Thread: NC: Debate over immigration and DWI numbers

Debate over immigration and DWI numbers
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 | 6:28 PM

By Tamara GibbsRALEIGH (WTVD) --

Police arrested Francisco Martinez and charged him with DWI after the crash that killed three people, but he could face more serious charges.

Studies show a disproportionate number of Latinos are involved in DWI crashes statewide.

There are awareness programs targeting Latino drivers, but there is a debate over whether race or immigration status really matters.

Just out of the hospital, Francisco Javier Martinez, faced a judge with the help of a walker Wednesday.

He survived a fatal crash on Raleigh's beltline Sunday, but two brothers and their teenage friend did not.

Martinez is one of a disproportionate number of Latino drivers accused of drunk driving.

It's a problem law enforcement officials say is made more challenging when the driver are undocumented.

"But it does go further when they are illegal, because a lot of times we don't know if this person is telling us the truth," said Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrision, when referring to the truth as the driver's real name. "A lot of people get caught under one name, they leave the country and then they come back six months later and get caught under another name. They've got a new ID and that's why we're having a lot of the problems we're having."

Harrison says the solution is an immigration fingerprinting program called 287-G. It would automatically flag an offender who is undocumented.

Latino advocates contend fingerprinting mostly catches offenders with minor offenses and does little to curb drunk driving.

"It's not an immigration problem, it's a DWI problem," said Antonio Asion with El Pueblo INC.

Asion argues the number of Latino drivers arrested for DWI is decreasing thanks to awareness campaigns.

He blames demographics not immigration status for the problem.

"We have a relatively young population it is also that same population that consumes a lot of alcohol," Asion said.

"We need a system in place that we can tell who this person is, so hopefully we can keep them off the road," Harrison

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?secti ... id=6170965

Related story:

Man Accused In I-440 Wreck Placed On Detainer
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 06:12 PM Updated: 06:29 PM

By NBC17

RALEIGH, N.C. – Police are questioning the immigration status of the man accused of causing a fatal accident on Interstate 440 this weekend.

Three people, 14-year-old Santiago Tellez, 26-year-old Guillermo Jimenez and his 22-year-old brother Dagoberto were killed in the Sunday morning accident.

Francisco Martinez is accused of driving drunk without a driver's license. Immigration officials have placed a detainer on Martinez because they have reason to believe he is in this country illegally.

A judge increased bail for Martinez Wednesday to $500,000 because prosecutors say more serious charges are expected.

Martinez used a walker in court Wednesday, still recovering from his injuries in the accident.

Undocumented immigrants and crime -- such as drunk driving – is a hot topic among North Carolina politicians running for election in November.

Tony Asion of El Pueblo, a Latino advocacy group, says politicians have the wrong ideas about solutions. Deportation is not the answer, he said, education is.

“We're talking about a lot of people who are contributing to this country and this state,â€

They just refuse to admit it is a cultural problem...not that we don't have drunk drivers but in mexico they think nothing of it, but then why should it be they don't have much law and order now do they.

The group is hoping for more federal funding to continue their education efforts as the Latino population in the triangle area continues to grow.

Instead of correcting the problem at it's source, taxpayers have to pay for DWI "education" for Illegal Aliens???? Add that to the staggering costs of illegal immigration....it just keeps going up and up!

Immigration enforcement...arrest and deportation. Si se puede!!!

There are awareness programs targeting Latino drivers, but there is a debate over whether race or immigration status really matters.

How could even contemplate the possibility that "immigration status" may not matter!

A DUI or any other crime commited by an illegal is a crime that would have never happened but for their "illegal entry" into this country. ANY crime committed by an illegal is a crime that was 100% preventable, since they should have never been here to commit these crimes to begin with. Any illegal who comes into police custody should AUTOMATICALLY turned over to ICE to begin deportation proceedings.

That's why immigration status is relevant!

They are trying to frame the argument (as the OBL sides often does) in terms of relative crime rates. The fact that the crimes were committed and the perps were IAs, well, what's to debate about that?


However, if a person were to entertain that view of the world, to do a more thorough and rigorous inspection we'd almost have to have a 2x2 matrix approach - as in:

Factor 1: US Citizenship Status (Legal, Not Legal)
Factor 2: Hispanic/Latino, Not Hispanic/Latino

Then, we could analyze the differences between the 4 subgroups in an accurate way. Most people that write stories about IAs and 'immigrants' don't even exhibit a basic level of understanding about what is, and how to set up, a simple objective (eg. 'scientific') comparison.