SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL

April 19, 2007

Fatal car crash in Boynton leads to deportation risk for 39 immigrants

By Jerome Burdi
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Olvin Luque sat on his couch at home Wednesday feeling horrible. He was sorry a 94-year-old woman died after a crash between her Toyota and his bus the day before in Boynton Beach. He was sorry he told the 39 undocumented immigrants onboard to wait for police.

He didn't know police would call the U.S. Border Patrol. He didn't know the people he'd worked with on a cucumber farm since November would be detained and probably deported.

Luque, a father of three U.S.-born children, is a Honduran national who has temporary status in the United States since Hurricane Mitch ripped through his country in 1998. He came here in 1993 and went to Palm Beach Lakes High School.

He was driving east about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 700 block of West Boynton Beach Boulevard when Julia Ernst cut across his path from the westbound lane and onto Southwest Eighth Street, police said. She died at the scene shortly after the crash, police said.

Luque, 27, said there were cars all around him and he couldn't brake.

"The car was destroyed," Luque said. "I feel so bad for the lady and I feel so bad for the people."

He told his passengers to remain seated and wait until police arrived.

"If I had known that they were going to call Border Patrol, I would have told them to do what they wanted," said Luque, who lives west of Lake Worth. The immigrants looked surprised when Border Patrol agents showed up. In total, 16 Mexicans, 22 Guatemalans and one El Salvadoran were detained.

By Wednesday afternoon, all but three still were being held and are waiting to appear before an immigration judge. Two women and a man were released on their own recognizance because they have U.S.-born children, officials said.

Boynton Beach police said it is not common practice to alert federal authorities during investigations but since none of the illegal immigrants had identification, the "red flags" were all too obvious.

"We're not blind to the fact that illegal immigration is an issue," Lt. Jeff Katz said. "We don't make it a standard practice of enforcing U.S. immigration law [but] if we see something that demands our attention, we're going to act on it."

Ivan Ortiz, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the agency expects police to alert immigration authorities if they have "a reasonable belief" they are dealing with someone who is in the United States illegally.

He acknowledged, though, that not all police departments follow this protocol. Miami Police Chief John Timoney has instructed his officers not to call immigration agents unless they are dealing with a suspect in a serious crime who also might be undocumented.

Immigration advocates were aghast at what happened in Boynton Beach.

"This is an outrageous use of local police power which ultimately will have a determining effect on witnesses coming forward whose immigration status is unclear," Miami attorney John de Leon said. "It will create a climate of fear where people won't want to cooperate with local law enforcement."

Katz said protecting Boynton Beach residents is the Police Department's main concern. In the end, Luque was charged with not having a license plate. He does have a valid commercial driver's license and has been convicted of speeding, state records show.

Ernst had a clean driving history.

The old school bus, painted melon green, was driving from R&A Farms, west of Boynton Beach, to drop off the workers at their homes from Boynton Beach to West Palm Beach. The workers had a good day, filling about 200 buckets with 30 cucumbers each, making 50 cents per bucket on the 800-acre farm, said Luque, their supervisor.

"We were picking good," he said. "They were happy."

Ernst, a grandmother and a widow of 25 years, was headed home after buying a dress for her granddaughter's wedding next month in Saratoga County, N.Y. Ernst, a retired postal worker, lived there half the year and would have gone up in May. She spent winters in a sleepy community in Boynton Beach, off Congress Avenue near the Leisureville Golf Course.

"She was a great person, she loved life and she loved people," said her son, Donald Ernst, 65, of Texas.

Donald Ernst, along with neighbors, said Julia Ernst was a good driver who went only short distances. She left her Toyota in the garage to use while staying in Florida.

Playing cards, going to the mall or ice cream parlor and shooting the breeze with friends took up Ernst's time in South Florida as the snow came and melted away in upstate New York.

"I feel sorry about the lady," Luque said, shaking his head. "I can't erase that from my mind. Nobody deserves that."