How many times does one illegally re-enter the country to get thrown in prison?
by Hugh Holub on Aug. 11, 2011, under crime, politicsPress Release from US ATtorney’s Office – Arizona August 10, 2011:
strong>TWO FEDERAL PAROLEES RECEIVE OVER 7 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ILLEGAL REENTRY
TUCSON, Ariz. – Oscar Jimenez-Lopez, 37, of Zacapa, Zacapa, Guatemala, and Jose Chavez-Torres, 33, of Santiago, Durango, Mexico, were each sentenced in Tucson last week to over seven years in federal prison for illegal reentry after deportation and violating their supervised release in the U.S. District Court in Laredo, Texas. Jimenez-Lopez was sentenced to 95 months in prison by U.S. District Judge J Frederick Motz on August 1, 2011, and Chavez-Torres was sentenced to 88 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Ivan Lemelle on August 3, 2011.
Jimenez-Lopez was arrested on April 21, 2009, by the U.S. Border Patrol agents in South Tucson, Arizona. He pleaded guilty on February 18, 2011, to illegal reentry after deportation, and also admitted that this arrest violated his supervised release for a prior illegal reentry case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Laredo). Jimenez-Lopez was previously convicted of burglary, theft and assault in the state of Texas dating back to 1991, and illegal entry, followed by illegal reentry in U.S. District Court in Laredo, Texas, for which he had just completed a 72 month sentence four months before being arrested in South Tucson. Judge Motz sentenced Jimenez-Lopez to 77 months in prison for the new illegal reentry conviction, and imposed an additional 18 months consecutive imprisonment for the supervised release violation.
Chavez-Torres was arrested on December 7, 2010, by Customs and Border Protection Officers at the DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona, while trying to the enter the United States using a false document. He pleaded guilty on January 5, 2011, to attempted illegal reentry after deportation, and also admitted that this arrest violated his supervised release for a prior illegal reentry case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Laredo). Chavez-Torres was previously convicted of attempted robbery, second degree in the state of California, reentry after deportation in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, California, and reentry after deportation in U.S. District Court in Laredo, Texas where he had most recently been sentenced to 46 months imprisonment. Judge Lemelle sentenced Chavez-Torres to 80 months in prison for the new illegal reentry conviction, and imposed an additional 8 months consecutive imprisonment for the supervised release violation.
The investigations in these cases were conducted by the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The prosecutions were handled by Liza M. Granoff, Melanie McGhee, Ryan DeJoe and Brandon M. Bolling, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Tucson.
CASE NUMBER: CR-09-0865-TUC-CKJ (Jimenez-Lopez)
COMMENTARY: Reading this story it is obvious the two guys had been caught multiple times illegally re-entering the US.
First time illegal re-rentry is a misdeamnor…but second time is a felony.
In way too many cases the second and third time offenders are plea bargained down to misdemeanor and “removed” … meaning deported.
It appears a lot of the serious criminal aliens are also multiple re-entry offenders.
Too bad we don’t have the prison space so the second time they are caught they get serious jail time instead of being recycled in and out of the system.
August 11th, 2011 on 8:33 pm
Tattoo them.
Put a mark in a specific place showing that an illegal immigrant has committed a serious crime and was returned to their country because of it. That way they can be easily identified and dealt with as needed.
Sounds barbaric doesn’t it? Why? As a criminal in the US you lose many of your rights, repeat offenders should have even less rights. People who chose to come here illegally and commit illegal acts should have NO rights other than a ride back to the border.
Remember, it’s press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish. NOT 1 for English, 2 for Spanish, 3 for Japanese, 4 for Chinese, 5 for French, 6 for …… Do you see the problem there?
August 12th, 2011 on 7:57 am
Re-entry of good hard working people wanting a better life and a future for their family is illegal and is grounds for deportation ONLY.
Criminals on the other hand should be jailed, long sentences are required BUT, a way must be found to have the criminal help pay for his/her stay in jail, forced labor if necessary, we should not have to pay for housing these people.
August 12th, 2011 on 9:52 am
This is a massive flaw in our system. How criminals can keep coming back is beyond me. I agree with Dave V. on the non-criminals should be deported (side bar: their only crime being the broke Federal law by entering illegally), but anyone else needs to do hard time then be deported. I also agree that those here illegally that commit crimes need to support their own stay by doing some manual labor …. that’s what all the Mexicans want to do in the US anyway, right? All those manual labor jobs that are not good enough for Americans!
August 13th, 2011 on 4:57 pm
Enough is enough!!! Maybe, put up a log wall facing Mexico which would be a backdrop for a “firing squad”!! Then hang their worthless carcasses for all other criminals to see. Mexico has ALL the natural resources,(copper,gold,oil,silver,naturalgas, etc. etc.) so Mexicans need to get off their ASS and fix their own Country, and quit coming here for welfare! Don’t tell me they “contribute” to economy. Go to a Western Union office on Friday and watch American earned Dollars being sent OUT of the USA!!!
August 13th, 2011 on 5:09 pm
First crime illegal entry. Second crime working unauthorized. Possible various other crimes that usually apply. Driving without a license. Driving without insurance. Identity fraud. Identity theft. Purchasing illegal documents. Once the first crime is committed is just so easy to break the next one with any old excuse.
August 13th, 2011 on 5:16 pm
I’m angry, and thought of at least one more comment! My Grandparents on both sides, immigrated fro m Italy. They DEMANDED that my parents and relatives speak English because they were now Americans!!!!! You want your culture? Then stay in Mexico! I have worked one or two jobs since I was 12 yrs old> Never stole one dime, never applied for unemployment, food stamps, rent assistance,welfare, of ANY Gov’t assistence. 10 years ago after 50 years of working and paying into Gov’t programs, I was amazed that armed guards, and windows in the Social Security Office had a window for “Spanish Spreaking Only.!! Why do criminals whose first act in a foriegn Country is to disobey it’s Laws, think they have “rights”????