http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 90334/1001

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Illegal Immigration | The quest to reach the U.S.
REPORT: Backfire on the border
Migrants caught, deported just keep trying

Louie Gilot
El Paso Times

JUAREZ -- Three days a week, Rosario Villalobos waits at the foot of the Paso del Norte Bridge, on the Mexican side, for wide-eyed, freshly deported migrants.

Villalobos, a volunteer for a Juárez shelter, has maps. She has information on where to buy phone cards and where to get money wired. She can direct people to the bus station.

But few of the migrants are lost or scared.

Routinely, entire groups turn Villalobos down.

"They say, 'No, gracias,' and keep walking. I know they are the ones who will just turn around and try again," she said. "They don't want help. They just want to get to Palomas (across from Columbus, N.M.) and cross again. They know what to do."

Increased border enforcement has made it harder for undocumented immigrants to cross into the United States from Mexico. Many fail on the first try, but few stop there. They just keep at it.

Of the close to 70,000 migrants caught by the Border Patrol in the El Paso region since October 2004, 63 percent were repeaters. Last fiscal year, 40 percent of the 104,000 migrants caught had crossed more than once.

The Border Patrol does not keep statistics on how many times a particular immigrant has attempted to cross.

Migrants reported that polleros, or smugglers, charge them only once for however many times it takes to cross successfully.

Oscar Diaz, 23, tried to cross twice in two weeks in May to get to a gardening job in Dallas.

The first time, he crossed the Rio Grande at Laredo with friends from his native Aguascaliente. He was taken to El Paso by the Border Patrol and returned to Mexico at Juárez. The second time, Diaz crossed the Paso del Norte Bridge, looking like an American sports fan in a football jersey and flashy sneakers. He told the inspector he was a U.S. citizen. He got in but was caught later at a Border Patrol checkpoint on his way out of El Paso.

Now he is back in Juárez, plotting his next attempt.

"The old men in Aguascaliente, they talk about how easy it is to cross. I thought it was going to be easier," he said.

"Entry without inspection" and "illegal re-entry" are prosecutable crimes, but whether cases are presented to the U.S. attorney's office is up to Border Patrol agents.

Agents fingerprint all the undocumented immigrants they catch and turn over to prosecutors the immigrants wanted for crimes and those who have been banned from the United States. The ones with clean records are likely to be returned to Mexico within hours, even if they are repeat crossers, under a local agreement called "voluntary departure."

Prosecuting repeat crossers depends largely on the caseload at the U.S. attorney's office, Border Patrol officials said.

Last year, the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Texas, which includes El Paso, prosecuted 1,534 cases of illegal re-entry, up from 1,329 in 2003.

Marco Rodriguez, 42, said he has spent about 20 days in prison for his repeated crossings. He has been caught by the Border Patrol 27 times since he first crossed into the United States at the age of 18. He was successful only five times, he said.

Crossing is a way of life for this Brownsville gardener, but one that is increasingly hard.

"They put those lights on the river so you can't hide," he said. "And now the police work with la migra (the Border Patrol). Before they didn't do that; they didn't used to call immigration."

Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com, 546-6131.