Arizona Rancher Who Stopped Illegal Immigrants at Border Now Fighting $32 Million Law

[Tech_Esq]

here is who represents the illegals.

The illegal aliens are represented by a well-funded, radical open-borders group— Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)—that refers to the U.S. government’s immigration enforcement effort as racist and xenophobic.

MALDEF, which claims there is no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants, has sued a state to obtain free public education for illegal aliens and various public colleges nationwide for denying illegal immigrants admission. After the 2001 terrorist attacks the group led a large-scale protest campaign against a federal crackdown on airport workers with immigration violations, claiming it harmed the “civil rights of Latinos.”

I don't believe there is a constitutional basis for their claim. It's a shame that this man has gotten caught in their litigious crossfire.

By the way, here is a possible inadvertent outcome from this suit. In Florida, and several other states, though I'm not sure where Arizona falls, if a person trespasses on your property, and you have a reasonable belief that they mean you harm, you can shoot them, and you have legal immunity from prosecution.

It would be ironic if this had the result of encouraging ranchers in Arizona to SHOOT illegals, rather than rounding them up for ICE.

I think in most states, if you are not in your domicile, you have a "duty to retreat". However, if you are in your house there is typically no such duty, but there is a parity/distance issue. In other words, if the guy has a bat, you can't shoot him 50 feet away. The theory being that he can't strike a deadly blow against you from 50 feet away. Now, anywhere from 5-15 feet, blast away Dirty Harry.

The common law is rife with "spring gun" cases from the 1600s. As you might imagine the impoverished wretches of 17th century England liked to do a bit of thieving and a common method was to break into the backyard of the house where you would be out of sight, then break in. So, the wise rich folk with stuff to steal used to set a spring gun inside the back gate to shoot house breakers. Well, enough got shot that they decided that might not be good public policy so they outlawed it.

Using deadly force to protect "property" is tricky business and usually not allowed. That is unless you work for the government and the property belongs to Uncle Sugar.

 

[WillowTree]

here is who represents the illegals.

The illegal aliens are represented by a well-funded, radical open-borders group— Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)—that refers to the U.S. government’s immigration enforcement effort as racist and xenophobic.

MALDEF, which claims there is no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants, has sued a state to obtain free public education for illegal aliens and various public colleges nationwide for denying illegal immigrants admission. After the 2001 terrorist attacks the group led a large-scale protest campaign against a federal crackdown on airport workers with immigration violations, claiming it harmed the “civil rights of Latinos.”

I don't believe there is a constitutional basis for their claim. It's a shame that this man has gotten caught in their litigious crossfire.

By the way, here is a possible inadvertent outcome from this suit. In Florida, and several other states, though I'm not sure where Arizona falls, if a person trespasses on your property, and you have a reasonable belief that they mean you harm, you can shoot them, and you have legal immunity from prosecution.

It would be ironic if this had the result of encouraging ranchers in Arizona to SHOOT illegals, rather than rounding them up for ICE.

I think in most states, if you are not in your domicile, you have a "duty to retreat". However, if you are in your house there is typically no such duty, but there is a parity/distance issue. In other words, if the guy has a bat, you can't shoot him 50 feet away. The theory being that he can't strike a deadly blow against you from 50 feet away. Now, anywhere from 5-15 feet, blast away Dirty Harry.

The common law is rife with "spring gun" cases from the 1600s. As you might imagine the impoverished wretches of 17th century England liked to do a bit of thieving and a common method was to break into the backyard of the house where you would be out of sight, then break in. So, the wise rich folk with stuff to steal used to set a spring gun inside the back gate to shoot house breakers. Well, enough got shot that they decided that might not be good public policy so they outlawed it.

Using deadly force to protect "property" is tricky business and usually not allowed. That is unless you work for the government and the property belongs to Uncle Sugar.

It is in Texas and Fla.

 

[007]

I recant..


here is who represents the illegals.

The illegal aliens are represented by a well-funded, radical open-borders group— Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)—that refers to the U.S. government’s immigration enforcement effort as racist and xenophobic.

MALDEF, which claims there is no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants, has sued a state to obtain free public education for illegal aliens and various public colleges nationwide for denying illegal immigrants admission. After the 2001 terrorist attacks the group led a large-scale protest campaign against a federal crackdown on airport workers with immigration violations, claiming it harmed the “civil rights of Latinos.”

Illegal Immigrants Sue Ariz. Rancher Who Caught Them Trespassing | Judicial Watch

Why this SHIT is allowed to go on in America is BEYOND ME!!! Somebody ought to pin a MEDAL on that ranchers chest and appoint him GOVERNOR of Arizona, and this MALDEF outfit ought to be run out of America on a fucking RAIL right behind all the MOTHER FUCKING ILLEGAL ALIENS!!!

These HORROR stories of AMERICAN CITIZENS being FUCKED because of some GODDAMN ILLEGAL ALIEN are OUTRAGEOUS!!! How this is allowed to go on, I don't know, but it makes me SICK!!! All it would take would be the whisper of a VIGILANTE GROUP of a few THOUSAND PEOPLE getting together and going down to the border to KICK SOME FUCKING ILLEGAL ASS and I'D BE THERE!!! Do what our GOVERNMENT SHOULD be doing.

 

[Shogun]

Shocking innit? All the libwals against the illegals,, kick em to the curb now that you bought their votes..

thats just retarded. I was clear regarding my opinion against rationalized illegal aliens loooooong before the last election. and I'm so fucking liberal that reading this post probably made your vagina pucker.

 

[Chris]

Bring the troops home and put them on the Mexican border.

 

[ABikerSailor]

You know.....there is a law in Texas called the "Castle Doctrine" law.

What this means, is that if someone is on your property, you have the right to tell them to leave, and if they don't you are authorized to defend your property by any means that you see fit.

If you kill them? Cool......less problems for the courts.

Matter of fact, last year there was a guy who saw 2 men robbing his neighbor's house, and so he called the cops, told them he was going to shoot them, and did. The 911 operator tried to talk him out of it, but, he wouldn't hear of it, and boom......2 dead crooks.

No charges were filed either.

There is a guy in Amarillo who just blew away 1 guy, and shot at another when they robbed his house last week.

No charges are going to be filed against him either.

So.....have the dude put up some no trespassing signs, and next one that shows up on his property?

Target practice, shoot to kill.

I'm sure the city would come and pick up the bodies.

 

[Harry Dresden]

just a bunch of people coming over to better their lives.....thats why they are suing for 32 mill.....ya think an American lawyer put them up to this?.....you bet.....and some pathetic American jury will back them.....

 

[007]

just a bunch of people coming over to better their lives.....thats why they are suing for 32 mill.....ya think an American lawyer put them up to this?.....you bet.....and some pathetic American jury will back them.....

Bull shit. I've heard that crap long enough... "just a bunch of people coming over to better their lives"... HORSE SHIT!



Justice Dept. Figures on Incarcerated Illegals

One of the more popular claims by illegal immigration proponents is that those who enter the U.S. by breaking the law are invariably "hard-working" and "law-abiding" once they get here.

That argument, however, has one major flaw. According to Justice Department statistics and the analysis of immigration experts, the "law-abiding" claim often isn't true.

As Investors Business Daily reported in March 2005:

"The U.S. Justice Department estimated that 270,000 illegal immigrants served jail time nationally in 2003. Of those, 108,000 were in California. Some estimates show illegals now make up half of California's prison population, creating a massive criminal subculture that strains state budgets and creates a nightmare for local police forces."

Citing an Urban Institute study, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies Steven Camorata noted in 2004: "Roughly 17 percent of the prison population at the federal level are illegal aliens. That's a huge number since illegal aliens only account for about 3 percent of the total population."

Former California Gov. Pete Wilson places the percentage of illegal aliens in U.S. prisons even higher. In 2001, he told Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly:

"We had problems related to the costs of educating children who were acknowledged to be in the country illegally, healthcare costs. One in five in our prison population were illegal immigrants who had been convicted of a felony after entering the country illegally."

Article continues here...

 

[WillowTree]

Shocking innit? All the libwals against the illegals,, kick em to the curb now that you bought their votes..

thats just retarded. I was clear regarding my opinion against rationalized illegal aliens loooooong before the last election. and I'm so fucking liberal that reading this post probably made your vagina pucker.

Sure DUmbAss that's why obamalama went down to the border towns and assured them McCain was "against" illeagls. whooo hoot!

 

[Meister]

Shocking innit? All the libwals against the illegals,, kick em to the curb now that you bought their votes..

thats just retarded. I was clear regarding my opinion against rationalized illegal aliens loooooong before the last election. and I'm so fucking liberal that reading this post probably made your vagina pucker.

Shogun, you take this way tooooo personally. Take a chill pill, dude. Whats with all the name calling???

 

[catzmeow]

You know.....there is a law in Texas called the "Castle Doctrine" law.

What this means, is that if someone is on your property, you have the right to tell them to leave, and if they don't you are authorized to defend your property by any means that you see fit.

If you kill them? Cool......less problems for the courts.

Matter of fact, last year there was a guy who saw 2 men robbing his neighbor's house, and so he called the cops, told them he was going to shoot them, and did. The 911 operator tried to talk him out of it, but, he wouldn't hear of it, and boom......2 dead crooks.

No charges were filed either.

There is a guy in Amarillo who just blew away 1 guy, and shot at another when they robbed his house last week.

No charges are going to be filed against him either.

So.....have the dude put up some no trespassing signs, and next one that shows up on his property?

Target practice, shoot to kill.

I'm sure the city would come and pick up the bodies.

We have the same law in Florida, and I support it 100%.

 

[catzmeow]

just a bunch of people coming over to better their lives.....thats why they are suing for 32 mill.....ya think an American lawyer put them up to this?.....you bet.....and some pathetic American jury will back them.....

If this is tried in Arizona, I'd say the odds are good that their jury will be stacked with people who are sick as hell of illegal immigration.

 

[garyd]

Hear, hear. Breaking and entering is illegal in every country in the world unless done by the government, and when done by a foreign government constitutes an act of war.

 

[RodISHI]

I would think this is the type of thing that legislators should be covering while passing them laws.

No foriegn citizen should ever be able to attempt illegal entry into this country through a private citizens property and then be able to cost that citizen a small fortune to defend themselves.

 

[garyd]

He should immediately counter sue for defamation of character...

 

[RodISHI]

He should immediately counter sue for defamation of character...

He should be able to sue the lawyers that filed such a case against him for these guys and the organization that put them up to it.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Shocking innit? All the libwals against the illegals,, kick em to the curb now that you bought their votes..

thats just retarded. I was clear regarding my opinion against rationalized illegal aliens loooooong before the last election. and I'm so fucking liberal that reading this post probably made your vagina pucker.

Shogun, you take this way tooooo personally. Take a chill pill, dude. Whats with all the name calling???

Because he is a foul mouthed ass wipe Liberal.

 

[Agnapostate]

If border crossing were decriminalized, immigrants would use established border crossings and wouldn't engage in conflicts with landowners. Better yet, if American neoliberal expansion were checked and trade liberalization abandoned in favor of fair trade, large segments of the Mexican working class wouldn't be destabilized and forced to emigrate.

That being said, since immigration is often a forced necessity, there should be organized defenses of border crossers in case they encounter unwanted interlopers. I've never advocated wanton destruction of land or property, but landowners who seek to use relatively unprovoked violence against Latin American immigrants must be dealt with swiftly before they begin to labor under the delusion that their ethically suspect actions will go unnoticed.

As I mentioned when the last suggestion of using unnecessary violence against Mexican and other Latin American immigrants arose, I organized at several immigration rallies (including the May Day rallies), with several radical groups, including the Revolutionary Communist Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Discontent with neoliberal expansion was obviously high, and immigrants and their sympathizers would be angered at the prospect of being additionaly burdened by undue impositions from Southern hillbillies and their potshots, which is why I've previously advocated organizing MEChA, the Brown Berets, and unions from the revolutionary socialist parties to formed armed defense brigades of border crossers to deal swiftly with interlopers, especially when they trespass upon indigenous Nican Tlaca "migrants" and their mestizo relatives, as this would especially anger many Chicano activists.

 

[indago]

Why this SHIT is allowed to go on in America is BEYOND ME!!! Somebody ought to pin a MEDAL on that ranchers chest and appoint him GOVERNOR of Arizona, and this MALDEF outfit ought to be run out of America on a fucking RAIL right behind all the MOTHER FUCKING ILLEGAL ALIENS!!!

These HORROR stories of AMERICAN CITIZENS being FUCKED because of some GODDAMN ILLEGAL ALIEN are OUTRAGEOUS!!! How this is allowed to go on, I don't know, but it makes me SICK!!! All it would take would be the whisper of a VIGILANTE GROUP of a few THOUSAND PEOPLE getting together and going down to the border to KICK SOME FUCKING ILLEGAL ASS and I'D BE THERE!!! Do what our GOVERNMENT SHOULD be doing.

Journalist Andrew Pollack wrote for the New York Times 19 August 2005:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spent shells litter the ground at what is left of the firing range, and camouflage outfits still hang in a storeroom. Just a few months ago, this ranch was known as Camp Thunderbird, the headquarters of a paramilitary group that promised to use force to keep illegal immigrants from sneaking across the border with Mexico.

Now, in a turnabout, the 70-acre property about two miles from the border is being given to two immigrants whom the group caught trying to enter the United States illegally.

The land transfer is being made to satisfy judgments in a lawsuit in which the immigrants had said that Casey Nethercott, the owner of the ranch and a former leader of the vigilante group Ranch Rescue, had harmed them.

"Certainly it's poetic justice that these undocumented workers own this land," said Morris S. Dees Jr., co-founder and chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which represented the immigrants in their lawsuit.

Mr. Dees said the loss of the ranch would "send a pretty important message to those who come to the border to use violence."

The surrender of the ranch comes as the governors of Arizona and New Mexico have declared a state of emergency because of the influx of illegal immigrants and related crime along the border.

Bill Dore, a Douglas resident briefly affiliated with Ranch Rescue who is still active in the border-patrolling Minuteman Project, called the land transfer "ridiculous."

"The illegals are coming over here," Mr. Dore said. "They are getting the American property. Hell, I'd come over, too. Get some American property, make some money from the gringos."

The immigrants getting the ranch, Edwin Alfredo Mancía Gonzáles and Fátima del Socorro Leiva Medina, could not be reached for comment. Kelley Bruner, a lawyer at the law center, said they did not want to speak to the news media but were happy with the outcome.

Ms. Bruner said that Mr. Mancía and Ms. Leiva, who are from El Salvador but are not related, would not live at the ranch and would probably sell it. Mr. Nethercott bought the ranch in 2003 for $120,000.

Mr. Mancía, who lives in Los Angeles, and Ms. Leiva, who lives in the Dallas area, have applied for visas that are available to immigrants who are the victims of certain crimes and who cooperate with the authorities, Ms. Bruner said. She said that until a decision was made on their applications, they could stay and work in the United States on a year-to-year basis.

Mr. Mancía and Ms. Leiva were caught on a ranch in Hebbronville, Tex., in March 2003 by Mr. Nethercott and other members of Ranch Rescue. The two immigrants later accused Mr. Nethercott of threatening them and of hitting Mr. Mancía with a pistol, charges that Mr. Nethercott denied. The immigrants also said the group gave them cookies, water and a blanket and let them go after an hour or so.

The Salvadorans testified against Mr. Nethercott when he was tried by Texas prosecutors. The jury deadlocked on a charge of pistol-whipping but convicted Mr. Nethercott, who had previously served time in California for assault, of gun possession, which is illegal for a felon. He is now serving a five-year sentence in a Texas prison.

Mr. Mancía and Ms. Leiva also filed a lawsuit against Mr. Nethercott; Jack Foote, the founder of Ranch Rescue; and the owner of the Hebbronville ranch, Joe Sutton. The immigrants said the ordeal, in which they feared that they would be killed by the men they thought were soldiers, had left them with post-traumatic stress.

Mr. Sutton settled for $100,000. Mr. Nethercott and Mr. Foote did not defend themselves, so the judge issued default judgments of $850,000 against Mr. Nethercott and $500,000 against Mr. Foote.

Mr. Dees said Mr. Foote appeared to have no substantial assets, but Mr. Nethercott had the ranch. Shortly after the judgment, Mr. Nethercott gave the land to his sister, Robin Albitz, of Prescott, Ariz. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the siblings, saying the transfer was fraudulent and was meant to avoid the judgment.

Ms. Albitz, a nursing assistant, signed over the land to the two immigrants last week.

"It scared the hell out of her," Margaret Pauline Nethercott, the mother of Mr. Nethercott and Ms. Albitz, said of the lawsuit. "She didn't know she had done anything illegal. We didn't know they had a judgment against my son."

This was not the first time the law center had taken property from a group on behalf of a client. In 1987, the headquarters of a Ku Klux Klan group in Alabama was given to the mother of a boy whose murder was tied to Klansmen. Property has also been taken from the Aryan Nations and the White Aryan Resistance, Mr. Dees said.

Joseph Jacobson, a lawyer in Austin who represented Mr. Nethercott in the criminal case, said the award was "a vast sum of money for a very small indignity." Mr. Jacobson said the two immigrants were trespassing on Mr. Sutton's ranch and would have been deported had the criminal charges not been filed against Mr. Nethercott.

He criticized the law center for trying to get $60,000 in bail money transferred to the immigrants. While the center said the money was Mr. Nethercott's, Mr. Jacobson said it was actually Ms. Nethercott's, who mortgaged her home to post bail for her son.

Mr. Nethercott and Mr. Foote had a falling out in 2004, and Mr. Foote left Camp Thunderbird, taking Ranch Rescue with him. Mr. Nethercott then formed the Arizona Guard, also based on his ranch.

In April, Mr. Nethercott told an Arizona television station, "We're going to come out here and close the border with machine guns." But by the end of the month, he had started his prison sentence.

Now, only remnants of Camp Thunderbird remain on his ranch, a vast expanse of hard red soil, mesquite and tumbleweed with a house and two bunkhouses. One bunkhouse has a storeroom containing some camouflage suits, sleeping bags, tarps, emergency rations, empty ammunition crates, gun parts and a chemical warfare protection suit.

In one part of the ranch, dirt is piled up to form the backdrop of a firing range. An old water tank, riddled with bullet holes, is on its side. A platform was built as an observation post on the tower that once held the water tank.

Charles Jones, who was hired as a ranch hand about a month before Mr. Nethercott went to prison, put up fences and brought in cattle to graze. He has continued to live on the property with some family members.

But now the cattle are gone, and Mr. Jones has been told that he should prepare to leave. "It makes me sick I did all this work," he said.

Ms. Nethercott said she was not sure whether her son knew that his ranch was being turned over to the immigrants, but that he would be crushed if he did.

"That's his whole life," she said of the ranch. "He'd be heartbroken if he lost it in any way, but this is the worst way."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[indago]

ASSOCIATED PRESS DEFENDANT: Roger Barnett said he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998

Amazing, and this is such bullshit. He should have all charges dropped ASAP, and those illegals should be deported.
They aren't citizens of this country.

If the judge and state had any common sense; they'd laugh at the lawsuit, send them back over the border and drop the charges.

In 1857, the Supreme Court declared that Dred Scott, a slave, could not bring a lawsuit into a court because he was not a citizen of this country.