By Sara Foley
The Daily News
Published August 10, 2008
LA MARQUE — He beat her, forced her to drink her brother’s urine and eat a cockroach blended into a glass of milk.
He made her sleep in a closet, locked the refrigerator so she couldn’t eat and put feces in her mouth.
It was the worst case of child abuse La Marque detective Sgt. Geoff Price had ever seen.
But, Fabian Orellana, who admitted to police that he abused a 13-year-old relative, will spend a maximum of only three years in prison
Orellana, 34, pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from the case. He will have to serve at least two years before he’s eligible for release from prison.
Once he is released, immigration officials will deport him back to El Salvador.
A teacher uncovered the girl’s twisted tale of torture when she intercepted a note the girl passed to a friend in class.
In it, she begged for help and described the beating the day before.
“I hate my life, please help me. I am going crazy right now,” the note said.
The teachers called Child Protective Services, who removed the girl and her two siblings from the house.
Reasons for the abuse aren’t understandable, Price said.
The girl told police she did all the chores at the house, including washing clothes with an old-fashioned scrubbing board, and got beaten if she didn’t finish all her work.
Most of the girl’s bruises — even one Price said was the size of a basketball on her hip — were hidden under the long-sleeved shirts and long skirts she wore to school.
If she hadn’t passed the note, the abuse would have likely continued and grown more severe, Price said.
“We got her away from him before it got worse,” he said. “She’ll live with this for the rest of her life, but we got her away from him.”
Prosecutors said they agreed to the 3-year sentence because it was the only guarantee Orellana would actually get prison time.
Orellana was indicted on four counts of injury to a child, but the maximum punishment he could have received was 10 years, Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen said.
Because he’s never had any felony convictions, a jury could have just given him probation, Allen said.
“The thing I don’t want is for this to go to trial and a jury to give him probation,” Allen said. “Here was a guaranteed prison sentence.”
District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk defended the plea agreement, which ordered Orellana’s deportation and forced the girl’s mother to relinquish her parental rights.
“(The settlement) gave those children a sense of security that could not be guaranteed if they had to sit across from him in the courtroom and testify before a jury,” Sistrunk said. “They are safe. He is out of their life.”
Some of the gruesome details that came out during the investigation — such as the forced ingestion of urine and the cockroach — were “revolting and abhorrent” but only grounds for a lighter, state jail charge, Sistrunk said.
Instead, prosecutors pursued the charge that could give him the most time in prison.
“The kids are scared to death of him,” Allen said. “They’re very, very frightened to even be in court with him. We wanted to avoid putting them through even more trauma.”
Showing posts with label El Salvador. Show all posts
Showing posts with label El Salvador. Show all posts
August 10, 2008
August 8, 2008
BP arrests convicted sex offender near high school
08.08.08
FORT HANCOCK - Border Patrol agents have arrested a convicted sexual offender near Fort Hancock High School.
According to a Border Patrol spokesman, agents assigned to the Fort Hancock Border Patrol Station spotted three suspicious individuals near the school. When the agents questioned the three men, they determined they were in the country illegally.
The men were taken into custody, where officials found that one of the suspicious men, 39-year old Daniel Santos Amaya-Rodas, a citizen of El Salvador, has several prior arrests and convictions for sexual crimes.
Amaya-Santos will be prosecuted for Illegal Re-entry and was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility.
FORT HANCOCK - Border Patrol agents have arrested a convicted sexual offender near Fort Hancock High School.
According to a Border Patrol spokesman, agents assigned to the Fort Hancock Border Patrol Station spotted three suspicious individuals near the school. When the agents questioned the three men, they determined they were in the country illegally.
The men were taken into custody, where officials found that one of the suspicious men, 39-year old Daniel Santos Amaya-Rodas, a citizen of El Salvador, has several prior arrests and convictions for sexual crimes.
Amaya-Santos will be prosecuted for Illegal Re-entry and was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility.
August 6, 2008
Authorities Capture Illegal Immigrants in Driscoll Bailout
Manuel De La Rosa
(August 6, 2008)
DRISCOLL--Law officers in Driscoll were in hot pursuit of some suspected illegal immigrants this morning. Half were caught and the other half got away.
The illegal immigrants were from Central America and Mexico. They were captured after an alert officer noticed something unusual about a truck travelling on Highway 77.
Authorities said seven illegal immigrants ranging in ages between 15 and 40 were hiding under this black tarp in the bed of a truck. That's when a deputy constable decided to follow them to this convenience store on the southside of Driscoll.
"Well they were packed like sardines in the back," said Roland Padilla, a Deputy Constable for Nueces County in Precinct 3. "Yes, sir it was very inhumane, very inhumane."
The illegals were from El Salvador, Guatamala and Mexico. One told us he was going to Houston because life is tough back home in El Salvador.
Cesar Eduardo said: "It's very bad in El Salvador. We make $5 a day. We cannot do anything with that so we take a chance and try to come here for a better life.
Another man from El Salvador said it wasn't an easy trip once they were brought to the Valley by a human smuggler.
Jose flores said: "It's very difficult crossing the border and getting caught at this point. I was here five years ago before getting deported. I just wanted to get back here to make some money."
Officials said five others, including the driver, got away.
"The driver came out took off running and then there were about three or four inside the vehicle," Padilla said. "I wrestle with one of them, but I had to let him go."
Even though these illegal immigrants were caught, they told us it was worth giving it a try to get to the United States.
--Manuel De La Rosa, Area 3 News, mdelarosa@kiiitv.com
(August 6, 2008)
DRISCOLL--Law officers in Driscoll were in hot pursuit of some suspected illegal immigrants this morning. Half were caught and the other half got away.
The illegal immigrants were from Central America and Mexico. They were captured after an alert officer noticed something unusual about a truck travelling on Highway 77.
Authorities said seven illegal immigrants ranging in ages between 15 and 40 were hiding under this black tarp in the bed of a truck. That's when a deputy constable decided to follow them to this convenience store on the southside of Driscoll.
"Well they were packed like sardines in the back," said Roland Padilla, a Deputy Constable for Nueces County in Precinct 3. "Yes, sir it was very inhumane, very inhumane."
The illegals were from El Salvador, Guatamala and Mexico. One told us he was going to Houston because life is tough back home in El Salvador.
Cesar Eduardo said: "It's very bad in El Salvador. We make $5 a day. We cannot do anything with that so we take a chance and try to come here for a better life.
Another man from El Salvador said it wasn't an easy trip once they were brought to the Valley by a human smuggler.
Jose flores said: "It's very difficult crossing the border and getting caught at this point. I was here five years ago before getting deported. I just wanted to get back here to make some money."
Officials said five others, including the driver, got away.
"The driver came out took off running and then there were about three or four inside the vehicle," Padilla said. "I wrestle with one of them, but I had to let him go."
Even though these illegal immigrants were caught, they told us it was worth giving it a try to get to the United States.
--Manuel De La Rosa, Area 3 News, mdelarosa@kiiitv.com
July 8, 2008
La Joya Immigrant Chase
LA JOYA | IMMIGRANT CHASE
A truckload of suspected illegal immigrants led police on a short chase here early Tuesday morning, ending when the group of 19 fled into the brush.
U.S. Border Patrol agents later picked up three women from the group: a mother and her daughter, both from El Salvador, and a woman from Guatemala. The others escaped, said Officer Joe Cantu, a La Joya police spokesman.
Police began following the coyote, or human smuggler, after he stopped in an employee parking lot at a local medical building along Expressway 83 between Peñitas and La Joya about 5:30 a.m., hours before anyone else would typically arrive at the building, Cantu said.
An officer watched the illegal immigrants cram into the truck. When the officer approached, the coyote drove away, leading police to the Terra Blanca subdivision. The smuggler and at least 16 illegal immigrants fled into the brush and evaded authorities.
A truckload of suspected illegal immigrants led police on a short chase here early Tuesday morning, ending when the group of 19 fled into the brush.
U.S. Border Patrol agents later picked up three women from the group: a mother and her daughter, both from El Salvador, and a woman from Guatemala. The others escaped, said Officer Joe Cantu, a La Joya police spokesman.
Police began following the coyote, or human smuggler, after he stopped in an employee parking lot at a local medical building along Expressway 83 between Peñitas and La Joya about 5:30 a.m., hours before anyone else would typically arrive at the building, Cantu said.
An officer watched the illegal immigrants cram into the truck. When the officer approached, the coyote drove away, leading police to the Terra Blanca subdivision. The smuggler and at least 16 illegal immigrants fled into the brush and evaded authorities.
July 6, 2008
ICE raid nets five
The Associated Press
Sunday, July 6, 2008
HOUSTON - The owner and four supervisors of a rag factory raided last week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been charged with knowingly hiring and employing undocumented workers.
U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said that the five were involved in a pattern and practice of hiring undocumented workers and knowingly accepting false documents as proof of citizenship.
More than 160 suspected illegal immigrants working in Action Rags USA, a hot, cluttered factory in north Houston, were detained last week in one of the largest immigration raids in the city in nearly two years.
About 70 percent of those detained last week were female - eight of whom were pregnant. Two minors were released to members of their family. The detainees are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
HOUSTON - The owner and four supervisors of a rag factory raided last week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been charged with knowingly hiring and employing undocumented workers.
U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said that the five were involved in a pattern and practice of hiring undocumented workers and knowingly accepting false documents as proof of citizenship.
More than 160 suspected illegal immigrants working in Action Rags USA, a hot, cluttered factory in north Houston, were detained last week in one of the largest immigration raids in the city in nearly two years.
About 70 percent of those detained last week were female - eight of whom were pregnant. Two minors were released to members of their family. The detainees are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
June 29, 2008
Documents, interviews show how sex ring was busted
June 29, 2008, 4:27PM
© 2008 The Associated Press
HOUSTON — A Houston bar owner controlled girls and women from Central America forced to take part in one of the nation's largest sex trafficking rings by threatening to kill their families, according to a newspaper report.
Recently obtained documents and interviews by the Houston Chronicle offer the first detailed account of how authorities in 2005 brought down the Houston-based sex trafficking ring.
The ring preyed on women and girls from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, illegally bringing them to Houston with false promises of legitimate work and then forcing them to work as prostitutes in cantinas to pay off smuggling fees and living expenses, according to court records and interviews with investigators.
The ring, run by Maximino "El Chimino" Mondragon, an immigrant from El Salvador, was based in at least three seemingly normal looking bars and restaurants in northwest Houston.
He worked closely with lead smuggler Walter Corea, a convicted felon and illegal immigrant who conspired to bring women to Houston from Central America
Mondragon had run businesses in Houston for at least a decade, according to records and interviews with police and a labor activist who helped rescue cantina workers.
To control the women, Mondragon kept "intelligence" on each one — the names of their mothers, brothers and children and locations of their homes and schools. Records show victims said he threatened to kill relatives or burn down family homes if they did not cooperate.
"They were scared to death of him. ... They thought he was the devil," said Sgt. Michael Barnett of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission's enforcement division in Houston.
Beatings, forced abortions and prostitution took place behind closed doors or in adjacent buildings, houses and apartments around the bars, court records show. Aborted fetuses were buried or thrown down a drainage hole into the city sewer system, women told police.
Several of the ring's cantinas had long been under suspicion by agents from the FBI and the TABC.
Separately, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was also investigating the smuggling ring run by Corea.
"Once we determined we were investigating the same targets, we proceeded working a joint investigation," said Tom Annello, an ICE unit chief and smuggling expert whose work was key to the case.
It took about a year to collect the evidence needed for mass arrests.
The operation was set for early 2006.
But then on Nov. 12, 2005, the lead ICE agent learned that Mondragon and his brother Oscar had obtained one-way tickets to San Salvador, a police report shows.
Authorities quickly obtained arrest and search warrants and that weekend raided three cantinas, two restaurants and two homes.
Task force members — including ICE, TABC, the FBI and the Harris County Sheriff's Office — had expected to find 50 or 60 women. Eventually, they rescued about 120 victims.
Corea was sentenced in May to 15 years. He pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts: servitude/trafficking and alien smuggling.
Mondragon is set to be sentenced on Sept. 22. He has pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts: servitude/trafficking and alien smuggling. Seven others have pleaded guilty in the case, including two of Mondragon's brothers.
Most of the women rescued in the Mondragon case apparently still live in Houston, though only a few dozen appear to have obtained special visas that were created for victims under new federal anti-trafficking laws.
Three interviewed by the Chronicle said they feel safer but still struggle to recover.
© 2008 The Associated Press
HOUSTON — A Houston bar owner controlled girls and women from Central America forced to take part in one of the nation's largest sex trafficking rings by threatening to kill their families, according to a newspaper report.
Recently obtained documents and interviews by the Houston Chronicle offer the first detailed account of how authorities in 2005 brought down the Houston-based sex trafficking ring.
The ring preyed on women and girls from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, illegally bringing them to Houston with false promises of legitimate work and then forcing them to work as prostitutes in cantinas to pay off smuggling fees and living expenses, according to court records and interviews with investigators.
The ring, run by Maximino "El Chimino" Mondragon, an immigrant from El Salvador, was based in at least three seemingly normal looking bars and restaurants in northwest Houston.
He worked closely with lead smuggler Walter Corea, a convicted felon and illegal immigrant who conspired to bring women to Houston from Central America
Mondragon had run businesses in Houston for at least a decade, according to records and interviews with police and a labor activist who helped rescue cantina workers.
To control the women, Mondragon kept "intelligence" on each one — the names of their mothers, brothers and children and locations of their homes and schools. Records show victims said he threatened to kill relatives or burn down family homes if they did not cooperate.
"They were scared to death of him. ... They thought he was the devil," said Sgt. Michael Barnett of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission's enforcement division in Houston.
Beatings, forced abortions and prostitution took place behind closed doors or in adjacent buildings, houses and apartments around the bars, court records show. Aborted fetuses were buried or thrown down a drainage hole into the city sewer system, women told police.
Several of the ring's cantinas had long been under suspicion by agents from the FBI and the TABC.
Separately, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was also investigating the smuggling ring run by Corea.
"Once we determined we were investigating the same targets, we proceeded working a joint investigation," said Tom Annello, an ICE unit chief and smuggling expert whose work was key to the case.
It took about a year to collect the evidence needed for mass arrests.
The operation was set for early 2006.
But then on Nov. 12, 2005, the lead ICE agent learned that Mondragon and his brother Oscar had obtained one-way tickets to San Salvador, a police report shows.
Authorities quickly obtained arrest and search warrants and that weekend raided three cantinas, two restaurants and two homes.
Task force members — including ICE, TABC, the FBI and the Harris County Sheriff's Office — had expected to find 50 or 60 women. Eventually, they rescued about 120 victims.
Corea was sentenced in May to 15 years. He pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts: servitude/trafficking and alien smuggling.
Mondragon is set to be sentenced on Sept. 22. He has pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts: servitude/trafficking and alien smuggling. Seven others have pleaded guilty in the case, including two of Mondragon's brothers.
Most of the women rescued in the Mondragon case apparently still live in Houston, though only a few dozen appear to have obtained special visas that were created for victims under new federal anti-trafficking laws.
Three interviewed by the Chronicle said they feel safer but still struggle to recover.
June 26, 2008
Employer arrests could follow Houston immigration raid
June 26, 2008, 12:10AM
Employer arrests could follow Houston immigration raid
Immigration agents detain 166 undocumented workers at east side plant
By JAMES PINKERTON and SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
As anxious relatives stood outside, van after van of mostly female undocumented workers were removed from a sweltering rag-sorting factory on Houston's east side and whisked to an immigration processing facility.
The early morning raid Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, while netting 166 undocumented workers, did not include arrests of company officials with Action Rags USA. But those charges may be on the way.
"The office of investigation is looking at allegations of the hiring of illegal aliens, which is a crime," said Special Agent Bob Rutt, of the Houston ICE office. Arresting illegal immigrants was "a collateral part" of the investigation, he said. "Our focus, ICE's overall focus, is targeting the employer."
Rutt, however, referred inquiries about possible criminal charges in Wednesday's raid case, as well as one at Shipley Do-Nuts in Houston, to federal prosecutors. There have been no arrests of Shipley managers or company officials.
"As it pertains to Shipley Do-Nuts, we cannot confirm or deny the existence of a criminal investigation," said Angela Dodge, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston.
"I think everybody recognizes that to get a handle on this, ... you have to go after the employer," said Steven Camarota, director of research with the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates stricter immigration controls.
In fiscal 2007, ICE secured fines and forfeitures of more than $30 million in worksite enforcement cases, according to the agency's annual report. ICE did not provide statistics on the number of employers criminally charged last year.
Employer prosecutions aren't "the biggest bang for the buck, as far as the way ICE is thinking about it," said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration think tank based in Washington, D.C.
"It's much easier and gets more headlines to arrest a lot of people," Papademetriou said. "To make a case against an employer requires time and significant investments of investigative resources. Sometimes it takes half a year, or a year."
ICE began investigating Action Rags USA a year ago after learning about hiring practices from a former employee.
The Wednesday raid, which involved 200 ICE agents, started shortly after work began at 7 a.m. at the sorting facility at 1225 Port Houston.
Late Wednesday, ICE officials said of the 166 workers they detained, 130 were females, including 10 who were pregnant. In all, 66 undocumented workers were released for humanitarian reasons, including pregnancy and child care issues, and were told to report to an immigration judge.
The workers who remain detained could be processed for removal from the U.S. The arrest tally included 135 from Mexico, 12 from Honduras, 10 from Guatemala, eight from El Salvador, and one whose nationality is unknown, ICE officials said.
'We were like a family'
The raid surprised many workers as they began a day of sorting bales of used clothing in the un-airconditioned facility. The clothing is shipped worldwide, according to a company Web site, or processed into rags for industry.
A woman who identified herself as a company supervisor said many of the workers initially didn't believe a raid was under way, noting false reports of raids in the past year.
"But when I came out to look, the agents were at the doors, and they had surrounded the warehouse," said Brenda, who gave only her first name. "They started yelling for us to sit down. They started searching us to see if we had knives or weapons."
Brenda said workers who ran from federal agents or tried to hide were handcuffed "and treated like criminals."
"When I left I was crying, because we all got along well," she said. "We were like a family."
ICE officials said four workers were taken to area hospitals due to anxiety attacks and heat-related illness; one woman fell 20 feet from a stack of pallets in which she was hiding.
Repeated attempts to contact company officials at the facility Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Action Rags lost its corporate status in July 2007 due to a tax forfeiture, according to Texas Secretary of State records. The records listed Mubarik Kahlon as the company's registered agent and director.
Secretary of State spokesman Scott Haywood confirmed that Action Rags is no longer a registered LLC in Texas, but said he could not comment on any potential legal implications.
A woman who answered the door at Kahlon's home in Humble said he was not there.
Critics call raid a waste
As ICE continues its investigation, pro-immigrant activists blasted the raid as a waste of taxpayer money which will have hurt Houston's economy and workers' families.
"Are we safer because they arrested immigrant women who are working?" asked Maria Jimenez, with the Center for Central American Resources in Houston. "I mean, 200 agents went to basically capture women who were contributing to the economy. What have we gained for society by removing mothers, wives and sisters from their family?"
Men were also detained, including the husband of Juana Ramirez, who acknowledged her spouse is not in the country legally.
"All he does is go to work, comes home and takes care of the kids when I go to work," said an angry Ramirez, who works at a fast-food restaurant and is expecting the couple's third child. "He doesn't drink or do drugs. It's not good at all."
Papademetriou called raids like Wednesday's the "low-hanging fruit" of operations.
"They don't require an enormous amount of investment on the part of ICE. They make headlines. The numbers look substantial," he said.
According to ICE statistics for the 2007 fiscal year, ICE made 863 criminal arrests and 4,077 administrative arrests as a result of worksite enforcement efforts nationally.
Camarota said even though the number of arrests is small in relation to the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the raids have a significant impact.
"If you're on a highway and thousands of people were speeding and one person gets pulled over, compliance with the law shoots up dramatically. Any law enforcement action has a much greater effect than just on the individuals who are subject to it," he said.
One former ICE prosecutor, Austin attorney Kevin Lashus, said worksite raids are designed to frighten companies who hire undocumented workers.
"What they're hoping to do is be able to use these stepped-up raids to force employers to reconsider their employment verification policies," said Lashus, who is now a member of the Tindall & Foster immigration law firm in Austin. "They're trying to scare the hell out of them — their intent is to force employers to police themselves."
james.pinkerton@chron.com v
susan.carroll@chron.com
Employer arrests could follow Houston immigration raid
Immigration agents detain 166 undocumented workers at east side plant
By JAMES PINKERTON and SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
As anxious relatives stood outside, van after van of mostly female undocumented workers were removed from a sweltering rag-sorting factory on Houston's east side and whisked to an immigration processing facility.
The early morning raid Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, while netting 166 undocumented workers, did not include arrests of company officials with Action Rags USA. But those charges may be on the way.
"The office of investigation is looking at allegations of the hiring of illegal aliens, which is a crime," said Special Agent Bob Rutt, of the Houston ICE office. Arresting illegal immigrants was "a collateral part" of the investigation, he said. "Our focus, ICE's overall focus, is targeting the employer."
Rutt, however, referred inquiries about possible criminal charges in Wednesday's raid case, as well as one at Shipley Do-Nuts in Houston, to federal prosecutors. There have been no arrests of Shipley managers or company officials.
"As it pertains to Shipley Do-Nuts, we cannot confirm or deny the existence of a criminal investigation," said Angela Dodge, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston.
"I think everybody recognizes that to get a handle on this, ... you have to go after the employer," said Steven Camarota, director of research with the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates stricter immigration controls.
In fiscal 2007, ICE secured fines and forfeitures of more than $30 million in worksite enforcement cases, according to the agency's annual report. ICE did not provide statistics on the number of employers criminally charged last year.
Employer prosecutions aren't "the biggest bang for the buck, as far as the way ICE is thinking about it," said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration think tank based in Washington, D.C.
"It's much easier and gets more headlines to arrest a lot of people," Papademetriou said. "To make a case against an employer requires time and significant investments of investigative resources. Sometimes it takes half a year, or a year."
ICE began investigating Action Rags USA a year ago after learning about hiring practices from a former employee.
The Wednesday raid, which involved 200 ICE agents, started shortly after work began at 7 a.m. at the sorting facility at 1225 Port Houston.
Late Wednesday, ICE officials said of the 166 workers they detained, 130 were females, including 10 who were pregnant. In all, 66 undocumented workers were released for humanitarian reasons, including pregnancy and child care issues, and were told to report to an immigration judge.
The workers who remain detained could be processed for removal from the U.S. The arrest tally included 135 from Mexico, 12 from Honduras, 10 from Guatemala, eight from El Salvador, and one whose nationality is unknown, ICE officials said.
'We were like a family'
The raid surprised many workers as they began a day of sorting bales of used clothing in the un-airconditioned facility. The clothing is shipped worldwide, according to a company Web site, or processed into rags for industry.
A woman who identified herself as a company supervisor said many of the workers initially didn't believe a raid was under way, noting false reports of raids in the past year.
"But when I came out to look, the agents were at the doors, and they had surrounded the warehouse," said Brenda, who gave only her first name. "They started yelling for us to sit down. They started searching us to see if we had knives or weapons."
Brenda said workers who ran from federal agents or tried to hide were handcuffed "and treated like criminals."
"When I left I was crying, because we all got along well," she said. "We were like a family."
ICE officials said four workers were taken to area hospitals due to anxiety attacks and heat-related illness; one woman fell 20 feet from a stack of pallets in which she was hiding.
Repeated attempts to contact company officials at the facility Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Action Rags lost its corporate status in July 2007 due to a tax forfeiture, according to Texas Secretary of State records. The records listed Mubarik Kahlon as the company's registered agent and director.
Secretary of State spokesman Scott Haywood confirmed that Action Rags is no longer a registered LLC in Texas, but said he could not comment on any potential legal implications.
A woman who answered the door at Kahlon's home in Humble said he was not there.
Critics call raid a waste
As ICE continues its investigation, pro-immigrant activists blasted the raid as a waste of taxpayer money which will have hurt Houston's economy and workers' families.
"Are we safer because they arrested immigrant women who are working?" asked Maria Jimenez, with the Center for Central American Resources in Houston. "I mean, 200 agents went to basically capture women who were contributing to the economy. What have we gained for society by removing mothers, wives and sisters from their family?"
Men were also detained, including the husband of Juana Ramirez, who acknowledged her spouse is not in the country legally.
"All he does is go to work, comes home and takes care of the kids when I go to work," said an angry Ramirez, who works at a fast-food restaurant and is expecting the couple's third child. "He doesn't drink or do drugs. It's not good at all."
Papademetriou called raids like Wednesday's the "low-hanging fruit" of operations.
"They don't require an enormous amount of investment on the part of ICE. They make headlines. The numbers look substantial," he said.
According to ICE statistics for the 2007 fiscal year, ICE made 863 criminal arrests and 4,077 administrative arrests as a result of worksite enforcement efforts nationally.
Camarota said even though the number of arrests is small in relation to the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the raids have a significant impact.
"If you're on a highway and thousands of people were speeding and one person gets pulled over, compliance with the law shoots up dramatically. Any law enforcement action has a much greater effect than just on the individuals who are subject to it," he said.
One former ICE prosecutor, Austin attorney Kevin Lashus, said worksite raids are designed to frighten companies who hire undocumented workers.
"What they're hoping to do is be able to use these stepped-up raids to force employers to reconsider their employment verification policies," said Lashus, who is now a member of the Tindall & Foster immigration law firm in Austin. "They're trying to scare the hell out of them — their intent is to force employers to police themselves."
james.pinkerton@chron.com v
susan.carroll@chron.com
160 Workers Detained In Texas Immigration Raid
(June 25, 2008)--More than 160 suspected illegal immigrants working in a hot, cluttered rag factory in Houston were detained Wednesday.
Officials say the detainees are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
About 60 might qualify for temporary release, if they have so-called humanitarian issues, such as health needs or are sole caregivers to children, but they'll still have to appear before a federal immigration judge who will decide whether they can remain in the U.S.
Authorities say about 70 percent of those detained are female, eight of whom were pregnant, and two minors were released to members of their family.
Four employees required medical treatment, including a woman who fell 20 feet off a stack of wooden pallets where she was hiding.
Officials say the detainees are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
About 60 might qualify for temporary release, if they have so-called humanitarian issues, such as health needs or are sole caregivers to children, but they'll still have to appear before a federal immigration judge who will decide whether they can remain in the U.S.
Authorities say about 70 percent of those detained are female, eight of whom were pregnant, and two minors were released to members of their family.
Four employees required medical treatment, including a woman who fell 20 feet off a stack of wooden pallets where she was hiding.
June 21, 2008
Officials searching for relatives of family slain in Houston
Fri, Jun. 20, 2008
Officials searching for relatives of family slain in Houston
The Associated Press
HOUSTON -- After identifying a couple from El Salvador slain in an apparent murder-suicide that included the deaths of three young children last month, authorities are now searching for relatives to claim the five bodies.
The couple has been identified as Salvador Perez Alfaro, 42, and Estela Marilu Quintanilla, 34, according to the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office. The identities of three children found in their rural northeast Houston home May 10 have not been confirmed.
The Medical Examiner's Office has ruled that Alfaro committed suicide and that Quintanilla and the three children were killed by gunshot wounds.
Lawyers and activists said that the two adults had authorization to live and work in the country under a humanitarian program known as Temporary Protective Status.
Members of Houston's immigrant community said Alfaro told them he was a former member of El Salvador's military forces. They said that the man who earned his living as a roofing contractor was quiet, honest and hard-working.
Alfaro often picked up day laborers and was using them for a roofing job the week before his death, said Francisco Soltis, director of the East Side Job Development Center.
"We talked, but he wasn't really very communicative. He was very serious," Soltis told the Houston Chronicle for its Friday editions. "From what the persons who went to work with him told me, he never failed to pay them. I can tell you that."
TPS was created by Congress to allow immigrants to remain in the country if armed conflicts, environmental disasters or other extraordinary conditions prevented them from safely returning to their homeland. Because of hurricanes that devastated Central America, TPS is available to immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The TPS regulations didn't allow Alfaro and Quintanilla to travel home.
"We are needing the community's help in locating the loved ones of this family," said Jennifer Coston, deputy chief investigator in the medical examiner's office.
http://www.star-telegram.com/448/story/710624.html
Officials searching for relatives of family slain in Houston
The Associated Press
HOUSTON -- After identifying a couple from El Salvador slain in an apparent murder-suicide that included the deaths of three young children last month, authorities are now searching for relatives to claim the five bodies.
The couple has been identified as Salvador Perez Alfaro, 42, and Estela Marilu Quintanilla, 34, according to the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office. The identities of three children found in their rural northeast Houston home May 10 have not been confirmed.
The Medical Examiner's Office has ruled that Alfaro committed suicide and that Quintanilla and the three children were killed by gunshot wounds.
Lawyers and activists said that the two adults had authorization to live and work in the country under a humanitarian program known as Temporary Protective Status.
Members of Houston's immigrant community said Alfaro told them he was a former member of El Salvador's military forces. They said that the man who earned his living as a roofing contractor was quiet, honest and hard-working.
Alfaro often picked up day laborers and was using them for a roofing job the week before his death, said Francisco Soltis, director of the East Side Job Development Center.
"We talked, but he wasn't really very communicative. He was very serious," Soltis told the Houston Chronicle for its Friday editions. "From what the persons who went to work with him told me, he never failed to pay them. I can tell you that."
TPS was created by Congress to allow immigrants to remain in the country if armed conflicts, environmental disasters or other extraordinary conditions prevented them from safely returning to their homeland. Because of hurricanes that devastated Central America, TPS is available to immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The TPS regulations didn't allow Alfaro and Quintanilla to travel home.
"We are needing the community's help in locating the loved ones of this family," said Jennifer Coston, deputy chief investigator in the medical examiner's office.
http://www.star-telegram.com/448/story/710624.html
June 9, 2008
Feeling the ICE; Federal agents hunting for, arresting immigrant fugitives
Feeling the ICE; Federal agents hunting for, arresting immigrant fugitives
By NICK GEORGIOU, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
06/09/2008
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 1,800 illegal immigrant criminals, fugitives and violators following a month-long effort by Fugitive Operations teams.ICE officials say the slate of arrests reflect a continued and noticeable decrease in the immigrant fugitive population, which is estimated at 573,000.
The agency says that's a decrease of about 60,000 since October 2006.
More than half of those arrested during the May operation were immigration fugitives, or typically people who ignore final deportation orders.
Arrests were made in six states: California, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee and Texas.
Nina Pruneda, spokeswoman for ICE's San Antonio area of operation, said a Fugitive Operation Team was not deployed to Laredo during the month-long effort, but that "most definitely" the Gateway City will be on the list in the future.
"These type of operations are constantly being put together," she said.
A four-day operation that started May 19 in Austin, San Antonio and the Valley ended with 84 arrests. Those arrested were nationals from El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya and Guatemala.
"At one point or another, they try to hide from us, but it's only a matter of time before we catch up to them," Pruneda said.
Five Fugitive Operations teams conducted the effort. Pruneda said each team is composed of about five to eight special agents, depending on the type of target or area.
According to an ICE news release, of those arrested during the four-day operation, 56 had final orders of deportation and 28 were immigration violators who the team encountered during the operation.
"If you ignore a federal immigration judge's deportation order, ICE will find you, arrest you and return you to your home country," Marc J. Moore, field office director of the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in San Antonio, stated in a news release.
Moore oversees most of South Texas, including Laredo, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Harlingen and Brownsville.
Besides being in the country illegally, the agency stated that more than 70 percent of the illegal immigrants who were arrested in the six states had criminal histories.
Though that's not to say ICE turns a blind eye to those who haven't been convicted of a crime, Pruneda said.
Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for ICE, said in a news release these operations are carried out as per removal orders handed down by the country's immigration courts.
"America will always welcome those who wish to enter our country legally, but for those who flaunt our laws, know that you will be removed," Myers said in the news release.
The Fugitive Operations teams prioritize cases based on those who pose a threat to national or community safety, such as sex offenders, suspected gang members and persons convicted of violent crimes, ICE officials said.
The Fugitive Operations Program was created in 2003, the same year ICE, the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, was established.
The program's purpose is to eliminate the nation's backlog of illegal immigrant fugitives.
ICE has markedly increased the numbers of teams it deploys nationwide. In 2005, ICE had 18 Fugitive Operations teams. Today, the agency has 75 teams.
And with recent additional funding, ICE hopes to expand the program by adding 29 teams by the end of September.
The agency states the teams nearly doubled the amount of arrests from about 15,000 in 2006 to more than 30,000 in 2007. According to the ICE Web site, Fugitive Operations teams made about 1,900 arrests in 2003, the agency's first of existence.
Of the 30,000 arrests in 2007, about 4,800 of them occurred in Texas, according to figures provided by Carl Rusnok, spokesman for ICE's Dallas area of operation. However, he said that is not strictly limited to Texas because ICE's Dallas area of operation includes Oklahoma and El Paso's area of operation includes New Mexico.
Rusnok said 13 Fugitive Operations teams are deployed in Texas, including four in San Antonio.
(Nick Georgiou may be reached at 728-2582 or by e-mail at nickg@lmtonline.com)
Laredo Morning Times 2008
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19757632&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=569392&rfi=6
By NICK GEORGIOU, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
06/09/2008
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 1,800 illegal immigrant criminals, fugitives and violators following a month-long effort by Fugitive Operations teams.ICE officials say the slate of arrests reflect a continued and noticeable decrease in the immigrant fugitive population, which is estimated at 573,000.
The agency says that's a decrease of about 60,000 since October 2006.
More than half of those arrested during the May operation were immigration fugitives, or typically people who ignore final deportation orders.
Arrests were made in six states: California, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee and Texas.
Nina Pruneda, spokeswoman for ICE's San Antonio area of operation, said a Fugitive Operation Team was not deployed to Laredo during the month-long effort, but that "most definitely" the Gateway City will be on the list in the future.
"These type of operations are constantly being put together," she said.
A four-day operation that started May 19 in Austin, San Antonio and the Valley ended with 84 arrests. Those arrested were nationals from El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya and Guatemala.
"At one point or another, they try to hide from us, but it's only a matter of time before we catch up to them," Pruneda said.
Five Fugitive Operations teams conducted the effort. Pruneda said each team is composed of about five to eight special agents, depending on the type of target or area.
According to an ICE news release, of those arrested during the four-day operation, 56 had final orders of deportation and 28 were immigration violators who the team encountered during the operation.
"If you ignore a federal immigration judge's deportation order, ICE will find you, arrest you and return you to your home country," Marc J. Moore, field office director of the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in San Antonio, stated in a news release.
Moore oversees most of South Texas, including Laredo, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Harlingen and Brownsville.
Besides being in the country illegally, the agency stated that more than 70 percent of the illegal immigrants who were arrested in the six states had criminal histories.
Though that's not to say ICE turns a blind eye to those who haven't been convicted of a crime, Pruneda said.
Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for ICE, said in a news release these operations are carried out as per removal orders handed down by the country's immigration courts.
"America will always welcome those who wish to enter our country legally, but for those who flaunt our laws, know that you will be removed," Myers said in the news release.
The Fugitive Operations teams prioritize cases based on those who pose a threat to national or community safety, such as sex offenders, suspected gang members and persons convicted of violent crimes, ICE officials said.
The Fugitive Operations Program was created in 2003, the same year ICE, the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, was established.
The program's purpose is to eliminate the nation's backlog of illegal immigrant fugitives.
ICE has markedly increased the numbers of teams it deploys nationwide. In 2005, ICE had 18 Fugitive Operations teams. Today, the agency has 75 teams.
And with recent additional funding, ICE hopes to expand the program by adding 29 teams by the end of September.
The agency states the teams nearly doubled the amount of arrests from about 15,000 in 2006 to more than 30,000 in 2007. According to the ICE Web site, Fugitive Operations teams made about 1,900 arrests in 2003, the agency's first of existence.
Of the 30,000 arrests in 2007, about 4,800 of them occurred in Texas, according to figures provided by Carl Rusnok, spokesman for ICE's Dallas area of operation. However, he said that is not strictly limited to Texas because ICE's Dallas area of operation includes Oklahoma and El Paso's area of operation includes New Mexico.
Rusnok said 13 Fugitive Operations teams are deployed in Texas, including four in San Antonio.
(Nick Georgiou may be reached at 728-2582 or by e-mail at nickg@lmtonline.com)
Laredo Morning Times 2008
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19757632&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=569392&rfi=6
May 24, 2008
Sting nets 84 illegal immigrants
Sting nets 84 illegal immigrants
Arrests for ignoring deportation orders or skipping hearings were in Austin, San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley.
By Juan Castillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Federal officials on Friday announced the arrests of 84 people on immigration violations, including 56 who had failed to appear for hearings or had ignored a judge's final deportation orders.
The arrests in Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley were part of a four-day operation that began Sunday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.
Those arrested are from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya, Guatemala and Honduras. They were arrested by fugitive operations teams based in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The agency said it created its fugitive operations program in 2003 to eliminate a backlog of fugitives and ensure that deportation orders are enforced.
"If you ignore a federal immigration judge's deportation order, ICE will find you, arrest you and return you to your home country," said Marc Moore, field office director of the agency's office of detention and removal operations in San Antonio. Moore oversees an area that includes Austin, San Antonio, Waco, Harlingen, Brownsville and Laredo.
About half of the arrests were in Austin. Among those arrested was Maximo Flores-Avila, 57, a Mexican citizen who was living and working in Austin. The agency said Flores-Avila has a criminal history that includes assault with bodily injury, unlawfully carrying a weapon and forgery. He was ordered deported in 2006 after an immigration appeals board reaffirmed a federal judge's 2005 deportation order, the agency said.
Twenty-eight of those arrested were immigration violators the teams encountered during the operation.
jcastillo@statesman.com; 445-3635
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/05/24/0524icearrests.html
Arrests for ignoring deportation orders or skipping hearings were in Austin, San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley.
By Juan Castillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Federal officials on Friday announced the arrests of 84 people on immigration violations, including 56 who had failed to appear for hearings or had ignored a judge's final deportation orders.
The arrests in Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley were part of a four-day operation that began Sunday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.
Those arrested are from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya, Guatemala and Honduras. They were arrested by fugitive operations teams based in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The agency said it created its fugitive operations program in 2003 to eliminate a backlog of fugitives and ensure that deportation orders are enforced.
"If you ignore a federal immigration judge's deportation order, ICE will find you, arrest you and return you to your home country," said Marc Moore, field office director of the agency's office of detention and removal operations in San Antonio. Moore oversees an area that includes Austin, San Antonio, Waco, Harlingen, Brownsville and Laredo.
About half of the arrests were in Austin. Among those arrested was Maximo Flores-Avila, 57, a Mexican citizen who was living and working in Austin. The agency said Flores-Avila has a criminal history that includes assault with bodily injury, unlawfully carrying a weapon and forgery. He was ordered deported in 2006 after an immigration appeals board reaffirmed a federal judge's 2005 deportation order, the agency said.
Twenty-eight of those arrested were immigration violators the teams encountered during the operation.
jcastillo@statesman.com; 445-3635
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/05/24/0524icearrests.html
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