Thread: Hiring illegals trumps law, agent alleges

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.a ... E_ID=54414

Hiring illegals trumps law, agent alleges
Federal immigration officer blames politics for fatal accident

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Posted: February 24, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com


An illegal alien involved in a traffic accident that killed a 64-year-old Kentucky woman probably was driving that night – instead of back in his own country through a deportation – because of political pressure local farmers applied to the county jailer, a federal agent has told WND.

WND already has reported that violence brought into the United States by illegal aliens costs about 12 American lives daily, and that a wave of gang-rapes has been linked to illegal aliens. It also has documented the death toll from illegal aliens on U.S. roads and how illegals who drink and drive cause further tragedies in the United States.

The newest case being reported adds to that list of impacts the unwelcome suggestion from the federal agent that at least this fatal accident could have been avoided by following the existing laws regarding illegal aliens, but that political influence interfered.

Area newspapers in Wayne County, Ky., tell the following story:


Jose A. Rodriguez, 23, was arrested and taken into custody on Feb. 9 after being released from a hospital where he was taken after an accident on Feb. 3 in which the 1996 Cavalier he was driving crossed the centerline on a highway and struck a Mercury driven by James Tuggle, 70, of Albany.
His wife, Betty Tuggle, 64, was a passenger in the Mercury and was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner's office in the county.

Murder and other charges including operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs subsequently were filed against Rodriguez, authorities said, while James Tuggle continued to recover from his life-threatening injuries.

The suspect was arraigned Feb. 13 in Wayne Circuit Court and was being held in the Wayne County Detention Center under a $500,000 cash bond.

However, a federal agent who asked to remain unidentified for the safety of his family told WND that the illegal alien in question has been known to go by other aliases, and had been arrested at least five previous times for alcohol-related offenses dating back to July, 2006.

"If the jail … had contacted me on his first arrest and incarceration in July, he would have been deported and Mrs. Tuggle would still be alive," he told WND. He said it should have been standard procedure in any arrest of any foreign national for those jailing the suspect to contact federal immigration officers.

But he said his investigative sources within the county told him the number of arrests of illegals he had made – in excess of 100 – had left farmers and businesses interests upset with a diminishing supply of labor.

They, in turn, suggested that County Jailer Ray Upchurch, not extend his work duties to include notifying the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement for every arrest of an illegal, or he would not have their support for a coming election, the federal agent told WND.

Upchurch told WND that it had been the jail policy to notify federal agents of the arrests of illegal immigrants, but that mostly is taken care of during the illegal's court appearances now.

"They handle it through the courts now," he said.

The federal agent, however, said that hasn't been the case in the past. He reported that officials in the jail were told not to notify ICE unless there was a felony involved. He reported that he and other federal agents had been responding to the region because of a wave of "big city crimes, rape, child molestations, gangs, drug and human trafficking and smuggling, burglaries, etc."

"Hundreds of successful raids, arrests, prosecutions and ultimate deportations sent a strong and resounding message to the community at large. The support of local law enforcement was instrumental to cleaning up this area, through the Criminal Alien Program, which is where state and local authorities notify federal agents when a foreign national is booked, subjecting them to a hold and possibly deportation.

"In 2005, thanks to the Wayne County Detention Center in Monticello, Ky., dozens of criminal aliens were identified, prosecuted and deported," he said. But early in 2006, the jailer "told me to not return to his facility and what right or authority I had to arrest every Mexican in his county."

He started asking his sources questions, and learned "local farmers were complaining about so many Mexicans being arrested, that if the jailer continues to cooperate with ICE, they would ensure he was not re-elected," he said.

The federal agent said he took his concerns to the Kentucky Attorney General's office and the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation but neither was able to help him resolve those issues.

Upchurch told WND the political issues of illegal immigrants don't affect his job. "That's somebody else's worry," he said. He said there are businesses in the region, however, that do hire a lot of Hispanics.

But the federal agent told WND that Betty Tuggle very likely would be alive today had he been notified of the suspect's first arrest – in July. "He would have been set up for deportation proceedings," he said.

At this point, the agent said, there is a federal detainer on the murder case defendant, so that when state charges reach a resolution, he would under no circumstances be freed.

"I am absolutely outraged and disgusted at the circumstances surrounding this story," the agent said. "

To bad it was not a farmer he killed!

I wonder if this story will be on Lou Dobbs? You can bet it won't be mentioned on NBC, CBS, or ABC. This is the kind of thing the American public needs to hear about!

How little the life of an American is worth these days. Farmers are worried about shortage of labor so they let someone who has 5 or 6 drunk driving charges continue to go free. If this can be proven then there should be some major lawsuits and the courts should be going after the farmers and unions.