The first place they will take you is to a Border
Patrol detention. Males and
females will be separated into different cells. You will be given crackers and juice and zero
tolerance. Maybe you have been
walking for days, perhaps you have been traveling for months and this is just
the beginning of another very long day.
Long days are to be expected when months of legal process are crunched
into a twelve hours in a mass trial like the one you are about to endure.
From detention, you will be transported to the
Marshall service. You will be
permitted to bring only one set of clothes. Everything else will be left behind: backpack, cell phone,
contact information, identification, medication. They might pretend that losing your ID was a mistake – at
least, that is what their PR reps will say, but either way they will try to
make you nameless, nobody, now.
Forget the bail hearing. Forget the pre-trial hearing. Actually, forget about the court trial altogether. Today you will have three hours to meet
with the public defender you are sharing with five other people, nine to noon
to get the whole lowdown. You see,
you've been charged with a felony.
A misdemeanor and a felony, actually, a two-for-one deal in this
seventy-for-one trial, but the good news, you'll see, is that there's a plea:
they'll drop the felony, drop the court fee, if you plead guilty to the crime
of Illegal Entry.
Here's the deal: you're a Repeat Offender with a Criminal Record of a previous
illegal entry and deportation.
You've been here before, they sent you back, and they're not happy to
see you again. Illegal Entry is a
misdemeanor, but Illegal Reentry After Deportation is serious business felony
charges and now that you mention it, what else is on your record? A DUI in your file could get you ten
years today; theft or arson or trafficking or murder or sexual assault or crimes
of violence or an Aggravated Felony of any kind and you're looking at
twenty. So you see, you'll really
want to be accepting that guilty plea.
The deal they will give you is this: They will drop any fines and the felony
charge, give you a mere 30 to 180 days, if you plea guilty to the misdemeanor
and waive the right to appeal your case and to have a court trial. If you want to measure your time in
days instead of years, you don't have much of a choice. Either way, you are more than likely to
be deported at the end.
The lawyers will be done by 1:30 PM. Then the show begins.
You will be seated on a long wooden bench in a
wide courtroom with seventy other migrants. The room will be large, off-white, windowless, and echoey,
so the sound of clanking handcuffs never completely fades. There will be
wide-open double-doors through which are pouring the visitors who have come to
watch the show – observers of your humiliation, witnesses to the throngs of
brown bodies on trial. There is
another door on the other side of the room.
The first thing the judge will do is take
attendance.
“22031-M.” The interpreter translates, reads a
name.
Handcuffs clank, a man stands: “Presente!”
“Present”, the interpreter will
translate. Today, you will not
speak for yourself.
“22032-M.” Another name.
“Presente!”
“Present.”
“22033-M.” Name.
Clank, clank. “Presente!”
“Present.”
The list goes on.
“22048-M.” Name.
“Presente!”
“Present.”
“22049-M!” Name.
“Presente.”
“Present.”
And on and on. Seventy numbers, seventy names, seventy men (and maybe a
woman or two). Everyone is
present.
Next, the judge will give you a chance to change
your plea, to speak to your lawyer, to do any desperate, last-minute things you
might wish to do before the main act begins. You will be advised that this charge will be always on your
record, you will be told about the years in prison you will serve if you are
ever caught again. You will be
read your rights. And now that
that is all out of the way, it's time to get down to it.
This is how the script goes:
The judge will now call to the bench eight of the
lawyers and eight of you. The
lawyers will be addressed first:
Are the clients pleading voluntarily? Do they understand the charges against them, their rights,
their penalties?
“Yes,
your honor.”
And now to the defendants:
“Is any
of you being forced to plead guilty today?”
A chorus of “No.”
“All no.”
“Do you
understand the maximum sentence and the terms of your plea agreement?”
“Sí”.
“All yes.”
“Do you
understand that you are waiving your right to appeal?”
“Sí”.
“All yes”
“Do you
understand your right to a court trial?”
“Sí”.
“All yes.”
“Do you
wish to waive this right and plead guilty today?”
“Sí”.
“All yes.”
The
judge will address them individually to confirm the date and location of
each separate Crime.
“Is any of you a citizen or national
of the United States?”
“No.”
“All no.”
“Did any
of you enter the United States through a designated port of entry?”
“No.”
“All no.”
“Does any
of you have any lawful authorization to be in the US?”
“No.”
“All no.”
“How do
you plead to the crime of illegal entry, guilty or not guilty?”
“CULPABLE.”
“All
guilty.”
To the
lawyers: “Is there any reason
the court should not accept this plea?”
“No, your honor.”
(No
one translates for the judges.)
The felony is dismissed, no fine imposed, and the
defendants will receive credit for time served. Having confirmed the the illegality of their presence, the
judge will deal the sentences: 75 days for this man, 30 for that one, and 180
for him over there. Clank,
clank. The men are led away
through the door on the side of the room.
The script restarts. Eight
more names, eight more lawyers.
“Is any
of you being forced to plead guilty today?”
“No.”
“All no.”
“Do you
understand the maximum sentence and the terms of your plea agreement?”
“Sí”.
“All yes.”
“Do you
understand that you are waiving your right to appeal?”
“Sí”.
“All yes”
“Do you
understand your right to a court trial?”
“Sí”.
“All yes.”
“Do you
wish to waive this right and plead guilty today?”
“Sí”.
“All yes.”
The
judge will address them individually.
Date and location of the Crime confirmed.
“Is any of you a citizen or national
of the United States?”
“No.”
“All no.”
“Did any
of you enter the United States through a designated port of entry?”
“No.”
“All no.”
“Does any
of you have any lawful authorization to be in the US?”
“No.”
“All no.”
“How do
you plead to the crime of illegal entry, guilty or not guilty?”
“CULPABLE.”
“All
guilty.”
“Is there
any reason the court should not accept this plea?”
“No, your honor.”
Eight more men led through the door. Eight more called to stand.
I cannot tell you how any of this will feel. I will be watching from the benches on
the other side, you see, and I won't be called to stand today. My hands will be free to take notes. And I cannot tell you the next place
you will go, because I will be leaving through the other door.
...“Do
you understand that you are waiving your right to appeal?”
“Sí”.
“All yes”
“Do you
understand your right to a court trial?”
“Sí”.
“All yes.”
“Do you
wish to waive this right and plead guilty today?”
“Sí”.
“All yes.”...
And on and on in a monotone. Normal proceedings – rote, mechanic,
industrial, illegal. Just the
everyday 1:30 PM mass migrant criminalization.
...“Is any of you a citizen or national
of the United States?”
“No.”
“All no.”
“Did any
of you enter the United States through a designated port of entry?”
“No.”
“All no.”
“Does any
of you have any lawful authorization to be in the US?”
“No.”
“All
no.”...
Did you know that this is the same room where they
hold the ceremony
for people who are becoming
citizens?
…“How do
you plead to the crime of illegal entry, guilty or not guilty?”
“CULPABLE.”
“All
guilty.”
