PORTLAND, Ore. - One of the men accused of killing a 15-year-old Texas girl who was visiting Oregon could have been deported months ago.

Court records show officials in Clackamas County knew Alejandro Rivera-Gamboa was in this country illegally, but no one - from the district attorney's office to his probation officer - forwarded that information to immigration officials.

Rivera-Gamboa was arrested twice last year for DUII.  His most recent arrest was on Sept. 9, 2006. Investigators say he was issued a citation after he was taken into custody for DUII on Southeast Roethe Road in Milwaukie. Less than a month earlier, on August 12, he was arrested for DUII at Southeast 82nd and Boyer.

Rivera-Gamboa pleaded guilty in November and signed a petition disclosing that he was not a citizen of the United States. Part of that petition reads "I understand that if I am not a citizen of the United States, a criminal conviction could cause me to be deported, denied U.S. citizenship or refused the right to re-enter the United States."

Rivera-Gamboa was sentenced to 15 days in jail, two years probation and his driver's license was suspended for three years.

Nine months after Rivera-Gamboa got out of jail, police say he stepped on the throat of Dani Countryman, strangling her.

The 15-year-old Texas girl was on vacation, visiting her sister in Oregon City, when she crossed paths with Rivera-Gamboa and his cousin, Gilberto Arellano-Gamboa, at a party in Milwaukie.

Both men are now charged with aggravated murder, attempted rape and attempted sexual assault.

Rivera-Gamboa's probation officer, David Rice, never forwarded information about his illegal status to immigration officials last year, which might have gotten the man deported.

"It's never been a part of my job to do that," Rice told KATU News when we asked him why.

Rice's supervisor, Mark Rasmussen, confirmed that the Clackamas County Department of Corrections does not normally pass on the names of convicts to immigration.

"It's been our experience with immigration that they're not going to do anything on misdemeanors," Rasmussen said.

Even if the person admits to being illegal, like what Rivera-Gamboa did on the form last year, they do not turn over that information.  Rasmussen said that is because their experience in the past has been that nothing happens.

"If they're not going to do anything with the information, there's no point in sending it," said Rasmussen.

To show what immigration does not do, Clackamas County dug up records over the past 10 years.  Since 1997, immigration responded 14 times and deported three people, based on information sent from Rasmussen's probation office.

KATU News telephoned immigration in Seattle and after giving them a quick review of the facts, they told us they did not want the conversation to be recorded. 

However, they did send a written statement showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's policy regarding coordination with local law enforcement agencies:

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is responsible for the enforcement of federal immigration law.  It is our policy to respond to calls from local law enforcement if there is a suspected violation of federal immigration law.  Our response to local law enforcement is influenced by our priorities, which are curtailing threats to public safety and national security.  However, ICE’s policy is to respond to all calls as our resources allow.  
• When a local law enforcement agency contacts ICE, an agent may respond in person.  If an agent is not in the local vicinity, the agent is trained to conduct an interview by telephone to determine the alienage of the individual in question.  An agent can put a hold (or detainer) by telephone on an individual with local law enforcement for future pick-up by ICE.   
• ICE’s relationship with local law enforcement is one of the most important relationships we as an agency have.  We stand ready to carry out our federal enforcement responsibilities; notification from local law enforcement is key in completing this task.   
• ICE administers the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) where Immigration Enforcement Agents visit local jail rosters and interview incarcerated individuals born outside the United States.  If an individual is found to be illegally in the country or in violation of his or her immigration status, ICE places a hold (or a detainer) on that person while he or she is still incarcerated locally.  Once the individual completes his or her criminal sentence, he or she comes directly into ICE’s custody and is placed in deportation proceedings.  The goal of the CAP is to ensure that individuals who are eligible to be placed in removal proceedings are not released into the general population following the completion of their criminal sentences.  This amplifies ICE’s mission of preserving public safety.