illegal aliens

(Washington, D.C.) – On Wednesday, January 13, 2016, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (“IRLI”), along with Jill Gibson of the Gibson Law Firm, LLC, filed on behalf of their client Oregonians for Immigration Reform (“OFIR”) a motion to intervene in an Oregon federal court lawsuit brought by five admitted illegal aliens and two illegal alien special interest groups (collectively “plaintiffs”). At the same time, IRLI and Ms. Gibson filed on OFIR’s behalf a motion to dismiss the lawsuit as lacking merit. The lawsuit seeks to force the State of Oregon to grant driving privileges to illegal aliens.

Specifically, the suit seeks to overturn as unconstitutional the outcome of the November 2014 general election in Oregon, when, through the Oregon Constitution’s referendum veto process, Oregon voters overwhelmingly rejected (by 66%) a bill passed by the legislature and signed by the governor that would have extended eligibility for driving privileges to unlawfully present persons (OFIR was the driving force behind the referendum veto who collected the requisite number of signatures to get the issue placed on the ballot.). Conspicuously absent from the plaintiffs’ complaint is any mention of the alleged fundamental right denied them. Certainly it is not the right to a driver’s license or interstate travel as every court to address this issue has held that illegal aliens hold no such rights.

States actually have a number of legitimate public purposes that are rationally served by laws that restrict driving privileges to persons lawfully present in the U.S. For instance, states have a legitimate interest in limiting their finite resources to citizens and legal aliens and in not allowing their government machinery to be a facilitator for the concealment of illegal aliens. States also have a legitimate concern that persons subject to immediate or subsequent deportation will not be financially responsible for property damage or personal injury due to automobile accidents. Finally, states have a legitimate interest in promoting national security. Granting driving privileges to illegal aliens harms national security because, unlike legal aliens, illegal aliens have not undergone background checks or face-to-face interviews to determine whether they pose a national security threat.

Dale L. Wilcox, IRLI’s Executive Director commented, “This is a ridiculous case with no merit and is a waste of the court’s time and precious resources. The audacity of trespassers on our sovereign soil to demand taxpayer-funded benefits, like a driver’s license or card, just boggles the mind.” Wilcox continued, “Illegal aliens do not have a right to driving privileges, nor do they have a right to travel freely in the U.S. as federal law makes their very presence in the U.S. unlawful. In short, this case is about sour grapes as the overwhelming majority of Oregonians have spoken and rejected taxpayer-funded giveaways to those who have no legal right to be here.”

A copy of both motions as filed can be seen here:

http://Irli.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/stamped-motion-to-intervene.pdf

http://Irli.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/stamped-motion-to-dismiss.pdf

For additional information, contact:

Dale L. Wilcox
202-232-5590
dwilcox@irli.org Read more about IRLI Files Motions to Intervene and Dismiss in Illegal Alien Lawsuit Seeking Driving Privileges

Two of four defendants accused of distributing heroin that resulted in the 2014 heroin overdose death of a Salem man have been sentenced in federal court.

Jose Recio-Ayon, 25, was sent to federal prison for 10 years for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and possession of cocaine...

Inda-Lopez played a smaller role in the drug-trafficking chain, described as a "runner,'' who distributed the drugs on that one occasion after having only arrived in the United States from Mexico two weeks earlier, according to court statements.

The cases stemmed from the heroin overdose death of 25-year-old Brandon "Billy" Maddox, who was found dead by his pregnant girlfriend on Aug. 24, 2014 in Salem...

Before his death, Maddox had participated in a six-month drug residential treatment program in Astoria and had recently returned to Salem...

Recio-Ayon and Inda-Lopez also have immigration holds against them.

"I made a big mistake,'' Inda-Lopez told U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon. "I do want to apologize. I'm very sorry.''

Arrest warrants are out for two other co-defendants in the case.
  Read more about Two heroin dealers linked to overdose death of Salem man sentenced to federal prison

"The state? I am the state!" — The Sun King, Louis XIV of France

"A traitor is everyone who does not agree with me." — George III of England

"I've got a pen, and I've got a phone." — Barack Obama

I will leave it to others better at punditry to offer the definitive remarks on President Obama's final state of the union speech. I found it to be an unappetizing blend of feel-good, defensiveness, and preacher-like hectoring on living up to our better natures — as defined by him.

Immigration figured prominently: "fix[ing] the broken immigration system" was mentioned right off the bat as one the items yet to be accomplished during his presidency. It also formed a consistent subtext in remarks about immigrants, inclusiveness, not blaming aliens for depressed wages, etc. But there was nothing in the way of detail for anyone trying to follow the direction these efforts to "fix" the system might take.

This may well be because the president has learned the peril of telegraphing his moves in advance, most particularly when they involve the invidious, imperial, and constitutionally dubious business of using "executive action" to achieve what he cannot bully Congress into doing.

But the clues are there.

When interviewed for a cloying article published in New York Magazine, recently appointed Attorney General Loretta Lynch commented that "My goal is to position the department [of Justice] where it will carry on in all of these issues long after myself and my team have moved on."

One suspects that it is not just Lynch, and not just the Department of Justice (DOJ) where this effort is taking place to embed into the organs of government, on a long-term basis, left-leaning progressive policies. How, exactly, might the president and his cabinet accomplish this?

There are two ways, and the first has become well known: using "executive action" to stretch the power of the presidency into arenas constitutionally preserved to other branches of government to achieve what they wish. Even if we were to assume that the next president promptly begins the process of rescinding these actions, there have been so many, and they have been so far-reaching, that it will take years to undo the damage, if indeed it can be undone. The federal bureaucracy is like a battleship; formidable, but slow to change direction precisely because of its awesome size and complexity.

Which brings us to the second way the president and his cabinet can push their agenda long after vacating their chairs. It is well known that presidents, all presidents, regardless of party, eagerly cram the federal judiciary with appointees who share their views, at the district and appellate court levels and — the crown jewel — even the Supreme Court when vacancies appear, which happens rarely because federal judges and justices are given lifetime appointments. While there are only nine Supreme Court justices, there are hundreds of district and appellate court judges, so vacancies appear regularly.

Less well known is how to manipulate the federal bureaucracy, which is so large and so all-pervasive in virtually every sector of society that it has been referred to by some as "the secret state." Others have observed that because of the extraordinary growth of government, our democratic republic has transformed itself into an "administrative state," in which power has accreted into the hands of powerful agencies responsible primarily to the executive branch. The Obama White House has excelled in understanding and manipulating this dynamic.

By taking control over key positions (and by this I do not mean the political appointees themselves, who come and go with each administration), an administration can influence events years into the future. Consider, for instance, DOJ, since we began this discussion with the Lynch interview. In the immigration context, a key component of DOJ is the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is composed of both the immigration courts and the appellate tribunal, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Every immigration judge or BIA member is appointed by the attorney general, and they are for all intents and purposes permanently tenured. It would take egregious acts of malfeasance to remove them.

These are the officials who literally define the course of immigration hearings throughout the entire nation. Place into those positions enough individuals who view immigration through the liberal filter of the Obama administration and you have skewed the direction of immigration enforcement for decades to come. Add significant new immigration judge or BIA positions into the mix, approved by Congress due to court workloads and backlogs, and you have even further shaped the future into a funnel of your choosing.

The same can be done at the Department of Homeland Security, again sidestepping the political appointees who come and go with regularity, and pushing down to the next one or two levels of the bureaucracy. By exercising philosophical and political litmus tests for those you choose to appoint as your head of asylum and refugee affairs (who will in turn select the officers who perform the function of approving and denying applicants for asylum), you have effected a near-permanent influence on how those adjudications will be performed. As recent events have shown us, there is a direct and sometimes adverse effect between the quality of those adjudications, and national security and public safety.

As we lurch through this last year of Barack Obama's presidency, some of the changes he effects may be invisible to the naked eye, but make no doubt that Lynch was being neither rhetorical nor hyperbolic in her remarks in asserting that they will be felt for generations to come.
  Read more about Shape Immigration System for Years to Come

Back in 2007, a 19-year-old man was accused of taking an 11-year-old girl, who he called his 'girlfriend,' to Mexico. Ever since, Keizer police officials have been working to have him stand trial in Oregon.

After eight-and-a-half years of investigation, Raul Xalamihua-Espindola, now 28, has been extradited to the United States. He's facing four counts of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree custodial interference and one count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in Marion County Circuit Court.

The investigation began on April 6, 2007 when the Keizer Police Department received a report that an 11-year-old girl left a note for her parents saying she ran away with her boyfriend, identified by police as Xalamihua-Espindola.

The note said not to worry about the girl's well-being, but it didn't match her handwriting, according to an affidavit filed in August 2007.

Her mother had last seen her the day before.

The girl's friends told police she had a boyfriend name "Raul." Police determined a man of that name lived in the same apartment complex as the victim. Residents of the apartment listed as his address said he hadn't been there since April 5, according to court records.

Cell phone records showed that the suspect's phone had been used outside of Oregon following the girl's disappearance. The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children created a flier that was given to law enforcement agencies along the US-Mexican border.

The suspect's brother-in-law told police he spoke to the victim on the phone April 8. He told the suspect police were looking for the girl. The suspect replied he would return her within two hours, but did not, according to court records.

Within five days of the girl's disappearance, Xalamihua-Espindola was indicted on the custodial interference charge. On May 1, 2007, investigators confirmed both Xalamihua-Espindol and the girl were in Zongolica, Vera Cruz, Mexico, according to a press release.

Special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation began working with the Mexican government to recover the victim and apprehend Xalamihua-Espindol.

On Aug. 13, 2007, Judge Tracy Pall granted the Marion County District Attorney's Office motion to give Keizer Police Department and the FBI temporary custody to retrieve the girl. Although the girl's parents were legally residing in the United States, their immigration status did not allow them to leave the country and legally return, according to court records.

Although the child was a Mexican national and didn't have a passport, then-Deputy District Attorney Courtland Geyer wrote in an affidavit that it appeared "responsible federal authorities" would authorize her return.

On Sept. 4, 2007, the victim was safely recovered. On Sept. 18, a Keizer police officer and FBI agent flew to Mexico City to take her into protective custody. She returned home to Keizer that same day, officials said.

Xalamihua-Espindol eluded capture until about two years ago.

Since then, Xalamihua-Espindola, a Mexican citizen, has been incarcerated in a Mexican prison while appeals were being litigated regarding his extradition to the United States to stand trial.

On Dec. 15, 2015, Xalamihua-Espindola was taken from Portland International Airport to the Keizer Police Department. He was interviewed and then taken to the Marion County jail.

He was arraigned before Senior Judge Rita Batz Cobb Dec. 16. He's being held without bail and is scheduled to appear before Judge Donald Abar at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 29 at the Marion County Circuit Court Annex, 4000 Aumsville Highway SE.

Throughout the course of the investigation, the following agencies worked together: Keizer Police Department, Mexican government, U.S. Department of Justice, the Portland office of the U.S. Attorney's Office, FBI, The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Marion County District Attorney's Office and Port of Portland Police Department. Read more about Man accused of taking 11-year-old 'girlfriend' to Mexico is extradited to U.S.

Employers who repeatedly hire undocumented immigrants could lose their right to do business in Indiana under legislation introduced Thursday in the General Assembly.

The proposal would make Indiana’s penalties among the toughest in the nation.

Senate Bill 285 would allow a judge to strip employers of their business license if they “knowingly” hire undocumented immigrants three times.

State Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, says he introduced the measure to “take away the jobs magnet and remove the financial incentive of unscrupulous business people who profit off of illegal immigration.”

Two other Republican lawmakers have already signed onto the bill, including Senate Pensions and Labor Committee Chairman Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville. His support is key because the measure must make it through his committee before it can move to the full Senate for a vote.

But the proposal is facing opposition from the business community, including the powerful Indiana Chamber of Commerce, which has helped beat back similar efforts in past years.

“We vehemently oppose it,” said Chamber President Kevin Brinegar. “We think the punishment is too stringent for the crime.”

Indiana is home to about 93,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute. About 53,000 are estimated to be in the state’s workforce.

Delph’s bill would authorize the Indiana attorney general’s office to investigate complaints that employers are using undocumented workers. The AG’s office estimates the workload would require the hiring of three additional employees at a cost of about $250,000 a year.

A spokesman for Attorney General Greg Zoeller said the office doesn't typically take a public position on pending legislation.

Only seven other states revoke the business licenses of employers that hire undocumented workers, according to NumbersUSA, a national advocacy group that promotes reduced immigration.

Chris Chmielenski, a spokesman for the group, said the federal government’s inaction on illegal immigration has driven states to take action. A similar law in Arizona was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Frustration over illegal immigration and concerns about terrorism have spilled into the U.S. presidential race, where leading Republican contender Donald Trump has promised to build a wall along the border with Mexico and has proposed banning foreign Muslims from entering the United States.

Concerns about illegal immigration are understandable, said Mark Fisher of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. But he said Delph’s proposal is misguided.

“We encourage and expect every business to abide by all applicable laws,” he said. “However, we find this measure overly punitive and (it) risks jeopardizing the jobs of law abiding Hoosiers working to support themselves and their families.”

Employers that knowingly hire undocumented immigrants in Indiana can already be denied tax breaks — a penalty few other states have. Companies that hire those in the country illegally can also face fines under federal law.

But Delph said those penalties don't go far enough. Businesses that exploit undocumented immigrants to save money on labor costs can build those penalties into their budgets and still come out ahead financially, he said. Not so if they have to stop doing business altogether, he said.

“It’s a much more severe consequence, and it’s the right consequence,” he said. "We need to root out this shadow world that exists where people think they’re coming into American freedom but really live in modern day American slavery.”

Similar immigration proposals from Delph have received serious consideration from state lawmakers in the past, In 2008, a measure passed in both the House and the Senate, but in different forms that the two chambers were unable to reconcile. In 2011, a more sweeping measure passed, but not before the business license revocation penalty was removed and replaced with a denial of tax benefits.

Early versions of those past measures stirred fears among Hispanic Hoosiers that complaints against businesses would be based on racial profiling.

Delph says that’s why his proposal would make it a misdemeanor crime to file a false or frivolous complaint.

“We’re certainly not trying to target any specific group,” he said. “We’re trying to go after those that financially benefit from intentionally breaking the law.”

About SB 285

What it does: Prohibits employers from knowingly hiring undocumented workers.

Penalties: Violators would initially be required to terminate all undocumented workers and file reports on new hires with the Indiana attorney general for three years. That would increase to 10 years for second-time violators. Employers who violate the law three times could lose their business license.

How it would work: The Indiana attorney general would be responsible for investigating complaints against businesses. County prosecutors would use the AG’s findings to file a civil complaint against the employer.

Immunity: Businesses that verify employment authorization through the federal E-Verify program would be immune.

Protections for businesses: Those who file false or frivolous complaints against an employer could be charged with a Class B misdemeanor.

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony. Read more about Indiana Bill: Hire undocumented immigrants, lose your business license

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz did not back down from his stance on immigration Wednesday night, after being confronted by a woman who asked if he would deport her, even though it was her parents who brought her to the United States illegally.

During an event in Storm Lake, Iowa, Wednesday night, Ofelia Valdez, 30, told Cruz that although she was brought to the country illegally by her parents as a teen, she was able to retain residency due to President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or “DREAM act.”

Image credit: Youtube/screenshot

“As a DACA holder myself, I am worried about whoever comes next in the presidency and what’s gonna happen to people like us?” Valdez said, according to a video taken posted on YouTube by the Democratic National Committee. “I think of myself as a part of this community and, you know, first day in presidency you decide to deport, you know, people like myself — it’s just very difficult to process it.”

While Valdez’ question invoked many emotions, Cruz did not concede that immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S. illegally, noting that deportation is a consequence of a “broken immigration system.”

“I would note, if you’re a DACA recipient it means that you were brought here illegally, and violating the laws has consequences,” Cruz told the woman. “And one of the problems with our broken immigration system is that it is creating human tragedies and there are human tragedies when people break the law.”

“Violating the laws has consequences”

The leading Iowa Republican went on to explain to the woman that, if he were to immigrate to a country illegally, he would most likely be deported — so America should be no different.

“If I illegally emigrate to England or Germany or France or China or Mexico, and they catch me, they will deport me,” he said. “That’s what every other country on Earth does, and there’s no reason that America’s laws should have less respect than the laws of every other country on Earth.”

“We should welcome people who come following the laws, but there are consequences for breaking the laws, and that is part of what makes America the nation that we are,” the Texas Republican added.

Cruz, over the last month, has been sharpening his rhetoric on immigration, in an effort to contrast himself and fellow Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio.

Democratic candidates, on the other hand, have been attempting to win over Hispanic voters by advocating for immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for those illegals who are already in the U.S. Former President Bill Clinton, who is now campaigning for his wife Hillary, was even introduced by a “DREAMer” at an event on Thursday. Read more about Immigrant Youth Confronts Ted Cruz, Asks If He Would Deport Her — Camera Captures GOP Candidate’s Candid Answer

The House of Representatives has weighed in on its 2,000-plus page version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, H.R. 2029 – which is an amendment to the Senate's amendment of the House's original version, if you follow that.

From an immigration perspective, it's a cornucopia of disappointment. If establishment politicians are wondering why the presidential campaigns in both parties have tilted toward non-establishment outliers as represented, left and right, by Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump or Ben Carson, then they need only look at their own handiwork to find the answer.

The American electorate is not so completely filled with ingénues or naifs that we don't recognize Congress's institutional incapacity to take on hard issues in any meaningful way, leaving the vacuum to be filled with various and sundry executive pronouncements from the Obama administration in every avenue of public life.

It is in no small measure this fecklessness and failure of will on the part of our legislative branch that has led even establishment conservative stalwarts such as George Will to bemoan the rise of a huge and constitutionally-unmentioned fourth branch of government – the bureaucracy, which he describes as "the administrative state".

I have neither the patience nor desire to devote to an analysis of the entire omnibus bill represented by H.R. 2029, but here are a few highlights:

• Transfers $4 million from the Immigration Examinations Fee Account of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in the Department of Justice (DOJ). That account is where fees collected from aliens for the filing of various applications are deposited, so as to ensure that adjudication of their applications is self-funding. EOIR is the name of the DOJ agency which handles immigration court removal hearings. USCIS is quite flush with cash these days, because for years it has been skimming money off these immigration fees to build a “reserve fund” that it had hoped to use to administer the president’s plan to issue work permits to millions of illegal aliens, which was blocked by a federal court.
• Appropriates $476 million in Byrne state and local law enforcement grant funds but does not in any way require that those state or local agencies comply with immigration detainers or not enact "sanctuary" policies of the type that have resulted in so many murders by illegal aliens in the recent past. (See here and here.)
• Appropriates $210 million for State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) funds – again, with no caveats that to receive the money, state and local governments must honor detainers and take no steps to impede immigration law enforcement.
• Appropriates an additional $187 million in COPS grants to state and local law enforcement agencies for hiring and retention of officers. Once again, no caveats on the funding to require cooperation with federal immigration agents in enforcing the laws against alien criminals.
• Provides $9.2 million to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which recently exceeded its statutory mandate and did a one-sided hatchet job on the federal immigration detention system.
• Provides $385 million to the Legal Services Corporation without specifying that such funds may not be used in support of aliens in removal proceedings, contrary to Section 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act – although the appropriation language very specifically outlines other areas in which the money may not be used contrary to statute.
• Appropriates the DHS Office of the Secretary almost $137.5 million for operations and executive management provided that Congress receives within 30 days of enactment two reports – one on the biometric entry-exit system, and one on visa overstays. (Note that both of these reports are already statutorily required, and so demanding that the law requiring the overdue reports to be complied with seems in many ways an exercise in both redundancy and futility.)
• Appropriates more than $447 million for border fencing, infrastructure, and technology.
• Also provides more than $802 million to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for a variety of purposes including salaries and benefits – but also for unmanned aerial systems (drones), even though the DHS Inspector General has repeatedly panned the program as ineffective, with weak internal controls and repeated cost overruns without evidence of value. (See here and here.)
• Appropriates more than $5.79 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for operations, equipment, and salaries, subject to several provisos. One of them is that $5 million will be withheld until the ICE director briefs Congress on the agency's efforts to increase the number of state and local law enforcement agencies participating in the "Priority Enforcement Program" (PEP).

  The problem with this proviso is that by mere mention of PEP, Congress legitimizes it even though it was created as a part of the administration's constitutionally dubious "executive action" memos. At the same time, merely demanding a "report" in return for release of the money provides the spinmeisters at DHS and ICE a prime opportunity to put together a pseudo-document purporting to show the wonders of the program notwithstanding its obvious shortcomings and the fact that many sheriffs and police chiefs dislike it intensely, or have rejected it out of hand.

• Provides U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the immigration benefits-granting agency, nearly $119.7 million, most for administration of the E-Verify system. (As noted above, most of USCIS is funded out of its fee account.)

These are just a few of the immigration provisions contained in the omnibus bill that give me pause (or outright heartburn).

If you look for anything in this measure that defunds, or even pushes the pause button on, the refugee or asylum programs, which are exceedingly vulnerable to fraud and misuse, including potentially by terrorists, you will look in vain. You won't even find anything directing DHS or its subordinate agencies to tighten up vetting procedures in the wake of the San Bernardino attack.

It would be easy to try to forgive or overlook many of the shortcomings of the bill, immigration-related or otherwise, by pointing to its inordinate size and breadth, and saying that one can't micro-manage everything in an omnibus government spending bill. But the fact is that, when they want, congressional legislators are quite happy to micro-manage. Take a look, for instance, at this gem hidden on page 215 of the bill:

Sec. 529. To the extent practicable, funds made available in this Act should be used to purchase light bulbs that are "Energy Star" qualified or have the "Federal Energy Management Program" designation.

No, the reality appears to be something entirely different than simple information overload. It seems to me that we have a Republican majority in both chambers of Congress with few principles in which they believe strongly enough that they are willing to call out the White House and take a stand, particularly if those principles carry with them any degree of controversy – which the subject of immigration inevitably does.

Reflecting on what the bill does – and, importantly, what it doesn't even attempt to do – I'm led to conclude that when House Republicans elected Paul Ryan as Speaker, they got exactly what they wanted, and what they expected: a John Boehner Mini-Me. What, then, was the point in unseating Boehner in the first place?

  Read more about A Quick Peek at the House Funding Bill

A jury has found butcher Jose Valencia-Gaona, 47, guilty of murder for stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death at her apartment on Table Rock Road in Medford.

The trial that began on Dec. 7 and ended Tuesday was Valencia-Gaona's third trial for the Sept. 1, 2013, murder.

His first trial was declared a mistrial after court officials accidentally gave jurors a list of witnesses who would testify. His second trial also ended in a mistrial after a witness identified Valencia-Gaona to the jury after being instructed not to do so.

This time, the jury found Valencia-Gaona, now 47, guilty of murdering Maria Rodriguez, who was 38 at the time of her death. Jurors also found him guilty of attempted second-degree assault for swinging a knife at a neighbor at the time of the attack on Rodriguez.

Rodriguez's son, 20-year-old Miguel McClellan, said he was glad the case was finally over.

It took a very long time. It shouldn't have stretched out so long," he said, but added that he was grateful to investigators and prosecutors.

"They did a great job. They stuck with it," McClellan said. "I'm very glad they stuck with it so long."

Family members plan to wear memorial T-shirts expressing their love for Rodriguez when Valencia-Gaona is sentenced Thursday afternoon. She is survived by a daughter as well as her son.

Valencia-Gaona, who had no prior criminal history, faces 25 years to life on the murder charge, said Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Virginia Greer.

"Having closure to the case is important, especially to the family," Greer said. "They have been here for every single trial and have endured the mistrials."

The prosecution and defense made closing arguments Tuesday morning. Jurors returned the guilty verdicts in the afternoon.

Valencia-Gaona had worked as a butcher at Fiesta Market & Restaurant on North Riverside Avenue in Medford. The restaurant has a market and butcher shop.

Greer said Valencia-Gaona killed Rodriguez by stabbing her four times in her vital organs.

"He's a butcher," Greer told jurors during closing arguments. "He knows his way around a knife."

Neighbors said they saw a Hispanic man at the scene of the 2013 attack. The man walked quickly away and tossed something. Police later found a knife, according to court testimony.

The knife handle had Valencia-Gaona's DNA on it and the blade had the DNA of the victim, Greer said.

"This is the weapon she was killed with," Greer said.

A bike was found concealed near bushes. It had been blue but was painted black. Valencia-Gaona's fingerprint was preserved in the paint, according to the prosecution.

Before Rodriguez was killed, Valencia-Gaona tried to contact her more than a dozen times via cell phone in a short period of time. He was distraught because they had had a nasty break-up and she was dating again, Greer said.

"He was extremely jealous of Maria," Greer said.

In a Spanish text sent before the attack, Valencia-Gaona told Rodriguez he would see her in hell, Greer said.

A broken, discarded phone that had been used by Valencia-Gaona was found under a bush by a Wendy's drive-thru window near the Table Rock Road apartments where Rodriguez lived, Greer said.

After the murder, Valencia-Gaona went to Fiesta Market & Restaurant and said his mother had died or was ill in Mexico. He asked to receive his last paycheck in cash and then left, Greer said.

Valencia-Gaona also told his brother he had done something bad and needed to leave town, she said.

After receiving a tip, police arrested Valencia-Gaona near railroad tracks running through central Medford. He kept repeating, "I'm sorry" in English, Greer said.

Valencia-Gaona has been lodged in the Jackson County Jail on no bail since Sept. 4, 2013, jail records show.

Defense attorney Christopher Missiaen argued Valencia-Gaona was not confessing with the apology during his arrest, but didn't understand the American criminal justice system and was trying to be compliant and avoid trouble with police.

Missiaen implied the crime scene could have become contaminated as paramedics, police officers, detectives and others responded to the Table Rock Road apartments.

"Some people are wearing protective booties and gloves. Some are not," Missiaen said.

He said DNA from at least three people was found on the knife handle.

"For every piece of evidence, there are other possible explanations," Missiaen said.

He also pointed to conflicting testimony from witnesses, who described the suspect's shirt, pants and hair in different ways.

While Valencia-Gaona has black hair and is in his 40s, one witness reported seeing a man with thick white hair who was in his 50s, Missiaen said.

"Mr. Valencia-Gaona is not guilty and that is the only just result in this case," Missiaen told jurors during closing arguments.

Missiaen said police and the Jackson County District Attorney's Office focused too early on Valencia-Gaona as the suspect and did not check out information on other possible suspects, including a man in a romantic relationship with Rodriguez who visited the crime scene, left and was later contacted by police on Sept. 20.

"He never reached out to police," Missiaen said of the alternate suspect.

Greer said investigators and experts who examined evidence at crime laboratories did their jobs correctly and in an unbiased way.

She said Valencia-Gaona purposefully killed Rodriguez and knew what areas of the body to target with the knife.

"A woman's life was taken in a violent way," Greer said.

NOTE:  Jose Valencia-Gaona - ICE HOLD Read more about Jury finds Medford man guilty of murdering former girlfriend

Medford police on Wednesday arrested both the suspected shooter in a downtown Medford homicide and the man they believe egged him on.

Shane Anthony "Scarface" Zornes, 25, of Spokane, who is suspected of fatally shooting 27-year-old Isaac Deleon early Sunday morning on Bartlett Street, was arrested by Medford police detectives and other law enforcement in the small town of Rosalia, Wash., near Spokane.

Medford police Lt. Mike Budreau said two Medford detectives, Whitman County sheriff's deputies and Spokane police officers surrounded the home of an associate of Zornes Wednesday.

"He came out with his hands up and complied with officers' orders," Budreau said.

Zornes will be extradicted to Jackson County to face a charge of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, he said.

Medford police also added murder charges against Ruben Escareno Marmolejo, 30, of Spokane, Wash., whom they believe told Zornes to shoot Deleon, a Central Point resident.

Marmolejo was arrested on a Washington warrant listing drug charges about 30 minutes after the shooting in the area of Crater Lake Avenue and Bennett Street in Medford. Marmolejo was questioned about possible involvement in the homicide at the time, but was jailed Sunday on the drug charges, police said, and has been held in the Jackson County Jail since then.

A Jackson County grand jury indicted Zornes and Marmolejo on murder charges late Wednesday afternoon. The indictment charged Zornes with murder and criminal conspiracy to commit murder, and Marmolejo on murder, criminal conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder.

The grand jury heard from six witnesses Wednesday, including Medford police detectives Justin Ivens and William Ford and three civilian witnesses. Testimony took about 50 minutes, according to a release from prosecutors, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Markiewicz and Deputy District Attorney Zori Cook. The grand jury deliberated for about five minutes before announcing that an indictment had been issued.

Budreau said detectives have yet to interview Zornes, and couldn't say how well Deleon knew Marmolejo and Zornes.

"We don't believe they were strangers," Budreau said.

Budreau said investigators don't believe gang activity was involved.

According to police reports, Deleon was walking near Bartlett and Main streets with friends at 2:15 a.m. Sunday when Zornes, Marmolejo and a third male approached them. After they talked for a short period, Zornes allegedly pulled a handgun out and shot Deleon in the chest and fled east.

The investigation so far has found no criminal culpability for a third person of interest who was with Zornes and Marmolejo. The third person of interest was later interviewed and released.

"Although he fled on foot, that doesn't constitute a criminal charge of murder," Budreau said. "He didn't have any criminal liability."

Police had tracked Zornes to the Motel 6 on Biddle Road in Medford at noon Monday, but just missed him. While they were canvassing the area, a witness claimed that a man matching Zornes' description reportedly tried to sell him two handguns in the parking lot of Witham Truck Stop Restaurant.

Budreau said that with the two suspects in the shooting captured, investigators will be better able to determine the reason behind Deleon's death. He added the cause of the shooting is still under investigation, and likely won't be divulged until Zornes' and Marmolejo's trials.

"As far as all of the stuff leading up to this, that's still under investigation," Budreau said.

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