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One of the left's dreamers no doubt!

A New Mexico man has sued the sanctuary city of Albuquerque for shielding his wife's murder suspect, an illegal immigrant, from being arrested and deported before the killing.

Jacqueline Vigil was murdered in her driveway in November 2019 while she was leaving her Albuquerque home to go to the gym. The 55-year-old was the mother of two New Mexico State Police officers and worked at a daycare center.

Sam Vigil, Jacqueline's husband, has filed suit against the city for allowing main suspect Luis Talamantes-Romero to remain in the country, despite being a known criminal who was in this country illegally, per KOB4 on Friday.

Talamantes-Romero, a three-time deported illegal immigrant and alleged gang member from Mexico, has been in federal custody in Texas and charged with murdering Vigil. Four associates also were facing federal charges.

The lawsuit accuses the city of Albuquerque of protecting Talamantes-Romero with a sanctuary-city policy, which has been in place since 2018. It alleges the city did not arrest or deport the Mexican despite his extensive criminal record that included four illegal re-entries into the U.S., domestic violence, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and firing a firearm from a moving vehicle, per Breitbart on Monday.

"I feel like my wife today could be alive if they would have acted on so much evidence they had against this individual and turned him in to immigration," Sam Vigil told KOB4. "I think my wife would be talking to me today."

The hunt for Vigil's killer went nowhere for 8 months before agents with former President Donald Trump's "Operation Legend" stepped in to help local law enforcement track Vigil's killer, ultimately leading them to Talamantes-Romero.

"I am extremely grateful to President Trump and the FBI for their efforts to deliver justice for Jackie and all the other innocent victims of violent crime," Sam Vigil said when he spoke at last year's Republican National Convention.

According to the lawsuit, Talamantes-Romero had been deported and re-entered the U.S. a few months before Vigil's murder. He then was identified as a suspect in a robbery.

"That alone should have triggered a phone call, or an email to federal law enforcement even if [the Albuquerque Police Department] needed more time to perfect their investigation," said attorney Robert Gorence, one of the lawyers representing Sam Vigil. "All they had to do was [say] 'he's back'; that's all it would have took. It never happened because of a city policy."

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Migrant should face death penalty in QuikTrip clerk's murder, prosecutors say

7/22/19

Apolinar Altamirano

Prosecutors have asked an Arizona appeals court to let them pursue the death penalty against a Mexican immigrant charged with murder in the 2015 shooting death of a convenience store clerk in Mesa.

A lower-court judge ruled two weeks ago that prosecutors could no longer seek the death penalty against Apolinar Altamirano because of intellectual disabilities. They said Altamirano had completed only the fifth grade and needed special education courses, but none was offered in rural Mexico where he lived before moving to the United States.

In an appeal filed a week ago, prosecutors asked the Arizona Court of Appeals to reinstate their effort to seek the death penalty in the shooting death of 21-year-old QuikTrip clerk Grant Ronnebeck, arguing the judge failed to make an overall assessment of Altamirano's ability to meet society's expectations of him.

The judge "did not give any consideration at all to Altamirano's ability (to) adapt and adjust to the requirements of daily life as an adult," prosecutors wrote in the appeal.

They noted Altamirano learned to drive at an early age, traveled on his own to the United States as teenager, operated rental properties in the United States, served as an elder in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and advised his mother on visas and exchange rates.

Joel Brown, one of the lawyers representing Altamirano, didn't return an email Monday seeking comment on the appeal.

Trump invokes Ronnebeck killing

The case against Altamirano has been cited by President Donald Trump, who has railed against crimes committed against American citizens by immigrants who are the United States illegally. Trump, who has created a new office to serve victims of immigration crimes and their relatives, has invoked such crimes at rallies, pointing cases in which people were killed by immigrant assailants who slipped through the cracks.

Altamirano is a citizen of Mexico who has lived in the United States without authorization for about 20 years. He was deported after a marijuana possession arrest and returned to the United States.

He is accused of fatally shooting Ronnebeck after the store clerk insisted that Altamirano pay for a pack of cigarettes. Authorities say Altamirano stepped over Ronnebeck to get several packs of cigarettes before leaving the store.

He led officers on a high-speed chase before his arrest, and handguns and unopened cigarettes were later found in his vehicle, police said.

Trial set for next month

Altamirano has already been sentenced to six years in prison for his earlier guilty pleas in the case to misconduct involving weapons.

He still faces murder, robbery and other charges in Ronnebeck's death. He has pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 1.

In an October decision, a judge prohibited prosecutors from introducing evidence at Altamirano's trial that he was in the United States illegally. The judge said the prejudice from Altamirano's immigration status outweighs any relevance it may have.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 barred the execution of intellectually disabled people.

Last edited by Jutu

San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora (August 17, 2020) — The Arizona Supreme Court has reversed a lower-court ruling that barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against a Mexican immigrant charged with murder in a 2015 killing in metro Phoenix because he was intellectually disabled.

The state’s highest court ruled Monday that a judge in the lower court had correctly considered the strengths and weaknesses of Apolinar Altamirano’s life skills, but failed to assess his ability to meet society’s expectations of him. The case will be back to the judge to make another determination on Altamirano’s disability.

Altamirano is a citizen of Mexico who has lived in the U.S. without authorization for about 20 years. He has been deported and returned to the U.S. in the past.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly cited Altamirano’s case as an example of crimes committed by immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally against American citizens.

The state Supreme Court said the lower court judge didn’t assess how Altamirano’s intellectual deficits affected his ability to meet the standard of personal independence and social responsibility for a person of his age and cultural background.

A judge had also previously prohibited prosecutors from introducing evidence at Altamirano’s trial that he was in the United States illegally. The judge had said the prejudice from Altamirano’s immigration status outweighs any relevance it may have.


Last edited by Jutu

having lived in border area, I have seen the challenge of not closing our borders. Doesn't it say something about protecting our borders in the constitution?  open borders put extra pressure on education.  We have no idea of who is coming in. to fly in from an other country a passport is required, to cross thru border check point a passport is required. however just walk across in several places and get on welfare.  Then add we are allowing people in that are generations behind on social norms, which again puts pressure on our population.  Many schools and students are dragged down because of open borders.

there are many videos of caravans forcing their way thru borders, police in Mexico.  They have demonstrated they won't obey laws, and you want them here?   Dems want them for their votes.

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