Posted on 01/31/2008 1:23:32 PM PST by mdittmar
Immigration issue reverberates locally.
Columbia is becoming a tough place to live if you’re an illegal immigrant.
The Boone County Jail has started tracking the number of illegal immigrant detainees, citing growing "national interest" in the issue. At least one area bank has ramped up efforts to stop illegal immigrants from using phony identification cards.
And police opened one investigation recently into an area lawn-care business that employed two immigrants accused of selling cocaine and marijuana in their spare time.
For years, Capt. Warren Brewer, the Boone County Jail administrator, and his staff have routinely submitted information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to see if any county inmates should be detained.
More recently, Brewer said, he asked his staff in August to record the number of detainees housed there each month, citing Gov. Matt Blunt’s immigration initiatives including tougher checks on suspected illegal immigrants by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Water Patrol and Capitol Police.
"There was some national interest regarding immigration, and you hear about it so much with the upcoming presidential campaign," Brewer said. "We just wanted to have the information available in case anyone asked."
Seven detainer "flags" were recorded by the jail in January. There were 16 filed in the five-month period between August and December.
Those flags go into effect if the suspected illegal immigrant is released from state custody. Suspects who are detained begin deportation proceedings soon after their arrest. In some cases, noncriminal illegal immigrants are offered voluntary "returns" to their home countries, which does not carry the same legal consequences as formal deportation, said Carl Rusnok, an ICE spokesman for the Missouri field office in Dallas.
In other cases, suspected illegal immigrants appear before federal judges who determine if they should be deported. If so, they are deported as soon as travel documents are arranged,
At least one Columbia bank cracked down on a suspected illegal immigrant this month after she was accused of using a fake residential alien card while trying to cash a paycheck.
The woman - 20-year-old Rosalba A. Sanchez of 100 Sanders Court - was arrested Jan. 18 at Boone County National Bank’s Columbia Mall branch, booked into the county jail and transferred to federal custody. "Being in a university town, we have people from all over the world here. So we follow federal law, and all we’re looking for is a valid ID," said bank vice president of marketing Mary Wilkerson. "We’re not in the business of determining if someone is here illegally."
Sanchez’s arrest is not the only recent case of area law enforcement investigating illegal immigration-related offenses. After the arrest of two immigrants on drug distribution charges earlier this month, police filed a separate report about their employer, Missouri Mowing, 5051 I-70 Drive N.W., employing illegal immigrants.
The two men - 34-year-old Miguel A. Ramos and 27-year-old Jose D. Marquez - were arrested Jan. 10 after Columbia police served a narcotics-related search warrant at their home at 807 N. Seventh St. as part of an investigation with the St. Charles County Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Officers seized roughly 52 pounds of processed marijuana, $25,000 in cash and about 4 grams of powder cocaine.
Police said the suspects would be classified as "mid- to major dealers." Both are still being held at the Boone County Jail on their state charges.
Jed Taylor, the owner of Missouri Mowing, said he had found out "through other avenues" about one of the employees having illegal documentation.
He said that employee told managers his name was Freddy. Police identified him as Jose Marquez, who has a prior drug-related conviction in Florida, according to court documents.
"Both of those guys were very good workers," Taylor said. "One was definitely legal - he had a temporary work visa - but it’s very disheartening stuff."
Taylor said his company has had a difficult time finding seasonal laborers this year. Missouri Mowing usually employs between 20 and 25 laborers. This year it has hired 14.
"It’s hard to get returning workers, and a lot of companies around here are facing a pretty big problem," said Taylor, who founded the lawn-care business 10 years ago with a friend.
Well they can’t go to Oklahoma or Arizona. I guess they’ll go to Arkansas or Kansas, or Illinois.
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