Texas Lawmakers Look To Toughen Border

AUSTIN (AP) ― Conservative Texas legislators made it clear Monday they'll again push for strict state laws to crack down on illegal immigration when lawmakers convene in January.

A chief area they're likely to concentrate on is encouraging local police departments to work with U.S. officials to enforce federal immigration laws, which the House State Affairs Committee is studying.

"The fact of the matter is, our borders are broken," said Republican Rep. Debbie Riddle of Tomball, urging lawmakers in 2009 to battle illegal immigration. "My district, and I think the people of Texas, are demanding action."

Riddle told the committee that Texas lawmakers "blew our opportunity" in failing to pass stringent immigration legislation last year.

Texas lawmakers fought fiercely over immigration and border security in 2007. They ended up providing about $110 million in border security money for state and local law enforcement, but did not -- despite some initial proposals -- require local officials to enforce immigration laws. Other proposals died when some Republican leaders worried they would run into constitutional challenges in court if they were passed.

Rep. Leo Berman, a Tyler Republican, told the committee he wants to see legislative proposals in 2009 requiring voters to show photo identification to prove their citizenship, penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants and paying for local law enforcement to train to enforce federal immigration laws.

Berman once again raised his suggestion that Texas challenge the automatic citizenship provision of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. Berman contends that children of illegal immigrants born on American soil aren't entitled to U.S. citizenship. Fellow lawmakers sidelined his proposal last year.

El Paso attorney Kathleen Walker, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, appeared before the committee and chastised some of the witnesses and lawmakers' use of the term "illegals" to refer to immigrants.

She warned against police stopping motorists simply because of the color of their skin or because they are driving certain types of cars.

"We're talking constitutional principles today and the preservation of those principles," she said. "We have to be cautious how we treat foreign nationals in this country."

In one program outlined for legislators Monday, the Irving Police Department told of its policy that screens every person who arrives at the local jail with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The person's driver's license, identification card or past fingerprints if they've previously been arrested are checked against the federal agency's records.

Since September 2006, the Irving program has identified 2,600 illegal immigrants, an average of 150 per month, said Police Chief Larry Boyd.

The program has been emulated elsewhere in North Texas.

It also has generated protests from Latino rights advocates who say the police are using racial profiling.

Nationally, more than 100 local law enforcement agencies have begun or are awaiting training to help the federal Department of Homeland Security find illegal immigrants and turn them in for deportation. Among them are Los Angeles and Orange counties in California and Maricopa County in Arizona, which includes Phoenix.

The federal Criminal Alien Program attempts to identify criminal illegal immigrants who are incarcerated in federal, state and local facilities and obtain a final order of deportation before the end of their sentence.

Border Patrol Agents Arrest Illegal Immigrants With Criminal Records

Posted: March 18, 2008 05:52 PM

Suleika Acosta, KOLD News 13 Reporter

They are busted by the Border Patrol. Illegal immigrants caught with a criminal past include crimes against children. In the past five days border agents arrested seven illegal immigrants they call sexual predators. The arrests happened near Douglas, Naco, Nogales, Tucson and Sonoita.

For thousands of illegal immigrants caught crossing the border, it's not their first run in with the law. Border patrol agents say up to 15% of immigrants arrested have a criminal past.

"That can be anything from as minor as a DUI to as major as a homicide even sexual predators as well," explains Chuy Rodriguez, with Tucson Sector Border Patrol.

When agents catch immigrants, their fingerprints are run through an automated ID System that links up to an FBI database. That's how agents find out if they have a criminal on their hands.

"When they get caught, they may use a different name. They may use a different date of birth but once you run the checks on them, you find out who they are."

Many of those arrested are Mexican nationals who were sent back after serving time and some are fugitives running under the radar. Those offenders are prosecuted in the U.S. where they serve jail time before being deported.

"They may have been here for a number of years and they're comfortable in that setting so even though they're deported formally, they're still going to make that effort to make their way to where they're from."

Last year, Border Patrol arrested almost 400,000 illegal immigrants and so far this year the number of criminals caught is not on the rise but agents say it's important they're arrested before they return to their old communities.

"Nobody that I know would want somebody who's been deported as a criminal alien back in their neighborhood, back in their community. They're a danger to that community."

Wanted criminals are also getting caught at our ports of entry. Last year, 1,200 U.S. fugitives were arrested, many were American.

Another illegal alien drunk kills an American citizen: His employer should be charged along with him!

17-year-old charged with intoxication manslaughter in Far East Dallas crash

10:13 PM CDT on Sunday, March 16, 2008

By MARISSA ALANIS / The Dallas Morning News
malanis@dallasnews.com

A 17-year-old who didn't have a driver's license was arrested on a charge of intoxication manslaughter after he crashed his car into another vehicle early Sunday, killing an 18-year-old man in Far East Dallas.

Ramon Gutierrez Morales of Dallas was speeding on North Buckner Boulevard near Ferguson Road about 3 a.m. when he struck a car carrying four people, according to a police report.
The impact killed German Pirchado, who was sitting in the second car's back seat, according to the Dallas County medical examiner's office.

The police report says Mr. Morales tried to run away, but a witness to the crash detained him until officers arrived. They smelled alcohol and found spilled beer inside his Crown Victoria, according to the report.

Mr. Morales and the driver of the second car, whose identity wasn't available, were taken to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas to be treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

Later, Mr. Morales was jailed, with bail set at $50,000. He also faces misdemeanor charges for not having insurance and driving without a license.

He has been flagged for immigration review because he may be living in the country illegally, according to the Dallas County Sheriff's Department.

Ernesto Rodriguez, the victim's brother-in-law, said Mr. Pirchado was a construction worker who was saving money to return home to the Mexican city of San Miguel de Allende.

He said Mr. Pirchado and his friends were returning home from a party when the accident happened.

"He didn't usually like to get out in the nighttime," Mr. Rodriguez said. "He didn't want to get in trouble or anything like that."