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| Illegal Aliens: Guilty of Criminal Trespass? |
| 2005-04-30 |
| Forget the Minutemen, that group of anti-immigration activists patrolling the Arizona desert in search of illegal immigrants this month. A small-town police chief in New Hampshire might have found the best way to embarrass the Department of Homeland Security into finally doing something about America's porous borders: Arrest illegal aliens and charge them with trespassing. New Ipswich, N.H., a small town by the Massachusetts border, is not where one would imagine a major immigration dispute involving illegals from Central America would begin. The town of fewer than 5,000 residents is roughly 2,300 miles from the Mexican border, and its Hispanic population is less than one percent. Yet it has become a hotbed for border patrol issues thanks to Police Chief W. Garrett Chamberlain's efforts to get the federal government to do something with the illegal aliens he keeps finding in town. Last July Chief Chamberlain stopped a black Chevy van for speeding. Inside were nine Ecuadorians who confessed to being in the country illegally. They said they had come through California after paying as much as $10,000 a piece to be smuggled over the border. Some had been in country as long as four years. The chief contacted immigration officials (then the Immigration and Naturalization Service), but they refused to take custody of the aliens. "They told me they didn't have the resources to take them," Chamberlain told the Union Leader newspaper. "We had to let them go." A few months later police discovered 11 illegal Mexicans living in the town. This time immigration did take them. Things calmed down after that, but this month they heated up again after police arrested Jorge Ramirez at a traffic stop. Ramirez had a valid Mexican driver's license, but all of his other documents were forgeries. He admitted being in the United States illegally. Chamberlain charged Ramirez with criminal trespass. Under New Hampshire law, a "person is guilty of criminal trespass if, knowing he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he enters or remains in any place." "Mr. Ramirez entered the United States illegally," Chamberlain told the Union Leader. "He was not licensed or privileged to be here." On Tuesday Ramirez goes to court, where a judge will decide if Chamberlain's application of the trespass statute is legally sound. If it holds up, it would mean any police officer in New Hampshire could arrest any illegal alien simply for being an illegal alien. That is a power only federal authorities have now. The essayist goes on to explore the laws governing trespass in the states along the U.S./Mexico border. Any Rantburgers in the police force or practicing law in a border state? This could be fun! |
| Posted by: trailing wife |
| #2 Never thought of that,the illegals are definatly guilty of criminal trespass. |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-04-30 9:36:59 AM |
| #1 Certainly works for me - and it can be applied nation-wide by every law enforcement official in the country -- and you know they're watching this story. This little precedent will give the LLL wankers nightmares, lol! More! Faster! |
| Posted by: .com 2005-04-30 4:01:12 AM |