Illegal Immigrants Are At The Mercy Of Criminals

Written by Gerri Elder

Wednesday, 26 March 2008 12:55

When a person is actively breaking the law and becomes the victim of a crime, in most cases they just have to suck it up because there is not an option to get help from the police without facing prosecution. It only makes sense that, for instance, people who get ripped off in drug deals can't report the theft to police. If they did, quite obviously they would be arrested. By using illegal drugs, users make themselves vulnerable to crime and many people are quite fine with that. After all, they should not be using drugs in the first place.

But what about another group of people living outside the law who become vulnerable to criminal attacks that they cannot report? Illegal immigrants are often targets for robberies, scams and even sexual assaults because the perpetrators commit these crimes knowing full well that their victims can not possibly call the police. Many people may have a problem with illegal immigrants being in the United States to begin with, but there are legal channels to deal with immigrants that don't involve breaking them down morally and financially before deportation.

Whether pro-immigration reform or against immigration entirely, there is a human rights issue that cannot be ignored in a civilized society. Crimes against illegal immigrants are so under reported that most people may not even think of it as a problem. However, just as crimes against babies or mentally retarded people who can't speak out go unreported, crimes against illegal immigrants are often silent. It's not something that is picked up in crime statistics because illegal immigrants are too frightened of immigration authorities to ever call the police. Additionally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now deputizing police officers in many localities so if an illegal immigrant even tries to report a crime they would likely be delivering themselves into an immigration detention facility to wait for a deportation hearing.

Sometimes the crimes against illegal immigrants do get reported and make their way into crime statistics and news reports. Such is the case against Isaac Baichu, 46, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Baichu, an immigrant himself, is accused of demanding oral sex from a 22-year-old woman in exchange for permanent legal residency in the United States.

Baichu allegedly told the woman that if she would perform oral sex a couple of times, she would have no problem with her green card application. Then, in a parking lot, in the middle of the day, he demanded partial payment then and there. Baichu was not aware that the woman recorded the entire exchange on her cell phone. Therefore it's not a case of he-said, she-said, Baichu is heard on tape making the deal with the woman.

When the recording was turned over to police Baichu was arrested. He has pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of coercing the young woman into oral sex and of promising to help her secure a green card in exchange for further sexual favors. If Baichu is convicted of the charges he could face up to 7 years in prison. In the meantime, he's suspended from his job - with pay.

There's no way of telling if there are other victims of Baichu's corrupt behavior or if other low ranking immigration officials routinely employ similar strategies for cash or sexual favors from illegal immigrants. There is evidence that Baichu is not the first, or only, immigration official to blackmail illegal immigrants who are desperate for legal status. Immigration agents in Atlanta, Miami and Santa Ana, California have previously been charged with sexual coercion although a tape recording of the crime is rarely available to prosecutors as it is in Baichu's case. Almost certainly there are far more cases in which the corruption goes unreported, undetected and unpunished.

Just as there are laws against illegal immigrants, the laws must also offer protection to them. It is a difficult balance and one that there seems to be no real effort to achieve. Therefore many immigrants silently deal with the crimes committed against them in order to remain undetected by immigration authorities and so they remain easy targets for corrupt authorities and other criminals.