Patterico's Pontifications

3/12/2008

Illegal by Choice

Filed under: Immigration — DRJ @ 8:11 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Saul Espinoza has made a career of claiming he’s an illegal immigrant:

“A man who posed as an illegal immigrant to dodge his criminal past reportedly was released from immigration custody this week as authorities review claims he is a U.S. citizen.

The San Antonio Express News reported that Saul Espinoza, 36, was detained for nearly two months in San Antonio before being released Monday night. The paper reported that he was allowed to join his family in Boerne pending a final decision in his case.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I’m going to go to church, stay out of trouble, get a job and rebuild my life.”

Immigration officials still haven’t recognized him as a U.S. citizen and are reviewing his case. Espinoza told the newspaper he duped authorities for years and avoided criminal charges by telling officials he was Joel Garza, an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Espinoza has been arrested several times for theft and drug charges.

His attorney told the Express-News the father of five was actually born in Brownsville and has the school records, baptismal certificate, and U.S. birth certificate to prove it.

On several occasions, he gave authorities an alias and told them he was a Mexican national. After being deported or voluntarily returning south of the border, he simply headed north and claimed U.S. citizenship.“

This is the rare case in which I might be in favor of deporting an American citizen.

— DRJ

30 Responses to “Illegal by Choice”

  1. There’s some stupid rule that you cannot renounce your U.S. citizenship except by an express, affirmative statement outside the United States.

    nk (8a8387) — 3/12/2008 @ 8:47 pm

  2. DRJ wrote:

    This is the rare case in which I might be in favor of deporting an American citizen.

    It does happen.

    Occasional Reader (28e12b) — 3/12/2008 @ 9:17 pm

  3. First, to Occasional Reader. Your example was a massive error on the part of immigration.

    Now to the nitwit at hand.
    This guy is not just stuck on stupid, he has superglued himself to stupid and reinforced his stupidity by stapling himself to stupid. Frankly, he should be billed for all the trouble he’s caused.

    As to the rule regarding renouncing citizenship, I believe it has to be done outside the country and you have to do it at an embassey. The last time I heard of this happening some moron went to France and renounced as a some sort of political protest.

    The staff tried to talk him out of it, and actually made hime come back to the embassey several times to confirm it. Finally they took him at his word.

    Of course, he tried to return to the U.S. and was stopped at the airport. Since he had renounced his citizenship, his passport was invalid.
    I don’t know hat happened to him.

    evilned (429c11) — 3/13/2008 @ 2:26 am

  4. Regarding the renouncing citizenship question, it can be done two ways: 1. Formally renouncing US citizenship before a US diplomatic or consular officer outside the US; 2. Formally renouncing US citizenship in writing within the US in time of war. Of course, Congress can alter the requirements at any time. The Supreme Court recognizes that Congress has great leeway in this matter.

    The law regulating loss of citizenship is found at Sec. 349 [8 U.S.C. 1481] of the INA.

    http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP.jsp?dockey=cb90c19a50729fb47fb0686648558dbe

    I have a long post on the subject of citizenship if you are interested: http://pigilito.blogspot.com/2005/11/loss-of-us-citizenship.html

    Pigilito (5d4652) — 3/13/2008 @ 4:58 am

  5. “This is the rare case in which I might be in favor of deporting an American citizen.”

    To where?

    stef (8d9b46) — 3/13/2008 @ 5:46 am

  6. He seems mighty fond of claiming to be Mexican. How about we try there?

    Scott Jacobs (fa5e57) — 3/13/2008 @ 6:02 am

  7. “He seems mighty fond of claiming to be Mexican. How about we try there?”

    Would that work? Think about it this way: we wouldn’t really like it if people started sending to us people who were claiming to be American.

    stef (f35d9f) — 3/13/2008 @ 6:08 am

  8. Yeah, but this guy has used it to avoid prosecutions. Give him a parachute and shove him out of the plan over the dead-center of Mexico.

    Scott Jacobs (fa5e57) — 3/13/2008 @ 6:15 am

  9. “Give him a parachute and shove him out of the plan over the dead-center of Mexico.”

    Oh. I’m talking to this kind of nonsense. I see.

    stef (a42736) — 3/13/2008 @ 6:25 am

  10. We have a place to “deport” him to — prison. You have no obligation to talk to the authorities but when you do it’s a crime if you lie to them. Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby?

    nk (8a8387) — 3/13/2008 @ 6:32 am

  11. *nods* Hey, he so enjoys saying he’s from there, I say we accomodate him as much as is practical. Landing just takes too much time.

    I mean, I said give him a parachute…

    Scott Jacobs (fa5e57) — 3/13/2008 @ 6:33 am

  12. Nah, DRJ, just lock this idiot up permanently.

    Sue (42b0d8) — 3/13/2008 @ 7:14 am

  13. We have a compound dedicated to persons whose own “states” are ambivilent about wanting them – he could go there: GITMO!

    Another Drew (f9dd2c) — 3/13/2008 @ 7:22 am

  14. Or put him in a minimum security prison for lying to the government. Sheesh the internet tough guy is strong in here.

    stef (ec92aa) — 3/13/2008 @ 7:50 am

  15. Or put him in a minimum security prison for lying to the government. Sheesh the internet tough guy is strong in here.

    Well, it IS kind of a crime, you know…

    I’m aware you think we should kiss the feet of every lawbreaking immigrant here, and give them everything they could ever dream of just because they decided to cheat, but come on now…

    If nothing else, they should bill him for the cost incured from shipping his ass to Mexico when we “deported” him, only to have him come back claiming citizenship.

    Scott Jacobs (fa5e57) — 3/13/2008 @ 7:56 am

  16. Roman Moronie Deported to Sweden!

    Claims He’s not from There

    Steverino (e00589) — 3/13/2008 @ 7:58 am

  17. Gotta give credit where it’s due — there’s something ingenius about this guy’s scam. It’s very “Ocean’s Eleven.”

    Phil (6d9f2f) — 3/13/2008 @ 8:57 am

  18. Stef,

    I know he can’t legally be deported so my comment was tongue-in-cheek. However, actually deporting him is easy. It’s happened numerous times during the however-many-years he’s been running this scam. Thus, in my world, the next time he uses a fake Mexican identity for a get-out-of-jail-free card, I’d go ahead and deport him to Mexico. Neither he nor Mexico had a problem with this before.

    The real problem for Espinoza would arise when he tries to return. In the past, Espinoza was able to return by showing he was a US citizen. That wouldn’t work the next time in my world. I’d make him keep the same ID coming in that he used to go out.

    DRJ (a431ca) — 3/13/2008 @ 9:09 am

  19. In real life, however, the answer is for the US authorities to bring appropriate charges. Apparently the authorities are having a hard time figuring out how to charge him, so Phil may be right when he said this was an ingenius scam.

    It might be time for a new law.

    DRJ (a431ca) — 3/13/2008 @ 9:10 am

  20. “…a new law…”

    How big is the USC, the Fed Register???

    We have too many laws, and I find it utterly frustrating that high-priced, well-educated, computer-literate attorney’s can’t find anything to jam this asshole with!

    Another Drew (f9dd2c) — 3/13/2008 @ 9:23 am

  21. Another Drew,

    The authorities may find something to charge him with but, for now, I think they are content to wait until he gets in trouble again. Apparently his old lifestyle involved a lot of illegal activity and he may have trouble changing careers.

    Of course, now Espinoza claims “I’m going to go to church, stay out of trouble, get a job and rebuild my life,” but what are the odds he will do it? I’d guess slim-to-none, only now his fingerprints are in the system along with the details of his scams. The local authorities know about him and his scams so he’ll have to go further and further from home to pull this off. In addition, more law enforcement agencies are checking identities, so it will be harder to get away with.

    However, if he does manage to do this again, re-entry into the US will be much harder because he can’t come back under his real identity without inquiries into when/how he got into Mexico. To avoid detection, he will have to be smuggled in and that will seriously cut into his profits. Poor Mr. Espinoza. He may have to come up with a new scam.

    DRJ (a431ca) — 3/13/2008 @ 9:37 am

  22. evilned wrote, 3/13/2008 @ 2:26 am:

    First, to Occasional Reader. Your example was a massive error on the part of immigration.

    If you read the linked article, or alternatively the pleadings in the case, you will find that ICE claims that they made no errors. Key ‘graf:

    But the federal government did not relent on the position it has held since the story broke, that Guzman was deported lawfully. “We believe that, yes,” said ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley, adding via e-mail: “ICE recognizes the important responsibility of enforcing our nation’s immigration laws and carries out its mission judiciously, fairly, and appropriately.”

    But if they in fact made errors, then my statement “it does happen” is no less true than if they made no errors. Either way, they have deported a natural born citizen. There is no debate now about Guzman’s citizenship.

    Occasional Reader (9e4989) — 3/13/2008 @ 10:52 am

  23. DRJ wrote, 3/13/2008 @ 9:09 am:

    The real problem for Espinoza would arise when he tries to return. In the past, Espinoza was able to return by showing he was a US citizen. That wouldn’t work the next time in my world. I’d make him keep the same ID coming in that he used to go out.

    I think that’s the the ancient equitable doctrine of estoppel in pais à travers la frontière

    I’ll duck and run now.

    Occasional Reader (9e4989) — 3/13/2008 @ 11:30 am

  24. A clever play on words … and it’s in French. That’s impressive, Occasional Reader.

    DRJ (a431ca) — 3/13/2008 @ 11:49 am

  25. I think we’re missing the key message here. It was more convenient to this guy to be an illegal alien petty criminal than a US citizen petty criminal.

    Think about that some.

    SPQR (26be8b) — 3/13/2008 @ 12:36 pm

  26. Exactly, SPQR.

    DRJ (a431ca) — 3/13/2008 @ 1:00 pm

  27. Well, if we have another winter like this one, I’m going to turn myself in to BCIS with the claim that I’m from Tahiti. 😉

    nk (8a8387) — 3/13/2008 @ 2:11 pm

  28. “I’m aware you think we should kiss the feet of every lawbreaking immigrant here, and give them everything they could ever dream of just because they decided to cheat, but come on now…”

    You did notice that he’s not an immigrant, right ?

    “That wouldn’t work the next time in my world. I’d make him keep the same ID coming in that he used to go out.”

    How would you “make” a US citizen not be one? Or keep a US citizen out?

    If he’s lied to the cops they can figure out some way to put him in jail for that.

    stef (48e229) — 3/13/2008 @ 9:41 pm

  29. I’ve quoted you and linked to you here.

    Consul-At-Arms (24ca24) — 3/15/2008 @ 11:36 pm

  30. http://consul-at-arms.blogspot.com/2008/03/re-illegal-by-choice.html

    Consul-At-Arms (24ca24) — 3/15/2008 @ 11:36 pm


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0838 secs.