Thread: Caught in a cycle

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Caught in a cycle

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

By Karina Gonzalez
Staff Writer

Ever Castillo has crossed into the United States twice, each time illegally.
The 23-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico now is serving time and awaiting deportation at the Silverdale Detention Center in Hamilton County.
"Right now, everything is in the hands of immigration," said Mr. Castillo, who said he has lived in the United States since age 14 and would like to return legally someday. "I've served my time for everything."
Mr. Castillo is one of thousands of immigrants serving time in American jails for illegal re-entry into the country.
An estimated 12 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a research organization in Washington, D.C. Those who are caught typically are deported to their home countries or ordered to leave, but they often return here. If caught a second time, some end up in American jails while others are deported again without spending much time behind bars.
More than 1,000 illegal aliens nationwide are apprehended every week, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The agency estimates there are more than 590,000 foreign nationals in the country who have failed to comply with orders from a federal immigration judge to leave the country.
Philip Perez, an immigration lawyer with the Nashville-based firm Perez & Perez, said federal authorities now are trying more illegal re-entry cases.
"It used to be more of a revolving door: You got deported; you came back; the finger was wagged at you," said Mr. Perez, who has offered legal counseling to people awaiting deportation. "Over the past three years, roughly, the federal government has stepped up prosecution of people who re-enter after being deported."
Mr. Perez said federal prosecutors determine whether an illegal immigrant who previously has been deported will serve time in prison in the United States or be deported again.
"arrested and released"
Critics say the government is not doing enough to deter illegal immigration.
"The bottom line is that many times people are arrested and released," said Michael W. Cutler, a retired INS special agent. He now serves as a fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., research institution that favors tighter immigration enforcement.
Mr. Cutler said a shortage in jail space has caused a system in which illegal immigrants are apprehended and released or deported shortly thereafter. He said illegal immigrants, in particular those with felony charges, should serve mandatory time in prison before they are deported to discourage them from returning.
"The way to deter them is to do something they don't want to happen," he said.
Poor control of the southern border provides an avenue for illegal immigrants to return to the United States after being deported, he said.
"A good percentage of the crime we confront in America is by people who shouldn't be here," Mr. Cutler said.
Chris Van Wagenen, senior U.S. Border Patrol agent in Yuma, Ariz., said each day agents apprehend illegal immigrants who previously have been deported or stopped at the border.
He said most immigrants will return home voluntarily but will attempt to cross illegally again.
"It's a rare case that someone only tries to enter the United States once," Agent Van Wagenen said.
The U.S. government has the resources to detain 19,400 immigrants, which is less than 1 percent of the total undocumented population of more than 10 million, according to a report by the Center for American Progress, a research institute.
Immigrants spend an average of 42.5 days in detention before they are deported, with an average cost of detention per detainee of $3,825, the report estimated.
immigration cases increase
In September, 13 inmates at the Hamilton County Jail were under investigation by immigration officials, Chief Jim Hart said. Two inmates now are considered "on hold" by immigration officials.
At the Silverdale Detention Center, a Corrections Corporation of America facility under contract with Hamilton County, 21 inmates were in custody in September solely on immigration charges, while six more inmates faced felony or state charges in addition to immigration charges, spokeswoman Christina Young said.
In 2004, Tennessee's federal immigration court, one of more than 50 such courts nationwide, received 2,193 immigration cases or appeals, a figure that increased by 10 percent in 2005, records show.
The court, located in Memphis, also handles immigration cases from Arkansas and parts of Mississippi.
Most cases or appeals involve removal hearings, said Elaine Komis, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a federal agency that handles immigration court cases.
Mr. Castillo was sentenced to at least four years in federal custody for illegally re-entering the country, according to an immigration agent. That sentence came down while he was in prison here on charges of driving under the influence. He was arrested in January in Bradley County on the DUI charge, and officers there notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a sworn affidavit in the case.
Mr. Castillo, a father of two, also served time for several misdemeanors and a felony from 2001 to 2004, according to court records.
He said that even though he will be deported after his jail term ends, he hopes to someday live in the United States permanently.
"I have been here for a long time, and I want to stay," the Chiapas, Mexico, native said. "I have no education, but I can read and I even know the American national anthem."
But once illegal immigrants are deported, a judge issues a penalty preventing them from applying for legal entry to the United States for a certain number of years, in some cases indefinitely, an immigration official said.

"I have been here for a long time, and I want to stay," the Chiapas, Mexico, native said. "I have no education, but I can read and I even know the American national anthem."

Yea, but are you American before Mexican? Only time will tell. Meanwhile go back and enter the legal way. If you do that, then maybe you will be American before Mexican.

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