Thread: EAST ST. LOUIS: Mexican admits driving illegal immigrants

http://www.stltoday.com/

EAST ST. LOUIS: Mexican admits driving illegal immigrants


08/26/2006


Juan Arias-Ramirez, 23, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in East St. Louis on 11 counts of transporting illegal immigrants.

Arias-Ramirez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, admitted to attempting to drive a van of 11 others from Arizona to Chicago and Indianapolis to find jobs. Authorities in Bond County arrested all 12 during a traffic stop June 7.

Arias-Ramirez faces up to two years in jail and a fine of $1,100 at sentencing Dec. 1.

His lawyer, Renee Schooley, said her client will be deported after he completes his sentence.

She said the 11 others in the van already have been deported.

Lucky for us he wasn't arrested in San Diego. Here, the local U.S. Attorney, Carol Lam only prosecutes about 6% of the smugglers arrested. That's right she releases 94% of all smugglers caught without facing any charges. Only in Mexico's Finest City.


Report: Border Patrol Demoralized by Lack of Smuggling Prosecutions
Thursday, May 18, 2006

SAN DIEGO — The vast majority of people caught smuggling immigrants across the border near San Diego are never prosecuted for the offense, demoralizing the agents making the arrests, according to an internal Border Patrol document obtained by The Associated Press.

"It is very difficult to keep agents' morale up when the laws they were told to uphold are being watered-down or not prosecuted," the report says.

The report offers a stark assessment of the situation at a Border Patrol station responsible for guarding 13 miles of mountainous border east of the city. Federal officials say it reflects a reality along the entire 2,000-mile border: Judges and federal attorneys are so swamped that only the most egregious smuggling cases are prosecuted.

Only 6 percent of 289 suspected immigrant smugglers were prosecuted by the federal government for that offense in the year ending in September 2004, according to the report. Some were instead prosecuted for another crime. Other cases were declined by federal prosecutors, or the suspect was released by the Border Patrol.