Thread: Foreign citizens in Texas prisons seek deportation

Foreign citizens in Texas prisons seek deportation

Austin American-Statesman
MIKE WARD
Published 07:35 a.m., Tuesday, October 11, 2011

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas convicts who once couldn't wait to sneak into the United States are now clamoring to get tossed out as quickly as possible.

State officials say the turnabout is due to a state law that took effect Sept. 1 to entice the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to parole increasing numbers of foreign citizens — as long as they are deported. The law, which applies to criminals convicted of violent and nonviolent crimes, was aimed at saving taxpayers money in a tight budget year by not having to house foreign-born inmates.

In all, about 11,500 foreign-born prisoners are among the 154,000 convicts serving time in Texas' 111 state prisons, according to officials.

Send them all home, and the state could save more than $200 million, several lawmakers have calculated.

"It's amazing how quickly some people can change their mind about being in this country when they might be able to use it to get out of prison, isn't it?" said state Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, who wrote the new law. "The rush of applications appears to be on. I never expected it."

Even so, Parole Board Chairman Rissie Owens of Huntsville said there's no reason to hurry, since parole officials have yet to approve procedures to tie a convict's parole to a deportation. And when they are approved, each case will be carefully reviewed to ensure public safety, she said.

But that's not stopping the requests, which in the past month have begun arriving in the mailboxes of parole officials, lawmakers and even reporters.

Some appear more like job applications than parole requests. Others read like legal briefs, making the case that Texas will be safer if they are sent back to their home country.

Take, for instance, the 29-page filing by Mexican citizen Adrian Rosales, 36, serving a 65-year sentence for aggravated kidnapping from San Antonio.

Without an expedited review, Rosales, housed at the Stiles Unit in Beaumont, doesn't become eligible for parole for another 18 years — and might not complete his sentence until 2074, when he's 99 years old.

"I'm writing in hopes that you'll consider me for deportation," Rosales' letter states. "I am one of 80 illegal aliens convicted for kidnapping — THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF ALL VIOLENT CRIMES."

He goes on to list reasons he should be paroled and deported: He's been imprisoned for almost 12 years with a spotless behavior record, his deportation order has already been signed, he helped federal investigators break a child pornography case in 2003, he has a brain tumor that is expensive to treat, and he has earned a business degree from the University of Texas and a master's degree from California State University.

"The recidivism rate for inmates with a master's degree was 0 percent," Rosales states in his letter to Owens, citing a study conducted by the prison system's school district.

"With a master's degree, I'll be able to find work in my country. Please GRANT me parole and allow me to be the first success story in the passing of this new state law."

Nathaniel Thomas, 67, a citizen of a Caribbean island who is serving a 20-year sentence for sexual assault of a child, also wrote a letter seeking deportation.

"Please take the liberty to cause my name/case file to be brought to the immediate attention of the appropriate personnel so I can be deported back home to Saint Lucia without further delays," wrote Thomas, who is a trusty at the Lynaugh Unit in Fort Stockton, in West Texas.

Absent early review, Thompson will become eligible for parole in 2017 and will end his sentence in 2027, according to state records.

Madden said the purpose of the new law was to prod parole officials to review "the nonviolent, low-risk criminals" to see how many could safely be deported, with the proviso that if they ever came back into the United States they would be locked up again.

"Those are the ones that Rissie ought to be looking at," he said.

Perhaps someone like Jose Acosta, 39, serving eight-year sentences for assault with a deadly weapon and burglary. He mailed his plea to state parole officials in September.

"I personally have completed over 50 percent of my sentence," he wrote. "I have NEVER gotten in any kind of trouble (backslash)u2026 since I've been in prison. So I'm hoping that my case could be taken under consideration, and be given parole, so that I can be deported. I will sure help in saving tax payers money."

Despite the pleas, police and prosecutors across the state have cautioned that any paroles for deportations should be carefully considered, if approved at all. Among them, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley has said he is concerned that they could return to commit new crimes.

"We know that when you punish someone appropriately, they are less likely to commit a crime," he said in an interview with KVUE-TV. "When you punish someone leniently, they get the wrong message, they come back, and they repeat their crime."

Since the legislation passed, parole officials have worried that once they turned over custody of the parolee to federal officials, they might never know whether the felon was sent home or released in Texas if the deportation were to go awry.

They said that's exactly what has happened in the past, when several hundred foreign-born felons were paroled and released to federal officials for deportation but were not sent home — and instead were allowed to remain in Texas on parole, on state taxpayers' dime.

Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have assured state officials that convicts who are not deported will be handed back to state prison officials.

Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/ ... z1aUNxSLWG

"I'm writing in hopes that you'll consider me for deportation," Rosales' letter states. "I am one of 80 illegal aliens convicted for kidnapping — THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF ALL VIOLENT CRIMES

WHY? So he can then come back across the border?

I would not have a problem in sending them all back to their country of origin,as long as they would not come back into this country illegally again,once released.

There should be a stipulation that if they re-enter the U.S. and are caught, their original sentence is doubled. No further appeals at that point.

Heck drop them off at the border and let them go back the way they came....now they want a ride???? They sneak in and want a ride home????

"It's amazing how quickly some people can change their mind about being in this country when they might be able to use it to get out of prison, isn't it?" said state Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, who wrote the new law. "The rush of applications appears to be on. I never expected it."

Sure is amazing and you want to know why it's "amazing?" Because most of these illegal are probably from mexico and realize how easy it will be to cross the border illegally again once released. What do they have to lose?

They said that's exactly what has happened in the past, when several hundred foreign-born felons were paroled and released to federal officials for deportation but were not sent home — and instead were allowed to remain in Texas on parole, on state taxpayers' dime.

Why am I not surprised?