Thread: ICE: Man arrested at Rome farm deported 3 times previously

By Edward Harris /
Posted at 1:34 PM
Updated at 7:44 PM

A Guatemalan man arrested Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while working on a Rome farm had been living in the United States illegally and was charged Thursday with a felony immigration offense, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Marcial DeLeon-Aguilar, 31, had his initial appearance Thursday in United States District Court in Syracuse. He was held without bail pending a Tuesday hearing.

He is charged with unlawfully re-entering the United States following previous removal. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and possible deportation if found guilty, according to prosecutors.

A statement from ICE on Thursday also said that DeLeon-Aguilar was removed three times previously from the United States.

On Wednesday, John Collins said he was working on his Thomas Road farm with another worker at about 8 a.m. when he overheard people talking with DeLeon-Aguilar, a citizen of Guatemala, inside a nearby barn.

Collins said he went into the barn and found three men detaining DeLeon-Aguilar. The men did not have any official insignia on their clothes or markings on their cars that were parked across the street, he said.

The farmer asked what was going on and one of the men showed a badge and said they were taking Aguilar into custody. Collins said the men did not produce a warrant when asked for it.

According to the criminal complaint released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the ICE agents said they approached the milking parlor area (the barn) in an effort to locate an owner or manager of the farm. The complaint further stated that when entering the barn, the agents saw a man matching the description of DeLeon-Aguilar.

The agents said DeLeon-Aguilar tried to flee, but was captured and admitted that he was in the country illegally.

ICE officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but issued a statement about the arrest Thursday.

“ICE previously removed DeLeon-Aguilar from the U.S. on three occasions, most recently in January 2014,” officials said via email. “He has criminal convictions for reckless aggravated assault and illegal re-entry and is currently in ICE custody.”

DeLeon-Aguilar was removed from the country in February 2008, in June 2011 and January 2014, according to the criminal complaint.

In respect to the warrant issue, the ICE statement did not specify whether the agents displayed a warrant prior to the arrest.

“With respect to judicial warrants, federal immigration law clearly provides for the arrest of removable aliens based on administrative arrest warrants issued by authorized immigration officers,” the statement reads. “Federal regulations specify which immigration officers have this authority.”

The statement also said “aliens who illegally re-enter the country after removal can face federal felony charges punishable by up to 20 years in prison, if convicted.”

Collins said that Aguilar had worked for him for nine months and had all the proper required paperwork. Aguilar lived in a home on Collin’s property with his four children — who were present during the raid — and his wife, Virginia.

Collins said Aguilar’s wife previously was detained when she and the children entered the country illegally. He said she was given an ankle bracelet and was allowed to come to the farm because of the children.

His wife was seeing a doctor as she is expecting the couple’s fifth child, Collins said, and was therefore not present during Wednesday’s detainment.

http://www.uticaod.com/news/20180419...mes-previously

It's just nauseating. All of it. So despicable our country and people have to deal with this disaster.

"His wife was seeing a doctor as she is expecting the couple’s fifth child, Collins said, and was therefore not present during Wednesday’s detainment."

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And who is paying for this Doctor? Go home...they have hospitals in Guatemala!

Deport the WHOLE family. Go home and get on birth control.

Give the FARMER the medical bills to pay for!

Updated 10:40 AM; Posted 10:41 AM

By Don Cazentre
NYup.com

SYRACUSE, NY -- Marcial De Leon-Aguilar, the undocumented worker at the center of a disputed immigration raid on a Rome dairy farm last week, will remain in detention, a federal magistrate ruled today.

De Leon-Aguilar, a native of Guatemala charged with illegral entry into the United States, is "a serious risk of flight," Magistrate Andrew Baxter said at a detention hearing today in U.S. District Court in Syracuse. Baxter scheduled the next hearing in the case for May 3.

Baxter noted that De Leon-Aguilar has been deported three times since 1997 -- once after an aggravated assault conviction and twice after illegal re-entry to the United States.

Those circumstances give De Leon-Aguilar "incentive to disappear into the country," Baxter said.

Baxter also noted that even had he agreed to release De Leon-Aguilar on the criminal charge of re-entering the U.S. after deportation, he would have been held "administratively" due to his immigration status.

Defense lawyer Juan Rodriguez, appointed through the federal defender's office, had argued that De Leon-Aguilar did not pose a flight risk because he is a the sole supporter of his family, which includes his wife, Virginia, and 4 minor children. Virginia is seven months pregnant.

De Leon-Aguilar was arrested Wednesday at a dairy farm belonging to John Collins outside Rome.

"My client is a hard-working man with a 6th-grade education who deeply cares for his family," Rodriguez said. Keeping him in detention, Rodriguez said, would "rip a father from his family."

Collins has accused agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement of storming onto his property without a warrant and without identifying themselves. Collins has said the agents roughed up De Laeon-Aguilar, then handcuffed Collins and threw away his cell-phone when he tried to take video of the arrest.

Baxter, in his ruling to keep De Leon-Aguilar in detention, acknowledged that concerns had been raised about the arrest. But, he said, that "is not relevant to my decision today."

Baxter did say that despite the aggravated assault charge in De Leon-Aguilar's past, "I do not find that he constitutes a danger to the community at this time."

The court room at the Syracuse federal courthouse was filled with supporters of De Leon-Aguilar, including members of such groups as the Syracuse Peace Council, CNY Solidarity and the Workers Center of Central New York.

John Collins also attended the hearing. The outpouring of support for De Leon-Aguilar from the community, local churches and others "has been tremendous," he said.

"Unfortunately, that doesn't get him back together with his family," Collins said.

Rebecca Fuentes, who has been assisting the family as a representative of the Workers Center of Central New York, said De Laeon-Aguilar's wife, Virginia, was also in Syracuse today for a hearing on her application for asylum. She is expected to return to their home on the farm today, Fuentes said.

Tuesday's hearing was conducted with the help, via telephone hook-up, of a translator familiar with the Mayan dialect of Guatemala, which is De Leon-Aguilar's native language.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.s...n_hearing.html