Thread: ICE Aents Show Interviews of Suspected Illegals

ICE Aents Show Interviews of Suspected Illegals
Reported by: Fields Moseley
Last Update: 2/10 10:51 pm


Every day in Utah, immigration agents are going to local jails to speak to inmates. Tuesday we received a rare look at those meetings where they try to determine if they are illegal... and if they should be deported.


Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they remove about 200 people a month from the state of Utah. Every case is different, but often it starts with a minor offense, that finally brings the law to their door.


An ICE agent and Utah County Sheriff’s deputies led inmates into a small room at the jail. It was uninteresting with a handful of tables and chairs. But today, there was a line of photographers and reporters against one wall.


The ICE agent asks some basic questions of the man which he answered freely in Spanish. His name, birth date, where he is from and he came to be in jail. He freely admitted he’s been in the United States for years so he could earn a living and have a better life. Then he was pulled over by a police officer.


"He was driving with a suspended driver's license and he figured he had taken care of that and he found out he wasn't," the ICE agent translates.


The man spoke freely about getting into the country in 1999 and having to go back to Mexico. He says he returned in 2003 and hoped to stay.

"He's not afraid of living here at all because he knows this country is safe. He does have to be careful to live the laws and do what is basically, right," the agent interprets for us.

Other than the reporters in the room, this is a scene that repeats itself in jails and state prisons around the country.


"Every day, throughout the state of Utah," says ICE Field Office Director, Steven Branch.

We saw three men Tuesday and even though their original offense was relatively minor, Branch maintains they are committed to the process. He says it’s not about protecting American jobs, but protecting the country.


"It's important that we as an agency take action with these cases and put them through the deportation process and affect their removal before they can commit a more serious crime," according to Branch.

Enrique Valle was the only English speaker interviewed this day. He came to the US in December, 2001 on a visitor visa, but never left. He admitted to having a wife in Utah County with him and working as a welder making art sculptures.


"Unfortunately, the working situation over there is not good for decent way of living you know," Valle said as he spoke of his native Mexico.

Valle is accused of the most serious crime among the three, having a forged social security card, which is a felony.


"I bought it, and I just came up with a number out of the air. As far as I know I wasn't stealing anyone's identity because I just threw that number up in the air," he said.

Valle says he wanted a work visa, but like many others in his situation, he was afraid.


"If I was sent back, I would try to do everything the right way," he said. "If I can come back, I really don't want to cause more trouble for this country, because to be honest, it's been great to me."

Director Branch said while the offenses are often minor, the bottom line is the violation of federal law, being in the country illegally. He does say every case is different and they often have to take family matters into consideration.

www.kutv.com

February 10, 2009
Crimes sending illegals home
Federal and state agencies working together on problem
By Sara Israelsen-Hartley

Deseret News

Published: February 11, 2009
SPANISH FORK — Sitting in the Utah County Jail in a blue and white jumpsuit, Pedro Dominguez-Reyes calmly answered questions about his status in the country.

"When you came in the first time, was it legally or illegally? With papers or without?" the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent asked in Spanish.

"Without papers," Reyes answers quickly.

Reyes, 27, says he was arrested by the border police in Arizona in February 1999 but agreed to return to Mexico voluntarily.

In October 2003, he made it back to the United States, and he's been working as a welder ever since.

Now, six years later, Reyes, a Mexican national, is in the Utah County Jail after a ticket he thought he paid ended up in a revoked driver's license and he got pulled over and arrested.

In less than a week, he should be on his way back to Mexico to see his wife and child, holding no bitterness for the officials who discovered him and deported him.

"It's their job," he said in Spanish. "In one way, it's good, because I can see my family. They can't come here."

Reyes is one of 119 illegal immigrants being housed in the Utah County Jail and managed by ICE, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE officials visited the jail Tuesday to discuss their Criminal Alien Program and provide education about their efforts to combat illegal immigration.

There are no ICE detention facilities in Utah, so ICE contracts with county jails to hold immigrants, like Reyes, who have broken the law and are facing criminal charges. While waiting, ICE agents interview them to determine their nationality, and inform them of their rights to talk with a judge before being deported.

For the past three years, the number of immigrants in the jail has been increasing, jail officials said. In 2006, the jail housed 909 illegal immigrants, in 2007 the number jumped to 1,179. And during 2008 the jail had housed 1,458 illegals.

"Illegal aliens (present) an issue that needs to be resolved," said Utah County Sheriff's Capt. John Carlson. "It's a service that needs to be provided."

The jail is happy to house the immigrants, because they're paid by ICE for the detainees, and it helps keep their facilities full if the local population is down, Carlson said.

It's also a positive partnership for the ICE agents, who benefit from the work done by local law enforcement.

"We don't have resources to go out on the street and arrest everyone (who is here illegally)," said Steve Branch, field office director for ICE's Office of Detention and Removal in Salt Lake City. "But once they become involved in criminal activity, it's time for us to step up and take responsibility. Even for the minor crimes, we need to take action before something bigger happens."

But it's a tough job, Branch says. He mentions polite inmates like Reyes, who are driven to the United States because of what Reyes calls "necessities."

"I'm not a bad person who uses drugs and kills people," Reyes said in Spanish. "I'm working to (support) my family, that's all."

But even the most law-abiding illegal immigrant is still breaking a fundamental law. And it's Branch's job to enforce it.

Another inmate, Enrique Valle, came to the United States from Mexico on a traveler's visa. But instead of staying for the allowed six months, he stayed for almost six years.

The 24-year-old was arrested Monday for forgery, after he bought a social security card and made up a number.

And now, like Reyes, he'll be sent back to Mexico, where jobs are scarce.

"I don't know what I'll go back to," he said. "I really don't."

He says he should have applied for a working visa, but fear held him back. Fear of speaking up, being noticed, rejected and deported.

"If I (am) sent back, I'll try to do everything right (to come back)," Valle said. "I don't want to cause any more trouble to this country. It's been great to me. I'll figure out a way to come here legally or I'll stay in Mexico."

http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705284168,00.html