Since the United States ended the so-called Title 42, the authorities in this country have been warning about the harsh penalties that migrants who try to enter illegally and end up being deported can face.
That is something you are experiencing firsthand today. the Colombian Jheisson Rizo Suárez, 39 years old.
As this newspaper was able to establish, Rizo Suárez has just pleaded guilty before a federal court in New Hampshire, on the East Coast, of illegal re-entry into the US after having previously been deported.
The case is being handled by District Judge Landya B. McCafferty and his sentencing is scheduled for January 4.
But the authorities have already said that They will ask for the maximum possible sentence against the Colombian, which in this case is 10 years in prison plus US $250,000 fine.
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That is, a decade in prison plus a quarter of a million dollars (about 1,000 million pesos) for being illegal in the United States.
In July 2021 Rizo Suarez arrested by Dover police in connection with apartment robbery when a teenager who was alone in her home called the authorities to report that strangers had entered her residence.
Subsequent investigation revealed that Rizo Suárez was an illegal and had reentered the United States after being deported in January 2013.
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However, EL TIEMPO reviewed the files of the court system and did not find a case against him in the case of the alleged robbery at the residence.
His current situation, at least that reported by the authorities, It is only associated with your illegal status and re-entry into the United States after your deportation.
Until May of this year, Title 42 provided that people arrested in the United States and prosecuted through this figure initiated by President Donald Trump, could be expelled from the country immediately and without regular processing through the immigration system. cuts.
Howeverthe figure did not punish re-entry into the country nor the sanctions that exist in the regular process for a deportation. In other words, the person expelled under this title could re-enter the US as many times as they wanted without fear of more severe punishment.
But under regular legislation or Title 8, which is what currently applies, A person deported for the first time for trying to enter the US illegally – or being illegal – is automatically banned for 5 years.
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If the person returns to the United States and is arrested again, the sanctions increase and include prison and penalties ranging up to 10 years and $250,000 that now threaten Rizo Suárez.
According to Adam Isacson, an expert on immigration and regional security issues in Wolathe harshest penalties are reserved for people who have multiple readmissions or that they have committed a crime while in the US.
Likewise, there is great concern about the growing exodus of Colombians through the so-called Darién Gap.
Since May, the U.S. has been on a major media campaign warning migrants not only of the dangers along the way but of the harsh penalties that await them if they break the law.
Recently, the US embassy in Bogotá promoted a tweet on its social networks asking Colombians not to risk their lives by undertaking a dangerous journey “only to be deported.”
(In other topics: This is the Colombian sentenced to 27 years for trafficking fentanyl in the United States)
And in this they include a general message from the Department of Homeland Security that makes it even clearer: “When the public health order known as Title 42 expires on May 11, 2023, “The US will once again enforce all immigration processes under Title 8.”
“Under Title 8, Those who cross the border illegally will be subject to criminal consequences, including deportation, prosecution or a five-year ban from entering the US. Our message to those who want to come to the US is clear: don’t believe the smugglers. Don’t put your life at risk by undertaking such a dangerous journey only to be deported. “Legal immigration pathways are the correct way to come to the U.S. Noncitizens who arrive in the U.S. without authorization will continue to be deported.”
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
EL TIEMPO correspondent
Washington
On Twitter @sergom68
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