ICE LIES

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has the impossible task of trying to keep the illegal immigration problem in check. ICE can neither prevent illegals from swarming across the Mexican border nor can it catch and deport the estimated 20 million illegals already in this country. Besides, most of us really don't want all of them deported because that would deprive us of a pool of hard working cheap laborers.

The best that can be expected of ICE is the apprhension of a tiny fraction of illegals as they cross the border. And ICE can make a few sporadic raids on businesses known to employ illegals, thereby catching an insignificant number of illegal aliens for deportation, more for show than for effect.

If what has happened to Mauricio Barragan is any indication, ICE agents and attorneys must be awfully desperate to show us they are succeeding in their mission. Barragan, 26, was brought here illegally from Bolivia by his parents when he was only one year old. Both parents became U.S. citizens. His father is disabled and his mother is a part-time teacher.

Before his arrest for driving with a suspended driver's license, Barragan had been making 50 percent of the mortgage and utility payments on the home he bought for his parents and sister. He had also been providing financial support for his illegitimate nine-year-old son and, according to the mother, had been actively involved in raising the boy.

Barragan graduated in the top quarter of his high school class and, while employed, attended the University of Houston, where he was a senior at the time of his arrest. He had worked at Target for almost eight years and had been promoted to a leadership position in the electronics department. Barragan became a legal resident in February 2007. At the time of his arrest he had already applied for citizenship.

Barragan's record is not squeaky clean. He had a drug conviction when he was a 15-year-old juvenile. At 17, he was convicted of a Class B misdemeanor for possessing a small amount of marijuana. He was placed on probation for one year and given deferred adjudication. He sucessfully completed his probation, thereby having his conviction set aside.

During the traffic stop, the arresting officer ran a record check which revealed that Barragan had been convicted on a drug charge. The law requires that all aliens, even those here legally, be detained for deportation if they have a past drug conviction.

However, if that conviction was for less than 30 grams of marijuana and if his deportation would cause an immediate relative "extreme hardship," a judge can rule that a legal alien can stay in this country. Barragan's deportation would certainly have resulted in extreme hardship for his parents and for his son.

ICE was determined to have Barragan deported to Bolivia, a country he had not seen since he was one-year-old and where he had no known relatives. ICE opposed all efforts to obtain Barragan's release and to allow him to remain in this country.

He remained in jail for thirteen months. During that time, foreclosure proceedings were started against his parents who, without Mauricio's assitance, could not keep up with their mortgage payments. If Rick Casey, a Houston Chronicle columnist, had not called attention to his plight, Barragon would probably be back in Bolivia by now, his parents would have lost their home, and his son would not be getting child support payments or playing with his father on weekends.

When a judge reinstated Barragan's legal residency allowing him to stay and work in this country, ICE appealed his decision. Here are the "facts" James Manning, Assistant General Counsel for ICE, filed with the court as required by the appeal. Barragan had multiple drug convictions as a juvenile. A LIE! Barragan was a habitual drug dealer and user. A WHOPPER OF A LIE!

Here are more of the "facts" Manning filed in the appeal. Barragan quit school to work. ANOTHER LIE! Barragan never held a job for more than 18 months and was unemployed at the time of his arrest. ANOTHER BIG LIE! Barragan owns no real property. ANOTHER LIE! Barragan has no significant social ties outside the home (ignores that he had a son). ALSO A LIE!

Manning's "facts" directly contradicted the court records. In his brief to the appellate court, Manning did not repeat the false statements he presented in the filings. Without any substantial facts to justify deportation, ICE had no case. The appellate court ruled unanimously in Barragan's favor.

What the hell was going on here? Did ICE agents deliberately present a pack of lies to Manning? If so, did the attorney fail to verify the allegations presented to him? Or, did Manning take it upon himself to deliberately lie about Barragan's background?

Is ICE so hard up to score a victory in the war on illegal immigration that they have to resort to lies and shaft a poor hard working slob who has been in this country for 25 years, getting educated while working and looking after his parents and his son? For sure, Barragan broke the law by using dope, but when they were around Mauricio's age, so did Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Those liars at ICE ought to be ashamed of themselves. After all, they were not dealing with some habitual criminal. They were not dealing with someone who presented a threat against the United States. Barragan's deportation would not have made a dime's worth of difference in the war against illegal immigration.

The assholes who were responsible for the 13 months Barragan was confined should be made to face disciplinary proceedings for their reprehensible behavior. On the other hand, Rick Casey deserves a humanitarian award for bringing the injustices perpetrated against Barragan to the pulic's attention.