Illegal Sanctuary In Seattle Kills Woman

[Crazed Rabbit]

Okay, it may not have directly resulted in her death - but without Seattle's Sanctuary Laws (where Police are prohibited from asking a suspect's immigration status), a young woman working at the University of Washington might still be alive.

http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp...&nav=menu484_2

Jonathan Rowan was in U.S. illegally

SEATTLE Immigration officials said tonight that a man who killed a woman on the University of Washington campus on Monday and then killed himself had lived in the United States illegally for more than 10 years.
41-year-old Jonathan Rowan was a British citizen. The woman killed was 26-year-old Rebecca Griego, Rowan's ex-girlfriend.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman says Rowan arrived legally at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in March 1996, carrying his visa waiver he obtained as a British citizen. That allowed him to stay in the country for 90 days. He used the name Jonathan Rowan.

After the 90 days expired, Rowan was in the country illegally, but he remained in the United States, staying almost underground.

Rowan worked odd jobs, including buying and selling cars and setting up Web sites. He had aliases and fake passports. He lived in homes that were destined for demolition, so he moved frequently.

A birth certificate with a seal of England shows Rowan was born on March 13th, 1966, in the County of Leicester and identifies him as the son of a welder.

Spokeswoman Lorie Dankers says immigration officials got tips several years ago that Rowan was in the U.S. illegally and investigated. But immigration agents couldn't find him.

Immigration agents prepared an administrative immigration warrant for Rowan's arrest when he wasn't found. But he eluded them.

Seattle police arrested Rowan for drunken driving on June 30th, 2006. But city law forbids Seattle police from inquiring about immigration status, unless the officer has a reasonable suspicion that person is in the United States illegally.

(Seattle Post-Intelligencer; not for online use in the Seattle area)

Leftists here in the US love to say we should throw our rights away if it 'saves just one child'. But apparently enforcing the law isn't worth it even if it might save a person when there are illegals to be coddled.

Crazed Rabbit

[Marshal Murat]

Well, would Rowan have said?
"Yes officer, I am an illegal immigrant."

He could have lied, and since he was British and 'across the pond' it would be odd for him to be an illegal immigrant, so the officer wouldn't have asked him otherwise. Had they investigate his 'aliases' then they wouldn't have gotten far. He was evidently experienced in this area, and the policeman could do little about it.
I think that had the officer inquired, Rowan would have lied or worked around it.
Now if he was Hispanic, then more suspicion would have been given to him.

[Lemur]

Leftists here in the US love to say we should throw our rights away if it 'saves just one child'.

Strange, I thought we were supposed to throw our rights away for the War on Terror as well. Just goes to show ya, left, right, they all want a nanny state.

[Tribesman]

I wonder where this illegal alien got his gun ? Maybe he used a fake ID like the one he must have used when he was arrested .
There really should be more controls on such things .

What is surprising about this story is that the on site police hadn't taken any measures against the known and identified threat .
I mean OK last time they didn't know that a staff member was going to go postal on campus so couldn't do much , but this time they had all the info they needed yet apparently did nothing to prevent it .

from the article .....

in the County of Leicester

I thought Leicester was a city , Leicestershire is a county .

[Crazed Rabbit]

Strange, I thought we were supposed to throw our rights away for the War on Terror as well. Just goes to show ya, left, right, they all want a nanny state.

Well, they say 'if it makes us a bit safer' - they don't always bring up the individual child bit.

And the nanny state really isn't what this thread is about.

I think that had the officer inquired, Rowan would have lied or worked around it.

And the officer could have - gasp! - investigated and found the warrant for him.

CR

[Marshal Murat]

And he would have no doubt slipped the net again.
Or he could have been caught.
Either way, the policeman would need reasonable cause to investigate, and had this happened in Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Nebraska, or Nevada, the policeman probably wouldn't have asked his status anyway.

[KukriKhan]

So, we're examining:

1) Seattle's sanctuary laws, or
2) Police investigative incompetence, or
3) The underground labor force rampant in the US, or
4) How a woman is killed by an undocumented alien, or
5) How to have prevented #4

Shall we roll the die? Or pick one?

[Gregoshi]

He could have lied, and since he was British and 'across the pond' it would be odd for him to be an illegal immigrant, so the officer wouldn't have asked him otherwise.

If only the police officer had been in a speed boat when he pulled Rowan over. Rowan would have promptly surrendered and confessed to his being in the US illegally. Apologies to all our British friends - I just couldn't resist.

[Crazed Rabbit]

1), mainly.

2) can't apply because any competence or lack thereof did not come into play, due to aforementioned sanctuary laws. 3) isn't that applicable to this situation.

4), perhaps. 5) might veer us off into other territory on the uselessness of restraining orders.

CR

[Tribesman]

2) can't apply because any competence or lack thereof did not come into play, due to aforementioned sanctuary laws.

Does apply , since he was arrested and processed , you cannot process someone unless you can establish their identity , so either they were incompetent in accepting a fasle identity from a criminal or they accepted a true identity and didn't spot the outstanding warrant .
Sanctuary laws don't even come into it . They would come into it if he was only stopped on suspicion of drink driving and let go after a roadside check showed he was not drink driving , but not once he is arrested .

[CrossLOPER]

If only the police officer had been in a speed boat when he pulled Rowan over. Rowan would have promptly surrendered and confessed to his being in the US illegally. Apologies to all our British friends - I just couldn't resist.

He used the Chunnel to get into America from Britain.

[Lord Winter]

He used the Chunnel to get into America from Britain.

I don't think the law made any difference. A cop's first action when he pulls someone over is not going to be to ask are you an illeagal immegrent.