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An out-of-status immigrant’s day in court
By L. Patricia Ice, Featured
Columnist
Instead of her regular column, immigration and civil rights lawyer,
L. Patricia Ice, sends us a brief description of a daunting day in
court.
Today, Tuesday, August
26, 2008, I attended initial appearance hearings in the Federal District
Court in Hattiesburg, MS for eight immigrants arrested yesterday by
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in a raid on
Howard Industries in Laurel, Mississippi yesterday. In all, two women
and six men were charged with federal aggravated identity theft, which
carries a two year maximum prison sentence, a $250.00 fine and/or 1 year
of supervised probation.
Federal Magistrate
Judge Michael J. Parker read aloud the allegations against each
defendant who appeared to be from Latin America, the majority from
Mexico and at least one possibly from Guatemala. Two bilingual
interpreters alternated duties between the eight defendants, who spoke
no English, and who were dressed in street clothes consisting of blue or
gray tee shirts and blue jeans. Each defendant was shackled in chains
at the waist and the ankles, and each person was handcuffed. After
being questioned about their personal finances and number of dependants,
each defendant was questioned as to whether he or she had enough money
to pay for an attorney. All replied that they could not afford one and
an Assistant Federal Defender, either Abby Brumley or John Webber, was
assigned to each as Mississippi Chief Federal Defender Dennis Joiner
looked on. Several of the defendants had spouses and or children. For
most of the eight cases, the affidavits supporting the criminal felony
complaints stated that the defendant had used the name and social
security number of another individual on a federal I-9 immigration form
or used a falsified permanent resident card on Howard Industries’
personnel records. The federal government alleged that at least one
defendant had used the name and identity of a deceased person.
Preliminary hearings
and detention hearings for each defendant are scheduled for Wednesday
morning, August 27, at the Federal District Court in Hattiesburg to
determine whether there is enough evidence to present to a grand jury
for indictments and to determine whether each defendant should continue
to be detained on criminal charges. It is unlikely that any of the
eight will be released any time soon, since each has a federal
immigration detainer placed on him or her, in addition to the criminal
order of detention.
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