General of Darkness
10th June 2012, 08:52 AM
Illegal alien dies in desert, widow (also illegal) to sue Border Patrol
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Immigration Reform Examiner
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Juana Garcia, the widow of Idelfonso Martinez Sanchez, who died crossing the Arizona desert in April after being deported, claims the U.S. Border Patrol (http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/) is responsible for her husband’s death and now wants “justice to be done.”
Sanchez was reported to federal authorities on March 1 by local police and deported back to Mexico, after living in Vista, just outside of San Diego for 20 years, according to Garcia.
After a failed attempt at crossing back into the country from Tijuana, Sanchez employed the help of a ‘coyote’ (human smuggler) and began the arduous trek through the Arizona desert on April 20, Garcia recently told EFE (http://www.efe.com/principal.asp?opcion=0&idioma=INGLES).
However, after only one day in the desert Sanchez became ill and the coyote along with the rest of the party left him behind.
One of those making the illegal journey, Isaac Jimenez Hernandez, eventually called 911 and was arrested when Border Patrol agents arrived.
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When Hernandez was released in Mexicali two days later, he contacted his traveling companion’s family, who called the Border Patrol and insisted they look for Sanchez.
On April 26, Border Patrol agents discovered the man’s badly decomposed body on the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation (http://www.desertinvasion.us/invasion_pictures/invasion_tohono.html), a commonly used smuggling route for both drugs and human cargo.
Garcia said: “They could have saved him. They let him die worse than an animal - because we're Mexicans and we have no documents they treat us the worst way.”
Garcia, who admitted to EFE that she is also in the country illegally, has five children between the ages of five and 19.
She continued: “We'll see what happens with the lawsuit. What they did is not right. I don't work and they left me and my kids without our source of income. What we want is for justice to be done.”
While it may be surprising to some to learn that someone here illegally can file a lawsuit in U.S. courtroom, it has actually become quite commonplace.
When Alfredo Garcia, 41, was arrested in April 2011 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the Mexican national was in the midst of suing yet another business under the auspices of the Americans with Disabilities Act (http://www.ada.gov/).
Garcia is a wheelchair-bound paraplegic who has been making a living filing lawsuits against businesses in Southern California.
In fact, the illegal alien has filed more than 500 such lawsuits, collecting $165,000 in settlement money.
Garcia’s most rfecent suit is against the Yogurt Stop in West Hollywood. His suit alleges that the height of a coat hook and mirror in the bathroom of the store are too high for someone in a wheelchair.
The illegal alien is seeking $5,000 in damages.
Attorney Gail Cooper-Folb, who represents the Yogurt Stop, told KABC-TV (http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/index): “I think it's an extraordinary abuse of the law. The law has a good purpose, and its abuse is outrageous. They are in it to threaten business owners with, ‘If you fight, you're going to spend more on an attorney then you are if you just pay us, so just pay us.’ And most people do it.”
In addition to being a professional plaintiff, Garcia is also a four-time convicted felon.
However, the aforementioned case is hardly the most egregious example of an illegal alien exploiting our legal system.
On April 17, 2009, the Orange County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay $3.75 million, plus an additional $900,000 in medical expenses to an illegal alien who was severely beaten by other inmates in the Orange County Central Jail. The Mexican national filed a lawsuit shortly after the incident.
Fernando Ramirez, 24, was in jail after being charged with molesting a 6-year-old girl at a local park. He eventually pled guilty to the lesser charge of battery against a child.
According to his attorney, Ramirez suffered brain damage and consequently needed help walking.
Attorney Mark Eisenberg also claimed that his client was left with the intellect of a 4-year-old child.
Despite the dire financial crisis facing Orange County, Ramirez received the largest settlement ever awarded by the county for an in-custody incident. The Board of Supervisors made their decision in a closed-door session and have since, refused any comment on the matter.
Except for one story (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/county-192997-ramirez-eisenberg.html) carried by the Orange County Register, there has been no press coverage of this matter. One would think that an illegal alien child molester becoming a millionaire through taxpayer funding would be big news.
Then again, such a story would be likely to make citizens angry, not only at those who come here illegally but at those who enable and excuse their presence in this country as well.
Of course, there are many more examples to make one’s blood boil…
A 2008 New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/us/03deport.html?pagewanted=all) told the incredible story of a1999 Florida car crash which left Guatemalan national Luis Alberto Jimenez with severe and permanent physical and mental injuries. After spending more than $1 million on Jimenez’s treatment, and several failed attempts to secure assistance from the government of Guatemala, the Florida hospital eventually paid to fly Jimenez back to his own country.
The incredible part of the story…Jimenez sued the Florida hospital, which he claimed “falsely imprisoned” him and deported him against his will, to avoid anymore unpaid medical bills.
In 2009, a jury sided with the hospital and Jimenez's lawsuit was dismissed.
Perhaps, the most outrageous example of the abuse of the U.S. legal system came from convicted Mexican drug smuggler Osvalda Aldrete-Davila who was shot by Border Patrol Agent Jose Compean in 2005.
After receiving more than $30,000 worth of medical treatment at a U.S. Army facility for the bullet wound in his rear end, he sued the Border Patrol for $5 million, claiming that Agents Ramos and Compean (http://www.examiner.com/article/another-border-patrol-agent-sent-to-prison-after-arresting-a-drug-smuggler)violated his civil rights.
Davila is now serving a nine year prison sentence for bringing more than 100 kilos of marijuana across the border.
The U.S. government has been very tight-lipped about the lawsuit, but it appears that the suit was actually settled for an undisclosed amount, and the case has been sealed.
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http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/74/65/746559c00542dc23d5cae29e459760d6.JPG (http://www.examiner.com/immigration-reform-in-national/dave-gibson)Dave Gibson (http://www.examiner.com/immigration-reform-in-national/dave-gibson)
Immigration Reform Examiner
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Juana Garcia, the widow of Idelfonso Martinez Sanchez, who died crossing the Arizona desert in April after being deported, claims the U.S. Border Patrol (http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/) is responsible for her husband’s death and now wants “justice to be done.”
Sanchez was reported to federal authorities on March 1 by local police and deported back to Mexico, after living in Vista, just outside of San Diego for 20 years, according to Garcia.
After a failed attempt at crossing back into the country from Tijuana, Sanchez employed the help of a ‘coyote’ (human smuggler) and began the arduous trek through the Arizona desert on April 20, Garcia recently told EFE (http://www.efe.com/principal.asp?opcion=0&idioma=INGLES).
However, after only one day in the desert Sanchez became ill and the coyote along with the rest of the party left him behind.
One of those making the illegal journey, Isaac Jimenez Hernandez, eventually called 911 and was arrested when Border Patrol agents arrived.
Advertisement
When Hernandez was released in Mexicali two days later, he contacted his traveling companion’s family, who called the Border Patrol and insisted they look for Sanchez.
On April 26, Border Patrol agents discovered the man’s badly decomposed body on the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation (http://www.desertinvasion.us/invasion_pictures/invasion_tohono.html), a commonly used smuggling route for both drugs and human cargo.
Garcia said: “They could have saved him. They let him die worse than an animal - because we're Mexicans and we have no documents they treat us the worst way.”
Garcia, who admitted to EFE that she is also in the country illegally, has five children between the ages of five and 19.
She continued: “We'll see what happens with the lawsuit. What they did is not right. I don't work and they left me and my kids without our source of income. What we want is for justice to be done.”
While it may be surprising to some to learn that someone here illegally can file a lawsuit in U.S. courtroom, it has actually become quite commonplace.
When Alfredo Garcia, 41, was arrested in April 2011 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the Mexican national was in the midst of suing yet another business under the auspices of the Americans with Disabilities Act (http://www.ada.gov/).
Garcia is a wheelchair-bound paraplegic who has been making a living filing lawsuits against businesses in Southern California.
In fact, the illegal alien has filed more than 500 such lawsuits, collecting $165,000 in settlement money.
Garcia’s most rfecent suit is against the Yogurt Stop in West Hollywood. His suit alleges that the height of a coat hook and mirror in the bathroom of the store are too high for someone in a wheelchair.
The illegal alien is seeking $5,000 in damages.
Attorney Gail Cooper-Folb, who represents the Yogurt Stop, told KABC-TV (http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/index): “I think it's an extraordinary abuse of the law. The law has a good purpose, and its abuse is outrageous. They are in it to threaten business owners with, ‘If you fight, you're going to spend more on an attorney then you are if you just pay us, so just pay us.’ And most people do it.”
In addition to being a professional plaintiff, Garcia is also a four-time convicted felon.
However, the aforementioned case is hardly the most egregious example of an illegal alien exploiting our legal system.
On April 17, 2009, the Orange County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay $3.75 million, plus an additional $900,000 in medical expenses to an illegal alien who was severely beaten by other inmates in the Orange County Central Jail. The Mexican national filed a lawsuit shortly after the incident.
Fernando Ramirez, 24, was in jail after being charged with molesting a 6-year-old girl at a local park. He eventually pled guilty to the lesser charge of battery against a child.
According to his attorney, Ramirez suffered brain damage and consequently needed help walking.
Attorney Mark Eisenberg also claimed that his client was left with the intellect of a 4-year-old child.
Despite the dire financial crisis facing Orange County, Ramirez received the largest settlement ever awarded by the county for an in-custody incident. The Board of Supervisors made their decision in a closed-door session and have since, refused any comment on the matter.
Except for one story (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/county-192997-ramirez-eisenberg.html) carried by the Orange County Register, there has been no press coverage of this matter. One would think that an illegal alien child molester becoming a millionaire through taxpayer funding would be big news.
Then again, such a story would be likely to make citizens angry, not only at those who come here illegally but at those who enable and excuse their presence in this country as well.
Of course, there are many more examples to make one’s blood boil…
A 2008 New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/us/03deport.html?pagewanted=all) told the incredible story of a1999 Florida car crash which left Guatemalan national Luis Alberto Jimenez with severe and permanent physical and mental injuries. After spending more than $1 million on Jimenez’s treatment, and several failed attempts to secure assistance from the government of Guatemala, the Florida hospital eventually paid to fly Jimenez back to his own country.
The incredible part of the story…Jimenez sued the Florida hospital, which he claimed “falsely imprisoned” him and deported him against his will, to avoid anymore unpaid medical bills.
In 2009, a jury sided with the hospital and Jimenez's lawsuit was dismissed.
Perhaps, the most outrageous example of the abuse of the U.S. legal system came from convicted Mexican drug smuggler Osvalda Aldrete-Davila who was shot by Border Patrol Agent Jose Compean in 2005.
After receiving more than $30,000 worth of medical treatment at a U.S. Army facility for the bullet wound in his rear end, he sued the Border Patrol for $5 million, claiming that Agents Ramos and Compean (http://www.examiner.com/article/another-border-patrol-agent-sent-to-prison-after-arresting-a-drug-smuggler)violated his civil rights.
Davila is now serving a nine year prison sentence for bringing more than 100 kilos of marijuana across the border.
The U.S. government has been very tight-lipped about the lawsuit, but it appears that the suit was actually settled for an undisclosed amount, and the case has been sealed.