Posted on 07/22/2005 4:43:43 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
Lawmaker: Immigration staffing 'inexcusable'
Four days after an N.C. man was killed in a car crash involving an illegal immigrant, U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick has asked federal immigration officials to explain why the state has just one deportation officer.
Myrick, R-N.C., wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and other officials about the death of Scott Gardner of Mount Holly, who was killed Saturday when his car was hit by a truck driven by an illegal immigrant later charged with driving while impaired.
The wreck marks the fourth time in three years that Ramiro Gallegos, 25, of Supply in Brunswick County, has faced DWI charges.
"It should not take a horrible incident like this to draw attention to this persistent problem plaguing the enforcement of our immigration laws," Myrick wrote.
Gallegos remained in Brunswick County jail Wednesday charged with second-degree murder as well as DWI. Immigration officials said they put a detainer on him, meaning they will deport him to Mexico if he's convicted.
In her letter, Myrick called Gardner's death "entirely preventable." Having one immigration officer for North Carolina is "inexcusable," she said.
Sue Brown, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said her agency will work with Myrick and other authorities to look into the situation.
She said the agency had no record of Gallegos since immigration authorities arrested him in 1998. No details of that arrest were immediately available.
"When we find out that somebody is breaking the immigration law, we don't turn our heads," Brown said.
Though North Carolina has an estimated 300,000 illegal immigrants, the state has one federal deportation officer who is among fewer than 10 people in the state who work for Detention and Removal Operations, a unit of ICE.
ICE also has about 50 investigators in North Carolina whose duties are divided between immigration violations and customs cases such as drug smuggling.
Meanwhile, state Highway Patrol troopers have arrested the owner of a truck that Gallegos was driving.
Lazero Presa-Martinez, 24, of Wilmington, was charged late Tuesday with allowing his vehicle to be used by an impaired and unlicensed driver, both misdemeanors. Martinez, a legal immigrant, was booked at Brunswick County Jail and released after posting bond.
Scott Gardner's wife, Tina, remained in critical condition at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington. She had not regained consciousness. Their two children suffered minor injuries.
"It is not about money, or resources.......it is about WILL, and our gov. evidently doesn't have any."
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But it IS about money. An entire UNDERGROUND ECONOMY in fact. Americans are generating an entire separate economy based on illegal labor.
Follow the money trail. That is why there is no enforcement. It's ALL about money.
The following was my post on my state site about Myrick yesterday --
Myrick being rightly ridiculed on WBT this morning by Keith Larson for her "come-lately" words on illegal immigration. She's got a POOR report card on immigration issues. . . .
Must be getting near re-election time -- Myrick is appearing in the news for her rhetoric in a number of arenas.
HDR
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Myrick is not alone in her sudden interest in enforcing the law . .
President Bush faces a major rebellion within his own party if he follows through on a promise to push legislation that would offer millions of illegal immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship. Almost no issue divides Republicans as deeply.
I live in Port St. Lucie Florida.
I can right now go to any one of a dozen local municipalities and round up hundreds of illegals in 10 minutes with a possee.
If a million illegal aliens were arrested for residing and working in the United States at 10 a.m. this morning, a million illegal aliens would be released back into the population within a half an hour.
Ask any border patrol agent. They will tell you.
bttttt
Dittos!
No they don't turn their heads. They just bend over and insert them as deeply as they can into their own rectums.
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