Crimes sending illegals home (Deseret News)

Crimes sending illegals home

By Sara Israelsen-Hartley

Deseret News
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 10:33 p.m. MST

SPANISH FORK — Sitting in the Utah County Jail in a blue and white jumpsuit, Pedro Dominguez-Reyes calmly answered questions about his status in the country.

"When you came in the first time, was it legally or illegally? With papers or without?" the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent asked in Spanish.

"Without papers," Reyes answers quickly.

Reyes, 27, says he was arrested by the border police in Arizona in February 1999 but agreed to return to Mexico voluntarily.

In October 2003, he made it back to the United States, and he's been working as a welder ever since.

Now, six years later, Reyes, a Mexican national, is in the Utah County Jail after a ticket he thought he paid ended up in a revoked driver's license and he got pulled over and arrested.

In less than a week, he should be on his way back to Mexico to see his wife and child, holding no bitterness for the officials who discovered him and deported him.

"It's their job," he said in Spanish. "In one way, it's good, because I can see my family. They can't come here."

Reyes is one of 119 illegal immigrants being housed in the Utah County Jail and managed by ICE, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE officials visited the jail Tuesday to discuss their Criminal Alien Program and provide education about their efforts to combat illegal immigration.

There are no ICE detention facilities in Utah, so ICE contracts with county jails to hold immigrants, like Reyes, who have broken the law and are facing criminal charges. While waiting, ICE agents interview them to determine their nationality, and inform them of their rights to talk with a judge before being deported.

For the past three years, the number of immigrants in the jail has been increasing, jail officials said. In 2006, the jail housed 909 illegal immigrants, in 2007 the number jumped to 1,179. And during 2008 the jail had housed 1,458 illegals.

"Illegal aliens (present) an issue that needs to be resolved," said Utah County Sheriff's Capt. John Carlson. "It's a service that needs to be provided."

The jail is happy to house the immigrants, because they're paid by ICE for the detainees, and it helps keep their facilities full if the local population is down, Carlson said.

It's also a positive partnership for the ICE agents, who benefit from the work done by local law enforcement.

"We don't have resources to go out on the street and arrest everyone (who is here illegally)," said Steve Branch, field office director for ICE's Office of Detention and Removal in Salt Lake City. "But once they become involved in criminal activity, it's time for us to step up and take responsibility. Even for the minor crimes, we need to take action before something bigger happens."

But it's a tough job, Branch says. He mentions polite inmates like Reyes, who are driven to the United States because of what Reyes calls "necessities."

"I'm not a bad person who uses drugs and kills people," Reyes said in Spanish. "I'm working to (support) my family, that's all."

But even the most law-abiding illegal immigrant is still breaking a fundamental law. And it's Branch's job to enforce it.

Another inmate, Enrique Valle, came to the United States from Mexico on a traveler's visa. But instead of staying for the allowed six months, he stayed for almost six years.

The 24-year-old was arrested Monday for forgery, after he bought a social security card and made up a number.

And now, like Reyes, he'll be sent back to Mexico, where jobs are scarce.

"I don't know what I'll go back to," he said. "I really don't."

He says he should have applied for a working visa, but fear held him back. Fear of speaking up, being noticed, rejected and deported.

"If I (am) sent back, I'll try to do everything right (to come back)," Valle said. "I don't want to cause any more trouble to this country. It's been great to me. I'll figure out a way to come here legally or I'll stay in Mexico."