Lunacy is Restored to the Canadian “Justice” System (bumped)
Posted on 30 April 2008 by Bruce
Admitted killer walks free
Refugee board releases assassin onto Metro Vancouver streets
| Kim Bolan |
| Vancouver Sun |
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
|
VANCOUVER - A Salvadoran refugee claimant who admitted to killing at least four rival gangsters in gunfights and grenade attacks is not dangerous enough to be locked up pending his deportation, an Immigration and Refugee Board member ruled Tuesday.
In fact, adjudicator Daphne Shaw Dyck said she did not believe Jose Franciso Cardoza Quinteros killed several times for the notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, despite his sensational admissions to the Canada Border Services Agency last September.
Shaw Dyck ordered Cardoza Quinteros released for the second time in seven months on a $1,000 bond with the condition that he must report once a month and not drink alcohol while residing with relatives in Surrey.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said she was “absolutely shocked” that Shaw Dyck would permit the refugee claimant to be freed when he has already been deemed ineligible to remain in Canada because of his admitted criminality.
“Maybe if she wants him released, he can go and live at her house,” Watts told The Vancouver Sun on Tuesday. “It absolutely astounds me that he can even set foot on Canadian soil, let alone be let loose into the community for the second time.”
The Sun revealed earlier this month that Cardoza Quinteros told Canadian officials that he had gunned down rivals, thrown grenades into crowds and been present at the beheading of a woman by a member of his gang, known as MS-13.
But he was still ordered freed by the IRB last Sept. 14, forcing the federal immigration department to seek a judicial review to argue he was too dangerous. Cardoza Quinteros was arrested last week after the Federal Court of Canada ordered a new detention hearing. That took place April 23 before Shaw Dyck.
In her ruling, Shaw Dyck said the 30-year-old, covered with gang tattoos, was exaggerating to the CBSA in order to make a more compelling refugee case. She noted that he retracted his admissions nine days after making them last September in a lengthy border interview.
“Although his retraction is not accepted insofar as his membership in the gang is concerned, I have serious doubts that he killed people as stated in the portions of the interview quoted by minister’s counsel,” Shaw Dyck said.
“I am not in agreement that Mr. Cardoza is such a great risk to the safety of the Canadian public that the only solution is continued detention until all the legal procedures available to him in Canada are completed.”
She said that while “border services officers did not coerce Mr. Cardoza to admit his membership in Mara Salvatrucha, I believe that Mr. Cardoza had no understanding that being a member of Mara Salvatrucha would make him ineligible to make a refugee claim.”
Another IRB adjudicator ruled Feb. 22 that Cardoza Quinteros was not a credible witness at his eligibility hearing and should not be allowed to continue with his refugee claim because of admitted involvement in a criminal gang.
Among other admissions by Cardoza Quinteros are that he had maimed and disfigured rival gang members between 15 and 20 times over a five-year period. He admitted to carrying a gun, robbing non-gang members for MS-13 coffers and to buying weapons in Los Angeles for his organization, the most violent drug gang in Central America.
He said he was a witness to at least 100 gang murders and had been arrested 50 or 60 times.
Watts was stunned when she first read in The Sun that an admitted killer was free in her city. She said the fact he is being re-released is “like a bad Monty Python movie.”
”What about the obligation to advise the community of where he is living?” she said. “There is a community and a neighbourhood that he is residing in. There is no communication with the city and that just really speaks to a fundamental flaw in the process.”
But Shaw Dyck said she was convinced by arguments of the Salvadoran’s lawyer, Shepherd Moss, that his client had found God and was attending two churches several times a week.
“The question is whether this risk can be managed in the community with suitable terms and conditions. In the seven months that Mr. Cardoza has been at liberty, the risk has been managed,” she said. “Although Mr. Cardoza missed two reporting dates, there must have been a satisfactory explanation as Mr. Cardoza was not arrested for non-compliance. Mr. Cardoza has complied with all other terms and conditions, including keeping the peace and being of good behaviour. By and large, he has honoured his commitments.”
kbolan@png.canwest.com
Popularity: 33% [?]
April 30th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I hope Watts isn’t “talking to a brick wall.” It’s a good one, her stated suggestion about the refugee claimant, with gang member tattoo markings, might go live at the judge’s house.
Watts is concerned about people in the community he may be residing in. Note: 50-60 convictions. He retracted his statements at the IRB, but a length of time passed before that happened.
I think the claimant should be taken seriously on his first statements to IRB. The judge should have questioned him in great detail for the public record on his first claims. Did she, Bruce?
Is there a verbatim record of the questioning?
No wonder I go back to my music. I mean it’s now a “couple of shocks per day.” Anybody else feel like that?
April 30th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I don’t know the answer to your questions, Anna. But I cannot believe that the IRB official cannot seem to comprehend that ANY member of MS-13 is, by definition, a danger to society.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
So this individual’s been connected beyond doubt to this M8-13 gang? If so, the judge’s judgment IS SUSPECT. Neighborhood alerts should be going up. Canadians are, are at the moment, in a terrible vice-grip bind, by the errant statements from the judiciary. No further questions. It’s an outrage how organized crime is still getting away with the barrel, so to speak. We can speak up.
There is a question, when does the revised crime legislation kick in, or was it watered down to no effect. Don’t judges have to abide by guidelines?
April 30th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
I had the misfortune of sitting through a number of IRB hearings during my career. Listening to the reasoning of these hearing officers leaves no doubt that they are far more concerned about the well being of these non-citizens than they are for the rest of us. Despite the fact that Citizenship and Immigration currently have about 36,000 warrants outstanding for absconding refugees, they just can’t help themselves from diligently searching for any excuse to release these people back into Canadian society. Liberal ‘Mr. Roger’s neighbourhood’ thought process through and through. Our HRCs don’t hold the copyright on star chambers by any means.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
36,000 (approx) absconding refugees. Defies logic even. That’s equivolates to a small city or “army” if they organize. We can think about that, then do something about it. What a mess these Liberals have left gov’t to clean up. And they were well paid and still are for this?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
When I read this in my Vancouver Sun this morning my first thought was, “I wonder if the refugee boards are inhabited by the same types of ideologues as the Human Rights Commissions?” That would explain the frequent insanity that emanates from these and other government institutions. The parole board comes to mind.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Most Canadians have no idea how much our screwed up refugee system is costing in tax dollars alone.
“In the current system, anyone arriving in Canada, however, is entitled to claim refugee status and almost every one who applies is entitled to a full refugee hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board [IRB]. They are also entitled to a full range of social benefits while waiting for their claim to be heard including free legal representation. The costs to the Canadian taxpayer of this system have been estimated to be in the neighborhood of 2 to 3 billion dollars each year.”
With few exceptions, anyone who reaches Canadian territory is entitled to stick around and make a refugee claim. In 2004, citizens of 152 different countries claimed refugee status here. The very act of “claiming” that status entitles the claimant to enter our country and attend a hearing before the independent Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).
As if being the ONLY country in the world that ever grants citizenship to refugees wasn’t disturbing enough, Canada also gets a ‘gold star’ for this….
“We are the only Western country that does not have some form of pre-screening procedure to sort out obviously fraudulent and unfounded refugee claims. As a result, the refugee route has become the preferred means for those migrants who don’t want to face the hurdles, cost and paperwork associated with the normal immigration process.”
“Furthermore, there is little effort by enforcement officials to find and deport rejected claimants. Four years ago, the auditor-general reported to Parliament that there were 36,000 outstanding warrants for the arrest of rejected claimants. Since then, that number has undoubtedly increased.”
Our country is going to find itself in deep national security peril some day, if it is not already. Canadians don’t realize it and the government doesn’t tell us.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Part of the solution to the refugee problem will have to be designating countries whos citizens are not eligable for refugee status in Canada. (ie, no refugees from USA, western europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India etc.) And also countries will be designated for quick review. (ie, Cuba, China, Zimbabwe, Venezaula, etc.)
April 30th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
A huge part of the problem with refugee boards is that most of the “judges” are recent immigrants appointed by the Liberals.
In my view the only people that should be appointed are “ex-cops” but then again I’m heavily biased.
I could be wrong but the impression I get is that new immigrants, as soon as they acquired Canadian status, were appointed by people like Paul Martin to control who get’s “in” here.
Am I wrong?
April 30th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
No you’re not wrong Jack. In fact the USA relys heavily on ex-cops and ex-military in the immigration and customs fields. Mature no nonsense experienced people with a ton of life experience under their belts to go alone with their patriotic belief that their nation’s best interests must always come first in their decision making. My what a contrast between their system and the social worker’s paradise that is ours.
Even worse, in our embassies and consulates around the world in order to save money Canada employs locals to process visa applications etc. for people wanting to come to Canada. Imagine, non-Canadians in the process for their own fellow countrymen’s applications to come to Canada. No chance of corruption, extortion, bribery there huh? Naw, they’re all security cleared….yeah. Frightening to say the least.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
It’s just liberal insanity,pure and simple.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:32 am
I hate to say I told ya so but…
Instead of a picture of Quinteros, they should publish a picture of the adjudicator who made this insane decision.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Apparently our alert gov’t has stepped in and reversed this decision. The suspect is once again in custody. Applauding Diane Findlay and her dept.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Thanking you btdt for your revealing expose of Canada’s immigration dept. and its practices overseas. Invaluable information pointing to the dire need for reform and new, relevant legislation.
CBC/CTV/Canada.com can get on this story and report it to the public. Along with the standing gov’t’s lengthy record of a ccomplishments.
Note to Sandy: Why not add to the record they myriad drug and arms busts across the country that have occurred? Parents might appreciate that. Also, we all might consider probing high school principals regarding dog sniffing assisted drug cache searches within their schools. We know of at least one principal who sought the assistance. But knowing where principals/teachers/parents/even students stand on this would be invaluable.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Correcting, Minister Diane Finley. Apologize for wrong spelling of the name.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
He was honest enough to admit to killing four people. Goddamit, that’s got to count for something!