Thread: Immigrant Prisoners Tax County Resources

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Immigrant Prisoners Tax County Resources

POSTED: 4:45 pm MDT May 8, 2006


May 8, 2006 -- by: Elizabeth O'Hara/KFOX News at Nine Anchor

The Sun shone bright over the new housing development in Las Cruces, N.M., which was buzzing with the sound of saws and rat-tat-tat of hammers echoing from a dozen different homes.

Among the workers who were guzzling down water in the 90-degree temperatures, a 20-year-old man from Durango, Mexico who talked with KFOX on the condition of anonymity. He's in the country illegally.

"We start working about 7:30 in the morning until about 3:30 in the afternoon." he said. "We're doing something good for them, we're building their homes. We're only here just to work."

The 20-year-old worker said he crossed into the U.S earlier this year. He'd never done it before. He said he saved up the $200 to pay his smuggler and the journey took two days. Once in Dona Ana County, it took him just one day to get a construction job.

"It's worth crossing because it's more money," he said.

As an electrician in Durango, the worker is paid 1,000 pesos or $100 a week. As a construction go-fer charged with carrying scarp materials and assisting painters, he's paid $260 a week. Of that, he sends $120 back to his wife every week.

"The reason I'm here is for a better life because in Mexico the wage is not enough to support a family," he said.

By American standards, the worker is well under the poverty line and each day he goes to work, he risks not only losing his meager pay but his freedom.

"Not faulting them for them wanting to make a better life for themselves," said Capt. Brent Barlow, the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department Spokesman. "Irrespective of that, we have to enforce the laws that the citizens of this county have entrusted us to uphold."

Dona Ana County's jail is full of illegal immigrants. In 2003, 12,104 people were jailed but of those, 5,686 were foreign nationals. According to jail records, 57 percent of those were charged with misdemeanors, 40 percent as felons.

The numbers were slightly better in 2005: 11,928 bookings were recorded with 4,952 foreign born; of those, 68 percent were charged with misdemeanors, 30 percent felonies.

As of April 1, 2006, nearly 4 out of 10 people busted in the county were born outside the U.S. Deputies say it's straining their department.

"We're talking about our deputies having 40 percent more time to respond to other issues, to take away almost half a day of a deputy and allow him to focus on other areas in the county," Barlow said.

U.S. MagistrateJudge Leslie Smith presides over a near capacity courtroom every day. He attributes high case loads to an influx of illegal entries.

"Eleven years ago, we used to have about 30 new cases a month, now we're running about 100 or so a week," said Judge Smith, though he quickly pointed out that other courts along the southern border are holding as many, if not more, cases than his court.

The high number of misdemeanor and felony cases in Dona Ana County's jail might indicate a criminal history among those who cross, but Judge Smith believes the numbers are deceiving.

"The misdemeanors are almost all people who are not legally in the United States and of the felonies, well over 90 percent," he said.

Smith explained that the majority of prisoners didn't commit a crime against another person. Their crime is entering the country without documentation. A first time crosser who is caught is often charged with a misdemeanor. But a crosser who is busted after being charged previously is listed as a felon.

For those who are caught, local taxpayers shell out $59.91 daily for each inmate or nearly $90,000 in tax money as of April 1 for non-violent criminals.

"They haven't killed somebody," said Veronica Campos, a case worker with the Las Cruces Diocese's Family Unity and Citizenship Program. It's Campos' job to help U.S. families legally get citizenship papers for family members who live outside the U.S. but she understands why some people don't go that route.

"If you are a U.S. citizen and you want to bring your child who is over the age of 21, it's taking 12 years, so imagine 12 years to bring your child," said Campos.

Time and money are not options the Durango worker has. Though he doesn't have kids, his wife is waiting for him back home, too afraid and too poor to cross over and join him.

"I'll go in December," he said. "I'll be there for a month and then I'll attempt to cross again."

The worker shrugs off the heat when asked about the conditions of his job. He said he knows he's being taken advantage of with low pay but he believes in doing a job well done, even in a situation that criminalizes him.

"I'm making my money honorably. I'm not robbing, selling drugs, nothing bad, I'm just here working."

So can I break the law if it helps my family to have a better life? I mean, paying taxes is such a burden, and the cost of car insurance is so high, not to mention car registration fees and SMOG checks. And what about the cost of food, can I just get some fake ID's and go on welfare and get food stamps and housing subsidies under a dozen different names? Health care premiums are outrageous, maybe I should just use the ER for all my healthcare needs. Of course this is just to give my family a better life.