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Illegal Immigrants Not Deported After Convictions

POSTED: 1:54 pm CDT May 8, 2007
UPDATED: 7:27 am CDT May 9, 2007

HOUSTON -- Note: The following story is a verbatim transcript of an Investigators story that aired on Tuesday, May 8, 2007, on KPRC Local 2 at 10 p.m.

Local 2 investigates murders, robberies -- violence that never had to happen. But they did at the hands of criminal illegal immigrants.

And, tonight, investigative reporter Amy Davis is here to show why these criminals are still in our neighborhoods and communities.

You might suspect when illegal immigrants are caught committing violent crimes, it means automatic deportation.

That's simply not the case. We dug through months of arrest records and immigration documents to find criminal illegal immigrants can get three, four and even six strikes, and still be allowed in our country.

You've seen these immigration rallies -- hundreds of marchers. But among these faces, you won't likely find Jimmy Ascencio, convicted of assault, evading arrest, DWI and robbery.

The chance is also slim you'll see Gonzalo Roldan, convicted of theft, burglary, auto theft, and manufacturing and delivering cocaine.

Both men were arrested, and according to the Harris County Sheriff's Department -- both admitted they are in the U.S. illegally.

But we discovered both are now out of jail and likely somewhere in the Houston area.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds illegal criminals at this facility on Greens Road.

It's where we watched three illegal aliens walk away, papers in hand, back into your community.

We found men charged with murder, convicted drug dealers and thieves. But, believe it or not, this is the face that frightens Grace Garcia.

"He picked up the gun, aimed it straight at my daughter and killed her," she said.

Mandi Coronado was 14 years old when her teenaged killer shot her at this apartment complex.

El Salvador national Moises Flores got five years in a juvenile detention facility and a deportation order upon his release.

But when five years passed, Garcia got a disturbing phone call.

"Immigration decided that they wouldn't pick him up," she said.

Crime victims' advocate Andy Kahan says Immigration and Customs Enforcement told him the same.

"They just flat out said that they had no interest or intention of ever deporting him," he said.

"My daughter is no longer here anymore because of him but he can be here. I just can't -- I can't deal with that," Garcia said.

After several phone calls to the Department of Homeland Security from Local 2 Investigates and Kahan, Flores was detained and scheduled to be deported.

But, this case is only the beginning of our story.

"Yeah, we were able to get this one. But how many others out there have fallen through the cracks, God knows?" Kahan said.

We know. From Jan. 1 through the end of March, 979 suspects booked into the Harris County Jail voluntarily told deputies they are illegal immigrants.

But records we obtained show ICE has only made efforts to deport 195 of those suspects in the same time period -- just 20 percent.

"What happens if somebody gets put back in society that's dangerous?" said Kris Moore, a Harris County assistant district attorney.

That "what if" has already happened.

In April, Ignacio Gutierrez-Gomez slammed his truck into this car on the Eastex Freeway, killing a mother and her pregnant daughter.

But it wasn't the illegal immigrant's first drunk driving offense. He'd already been arrested three times in the last five years for DWI.

We wanted to talk with Immigration and Customs Enforcement about what we found. Since February, we sent 25 e-mails requesting an on-camera interview. The agency's spokesperson declined each time.

She did send these statements:

"Each case is complex and each case is viewed individually."

"If you have cases you feel perhaps need to be reviewed, please allow ICE the opportunity to review the cases. We will make every effort to make sure these criminal aliens are not released into the community."

But they're already out.

And we found many of the convicts have moved from the addresses they gave when booked into the jail.

"I don't know what holds them up from acting, but they can't seem to act in a timely manner in most cases," Moore said.

Assistant District Attorney Chris Moore has prosecuted criminals in Harris County for 30 years but says her efforts to work with ICE getting illegal convicts deported is more than frustrating.

"Cause I've tried to call them, and you can't even get automated answering. You can't get through, period," she said.

"I was born and raised here. Mandi was born and raised here," Garcia said.

And with her daughter's killer deported, Garcia hopes Mandi can finally rest here.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement started a new program with Harris County last October where ICE agents work in the jail to identity illegal immigrants as they are booked in.

ICE says they do not have agents there 24 hours a day. But in the future, they hope to be able to keep agents there around the clock.

"Amy, what are the most common crimes landing illegal immigrants in the Harris County jail?" a KPRC anchor asked.

"We found most of the suspects, about 17 percent, have three or more crimes on their records already when they are booked into the jail. But the single most frequent crime we saw over and over in these arrest records -- drinking and driving," Davis answered.


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No surprise in this story! As I like to say " unnecessary crime'