Thread: deportation

Six Hispanic teenagers in the United States illegally since childhood were turned over to federal immigration authorities yesterday for deportation after pleading guilty to charges that normally carry no jail time.

In Forsyth District Court, six sheriff's deputies stood squarely behind the teenagers as they got up individually and pleaded guilty to a string of car break-ins and thefts last winter in Forsyth County.

Relatives sitting a few rows behind them sobbed as Mireille Clough, a defense attorney, asked for leniency for her client, Oscar Omar Dominguez Parral, 17. She described Dominguez as a high-school student with good grades.

"The decision to come to this country was not his. Unfortunately, the decision to leave is not his either," Clough said.

The teenagers, all from Winston-Salem and 16 or 17 when arrested, are natives of Mexico who have lived in this country since they can remember, defense attorneys said.

Besides Dominguez, the teenagers facing deportation are Jose Adrian Avarca-Barrientos, Jose Barrientos Gallardo, Oscar Gallardo Jimenez, Mario Jhamager Tapia and Christian Ramirez Navidad. A seventh teenager, who is a U.S. citizen, is being treated separately as a juvenile.

Because none of the six in court yesterday had a prior record, they would have left the courtroom with no possibility of jail time had they been U.S. citizens. Their charges would not have risen to the level of a deportable offense, either, if the amount of damage they had caused had been less than $19,000. But it was a lot more.

Last winter, riding around Kernersville, Winston-Salem and parts of Forsyth County, the teenagers used slingshots and ball bearings to shoot out car windows and steal an untold number of compact discs and stereos. They caused $26,652 in damage, authorities said.

By pleading guilty, the teenagers forfeited any possibility of returning to the United States or of becoming naturalized, prosecutors said. If they try to re-enter the country, they risk serving as much as 10 years in prison. They were taken to jail pending a deportation hearing, which must be held before they can be sent back to Mexico.

There were so many misdemeanor charges that the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office couldn't list all of them in a news release. Prosecutors merely said that there were hundreds of misdemeanors and more than 80 felonies of breaking and entering motor vehicles.

Before the sentencing, defense attorneys gave emotional speeches about whether deportation was a fair punishment for what one later called "glorified vandalism.'' The defense attorneys stressed that some of the teenagers had younger relatives at home who were U.S. citizens. But the judge, who had no authority to change the deportation order, said that it was a fair punishment.

Speaking directly to the teenagers, Judge Denise Hartsfield said that as a black woman, she empathized with the Hispanic teens as minorities. But she told them that the punishment would be felt more by their families. The freedom and opportunity for which the parents had worked also comes with responsibilities, she said.

"You weren't willing to latch onto the rules and regulations of this country," Hartsfield said.

The type of felony the six teenagers were charged with normally carries a penalty of six months community punishment. Because they had no prior record, the misdemeanor charge normally comes with a penalty of 45 days of community service.

The parents of the youths were allowed to stand next to their child as each pleaded guilty, but at the end of the proceeding, the teenagers were taken away. In a hallway outside the courtroom, one of the mothers, Clotilde Parral, said that she didn't know what she would do now. Her son faces a life in a country that he barely knows. Meanwhile, she has a younger son, a U.S. citizen, who may have to go, too, as she decides whether to return to Mexico herself.

"Maybe I'll probably go," Parral said, crying. "It's not fair."

http://www.journalnow.com/scripts/isapi ... yes#rrForm

I like this judge.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT FAIR? I'LL TELL YOU ONE THING, IT'S NOT FAIR THAT TWO BORDER PATROL AGENTS FACE 20 YRS IN PRISION FOR DOING THEIR JOB. YOU BROKE THE LAW AND SHOULD BE DEPORTED ALONG WITH YOUR SON WHO COMMITTED CRIMES. THANK GOD THIS JUDGE HAS SOME COMMON SENSE.

It's not fair! If those parents really appreciated their lives in America, they would have kept their children from committing crimes. They let their unsupervised hoodlums bring home all the stuff they stole from the cars. They ignored what they were doing. The parents are just as guilty as the thugs. Ship them all out of here. You know those parents will just move and then sneak their little criminal back in.

Dixie

It's not fair....A lesson I think most of learned very early in life is that....Life is not fair.

That being said the ruling in this case is entirely just and fair and they should be deported. I am assuming the mother is here illegally also and should be deported as well and she can take her anchor baby with her.

This Judge has a bright future. This article made my day.

The parents of the youths were allowed to stand next to their child as each pleaded guilty, but at the end of the proceeding, the teenagers were taken away.

For the life of me, I'll never understand why we aren't taking advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. Why didn't immigration officials arrest the parents right there in the court room?

Folks we have a problem and attempting to remain politically correct is not going to fix it!

Let's hope they stay in mexico and don't sneak back into the U.S.

I have a feeling they'll be on their way back once their feet hit mexican soil.

To begin with, to have these people going through the court system cost money to the taxpayers, and they are not citizens of this country. All these families with their children should have been deported without spending taxpayers money in court. These children would be the future gang members.

Did you see that woman? Could not take care of that boy, and had other children born in this country? Why? Because they know that by having "anchor babies" the law protects them. And who knows what the end result would be when LA RAZA interferes. That we would not know.

Meanwhile, she has a younger son, a U.S. citizen, who may have to go, too, as she decides whether to return to Mexico herself.

"Maybe I'll probably go," Parral said, crying.

For heaven's sake.....GO...PLEASE GO!!! AND DON'T COME BACK!