Friday, April 15, 2005

We're so darn diverse

Illegal alien, 17, ran down hero officer:
A Salem patrolman decorated for bravery last year is expected to make a full recovery after being struck by a car driven by a 17-year-old illegal immigrant from Brazil who didn't have a license, authorities said.

``I saw the car in front slowly veer to the right and then I saw the officer get hit and saw him flip in the air and land on the sidewalk,'' witness Kathleen Kallama of Topsfield told police after Leila Lopes plowed her friend's 1992 Honda Accord into the officer Wednesday night.
Thankfully, while he was in critical condition, it now looks like he'll make a complete recovery.
Lopes, who stands 5 feet and weighs only 98 pounds, appeared distraught as Judge Santo J. Ruma held her without bail at her arraignment at Peabody District Court. She pleaded innocent to unlicensed operation of a car and negligent driving.
There's a good laugh.
Lopes was detained April 4 by the U.S. Office of Immigration and Naturalization after sneaking over the border in Texas with her father, prosecutor Cesar Archilla said. She was released, but ordered back for a hearing.
It's the famous Illegal Alien Catch and Release Program! If caught by the border patrol, just tell 'em that you are from some country other than Mexico and they will release you and tell you to come back at a future date for a hearing. That's sure an effective plan.
One Brazilian woman from Newburyport said she visited Lopes shortly after the arrest.

``She just wanted to know how the guy is,'' Viviane Viana, 28, said of Lopes' inquiry into Shea's condition.
Send him a post card when you get back to Brazil, Leila.

That's unlikely, I know, but I can always hope. But not much - 11 illegal aliens fail to appear for court date:
Eleven illegal aliens who were released by federal authorities after a traffic stop in Fairfax County on Sunday did not show up for immigration proceedings yesterday.

"None of them came back, and I think that the fact that these aliens failed to appear showed the challenges of immigration enforcement," said Manny Van Pelt, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

Mr. Van Pelt said about 30 percent of illegal aliens who are ordered to appear for immigration proceedings fail to show up. Of those who do appear, about 85 percent become fugitives if a judge orders them to be deported.
I find it amazing that 70% actually show up on the first pass. I wonder if Manny is funnin' us?
Federal authorities will now issue a notice that will be sent to an address the aliens had given to ICE officials. If the aliens do not show up at any immigration proceedings, a judge will issue an order for their deportation.

The illegals will have 30 days to appeal the deportation ruling before federal authorities input the aliens' personal information into the National Crime Information Center as "fugitive absconders."
I wonder how many aliens named "Vincente Fox" with last known address of "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC" they are currently looking for?

Turn's out it's not too many as revealed in Authorities free 1 million aliens amid proceedings:
Mr. Sessions said ICE is far behind in entering the names of the 465,000 alien fugitives into law-enforcement databases, which means that if those people are picked up in another arrest, they would not be turned over to immigration authorities.
So they haven't even finished entering all the Vincente Foxes in the database. Is this a great country or what?