South Havana Street in Aurora Thursday night.
    Related LinksDOCUMENT: Text of Senate Bill 06-90 Colorado House Bill 1023 SLIDE SHOW: Memorial at Baskin-Robbins Related StoriesTragedy may spur legislation Crash vehicle had been impounded in July More Local NewsDenver teachers approve three-year contract Youngest victim in Baskin-Robbins crash mourned Person wounded in Capitol Hill shooting More stories » Story Tools
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    What is this?
    Colorado is supposed to have some of the toughest immigration laws in the country.

    Yet, an illegal immigrant managed to be arrested nearly 20 times over the past five years and remain free until he allegedly caused a car crash last week that killed two women and a toddler.

    Now, the governor says the system failed and police are pointing the finger at federal immigration officials.

    But officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement say it just may be that Francis Hernandez, 23, had masqueraded as a U.S. citizen for so long that he flew under the radar.

    Police and immigration officials insist they are doing their part to enforce a 2006 state law designed to identify and deport illegal immigrants.

    Statewide, Colorado law enforcement agencies forwarded the names of 16,000 suspected illegal immigrants to ICE last year.

    In fiscal year 2007, which ended last Sept. 30, ICE identified 4,545 illegal immigrants in Colorado's jails and prisons, said ICE spokesman Tim Counts. Nearly 5,600 illegal immigrants were deported. The number deported is higher because it includes some illegal immigrants identified in earlier years.

    This fiscal year, through Aug. 4, ICE has deported 4,792 illegal immigrants from Colorado, Counts said.

    "We are working very hard. We are being very responsive," Counts said. "I understand some law enforcement may feel frustrated if we're not there when they snap their fingers. But like all law enforcement, we have finite resources."

    The Center for Immigration Studies estimates Colorado's immigrant population at 435,000. Nearly one-third of those people are believed to be here illegally.

    Across the country, crimes involving illegal immigrants have become a lightning rod for criticism and fiery rhetoric, and it's no different in Colorado.

    The arrest of Hernandez and the subsequent revelation that he is an illegal immigrant from Guatemala has renewed a long-simmering and often acrimonious debate about immigration reform.

    Hernandez is accused of broadsiding a pickup truck Thursday in Aurora, sending both vehicles careening into a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop.

    Two women in the pickup, Debbra Serecky, 51, of Aurora, and Patricia Guntharp, 49, of Centennial, were killed as was Marten Kudlis, 3, of Aurora, who was in Baskin- Robbins with his mother.

    Aurora police said Arapahoe County sheriff's officials referred Hernandez to ICE on their behalf after Hernandez was arrested for speeding and driving without a valid license on April 25.

    Counts said Tuesday that officials could find no record of an April referral. In fact, Counts said Hernandez was never referred to ICE before last week's fatal crash.

    Aurora police spokesman Bob Friel said Tuesday he stands by his department's assertion.

    "He never got deported as a result of being arrested a lot of different times over a few years, and that's a failure of the system," Gov. Bill Ritter said Tuesday on 850- KOA News radio.

    Ritter later said, "This is something we clearly have to fix. This is a problem."

    Hernandez may have slipped through the cracks because most of his offenses stemmed from traffic-related misdemeanors and because he used numerous aliases and dates of birth.

    When he was arrested in Aurora in April, he had a recent pay stub with him, and officers noted that he spoke English. Hernandez said he was born in California.

    Republican state Sen. Tom Wiens, author of the 2006 bill, said the law, for the most part, has worked as it was supposed to because it has held law enforcement agencies accountable for making referrals when they come into contact with suspected illegal immigrants. He said ICE also seems to be making a "genuine effort" to respond to police referrals.

    Law enforcement officials say they are taking people like Hernandez off the streets every day.

    Jefferson County officials said they hold about five illegal immigrants a day for ICE. In Adams County, sheriff's officials made 1,915 queries to ICE last year. This year, they have made 1,625. Aurora police said they referred about 2,500 suspected illegal immigrants to ICE last year.

    At the Colorado Department of Public Safety, 23 troopers were specially trained last year to enforce immigration laws during routine traffic stops.

    In its first year, the unit processed about 920 undocumented foreign nationals, said spokesman Lance Clem. Among those were 21 wanted felons and 188 foreign nationals with criminal backgrounds that included multiple felonies, drug charges and DUIs.


    Funeral services

    * Patricia Guntharp: 7 p.m. today at Horan & McConaty Chapel, 11150 E. Dartmouth Ave., Aurora.

    * Debbie Serecky: Pending

    * Marten Kudlis: 10 a.m. today at Fairmount Cemetery, 430 S. Quebec St., Denver, CO 80247, 303-399-0697. Flowers may be sent there. A Marten Kudlis Memorial Fund has been established at Bank of the West, Denver Branch, 1550 17th St., Denver, CO 80202, 303-202-5730.


    Timeline of the collision and capture of hit-and-run suspect Francis Hernandez Sept. 4.

    * 8:02 p.m.: Aurora police respond to a collision on Havana Street near East Mississippi Avenue. Witnesses say a Chevy Suburban speeding south on Havana fails to stop at a red light at Mississippi.

    The SUV hits a northbound Mazda truck making a left-hand turn from Havana.

    The vehicles strike a power box and are propelled through the window of a Baskin-Robbins, hitting 3-year-old Marten Kudlis.

    Witnesses see the SUV driver run away.

    * 8:18 p.m.: The occupants of the Mazda, Patricia Guntharp and Debra Serecky, are pronounced dead at the scene.

    * 8:38 p.m.: Marten Kudlis dies at Children's Hospital.

    * 9 p.m.: Francis Hernandez calls a friend, Brenda Aleman, to come and get him at Hooters, 2610 S. Parker Road. Hernandez says he fled because he had no insurance and no driver's license.

    When Aleman arrives, Hernandez starts to cry, saying he believes he just killed four people. Hernandez says the Mazda caused the accident by turning left in front of him.

    Through insurance papers in the Suburban and interviews, police find Hernandez at Aleman's Denver apartment and arrest him.

    Source: Warrantless arrest statement filed by police officers Sept. 8 in Arapahoe County Court.


    http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2 ... he-system/
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  2. #2
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    Too many Americans are losing their lives due to illegal immigration but many of our leaders are not waking up. The illegal who killed the women and child is a coward. Illegal immigrants are cowards the moment they step into this country illegally they throw personal responsibility out of the window.
    ProEnglish:The English Language Advocates
    http://www.proenglish.org/

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