16 illegals sue Arizona rancher

NON ENFORCEMENT OF LAW IS WAY TO ANARCHY AND THAT IS WHERE WE ARE HEADED IF WE DON'T GET IMMIGRATION UNDER CONTROL. DAA.

16 illegals sue Arizona rancher



Claim violation of rights as they crossed his land
Jerry Seper (Contact)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Buzz up!An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.

His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.

Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes. Also named are Mr. Barnett's wife, Barbara, his brother, Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff in Cochise County, Ariz., where the Barnetts live. The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.

The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog.

Attorneys for the immigrants - five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States - have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape.

The immigrants are represented at trial by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which also charged that Sheriff Dever did nothing to prevent Mr. Barnett from holding their clients at "gunpoint, yelling obscenities at them and kicking one of the women."

In the lawsuit, MALDEF said Mr. Barnett approached the group as the immigrants moved through his property, and that he was carrying a pistol and threatening them in English and Spanish. At one point, it said, Mr. Barnett's dog barked at several of the women and he yelled at them in Spanish, "My dog is hungry and he's hungry for buttocks."

The lawsuit said he then called his wife and two Border Patrol agents arrived at the site. It also said Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.

In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett's attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens.

Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times in a 2002 interview that he began rounding up illegal immigrants after they started to vandalize his property, northeast of Douglas along Arizona Highway 80. He said the immigrants tore up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home.

Some of his cattle died from ingesting the plastic bottles left behind by the immigrants, he said, adding that he installed a faucet on an 8,000-gallon water tank so the immigrants would stop damaging the tank to get water.

Mr. Barnett said some of the ranch´s established immigrant trails were littered with trash 10 inches deep, including human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty 1-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil - which supposedly is used to pack the drugs the immigrant smugglers give their "clients" to keep them running.

He said he carried a pistol during his searches for the immigrants and had a rifle in his truck "for protection" against immigrant and drug smugglers, who often are armed.


ASSOCIATED PRESS DEFENDANT: Roger Barnett said he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.

A former Cochise County sheriff´s deputy who later was successful in the towing and propane business, Mr. Barnett spent $30,000 on electronic sensors, which he has hidden along established trails on his ranch. He searches the ranch for illegal immigrants in a pickup truck, dressed in a green shirt and camouflage hat, with his handgun and rifle, high-powered binoculars and a walkie-talkie.

His sprawling ranch became an illegal-immigration highway when the Border Patrol diverted its attention to several border towns in an effort to take control of the established ports of entry. That effort moved the illegal immigrants to the remote areas of the border, including the Cross Rail Ranch.

"This is my land. I´m the victim here," Mr. Barnett said. "When someone´s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can´t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back."







Comment on and rate this Article

Comments 1 - 20 of 947
By: johnsot6
"What law did he break?...Last time I checked, citizen's arrest in relation to personal property and non-excessive force in that protection were legal..."

The case is about whether he used non-excessive force or excessive force. If the jury finds that he used excessive force he will lose.

February 10, 2009 at 1:32 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: BBVRS
ChocoCat...
What law did he break?...Last time I checked, citizen's arrest in relation to personal property and non-excessive force in that protection were legal...

February 10, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: ktfo101
ChocoCat66 - Maybe you should re-educate yourself on exactly what his "rights" were. We are indeed a nation of laws in which these illegal immigrants were BREAKING.

It was his right to do whatever was necessary to protect his own. After years of abuse and destruction of his property, quit frankly I feel he was a hell of a lot more reserved than most of us would have been.

February 10, 2009 at 1:28 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: ktfo101
This is insane. Those illegal immigrants were lucky they didn't get shot. Once they stepped onto his property it was his right to do whatever he felt necessary to protect his own.

If I were these immigrants, I'd be worrying about my own ass as I walked into the court room.

Also if I were Roger Barnett I would counter sue on the basis that our retarded system is actually taking these idiots story into account who were BREAKING THE LAW in the first place.

February 10, 2009 at 1:25 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: johnsot6
slr456:

From the MALDEF website: "MALDEF does not accept government funding we operate from private foundation, corporate and individual support."

Just to put your mind at ease. Your tax dollars are not going to support the case.

February 10, 2009 at 1:23 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: Tax paying citizen
Illegal Immigration Costs California Over Ten Billion Annually
In hosting America's largest population of illegal immigrants, California bears a huge cost to provide basic human services for this fast growing, low-income segment of its population. A new study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) examines the costs of education, health care and incarceration of illegal aliens, and concludes that the costs to Californians is $10.5 billion per year.

Among the key finding of the report are that the state's already struggling K-12 education system spends approximately $7.7 billion a year to school the children of illegal aliens who now constitute 15 percent of the student body. Another $1.4 billion of the taxpayers' money goes toward providing health care to illegal aliens and their families, the same amount that is spent incarcerating illegal aliens criminals.

February 10, 2009 at 1:22 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: ChocoCat66
Naten, I am not sticking up for illegals, that is what the law is for. I am sticking up for the rule of law. We have a justice system, and we live in a nation of laws. If this rancher does not want to obey the laws of this great nation, he should be held accountable, just like you, just like illegals, just like me. The fact that we have so many people willing to give up the rule law of the United States of America, just proves that they are defending something they dont understand.

February 10, 2009 at 1:22 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: slr456
Write you congressman and complain, I bet MALDEF gets federal funds. So, we are paying for the illegal's defense. Don't you love it.

February 10, 2009 at 1:21 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: Tax paying citizen
CALL the Judge
Roll, John M.
520-205-4520

February 10, 2009 at 1:18 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: Tax paying citizen
Clerk's Office
520-205-4235

February 10, 2009 at 1:18 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: Tax paying citizen
you can contact the Judge - I am trying to post his number but it will not post it. I will keep trying

February 10, 2009 at 1:17 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: Mak
Rated 4/5
I'll be damned if my tax dollars are paying for some illegal's lawsuit. Thank god I don't live in Texas. IMO, the judge should be cited and have a lawsuit filed again him by some illegal. Then see how he feels about it.

February 10, 2009 at 1:17 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: johnsot6
"(you can bet these lawyers will get their piece of the pie)"

I think MALDEF is a non-profit. They don't make money.

February 10, 2009 at 1:16 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: johnsot6
"The question is: "Was the Judges decision not to grant it PROPER".

That of course depends on all the FACTS of the case and all the Case Law related to this case."

Well, you got me there. I misspoke. A motion to dismiss can always be made, and the judge's decision in this case can be appealed. But of course, a motion to dismiss is not related to the FACTS, just the allegations; the question is whether the allegations of the complaint state a legal basis for relief; and here they do. The case law on it is not that voluminous. You can get the complaint from PACER.

Still, good catch on my grammar.

February 10, 2009 at 1:14 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: crburt
Rated 4/5
A sign of our repressed economic times. American citizen lawyers are suing American citizens on behalf of illegal immigrants. Guess they ran out of ambulances to chase. After all, they have to maintain their level of income. (you can bet these lawyers will get their piece of the pie) I would also like to comment on the nationalism of the judge that allowed this case to trial but printable appropriate words escape me.

February 10, 2009 at 1:14 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: Tax paying citizen
Help them realize

July 4 2009

Go to your state capital and demand they enforce our current immigration laws

February 10, 2009 at 1:14 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: fixourcountry
What a messed up country we live in. Our leaders need to realize what they are doing. They just dont care.

February 10, 2009 at 1:13 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: Tax paying citizen
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and landmark New York City restaurant Tavern on the Green have agreed to a $2.2 million settlement of claims that the restaurant subjected its employees to a hostile work environment on the basis of sex, race, and national origin, according to a consent decree filed June 2 with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (EEOC v. Tavern on the Green Ltd. P'Ship, S.D.N.Y., No. 07-8256, consent decree filed 6/2/08).

February 10, 2009 at 1:13 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: ErikNJ23
How does this even get to trial, should have been thrown out. This is ridiculous!!

February 10, 2009 at 1:13 p.m. | Mark as Offensive
By: slr456
I have been to that part of Arizona and the illegals are a huge problem. Do you know you can't camp safely in the parks? Do you know Ft Huachuca fences the soldier's camps in when they are in the field practicing exercises at night due to illegals? Even our soldiers aren't safe after dark in the mountains due to the of 1llegals running loose in the area.