INS violating pledges, group charges

INS violating pledges, group charges

Oct. 12, 2000

By Jim Mimiaga
Journal Staff Writer

The southwest Colorado office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service has broken a pledge not to target undocumented Latin Americans living in the community who aren’t criminals, an immigrant watchdog group is claiming.

The activist group Compañero Latino is worried that the INS may be backing away from earlier assurances that its priority would be to seek out and deport non-citizen criminals and break up the growing labor-smuggling trade moving through the region between Mexico and worker-starved industries in the United States.

When the INS opened its office in Durango this spring, INS officials were adamant about not looking for people who might be living and working in the country illegally. The agency recognizes that undocumented immigrants face a bewildering "Catch-22" system that forces them to reside in the U.S. undercover while waiting out the arduous process of obtaining valid resident, citizenship or work-permit status.

"We are not targeting ordinary people not causing problems who may be here illegally — that is not our primary objective in any way," said Ed Tolbert, acting INS supervisor for southwest Colorado, on Tuesday. "Our focus is to deport criminals and stop smugglers traveling through with vans full of illegals. That is all we really have time for."

INS supervisors and agents have also repeatedly said they would not be breaking up families through deportation, a possibility under federal laws when both parents are undocumented but have a child born in the U.S.

"The offices were initiated by Congress for the purpose of trying to put a halt to the smuggling that is going on," said INS special agent Hank Qualantone.

But in an incident last week, an undocumented family living in Durango was split up after the father was deported to Mexico even though a background check by the Colorado State Patrol showed he had no criminal record.

The deportation left the mother, a full-time home-health nurse, and her U.S.-born two-year-old girl stranded without the father’s support.

"We will be filing a grievance with the Justice Department addressing this case," said Olivia Lopez, organizer of the Compañero Latino Resource Center in Durango. "The INS has the legal backing to deport him, because he was undocumented. However, does this also mean that his civil and human rights have to be violated and his family terrorized?"

The center was formed to protect the human and civil rights of Latin American immigrants, regardless of immigration status. The activist group, a part of the San Juan Citizens Alliance, is concerned about thousands of Mexican immigrants estimated to reside in the Four Corners.

Lopez, along with volunteers in the group, questioned the tactics the INS used in cooperation with local law-enforcement officers, after "Juan" (not his real name) was stopped by the Colorado State Patrol, arrested and jailed Oct. 3. He was cited for having no license, no insurance, and expired tags.

He had been doing an errand for his boss in a borrowed car, according to his family.

After being bailed out by his common-law wife, "Maria" (also not her real name) Juan returned to his home in Durango.

Two days later Juan was sought by an INS agent, who coincidentally accompanied State Patrol Trooper Mike McGuire after McGuire made it known that he was going to the house to deliver a revised court date to Juan.

According to witnesses, an INS agent who entered the couple’s home told Juan that he was being deported because of a criminal record, but Maria said he has no record, a claim backed by a record search.

"Nothing came up (on a background check)," McGuire said Wednesday. "But there were several what appeared to me to be phony and conflicting resident alien cards, and ID’s that were taken and handed over. The INS was contacted because they make that determination" on immigration status.

Lopez is also concerned that the INS agent was not invited into the home and had no search warrant. A witness to the incident who was visiting the family told the Cortez Journal that the INS agent was clearly not invited in.

But McGuire, who was allowed to enter, reported that the INS agent was included.

Tolbert said that traffic violations do not constitute criminal status in the eyes of the INS, but said he didn’t know the specifics of the incident. The INS agent involved could not be reached for comment.

The Compañeros center is also seeking legal advice on whether a civil lawsuit won by the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union in 1997 applies to law enforcement and the INS. The ACLU argued successfully that it was illegal discrimination for Motor Vehicle Department officials to confiscate documents they suspected to be fraudulent. As part of the settlement, foreign-born residents of the state are able to obtain state ID cards without having to prove to MVD officials that they are in compliance with federal immigration laws.

By all accounts, Maria and her family symbolize the immigrant-American success story. The driven 24-year-old works full-time, is raising a family, saved her money to purchase a home, and speaks English fluently. She has resided in the area for 10 years.

"I’m not sure what do now," she said. "We needed to both be working to make ends meet. Now I am not sure and I am afraid, but all I can do is live day-to-day."

Juan, meanwhile, remains in Juarez, Mexico.

"He is very sad and desperate; he misses his daughter very much," she said. "I miss him too," she added with a laugh. "He is the one that always cooks dinner."

Maria is not certain what she will do. Some other members of her family live in the region; some of them have citizenship. She doesn’t want to return to Mexico, partly because it may hamper her efforts to obtain citizenship here.

"They have always told us that they would not separate families," Lopez said. "But look what is going on."

"It is important to put a human face on the issue," said volunteer Ariel Bickel. "These are amazing people and what can be gained from getting to know them is just incredible — to understand how generous and hard-working they are."