Guatemalan relatives to join Postville Agriprocessors workers (Des Moines Register)

Guatemalan relatives to join Postville Agriprocessors workers
BY TONY LEYS • TLEYS@DMREG.COM • NOVEMBER 26, 2010

More than two dozen Guatemalans are scheduled to arrive soon in Postville, where they will join relatives who helped investigators after a 2008 immigration raid.

Most of the newcomers are children whose mothers used to work at Postville's Agriprocessors meatpacking plant. A few are the siblings or parents of former child workers.

Sonia Parras Konrad, a Des Moines immigration lawyer who represents many of the families, said 28 Guatemalans are expected to arrive in the northeast Iowa town Dec. 4. She said most are the children of women who obtained "U-visas" for cooperating with investigators. The women had to demonstrate they were victims of crimes, such as sexual assaults, that left them with serious physical or mental injuries.

A U-visa allows an immigrant to stay in the United States four years and to seek a longer stay if the immigrant can show returning to her home country would seriously harm herself and a child who is a U.S. citizen, Parras Konrad said. "It is very complicated and hard to get," she said.

The Postville immigration raid was one of the largest ever at a single U.S. plant. Hundreds of immigrant workers, mainly Guatemalans and Mexicans, were arrested on identity-theft charges for using false immigration papers. Most of them pleaded guilty to reduced charges, served five months in prison, then were deported. But more than 40 were granted U-visas for cooperating with investigators.

Decorah-area churches helped raise money for loans for airfare from Guatemala to Chicago. The churches also arranged for a bus to carry the immigrants from Chicago to Postville.

David Vasquez, a Luther College pastor who has helped organize assistance for the workers, said many of the women have not seen their children in years. "Now they have the opportunity to live out their dreams and support their families," he said.

Vasquez said that when the raid happened, he could not have predicted a good outcome for any of the former Agriprocessors workers. Most were hustled through mass court proceedings, in which they were pressured into pleading guilty, he said. "An essential piece of our law is that individual cases be looked at individually."

Parras Konrad persuaded authorities to look more carefully at some of the cases, he said, and the authorities decided the immigrants deserved to stay.

Parras Konrad said most of the women still live in Postville and hope to become U.S. citizens. They work in various jobs, including housecleaning and child care. A few have returned to the packing plant, now under new ownership and called Agri Star.

Parras Konrad said the women were routinely mistreated under the old owners. "They have seen a huge difference in before and after," she said. For example, she said, the women now receive meal breaks and may stay home if they're sick.

Only a few cases reach court in stolen ID investigations (Chambersburg Public Opinion)

Only a few cases reach court in stolen ID investigations

By VICKY TAYLOR Staff writer
Posted: 11/26/2010 11:51:29 PM EST

Chambersburg Police Department detectives filed charges this year against at least 10 people using stolen or forged identity documents to live and work here, but only a few of those cases have reached the county court level.

Borough police have been involved in an ongoing investigation into the sale of Puerto Rican identity documents, forged Social Security cards, and permanent resident alien cards -- identifying and charging a number of people.

Many simply failed to show up for court.

Those that did show up have reached various stages in the criminal justice system.

An U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer has been placed on one Mexican national arrested this month for using stolen or forged identity documents. Police had been looking for him since January.

The detainer issued by ICE will keep Jorge Saul Garcia-Arguello, 36, at Franklin County Jail until his local case makes its way through the Court of Common Pleas. He is charged with identity theft for allegedly using a Puerto Rican Social Security card belonging to someone else to get work at Benshoff Fence Inc. in Chambersburg.

Garcia-Arguello's case is expected to quickly make its way through the local judicial system. His formal arraignment on the identity theft charge, a first-degree misdemeanor, is set for Dec. 8, compared to the January arraignments set in most cases heard in Magisterial District Central Court this week.

Once his case is settled, Garcia-Arguello will be turned over to ICE to begin deportation hearings. Meanwhile, he is being held on $25,000 bail.

One member of a family identified as a Mexican national using the name and Social Security number of a Puerto Rican woman was sentenced to probation by a Franklin County judge on Wednesday.

It is unknown if Yolanda Zamorano-Perez, 40, will be detained by ICE for deportation proceedings. Identity theft charges were filed against her on Aug. 19. She was released on $25,000 unsecured bail on Aug. 23.

She showed up for her preliminary hearing on Aug. 31, and her formal arraignment September 14. She pleaded guilty to the identity theft charge on Oct. 13 and was handed the probation sentence by Judge Richard Walsh on Wednesday.

Several of her relatives did not show up for their scheduled court hearings, however.

Cases are still pending on the magisterial court level against three other relatives:

- Ana Marie Zamorano-Perez, 33, one count of identity theft. The charge was withdrawn during a preliminary hearing Aug. 31.

- Armando Zamorano-Perez, 21, arrested Aug. 20 on an identity theft charge. He had a preliminary hearing Oct. 5 and a formal arraignment last week.

-Ema Zamorano-Perez, who was arrested Aug. 23 and charged with two counts of identity theft, then released on unsecured bail. That bail was revoked when she didn't show up for a preliminary hearing Aug. 31. She is still at large.

- Manuel Hernandez-Lopez on July 27, who is charged with two counts of misdemeanor identity theft. An arrest warrant was issued, but police were unable to find him.

Cases are also pending in magisterial court against two members of an unrelated family, Sandra Arana Corado-Asencio, 25, and Maria Corado-Asencio, whose age is not listed in court documents. The two women are from Guatemala.

Identity theft charges were filed against Maria Corado-Asencio on July 1. Charges were filed against her niece, Sandra Corado-Asencio on Aug. 6.

Authorities have not located either woman to serve them with the citations filed with Magisterial District Judge Gary Carter in Chambersburg.

Another immigrant currently in the process of being deported by ICE was on Wednesday's court list for a disposition hearing.

Pedro Cano Urbano, 40, who had been living in Fayetteville when he was arrested on three identity theft and three forgery charges in March, is accused of using several names and obtaining numerous forged identity documents while living in Franklin County.

In S.D., deportations are few (Argus Leader)

In S.D., deportations are few
But supporters call illegal immigration initiative effective
JOHN HULT • JHULT@ARGUSLEADER.COM • NOVEMBER 28, 2010

An effort to find and remove illegal immigrants with criminal records from South Dakota has led to the deportation of five people in its first five months.

The five are among a larger group of 3,127 immigrants removed from South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota so far in 2010.

The Secure Communities Initiative asks jailers to send the fingerprints of every new inmate through a federal database to quickly identify illegal immigrants most likely to pose a danger to the community.

Minnehaha and Pennington counties joined June 22. Custer, Fall River and Jackson counties soon followed.

Of the almost 4,500 sets of prints scanned since then, only 12 have prompted action by a response from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Some South Dakota lawmakers say the small return from the ICE program is further proof that the federal government's strategies are ineffective. They say a set of Arizona-style state laws punishing illegal immigrants and anyone who offers them a job, a home or transportation could force the hand of Washington, D.C.

Others see the numbers as a sign that South Dakota's immigration issues aren't pressing enough for a law that could fill state jails with international offenders and draw costly legal challenges.

Feeding A Growing Distrust

Victim's advocates fear that programs such as Secure Communities and laws such as Arizona's do little but foment distrust between law enforcement and minorities.

For Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead, who signed off on the fingerprint checks this summer at ICE's request, deportations never were meant to be the measure of the program's success.

Secure Communities, he said, is simply a way to foster communication between frustrated agencies tasked with tackling a problem that has grown larger than the laws written to deal with it.

"Whether it's one or it's 100, the key is that there's a mechanism in place to link us together," Milstead said. "I think many Americans realize that our current laws and current enforcement are marginal at best."

No Drawbacks, Sheriff Says

Milstead didn't expect huge numbers. Realistically, the program is designed to catch people who already have been caught at least once.

"Most people who are here illegally are not going to have their fingerprints in a database," he said.

Still, he said, there was no reason not to join the program. Signing up is free and gives ICE a chance to catch the worst of the worst.

Before Secure Communities, new prints were checked only against the Federal Bureau of Investigation's criminal database. Now, the prints go there and to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency.

Immigration officers get a notice every time the system detects a previously-convicted criminal or possible illegal immigrant.

It's up to ICE to decide what to do after that. The agency does not and cannot pursue everyone, ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer said. Not every crime is a deportable offense under federal law.

A drug conviction involving narcotics qualifies a person for deportation, for example. A drug conviction involving an ounce or less of marijuana is not.

Simply being in the country illegally doesn't catch ICE's attention.

"That's why we try to focus on those violent offenders," Neudauer said.

ICE wants every county jail in the nation to join Secure Communities. Since it began in 2008, 788 jurisdictions in 34 states have signed up.

Neudauer also was not surprised at the number of deportations in South Dakota. Three counties in Montana signed up on July 27, and ICE has not detained or deported anyone.

"It takes time for these cases to move through the system," he said.

Not Time-Consuming Cases

U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson has one experienced prosecutor for immigration cases in each of his three offices. They deal with felony cases of illegal reentry after deportation, most of which originate through ICE investigations.

Immigration judges generally deal with nonfelony deportations.

The number of felony cases in South Dakota has fluctuated but held relatively steady for the past 10 years, even as the foreign-born population has more than doubled in some parts of the state.

Such cases amount to 15 percent to 18 percent of Johnson's caseload. ICE can send as many as they find, Johnson said, because cases often are open-and-shut affairs with clear proof of re-entry.

"These cases are not very time-consuming," Johnson said. "We have plenty of resources that have been allocated to us."

Counties pass court information along to ICE as well. Minnehaha County State's Attorney Aaron McGowan has opened 25 cases for possession of a forged instrument, a crime that most often refers to a fake Social Security card used by an illegal immigrant.

State prosecutors dismiss those cases if the defendant is taken into ICE custody.

"If they're going to be deported and we can save some tax dollars on that ... we're going to work with federal authorities," McGowan said.

Six of the 25 county forged instrument cases have been dismissed so far, McGowan said, while eight people have pleaded or been found guilty and 11 cases are still open.

Federal Policies Criticized

McGowan, like Milstead and Johnson, said ICE officers in South Dakota are accessible and easy to work with. Because Secure Communities makes it easy to trade information, they all support the program.

So do state Rep. Manny Steele and state Sen. Craig Tieszen. However, they think policies at the federal level limit ICE officers and let too many immigrants free.

Nationwide, concerns about civil liberties have cropped up through Secure Communities. But law officers here and elsewhere say the program is necessary to deal with problems caused by insecure borders.

Mitchell's Salgado Case

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley points to the killing of 16-year-old Mitchell High School student Jasmine Guevara by Alexander Salgado as an example of such problems.

Salgado is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for his part in Guevara's November 2009 murder. She burned to death in the trunk of her own car in rural Hanson County after being stabbed repeatedly by Salgado and his 15-year-old girlfriend.

Both Salgado and his 15-year-old girlfriend were in the U.S. illegally.

"He shouldn't have even been here, and he ended up killing a little girl," Jackley said.

Milstead said he thinks the coming immigration debate in the legislatures of South Dakota and almost two dozen other states "scratches the surface" of the national immigration reform voters want.

For law enforcement, especially in smaller communities without the easy access Milstead has to ICE officers, there can be disappointment. Officers can collect evidence on illegal immigrants, but in the end, local agencies must rely on ICE.

"We have a marginal ability to act in these situations," Milstead said.

For Huron Police Chief Doug Schmitt, the frustration has translated into inaction.

In many cases, "if we encounter someone we know to be in the country illegally, we can pick them up but ICE won't come get them," he said. "It's frustrating, at best."

N.C. student Fredd Reyes detained in Georgia for-profit prison (Creative Loafing)

N.C. student Fredd Reyes detained in Georgia for-profit prison
November 29th, 2010 by Rhiannon Bowman in News

A young man, Fredd Reyes, who has lived 22 of his 24 years in North Carolina is now awaiting deportation in a for-profit prison in Georgia, which only makes the headlines for abusing inmates, because his parents brought him to the United States as a child. Despite the fact that they came here from Guatemala after facing death and persecution, a federal judge denied their request for asylum in 2000.

Reyes earned his Associates Degree from Davidson County Community College and later transferred to Guilford Tech. The morning he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, who knocked on his door at 5 a.m., he was supposed to take an exam.

Reyes isn’t a criminal, he doesn’t consider any other country to be his home, he didn’t come here on his own accord, he’s been separated from his family and his education cut short. And, for what? So we can feel good about sending an undocumented immigrant “home”?

On top of everything else, Reyes qualifies for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM, Act, which would help him become a legal citizen. Unfortunately, the legislation has been snagged in Congress for years. But, instead of evaluating how our system has let him and his family down, we’ve decided instead to dedicate thousands of dollars to deport him? Seriously? What we need to be doing is making sure this young man graduates.

From NCEquals.org:

Change.org notes that Reyes is eligible for the DREAM Act. “Like others who have faced the injustice of our immigration system and the Stewart Facility, Fredd has the potential for an approved green card awaiting him on the other side of the walls that now deprive him of his freedom,” they write.

Reyes’ case is yet another perfect example of the inherent problems of our immigration system. It paints a clear picture of a young, law-abiding young person aspiring to greater education and community involvement being stopped in his or her tracks by a system that fails to take into account the complexities of the issue.

Adoption case attracts attention of immigration, advocacy groups (The Joplin Globe)

Adoption case attracts attention of immigration, advocacy groups
By Susan Redden
November 3, 2010

Interest in an appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court that is being brought by a Carthage couple doesn’t stop at county, state or even national borders.

Briefs in the case have been filed on behalf of several organizations, including the consulate general of Guatemala.

Those filings are in addition to written arguments on behalf of Seth and Melinda Moser, of Carthage, and on behalf of a woman from Guatemala who has challenged the Mosers’ adoption of her child while she was jailed on immigration violations. The issue will be argued before the high court on Tuesday in Jefferson City.

The focus of the challenge is a boy, now nearly 4 years old, who was adopted in 2008 after his biological mother, Encarnacion M. Bail Romero, was arrested in an immigration sweep at a Barry County poultry plant. Romero contends that she never agreed to the adoption and is seeking custody.

The Mosers have had custody of the child they call Carlos Jamison since he was about a year old, and they maintain that the adoption was legal. A state appellate court ruled that the Jasper County Circuit Court lacked the authority to transfer custody of the child. That ruling was appealed to the high court by the Mosers.

The case has attracted interest, and support for the natural mother, from groups that advocate for immigrants and women. Groups filing court briefs on the mother’s behalf thus far include the Immigrant Child Advocacy Project, Legal Momentum, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Women’s Refugee Commission, the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, and the Washington University School of Law.

Information on briefs that may be filed in support of the Mosers was unavailable. Joe Hensley, attorney for the couple, could not be reached Wednesday for comment.