Ending illegal entry
Saturday, August 2
Ending illegal entry / Saturday, August 2 Marxavi Angel Martinez used to assist patrons at the Graham Public Library in Alamance County. Now she sits behind bars facing immigration charges. Martinez, 23, was brought to this country from Mexico when she was 3 by her parents, who overstayed their visa. Martinez's husband also has been arrested on immigration charges. Martinez faces federal charges, including identity theft for using a dead man's Social Security number. Her case, complicated even more by her 1-year-old, is worthy of a modern-day Solomon, and we'll let the immigration judge decide it. But her situation shows why U.S. immigration policy needs revising. Cases like Martinez's are the result of policy that is contradictory and ineffective. For many years, the nation haphazardly combatted illegal immigration, thus encouraging illegal immigrants and their employment. At the same time, it restricted access to legal immigration channels. But things seem to be changing. By defeating an immigration reform bill in Congress last year, opponents sent the message that more enforcement was needed before they would consider reform. The message seems to have been heard. Stepped-up enforcement against illegal aliens and their employers has caused the U.S. illegal immigrant population to drop by 11 percent in the past year, according to a new report by the Center for Immigration Studies. While a slowing economy has been a factor, the center reports that the decline began before the economic downturn. Tough enforcement might seem heartless, but it is a necessary step toward ending the still-pervasive notion that it's OK to enter this country illegally. It isn't. It doesn't benefit any of us to have millions of people living here whose first act in the country was to break one of its laws. The lax attitude also isn't good for the lawbreakers. Illegal aliens exist in a shadow world of limited opportunity that can lead to them being taken advantage of. Only when strong enforcement has established that illegal entry won't be tolerated can the United States increase immigration quotas. Only then can Congress consider such measures as the DREAM Act, which would allow those brought here illegally as children the chance to apply for citizenship if they live in the United States several years, finish high school and show "good moral character." The United States prides itself on being a nation of immigrants, not a nation of lawbreakers. Strict enforcement of immigration laws, plus a policy that provides more people the opportunity to legally enter this country, will help the nation hold on to this tradition. Judge places library worker under house arrest; the rest is up to Immigration WINSTON-SALEM - A federal judge placed a former Graham library worker accused of working in the country illegally under house arrest during a detention hearing Thursday afternoon. But whether 23-year-old Marxavi Angel Martinez will get to go back to Alamance County now lies in the hands of federal immigration authorities. Defense attorney David Smith, who is representing Angel-Martinez, said after the hearing that the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the leading agency in the case against his client, who was charged earlier this month with aggravated identity theft, making false statements on a federal employment verification form, misrepresenting herself as being a U.S. citizen, and identity theft. This means that though Magistrate Judge Russell A. Eliason determined that Angel-Martinez is not a flight risk and agreed to release her into the custody of Bruce Conyers of Burlington, a family friend who agreed to be responsible for her until the case is disposed of in federal court, Smith said his client's release "is an immigration decision." Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman with ICE, said that a federal detainer is sought when a person is in violation of an immigration law, which is the case with Angel-Martinez. Gonzalez said that when a person is released on bail or under conditions set by a judge, the agency "takes appropriate action" on a case-by-case basis, adding that it can impose its own set of release conditions. The news was received with tears by the small group of friends and relatives who gathered in the courtroom to show their support for the mother of a 15-month-old boy who they said had no option but to live underground. "I just think it's deplorable," said Marilyn Tyler, a retired school teacher from Burlington who was among the supporters who came to Winston-Salem Thursday. "They should've never began this process." She said that the focus of the 287(g) program and ICE should be to locate criminals and not those like Angel-Martinez, who have no chance under the current immigration law to legalize their immigration status. To become a legal U.S. resident, a person who is already living illegally in the country needs to be sponsored by an employer or a relative who is a legal resident or an American citizen. Angel-Martinez came to this country with her family from Mexico when she was about 3 years old, Tyler said. She grew up in Alamance County and attended high school at Cummings, where she was an honor student. "When she realized she was illegal, what was she supposed to do, go to Mexico?" she said, adding that even though Angel-Martinez was born in Mexico, that country is a foreign place for her since she grew up here. "She was forced to live underground. We offer her no recourse," she said. "We as a people, we left her no choice." According to an affidavit filed July 14 in the U.S. Middle District Court in Durham by ICE officer Jeffrey H. Randleman, Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson contacted Randleman on July 7 about "an Alamance County employee believed to be illegally in the United States." The agent found that Angel-Martinez had claimed to be a U.S. citizen when she applied for a job with the county library system. However, on her daughter's birth certificate, which was filed in the Alamance County Register of Deeds, she put down Mexico as her place of birth, according to the federal complaint. A further look into the documentation Angel-Martinez had used to gain employment revealed that the Social Security number she had used belonged to a dead person. Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said last week that his department did not initiate the investigation into Angel-Martinez, but rather that it was a result of the SBI investigation involving the Health Department and its use of aliases. However, Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Department of justice, said Wednesday that the SBI was not involved in the arrest of Angel-Martinez. Sheriff Johnson said Thursday that his office received information from "a confidential source" that there was an "illegal county employee that had received services at the health department." "I understand she received maternal benefits," he said of Angel-Martinez.
Since Angel-Martinez was arrested, her entire family has been scrutinized. Friends of the family said ICE agents arrested Angel-Martinez' husband, Marcos Miranda, earlier this week. They said deportation proceedings are under way for her parents and sister, though the family declined to comment and an ICE spokesperson could not confirm that Thursday evening. Smith said that in his experience as an attorney this case is unusual. "It's unusual to see a situation to go to these extremes," he said. Sheriff Johnson said his office was not involved in the arrest of Miranda. "My understanding is that they went to talk to him and he ran out of his place of employment" through the back door, he said. Gonzalez confirmed that Angel-Martinez' husband was arrested by ICE agents on Tuesday for being in the country illegally. When asked the circumstances under which Miranda was arrested, Gonzalez said that as a matter of policy, "we don't discuss our investigation techniques." She added that there is a difference between what ICE agents are entitled to do and what the 287 (g) program is designed to do. While 287 (g) allows local agents to start the deportation process for those who have been arrested for violating a state law, ICE agents can arrest and process anybody who has violated an immigration law. "We have to enforce the law," Gonzalez said. Tyler said that she would like to see a change in the immigration law to keep cases like this one from happening. "My goal in this is to see justice done in our community, not just that the rules are followed but for people to be treated justly and fairly," she said. "We've wasted a great deal of money on Marxavi and what is the purpose of that?" She added, "What would be accomplished if all these five people are sent to Mexico? We'd have spent thousand of dollar to get rid of five people who are functioning parts of our community." Library worker takes plea to lesser charges, waits on Immigration decision A 23-year-old former Graham library worker pleaded guilty Friday morning in federal court to having used a Social Security number that was not hers to get a job. And though Chief Judge James A. Beaty sentenced Marxavi Angel Martinez to 10 days in jail, which she has already served, and put her on two years of supervised probation, the Cummings High School graduate is still being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities under a federal detainer pending deportation proceedings. Angel-Martinez was arrested on July 15 while working at the Graham library and charged with aggravated identity theft, making a false statement on a federal employment eligibility form, representing being a U.S. citizen and identity theft. However, a grand jury indicted her on July 28 of one count of filing a false report on a federal employment eligibility form and misuse of a Social Security number to gain employment. The Social Security number she had used to apply for a job belonged to a dead person and had never been reissued, according to court filings. As part of a plea bargain, Angel-Martinez agreed to plead guilty to the second charge. The government, on the other hand, agreed to dismiss the remaining charge and recommended a sentence in the lowest end of the range applicable to the charge, a recommendation the judge followed. Besides the plea agreement, in making his decision the judge also considered information provided in an indictment, character letters from Angel-Martinez' friends and family members, and arguments from both attorneys and her own testimony. Viviana Maltby, a Spanish translator and friend of the family who was at the hearing Friday, said Angel-Martinez told the judge that she, her sister and parents entered the United States legally when she was about 3 years old but that they later overstayed their visas. According to Maltby, Angel-Martinez, who has been in custody since she was arrested, also told the judge that she took classes as an international student at a university in Charlotte for about three years after graduating from Cummings High School. She quit school when she couldn't keep up with the cost of tuition and decided to get a job to help her parents, Maltby said. Greensboro attorney David Smith, who represented Angel-Martinez, said that in an effort to expedite the case both the defense and the government agreed to waive the 35-day disclosure period each side is entitled to when a pre-sentence report is filed. He said that while the disposition of the case was not ideal under her client's circumstances it does remove the case "from further consideration." "This case is over with," he said. "Now everything is in the hands of immigration authorities."
FRIENDS OF THE FAMILY said immigration authorities have agreed to place Angel-Martinez under a $50,000 bond. This means that if she pays that amount, which cannot be guaranteed by a bail bondsperson, Angel-Martinez can be reunited with her family, which includes a child, while the deportation proceedings continue their course. Though there is no telling when that would happen, friends were satisfied with the outcome of the case. "I think it is a great outcome in this situation," said Graham attorney Chris Watkins, who attended the hearing in support of the family. "She's been punished I think enough for what has happened," he said, adding that no one has been hurt or has lost money as a result of Angel-Martinez's actions. Whatever she did, he said, she did to get a job. ICE agents started investigating Angel-Martinez at the petition of Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson last month. Johnson told the Times-News then that the information about Angel-Martinez's immigration status came up as a result of an investigation into the use of aliases for Hispanic clients by members of the Alamance County Health's Department. According to Johnson, Angel-Martinez had received prenatal services at the health department, which the department is required to provide regardless of the person's immigration status. Johnson later told different media outlets that a confidential source had alerted him about Angel-Martinez's immigration status and that the information had not been obtained through confidential medical records. Since Angel-Martinez was arrested, her husband, Marco Antonio Miranda Monroy, has been arrested by ICE agents and charged with using someone else's Social Security number to get a job. He is facing deportation. Friends of the family said Angel-Martinez's sister and parents have also entered the deportation process. REFORMA cannot remain silent over the recent arrest in North Carolina of Marxavi Angel Martinez, a Latina staff member of Graham Public Library in Alamance County, North Carolina. No. 8.11.2008. 140. To Whom It May Concern: REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, expresses its deep concern and distress over the recent arrest in North Carolina of Marxavi Angel Martinez, a Latina staff member of Graham Public Library in Alamance County, North Carolina. Created in 1971 REFORMA has as one of its goals the recruitment of bilingual, bicultural librarians to serve the growing Latino population of the United States. We also encourage, support, and defend all Latino library workers of all ranks in the profession. Our association has a long and strong record in supporting fair immigration policies and human rights. Please visit our web page to view the resolutions, actions and tool kits that our members have developed to combat the current xenophobia and racism in our midst. It is thus with an immense sense of indignation that we condemn the arrest of Ms. Martinez. The manner in which she was arrested is deplorable; the place where this arrest took place is unthinkable: The Graham Public Library where she worked! The library—a traditionally safe space for the public—was transformed, in this instance, to a dangerous place where anyone can be arrested for their immigrant status. As a library organization, REFORMA has worked so long and so hard –fought tooth and nail -to make libraries accessible to all members of the community, to have a diverse collection that reflects the population of the community, and to make the libraries the cultural and educational oasis that welcomes people of all races, shapes and colors. And now this! REFORMA cannot remain silent. Ms. Martinez arrest affects us all: native born citizens, new and old immigrants and, of course, Native Americans-the truly indigenous people of this country. Ms. Martinez treatment by the law enforcement officials of Alamance County, North Carolina is a library, immigration and human rights case—all wrapped in one. Additionally, the immigration issue touches on the history and legacy of colonialism, genocide, and injustice whose perverse effects still can be seen and felt by the communities served by REFORMA. As a library organization, REFORMA also advocates the confidentiality of personal information of library employers and patrons. Likewise in the sister health professions, patient privacy should not be violated. Using confidential medical records to determine immigration status is unacceptable. The REFORMA Executive Committee, the Board, and the membership of our organization will engage in and encourage positive actions to address this divisive issue in our country. To address the financial situation that her incarceration has placed on Ms. Martinez and her family, REFORMA has created a PayPal link on our website to help the Angel Martinez family. REFORMISTAS will also write letters to appropriate authorities, call members of Congress, and disseminate this information far and wide in every conceivable medium: TV, radio, the Internet, and local and national newspapers. We should not let another Martinez-like incident surface again. It should not happen in a library and it should not happen to a library employee. Most of all, it should not happen in our time. Our hearts go out to Ms. Martinez and her family. Sincerely, |