"Activist accused of smuggling 2 into U.S."

Stifle your schadenfreude:

A high-profile Latina activist upset over a series of deportations involving young, undocumented Phoenix residents was caught Thursday trying to smuggle two of them back into the United States from Mexico in the trunk of her car, officials said.

Ana Lizabeth Roman de Harvey, 40, of Phoenix, was charged Friday with felony alien smuggling and a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to make illegal entry...

She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the felony charge...

Ramon de Harvey was upset after a tense meeting with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, city officials and other Latino leaders Monday about a March 28 incident in which at least eight juveniles [some of whom were alleged gang members --LW] were sent back to Mexico because they could not prove they were living in the United States legally...

Ramon de Harvey came to the United States illegally in her late teens and became a citizen in 1993. Her work with LULAC and the Phoenix Police Department's Hispanic advisory board has made the native of El Salvador a well-known face in the immigrant community and on the political scene...

"She's not a smuggler," said Salvador Reza, who worked with Ramon on Palomino's day labor center. "She's an activist that takes her job so serious that she's willing to risk it. She gets something into her head, thinks it's for the 'good of the cause' and doesn't care what the consequences are. She follows her heart but just doesn't use her brain."

(Via this)

Immigration2003 · Tue, 04/20/2004 - 20:52 · · Importance: 1