COEUR d'ALENE -- A routine traffic stop nets an unlicensed driver going to work at a Coeur d'Alene Mexican restaurant.

"No license, no insurance, no registration," said Idaho State Police trooper Sean Prosser.

And no English.


And Prosser, who, despite his British accent, is a U.S. citizen by virtue of the nationality of his American father, does not habla espanole.

A further check finds the driver, Saul M. Juarez, 25, had no proof he is in the United States legally. All he is able to present to the trooper for identification is a Mexican voter's registration card.

Juarez was less than a block away from his job at a Mexican restaurant when he was netted on Thursday during a traffic emphasis patrol on U.S. 95. He missed part of that work shift because he was taken to the Kootenai County jail and booked on the misdemeanor driving charges, and another count of speeding. He was traveling 47 mph in the 35 mph zone.

During the traffic stop, Prosser asked his dispatcher to contact immigration officials. None responded.

While waiting for an interpreter, two of Juarez' co-workers walked up to the scene. One had the title of the Oregon-licensed car he was driving.

"None are legal," Prosser said.

After he was booked into jail, Juarez posted $141 and was released.

Jail officials said there was no immigration hold placed on Juarez by federal authorities.

The traffic stop shows the irony of the U.S. immigration debate raging nationally.

When Prosser left his job as a London financier to move to his father's homeland, it took a year for his Scottish wife to get permission to move here as a legal resident alien.

But for illegals, or "the undocumented" who sneak across the border, there's little that will be done on individual, or "administrative" arrests, one federal official said.

In the past week, Magistrate Eugene Marano sentenced a Brazilian man, Carlos A. DeMarco, who was living illegally in California, to 20 days in jail for driving in Idaho with no license.

DeMarco, who said he was an electrician, told Marano he was going to New Orleans to assist with the recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina.

During the hearing, the man admitted that while his lawyer was working on getting him his papers, he was in the United States illegally.

Marano ordered jailers to contact immigration officials and report the man's status.

After more than a week, there was still no detainer forthcoming from the feds.

Over the past month, as U.S. lawmakers' debate changes to immigration policy, protest rallies have raged in major and even minor cities.

However, unless it involves smuggling a large numbers of aliens, federal

officials said detaining and deporting those here illegally is not a high priority.

But as the national debate rages, Prosser's boss, ISP patrol Capt. Wayne Longo said his troopers are on the front lines.

Last week, Longo said one of his troopers stopped a carload of illegal aliens, this group from Romania who likely sneaked across the border in Washington

He said after keeping the trooper occupied for two hours waiting for ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to respond, the trooper took down all of the group's identifying information and cut them loose.

"They were heading toward Montana," Longo said.

Longo said during that two hours troopers talked to several different ICE officials, finally one saying he would go into his office and see what he could do.

While the trooper was tied up on the stop, other duties went undone.

During the lengthy stop, Longo said the trooper was running perilously close to violating the motorist rights and setting up an allegation of unlawful detention.

"I asked him if this were any other civilian stop, would there be anything else to hold them on," Longo said. The trooper said "absolutely not."

With only a speeding ticket to support the stop, Longo ordered the trooper to let them go on their way.

Longo admits that while ICE agents are "probably stretched thinner than we are" since they were not given any different answer, or were told agents were coming to pick them up, he decided he had to let them go.

Part of the problem might be the bureaucracy of ICE, which is a division of Homeland Security.

ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok, the department's central Regional Communications Director, said ICE has no agents in the Idaho Panhandle.

"We don't have an office there," said Rusnok, speaking from his office in Dallas, Texas. "That's part of the problem, but we're not saying that we wouldn't respond."

He said ICE has a 24-hour hotline for citizens to report any suspicious activity. That number is 866 347-2423.

He said ICE has offices in Boise, Twin Falls and Idaho Falls, all a good day's drive from North Idaho.

While there's a ICE office in Spokane, about a half-hour away, agents there are not allowed to cross regional borders except in extreme cases.

"We deported 167,700 illegal aliens last year," Rusnok said. "Of those, 84,000 had criminal convictions. The rest were noncriminal aliens."

But sheer numbers of illegal aliens -- estimated as 12 million nationwide -- has overwhelmed enforcement efforts.

"With the number of illegal aliens, we can't drop our criminal prosecutions to handle administrative arrests," Rusnok said. "We have to prioritize."

Dave Turner can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2009 or at [email protected].

Move along.  Nothing to see here.  Just America in action.

thats fucking BULLSHIT!!!!

Wow.. 167,700 deportations last year.

That might cover a week of border crossings.

Yup, the system is broken, and the only solution anyone in power has is to void the laws we can't enforce.

Fuuuuuuucking brilliant.

So if they don't have an office in that region, why can't the state police, marshalls, or somebody transport them to the ICE office? Agencies routinely transfer prisoners between them.

SO..............you're an illegal Brazilian??????

I wonder if we try to overwhelm ATF with newly manufactured machineguns, they would turn a blind eye as well? Not that I'm advocating breaking any laws.....

Funny. If this were a case of some manufacturer selling rifles with a .25" too short barrel, they'd bring in buses to scoop up all the well-meaning, but obviously illegal SBR's and the new owners who had no idea.

Selective enforcement of federal law. What a grand idea.

It gets worse from here.

Quoted: So if they don't have an office in that region, why can't the state police, marshalls, or somebody transport them to the ICE office? Agencies routinely transfer prisoners between them.

Because:

1) ICE would refuse to take them, and they'd have to release them right there on the street.
2) ICE officials would complain to the police department, possible getting some Homeland Security big-wig to give the local police chief shit for "wasting their time" or some B.S. like that.



I would be willing to pay higher local taxes so that my state/local police could run a bus service to Mexico to "deport" illegal aliens on their own initiative.  Hire some school bus drivers or something, and chain the illegals to the seats - and just drive to Mexico and dump them on the border.

Sounds like RGV (Rio Grande Valley) Air.   RGV Air does not file it's flight plan. No docs or ID are needed to book your flight. since the travellers never make reservations in advance.  There are never empty seats cuz someone always shows up with friends, "primos" or their brother and they have no ID cuz they left the house without their wallet and did not know where they were going.

Almost all flights go to Houston with a few flights to Dallas, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and once in a while to North Carolina and Georgia.  During the post holiday season, there are a few flights to Florida.  Just bring the family and if enough of your "primos" and hermanos will show up with their kids and their friends' kids who had to work, you' ll take the next flight with enough seats.  

There are numerous International flights each day, to Matamoros, with international flights usually taking off after supper and returning between 2 am and 4 am or laer return flights again from 0600 to 0830 hrs.  Every once in awhile there are flights to San Luis Potosi, but only if enough "primos" show up who need to go home, for "la Navidad."  Return flights from San Luis Potosi are very limited though, so you will probably have to take a ride back to the US with some nice person at the bus station in Matamoros. who will get you to your connecting ride back to work or get you up past the Check Point.

do not worry about food service.  You will suffocate and turn blue before the flight crew serves you, as they will be very busy with numerous other in-flight duties, so birng your own.  For safety information, say your prayers and do not worry, cuz God is the only insurance you'll need.  So sit back relax, and listen to the music while you chat with those sitting near you and the flight will get there soon as the flight crew finishes loading the aircraft, refueling and the pilot shows up.

Start arresting these invaders nation wide anyway, and hold them as long as the local prosecutor will permit.  Then repeat.

In the mean time, US citizens need to start harrassing our friends from south of the border by asking for their work permits, green cards, what ever.  Let's make this promised land look less inviting to illegals.

One Mex with a matricular consular ID card makes the news in ID.

Welcome to business as usual here in AZ.  I go a whole shift and every traffic stop is a Mexican w/no ID and/or a fake Mexico voter ID card. No english, no insurance, no registration, no valid license, no visa.....

it's disheartening.  I came here from the UK too.

So, all I haver to do to save 3 grand a year is cancel my insurance, burn my drivers license, rip the plates off my car, and go my merry way.

If the gringo law stops me, just sa "No habla".  Que?  And they cut me loose.

About a year ago there was a Corpus Christi newspaper article saying that the Mayor of Larado was livid because Immigration opened up the gates of their detention facility and let all of their illegals go!!!!! They reason was that they did not have funds to run the facility for the rest of the year, which is BULLSHIT!!! Why didn't they at least take them back across the border instead of dumping them on to the streets of Larado.

For Pete's sake, make unlawful presence in the US a felony. Then local cops can book them on the federal charges and notify the US Attorney. I realize that focusing on the feds' actual Constitutional responsibility of securing the borders might require a shift away from lefty bullshit like welfareand bankrupting farmers over digging or filling ditches unconnected to any navigable waterway, it's past time to get serious about this.

My insurance can't go up if I don't have any.........



and I can't get points on my DL if I don't have one.


I just ripped the tags off all my vehicles, the best money saving idea ever.

Sounds like they need to subcontract their holding cells to a railway company that only does runs to the Mexico and back.  

"Apparently ICE will not take custody of you, so we have to release you immediately.  I believe you'll recognize the flag of the country you are now in, since it was on your illegally registered vehicle.  Thank you and have a nice day."

If border/Mexico runs are not allowed for some reason, run them to DHS/ICE headquarters and drop them off there.

Quoted: I wonder if we try to overwhelm ATF with newly manufactured machineguns, they would turn a blind eye as well? Not that I'm advocating breaking any laws..... Funny. If this were a case of some manufacturer selling rifles with a .25" too short barrel, they'd bring in buses to scoop up all the well-meaning, but obviously illegal SBR's and the new owners who had no idea. Selective enforcement of federal law. What a grand idea. It gets worse from here.

not to hijack... bit I had this same thought about meth.... if a crucial ingredient in meth comes from an OTC clod med... why not withdraw the product or modify it????
If there was a semi-auto that could be easily modified to shoot full auto(like open-both sub guns).. the feds would be all over it.
Meanwhile-the meth epedemic marches on....

Wait...

If the illegals are here only to do the jobs that American's won't,

Can we hire some to deport the others?

Just in case you havn't seen this:  send-a-brick.com/

If you want something to happen, vote with a brick!

I recommend that folks vote for NO ONE currently in Office for ANY elected position at ANY level of Government.

Maybe after a few years, things will slowly get turned around and headed back in the right direction.

Illegals are nothing new, far from it.  As a Deputy in Tennessee back in 1994, I got my first taste of "just write em a ticket and let em go...".  Shit, I'm totally shocked that all of a sudden the rest of America has awaken and finally noticed...