Thread: WI: A warning on illegal immigrants

A warning on illegal immigrants

By Matthew Defour
608-252-6144
January 25, 2008

A stepped-up federal crackdown on incarcerated illegal immigrants could swamp Dane County 's court system, a Madison lawyer is warning.

Anthony Delyea has threatened to resign from the Criminal Defense Project, a county program that provides legal counsel for defendants who don 't qualify financially for a public defender, unless the county changes its policy of reporting undocumented inmates to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Delyea has three cases going to trial Monday involving defendants who typically would accept plea bargains and reduced jail sentences.

But recent fears in the Hispanic community that even a short jail sentence could mean deportation have led more illegal immigrants charged with crimes such as drunken driving to opt for a lengthy trial, Delyea said.

The county pays Delyea $325 per misdemeanor case and $500 plus $40 an hour per court appearance for felony cases. Delyea said less than 5 percent of the 40 to 50 cases in the program each year go to trial. But if more of those cases

Illegals go to trial, he wouldn 't be able to participate in the program because those cases would take up too much of his time.

"I may literally go bankrupt defending the clients already assigned to me through the program, " Delyea wrote to a Dane County judge.

He noted there is a more serious impact for the county as the court system could get tied up by illegal immigrants who refuse to take plea deals, which could end up costing taxpayers.

"Unless someone involved in the administration of justice can find a solution or the sheriff changes his policy of notifying ICE in every case

, the bill is coming, " Delyea wrote.

The problem has emerged over the past few months, after the number of Dane County inmates who federal authorities asked to be held for questioning increased significantly.

Out of 1,500 bookings each month, the sheriff 's office notifies federal authorities of about 20 illegal immigrants, though they ask that very few be held. Historically, the number held has been less than six per month, but that number hit 20 in October and 12 in November, Sheriff Dave Mahoney said.

Mahoney said Friday that ICE officials indicated the increase resulted from the federal government adding personnel for immigration enforcement.

The increase stoked fears in the Hispanic community, according to Peter Munoz, executive director of Centro Hispano, which provides legal services for 400 clients a year. "We had a rash of cases over a couple weeks, " Munoz said. "Every single plea bargaining that was done with our assistance that resulted in jail terms resulted in holds and deportation procedures. "

Munoz said his organization began advising clients to take their cases to trial, rather than take a plea deal. That would give them time to settle their affairs at home in case they were deported.

After Delyea complained about the problem last week, Mahoney addressed the issue Friday during a meeting of the Criminal Justice Group, a collection of criminal justice officials who discuss policy issues. He said there was "inaccurate information " circulating because not all inmates who get held at the request of the federal government end up being deported.

Still, the Criminal Justice Group began to discuss the possibility of changing the policy of reporting all illegal immigrants who enter the Dane County jail.

No one disputed reporting the most serious offenders. Munoz said it was more a question of the lower-level offenders -- particularly those with multiple driver 's license violations -- who shouldn 't be reported. He said it would be up to the sheriff, judges and district attorney to create a criteria for who should be reported and who should be protected.

There was some discussion about whether the sheriff should notify federal authorities about illegal immigrants convicted of domestic abuse crimes, which could deter such crimes from being reported.

Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said whenever there are fears of an immigration crackdown there are concerns that victims won 't report crimes to the police.

"Domestic abuse situations are the most tragic consequence of this whole thing, " Wray said. "To imagine that there is a victim sitting in a house wondering if they should call us, but fear that they would lose an income source that would be deported -- we can do better than that as a community and a country. "

Munoz said his organization raised the notification policy issue about six years ago with the former sheriff, Gary Hamblin, but was told that the policy was in place because it allowed federal officials to contact the appropriate embassy and because the federal government reimburses the county for inmates held at the request of immigration authorities.

There is no federal law that requires the reporting, but Mahoney said he has maintained the policy because the Sheriff 's Office has an obligation to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies. He added that he is open to revisiting the discussion.

Mahoney and Wray further stressed that Dane County and Madison law enforcement are not working with federal authorities to round up illegal immigrants. ICE officials approached them last spring about coordinating efforts to target illegal immigrants involved in criminal activity, but have yet to come back with a specific plan.

"Show us your plan, " Mahoney said was his response. "Show us what you hope to accomplish, and we 'll decide what level of resources we can dedicate to you if any at all. "

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/269477&ntpid=1

The increase stoked fears in the Hispanic community, according to Peter Munoz, executive director of Centro Hispano, which provides legal services for 400 clients a year. "We had a rash of cases over a couple weeks, " Munoz said. "Every single plea bargaining that was done with our assistance that resulted in jail terms resulted in holds and deportation procedures. "

Munoz said his organization began advising clients to take their cases to trial, rather than take a plea deal. That would give them time to settle their affairs at home in case they were deported.

Doesn't plea bargaining afford time to settle affairs? If plea bargain resulted in jail time and deportation, it must have been a serious crime because ICE doesn't deport unless a felony. Do the citizens want the dangerous ones released back in to society or deported to their home country?
Playing games to cause delays and make the process more costly and time consuming. It will also increase time and costs for Centro Hispano, which provides legal services for 400 clients a year. Two can play that game, prosecute to the fullest extent of the law and ask for maximum punishment to allow room for plea bargaining.

"Domestic abuse situations are the most tragic consequence of this whole thing, " Wray said. "To imagine that there is a victim sitting in a house wondering if they should call us, but fear that they would lose an income source that would be deported -- we can do better than that as a community and a country. "

Poor argument--if the abuser is reported, chances are the one abused is going to lose that source of income whether the abuser is deported or not. Frankly the one abused would be safer if the abuser was deported.

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
Benjamin Franklin

Domestic abuse situations are the most tragic consequence of this whole thing, " Wray said. "To imagine that there is a victim sitting in a house wondering if they should call us, but fear that they would lose an income source that would be deported -- we can do better than that as a community and a country. "




Wray should be ashamed of himself for this remark and I hope the victim's rights advocates in his area are all over him for it!

As the survivor of domestic violence and abuse myself (1st husband, many years ago) I find his comments outrageous and totally irresponsible not to mention outright dangerous.

He, of all people, should have known better than that.