Thread: Ex-INS agent offers border solutions in book

February 18, 2008 - 1:15AM
Ex-INS agent offers border solutions in book
Comments 6| Recommend 2
Mike Sakal, Tribune
Better ways to deal with the illegal immigration issue exist, a retired special agent from the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service writes in a new book soon to be available locally.

In "Immigration Chaos: Solutions to an American Crisis," Scottsdale resident Neville Cramer discusses the Scottsdale Unified School District's having hired contract workers who later committed crimes on school campuses.

Cramer offers solutions of how to better check the citizenship of individuals before they are employed.

The 284-page book, printed by Ashland, Ohio-based Atlas Books, contains 22 chapters on topics such as showing weaknesses in U.S. immigration documents, immigration enforcement roles of local and state government, Arizona's new employer sanctions law and securing U.S. borders.

It currently may be ordered from the publisher but is expected to be on shelves within weeks.

The book discusses the question of where liability lies when businesses do not go beyond fingerprinting and criminal background checks in hiring.

"If someone sneaks across the border and they've never been arrested here, they won't come up in a criminal or fingerprint check," said Cramer, who served in the Justice Department for more than 26 years. Cramer also built the E-Verification Check system for INS, now known as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, several years ago.

It verifies within minutes whether an individual's identification number on documents such as a Social Security card, a Green Card or visa or an alien registration number are valid.

"The system works, and that's why a lot of businesses don't want to use it," Cramer said.

The book cites two incidents with Scottsdale ties involving illegal immigrants from Mexico who committed violent crimes.

One is the conviction of Roberto Lemus-Retana, the former janitor who worked inside Scottsdale Saguaro High School and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in a restroom and classroom in August 2006.

Lemus-Retana, 27, used an invalid alien registration number on an application form to acquire his job, according to ICE spokespeople.

Lemus-Retana was sentenced to 80 years in prison in July.

The other incident is about the death of Phoenix police officer Nick Erfle, who was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant from Mexico during a jaywalking arrest Sept. 18. Erik Martinez, who had a Scottsdale warrant out for his arrest, killed Erfle before being fatally shot by other officers, police said.

Martinez was wanted on outstanding warrants in various jurisdictions. He was arrested in Scottsdale on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend in May 2006, but he posted $300 bail and a warrant was issued after he did not show up for a hearing in Scottsdale City Court.

Since Erfle's death, the Scottsdale Police Department has changed its policy to now verify the citizenship status of those arrested in the city.

In the book, Cramer writes that Scottsdale school officials and Lemus-Retana's employer relied heavily on the fingerprint checks.

The Scottsdale district currently contracts with at least 21 entities that have a significant presence on school campuses, according to information from the district.

However, in a December e-mail message to a Tribune reporter, Kim Clark, then-attorney for the Scottsdale school district, wrote that "the district does not have a good way of running a report that shows just those vendors who are in regular contact with the students."

On Tuesday, Scottsdale public schools officials received copies of the pages of Cramer's book detailing the Lemus-Retana incident and criticizing the district's hiring practices.

Officials at the district's headquarters did not return Tribune phone calls seeking comment. When contacted by the Tribune on Friday, Scottsdale school board president Karen Beckvar said she had seen the copies of the pages, but refused to comment, referring questions to other district officials.

The book also calls for a compliance division to work with businesses to ensure Arizona's employer sanctions law prohibiting businesses from hiring illegal immigrants is being enforced.

"Right now, there's no one to do this," Cramer said. "It's another part of the problem."
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/109245

Another good book is "the reapers line" "life and death on the border" by Lee Morgan.