Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas interfering with functions of Mexican Consulate in Phoenix

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas interfering with functions of Mexican Consulate in Phoenix

Posted on Oct 17, 2008 in Immigration Blog by PMC Comments Off

 Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas on Thursday lashed out at the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix for depositing money in the jail accounts of nine people arrested last June in an immigration raid at a valley water park.

Thomas called the deposits – which are not illegal – an instance in which “The Mexican government is trying to come in and undermine American law, Arizona law in this case, in relation to illegal immigration.”

Mexican Consulate officials released a statement that said the office has the right to assist Mexican citizens who are in the United States. That includes lending financial help. The money given helped the group purchase things such as tooth paste and deodorant, according to the statement.The purpose of the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix is to assist Mexican citizens in this country-just as U.S. consulates assist U.S. citizens abroad.

Thomas acknowledged that the Mexican Consulate at times does deposit money in the accounts of Mexican citizens in the jails, but thought it suspicious that it did so for all nine defendants in what may develop as the first case in which the state’s employers sanction law is tested.

“The Mexican government needs to explain what it is doing,” Thomas said. “And I want to explain to the people of this county that we are going to get to the bottom of this case, of all of the defendants of this case, we are going to continue to prosecute this case, but we are going to find out whether or not there is improper activity going on with a foreign government.”

But whether the Mexican government actually “needs to explain” is doubtful.

“This is purely trying to make an issue out of Mexicans and Mexico as an electioneering tactic,” said Robert McWhirter, a Phoenix defense attorney who has written two books on immigration law.

“It’s bad enough that Thomas wants to make himself his own immigration service, now he wants to be his own state department,” McWhirter said.

McWhirter notes that the role of ambassadors is to lobby in foreign countries to make favorable laws for their countrymen, so even if the Mexican consulate were trying to influence American law, that would not be illegal. And he pointed out that even noncitizens have rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Jail accounts allow inmates to make purchases of necessities while in jail.

“A hundred dollars on somebody’s books is barely enough to buy toothpaste and shampoo,” McWhirter said.

The nine people in question were arrested in June at Waterworld amusement park in Glendale and at the park’s parent company’s headquarters in Mesa. They were charged with identity theft and other charges, and Thomas believes the investigation into their employment could lead to the first civil complaint under the employer sanctions law, which threatens the business licenses of employers who knowingly hire undocumented immigrants.

Thomas also publicly criticized the Mexican Consulate in June 2006 because it had contacted a Los Angeles attorney to question the state’s human smuggling laws, which had recently gone into effect. He said that the consulate’s deposits on the books of the Waterworld 9 hearkened back to that event.

He felt it merited an investigation, which he says is impeding the investigation into employer sanctions cases.

In late September, a detective from the county attorney’s office sent a letter to Jorge Solchaga, an official at the consulate, demanding why another employee had made the deposits. And he wanted to know if a third-party were involved.

Thomas claimed the consulate did not respond.

“Thomas is absolutely overstepping his authority,” McWhirter said. “He has no authority to hurt the foreign relations of the United States with a foreign government. If every county attorney in the country did that, you could have no foreign policy.”

Valid Points Made

1. Mexican Consulate officials released a statement that said the office has the right to assist Mexican citizens who are in the United States. That includes lending financial help
2. The purpose of the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix is to assist Mexican citizens in this country-just as U.S. consulates assist U.S. citizens abroad.
3. “This is purely trying to make an issue out of Mexicans and Mexico as an electioneering tactic,”
4. McWhirter notes that the role of ambassadors is to lobby in foreign countries to make favorable laws for their countrymen, so even if the Mexican consulate were trying to influence American law, that would not be illegal. And he pointed out that even noncitizens have rights under the U.S. Constitution
5. “Thomas is absolutely overstepping his authority,”  ”He has no authority to hurt the foreign relations of the United States with a foreign government. If every county attorney in the country did that, you could have no foreign policy.”

Funny thing is, the Mexican Consulate is doing what it is mandated to do. Actually assist it’s citizens in a foreign country. Were the coin flipped and this was the American Consulate in Mexico or any other country looking in on one of it’s detained citizens, all that person could expect would be one visit from an official, and a “So sorry, nothing we can do for you” and that would be that! Amazing!
 
Hopefully, the Hispanic Voter block in Maricopa County will put this fool in the unemployment line next month

Tags: Immigration, Maricopa County