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Posted on 08/27/2007 1:20:46 PM PDT by AuntB
Felinda Williams couldn't make herself go to court on a recent morning, couldn't bring herself to look at the man accused of driving drunk and killing her daughter, her son-in-law and her 2-year-old grandson.
She knows few details of the Aug. 11 crash in Houston that killed the newlyweds and the little boy nicknamed "Peanut Butter." She does know that her daughter didn't die on impact. The young woman, according to reports, felt the flames and begged helpless bystanders to pull her free.
The grieving woman knows two things about Juan Felix Salinas, the man charged in connection with their deaths: She knows his name, and she knows he was in the U.S. illegally, out on bail after an earlier arrest.
"He's been through the courts and the jail before, and nobody caught it," Williams said. "If they'd caught it, he would have been in jail or deported, and then he wouldn't have been out there on the streets, and my babies would still be alive."
The deaths of Tenisha and S.J. Williams and Xavier Brown have once again focused attention on a controversial topic for law enforcement in Harris County and across the country — how to deal with illegal immigrants accused of crimes.
Police and sheriff's departments have struggled to balance outreach to victims and witnesses in immigrant communities with efforts to crack down on career criminals in the country illegally.
Arrested in March In the past year, Harris County Sheriff's Office and Houston Police Department officials said they have increased their cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But despite recent efforts, not all illegal immigrants who come into contact with law enforcement in Houston are referred to immigration authorities, which has frustrated some victims' advocates and proponents of stricter immigration controls.
Salinas, 41, was arrested in Jacinto City after allegedly shaking his wife violently on March 31. He escaped the attention of immigration officials by posting a "non-arrest" bond at the Harris County Jail, which some victim advocates have called a loophole for illegal immigrants.
Spurred by officer's death For years, HPD officials resisted pressure to ask suspects about their immigration status, arguing it would jeopardize their ability to get witnesses and victims in immigrant communities to come forward, for fear of deportation. The killing of HPD officer Rodney Johnson in September brought national attention to the policy, as details emerged about the suspected killer, Juan Quintero. The illegal immigrant, who is accused of shooting Johnson in the head during a traffic stop, was convicted of molesting a minor in 1998 and driving while intoxicated in 1995. He was deported in 1999.
After Johnson's death, HPD started referring cases to ICE, said Victor Senties, an HPD spokesman. But not everyone identified at a jail as an illegal immigrant is referred to immigration officials, according to the HPD fact sheet on the new policy. Under the guidelines, only people who are arrested and found to have outstanding immigration warrants or are previously deported felons would be referred to ICE. Gabe Ortiz, an HPD spokesman, added that "ICE does have full access to the jail facilities."
From Oct. 10, when the policy took effect, through July 31, HPD has referred 144 cases to ICE officials, according to HPD statistics.
Cases referred to ICE Officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Office ask each inmate during the intake process about nationality and citizenship, said Sgt. D.M. Mackey.
More than 4,606 inmates admitted to being illegal immigrants and had their cases referred to ICE from August 2006 through August 2007, Mackey said. In the previous 18 months, the sheriff's office had identified 1,940 illegal immigrants in the jail.
Andy Kahan, director of the Mayor's Crime Victim's Office, questioned why local authorities don't refer all cases involving suspected illegal immigrants to ICE.
"We can't expect ICE and federal officials to act if we don't give them all of the information to act on," he said. "If we don't give them the tools to make a decision, we reap what we sow."
Distorted perception? Alison Parker, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, cautioned that the media attention surrounding high-profile crimes involving immigrants can sometimes distort public perception. Parker recently completed a study of immigrants convicted of crimes and deported under a 1996 immigration law.
"There are a lot of stories in the media that leave the public with the impression that there are lots of undocumented immigrants committing lots of very serious violent crimes, and those things occur, certainly, but they are overly represented in the press, and the reality is that there are lots of undocumented in the United States who don't commit crimes," Parker said.
Salinas, 41, from Nuevo Leon, Mexico, escaped the attention of immigration officials after being charged with assault and public intoxication in two separate incidents earlier this year.
On March 31, Salinas' wife called 911 and reported that he shook her "violently" during an argument.
He was charged in Harris County with family assault and paid a $1,500 "non-arrest" bond. They are issued only on cases in which a warrant has been issued and a bond has been set, a Houston bail bondsman said. Paying the "non-arrest" bond allows a suspect to avoid going to jail, but is typically reserved for minor offenses.
'A sticky issue' Jacinto City Police Chief J.M. Ayala said his police department does not ask suspects about immigration status. "It's kind of a sticky issue," he said, and can lead to accusations of profiling.
Immigration officials have placed a hold on Salinas, so he won't be released without notice. He now faces three counts of intoxicated manslaughter, in addition to the earlier assault and public intoxication charges.
On Friday morning, Felinda Williams lit a candle in front of her daughter's high school portrait, where Tenisha smiled softly, her neck ringed with pearls. She was her only daughter, the middle child, 26 years old.
Tenisha and S.J. had just married at a little chapel not far from Williams' house on Melbourne. They caught that 7-7-07 craze, she said, and it was special, because it was S.J.'s birthday.
The baby, "Peanut Butter," would have turned 3 this past Monday. They were going to go to Sea World.
"She had everything that she wanted," Williams said. "She had a good husband who she loved, and who loved her, and he loved the baby. Everything was going good. She was just at a high point. The lottery couldn't get no better."
Williams said she's not yet ready to see Salinas.
"Once the trial starts, every time they have him in there, I'll be there, too," she said. "This man turned my world upside down, inside out."
More than 4,606 inmates admitted to being illegal immigrants and had their cases referred to ICE from August 2006 through August 2007, Mackey said. In the previous 18 months, the sheriff's office had identified 1,940 illegal immigrants in the jail.
Please freepmail me know if you are interested in joining in on a Memorial Quilt for victims of illegal immigration.
(sigh) Unfortunately, that just isn't so. Prisons and courts are filled with illegals, and the ICE (previously INS) are seldom informed, and when they are, they seldom show up for deport the illegals.
Geraldo would be outraged at this blatant attempt to assert that these preventable deaths were preventable.
“Prisons and courts are filled with illegals, and the ICE (previously INS) are seldom informed, and when they are, they seldom show up for deport the illegals”
ICE is useless.
Cue Geraldo Rivera calling us a bunch of racist know-nothings because we think Juan Felix Salinas should have either been in jail or back in Mexico.
This has to be handled at the local and state levels. To recoup the money spent, I do not know how that would be done. The feds need to pay and then the feds should collect from Mexico. But I bet this is not done, and thus more people die, because none want to take the time or spend the money at the local and state levels. Is your wife’s, husband’s, daughter’s or son’s lives worth the effort and money being spent? Of course, but will the money be spent to protect them or cage the animal? So far all we are doing is caging the animal, after the wife, husband, or the children are dead.....It really does not make sense, when we could spend the money to remove the animals, and keep the animals out, and husband, wife and children would still be alive. Instead we have something less.
SICK
[ICE is useless.]
The ENTIRE US Government is pretty useless when it comes to protecting our borders - AND US - from the barbarian hordes to the south.
I’ve never been so disgusted and disappointed by a repulicrat president as I am with Jorge Bush and his policy of laissez faire towards illegal immigration from his great friends in Mexico.
One Happy Hemisphere, Mexico integrating with the US on their terms...just a few potholes along the way.
Profiling something illegal ? Oh, the horrors !! Maybe this chief should resign, because everyone in his department targets ... illegal acts !
With law enforcement like this we are truly in trouble.
A waste of tax dollars.
bump
It is hard to be this stupid without being drunk.
The fact that there are "lots" of illegal aliens (I will not call them undocumented immigrants) committing "lots" of very serious violent crimes is not at all contradicted by the fact that there are "lots" of illegal aliens in the United States who do not commit additional crimes, beyond being here illegally, of course. Both can be true.
Nobody is contending that the vast majority of illegal immigrans are committing horrendous violent crimes. But the fact of the matter is that those living outside the law are more likely to break the law, and are more diffucult to control, because they have nothing to lose.
On balance, we would have less violent crime in this country if all illegal immigrants were back where they belong, in their home countries. This fact cannot be denied.
This is a ping list promoting Immigration Enforcement and Congressional Reform.
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If Juan Felix Salinas was not driving drunk and slaughtering innocents in Texas, he would be driving drunk and slaughtering innocents in Mexico, so it's all a wash, don'tcha know.
In fact, in the United States, automotive safety and emergency medicine are far advanced compared to Mexico. So having Mexican drunks raising Hell on US roadways probably reduces the number of deaths, overall...
You just gotta look at these things the right way...
BTW, is it a common practice for American tourists to drive drunk in Mexico?
I bailiff for our County Court at Law (part-time) and the Judge WILL inform ICE on illegal alien defendants after their appearance (I translate on some of the arraignments and their citizenship is specifically asked about as a requirement of plea agreements, etc.). Now the big question is: Do they respond in a timely manner and take them into custody? Nope.
“He was charged in Harris County with family assault and paid a $1,500 “non-arrest” bond.”
cue Geraldo “If only his bond was $450,000”
If we are going to continue to scream for and demand deportation, we must scream louder for effectively secured borders NOW.
I will NOT demand effectively secured borders (first) in exhange for amnesty for “good” (non-’criminal’) illegal aliens (later)!
They are ALL criminals!
KNOW YOUR CANDIDATE!!!
“They have to go home” - Duncan Hunter
vs.
“You’re going to have to, in some way, work out a deal where they can have some aspirations of citizenship but not make it so easy that it’s unfair to the people waiting in line and abiding by the law.” Fred Thompson
Alison Parker, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, cautioned that the media attention surrounding high-profile crimes involving immigrants can sometimes distort public perception.
kind of like the distortions pertaining to abu gharib
I have to support Duncan Hunter!
Duncan Hunter just made Fred Thompson look like he is pro-illegal.
I am with you on all counts!
““You’re going to have to, in some way, work out a deal where they can have some aspirations of citizenship but not make it so easy that it’s unfair to the people waiting in line and abiding by the law.” Fred Thompson”
This soured me on Thompson.
BUMP
What we need to do now is to insist on a study or an accounting to see exactly what percentage of crime is committed by illegals.
The Feds to Felinda Williams: we're keeping the Social Security contributions of your daughter and son-in-law.
Just had the radio on and heard the name “Larry Craig”. Did you hear Savage? Seems our open border Rino Senator has been caught playing naughty in public restrooms.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1887377/posts
They’d better keep an eye on the SS numbers while they’re at it, some illegal will be using them.
The illegal alien commits several felonies besides the illegal entry act (misdemeanor or not). It is these additional felonies - ID theft, false ID to any government agency for whatever services, wire fraud in sending funds back to Mexico/wherever, etc - that make these folks serious criminals. ALL OF THEM ARE FELONS!!
Also, racial profiling is NOT ILLEGAL. IT IS NECESSARY AND PRUDENT AND RATIONAL!!
Demand a border fence! Build it NOW!! Beef up the border patrol and close our borders! Stop the DREAM Act!!
U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Republican National Committee
310 First Street, SE Washington, D.C. 20003
phone: 202.863.8500 | fax: 202.863.8820 | e-mail: info@gop.com
Take a look at their hidden agenda: http://www.mexica-movement.org
Just ask everybody. That will solve it.
No but it is for the taxi drivers driving those tourists around.
" Ole, amigos, let's go have a horchata and a churros in the Senate tacoteria....Viva Mexico."
THIS IS CHILLING TO READ!!
We know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his
thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an immigration
overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of
America’s finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the
name of Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, “Mexifornia,”
explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal was destroying the
entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until
it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.
Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a
stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as
he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States. He
said, “If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too
rich, then let’s destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in
history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all
great civilizations rise and fall and that ‘An autopsy of history would show
that all great nations commit suicide.’”
“Here is how they do it,” Lamm said: “First, to destroy America, turn
America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country.” History
shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of
two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an
individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be
bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: “The
histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are
histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy.” Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and
Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for
autonomy, if not independence.
Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion.
France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.”.
Lamm went on: Second, to destroy America, “Invent ‘multiculturalism’ and
encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. Make it an article of
belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences.
Make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are
due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other
explanation is out of bounds.
Third, “We could make the United States an ‘Hispanic Quebec’ without much
effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin
Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: “The apparent success of our
own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by
tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated
ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only
tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.”
Lamm said, “I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and
culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl
metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups
living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans,
emphasizing their similarities.”
“Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least
educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated,
and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass
have a 50% dropout rate from high school.”
“My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and
business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic
identity, and I would establish the cult of ‘Victimology.’ I would get all
minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the
majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure
on the majority population.”
“My sixth plan for America’s downfall would include dual citizenship , and
promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would
stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are
mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing
each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most
historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation
together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they
belonged to the same race; they possessed a common Language and literature;
and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic
games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these
bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and
geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell.
“E. Pluribus Unum” —From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put
the emphasis on the ‘pluribus’ instead of the ‘Unum,’ we will balkanize
America as surely as Kosovo.”
“Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk
about anything against the cult of ‘diversity.’ I would find a word similar
to ‘heretic’ in the 16 th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed
thinking. Words like ‘racist’ or ‘xenophobe’ halt discussion and debate.
Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established
multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of
‘Victimology,’ I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration
laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for
America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant
symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them.”
In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound
silence followed. Finally he said,. “Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson
Davis’s book “Mexifornia.” His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to
destroy America. If you feel America. deserves to be destroyed, don’t read
that book.”
There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud
above every attendee at the conference . Every American in that room knew
that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly,
darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being
suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our
educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric cultures that
practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate ‘diversity.’
American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a
Third World in America - take note of California and other states - to date,
ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George
Orwell’s book “1984.” In that story, three slogans are engraved in the
Ministry of Truth building: “War is peace,” “Freedom is slavery,” and
“Ignorance is strength.”
Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the
conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply
in trouble and worsening fast. If we don’t get this immigration monster
stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and
destroy everything in its path especially The American Dream.
If you care for and love our country as I do, take the time to pass this on
just as I did for you. NOTHING is going to happen if you don’t.
REMEMBER THEY HAVE ALREADY STARTED TO SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM IN SPANISH!
Judge Tells Illegal Alien He is "Unwelcome Undesirable"
Chattanooga.com | August 26, 2007 | Staff Writer
FR Posted on 08/26/2007 7:14:22 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
Chattanooga, TN General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon said the man charged with setting a fire in a downtown hotel is "an unwelcome undesirable" illegal alien. Judge Moon told Bario Gomez, "Undesirables like you are not welcome in this country. You are a Latino terrorist who entered this country illegally and soon plotted significant personal injury and damage to the people and businesses in our community."
Authorities said Gomez is an illegal alien with no proof of identification. Officials also said he gave police a false name.
The INS placed a hold on Gomez, 20, after charges of aggravated arson and aggravated vandalism were filed against him.
Judge Moon told him, "It is undesirables like you who create many unjustifiable problems and prejudices upon the good people who enter this country legally in chasing a dream for a better life for themselves and their families. "Mr. Gomez, you nor any other citizen from a foreign land has a right to enter this country; you simply have a privilege to enter this country through the proper legal channels. "You are a domestic terrorist who is an imminent threat to the safety of our people and their property. You are also a supreme flight risk from justice. It is with duty, comfort and ease that I increase your bond significantly in an appropriate amount to insure your appearance in further proceedings and to insure the safety of this community."
The bond was raised from $30,000 to $1 million. The previous bond was set by Magistrate James Purple, which Judge Moon described as "another ludicrously low bond."
According to Arson Investigator James Whitmire, Gomez checked into the hotel with his girlfriend. Testimony by Whitmire and management officials indicated that Gomez placed a toaster filled with matches in a microwave oven in his room intending a massive "delayed burn." Proof also showed that multiple towels were stuffed into the toilet in order to retard the water supply. The hotel manager testified that the towels were stuffed so deeply that the pipes had to be disassembled to remove them. She also stated that the room was severely damaged and vandalized.
Capt. Whitmire testified that "hundreds of people were evacuated, including children." He said, "If the fire had established itself many families and children would have most likely lost their lives or been severely injured. Being on the fourth floor, the fire would have been difficult to contain."
Bario Gomez
LINE-UP OF EVIL These three are the scum that savagely mutilated three college students w/ machetes then shot the victims execution-style. Carranza, illegallt here from Peru, also has 31 counts of child rape (but was let go scot-free); another scumbag is from Honduras.
Melvin Jovel, Jose Carranza, Rodolfo Godinez (L to R)
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