[adroitcuffs]

Driving while illegal: Immigrants worry about being arrested and deported

By Liz Mineo, DAILY NEWS STAFF
GHS
Sun Aug 19, 2007, 12:54 AM EDT

On a recent afternoon E. Santos hopped behind the wheel of his SUV in the lot of his apartment building on Union Avenue, said a prayer for his safe return home, and drove off.
An illegal immigrant who drives without a valid driver's license, Santos puts his fate in God's hands every time he drives. He makes the sign of the cross before he starts the car's engine.
A Brazilian man who agreed to be identified by his first name initial and last name, Santos, 27, knows well the risks he takes. He can be stopped by the police and sent to court, but what he fears the most is that any encounter with the law can lead to deportation.
And yet he drives.
"I feel like a soldier who has been sent to war and is forced to kill people," said Santos, who drives with an expired Brazilian driver's license. "I don't have a choice."

Full story: http://www.milforddailynews.com/homepage/x1359805521

Quote from the imbedded video: "We need to drive our kids to school, go to work. And just because we don't have a driver license, the cop can stop us and get a problem or... bad problem."

Another example of the media working to elicit sympathy for the ILLEGALS. Ms. Mineo, the author of the article, fails to see that the fundamental problem here is not with the oh-so-restrictive law, but rather with the fact that millions of people are entering this country illegally. They are not contributing in ways that balance what they take from the system. Mr. Santos' daughter is likely attending school on the taxpayer dime. If the family doesn't pay for medical insurance, guess who's paying for those doctor visits? I could go on and on. Yes, Mr. Santos, you do have a choice. Millions of Americans function on a daily basis without a car. Of course, millions of Americans are here legally, born of ancestors who came here l-e-g-a-l-l-y.

By the way, if you'd like to share your opinions with the journalist, Ms. Mineo -- Liz Mineo can be reached at 508-626-3825 or lmineo@cnc.com

[TXCharlie]

Written & sent

I have a solution for Mr Santos in your story:

Take your damn SUV to Brazil, or ride the bus and make your kids ride the school bus like a lot of native Americans and their kids have to do.

Stories like yours make me want to go join the Minutemen.

[Jackalope]

The Oregonian's lead story today tells the blatant lie that illegals aren't "filling our jails." First of all, even if illegals didn't commit crimes at a higher rate than citizens (which they do), every illegal in jail is taking up a bed that we could be using to incarcerate a domestic dirtbag. Oregon's jails are severly overcrowded, and thousands of people a year are released early.

What they did is compare the "murder" rate of illegals to the "homicide" rate of the general prison population. The same with "rape" vs. "sex crimes." So by comparing narrow definitions to broad ones, they make it sound like illegals aren't any more prone to criminal activity than non-illegals. Liars just as bad as they criminals they're protecting.

[adroitcuffs]

Related articles from Ms. Mineo:

Courts Clogged With Driving Cases

At the Framingham District Courthouse, almost every day of the week men and women show up to face charges related to driving without a license.
The majority are immigrants, and because many of them don't speak English, they rely on the court-appointed Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking interpreters. Hearings are brief and end when the judge sets a fine, between $100 and $200, which can increase depending on additional charges filed by police.

Full story: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x804490507

***

More Driving Without Licenses

By Liz Mineo, DAILY NEWS STAFF
GHS
Sun Aug 19, 2007, 12:23 AM EDT

Numbers of those driving without a license are on the rise across MetroWest and the Milford area, creating public safety concerns and burdening the courts and law enforcement agencies, police said.
In Milford, the number of offenses jumped from 40 in 2003 to 133 in 2007. In Waltham, the number of arrests went up from 65 in 2002 to 87 in 2006; and in Framingham, the number of arrests increased from 104 in fiscal 2004 to 187 in fiscal 2006.
Local police departments worry about the growing numbers because it places a burden on traffic enforcement, said Marlborough Police Chief Mark Leonard.

Full story: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x349129554



My favorite quote from the second article is from Framingham Police spokesman Lt. Pau Shastany, referring to the illegals pleading for sympathy --

"Sometimes, they ask us, 'Don't you think we should have licenses?'," said Shastany. "It's like a lamb asking a butcher for some advice. We have to enforce the law."

Which gives rise to this thought - Perhaps it's about time we put a wolf at the gate... just a thought.

[Terminator]

Originally Posted by adroitcuffs

An illegal immigrant who drives without a valid driver's license, Santos puts his fate in God's hands every time he drives. He makes the sign of the cross before he starts the car's engine.

"I feel like a soldier who has been sent to war and is forced to kill people," said Santos, who drives with an expired Brazilian driver's license. "I don't have a choice."

Give me a break. This is ridiculous. I am beyond sick of illegal immigrants. I would estimate at least 60% of the people I deal with at work are illegal Mexican/El Salvadorian/Honduran immigrants/aliens who speak very little english, binge drink, deal and use drugs, and don't have driver's licenses.

I'm not even going to get started on this one. My blood pressure will go up.

[Jks9199]

They ain't illegal immigrants.

They're illegal ALIENS. Most of the Latino illegal aliens I deal with aren't here for the better life of the USA; they're here to make money and send it home, and intend to return home eventually. Immigrants come here to live HERE and make it their own country...

Oh, wait... Go into some areas around here, and you might as well be in El Salvador or Honduras... I guess they HAVE made the USA their own country...

[BEK]

just dealt with one over the weekend. A dude driving on the wrong side of the road, no DL no Insurance. He gave us a false name and like the other illegals I deal with tried to present a "international Drivers License". Took him into jail and printed him, he had 13 different aliases, was arrested by my chief 4 years earlier and deported after he was shipped back to CA for his warrant for armed robbery and dangerous drugs. That was the third time he was deported, now he is sitting in jail again on our new charges of No MN DL No insurance Gross Mis giving false name and DOB to a police officer. ICE was contacted and we will see if he goes back to Mexico again. Oh on his person he had false documents from another country. Now its a policy that anyone without documentation who we believe is illegal goes to jail and get checked by AFIS

[JLK]

these ''undocumented aliens'' are a drain on the system. got to arrest one them the other night, no dl, no insurance, violation of state reg. and felony drugs. he will not be driving that vehicle any more.

[Terminator]

I've arrested 4 illegal alien Mexicans in the past 18 hours who all had no ID, no license, were drunk, had miscellaneous vehicle violations (no insurance/fictitious tag/revoked tag) and didn't speak hardly any English. I am sick of it!

[Norm357]

Know who I feel sorry for?

Those poor folks from Mexico who are staying within the law and trying to immigrate legally.

[adroitcuffs]

Originally Posted by Norm357

Know who I feel sorry for?

Those poor folks from Mexico who are staying within the law and trying to immigrate legally.

I agree with you 110%!! There are people from many countries, trying to immigrate LEGALLY, and getting screwed in the process.
I know of a young man in California, who was brought here illegally by his parents when he was a child. After graduating from high school, and turning 18, he did all the paperwork he needed to do to become a citizen. Unfortunately, his visa expired before his paperwork made it through the government backlog. While immigration officials acknowledged there was nothing more this young man could do and that it was all a paperwork backlog, he was deported back to Mexico to await the process. He doesn't know the language as his parents wanted him to speak English growing up. He was gainfully employed here, spoke English fluently, and was trying to live the "American dream". In spite of doing what he legally needed to do once he came of age to take care of his matters, he gets deported. Yet, there's no media "outrage" for folks like this, only for the "poor, undocumented immigrants". Bleh

[ex401mp]

I hate that the illegals have the nerves to publicly demand their "rights". First of all, they are not even citizens, so how do they figure that they have "rights" to anything? My mother came here from Germany, she made sure she learned English and is now a full citizen here. I was a dual citizen of here and Germany, until I enlisted into the Army. My wife was working here on a work visa when we met and got engaged, but she had to return back to her country because her mother was ill and almost passed away. We get married there since her mother could not travel, and now her work visa got yanked and we have to apply for a new spouse visa. We have been apart for almost two years ( I have been there to visit a couple of times though) because we are doing things the correct way. It ticks me off to see the people here illegally get all the benefits and free things that most of us who are citizens cannot even get. Also, if they want to work here, they should make SOME attempt to learn at least SOME English. I get tired of hearing that they do not "habla". When they speak Spanish to me, I respond back in German to them. I like the looks on their faces when I do that. I understand alot of Spanish, because during my time in the Army I took the time to try to learn some when I was deployed to Central and South America, they could try to do the same. Sorry for the rant, this is a sore subject for me, especially the way our goverment is treating my wife in her process to get a new visa. We are short on nurses, which she is, but they dont care about that I guess. Okay, I am getting off of my sopabox now.

[Jks9199]

Yeah... I just am so enthused by the illegal aliens demanding their rights. Especially the geniuses who were waving the Salvadoran flag or Mexican flag or whatever while demanding we honor their rights here in the US...

[TXCharlie]

I agree with Norm, I feel sorry for the legal ones who obey the rules...

HOWEVER... I think it has come time when we have ENOUGH people. We can make our OWN babies, so we can safely stop all immigration now and be done with it That way it's 100% fair if we ship all the illegals back.

I vote for just closing the boarders for everyone except students, tourists and business travelers. No more permanent residents, no more H1B visas and all that crap - We can probably even find American citizens to pick vegetables too, if we just paid farm workers a decent wage and let the food prices go up a little to compensate.

Farm costs are a small part of food prices anyway - I don't think we'd notice the price increase.

[ex401mp]

Originally Posted by TXCharlie

I agree with Norm, I feel sorry for the legal ones who obey the rules...

HOWEVER... I think it has come time when we have ENOUGH people. We can make our OWN babies, so we can safely stop all immigration now and be done with it That way it's 100% fair if we ship all the illegals back.

I vote for just closing the boarders for everyone except students, tourists and business travelers. No more permanent residents, no more H1B visas and all that crap - We can probably even find American citizens to pick vegetables too, if we just paid farm workers a decent wage and let the food prices go up a little to compensate.

Farm costs are a small part of food prices anyway - I don't think we'd notice the price increase.

Cant agree with you on that one. I come from an immigrant family, and my wife is trying to get her visa to return back here. Deal better with the people hiring the illegal ones like they should and alot of it will stop. Everyone in this country has come from an immigrant somewhere in their past, with exception of the Native Americans, who truly have a reason to be pissed off.

[adroitcuffs]

Originally Posted by ex401mp

I hate that the illegals have the nerves to publicly demand their "rights". First of all, they are not even citizens, so how do they figure that they have "rights" to anything? My mother came here from Germany, she made sure she learned English and is now a full citizen here. I was a dual citizen of here and Germany, until I enlisted into the Army. My wife was working here on a work visa when we met and got engaged, but she had to return back to her country because her mother was ill and almost passed away. We get married there since her mother could not travel, and now her work visa got yanked and we have to apply for a new spouse visa. We have been apart for almost two years ( I have been there to visit a couple of times though) because we are doing things the correct way. It ticks me off to see the people here illegally get all the benefits and free things that most of us who are citizens cannot even get. Also, if they want to work here, they should make SOME attempt to learn at least SOME English. I get tired of hearing that they do not "habla". When they speak Spanish to me, I respond back in German to them. I like the looks on their faces when I do that. I understand alot of Spanish, because during my time in the Army I took the time to try to learn some when I was deployed to Central and South America, they could try to do the same. Sorry for the rant, this is a sore subject for me, especially the way our goverment is treating my wife in her process to get a new visa. We are short on nurses, which she is, but they dont care about that I guess. Okay, I am getting off of my sopabox now.

My heart really goes out to you, man! I pray that you and your wife will soon be reunited. Makes me even more angry that there's a pregnant 13-year-old in my city who's now not going to get deported back to Guatemala because of her "condition". Let's see... 13 with child vs. certified nurse who's the spouse of a man who sacrificed to serve his country and now his community... oh sure, let's protect the pregnant child a/k/a drain on our system...

[Sapper_132]

You all should try to filter them through my county. When we catch them, normally speeding and have no DL from the US, No Ins, and are illegal they get hooked. We call INS in Amorello and in a few days they come pick them up. (Plus DHS sends us a nice check for holding on to them for a few days) I've picked up at least 15. 8 months ago we got 48 in 1 month.

[Pudge]

" I don't have a choice"?!?!?!?! What a crock of shat!

Then I guess I don't have a choice but to stop you for any infratcion I see and call ICE as soon as we get to the jail.


I'm with Term here. It is so ridiculous anymore. Here just for one arrest you can count on a solid hour to two hours from time of stop to the time you leave the jail.

I've spent too much damn time waiting on an interpreter, communicating through them, handling the vehicle, processing the arrest, etc. Every one of them I see has an international driver's license. Of course almost all of them have a fake international driver's license.

The last one I arrested had an international OL with his Ohio address on it. When we called the number where he said he obtained it a female answered with a "Yeah", complete with screaming kids in the background. Nice and legit

[TXCharlie]

Originally Posted by ex401mp

Cant agree with you on that one. I come from an immigrant family, and my wife is trying to get her visa to return back here. Deal better with the people hiring the illegal ones like they should and a lot of it will stop. Everyone in this country has come from an immigrant somewhere in their past, with exception of the Native Americans, who truly have a reason to be pissed off.

Your situation is a little different in that your primary family is split up. In that case I think y'all should be forced to choose one country or the other if you're a US citizen, and then the bureaucrats need to get the hell out of the way and let you two get back together.

It's stupid to break up families, but it's time to close the door. I'd like to see the dividing line made at the primary family members, if one of them is a citizen or almost one, with exceptions only being made when grandparents, etc are in poor health and do not have family members in the native country to take care of them - but ONLY then.

And no aunts, uncles, adult brothers or sisters, grand-kids, boyfriends, etc, without a verifiable hardship exception - Just parents and their kids, if one parent is a citizen or in the final stages... NO ANCHOR BABY OR DRY-FEET LOOPHOLES, EITHER.

I don't give a shit if you're talking about Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Germany, India, Denmark, or wherever (my ex-Brother in law was from Denmark, and I say ship him back too if he's still not a citizen - Let a citizen have his job. Why should he be pulling down $100 grand/year as a copyier salesman when we have citizens just as qualified on the unemployment line?).

Most of those countries are in need of their people to stay there and make THAT country better - All of our families were immigrants at one time or another, but that was then and this is now. If all the educated talent and many of the ambitious workers come to the United States, Mexico and most of the rest will always be 2nd-rate countries.