Thread: Violent crimes put spotlight on immigrant suspect

Violent crimes put spotlight on immigrant suspect
etruth.com
by: Justin Leighty
Posted: 8/28/2011 12:00:00 AM

ELKHART -- Monday's crime spree that left two women stabbed and four people dead in fires put a spotlight on the Mexican citizen police say was at least involved in the events.


Francisco Javier Macias stabbed the mother of his children and another woman early Monday, according to Elkhart police, and he's a "person of interest" in the house fire that killed three members of the Aguilar family. He was also the owner of a car that led police on a chase from Goshen to south of Jimtown, where the car and driver burned.

Court documents show that Macias wound up in court twice on domestic battery charges where he admitted to punching Maria E. Miranda, his children's mom. In both cases he got probation. Those court cases and a 2009 bankruptcy left people with questions.


Q: How did Francisco Macias get probation when he wasn't a citizen?


A: There's no clear-cut answer to this one.


Francisco Javier Macias

Since illegal aliens cannot legally have jobs in the U.S., under the standard terms of probation it's impossible for an illegal immigrant to not violate one of the following two terms: You must be employed on probation, and you must not violate any criminal or civil laws while on probation.


Bob Girard, director of court services for the county, oversees the probation department. When asked how illegal aliens can be on probation, Girard said, "That's a good question. I really don't know. I know some judges do that, but you'd have to ask them."


Some judges, like Circuit Judge Terry Shewmaker, will question non-residents about their immigration status and won't place illegal aliens on probation because they can't have a job without breaking the law.


Other judges, though, don't make the distinction, and may not have all the information about the legality of a person's resident-alien status.


Judge Evan Roberts and former Judge Cecelia MacGregor both placed Macias on probation at prosecutors' recommendations when he admitted to domestic battery.


Court documents show that in the 2001 case in city court, MacGregor may only have known that Macias was born in Mexico, though his immigration status may not have come up in the case.


However, in the 2008 case, Roberts and the probation department knew Macias was not a citizen. In fact, Roberts warned him that he could face deportation. That is true of legal aliens as well as illegal aliens.


The pre-sentence investigations used by judges are confidential under state court rules, so it's impossible to know what information either judge had when sentencing Macias.


Q: How did Francisco Macias file for bankruptcy in 2009 when he wasn't a legal immigrant?


A: Federal bankruptcy laws make no reference to a person's citizenship status, so citizens, legal immigrants and illegal immigrants are all eligible to file for bankruptcy, as long as they live in the bankruptcy court's district, according to bankruptcy attorneys.


"You don't need a Social Security card to file for bankruptcy, but if you don't have one, you will need to provide an ITIN. An ITIN is an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, which is often used by people who can't obtain a Social Security Number but want to pay taxes to avoid problems with the IRS," according to Kent Anderson, an Oregon bankruptcy attorney with the Bankruptcy Law Network, a national group of attorneys who specialize in bankruptcy cases.


In Macias' case, he'd been making tax filings, according to documents in bankruptcy court. In fact, during the bankruptcy proceedings, the IRS erroneously issued a tax refund to Macias, instead of to the trustee in his bankruptcy case, according to court documents.


Whether Macias used a Social Security Number or an ITIN is not available for public access in the bankruptcy file, but there was some form of taxpayer number filed in his case.


Q: How did Macias work for at least nine years if he wasn't a resident?


A: Macias and the Internal Revenue Service provided documentation to the bankruptcy court showing he'd been paying taxes, so it's possible he provided the necessary employment information from the IRS.


Q: Why wasn't Macias deported after he got in trouble?


A: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, points to limited resources in setting priorities.


According to an agency policy statement, their agents focus "limited resources on three high priority areas - the identification and removal of criminals and national security threats, fugitives, and recent border entrants and others who game the system. ICE is serious about tough, sensible enforcement, and the facts speak for themselves. In a world of limited resources, ICE pursues rational priorities, namely public safety, border security, national security and maintaining the integrity of our immigration system."


That means someone convicted of a couple of misdemeanor domestic-battery cases probably isn't going to reach the agency's radar screen.

http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?ID=547534

He is not an immigrant, he is a criminal illegal alien from Mexico that has been liing a life of crime and fraud in this country for too long thanks to liberal judges.
Now, it appears he has butchered people. - Blood is on the hands of the court and the judge that let him stay here.

Blood is on the hands of the court and the judge that let him stay here.

Sure is. I don't know how these judges and people who are responsible for deporting illegal aliens live with themselves, knowing he already had a propensity toward violence.