In 2005, it was determined that Celso Campo-Duartes was in the country illegally after he was arrested for running down Dacula resident Aubrey Sosebee as the 83-year-old man was taking the mail from his mailbox. Campo-Duartes also left the scene of the accident, a fairly common act by illegal aliens.  He had no insurance and a fraudulent tag on his truck.

Campo-Duartes, who was employed as a plumber, spent just over two years awaiting trial in jail, then was allowed to plead to lesser charges and was released immediately on “time served.” A condition of his release was that he “voluntarily” deport himself, but Campos-Duartes is back in jail today, having been arrested—for at least the third time since his incarceration—for driving without a license and disorderly conduct.

Judging by the headlines, Celso Campo-Duartes will never be deported… you and I will continue to pay his “room and board” or, more likely, he will be back out on the streets.

Last year, after one of his traffic arrests, an immigration hold was placed on Campo-Duartes, meaning that he had been tagged for deportation. Although the arrest pre-dated the county’s enrollment in the 287(g) program, the jail had numerous ICE agents stationed there on a full-time basis at the time. Despite the federal involvement, Campo-Duartes was released after only eight days in jail.

This time, Sheriff Conway has decided to process Campos-Duartes through the once effective 287(g) program. In the past, the illegal alien would be in the custody of ICE and back across the border in a couple of weeks. However, one of the first immigration-related acts of the Obama administration and DHS head Janet Napolitano was to revamp the program, significantly reducing the number of aliens who qualify for deportation.

Today, ICE is focused on “criminal aliens;” illegal aliens who have been convicted of serious, often violent crimes. The federal government is no interested in aliens arrested for minor crimes. Because Celso Campo-Duartes has nothing but traffic offenses on his criminal record; he will not qualify for deportation under the new guidelines, despite the fact that he contributed to a legal citizen’s death just five years ago.

Sheriff Conway touts the alleged effectiveness of the 287(g) program, primarily because it gives him 18 more deputies and millions with which to pay them. Conway says that Campo-Duartes proves the need for the program in Gwinnett, but his positive assessment of the program’s effectiveness isn’t grounded in reality.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief John Morton, an Obama appointee, has already implemented a “catch and release” policy… ICE currently accepts removable aliens from local jails, but then releases all but the worst offenders; most on a promise to return for an administrative hearing. As you might expect, very few actually appear.

ICE is prepared to adopt a policy by year’s end that will further restrict the county’s ability to remove illegal aliens from the community. Under the policy, ICE will not accept illegal aliens whose sole offense is traffic-related, except under limited circumstances. ICE will not even consider processing an illegal alien unless and until local law enforcement has actually arrested the suspect.

Finally, ICE will not issue a detainer on a removable alien until after the alien has served whatever sentence has been imposed for conviction on the local crime. This aspect of the policy eliminates any value that the 287(g) program had to save tax dollars by removing the detainee from local jails instead of housing them until the sentence is served.

We Must Protect Ourselves

Given the emasculation of the 287(g) program, ICE’s “catch and release” policies and the even weaker, soon-to-be-adopted directive, Gwinnett County has no choice but to defend itself.

Enforcement of immigration law might be a federal responsibility, but the effects of lax enforcement are all local—the public cost of providing services like medical care and education; the jobs taken from legal citizens in a tough economy when those jobs are needed most; the cost to arrest, prosecute and house criminal offenders, including those who mow down 83-year-old men with their vehicle and then drive away.

Despite the Obama administration’s efforts to neuter the federal immigration enforcement effort, there remain several tools that the County Commission could use to reduce the economic and social impact of illegal immigration on our county. I have written extensively on the topic (here, here, here, here, here and here, and a web site here).

Once such tool, the federal E-Verify program, could virtually eliminate the primary reason that illegal aliens come to Gwinnett—jobs. Like a growing number of cities, states and counties across the nation, the Commission could require that employers enroll in the program to verify the employment eligibility of their new hires in order to receive or renew a business license.

E-Verify is free for employers to use; adds little to the workload associated with hiring a new employee; and requiring all employers to use the system would “level the playing field” for employers who hire illegal aliens and those who obey the law.

Currently, a majority of the County Commission have shown no interest in the program, and Chairman Bannister inexplicably believes that the county already requires employers to enroll in E-Verify to receive a business license.

In January 2008, the suspect entered a negotiated plea to a charge of failure to stop at or return to the scene of an accident in the death of Aubrey Sosebee, an 83-year-old World War II veteran who was run over by the plumber as he was retrieving his mail. Campo-Duartes was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of probation and was released for time served.

A little more than a year ago, he was arrested for driving without a license and released the same day on $760 bond. In October, he was arrested on the same charge.

Sheriff: Hit-and-run driver ‘voluntarily’ deported last fall  | ajc.com