Immigrant Trespass Case Postponed

The Union Leader reports that the trespassing case against illegal alien Jorge Mora Ramirez has been postponed because the judge who heard it has been asked to hear similar cases.

Ramirez is the illegal alien who was charged with criminal trespassing by New Ipswich police last April.

According to the Concorde Monitor, since Police Chief Garrett Chamberlain charged Ramirez with trespassing, the police in Hudson have copied Chamberlain's approach, arresting at least 10 people on similar charges. Runyon will hear arguments in those cases as well.

In this article the Associated Press, reports that Jaffrey District Court Judge L. Phillips Runyon III questioned whether he was the right authority to determine someone's immigration status:

Prosecutor Nicole Morse told the judge that local authorities were trying to protect their communities, not enforce federal immigration law. Defense attorneys said the state Legislature did not mention immigration when it created the trespassing law, and that using it in such cases could cause chaos in the court system and spread to other states.

Runyon was asked to decide the validity of using the trespassing law before hearing the trial of Jorge Mora Ramirez, who has admitted he entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico.

The judge made no decision on the issue Tuesday and said he wouldn't decide Ramirez's case until two of 10 similar cases in the nearby town of Hudson go to court. Ramirez's lawyers plan to appeal if the use of the trespassing law is upheld.

Ramirez at first entered a guilty to the trespass charge. He retracted the guilty plea after the Mexican consulate got a firm specializing in immigration law to intervene.

A group of lawmakers is drafting a bill that will give local police the authority to charge illegal aliens with criminal trespass, regardless of what happens in the Ramirez case:

"We want to codify this into black-leather law," said state Rep. Andrew Renzullo, R-Hudson. "Right now, this is open to judicial interpretation. It's important to make this a state offense. Under current law, there's no enforcement penalty."

If Ramirez is found guilty of criminal trespass, there is no jail time, only a maximum fine of $1,000.