News (Media Awareness Project) - CN BC: Legal Loopholes Keep Dealers Selling |
| Title: | CN BC: Legal Loopholes Keep Dealers Selling |
| Published On: | 2005-03-01 |
| Source: | Province, The (CN BC) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-08-20 18:46:53 |
LEGAL LOOPHOLES KEEP DEALERS SELLING
Lock Up Illegal Migrants To Halt Lucrative Business, Lawyer Urges
Most of the allegedly illegal migrants caught selling crack in Vancouver
last month are back on the streets selling drugs.
"These bastards, they come up here with one purpose, to make money selling
misery and destruction to Canadians," said Insp. Val Harrison.
Of the accused drug-dealing migrants, nine are Honduran refugee claimants,
two have been deported before and one has a deportation order pending. Five
already had prior drug-trafficking charges in Vancouver.
"[Immigration officials] have got a system that's broken and they need to
fix it," said Harrison.
She noted that refugee claimants can make thousands of dollars dealing
drugs in the time between claiming refugee status and a hearing.
And even if claimants are deported, they are sent back to the country they
came from. In the case of the Hondurans, that's the United States.
"Why turn them back to the States. Why not fly them back to Honduras?" she
asked.
Harrison is planning another operation to sweep crack dealers off the
corner of Seymour and Dunsmuir, noting many of them were among those
arrested last month.
"It's starting to come back again," she said when asked aobut crack trade
at the corner.
All that's needed to stop illegal migrants selling drugs is $100,000 and
political will, says Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland.
Kurland wants the federal government to spend $100,000 on a pilot project
that would keep repeat illegal migrants and those convicted of multiple
criminal infractions locked up while their refugee claims are processed.
"It's time to do it," Kurland said. "A pilot project to put these guys on ice."
He said the key problem is that regardless of how many times a refugee
claimant has been deported, the Canada Border Services Agency generally
releases them while the paperwork required to deport again them is completed.
Kurland said repeat offenders should not be set free because of the
$235-a-day cost of keeping them in custody.
"There's a loophole . . . it's avoidable by paying, temporarily, more."
He noted it is legal to hold criminals or Immigration Act violators while
their cases are processed, pointing to the 624 illegal Chinese migrants who
arrived in B.C. in rusted-out boats in 1999. Of those migrants, 149
disappeared, 24 were given refugee status and the rest were deported. Some
250 were held in custody while their claims were handled.
Refugee claimants can be held under three conditions -- if their identity
is in question, they pose a flight risk, or are a danger to the public.
It is up to Citizenship and Immigration Canada to argue before the
Immigration Review Board that the claimants fall into any of those three
categories.
Melissa Anderson of the Immigration Review Board said drug dealers
generally fall into the flight-risk category, but the onus is on
Citizenship and Immigration to prove that.
Said Angela Battiston, spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration and the
border services agency: "You have to substantiate the reasons . . .
Somebody's past behaviour is certainly taken into consideration."
Stephen Heckbert, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe
Volpe, said the difference between the Hondurans and the wave of Chinese
migrants six years ago is that the Hondurans typically come into Canada
alone, making it "much more difficult to identify and process them."
He could not say why the alleged Honduran crack dealers were not detained
after their first convictions.
----------------------------------------
[SIDEBAR]
An Alleged Honduran Crack Dealer's Meanderings In B.C.
Jose Elvir-Sevilla, 31
Feb. 15, 2000: Picked up for selling drugs. He tells police he got into the
country three days earlier by walking over the border on railway tracks. He
was issued a departure order two days later, when he claimed refugee
status. He said his family didn't like him and he was poor. He was released
from detention with a promise to find a home and report to Immigration
Canada within five days.
Sept. 20, 2000: His refugee claim was declared abandoned. A letter was sent
Aug. 23, 2001, requesting he report for an interview, but it was returned
marked "moved."
July 2004: Sevilla crosses into Canada through bushes.
July 16, 2004: He is stopped by police dropping his common-law wife off at
work. Officers discover he has outstanding warrants for the 2000
trafficking arrest. Sevilla tells officers he left Canada before the court
dates, that he had been in Seattle and that he'd been deported from there
in 2002.
July 23, 2004: Immigration and Refugee Board hearing. Common-law wife Karen
Briceno offers pay to $1,000 bond. Sevilla released from custody on
condition he report to immigration officials every two weeks.
Jan. 22-24, 2005: Arrested and charged with two counts of trafficking.
Sevilla is not in custody.
WHERE THEY ARE NOW
Here is where the 11 charged in the Vancouver crack-dealing ring are in the
legal system:
Wilmer Amaya-Reyes, 23
Trafficking charge from November 2004, trial set for Sept. 19.
Trafficking charge from January 2005, trial set for Sept. 16.
Not in custody.
Nelvin Sandres-Rivas, 21
Trafficking charge from January 2005, pleaded guilty Feb. 24, sentenced to
one day in jail (credit for 47 days served).
Not in custody.
Jose Elvir-Sevilla, 31
Trafficking charge from Jan. 24, 2005, trial date set for Nov. 1.
Trafficking charge from Jan. 22, 2005, trial date set for Dec. 14.
Trafficking charge from 2000, trial date set for May 16.
Not in custody.
Cesar Andino-Giron, 21
Possession charge from December 2004, trial date set for July 13.
Trafficking charge from January 2005, trial date set for Dec. 1.
Not in custody.
Ronal Hernandez-Martinez, 26
Trafficking charge from January 2005, arraignment March 8.
Not in custody.
Franklin Mendes-Cerrato, 23
Two charges of trafficking from
January 2005, arraignment on both charges set for March 3.
Not in custody.
Jeremiah Gillingham, 21
Trafficking charge from January 2005, arraignment March 17.
Not in custody.
Andres Andres-Matias, 44
Possession charge from June 2004.
Trafficking charge January 2005, pleads guilty to both charges Feb. 17 and
enters drug rehab.
Not in custody.
Lesmar Orlando Cruz, 29
Trafficking charge from December 2004, detained and released Dec. 10, trial
date set for Sept. 13.
Trafficking charge from January 2005, fix date for trial March 4.
In custody.
Jose Chapas-Acosta, 21
Two charges of trafficking from January 2005, trials for March 18, April 12.
In custody.
Neris Hernandez-Barrientos, 22
Trafficking charge from September 2004, released on bail.
Trafficking charge from January 2005, sentenced to three months on both
charges Feb. 16. In custody.
Lock Up Illegal Migrants To Halt Lucrative Business, Lawyer Urges
Most of the allegedly illegal migrants caught selling crack in Vancouver
last month are back on the streets selling drugs.
"These bastards, they come up here with one purpose, to make money selling
misery and destruction to Canadians," said Insp. Val Harrison.
Of the accused drug-dealing migrants, nine are Honduran refugee claimants,
two have been deported before and one has a deportation order pending. Five
already had prior drug-trafficking charges in Vancouver.
"[Immigration officials] have got a system that's broken and they need to
fix it," said Harrison.
She noted that refugee claimants can make thousands of dollars dealing
drugs in the time between claiming refugee status and a hearing.
And even if claimants are deported, they are sent back to the country they
came from. In the case of the Hondurans, that's the United States.
"Why turn them back to the States. Why not fly them back to Honduras?" she
asked.
Harrison is planning another operation to sweep crack dealers off the
corner of Seymour and Dunsmuir, noting many of them were among those
arrested last month.
"It's starting to come back again," she said when asked aobut crack trade
at the corner.
All that's needed to stop illegal migrants selling drugs is $100,000 and
political will, says Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland.
Kurland wants the federal government to spend $100,000 on a pilot project
that would keep repeat illegal migrants and those convicted of multiple
criminal infractions locked up while their refugee claims are processed.
"It's time to do it," Kurland said. "A pilot project to put these guys on ice."
He said the key problem is that regardless of how many times a refugee
claimant has been deported, the Canada Border Services Agency generally
releases them while the paperwork required to deport again them is completed.
Kurland said repeat offenders should not be set free because of the
$235-a-day cost of keeping them in custody.
"There's a loophole . . . it's avoidable by paying, temporarily, more."
He noted it is legal to hold criminals or Immigration Act violators while
their cases are processed, pointing to the 624 illegal Chinese migrants who
arrived in B.C. in rusted-out boats in 1999. Of those migrants, 149
disappeared, 24 were given refugee status and the rest were deported. Some
250 were held in custody while their claims were handled.
Refugee claimants can be held under three conditions -- if their identity
is in question, they pose a flight risk, or are a danger to the public.
It is up to Citizenship and Immigration Canada to argue before the
Immigration Review Board that the claimants fall into any of those three
categories.
Melissa Anderson of the Immigration Review Board said drug dealers
generally fall into the flight-risk category, but the onus is on
Citizenship and Immigration to prove that.
Said Angela Battiston, spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration and the
border services agency: "You have to substantiate the reasons . . .
Somebody's past behaviour is certainly taken into consideration."
Stephen Heckbert, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe
Volpe, said the difference between the Hondurans and the wave of Chinese
migrants six years ago is that the Hondurans typically come into Canada
alone, making it "much more difficult to identify and process them."
He could not say why the alleged Honduran crack dealers were not detained
after their first convictions.
----------------------------------------
[SIDEBAR]
An Alleged Honduran Crack Dealer's Meanderings In B.C.
Jose Elvir-Sevilla, 31
Feb. 15, 2000: Picked up for selling drugs. He tells police he got into the
country three days earlier by walking over the border on railway tracks. He
was issued a departure order two days later, when he claimed refugee
status. He said his family didn't like him and he was poor. He was released
from detention with a promise to find a home and report to Immigration
Canada within five days.
Sept. 20, 2000: His refugee claim was declared abandoned. A letter was sent
Aug. 23, 2001, requesting he report for an interview, but it was returned
marked "moved."
July 2004: Sevilla crosses into Canada through bushes.
July 16, 2004: He is stopped by police dropping his common-law wife off at
work. Officers discover he has outstanding warrants for the 2000
trafficking arrest. Sevilla tells officers he left Canada before the court
dates, that he had been in Seattle and that he'd been deported from there
in 2002.
July 23, 2004: Immigration and Refugee Board hearing. Common-law wife Karen
Briceno offers pay to $1,000 bond. Sevilla released from custody on
condition he report to immigration officials every two weeks.
Jan. 22-24, 2005: Arrested and charged with two counts of trafficking.
Sevilla is not in custody.
WHERE THEY ARE NOW
Here is where the 11 charged in the Vancouver crack-dealing ring are in the
legal system:
Wilmer Amaya-Reyes, 23
Trafficking charge from November 2004, trial set for Sept. 19.
Trafficking charge from January 2005, trial set for Sept. 16.
Not in custody.
Nelvin Sandres-Rivas, 21
Trafficking charge from January 2005, pleaded guilty Feb. 24, sentenced to
one day in jail (credit for 47 days served).
Not in custody.
Jose Elvir-Sevilla, 31
Trafficking charge from Jan. 24, 2005, trial date set for Nov. 1.
Trafficking charge from Jan. 22, 2005, trial date set for Dec. 14.
Trafficking charge from 2000, trial date set for May 16.
Not in custody.
Cesar Andino-Giron, 21
Possession charge from December 2004, trial date set for July 13.
Trafficking charge from January 2005, trial date set for Dec. 1.
Not in custody.
Ronal Hernandez-Martinez, 26
Trafficking charge from January 2005, arraignment March 8.
Not in custody.
Franklin Mendes-Cerrato, 23
Two charges of trafficking from
January 2005, arraignment on both charges set for March 3.
Not in custody.
Jeremiah Gillingham, 21
Trafficking charge from January 2005, arraignment March 17.
Not in custody.
Andres Andres-Matias, 44
Possession charge from June 2004.
Trafficking charge January 2005, pleads guilty to both charges Feb. 17 and
enters drug rehab.
Not in custody.
Lesmar Orlando Cruz, 29
Trafficking charge from December 2004, detained and released Dec. 10, trial
date set for Sept. 13.
Trafficking charge from January 2005, fix date for trial March 4.
In custody.
Jose Chapas-Acosta, 21
Two charges of trafficking from January 2005, trials for March 18, April 12.
In custody.
Neris Hernandez-Barrientos, 22
Trafficking charge from September 2004, released on bail.
Trafficking charge from January 2005, sentenced to three months on both
charges Feb. 16. In custody.
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