Thread: Wa - Border Patrol arrests legal immigrant

Border Patrol arrests legal immigrant




YouNews™Story Published: Feb 3, 2009 at 9:32 PM PST

Story Updated: Feb 3, 2009 at 9:32 PM PST
SEQUIM, Wash. (AP) - A legal immigrant arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in a traffic stop has been released from a detention center after a weekend of incarceration.

The Peninsula Daily News reports that Jose Antonio Hernandez, a Mexican-born immigrant, was riding in a car that was pulled over by Border Patrol agents here last Friday.

Hernandez, 28, who has held permanent resident status since 2000, was held because of convictions that may qualify him for deportation, Border Patrol spokesman Michael Bermudez said Monday.

The driver of the car, Daniel Rodriguez, 18, also of Sequim, was also arrested and was determined by the Border Patrol to be in this country illegally.

Hernandez was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, where illegal immigrants are held while waiting for deportation proceedings. He was released Monday.

Although Hernandez has been a legal resident, he has been convicted of reckless endangerment, which may qualify as an aggravated felony, the newspaper reported. He was also convicted of possessing a drug without a prescription.

"We're not fully sure if he is deportable," Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the Daily News. "We're going to look at those convictions and see if they make him removable. In the meantime, he is going to be released pending that further review."

Dankers said deportation proceedings have begun for Rodriguez.

Hernandez said Rodriguez had not violated any traffic laws before they were pulled over, adding that the agents didn't say why the two men were stopped.

Border Patrol spokesman Bermudez said an agent stopped the car after recognizing one of the men in the vehicle from previous encounters as eligible to be removed from the country.

"We just don't randomly pull vehicles over. There would have been a violation," Bermudez told the newspaper.

Hernandez has lived in Sequim for 17 years. His sister Erika Hernandez Vose said her family immigrated to the United States about 23 years ago. Hernandez has a 4-year-old son with his fiancee.

His sister said she and her brother are both applying to become U.S. citizens.

A person with a criminal record can apply for citizenship, depending on the type of crime. Murder and aggravated felonies bar permanent residents from obtaining citizenship. Other lesser crimes require a five-year span between conviction and the application for citizenship, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/38986259.html

His sister Erika Hernandez Vose said her family immigrated to the United States about 23 years ago. Hernandez has a 4-year-old son with his fiancee.

Would that have been right AFTER the Amnesty giveaway? The one I believed would only induce more Illegal Aliens to come here.

We're not fully sure if he is deportable," Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the Daily News. "We're going to look at those convictions and see if they make him removable. In the meantime, he is going to be released pending that further review."

How long should it take to come to some legal conclusion as to whether or not he is deportable under the law??? How about some sense of urgency here!

Further, why wasn't this analysis done at the time of his convictions! This is the essence of the problem! We have too many agencies that do not cooperate and or have any legal obligation to do so regarding immigrants (legal or illegal) who commit crimes in this country! They are simply released back into the community to often commit additional crimes.

Unfortunately, it often takes the death of someone (usually an innocent American citizen) before someone decides to do their jobs!