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Title: Missing kids' dad dodged deportation
Source:
AZ Central
URL Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0714tripleslay14.html
Published: Jul 14, 2005
Author: Josh Kelley
Post Date: 2005-07-14 11:10:54 by Mr Nuke Buzzcut
Ping List: *The Border*
Keywords: deportation, Missing, dodged
Views: 43
Comments: 4
Josh Kelley Rodrigo Cervantes Zavala, 34, was arrested March 31, 2004, by Phoenix police after stealing $3,298 worth of materials from a former employer and was released from custody the same day, according to court records. Federal immigration officials apparently did not have enough time to retain him for deportation, said Russell Ahr, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in Arizona. ICE issues paperwork for detention only during business hours Monday through Friday after receiving the immigration status of suspects from the Law Enforcement Support Center in Vermont, Ahr said. The result is that undocumented immigrants are regularly released from jail before ICE can identify their status, Ahr said. "It's all a matter of timing in the case of Cervantes," Ahr said. "In this case, timely means before the guy gets released." Cervantes Zavala later pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary, a Class 4 felony. He was sentenced to two years on probation. If he had been sentenced to jail, ICE would have had a chance to deport him. Late Sunday night, the parents and brother of his ex-girlfriend, Isabel Acosta, were found shot to death in a house just outside Queen Creek. Acosta's two children, 3-year-old Jennifer and 18-month-old Bryan, are missing, and authorities continue to search for them and their father, Cervantes Zavala. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has not listed Cervantes Zavala as a suspect and continues to follow up on leads in the case, said Sgt. Kip Rustenburg, a spokeswoman. In November, Arizona voters will decide a constitutional amendment that would require undocumented immigrants who commit a serious crime to be held behind bars without bail while their cases are pending in court. Ahr said that ICE records show Cervantes Zavala was in federal custody in 1996 under unknown circumstances and accepted an offer to voluntarily return to Mexico, which means he waived his right to appear before an immigration judge and dispute deportation. He was convicted of misdemeanor assault against his common-law wife, not Acosta, in 1995 and 1998 in Glendale. Antonio Bustamante, a member of the Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association, said it's rare for undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation after being arrested. "It's my experience that they will always put a hold on a person who is undocumented once they're in jail, and immigration will come get them regardless if it's an aggravated felony or not," Bustamante said. But sometimes undocumented immigrants who are not sentenced to jail time avoid deportation, he said. Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Wednesday that all undocumented immigrants convicted of any crime should be deported. He also criticized deportation practices. "I can't understand what rationale ICE uses for deporting or retaining illegal immigrants in Arizona," Thomas said. He said undocumented immigrants who are convicted of felonies are sometimes not deported while undocumented immigrants accused of serious crimes can be deported after posting bail before they stand trial. Ahr defended efforts by ICE to deport thousands of undocumented immigrants convicted of felonies in Arizona. "The numbers speak for themselves," Ahr said.
Missing kids' dad dodged deportation
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 14, 2005 12:00 AM 
Getting released from jail shortly after being arrested last year probably prevented the undocumented immigrant linked to Sunday's triple murder and kidnapping near Queen Creek from being deported.
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#1. To: Mr Nuke Buzzcut (#0)
They're just here to steal stuff Americans won't steal.
Here's my version: "Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Wednesday that all undocumented immigrants
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestRodrigo Cervantes Zavala, 34, was arrested March 31, 2004, by Phoenix police after stealing $3,298
#2. To: Flintlock (#1)
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Wednesday that all undocumented immigrants convicted of any crime should be deported.
convicted of any crime should be deported."
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