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NH Judge makes no decision on Illegals
Posted by Raven on July 12th, 2005
Ok, I guess it’s not my place to try to understand what is going on here. The Judge doesn’t want to make a decision until he hears from other local towns on how they will handle this. (Even though said Judge has been asked to reside over those cases as well.)
JAFFREY, N.H. –A judge made no decision Tuesday on the validity of charging undocumented immigrants under the state’s criminal trespassing statute, a tactic that lawyers have regarded as novel.
But Jaffrey District Court Judge L. Phillips Runyon III questioned whether he had the right to determine if a person is in the country illegally.
“Is it really my role?” Phillips said, adding that he knows nothing about immigration law.
Lawyers for Jorge Mora Ramirez, who has admitted entering the country illegally from Mexico, argued that his case should be dismissed, saying immigration is a federal issue and use of the trespassing law against Ramirez is illogical, unjust and absurd. They said the Legislature never mentioned immigration when it created the law in 1971.
Ramirez, whose vehicle had broken down, was charged with trespassing in April in New Ipswich, whose police chief has said local authorities must act because federal immigration authorities often won’t.
Trespassing is a violation, akin to a traffic ticket. The law says a person is guilty of trespassing when he “knows that he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he enters or remains in any place.”
Ramirez, 21, who is from Mexico City and lives in Waltham, Mass., has pleaded innocent and faces a $1,000 fine and no jail time if convicted.
The kid has admitted he is here illegally. What more do you need?
But he questioned lawyers on both sides at length over the state’s use of the law.
“I’m just a little bit at odds here about how the process would work effectively,” Phillips said.
He asked prosecutor Nicole Morse who would make the determination whether a person is in the country illegally. Morse said police and the courts would use federal standards as a guide. But local authorities would not decide whether someone should be deported, she said.
“It’s not the state’s position that we are attempting to enforce immigration law,” Morse said. “This case is about the police knowing who they’re dealing with and protecting the community they’re charged with protecting.”
Phillips asked about residents of other countries visiting New Hampshire who are stopped by police, but may have left their passports and other documents at their hotels. Would police detain them? Morse said the expectation would be that foreigners should have the documents.
“Are you suggesting that those people are going to be charged criminally?” Phillips asked. Morse responded that out-of-the-country visitors shouldn’t be driving if all they have with them is a driver’s license.
The defense lawyers, of course, try to use the typical scare tactics as excuses. They offer no solutions, as always.
But if police continue to cite illegal immigrants under the law, the tactic will “spread like wildfire” and many immigrants will be afraid to approach police at all, defense lawyer Mona Movafaghi said.
Police officers also would require significant training in immigration law, which is complex and “changes faster than the tax laws in this country,” Movafaghi said. Plus, what if other states got involved in enforcing their own version of a trespassing law? she asked. “We will have total chaos in the system” and immigrants will be in the situation of finding “the best deal” of where to live, she said.
We need to fix this. These people who enter the country, illegally, are breaking the LAW. What good is it when we don’t even have a clear definition of what that law is? Or if the law is different in every state, as it appears right now?
And this:
Claire Ebel, executive director of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, said visiting tourists from overseas better look out.
“They’re going to have to put up a new (welcome) sign,” she said. “DNA sample required.”
Yeah. I like it. I’ll help design the new signs and even help put them up.
July 12th, 2005 at 7:50 pm
Friar of Leather Couches
Today’s dose of NIF – News, Interesting & Funny … It’s Kerry-180 Tuesday
July 13th, 2005 at 12:03 am
Okay – like, maybe I’m not all that bright or sumthin. I thought a judge was supposed to interpret and apply the law as it exists. Last I knew, the law said that a person who isn’t in the country legally is in the country illegally and they should not be here (duh). Jeez – where’d this guy get his degree, Judges R Us? :roll:
July 13th, 2005 at 9:50 am
Merri, I don’t get it either. And I know this judge personally. He seems pretty smart. I think there is alot more going on here than we are seeing.
July 13th, 2005 at 10:46 am
Puh-lease. I spent six weeks in France as a teenager, and I was expected to carry my passport with me. It was my ID, my proof that I was legally allowed to be where I was.
Besides, what about vagrancy laws? If I get stopped by the police — just walking down the street — and I don’t provide my ID, I can be charged with vagrancy.
Why should illegal immigrants get off easier than citizens?
July 15th, 2005 at 9:34 am
isn’t it his job to know the laws? how hard can it be to know if they are here illegally or not? i was so psyched that finally the borders issue was being addressed by somebody (go police force!). don’t tell me that the judge is going to pansy around the issue. :mad:
July 15th, 2005 at 11:35 am
My favorite part is this one:
“many immigrants will be afraid to approach police ”
What? You mean you’re going to actually PUNISH people who break the law? And you’re worried that they will HIDE? Oh, my! We can’t have that! If you’re going to break the law, we want you to do it where we can see you — we won’t DO anything about it, we just want to see you.
The Charlotte, NC chief of police did the complete opposite. He spends tens of thousands of tax dollars advertising to the illegals that they can talk to police and that they won’t be arrested FOR BREAKING THE DAMN LAW.