Brisk justice in the Rio Grande Valley

The twenty-seven defendants, four women and 23 men, were packed into the two front benches of the Bentsen Tower federal courtroom in McAllen. They stood at 2:30 when the magistrate, Judge Peter Ormsby, entered, and thereafter only when prompted. The rest of the time they looked straight ahead, appearing in a daze. Some had been apprehended at the border only the day before. One man had spent three weeks in federal detention, having been picked up June 11. Everyone wore long-sleeve shirts and pants, mainly hoodies and jeans, and interpreter headsets. Some of the men's hoodies bore holes and dust. Ormsby began by explaining that each person was facing a criminal complaint alleging that they had violated United States immigration laws. At this point, Ormsby said that he didn't have any authority to allow anyone to stay in the United States, or to send them out, adding that immigration authorities would make that decision after their criminal cases resolved. Miguel Nogueras, the federal public defender, told the court that all of the defendants had had access to attorneys and wished to plead guilty, and resolve their cases that same day. Illegal immigration is a criminal misdemeanor in the U.S. The maximum penalty is six months imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. A person may also be removed, denied future entry, and denied U.S. citizenship. One by one, Ormsby called out each defendant's name and case number, and asked them the following, and with the exception of two men, each person answered identically:

Is that your correct name, sir/ma'am?

Sí.

Do you understand the nature of the criminal charge that's being brought against you?

Sí.

Do you understand the possible penalties and consequences that relate to that?

Sí.

Do you understand the rights that you're entitled to?

Sí.

Do you wish to give up those rights and to plead guilty?

Sí.

Did anyone threaten or try to force you to plead guilty or make any promise to you to convince you to do that?

No.

Then, the government prosecutor stood for the arraignment. 

The criminal complaint alleges that being an alien you did knowingly enter the United States in some place other than as designated by immigration officers. Do you plead guilty or not guilty?

Culpable. A court officer translated: Guilty.

Is it true that you entered the United States illegally by rafting across the Rio Grande River near Hidalgo, Texas?

Sí.

Ormsby accepted the guilty pleas and proceeded with sentencing, taking into account, he said, the criminal and immigration history in each case. 

The government recommended that Valentín Albarajo, who allegedly was caught illegally crossing the Rio Grande a year ago, then in Corpus Christi earlier that month, be sentenced to 30 days confinement. Nogueras countered that Albarajo, a 24-year-old married father, was a “humble farmer” from Honduras with no non-immigration charges. Albarajo, like the other defendants, was given a chance to make a statement. He declined. Ormsby sentenced him to 10 days. Carlos García Jímenez had a 2006 and a 2009 drunk driving conviction in Chicago, the government said. Nogueras responded that the 30-year-old had lived in the States for the last 14 years, and had family still in Chicago. Jímenez addressed Orsmby in Spanish: “Give me as little time as you can.” He was given 30 days. The government recommended that the others, who lacked any prior criminal history in the U.S., be sentenced to 10 days confinement “for deterrence purposes.” Ormsby sentenced them to time served. “As a private citizen,” Ormsby said, “it seems to me that we would be very fortunate here in the United States to have you if you were to join us here legally. Please don’t come back illegally. It will just be worse for you next time.” It was 4 p.m. Most then were handed over to immigration authorities; the others left the courtroom in chains.