Jailed plane mechanics in US may be home for Christmas

Two of the 10 Filipino aviation mechanics arrested and jailed in the United States for using fake social security and green cards may be back in the country for Christmas, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

The two, whose names have not been revealed, were imprisoned for three months in Texas after they pleaded guilty to violating US immigration laws.

Three others were deported earlier after they plea-bargained with US authorities and readily admitted to entering the country illegally and using fake documents to work and stay permanently in the US.

Their four co-accused are still in jail after they decided to face trial and debunk the US government’s claim that they are illegal aliens carrying fake documents.

Another is out on bail and may be sent back to the Philippines soon.

Relatives of the Texas 10 asked that their names be withheld.

Based on a tip-off from informers, the Filipinos were arrested at Meacham Airport in Dallas on July 29 after immigration authorities found them to be working in a company that was not stated in their visas.

However, the National Federation of Filipino-Americans (NFFA) said the Texas 10 were detained because they were suspected to have links with the al-Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden.

After illegal Mexicans and Peruvians have been freed the Filipinos remained in jail, the NFFA added.

DFA sources said their case was inadvertently bungled by Gas Mercado, a Filipino community leader in Texas, who brought the matter to the attention of President George W. Bush and some US senators and congressmen.

Mercado’s meddling had a "negative implication" on the case of the Filipinos, which became sensationalized, sources added.

Sources said the Texas 10 should have been home in July or August if Mercado had not intervened, and negotiations would have been limited between the Philippine and US governments.

"The Filipinos are five-star air mechanics who have 15 to 20 years of experience and it would have been easier for the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles to work on their cases if not for such kinds of unnecessary intervention," sources said.

Consulate officials have banned Mercado from seeing the Filipinos and attending their trial, sources added. –Aurea Calica