Most of the time illegal immigrants convicted of minor crimes are led to believe that they will be required to pay a fine and surrender a drivers license, if they have one, for 6 months. That isn’t what really happens.
Often the immigrant is not told that a guilty plea or being convicted could have them lumped in with violent criminals and deported. Some crimes do not carry jail time. Or do they? Luis Lopez found out differently with a small marijuana charge.
Luis Bladilir Lopez would have needed a sharp defense lawyer to explain what could happen as the result of pleading guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana charge last year in Prince William County.
But Lopez, then 19, was never appointed a lawyer, according to court records. In the end, the consequences were far more serious than he probably could have imagined.
As soon as he entered a guilty plea, the federal government had strong grounds to deport him — and did so two months later.
Immigration lawyers and advocates say Lopez’s fate has become commonplace. In Virginia, and across the country, illegal immigrants who are convicted of minor, non-violent crimes often find themselves lumped in with violent offenders and deported under highly complex federal immigration procedures even as the Obama administration works to improve immigration enforcement procedures and focus on more serious offenders.
In 2010, many commonwealth’s attorneys across Virginia began automatically waiving jail time for mostly minor, misdemeanor offenses to save money. When prosecutors automatically waive jail time, judges no longer have to provide defendants with lawyers, potentially saving the state millions of dollars.
So it was with Lopez, who entered the country illegally in 2005, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Neither he nor his family could be reached for further comment.
Prince William Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul B. Ebert (D) had automatically waived all jail time for misdemeanor marijuana possession and a host of other charges. That made it possible for the General District Court judge in Lopez’s case to negotiate a guilty plea without appointing a lawyer: All Lopez had to do was pay a $186 fine and forfeit his driver’s license for six months.
Immigrants with drug charges, regardless of how minor, are far more at risk of deportation. Civil rights lawyers and advocates have argued that Virginia sets up immigrants for deportation. Prosecutors blame the federal government.
Advocates contend that prosecutors and judges in Virginia are essentially setting deportation traps for illegal immigrants charged with minor crimes by offering plea deals after waiving jail time and declining to appoint defense counsel.
People with strong feelings about illegal immigration will say good, they deserve it. Those who want the serious criminals deported only think that Virginia is pulling a flim-flam and immigrants are the victim.
Factor in those who want to legalize or at least decriminalize marijuana and you have an entire different set of beliefs. I would prefer that all effort be put into getting rid of violent criminals, child abusers and wife beaters–after they serve their sentence. Otherwise they will just hop into the revolving door and come right back to do more crime.
It will be interesting to see what the new immigration legislation will do with this one area of deportation.
As a side note, a Northern Virginia lawyer has made a rather interesting remark about Prince William County. He has accused them of having an ethnic cleansing program.
“Where do they get off trying to get an uncounseled criminal defendant to plead guilty before they get a lawyer?” asked Victor M. Glasberg, an Alexandria civil rights lawyer who raised the issue with the Virginia Supreme Court. “It’s knowingly aimed at the Latino community, and it is part of Prince William’s ethnic cleansing program. [Judges] know the law.”
So from what I get out of this post is civil rights attorney Victor Glasberg believes that one of VA’s longest serving Democrats, Paul Ebert, is one of the master minds behind PWC’s ethnic cleansing program.
PWC Democrats should demand answers Paul Ebert, who has served now for about 45 years or so (in his 12th term I think). He worked the dc sniper case of John Allen Muhammad as an interesting side note. Why are democrats, according to this article, knowingly aiming these tactics directly at the Latino community as part of a PWC ethnic cleansing program?
Perhaps the civil rights attorney is just whining. Or…or perhaps there aren’t enough local democrats to care….or perhaps the press is totally wrong. Who knows.
I don’t put a lot of stock in what some attorney, who I know nothing about, says about someone I have known for years.
It sounds to me like one of those catch 22 that just happens.
“Those who want the serious criminals deported only …” Sigh.
We go so quickly, don’t we, from pleas for high school graduates to obtain in-state tuition to pleas for lawbreakers to remain here. Once you decide that the law is a joke it’s a slippery slope IMO.
I don’t think it is a new concept…that some people only want serious criminals deported.
Would you not agree, Rick, that some people fall in to that category?
So, according to this post (and civil rights attorney Victor) the longest serving Democrat in VA history is knowingly aiming these tactics at the Latino community as part of a PWC ethnic cleansing program? Did I get that right?
Petersen, I don’t think that the newspaper thinks that PWC has an ethnic cleansing program. I think they are commenting that the civil rights attorney thinks that. I think they are reporting….not writing an opinion piece.
Paul Ebert is not the longest serving Democrat in Virginia history.
Yes, the Post itself doesn’t claim that we are engaged in genocide. They merely believe that we are a bunch of “xenophobes” oppressing the Latino people of the earth.
I felt the post was pointing out that the Virginia law allows for unintended consequences with the feds.
I also felt that Post was reporting, not giving its opinion.
The title of this post is… ‘Deportation traps in the Old Dominion’. By reading the articles and what you have written it sounds like you agree and think that PWC is setting “deportation traps”.
Well, in this case Paul Ebert (D) is who handled this case. I only assume that you think Mr. Ebert is directly involved in setting “deportation traps”, which kind of falls in line with Victor Glasberg’s opinion (which I assume is why you posted his opinion).
If I’m wrong I apologize but that is how this whole post reads…
I don’t think Paul Ebert is doing that in the least. Why would he?
It is a condition that exists in Virginia …sort of a catch 22.
If I thought Mr. Ebert was doing anything shady I would have directed to PWC only.
I don’t necessarily think anyone is doing anything shady, I think it is just how 2 different sets of laws end up not working out for an immigrant who has committed a minor crime.
Let me further add, I don’t believe I took a position on that. I thought the comment about PWC was noteworthy, if for no other reason it is accusatory. It also is in the interest of civil rights attorneys and immigration attorneys to try to besmirch the state’s reputation.
Please, go read the entire article. I have already spent more time on this that I wanted to spend.
“Would you not agree, Rick, that some people fall in to that category?”
Some. But I would think that most of us are happy to deport all lawbreakers.
I want the bad ones to serve their time. A child molester here would child molest some innocent kid in Equador also.
Minor crimes….like getting caught with a joint and an otherwise clean record? Waste of money.
Well if you believe that illegal immigrants cost us money, than it’s probably a bargain.
How do you know that Mr. Lopez was just some teen that happen to just get caught with a joint? The article states that he was charged “with a host of charges” but conveniently doesn’t say what those were. Nor does it mention anything about his criminal history.
I don’t know that nor did I comment on anything about Mr. Lopez.
The comment was generic…minor crime…getting caught with a joint being an example of a minor crime. No violence involved, not stealing or taking other people’s things.