crime

SALEM, Oregon – Based on statistics from the Oregon Department of Corrections and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, there are 909 inmates in the prison system that have ICE detainers. Of those, 131 have committed homicidal crimes like murder, manslaughter, and attempted murder.

David Olen Cross, who researches and reports on immigration issues, says his analysis shows that nine of those cases were tried in Umatilla County. That makes it the fourth highest in the state for homicidal cases involving illegal aliens.

The top three counties dwarf Umatilla County’s single-digit number. Multnomah County had 35, Marion County 22, and Washington County has 21 inmates. Other Eastern Oregon counties had none.

The inmates convicted of homicidal crimes come from 19 different countries. Foreign nationals who declared their homeland to be Mexico committed 101, which is 77.10 percent of the 131 inmates with detainers convicted of homicidal crimes.
  Read more about Crunching the numbers on homicidal crimes of illegals

Antonio Vasquez-Vargas, of Walla Walla, faces a murder charge for the shooting death of Renee Luiz-Antonio in late 2018 in Umapine.

If Vasquez-Vargas is found guilty, Luiz-Antonio would be the second man he killed.

The East Oregonian verified Vasquez-Vargas killed 73-year-old Floyd Murphy almost 20 years ago in a car wreck in Walla Walla.

The EO looked into the matter after receiving an email from Murphy’s grandson, Matthew Murphy, and an email from a friend of Matthew Murphy that contained clippings of Walla Walla Union Bulletin news stories about the fatal crash and subsequent criminal prosecution. The information led to finding more archival news reports about the fatality, a matching date of birth and the photo of Vasquez-Vargas in one edition of the UB that resembles his Umatilla County Jail mug shot.

Vasquez-Vargas, on the afternoon of Aug. 10, 1999, drove a 1976 Buick LeSabre from Chestnut Street onto Second Avenue, according to the Union-Bulletin’s reports, and struck a pickup. No one was injured in that collision, and Vasquez-Vargas didn’t stop. Moments later, he plowed the Buick into Murphy’s 1992 Dodge Caravan.

The impact knocked the minivan onto its top, according to the newspaper, and the driver’s side smashed into a telephone pole. Murphy died at the scene.

Vasquez-Vargas had a blood-alcohol level of 0.28 percent. Washington, like Oregon, set the legal limit at 0.08 percent, meaning the state presumed you were driving intoxicated at the level.

He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, but in the deal admitted to operating a vehicle in a reckless manner and causing a crash, not to driving drunk. He received a sentence of 27 months, which the UB reported was the top end of the sentencing range. Vasquez-Vargas also received credit for the 153 days he spent in jail before going to prison.

The Washington Department of Corrections confirmed Vasquez-Vargas entered prison on the charge of vehicular homicide on Jan. 12, 2000, the day after his sentencing, and left on March 19, 2001. The federal government deported Vasquez-Vargas after he did his time.

The United States District Court of Eastern Washington in 2004 convicted him of felony reentry into the country after deportation and sentenced him to three years, three months in prison, then deported him.

Matthew Murphy in his email stated hearing the name of the man who killed his grandfather “brought back a lot of emotions and the feeling of the system failing.” Matthew Murphy did not return requests for further comment.

The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office lead the investigation into the shooting death of Luiz-Antonio. Sheriff Terry Rowan said detectives found Vasquez-Vargas had the vehicular homicide conviction. Umatilla County District Attorney Dan Primus said his office obtains criminal histories of defendants and he is aware of Vasquez-Vargas’ convictions, but he and his staff keep their focus on the case at hand.

Yet, like any defendant, Primus said, Vasquez-Vargas’ criminal history can have a bearing on sentencing. Prior crimes affect where a defendant lands on Oregon’s complex sentencing guidelines, he said, and the judge makes those determinations.

Vasquez-Vargas’s defense attorney, Kara Davis of Pendleton, said she has not looked into her client’s criminal history and is focused on his mental health evaluations.

The next status check on the case is March 6. Read more about Umapine murder defendant committed vehicular homicide in 1999

Information obtained from the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) indicated on January 1, 2019 that 131 of the 909 foreign nationals (criminal aliens) in the state’s prison system were incarcerated for homicidal crimes (various degrees of murder and manslaughter) —14.41 percent of the criminal alien prison population (Note: The number of criminal aliens incarcerated for homicidal crimes in DOC prisons does not necessarily equal the number of Oregon residents killed by alien homicidal violence).

Using DOC U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detainer numbers, the following table reveals the total number criminal alien inmates along with the number and percentage of those alien inmates incarcerated on January 1st in the state’s prisons for homicidal crimes.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 January 19.

Criminal aliens incarcerated in DOC prisons committed at least one crime of homicidal violence in 22 of 36 Oregon counties — 66.11 percent of the counties in the state.

Seven Oregon counties, Multnomah (35 alien inmates convicted of homicidal crimes), Marion (22 alien inmates convicted of homicidal crimes), Washington (21 alien inmates convicted of homicidal crimes), Umatilla (9 alien inmates convicted of homicidal crimes), Clackamas (7 alien inmates convicted of homicidal crimes), Lane (6 alien inmates convicted of homicidal crimes) and Jackson (5 alien inmates convicted of homicidal crimes) had 105 of 131 criminal alien inmates incarcerated in DOC prisons for homicidal violence — 80.15 percent of the alien inmates in the state’s prisons for homicidal crimes.

Using DOC ICE immigration detainer numbers, the following table reveals the number and percentage of criminal alien inmates incarcerated on January 1st that were sent to prison from the state’s 36 counties for homicidal crimes.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 January 19.

Criminal aliens from 19 different countries have committed homicidal violence against Oregon residents.

Foreign nationals who declared their country or origin as being Mexico were 101 of 131 criminal aliens convicted of homicidal crimes incarcerated in the DOC prison system — 77.10 percent of the alien inmates in the state’s prisons for homicidal crimes.

Using DOC ICE immigration detainer numbers, the following table reveals the self-declared countries of origin of the 131 criminal alien inmates by number and percentage incarcerated on January 1st in the state’s prisons for homicidal crimes.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 January 19.

David Olen Cross of Salem, Oregon is crime researcher who writes on immigration issues and foreign national crime. The preceding report is a service to Oregon state, county and city governmental officials to help them assess the impact of foreign national crime in the state. He can be reached at docfnc@yahoo.com. His past crime reports can be found at http://docfnc.wordpress.com/.

https://docfnc.wordpress.com/2019/02/20/oregon-department-of-corrections-foreign-national-homicide-report-january-2019/ Read more about Oregon Department of Corrections: Foreign National Homicide Report January 2019

Excerpts:

This report examines the rate at which illegal aliens are incarcerated in state and local correctional facilities after being convicted of a crime. To determine that rate:

• We analyzed incarceration data from the federal government’s State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) and compared it to the public records of state and local prisons.^[5]
• Via SCAAP, state entities apply to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to obtain reimbursement for the costs associated with incarcerating illegal aliens.
• Accordingly, the rate at which a state seeks reimbursement provides a good snapshot of the number of illegal aliens in its criminal justice system.
• In order to estimate how many illegal aliens are currently incarcerated in a given state, we relied on data from the most recent SCAAP report published by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).^[6]
• Our other calculations are based on commonly available state corrections/criminal justice reports and other non-SCAPP federal data.

...

SCAAP data indicate that illegal aliens are typically at least three times as likely to be incarcerated than citizens and lawfully-present aliens.

...

Other critics assert that any claims that illegal aliens commit crimes at a higher rate than lawfully-present immigrants or U.S. citizens are motivated solely by racism inherent in American law enforcement. However, data on conviction rates and plea bargains generally indicate that the correlation between arrest and subsequent conviction in the United States is high. Conviction rates in state jurisdictions vary but are typically over 50 percent. For example, 84 percent in Texas, 82 percent in California and 67 percent in New York.^[23] Accordingly, courts appear to be regularly finding that police and prosecutors have sustained their burden in proving that charged illegal aliens have actually committed the crimes of which they are accused. There does not appear to be any indication that illegal alien incarceration rates are being artificially inflated by overly aggressive enforcement activity. Read more about SCAAP Data Suggest Illegal Aliens Commit Crime at a Much Higher Rate Than Citizens and Lawful Immigrants

The United States having a significant foreign national population residing within the nations boundaries, be they legally or illegally present in the country, unfortunately includes those who commit crimes.

The extent and impact of foreign national crime on the U.S. citizens and residents of this country is clearly revealed by a simple search on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmates statistics website under the heading of inmate citizenship.

Here are the countries of origin, moreover, the number and percentage of those countries citizens recently incarcerated in the U.S. BOP prison system (Note: The most recent BOP crime numbers available were from January 26, 2019.).

Inmate Citizenship:

- México 21,691 inmates, 12.1 percent;
- Colombia 1,648 inmates, 0.9 percent;
- Dominican Republic 1,443 inmates, 0.8 percent;
- Cuba 1,192 inmates, 0.7 percent;
- Other / unknown countries 8,804 inmates, 4.9 percent;
- United States 145,133 inmates, 80.7 percent;

Total Inmates: 179,911 inmates.

To explain the meaning of these preceding criminal alien inmate numbers and percentages, I will translate them into words:

Combining January 26th BOP criminal alien inmate numbers, there were 34,778 criminal aliens in the BOP prison system. Alien inmates were 19.3 percent of the federal prison population.

With 21,691 Mexican nationals being incarcerated in the BOP prison system, at 62.4 percent, they were the vast majority of criminal aliens in federal prisons.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons breaks down the federal prison population into 13 types of offenses. One of the top five offenses, the reason inmates are serving time in federal prisons is for immigration crimes. There were 10,778 inmates in the BOP prison system incarcerated for immigration crimes; they were 6.4 percent of the federal prison population.

David Olen Cross of Salem, Oregon is crime researcher who writes on immigration issues and foreign national crime. The preceding report is a service to federal, state, county and city elected and non elected governmental officials to help them assess the impact of foreign national crime in the United States of America. He can be reached at docfnc@yahoo.com. His past crime reports can be found at http://docfnc.wordpress.com/. Read more about U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons: Criminal Alien Report January 2019

SALEM, Oregon – The Oregon Department of Corrections reports that of Oregon’s 14,780 prison inmates, 909 of them are illegal aliens identified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and have ICE detainers placed on them. The undocumented aliens in prison constitute 6.15 percent of the total prison population.

Illegal aliens convicted in Umatilla County number 25, or 2.75 percent. That’s seventh highest among Oregon counties. Marion County has the highest number – 222 inmates accounting for 24.42 percent. It’s followed by Washington (192), Multnomah (172), Clackamas (76), Lane (42), and Jackson (33) counties. In Eastern Oregon, only Morrow and Union counties show up in the count, each with two illegal aliens convicted there.

Statewide, 189 of those inmates have been convicted of sex abuse, 169 of rape, and 131 of homicide. Sodomy is the charge against 99 of them. The rest committed numerous other crimes including drugs, assault, kidnapping and burglary.

Of the inmates convicted in Umatilla County, homicide is the most frequent charge with nine convicted. Several were convicted of sex crimes. Other offenses include assault, drugs, and kidnapping.

A total of 726 of the ICE-detained inmates, or 79.87 percent are from Mexico. Twenty two are from Guatemala, 15 from Cuba, 14 from Vietnam, 13 from El Salvador, and 11 from Honduras. Other countries with single-digit numbers are Laos, Federated States of Micronesia, Russia, Canada, Ukraine, Cambodia, China, Ecuador, Peru, and South Korea. A total of 62 of them have not declared their country of origin.
  Read more about ODOC counts illegal alien inmates

The Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) January 1, 2019 Inmate Population Profile
indicated there were 14,780 inmates incarcerated in the DOC’s 14 prisons.

Data obtained from the DOC indicated that on January 1st there were 909 foreign nationals (criminal aliens) incarcerated in the state’s prison system; criminal aliens were 6.15 percent of the total prison population.

Some background information, all the criminal aliens incarcerated in the DOC prison system were identified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and have ICE detainers placed on them.

Using DOC Inmate Population Profiles and ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the total number inmates, the number of domestic and criminal alien inmates along with the percentage of inmates with ICE detainers incarcerated on January 1st in the state’s prisons.

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 January 19 and Inmate Population Profile 01 January 19.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the number and percentage of criminal alien prisoners incarcerated on January 1st that were sent  to prison from the state’s 36 counties.

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 January 19.

Here are the ways Oregon residents were victimized by the 909 criminal aliens.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the number and percentage of criminal alien prisoners incarcerated on January 1st by type of crime.

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 January 19.

Using the DOC Inmate Population Profile and ICE detainer numbers from January 1st, the following table reveals the total number inmates by crime type, the number of domestic and criminal alien prisoners incarcerated by type of crime and the percentage of those crimes committed by criminal aliens.

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 January 19 and Inmate Population Profile 01 January 19.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the self-declared countries of origin of the 909 criminal alien prisoners by number and percentage incarcerated on January 1st in the state’s prisons.

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 January 19.

Beyond the DOC criminal alien incarceration numbers and incarceration percentages, per county and per crime type, or even country of origin, criminal aliens place a substantial economic burden on Oregonians.

An individual prisoner incarcerated in the DOC prison system costs the state approximately ($108.26) per day.

The DOC’s incarceration cost for its 909 criminal alien prison population is approximately ($98,408.34) per day, ($688,858.38) per week, and ($35,919,044.10) per year.

None of preceding cost estimates for the DOC to incarcerate the 909 criminal aliens includes the dollar amount for legal services (indigent defense), language interpreters, court costs, or victim assistance.

Bibliography

Oregon Department of Corrections Inmate Population Profile January 1, 2019:
https://www.oregon.gov/doc/RESRCH/docs/inmate_profile_201901.pdf

Oregon Department of Corrections Population Profile (unpublished MS Excel workbook) titled Incarcerated Criminal Aliens Report dated January 1, 2019.

Oregon Department of Corrections Issue Brief Quick Facts IB-53, February 1, 2017:
http://www.oregon.gov/doc/OC/docs/pdf/IB-53-Quick%20Facts.pdf

David Olen Cross of Salem, Oregon is crime researcher who writes on immigration issues and foreign national crime. The preceding report is a service to Oregon state, county and city governmental officials to help them assess the impact of foreign national crime in the state. He can be reached at docfnc@yahoo.com. His past crime reports can be found at http://docfnc.wordpress.com/.

https://docfnc.wordpress.com/2019/02/11/oregon-department-of-corrections-criminal-alien-report-january-2019/ Read more about Oregon Department of Corrections: Criminal Alien Report January 2019

More than a dozen community organizations have accused the Lane County Sheriff’s Office of violating Oregon’s “sanctuary” law, but Sheriff Byron Trapp has denied the allegations and said his office is in full compliance with all laws.

The law, enacted in 1987 and affirmed by Oregon voters in November, says law enforcement agencies can not use personnel, money or equipment for the purpose of detecting or apprehending individuals who are only violating federal immigration laws.

In a Feb. 1 letter, the organizations outlined two specific examples that they said shows the sheriff’s office is violating the law. One specific concern is the jail notifying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the pending release of an individual whom the federal agency has signaled an intent to take into custody upon release. The other concern is allowing ICE agents access into the jail.

“I don’t think the motives of the sheriff’s office are suspect. They’re trying to be a good community partner,” said Brook Reinhard, executive director of Public Defender Services of Lane County, which signed the letter. “Using the phone system or using any part of a county building is violating the statute. I don’t think it’s nefarious or anything like that.”

Other organizations that signed the letter include Causa, an immigrant rights organization, the Eugene Human Rights Commission, Centro Latino Americano, and the ACLU of Oregon.

The sheriff said he and his employees “recognize our duty to enforce the law and certainly we can’t put ourselves in the position of violating law and we will not do that.”

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Lane County Sheriff’s Office on Friday, demanding the sheriff address the organizations’ concerns, according to KLCC. County commissioners also are expected to hear the concerns at their meeting Tuesday.

Also on Friday, a Wasco County judge ruled that officials with the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facilities, or NORCOR, a regional jail in The Dalles, were violating the Oregon sanctuary law by notifying ICE when the jail is scheduled to release a foreign-born individual. The ramifications of the ruling, which is expected to be appealed, on Lane County is unclear.

The organizations sent the letter to Trapp on the same week that the Lane County Circuit Court canceled a trial for an individual who was arrested by ICE in December after his family posted bail, Reinhard said. The client and his family reported that county employees led him into a room in the jail’s sally port to show him how to use an ignition interlock device and two ICE agents were waiting to apprehend him, he said. The jail had notified ICE of the individual’s pending release, the letter said.

Around the same time, ICE agents arrested an individual at a provider’s office to attend court-ordered alcohol treatment, Reinhard said. The lawyer said the sheriff’s office had no involvement in that arrest.

Trapp said the jail will notify ICE they’ve begun the release process for an individual but only after the federal agency has made a specific request for that individual. Usually, the jail staff don’t know the immigration status of the individual being booked, he said.

The sheriff said it’s the same notification process the jail follows if any other local, state or federal law enforcement agency inquires about the release of an individual that they want to interview or otherwise make contact with. And it’s the same process the jail uses when residents call to ask about the release status of a family member or assailant, he said.

“We’re not doing anything unique or different (with ICE) than we do for ... law enforcement or non-law-enforcement citizens of our community,” Trapp said.

In the Wasco County case, NORCOR was notifying ICE when it was scheduled to release a foreign-born individual. Again, Trapp said the jail only notifies ICE of the release of individuals after ICE has made a specific request.

ICE agents use the same front door to enter and exit the jail that every other federal, state and local law enforcement agency uses, Trapp said. He said the organizations falsely accused the sheriff’s office of allowing ICE “special access to the back entrance” of the building.

The organizations demanded in the letter that Trapp cease the disputed practices, confirm he has done so and provide any revised instructions, policies or guidelines.

Trapp, who said he’s had prior conversations with many of the organization about his office’s relationship with ICE, isn’t planning to respond to the letter. Read more about Lane County Sheriff″s Office accused of violating Oregon ‘sanctuary’ law

A Wasco County judge ruled Friday that two immigration enforcement practices at the Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Center violate the state’s sanctuary law but upheld the jail’s contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The jail in The Dalles houses inmates for Wasco, Hood River, Sherman and Gilliam counties. But under an interagency agreement reached in 1999, it also has housed people detained by ICE on illegal immigration allegations.

Wasco County Circuit Judge John Wolf found that the regional jail’s past policy of notifying ICE agents of scheduled releases of inmates in state or local criminal cases violated Oregon law...

The judge also ruled the jail can’t hold inmates for ICE beyond the time that they would face for their criminal charge.

Yet the judge didn’t nullify the regional jail’s contract with the federal immigration enforcement agency.

The jail’s contract “to accept and provide for secure custody’’ of federal detainees didn’t violate state law, Wolf ruled. The judge considered the “ordinary meaning’’ of the word “apprehending’’ from the state sanctuary law to mean arresting or seizing someone, not holding someone in jail.

Wolf’s ruling means ICE will still be able to house at the regional jail people it detains for alleged immigration violations...

DOCUMENT: Judge’s ruling

The plaintiffs -- Wasco County taxpayers who filed the lawsuit in 2017 -- and the regional jail each declared a win...

Attorney Derek Ashton, who represents the regional jail, said he was pleased with the decision upholding the jail’s contract with ICE.

“The contract at issue is critical to NORCOR’s budget and operations and eases a tax burden on the people of Wasco, Hood River, Sherman and Gilliam counties,” he said in a statement. “Today’s decision ensures that critical funding source will remain in place.”

The plaintiffs had alleged misuse of tax revenues for immigration enforcement. They established it costs $97 a day to house an inmate at the jail, and ICE reimburses the jail $80 an inmate.

As the suit was pending, the regional jail changed its policy in April.

... ICE would pay NORCOR to house the inmates once the “paper transfer’’ was done.

But the judge said that the form wasn’t an arrest warrant, didn’t show any show probable cause and wasn’t signed by a judge.

“When a state or local inmate is no longer subject to custody on those charges, NORCOR does not have authority to maintain custody and must release the inmate,” Wolf ruled.

Since April, the jail has informed ICE of an inmate’s date of release, and if federal agents are present at the jail they may arrest the person in the lobby or the person is free to leave. A released inmate arrested by ICE in the lobby may be turned back to NORCOR to be held under the interagency agreement.

The judge’s ruled Friday, however, that any release notification by the jail to the federal agency violated the state’s sanctuary law.

The jail, though, can verify the immigration status of a person arrested for any criminal offense during the booking process. The jail notifies ICE when a foreign-born person is booked into the jail on state or local charges, either through the Law Enforcement Data System or the National Crime Information Center data system, or through an email or fax.

State lawmakers who adopted Oregon’s sanctuary law were clear that they intended to allow law enforcement officials to notify ICE about arrests so ICE to could follow up on their own, the judge found....

The Wasco County judge’s ruling likely won’t be the last on this issue, as both sides may appeal. Read more about Judge rules NORCOR can’t notify ICE of inmate releases but can house ICE detainees