Murder in Arkansas

The Morning News

I thought I had posted this story earlier but I had somehow forgotten. I can only keep up with so much. Here's the story below

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Illegal Immigrant Criminals Fall Through Cracks

This article was published on Sunday, November 12, 2006 5:16 PM CST in News
By Robin Mero
The Morning News


BENTONVILLE -- Manuel Camacho's journey through the United States as an illegal alien has come to a standstill. He now resides in the Benton County Jail awaiting an accomplice to murder trial in a road rage shooting. Police say Camacho drove the car from which three shots were fired to kill Daniel Francis, 32, a diesel mechanic headed home after work on May 6.

Camacho, 25, was born in Mexico but immigrated to southern California. His childhood was marred with violence, police say. His brother was killed in a drive-by shooting. His father avenged the death by murdering the shooter and the shooter's entire family. Camacho joined the Surenos 13 street gang and tattooed the number "13" on his neck.

Officials describe his criminal history in California as "lengthy," peppered with charges such as shooting at an inhabited dwelling or vehicle -- and assault with a firearm. After a 2000 arrest in Salinas, Calif., Camacho was deported back to Mexico, officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say. But by 2003 Camacho was living in Northwest Arkansas.

How he managed to return to the United States and live here freely for at least three years -- despite many brushes with police -- shows how easily illegals camouflage themselves by using fictitious names and taking advantage of procedures to identify dangerous illegal aliens some say are loosely knit.

Immigration officials say they rely on police, and parole and probation officers, to identify illegals and call for help. Local police say for years the immigration service has been understaffed, and they've learned not to call unless a serious felony offense is involved.

When the Rogers mayor recently rallied for a crackdown on illegal immigrants -- by suggesting an ordinance prohibiting landlords from renting to illegals and employers from hiring illegals -- he deemed them responsible for the lion's share of Rogers drug crimes.

"It's unacceptable more than half the hard drug cases city narcotics officers deal with involve illegal immigrants. If something's not done about it, we're going to lose control of the quality lifestyle we enjoy," Mayor Steve Womack said.

The enforceability of that type of ordinance is unclear, and Womack later said that estimate may be too high. But the question lingers, are illegal immigrants causing more than their share of crime in Northwest Arkansas? And whose job is it to identify them?

After deportation, Camacho returned to the United States and settled in Northwest Arkansas working as a day laborer. Rogers police encountered him almost a dozen times between 2003 to 2006. He was a suspect in a rape case that wasn't pursued. He was convicted of driving while intoxicated, third-degree battery, criminal mischief and three times of not having a driver's license. He had speeding tickets -- one for driving between 46 and 50 mph over the speed limit.

Once, he was stopped for playing "unnecessarily loud" music in his vehicle and claimed to be a member of a "South 18th Street" gang, police said. None of these arrests, or resulting checks with the Arkansas Crime Information Center, flagged Camacho as having been deported or being illegal.

Camacho does have a history of using aliases: Carlos Rodriges, Manuel Camacho-Ambriz, Steven Alexander Ambriz. When arrested after the May shooting, he also had a counterfeit resident alien card bearing the name "Manuel Garcia" with his picture. But fingerprints, which Reyes said were a key component, didn't help either.

"All I need is your fingers," Reyes had said Nov. 3. "We have millions of prints on file. If you've encountered immigration before, or are in the ACIC (system), the information is all tied together. It doesn't matter what your name is; we keep pictures, names, prints."

At least two of Camacho's arrests in Rogers required fingerprints be taken, said Police Chief Steve Helms. Case files document a fingerprint check with the FBI in 2003. The report shows Camacho's early felony arrests in California, and the 2000 arrest in Salinas, but there is no mention of him being an illegal alien or of the deportation, Helms said on Friday.

Reyes didn't respond Friday to a message left on his voice mail about the information from Helms. But in an earlier interview, he acknowledged his small staff must prioritize cases and that detecting illegal status requires a lot of legwork by police. That's why the government created the Law Enforcement Support Center in Burlington, Vt.

Police call a toll-free number and within seven minutes are told, "'Yes, he's a keeper, put him in jail on our bill ... and we fax a detainer,' or 'Cut him loose.'" "It's hard to point fingers after the fact, but we just didn't get the call (about Camacho). I promise you, if I had gotten the call and didn't take action, after what has happened, I'd have been disciplined," Reyes said.

Helms said he's never been told about the support center. "(Immigration) has indicated to us they don't have the manpower unless there are felonies involved. Yes, we had contact with Camacho. Did we investigate his immigration status? No. We'd be calling immigration every five minutes every day," he said.

Reyes said Homeland Security offers training through Immigration and Custom Enforcement that gives municipal officers some jurisdiction to handle immigration issues. Helms said he's interested in sending some officers, and perhaps himself, through the training. In the meantime, Reyes said he's increasing communications with police.

"I'm going to be calling every police department in my jurisdiction about offering training once a month, especially with the small departments," Reyes said.

Camacho's tale is mirrored by Jose and Ricardo Mora, subjects of recent news stories about an accidental shooting of a Rogers undercover narcotics officer. Immigration officials claim the brothers were deported in 2000, but local police encountered the men since then. They are now in the Benton County Jail facing felony drug charges from an October drug raid.

Rogers police may further hesitate to call for immigration assistance because of a racial profiling lawsuit the department faced in 2000. "I imagine some of the guys (are not calling) out of fear of profiling, and obviously we need to do a little better telling the guys, 'It's OK to ask,'" Helms said. "As a rule, we do not ask for immigration papers solely for the purpose of determining status, but they have to have some identification to confirm who they say they are."

The class-action federal lawsuit was filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund on behalf of Hispanics who felt they were contacted by Rogers police officers based on ethnicity. The sides reached a settlement agreement to end the lawsuit in 2003.

Researching someone's identity can be somewhat of an art form, and it's possible the racial profiling case has a chilling effect on how officers interact with possible noncitizens, said Rogers City Attorney Ben Lipscomb.

The two others facing charges with Camacho in the road rage shooting are resident aliens. If convicted, they will lose privileges to live in the United States and be deported after serving their sentences, Reyes said. Serafin Sandoval-Vega is accused of firing the gun that killed Francis, and Roxana Hernandez faces the same charge as Camacho, accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to a terroristic act.

Benton County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Sandoval-Vega and Camacho. The Mexican government, which opposes the death penalty, is sending two attorneys to help represent them through the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program.

Steve Malone of Florida will assist in Camacho's case, and Danalyn Recer of Houston with Sandoval-Vega. They will appear Monday with the defendants' state-appointed attorneys before Benton County Senior Circuit Judge Tom Keith, who will conduct an omnibus hearing.

Recer is also assisting in a Sevier County capital murder case against Paula Mendez, who is charged with smothering to death her three children.