Houston native wrongly deported for 85 days

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Houston Chronicle

Houston native wrongly deported for 85 days
Immigration attorney says his client 'is not an anchor baby'
By SUSAN CARROLL
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 13, 2010, 11:40PM

Nearly three months after U.S. immigration officials dumped Luis Alberto Delgado in Mexico despite his insistence that he is a U.S. citizen, the 19-year-old was permitted to re-enter the country last weekend with the U.S. government's blessing.

Delgado said U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents cleared him to return to the United States on Friday, roughly 85 days after he was detained by immigration officials and pressured to sign papers that cleared the way for his removal to Mexico.

Steven Cribby, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, declined to comment on Delgado's case.

On Monday in Houston, Delgado said he was pondering a lawsuit against the U.S. government, calling his case "an injustice."


Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7199653.html

[Vehl]

1. Born in East LA Anyone???

And here I was thinking that movie was just that...a comedy! :o

[xultar]

2. So now people are guilty until proven innocent. WOW Dems could use this

But they won't

[EFerrari]

6. Are you kidding? ICE is even more out of control under Obama.

It's so bizarre. The Latino voting block is in shock right now. They didn't expect an escalation of this sh!t.

[indepat]

23. The number of things dems are scared they'd shit their pants if labeled by pubs as soft on now

includes immigration which is now added to communism, crime, drugs, terra in addition to the label of being weak on national defense: the pubs continue to set the national agenda as the dems scurry to keep their pants clean. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

25. When Newt can call the president an anti-colonial Kenyan

and not be drummed out of public life for it, we are in deep, deep trouble.

[Recursion]

3. Yikes. Hope his case goes well

Too bad we can't make the individual INS agent liable, rather than all the taxpayers.

[dkf]

4. Why would anyone in their right mind sign such papers?

Were they threatening him with prosecution for a crime?

[NYC Liberal]

7. I wondered that too and then I saw "he did not speak English well"

I'm positive they misrepresented what those papers were for.

[dkf]

10. Well I did hear they were deporting mostly those who were committing crimes.

And the deportees were just sent home instead of serving a prison sentence. It could be he gets off on the offense and receives payment for the deportation. Not bad for someone who doesn't speak English well.

[southmost]

16. you are kidding right? (i didnt see the sarcasm tag)

first the offender does the time, punishment, then afterwards, gets released to mexico instead of parole

[dkf]

18. Not necessarily.

They are starting to deport more before sentencing even for crimes like rape.

www.patriotledger.com/news/cops_and_courts/x1685418372/More-illegal-immigrants-being-deported-before-trial

[southmost]

19. rare, down here most if not all offenders

served their time before being released; (as a deterrent for habitual offenders). It was standard operating procedure. But given the recent increasing anti-immigrant sentiment, I wouldn't be surprised that ICE is superseding local criminal courts. So I guess being an 'illegal' trumps all other criminal offenses? How dumb, hope this doesn't become a trend.

[dkf]

20. I was concerned about this myself considering we could be releasing offenders

into the middle of the Mexican drug wars.

It looks like the problem is delaying the deportation hearing though.

[pinboy3niner]

22. "He gets off on the offense"? WHAT 'offense'???

There is no indication of ANY crime in the report, which says only that he was picked up after a traffic stop.

[LanternWaste]

24. To what offense are you referring?

"It could be he gets off on the offense and receives payment..."
To what offense are you referring?

"Not bad for someone who doesn't speak English well..."
He was forced to spend 85 days in another country and lost his job at home. Seems to me to be pretty bad all the way around, regardless of language skills... :shrug:

[lostnfound]

13. A 19 year old being threatened by officials in a language he doesn't understand?

I am a little shocked that anyone would jump to a conclusion that he was being accused of a crime or conclude that he was doing "not bad for a person who doesn't speak English". I could jump to a conclusion too, maybe his mother warned him to never argue with police because he might get shot first and asked questions later, and this is why he signed the papers rather than argue. Maybe he's not the sharpest card in the deck. Maybe it's much more intimidating to be held by ICE than we think. Maybe he IS the sharpest card in the deck, and knew that fighting his case from the outside was easier than dying in custody.

[JoeyT]

15. When you're locked in a small room for hours on end,

often while being threatened with beatings and denied food, water, or access to a bathroom, you'll sign more or less anything to make it stop.

Dunno if that was used here or not, but it's SOP for law enforcement in this country, so it wouldn't shock me.

[NYC Liberal]

5. Unbelievable and I hope he sues. However...

"Delgado said he eventually signed paperwork that resulted in his removal to Mexico because he wanted to be released from immigration custody, and thought he could fight his case from Houston."

Not the smartest thing to do. Never sign anything without knowing EXACTLY what it is you're signing, especially when it's given to you by the government or the police. I'm not blaming him, because it says he doesn't speak English well and I am sure they took advantage of that to get him to sign. But just in general, don't sign things handed to you by the police!

[EFerrari]

8. It was probably easier for him to fight this free in Mexico

than in ICE detention. Iirc, hundreds of people have died in ICE detention.

[NYC Liberal]

11. Maybe but it does say he thought he coild fight it from Houston.

Which leads me to believe that he was mislead (lied to) about what the papers were for. The article says he doesn't speak English well.

[meowomon]

9. There IS no such thing as an anchor baby.

That's why the meanies want to change the constitution.

[jobycom]

12. Anchor Baby is this decade's "Welfare Queen."

Just another racist Republican phrase meant to whip up hatred and fear.

[Tx4obama]

14. Ever since that crap in Arizona started I've been scared here in Houston

I am NOT a Mexican-American.
I am Italian-American,
but everyone down here in Houston always thinks that I am Mexican-American because I have dark olive skin and long black hair and I look more Mexican than some of the Mexican-American actresses on TV.
Several times over the past few years I've been approached in grocery and other stores - and people have spoken Spanish to me and I didn't have a clue about what they were saying since I don't speak Spanish.
Within the past five years I've been pulled over twice by the local police and have been asked for documentation of my residence - and they did not issue a citation for any driving violation - so I think it was a case of 'profiling'.
It's kinda scary when ya think that if you're out and about and don't have papers/id on ya that you could be picked up and DEPORTED to Mexico where you don't know anyone and don't even know the language.
I sometimes fantasize about the money that I could have from suing the hell out of them if they ever unjustly deported me ;)

As we say in Italian: Ciao and buona notte :)

[drm604]

17. I have to wonder how many times this has happened

and how many of those haven't gotten back yet, if ever.

[bushmeister0]

21. The innocent confess all the time

"Experts have long known that some kinds of people — including the mentally impaired, the mentally ill, the young and the easily led — are the likeliest to be induced to confess. There are also people like Mr. Lowery, who says he was just pressed beyond endurance by persistent interrogators."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/us/14confess.html?_r=1&hp