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An out-of-status immigrant’s day in court

By L. Patricia Ice, Featured Columnist

Instead of her regular column, immigration and civil rights lawyer, L. Patricia Ice, sends us a brief description of a daunting day in court.

Today, Tuesday, August 26, 2008, I attended initial appearance hearings in the Federal District Court in Hattiesburg, MS for eight immigrants arrested yesterday by  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in a raid on Howard Industries in Laurel, Mississippi yesterday.  In all, two women and six men were charged with federal aggravated identity theft, which carries a two year maximum prison sentence, a $250.00 fine and/or 1 year of supervised probation.

Federal Magistrate Judge Michael J. Parker read aloud the allegations against each defendant who appeared to be from Latin America, the majority from Mexico and at least one possibly from Guatemala.  Two bilingual interpreters alternated duties between the eight defendants, who spoke no English, and who were dressed in street clothes consisting of blue or gray tee shirts and blue jeans.  Each defendant was shackled in chains at the waist and the ankles, and each person was handcuffed.  After being questioned about their personal finances and number of dependants, each defendant was questioned as to whether he or she had enough money to pay for an attorney.  All replied that they could not afford one and an Assistant Federal Defender, either Abby Brumley or John Webber, was assigned to each as Mississippi Chief Federal Defender Dennis Joiner looked on.  Several of the defendants had spouses and or children.  For most of the eight cases, the affidavits supporting the criminal felony complaints stated that the defendant had used the name and social security number of another individual on a federal I-9 immigration form or used a falsified permanent resident card on Howard Industries’ personnel records.  The federal government alleged that at least one defendant had used the name and identity of a deceased person.

Preliminary hearings and detention hearings for each defendant are scheduled for Wednesday morning, August 27, at the Federal District Court in Hattiesburg to determine whether there is enough evidence to present to a grand jury for indictments and to determine whether each defendant should continue to be detained on criminal charges.  It is unlikely that any of the eight will be released any time soon, since each has a federal immigration detainer placed on him or her, in addition to the criminal order of detention.