View of the Sutton property near where six illegal aliens were intercepted in March. [Jon Dougherty/WND Photo]
Posted on 9/25/2003, 7:51:55 AM by JohnHuang2
Four illegal aliens from Mexico who claimed they were robbed at gunpoint by American citizens patrolling a private ranch in Texas have dropped their lawsuit against the owner of the property.
Marvin Rader, an attorney for Jim Hogg County rancher Joe Sutton, told WorldNetDaily the four had dropped the suit "without prejudice," meaning they could reinstate it at a later date. He said Southern Poverty Law Center lawyers who are handling the Mexicans' case did not give a reason for dropping the suit.
View of the Sutton property near where six illegal aliens were intercepted in March. [Jon Dougherty/WND Photo] |
Niether SPLC lawyers nor those for the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, which was also representing the Mexicans, returned phone calls seeking comment.
Though the four Mexican nationals dropped out of the suit, Rader said an El Salvador couple – a man and woman – remain part of the same suit.
The Salvadoran pair claims Sutton and members of Ranch Rescue, a civilian group that protects private property from illegal aliens and other threats at the request of landowners, beat them, held them at gunpoint and threatened their lives. According to the SPLC, the pair is seeking monetary damages.
As WorldNetDaily reported, two members of Ranch Rescue – Casey Nethercott and Hank Conner – were arrested by a Texas Department of Public Safety officer March 20 and charged with two felony counts each of aggravated assault with a weapon and two counts each of unlawful restraint for allegedly pistol-whipping and detaining the Salvadorans.
Jack Foote, national spokesman for Ranch Rescue, told WorldNetDaily the charges against Conner have been dropped, but not against Nethercott.
Sutton says he and some ranch hands intercepted the Mexicans as they made their way across his property near Hebbronville in March.
The four illegals, who were traveling with one minor child, claimed Sutton had stolen $3,000 in cash from them, made them walk 12 miles through rough terrain to a highway for pickup, and that he threatened to kill them at gunpoint – all charges he calls "bogus."
The Salvadorans were intercepted a few days later. Their capture and handling was witnessed by a French photojournalist, Eric Boye, covering American border issues for Gamma News Service. He later told authorities the illegals were not mistreated.
Texas Ranger Sgt. Doyle Holdridge told WorldNetDaily in March the Salvadoran couple, described as being in their mid-20s, bore some visible physical signs of injury. He said after Nethercott and Conner were apprehended, the Salvadoran couple picked the men out of a photo array.
Foote, who was also involved in intercepting the Salvadorans, said they were treated well and were "never touched … except to pat them down and search them for weapons."
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There is no one in Washington who will speak up against this invasion, with the exception of Tom Tancredo, and because he speaks up he is shunned by the White House. It is disgusting.
Why should they apply legally when they can get everything quicker, they don't even have to wait a few years like those who apply legally.
A small percentage of them get deported, but as we know, many millions are here and living free thanks to American taxpayers. Resentment against this is growing in America, and rightfully so. The so-called leaders of this country are cheapening American citizenship by harboring illegal aliens.
The "9/10 attitude" towards our national security is alive and well in the Bush Administration. Anyone catch Condi Rice last night on the O'Reilly Factor? Bill questioned Rice about Bush's Open Border agenda. Below is the exchange:
O'REILLY: And this is national security. Polls say that 70 percent of Americans want the borders tightened up. The Bush administration hasn't done it.
Now you know (UNINTELLIGIBLE) put some more border patrol on there, but it's still a fairly open border for illegals and narcotics. Is there an explanation of why you guys wouldn't seal the border down?
RICE: Well, first of all, it's because we're an open country. And because we don't want to lose sight of who we are in what we do to protect ourselves. But I think if you talk to Tom Ridge, since the creation of the Homeland Security Department, and you talk to Tom Ridge about his relationships with his counterparts in Mexico and Canada, you would see tremendous progress on our perimeter.
O'REILLY: In what way? (UNINTELLIGIBLE) illegals in this country running around. We don't know who they are.
RICE: The focus on border control, the focus on in enhancing the borders, on technology borders -- you know President Bush was, of course, the governor of Texas. And he...
O'REILLY: And should know that he hasn't dealt with it successfully, with all due respect.
RICE: Bill, the fact of the matter is, as the president is fond of saying, family values don't stop at the Rio Grande.We've got to have a long-term plan also to make Mexico a more attractive place for Mexicans to work there.
O'REILLY: But if I'm an al Qaeda, I know I can get into Canada with phony I.D. I know I can sneak across the border, and I know I can get...
RICE: But it's a lot better than that. I mean, that's really not a reflection of the way that this is progressing. We have made tremendous progress with both Canada and Mexico on border control, on smart borders.
Tom Ridge and his colleagues signed accords about a year and a half ago. They're using technology. We had excellent cooperation on the border between our...
O'REILLY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the border. I agree with you on North Korea. I'm not sold on Iran. I think that they're going to do bad things. I'm certainly not sold on the border.
Well doesn't this tell the whole story?!
I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from using logic and reason in these debates. There's a politically correct agenda to advance...
Funny. I've never seen that in the U.S. Constitution.
Pathetic mouthpiece crap.
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