Thread: Deported twice -- but he never left

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Deported twice -- but he never left

Updated: Sep 15, 2006 04:57 PM PDT


By ANNE SCHIEBER

GRAND RAPIDS -- They were caught not once, but twice. Illegal aliens who were told to leave the country and didn't, then committed crimes in West Michigan.

This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended 55 so- called criminal and fugitve aliens. It was part of a nationwide targeted enforcement known as Operation Return to Sender. They are fugitives because all of them were deported once and either never left the country or returned, illegally, again.

Eleven of the 55 have been convicted of other crimes in the U.S., 34 year old Dong Yi, from Korea was convicted for receiving and concealing stolen property and having a credit card making machine. Manuel Slazar-Garcia, 33, is from Mexico. He has multiple convictions including making a false identification to a police officer, assault to do great bodily harm, and burglary.

One of the aliens was being questioned in a new drug case when federal agents caught him. Biniam Tekeste, 30, is an illegal alien from Ethiopia. In 1993, after entering the U.S., he was arrested for breaking and entering. After serving time, he was supposed to be deported.

Instead, he remained or returned to the U.S.

In 2002, he was in trouble with the law in West Michigan again. This time, it was for drug dealing. He served time for about a year in Michigan prison and was released in 2005.

Why authorities failed to deport him twice is a mystery.

"Without looking at the file, I can't answer that specifically. But I can tell you he will be escorted by the U.S. back to Ethiopia," says Robin Baker, field office director for the Detention and Removal Operations Office in Detroit.

Baker says he believes most illegal aliens who commit crimes do exit the country but return. Baker says it is standard to escort convicted aliens out of the country after they serve their time.

Local authorities typically conduct an immigration investigation with all suspects. When an illegal alien is arrested, they notify federal immigration authorities. It is frustrating to them when these individuals end up in the community again. Prosecuting the aliens costs time and money. Taxpayers end up footing the bill when the convicted aliens have to serve time in prison or jail.

The Michigan Department of Corrections keeps tabs on birth origin of prisoners but does not know how many inmates are not U.S. citizens.

Operation Return to Sender will continue. This is the third round up in the Michigan/Ohio area since the program began.

The Michigan Department of Corrections keeps tabs on birth origin of prisoners but does not know how many inmates are not U.S. citizens.

This strikes me as totally crazy.....Why don't they know?? Doesn't being a citizen afford someone any kind of right? This is ridiculous!!