Smuggling You Here Part 9
The petition process
Now
that you -- the illegal alien -- have been "detained" for illegal
entry into the United States of America not at a Port of Entry
or for some other form of illegal entry, you have the chance to
decide how you want to go home. There are two paths, Administrative
and Judicial. If you petition for an Administrative ( or Voluntary)
Return to your country of origin then you are not considered guilty
of anything. It's just gonna be "Adios Amigo."
You
certainly must have never been formally deported from this country
before and you must not be wanted by any federal, state of local
law enforcement agency.
A Voluntary
Return is quick and easy. You sign the paper and they put you
on a bus and take you to the Port of Entry and let you pass through
an eight foot high steel gate and into Mexico.
Very
un-romantic, but this is it. On this side is the USA, and
on that side is Mexico.
This
is as close as your deportation bus can get.
On
the other side of the gate / border will be Mexican immigration
officials who will interview you in a cursory manner. If you can't
prove that you are a Mexican national then they will hand you
back over to the US Border Patrol and things will get dicey for
you. They will also get expensive for the US Border Patrol. They
will have to pay your ticket to wherever you really came from.
Notice
that the gate is unlocked!
But...
behind this camera's vantage point are lots of US Border Patrol
Agents..
Lots
of them... Go ahead ... Make their day..
With
something called an administrative deportation you can be across
the border and trying to head north in to the USA again before
the Agent who captured you is even off his ten hour shift (eight
hours plus an average of two hours overtime).
If
you petition for a Judicial hearing then it can take as long as
a year to hear your case and the case is referred to a US Attorney.
This is bad. You
are going to be a guest of the United States for some considerable
time.
Once
you file that petition then you have set your course and there
is no changing your path. No, you cannot change your mind.
Formal
Removal
This
is what happens when the illegal must be removed to a country
other than Mexico or for anyone who -- for a reason beyond anything
at all rational -- requests a formal removal. There are
13 federal court rooms dedicated to and constantly full of illegal
aliens just in the border area of California alone. Nearly 400
courts across the entire southern border are jammed with illegal
aliens.
The
situation is out of control. Ms. Carol Lam, former U.S. Attorney
for California's Southern Distict, has stated that she could prosecute
"hundreds of thousands" of illegal aliens a
year if she had the staff and that drugs are even being used as
barter in the purchase of Stinger missiles. She was recently fired
for prosecuting Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham
(he got eight years). Here
is a TV program link.
If
the illegal alien has been formally removed in the past and has
been caught again then this act of illegal entry is a felony.
The penalties are two years if the illegal had a clean prior record.
If the illegal had a prior felony then the prison term is 10 years.
If the illegal had perpetrated an aggravated felony in the US
and then was captured the penalty is 20 years in prison.
And
these are real terms and they can stick depending upon the fed's
case load.
