Thread: Duct Tape Babysitter May be Deported

Who knows if they are illegals but they definitely are idiots. They should be up on charges on child endangerment.

COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU PANDABEAR AND ISMITH1338

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_com ... 5_0_10_0_C

Port Isabel police deny wrongdoing in immigrant’s arrest
BY SERGIO CHAPA
The Brownsville Herald

July 9, 2006 — The Monday arrest of a Port Isabel babysitter convicted and deported for almost smothering a 5-month-old boy has started a fierce immigration debate based on allegations that local police are enforcing federal immigration laws.

Port Isabel police deny any wrongdoing but arrested Zayra Del Carmen Garcia-Rosas for aggravated assault and child endangerment charges based on an April 23, 2005, incident.

Based on a plea agreement for the child endangerment charge, Judge Menton Murray with the 103rd state District Court gave the 22-year-old Mexican woman five years probation and ordered that she be processed for deportation during a June 2005 decision.

Federal court records show that Garcia-Rosas was deported on Dec. 15, 2005, but that she returned to the United States and was temporarily detained by Port Isabel police for “investigative purposes” on Monday.

Nathan Selzer with the Harlingen-based Valley Movement for Human Rights and Proyecto Libertad said his group does not condone Garcia-Rosas’ crime but believes her Monday arrest was illegal and was prompted by turning down the unwanted sexual advances of a Port Isabel police officer.

“The police should not be enforcing immigration law,” Selzer said. “He had no probable cause to stop and detain her. He’s not a Border Patrol agent.”

Federal records show that Garcia-Rosas now faces up to 20 years in prison as a criminal alien, but Selzer said she needs a kidney transplant and suffers from other health problems after having a miscarriage in jail last year.

“Her family has contacted the Mexican Consulate to make sure she receives proper medical attention,” he said.

Selzer said the area’s fishing and service economy is dependent on immigrants who have already reported that they are living in a “climate of fear” created by Port Isabel police enforcing immigration law.

Garcia-Rosas’ arrest is an example of an ongoing problem in the community, he said.

“Nobody wins when a battered immigrant woman remains in an abusive relationship,” Selzer said. “Some people don’t call the police because they’re afraid.”

Port Isabel police Capt. Daniel Marchan said Garcia-Rosas’ Monday arrest was legal and done under the authority of an outstanding warrant from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which was based on a report by the Cameron County Probation Department. The report stated she violated her probation by re-entering the country illegally.

“(ICE) contacted us and asked us to detain her,” he said. “This is a small town, and it was a high-profile case. Everybody here at the police department is familiar with her and her case.”

Marchan said if any resident has a complaint against an officer they can come to him or Police Chief Joel Ochoa.

Both Marchan and Selzer agreed that authorities need the cooperation of the entire community to solve and prevent crime.

Marchan said Port Isabel police are considering an outreach campaign or holding a public meeting to allay fears among immigrants in the 5,500-person seaside community.

“We’re not enforcing immigration law,” Marchan said. “We have enough crime here that ties us up.”

schapa@brownsvilleherald.com

Federal records show that Garcia-Rosas now faces up to 20 years in prison as a criminal alien, but Selzer said she needs a kidney transplant and suffers from other health problems after having a miscarriage in jail last year.

“Her family has contacted the Mexican Consulate to make sure she receives proper medical attention,” he said.

Who is up for donating a kidney? Not only do we support illegals, now we are going to give them internal organs