U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stops deportation of Haitians (Palm Beach Post)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stops deportation of Haitians

By JOHN LANTIGUA
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 22, 2008

MIAMI — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency says it has temporarily stopped deporting Haitians back to Haiti due to the devastation in that country caused by recent hurricanes and tropical storms.

Haiti, already the poorest country in the hemisphere, has been ravaged by four large storms in a matter of weeks, leaving over 400 people dead, tens of thousands homeless, and with the survivors facing food shortages after more than $180 million in crops were wiped out.

''There are no imminent deportations planned to Haiti,'' said Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the customs enforcement agency. ``We are monitoring the situation on the ground.''

That announcement is important for many families in South Florida, which is home to one of the largest concentrations of Haitians in the U.S.

But the government also has made it clear that the deportations could resume at any time.

The U.S. Agency for International Development currently has members of its Disaster Assistance Response Team in Haiti assessing the situation.

"What we've heard is good for the moment, that the removals have stopped," says Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami, which represents Haitians facing deportation for being in the U.S. without proper documentation. "But what we also hear is that the DART teams will report back to the (U.S.) government and then decisions will be made about beginning those removals again."

Little, who says even after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike some people were still being deported back to Haiti, believes it would be a tragedy if the removals continue.

"Some people are starving there, the roads are rivers, thousands are in homeless shelters, there are no plans for children to go back to school yet," she said. "I would hope they would end deportations for at least a year."

Individuals from such countries as Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua have received Temporary Protected Status from immigration authorities after natural disasters in their countries and have been allowed to stay in the U.S. despite previous deportation orders.

Little also said that deporting Haitians at this moment creates double jeopardy because many Haitians in the U.S. send money back to their families in Haiti.

"If you deport someone you not only send that person back to complete devastation, but there is less money going to help Haiti recover," she said.

Yonkers cops take deportee into custody (Lower Hudson Journal News)

Yonkers cops take deportee into custody

By Will David
The Journal News • September 22, 2008

YONKERS - A 26-year-old local man wanted by U.S. immigration officials for deportation was arrested by city police last week.

Police said Juan Rodriguez of 42 Yonkers Ave. was in a car, arguing with a 40-year-old woman, on Seymour Street at 6:46 p.m. Thursday. The woman, who was driving, circled the block several times and police stopped the car to check on her, said police Capt. Salvatore DiMaggio said.

A check of Rodriguez' background determined that he was wanted by federal authorities and faced immediate deportation, DiMaggio said today. He did not say to where and did not know anything more on the federal case.

Illegal alien ordered deported (The Joplin Globe)

Illegal alien ordered deported

By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
Published September 22, 2008 09:54 pm

The second of two illegal aliens charged with robbing a Pittsburg, Kan., restaurant owner of his vehicle and cash at the Greyhound bus terminal in Joplin in February has pleaded guilty and been ordered turned over to the federal government for deportation.

Darbin Martinez-Cruz, 22, pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge of second-degree robbery in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin.

The defendant changed his plea as part of an agreement with the county prosecutor’s office that limited the prison term he might receive and called for suspension of the sentence for deportation purposes.

Circuit Judge Gayle Crane sentenced Martinez-Cruz to seven years in prison in accordance with the terms of the agreement and suspended execution of the sentence so he could be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for commencement of proceedings for deportation to Mexico.

The defendant and Eduardo Hernandez, 29, also of Mexico, robbed their employer, Lin Hua Chang, owner of the Yummy Chinese Buffet, on Feb. 8 after he fired them for allegedly stealing money from his business. Police and court records state that Chang had hired them through a company in California.

When he fired the two men, Chang reportedly gave them money to return to California and a ride to the bus station at 217 W. Second St. in Joplin. But once they reached the bus station and he was helping them get their belongings out of his van, one of them pulled a knife on him and the other punched him in the head.

They then took $230 from him, his keys to the van and left in the vehicle. They were arrested a few days later and initially charged with first-degree robbery.

Hernandez pleaded guilty in May to a reduced charge of felony stealing and received the same suspended sentence. He also was turned over to ICE for deportation to Mexico.

DPS busts Tucson immigrant stash house, find 18 people (Tucson Citizen)

DPS busts Tucson immigrant stash house, find 18 people
Two women report being sexually assaulted

SHERYL KORNMAN
Tucson Citizen

Eighteen illegal immigrants were being housed in a Tucson home with the air conditioning turned off by suspected human traffickers, according to a Arizona Department of Public Safety news release.

One of the 18 told detectives he hadn't been fed for several days. All were given medical help after detectives raided the house Sept. 15.

The immigrants, picked up at the Mexico-Arizona border, were to have been transported to Atlanta, Chicago and New York, according to a DPS news release.

Detectives from the Pima/Santa Cruz Investigations Squad, which specializes in human smuggling, said the 18 were fed bologna and bread once a day in the unfurnished house at 6107 S. Earp Wash Lane, near Alvernon Way and Valencia Road.

The house was being investigated as a possible marijuana stash house. But after detectives stopped a rental car leaving the residence with four illegal immigrants and an alleged human smuggler, detectives obtained a search warrant.

Two of the immigrants, women ages 17 and 27, said they has been sexually assaulted. Tucson police are investigating those claims, the news release said.

Five suspects are in the custody of the Border Patrol; four are being held as material witnesses.

One suspect is a U.S. citizen facing 18 counts of human smuggling and four counts of money laundering.

Illegal immigrant nabbed in traffic stop (PoconoNews.net)

Illegal immigrant nabbed in traffic stop

Saturday, September 20, 2008

MOUNT POCONO – An illegal immigrant, stopped for a traffic violation, was found to be in possession of forged ID documents.

Police say Miguel Cisneros was stopped in Mount Pocono, and questioned. After producing what appeared to be an international dirver’s license, and another ID card from the Domiinican republican, both with the same information, a police officer observed what appeared to be a PA license or ID card. That card, with Cisnero’s picture, but a different name, appeared fake.

Under questioning, Cisneros acknowledged he purchased the fake license, and a fake Social Security card, in New York City.

Cisneros is charged with tampering with records or identification, tampering with public records and driving without a license. He was sent to the Monroe County jail, without bail.

The incident happened September 12, but was not reported by Pocono Mountain Regional Police until yesterday