Thread: Dallas case underscores gaps in illegal re-entry prosecution

Dallas case underscores gaps in illegal re-entry prosecutions

11:49 PM CST on Friday, January 1, 2010

By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News


When Drug Enforcement Administration agents sat Jesus Anguiano Robles down for a debriefing after his arrest, they got something unexpected.

He admitted that the 269 grams of methamphetamine found in his house on Enchanted Lane in Buckner Terrace was his. As was the $12,780 cash in his bedroom.

The 45-year-old also told them he had been deported nine times and had a drug conviction.

"If this is true, he's probably a record-setter," said Brian Bates, a Houston attorney who sits on the board of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Robles was charged with possession with intent to distribute and pleaded guilty. He faces up to 10 years in prison when he's sentenced Feb. 1.

But he faces no charge for illegal re-entry after deportation, a federal crime that, under certain circumstances, can carry a 20-year sentence.

Why did Robles fall through the cracks?

The answer illustrates the decision-making that goes into how prosecutors deploy limited resources during a time of intense public rancor over immigration.

The case also highlights frustrations of law enforcement, particularly narcotics investigators, who find themselves arresting the same illegal immigrants over and over.

The DEA and other federal law enforcement agencies have "been saying this for 25 years: 'Why treat this as nothing?' " said Neville Cramer, a retired Immigration and Naturalization Service agent and author of Immigration Chaos: Solutions to an American Crisis. "They want these people put away."

The decision to not charge Robles with illegal re-entry comes at a time when illegal re-entry prosecutions edged out drug cases as the most frequent charge filed in the Northern District of Texas last fiscal year, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research organization that analyzes federal prosecutions.

Nationwide, immigration prosecutions, including for illegal re-entry, made up more than half of all federal criminal cases filed around the U.S., researchers said.

U.S. Attorney Jim Jacks in Dallas said that Robles' case was handled according to guidelines, which require a defendant to have been previously deported for an aggravated felony, such as robbery or rape, before they can be charged with illegal re-entry when once again being caught slipping into the country.

The maximum penalty under those circumstances is 20 years. Without the past aggravated felony, the punishment for illegal re-entry can be as low as two years in prison.

"We prosecute the worst of the worst," Jacks said.

Robles denied an interview request, and his lawyer declined to comment on his case.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok said the agency's records show five deportations for Robles, most from the 1990s with one in 2006. None involve aggravated felonies, he said. The prior deportations were either after he was arrested on minor charges or simply after he was found to be illegally in the country.

Robles' criminal history shows California arrests from 1986 to 1998 for narcotics possession, assault with a firearm, hit and run with property damage, giving a false name to a police officer, carrying a concealed weapon and receiving stolen property.

The narcotics and concealed weapons charges were dismissed, authorities said. The others were either misdemeanors or downgraded to misdemeanor charges.

In Dallas, Robles was convicted for driving while intoxicated in 1996 and resisting arrest the following year.

It's unclear what led the DEA to Robles in April, but after his drug arrest, federal immigration officials talked to the U.S. attorney's office about pursuing an illegal re-entry charge against him, Rusnok said.

"Locally, ICE presents for prosecution all re-entry cases that come into our custody," Rusnok said. "The U.S. attorney then determines whether to accept the cases for prosecution."

In weighing whether to charge Robles with illegal re-entry, prosecutors noted that his criminal history contained no aggravated felonies.

That made the potential maximum sentence two years for an illegal re-entry charge, which would have likely been folded into any sentence for the drug charges, which can bring up to 10 years in prison.

Immigration hard-liners argue that anybody entering the country illegally should be prosecuted on all available charges.

"We shouldn't be selectively enforcing the law," said Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, which sponsors citizen patrols along the Mexican border. "We won't have to enact any more laws. We'll enforce the ones we have."

Part of the problem is that immigration is such a hot topic that decision-makers prefer to focus on other crimes that are perceived to be more serious, said Cramer, the retired INS agent.

"Let's suppose the guy was smuggling guns across the border," Cramer said. "You think that [the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] isn't going to charge him with the first offense? If they found him doing this five times, he'd be in Leavenworth and would never the see the light of day. Re-entry is a felony. If you don't want to do anything about this, take the law off the books."

Bates, the Houston immigration lawyer, said that without setting priorities, the legal system would be rendered ineffective.

"If you try to be strong everywhere, you will be strong nowhere," Bates said. "Litigators, like generals, have to decide what their most important objectives are. Otherwise, they spend too much time doing things that don't make a bit of difference at the end of day."

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Nationwide, immigration prosecutions, including for illegal re-entry, made up more than half of all federal criminal cases filed around the U.S., researchers said.

So with this said. The private jails and prisons will lose money if the border is secured and enforcement is done. Oh the judges will get to be decreased or their workload will decrease more. How much does the judges get paid? And what benefits do they get again. The governmental system on immigration is working fine for some traitors to country.

No jobs, no resources, no money for the US citizens but the debt keeps increase. WHY?

Robles' criminal history shows California arrests from 1986 to 1998 for narcotics possession, assault with a firearm, hit and run with property damage, giving a false name to a police officer, carrying a concealed weapon and receiving stolen property.

The narcotics and concealed weapons charges were dismissed, authorities said. The others were either misdemeanors or downgraded to misdemeanor charges.

This is beyond pathetic! The sweetheart deals this guy got is disgusting. This country is nothing but a giant playground for these criminals, wehere they do as they damn well please while our spineless officials continue to do nothing.

I bet an American citizen, charged with only half of the things this guy has done, would have been locked away for decades.

In weighing whether to charge Robles with illegal re-entry, prosecutors noted that his criminal history contained no aggravated felonies.

That's because they kept getting dismissed our downgraded!