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U.S. border problems go both ways
July 15, 1999
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Trying to re-enter the United States landed Adrian Sanchez in trouble, despite his nearly spotless criminal record. But for another Mexican native, suspected serial killer Angel Maturino Resendez, crossing the border in the other direction proved no problem. While most American eyes are turned south, attempting to stop illegal immigration, few resources are focused on the search for wanted fugitives attempting to flee the United States for Mexico. "The U.S. Immigration Service does not do southbound inspections or inspections for persons leaving into Mexico. We do not do that," says Texas-based Luis Garcia, district director for the INS, parent agency of the Border Patrol.
Slipped through their fingersMaturino Resendez took advantage of that fact. Just six weeks ago, the man who had used the alias Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, was in the custody of border agents who picked him up for illegally being in the United States. Yet within hours, he was sent back to Mexico. That happened even though he already was wanted by the FBI, and Houston police had told the INS they wanted him for questioning. The Border Patrol said its computer system did not indicate he was a wanted man. On Tuesday, Maturino Resendez crossed the border again. This time, though, it was to enter the United States from Mexico so he could turn himself in.
Legal battle ends with extradition orderThe FBI says it does not keep records on how many fugitives from U.S. justice are hiding in Mexico. The border, complains Rep. Dan Miller, R-Florida, is an easy escape route. "It's almost as if they have a big billboard at the border saying 'Welcome to Mexico. We love murderers,'" he told CNN. Miller's interest in the issue was heightened by the case of Jose Luis Del Toro, a U.S. citizen who fled to Mexico following the 1997 killing of a Florida woman, Sheila Bellush, 35. Following a vigorous international legal fight, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that Del Toro, 22, was eligible for extradition. He's expected to be returned to Florida this week. To win the extradition, prosecutors had to agree to Mexican demands that Del Toro not face the death penalty, which is outlawed in Mexico.
Legal immigrant trapped in crime crackdownCameras mounted at border crossings in Texas and California monitor the license plates of vehicles traveling into Mexico, but as the Maturino Resendez case showed, technology is only as good as the people who operate it.
In the Sanchez case, the technology worked as it was supposed to. A computer helped land him in detention, unable to return to family members in Los Angeles. While not a citizen, Sanchez has lived in the United States, legally, since he was five. As a youth in 1987, he sold about $10 worth of drugs to a undercover officer and served a short sentence. Since then, according to his family, he's lived a law-abiding life. But earlier this year, after returning from a vacation in Mexico, his old conviction popped up in the computers of border officials. Sanchez now awaits possible deportation, a fact his sister finds hard to believe. "He paid his debt to society and that was taken care of," Leticia Sanchez told CNN. "He's paying twice for the same crime." The detention of Adrian Sanchez -- and others -- is due to a tough, new law that went into effect last fall. Aimed at keeping criminals out of the United States, it broadened the definition of crimes that could result in deportation, and allowed for deportation even in cases of old convictions. Sanchez has been held since February, but a recent modification of INS policy could make him eligible for release while awaiting deportation hearings. Even so, immigrant activists are asking Congress to step in so that law-abiding immigrants are not penalized for crimes they did time for long ago. "Where's our forgiveness?" asks Greg Simons of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. It's true that some immigrants come to the United States for criminal opportunities, he says. But most, says Simons, just come for the jobs. Correspondents Mike Boettcher and Anne McDermott contributed to this report, written by Jim Morris. RELATED STORIES: Son of Soviet leader becomes U.S. citizen RELATED SITES: US Immigration and Naturalization Service
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