I'm sure this is all over the blogosphere, but HELL... it's like a new world order, 1984 without the snappy attempts to remake English. This is doubleplus ungood.
************************************\
POT AND DEPORTATION
A Catalina High School student was busted for possession of marijuana at school last week. When police and the boy's parents showed up, the parents admitted the whole family immigrated to the U.S. illegally.
Police called Border Patrol, which they say is standard procedure. The teen, his brother and both parents have now been deported.
Tuesday the boy's friends at Catalina High School took to the streets, angry at the way it all went down.
They marched from the high school to downtown Tucson in protest.
Over the several mile walk, they march, chant and carry protest signs in support of a classmate sent back to Mexico.
"Yeah it makes me mad," says student Erick Quintero.
"We're protesting because they took one of our classmates," says student Joddy Borrego.
TUSD superintendent Roger Pfueffer says he planned to talk with TPD about what happened.
"The police are required to enforce laws, but we're asking immigration laws be not enforced on our campuses," Pfueffer says.
Border patrol says it doesn't raid schools or churches, but if another law enforcement agency calls, they respond and enforce the law.
"In this instance we were called to assist TPD who were in the presence of the first young man," says Border Patrol Agent Richard DeWitt.
TPD says it's looking at changing its policy where it would still contact Border Patrol but would not ask the federal agency to respond to a school.
"I really need to emphasize we didn't not go out there looking to enforce illegal immigration issues. We were there because criminal activity on the part of the juvenile we took proper action, followed our policies," says TPD Assistant Chief Roberto Villasenor.
2 comments:
This incident has gotten blown way out of proportion. This was not a case of TPD, INS/Border Patrol and TUSD conspiring to deport students in some massive raid on school.
This was a case of a student breaking the law and the entire family getting hit with the consequences. Substance abuse has a nasty way of doing just that.
The student broke the law, procession of drugs on or within 300 feet of a school is a crime. He was arrested and his parents were called to the school, a standard procedure. When the parents could not provide valid ID proving they were who the said they were, another standard procedure, they told the officer that they were breaking the law. (in essence, they ratted themselves out.) Using his discretion, the officer contacted the Border Patrol, and they did their job.
This kid learned a valuable, but hard lesson. Breaking the law can have some unintended consequences. Sometimes the entire family pays, as they did in this case. I bet numerous families that are here illegally are now telling their kids that they had better not get into trouble.
Maybe this incident will do a little bit to keep drugs out of our schools.
One wonders if officer discretion has a color at times. A student is a juvenile, and it is quesitonable whether or not the act of a juvenile should impact a family.
And I would hope ALL famillies are telling their kids not to get into trouble. Assuming that a "legal" family allows their kids to cry havoc and unleash them dogs of pot use is silly.
No one is screaming conspiracy. But no one wonders about the pale-faced students being busted and their possible deportation all that much-- and how does not having ID brand you illegal?
Post a Comment