Thread: Iowa City pastor arrested on federal immigration charges

In the article it states his wife is a native of Mexico. I think we all know what the means. Yep, she's an illegal too and has 3 anchor babies, which are drawing welfare (food stamps, medicaid, etc.), to boot.

You know, stories like this just amplify the fact that the deportation system and the way it's handled is flawed. This guy should have been deported to Honduras as soon as he was caught the first time for drunk driving in 1998, and in 1999 when he was caught for identity theft. He served no jail time for the crimes, so why wasn't he deported? For the past 9 years, he tried two appeals to his deportation order, but has been allowed to remain here during the time of his appeals.

If the law presently allows this, this needs to be changed and pronto. Deportation is a simple removal from this country to the country of their citizenship. Any appeal or trial should be based solely on whether they had documents when they entered the US or if they did but they expired, whether they'd been renewed prior to expiration, a simple produce it or lose it. If you have no documents that would prove an error, then off you go, whether you're present at the hearing or not, whether you have counsel or not, off you go. Then, if you want to file an appeal on some solid ground that you had documents, but you chose not to present them or couldn't find them or whatever, then you can file an appeal from in this case Honduras. There is a law however that requires all immigrants to carry their immigration cards or documents with them. So in any event, the fault is not with our courts, it's with the alien who didn't have their papers with them. Whatever the issue is that is legitimate and right now I can't think of one, because there's plenty of time between the arrest and the hearing to get copies of your documents, for this not to be a clerical matter, that doesn't even require courts and judges, but simple administrators.

What you need judges and lawyers for is all the nonsense of advocating for someone to stay in the US who has violated immigration law, the plead their cases on non-legal issues, cry out for mercy for the illegal alien who is looking for a better life, who's procreated here, who has kids and/or a wife or whatever.

We need to prohibit those excuses or pleas from the appeal system and make these deportation rulings fast and permanent based on the simple issue of do you have permission prior to the arrest to be in the US and have documents or records to verify that. If you claim the documents are lost, then you are required to advise the arresting officers of that fact at the time of arrest and request copies from the issuing agency or Department. A simple form of due diligence to be sure that by the time of hearing, a document and record search has been conducted and verified prior to the deportation hearing. If in the rare instance following deportation, you find a document or record that proves you were not an illegal alien, then you can notify the arresting agency and it will be incumbent upon that agency to verify the document and request the court to over-turn the deportation ruling based on new evidence in favor of the deportee. Once vacated, you would be notified that you can return to the US for the remainder of the term of your permission document to be here.

So what needs to be stream-lined and fast-tracked is not processing new legal immigrants, but the deportation process for those in the country illegally. No docs, you're done. Period. Very simple, and the way it's supposed to work. That's why we have a law to deport illegal aliens.

We are taking up a lot of courts time, in addition to never getting anything done while providing for those that have no right here. In the realm of simplicity, if you have been ordered deported, committed any crime, refused to leave after overstaying work permits, visas etc by 90 days, been brought here by parents, guilty of displaying absolutely no respect for law and order of this sovereign. You are granted one court hearing to prove you are not guilty of these infractions, if you are the penalty shall be death without appeal executed within 40 days of hearing.

How many thousands, or even millions of people like Max Villatoro has America let in, then much worse, allowed to stay. One sick nation that allows that while citizens are losing their lives and children their innocence to these kinds. Embarrassing and shameful!

Our country is every bit as important as a movie theater, wouldn't everyone agree to that? Even Democrats? Well, if you want to get into the movies, it takes a ticket. If you don't have one, you can't get in. And there are guards and ticket takers and bouncers to make sure no one gets in without a ticket. Now how many hearings or appeals do you get if you sneak into the movie theater without a ticket? And how many times would they let you stay in the movie theater watching movies without a ticket while you wait for a hearing and file appeals? Exactly. Zero.

So, we need to stream-line our deportation system so people who are here without a ticket are bounced out immediately, and then they can whine and appeal from their own country. Therefore, we need immigration administrators whose only task is to process illegal aliens within 24 hours of their arrest and detainment who don't have tickets, i. e. green cards or unexpired visas or other official permit to be in the US, and then a removal agency has 48 hours after that to remove them directly from the jail to their country of citizenship or the nearest Consulate or Embassy.

According to this link, 81% of all illegal aliens are from Mexico (57%) and Central and Latin American countries (24%), so for these, our obligation will be to get them to the border to be picked up by Mexican and Central and Latin American countries, for further transport to their final destination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal..._United_States

And no, we don't fly them home. We just load 'em up on buses and take them to the border to meet and greet Mexican, Central and South American authorities who make the arrangements from there including bringing their own buses and shackles for the rest of the trip including plane tickets if they so desire to fly back to the countries farther away from points in Mexico or Central America. Any country that doesn't fully cooperate will face sanctions starting with the loss of all non-business non-citizen remittances from the US.

It's quite clear that DHS is incapable of handling this. They've proven their ineffectiveness in perpetuity. Therefore, there would need to be a new agency created within the US Marshall Service that does nothing but arrange for and execute removals of non-citizens with deportation orders and do so within 48 hours of the issuance of a deportation order, and a deportation order would be issued within 24 hours of arrest and detainment. The reason we have a law that all legal immigrants are supposed to have their cards and/or papers with them is to avoid mistakes, so if mistakes occur because you didn't have your documents with you, then that's your fault, not ours. Americans have the same issue to deal with when we're driving a vehicle.

What's been going on in this country is a travesty. And it must stop, it must be corrected, and the system fixed so that the Department responsible for enforcing our laws isn't financially rewarded by fees for failure to do so. This is an inherent conflict of interest that any first year law student would know, so how this has developed and been allowed by a Congress consisting primarily of lawyers and an Executive Branch which has lawyers in the White House and in every Department including the Department of Homeland Security and every agency within it has no viable, credible or acceptable explanation.

Once the court gets involved I.C.E. can't deport anyone until a judge issues an order of deportation. As soon as an attorney files an appeal the hole thing is on hold until the appeal is heard. The courts are backlogged so the immigration attorneys use the appeal process as a stall to keep the person in the country as long as possible. Then the tell the court, "You let them stay here for x numbers of years and it would be cruel to sent them home now." They need more judges to clear the backlog and get the system back on track so it doesn't take years to get rid of them.

THE LATEST NEWS ON IOWA PASTOR MAX VILLATORO, WHO FACES DEPORTATION TO HONDURAS AT ANY MOMENT

by Gabe Ortiz on 03/16/2015 at 12:46pm

Here’s what we know so far about Max Villatoro, a beloved pastor facing imminent deportation from his Iowa home of more than two decades:

Late last Friday we learned that during the dead of night, Pastor Max was transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana. Louisiana is commonly the last U.S. stop before detained immigrants are deported from the country

— and Pastor Max’s wife Gloria and their four children are fearing the worst.

This is all despite national rallies and more than 40,000 petitions to ICE demanding Pastor Max’s release. In fact, Gloria believes, ICE officials have speeded up Max’s deportation in response to the overwhelming backlash from the community.

As a result, Gloria and her four U.S. citizen children have taken their pleas directly to President Barack Obama in an emotional, video testimony:

“I need my husband back. My kids need their dad. I’m so scared, I don’t know what I’m going to be doing without him. I’m scared for his life, too.

Because if he’s taken to…if he’s sent to Honduras, he fears for his life.

I need your help tonight. I ask you for mercy. I ask you that you please give me my husband back. You can use your authority. And I ask you to please have mercy and do something about it.”

Fellow members of their Iowa community, including faith leaders, educators, and friends, have also started filming their own appeals to the President to halt Pastor Max’s deportation. All of the videos are available for viewing and sharing here.

http://americasvoice.org/blog/the-la...at-any-moment/

Deportation of Iowa City pastor moving forward

By Erin Jordan, The Gazette

Max Villatoro, 41, of Iowa City, was arrested March 3 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Story Created: Mar 16, 2015 at 2:02 PM CDT
Story Updated: Mar 16, 2015 at 2:02 PM CDT

IOWA CITY — The federal government denied a request Monday to halt the deportation of an Iowa City pastor.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement turned down a stay of removal for Max Villatoro, 41, said his attorney, Dan Vondra, of Iowa City.

The Honduras native could be deported any time.

“We can still ask for an order of supervision,” Vondra said Monday. This would allow Villatoro, now being housed at an ICE facility in Louisiana, to come back to Iowa City temporarily before traveling to Honduras. But these requests are seldom granted, Vondra said.

“Now’s the time for the family and the community to decide what they want to do,” he said.

Villatoro was arrested March 3 as part of a national sweep of more than 2,000 unauthorized immigrants convicted of crimes.

He was convicted in 1999 of drunken driving and tampering with records. Since then, he’s gotten married, fathered four children and become a Mennonite pastor with a Spanish-speaking congregation in Iowa City. More than 40,000 people nationwide have signed a petition trying to stop his deportation.

Gloria Villatoro, Max’s wife, posted a video plea Sunday night.
“I need my husband back, my kids need their dad,” she said on the video, surrounded by Anthony, 15, Edna, 13, Angela, 10, and Aileen, 7.

“I’m so scared, I don’t know what I’m going to be doing without him. I’m scared for his life too, because if he’s taken to — if he’s sent to Honduras, he’s in fear for his life,” Gloria Villatoro said.

Max Villatoro, who left Honduras in 1995, has no support network there and would be a target for kidnapping by criminals seeking ransom, Vondra said. Often deportees arrive in their native country with just a 40-pound suitcase.

Villatoro was convicted in 1999 in Johnson County of drunken driving and in Muscatine County of tampering with records for using a false ID to get a driver’s license. Villatoro was sentenced to two years’ probation for the records charge, an aggravated misdemeanor. The drunken driving charge is no longer listed on Iowa Courts Online, but is in FBI reports included in the deportation file, Vondra said.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services granted Villatoro a work permit in 2005 or 2006, while his case was pending, Vondra said.

Max and Gloria Villatoro lived in Muscatine until 2009 when they moved their family to Iowa City to start a Spanish-speaking congregation. Their children are U.S. citizens.

The federal government notified Villatoro in 2013 that he would be deported, a decision the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in July.

A stay of removal would have allowed Villatoro to stay in the United States temporarily. When Anthony Villatoro turns 21, he could apply for legal permanent residency for his father, provided Gloria Villatoro has her legal permanent status by that time.

Gloria Villatoro, a Mexico native living legally in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, would not want to travel to Honduras because she might have trouble getting back, Vondra said.

Read more at http://www.kcrg.com/subject/news/dep...hvhmI2j7imu.99

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

THE LATEST NEWS ON IOWA PASTOR MAX VILLATORO, WHO FACES DEPORTATION TO HONDURAS AT ANY MOMENT

by Gabe Ortiz on 03/16/2015 at 12:46pm

Here’s what we know so far about Max Villatoro, a beloved pastor facing imminent deportation from his Iowa home of more than two decades:

Late last Friday we learned that during the dead of night, Pastor Max was transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana. Louisiana is commonly the last U.S. stop before detained immigrants are deported from the country

— and Pastor Max’s wife Gloria and their four children are fearing the worst.

This is all despite national rallies and more than 40,000 petitions to ICE demanding Pastor Max’s release. In fact, Gloria believes, ICE officials have speeded up Max’s deportation in response to the overwhelming backlash from the community.

As a result, Gloria and her four U.S. citizen children have taken their pleas directly to President Barack Obama in an emotional, video testimony:

“I need my husband back. My kids need their dad. I’m so scared, I don’t know what I’m going to be doing without him. I’m scared for his life, too.

Because if he’s taken to…if he’s sent to Honduras, he fears for his life.

I need your help tonight. I ask you for mercy. I ask you that you please give me my husband back. You can use your authority. And I ask you to please have mercy and do something about it.”

Fellow members of their Iowa community, including faith leaders, educators, and friends, have also started filming their own appeals to the President to halt Pastor Max’s deportation. All of the videos are available for viewing and sharing here.

http://americasvoice.org/blog/the-la...at-any-moment/

Why would her husband "fear for his life"? Why aren't you going with him and taking your kids? What is wrong with you people? You are the strangest group of lawbreakers and criminals our country has ever had to put up with.

These people aren't DREAMers, they're whiners and users. So how many of her kids were born with Medicaid funding? All four? Outrageous!!

Originally Posted by MW

In the article it states his wife is a native of Mexico. I think we all know what the means. Yep, she's an illegal too and has 3 anchor babies, which are drawing welfare (food stamps, medicaid, etc.), to boot.

Looks like she's a DACA.
" . . . Gloria Villatoro, a Mexico native living legally in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, would not want to travel to Honduras because she might have trouble getting back, Vondra said."

Read more at http://www.kcrg.com/subject/news/dep...hvhmI2j7imu.99

Iowa pastor expects to be deported on Tuesday

Published 4:27 PM CDT Mar 16, 2015




DES MOINES, Iowa —An Iowa pastor and father of four facing deportation for a 17-year-old conviction has been relocated to a Louisiana detention center, where officials say a flight returning deportees to Honduras is scheduled Tuesday.

Forty-one-year-old Max Villatoro informed his wife Monday that he will likely be onboard.

Villatoro was among 2,059 people arrested during a nationwide operation targeting convicted criminals living in the country illegally. A 1998 drunken driving conviction classified him as an enforcement priority.

Lawyers say federal immigration authorities denied Villatoro's stay of removal request, reinforcing his imminent removal.

An official with the LaSalle Detention Facility in Jena, Louisiana, confirmed Tuesday's flight.

Meanwhile, Villatoro's wife has made one last plea to keep her family together through a YouTube video asking President Barack Obama to block the deportation.

http://www.kcci.com/news/iowa-pastor...esday/31831314