CIS: Noticias sobre migración

1.

ICE failing to prosecute employers of illegals

2.

DHS drone to begin border flights

3.

CA National Guard deployment complete

4.

Judge dismisses suit against SB1070 (2 stories, 3 links)

5.

Pew poll finds illegal immigration declining (story, 3 links)

6.

AZ sheriff: Cartels control swathes of Arizona

7.

New suit challenges Nebraska tuition policy

8.

FL GOP gubernatorial hopeful urged to downplay issue

9.

AZ GOP candidates demand unions drop boycott

10.

NY advises schools to ignore students' status

11.

San Fran. sheriff seeks to prolong sanctuary

12.

Sheriff Arpaio to receive state funds previously withheld

13.

AZ sheriff scorns U.N. interest in SB1070

14.

MD county nixes AZ-style proposal

15.

FL county sheriff frets enforcement costs

16.

Feds sue Arizona county community colleges (story, link)

17.

ACLU sues firm over illegals' pay (story, link)

18.

TX activists demand amnesty during presidential visit

19.

Illegal alien dialysis patients near deal in GA

20.

Juvenile entrants coerced into smuggling drugs

21.

MO company suspected of defrauding foreigners

22.

Former Army analyst suspected of espionage (link)

23.

Mexican actress faces jury (link)

24.

Hit-and-run suspect on immigration hold (link)

25.

Coast Guard repatriates five Haitians (link)

 

Subscribe to CIS e-mail services here: http://cis.org/immigrationnews.html

 

 

-- Mark Krikorian]

 

 

1.

 

Audits: ICE isn't cracking down on illegal immigrant employers

By Susan Carroll

The Houston Chronicle, August 31, 2010

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7180760.html

 

 

Immigration inspectors poring over the hiring paperwork of a California company last summer found that 262 employees — a whopping 93 percent of the total workforce — had 'suspect' documents on file.

 

At an Illinois service company, auditors found dubious documents for nearly 8 in 10 of its 200-plus employees.

 

Inspectors examining records at a Texas manufacturing firm found suspicious paperwork for more than half of the 107 employees on the payroll.

 

But the companies didn’t pay a penny in fines. None of the employers was led away in handcuffs. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials didn’t even issue them a formal warning, the agency’s internal records show.

 

Instead, they were instructed to purge their payrolls of illegal immigrants. Armed with assurances that the employees with suspect documents were fired — or, in the Texas case, 'self-terminated' — the ICE auditors closed the cases.

 

The cases are just a few examples included in ICE’s internal records on its audit initiative, an enforcement program launched last July by Obama administration officials.

 

In the past, ICE had faced criticism for raiding job sites and rounding up large numbers of illegal immigrants for deportation, but not necessarily building cases against employers. With the audit initiative, ICE aims to scrutinize the hiring records of more businesses and impose what top officials describe as 'tough' and 'smart' employer sanctions.

 

But ICE audit records obtained recently through a Freedom of Information Act request show that the agency has, in many instances, failed to punish companies found to have significant numbers or high percentages of workers with questionable documents. In response to the public records request, ICE provided limited details on about 430 audit cases listed as 'closed' by the agency through February.

 

The records show inspectors identified more than 110 companies with suspect documents, with nearly half of those having questionable paperwork for 10 or more workers.

 

No employers arrested

 

In total, the agency ordered 14 companies to pay fines of nearly $150,000, but noted no employer arrests in connection with any of the cases. ICE agents in Atlanta also reached an agreement with a manufacturing firm that had questionable records on file for 574 of its 1,187 employees. The agreement allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution on the condition that it complies with certain ICE requirements, though ICE would not provide additional details.

 

ICE also has refused to disclose the names or locations of companies found through the auditing process to have hired illegal immigrants, saying the businesses have a right to 'personal privacy.' The agency did, however, include the location of the ICE field office assigned to each case.

 

ICE officials insist the audits and the agency’s broader strategy of aggressively pursuing employers are getting results.

'You need evidence’

 

They point to the fact that this fiscal year the agency has ordered businesses to pay a record-setting $4.6 million in civil penalties and has arrested more than 150 employers, managers or supervisors. However, some of the arrests stem from investigations going back several years. And the fines reflect enforcement actions that date as far back as 2007, including $360,000 from the 2008 raid of a Houston rag factory and more than $536,000 from a 2007 Ohio chicken factory raid.

 

ICE did not have a breakdown of how much of the $4.6 million or how many of the arrests stemmed directly from the audit initiative, which began in July 2009.

 

Brett Dreyer, the head of ICE’s worksite enforcement unit, said that ICE attempts to determine which employers may have been duped into unintentionally accepting fraudulent documents from employees, and which ones are 'turning a blind eye' to workers’ legal status.

 

'We look at each of these cases to see if they’re doing that, because that’s the main purpose of this program — check employers’ compliance and make sure that they’re obeying the law,' Dreyer said. 'But you need evidence. You need facts. And if we don’t have that, we can’t charge them.'

Several gray areas

 

Immigration experts said some cases that seem egregious on the surface, like the company with 93 percent of its workers providing suspect documents, may actually have complied with the letter of the law and not be subject to penalties.

 

'You could have a vast majority of workers ultimately be found to be in undocumented status and yet still have a good faith employer simply because of the way the system works,' said Charles Foster, a Houston immigration attorney who specializes in employer compliance.

 

Foster said an employer cannot require more than a Social Security card that looks 'reasonably genuine' on its face, or he risks committing an unfair employment practice.

Cost of doing business

 

In July 2009, ICE officials announced plans to serve 654 companies with notice of plans to audit their employment paperwork. In November, ICE announced plans to target an additional 1,000 companies.

 

In the two rounds of audits, inspectors examined more than 221,000 I-9 forms and identified 22,155 'suspect documents,' which can signal an employee is in the country illegally and lacks work authorization, or that the employer made a simple clerical error on the forms, ICE officials said.

 

But critics charge that ICE’s new strategy is soft on both illegal immigrants, who generally are not placed into deportation proceedings, and employers who can claim ignorance about fake documents and avoid penalties.

 

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, said the audits can be an effective part of an overall enforcement strategy, but that many employers consider them just a cost of doing business.

 

'They are not an effective deterrent on their own, and do nothing to bring justice in egregious cases,' Smith said.

 

Immigrant advocates estimated the audits, frequently referred to as 'silent raids,' have cost thousands of workers their jobs. Angela Kelley, with the Center for American Progress, said the strategy appears to be more thoughtful than the worksite enforcement raids of the previous administration, but the impact is 'equally as devastating.'

 

'You have this drip, drip, drip of I-9 enforcement audits all over the country, and it has the same effect — people don’t come to work the next day,' she said.

 

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2.

 

Aerial surveillance drone to start patrolling border today

By Jared Janes

The Monitor (McAllen, TX), August 31, 2010

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/aerial-42357-today-state.html

 

 

An unmanned aerial vehicle will begin patrols today along the state’s coastal area and border with Mexico as congressional delegates said they would push for a larger drone presence over Texas.

 

The Predator B drone will begin its first flights out of Corpus Christi’s naval air station, providing real-time intelligence information from attached cameras, sensors and radar systems to law enforcement authorities on the ground.

 

Predator Bs, which can stay aloft for up to 20 hours, have been used for surveillance in remote parts of the Southwest border since 2005, but today will mark the first time that one of the systems will be based in Texas.

 

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said flight operations in the state mark a 'critical next step' in combating drug smuggling and human trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border. But with funding for two more of the unmanned aerial systems included in the recently passed $600 million border security package, Cuellar said more drones must be directed to Texas, which comprises roughly 60 percent of the nation’s 1,954-mile border with Mexico.

 

'We need multiple ones in Texas just because of the great size of the state,' Cuellar said. 'It’s so much territory to cover (for one).'

 

Cuellar and other congressional representatives in Texas have worked for six months with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Aviation Administration to bring the aerial drone program to Texas.

 

Since the aerial surveillance program began over the nation’s borders in 2005, Predator B drones have logged more than 1,500 hours in the air, assisted in apprehending more than 4,000 illegal immigrants and helped seize more than 15,000 pounds of marijuana.

 

The expanded Predator B program now covers all Southwest border states and portions of the Canadian border. The use of the drones in Texas was expedited through the FAA’s certification process due to safety concerns from Mexico, where more than 28,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderón launched an offensive against the cartels in late 2006.

 

In response to growing concerns about the violence, President Barack Obama sent 1,200 National Guard troops to secure the border and urged Congress to pass a historic border security bill. The bill signed by Obama last month funds 1,000 new U.S. Border Patrol agents, about 250 more Customs and Border Protection officers and development of new Border Patrol bases and tactical communications systems.

 

The measure also included $32 million for two additional unmanned aircraft systems, bringing the total number for the border to nine once the new drones go online in 2012.

 

But U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the president’s administration must take further steps to secure the state’s border.

 

'We want immediate resources and attention to the growing security crisis along our southern border,' Cornyn said in a statement. 'I will continue to press the Department of Homeland Security to devote additional Predators to cover the Texas border, and pursue additional ways to achieve real border security.'

 

The aerial drone will fly over the Texas-Mexico border between El Paso and Brownsville. In addition, CBP will patrol the state’s coastline along the Gulf Coast.

 

Cuellar watched last week from the operations center in Corpus Christi as a drone based elsewhere tracked eight individuals from more than 19,000 feet in the air.

 

The drones can be used to assist with serious events in Mexican border cities like Reynosa or Nuevo Laredo if requested by the Mexican government, Cuellar said. And they can be used for surveying after hurricanes or other natural disasters and as an additional tool during search-and-rescue missions in the Gulf of Mexico or elsewhere.

 

Rafael Lemaitre, a Washington, D.C.-based spokesman for CBP, said the drones serve as a force multiplier, allowing CBP to conduct missions in hazardous and desolate environments that are difficult to access for personnel on the ground.

 

He said decisions on where future unmanned surveillance aircraft are deployed will be based on intelligence and analysis of threats, terrain and operational need on the ground.

 

But Rosalinda Huey, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley Sector, said the state’s first drone will benefit federal agents as soon as it begins gathering intelligence and providing reconnaissance.

 

'Any additional resources that we receive are always going to be viewed as an advantage,' she said. 'It’s going to be an enhancement for the patrols we have.'

 

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3.

 

200 National Guard troops along California-Mexico border

By Cindy Carcamo

The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA), September 1, 2010

http://www.ocregister.com/news/border-264613-california-deployment.html

 

 

Touted as the additional eyes and ears that are desperately needed, more than 200 National Guard troops completed their deployment this week along California's U.S.-Mexico border.

 

The deployment of 260 soldiers and airmen in California is part of a federal effort to secure the border. The mission is to send a total of 1,200 troops to four U.S.-Mexico border states: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California.

 

The troop swell is part of the effort by President Barack Obama's administration to secure the southwest border that has long been the stage for the illegal trafficking of human beings, guns and drugs.

 

National Guard soldiers from the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base and infantry regimens throughout Orange County are already at the Mexican border in California.

 

California National Guard Spc. Jose Rincon, who belongs to the 1st Battalion, 160th Infantry Regiment in Santa Ana, said he is proud to answer his president's call to secure the border.

 

'I believe that we should secure the border,' said Rincon, who is part of the command staff in operations. 'I serve where I'm needed. I like being here – serving my country, serving my state. I haven't had much of an opportunity to serve in the homeland. I've spent a lot of time overseas.'

 

Rincon, who volunteered to serve a one-year deployment at the border, said he recently finished a stint in Iraq.

 

However, this isn't his first time along the U.S.-Mexico border, he said. He served in a similar border mission from 2006 to 2008. That time he worked with an Entry Identification Team, observing the border fence and helping border patrol track people who illegally crossed the border.

 

Most of those deployed in California are tasked with this sort of work, spotting crossers and other illegal activity. The point is to help free up Border Patrol agents who can then focus on going after those who are spotted, said California National Guard Maj. Kimberly Holman. About 15 soldiers are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as criminal analysts.

 

Armed soldiers on the field are strategically placed as far north as Camp Pendleton and as far east as Campo, Holman said.

 

Britt Craig, a Mission Viejo resident who is a Campo Minuteman and regularly travels to the area, said he was once critical of the deployment but now supports it.

 

'I've seen what they've actually done and they are doing the things Border Patrol needs – more observers,' Craig said. 'They're doing observation posts on the hilltops. They're trained and have more communication capability, using Army communications. It's freeing up a lot of a lot of agents along the border. The way they are doing it is pretty good.'

 

The effort is a step in the right direction, but it's not a permanent solution, Craig said.

 

'They need a barrier,' he said. 'They need a real physical barrier so that people can't cross. Once you get away from Tijuana, anyone can cross the border any way they want to. The only thing keeping them from crossing is the active physical presence of border patrol chasing them off the fence.'

 

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4.

 

Federal Judge Dismisses Officer's Challenge to Arizona Immigration Law

The Associated Press, September 1, 2010

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/01/federal-judge-dismisses-officers-challenge-arizona-immigration-law/

 

 

Phoenix (AP) -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday by a Tucson police officer who challenged Arizona's new immigration law.

 

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton says the lawsuit by Officer Martin Escobar alleged an injury that was based on speculation.

 

Escobar alleged he would be subject to civil liability for violating the rights of others in enforcing the law.

 

Gov. Jan Brewer's lawyers asked for the dismissal.

 

Two of the seven challenges to the law have been dismissed.

 

Last month, Bolton put the law's most controversial elements on hold in a case filed by the U.S. Justice Department.

 

The other five lawsuits remain alive.

 

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Donations to defend Ariz. immigration law top $2M

The Associated Press, August 31, 2010

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iQbb51BEaoPtAQncoj36ODoK0ajgD9HUQ4G80

 

 

Phoenix (AP) -- Gov. Jan Brewer's office says Arizona has received more than $2 million in donations to help pay for the legal defense of the state's controversial law targeting illegal immigration.

 

Seven lawsuits were filed to challenge the law. Two have been dismissed, but a judge ruled on a suit filed by the U.S. Justice Department by blocking key provisions of the law from taking effect July 29.

 

Brewer is appealing that ruling.

 

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Judge tosses cop's suit against SB 1070

By Howard Fischer

The Capitol Media Services, September 1, 2010

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_d275c5a1-4c9e-546d-9092-4132aa7973b4.html

 

 

Judge dismisses second suit against SB1070

By Jeremy Duda

The Arizona Capitol Times, August 31, 2010

http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2010/08/31/judge-dismisses-second-suit-against-sb1070/

 

 

Judge dismisses Arizona policeman's suit against immigration law

She cites prior rulings that public officials cannot sue to block laws they don't want to enforce. Key provisions of SB1070 remain on hold, with arguments scheduled for November.

By Nicholas Riccardi

The Los Angeles Times, September 1, 2010

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0901-arizona-immigration-20100901,0,1999319.story

 

 

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5.

 

Illegal immigration to U.S. down almost 67% since 2000, report says

By Tara Bahrampour

The Washington Post, September 1, 2010

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/09/01/AR2010090102961.html

 

 

The number of illegal immigrants entering the United States has plunged by almost two-thirds in the past decade, a dramatic shift after years of growth in the population, according to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

 

Between 2000 and 2005, an average of 850,000 people a year entered the United States without authorization, according to the report released Wednesday. As the economy plunged into recession between 2007 and 2009, that number fell to 300,000.

 

The sharp drop-off has contributed to an 8 percent decrease in the estimated number of illegal immigrants living in the United States, from a peak of 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million in 2009, the report said. Of the 11.1 million, 8.9 million came from Mexico and other parts of Latin America. Virginia, Florida and Nevada were among the states with steepest declines in their populations of illegal immigrants.

 

The new figures come amid a heated national debate over efforts by Arizona and other jurisdictions to identify people who are here illegally and push to have them deported.

 

Douglas Massey, a Princeton University sociologist who studies migration, said the recession and lack of jobs are major factors in the decline of those entering the country illegally.

 

The unemployment rate for unauthorized immigrants is 10.4 percent higher than that of either U.S.-born residents or legal immigrants, the Pew report said.

 

Massey said other likely reasons for the decline include an increase in law enforcement and deportations, and enactment of stricter legislation against illegal immigrants. He also pointed to more guest-worker spots, from 104,000 in 2000 to 302,000 in 2009 -- allowing more immigrants to come to the United States legally.

 

'Life's gotten pretty miserable for immigrants in the United States,' he said, noting that even for legal immigrants, many of whom have relatives who are unauthorized, the increased scrutiny has been stressful.

 

Still, the flow of legal immigrants into the United States has increased slightly over the past decade, according to the report, noting that the trends have reduced the percentage of immigrants who are here illegally, from 31 percent of all immigrants in 2007 to 29 percent in 2009.

 

Although an earlier Pew study pointed to signs of fewer illegal immigrants in recent years, the new report reveals the first statistically significant reversal in the growth of the population in the past 20 years, said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew.

 

Passel, an author of the new report, noted that in recent years, illegal entry has gotten more expensive, harder and more dangerous.

 

'We know that it's harder to sneak across the border than it was four or five years ago, and especially than it was 10 or 15 years ago,' he said. 'Virtually everyone who sneaks across the border uses a coyote now, and the cost has gone up. The increase of the border patrol around cities and ports of entry has pushed the flows across the border into more remote places.'

 

The report's findings were hailed by Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates tighter immigration controls.

 

The figures contradict 'the idea that the only options before us are mass expulsions or mass amnesty,' he said. 'This finding points to the middle way, of a consistent decrease of the illegal population over time through enforcement.'

 

Large declines in illegal immigrants in Florida and Nevada are likely because of the mortgage and foreclosure crises and the loss of thousands of construction jobs, which immigrants often fill, Passel and Massey said. Florida's illegal immigrant population fell by 375,000, to an estimated 675,000, between 2008 and 2009, and Nevada's decreased by 50,000, to an estimated 180,000 during that period.

 

The number in Virginia fell by 65,000, to 240,000, which Passel attributed to the economy as well as stricter legislation passed in Prince William County in 2007 and 2008.

 

The nationwide trajectory will likely depend on the strength of the country's economic recovery and the level of enforcement of immigration laws, Passel said.

 

'In the past the flows have moved in line with the state of the U.S. economy,' he said. 'But we have stepped up enforcement right now. Right now, both are working in the same direction. If the economy turns around and enforcement is increased, we don't know.'

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Pew report is available online at: http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=126

 

 

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Study: Illegal immigration has slowed considerably

By Michael Doyle

The McClatchy Newspapers, September 1, 2010

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/01/1802727/study-illegal-immigration-has.html

 

 

Number of illegal immigrants in U.S. now declining

By Hope Yen

The Associated Press, September 1, 2010

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/01/1802560/number-of-illegal-immigrants-in.html

 

 

Illegal immigration from Mexico to U.S. declines, but Texas doesn't share trend, study finds

By Dianne Solis

The Dallas Morning News, September 1, 2010

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/090210dnmetimmigstudy.af79582c.html

 

 

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6.

 

Sheriff: Mexican Cartels Control Parts of Arizona

By Jerry Seper and Matthew Cella

Newsmax, September 1, 2010

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/MexicanCartelsControlArizona/2010/09/01/id/368922

 

 

The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

 

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.

 

They warn travelers that they are entering an 'active drug and human smuggling area' and they may encounter 'armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.' Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to 'use public lands north of Interstate 8' and to call 911 if they 'see suspicious activity.'

 

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, attests to the violence. He said his deputies are outmanned and outgunned by drug traffickers in the rough-hewn desert stretches of his own county.

 

'Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,' he said. 'They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.

 

'This is going on here in Arizona,' he said. 'This is 70 to 80 miles from the border - 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States.'

 

He said he asked the Obama administration for 3,000 National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, but what he got were 15 signs.

 

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer condemned what she called the federal government's 'continued failure to secure our international border,' saying the lack of security has resulted in important natural recreational areas in her state being declared too dangerous to visit.

 

In a recent campaign video posted to YouTube, Mrs. Brewer - standing in front of one of the BLM signs - attacked the administration over the signs, calling them 'an outrage' and telling President Obama to 'Do your job. Secure our borders.'

 

BLM spokesman Dennis Godfrey in Arizona said agency officials were surprised by the reaction the signs generated when they were put up this summer.

 

'We were perhaps naive in setting the signs up,' he said. 'The intention of the signs was to make the public aware that there is potential illegal activity here. But it was interpreted in a different light, and that was not the intent at all.'

 

He said there should be 'no sense that we have ceded the land,' adding that no BLM lands in Arizona are closed to the public.

 

'I kind of liken it to if I were visiting a city I were not familiar with and asked a policeman if it were safe to go in a particular area,' Mr. Godfrey said.

 

Rising violence along the border has coincided with a crackdown in Mexico on warring drug gangs, who are seeking control of smuggling routes into the United States.

 

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has waged a bloody campaign against powerful cartels, yesterday announcing the arrest of Texas-born Edgar 'La Barbie' Valdez - a powerful cartel leader captured outside of Mexico City on Monday evening.

 

More than 28,000 people have died since Mr. Calderon launched his crackdown in late 2006, and the bloodshed shows no sign of ending. Law enforcement authorities have been warning for more than two years that the dramatic rise in border violence eventually would spread into the U.S.

 

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents all 17,500 of the Border Patrol's front-line agents, said areas well north of the border are so overrun by armed criminals that U.S. citizens are being warned to keep out of those locations.

 

'The federal government's lack of will to secure our borders is painfully evident when signs are posted well north of the border warning citizens that armed and dangerous criminals are roaming through those areas with impunity,' he said. 'Instead of taking the steps necessary to secure our borders, politicians are attempting to convince the public that our borders are more secure now than ever before.

 

'Fortunately, some responsible civil servants are candidly warning the public about the dangers that exist not just along the border but, in some cases, well beyond,' he said. 'This situation should alarm all sensible people, and should spur endless demands that our legislators take whatever actions are necessary to restore law and order to these areas.'

 

Rep. Ted Poe, Texas Republican and a member of the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees, said the federal government's new border security plan apparently is to 'erect some signs telling you it's not safe to travel in our own country.'

 

'If you are planning on loading up the station wagon and taking the kids to Disneyland, the federal government doesn't advise going through Arizona - it's too dangerous and they can't protect you,' said Mr. Poe. 'These signs say to American citizens, the federal government has ceded this area to the drug cartels. Don't come here; we can't protect you.'

 

Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called the signs 'an insult to the citizens of border states.'

 

'American citizens should not have to be fearful for their lives on U.S. soil,' he said. 'If the federal government would do its job of enforcing immigration laws, we could better secure the border and better protect the citizens of border states.'

 

Michael W. Cutler, a retired 31-year U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) senior criminal investigator and intelligence specialist, said the BLM warning signs suggest the U.S. government is 'ceding American territory to armed criminals and smugglers.'

 

Meanwhile, he said, politicians in Washington, D.C., including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, continue to claim the border is now more secure than ever and, as a result, it is time for comprehensive immigration reform.

 

'How much more land will our nation cede to drug dealers and terrorists? At what point will the administration understand its obligations to really secure our nation's borders and create an immigration system that has real integrity?' Mr. Cutler said.

 

'At the rate we are going, the 'Red, White and Blue' of the American flag will be replaced with a flag that is simply white - the flag of surrender.'

 

Ms. Napolitano said this week that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would begin flying a Predator B drone out of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Wednesday, extending the reach of the agency's unmanned surveillance aircraft across the length of the 1,956-mile border with Mexico.

 

Last month, Mr. Obama signed a $600 million bill to beef up security along the southwestern border. The bill funds 1,000 more Border Patrol agents, as well as 250 CBP officers and two more unmanned aerial vehicles.

 

Two years ago, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the investigative arm of Homeland Security, said in a report that border gangs were becoming increasingly ruthless and had begun targeting not only rivals, but federal, state and local police. ICE said the violence had risen dramatically as part of 'an unprecedented surge.'

 

The Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center, in its 2010 drug threat assessment report, called the cartels 'the single greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States.' It said Mexican gangs had established operations in every area of the United States and were expanding into rural and suburban areas. It said assaults against U.S. law enforcement officers along the southwestern border were on the increase - up 46 percent against Border Patrol agents alone.

 

At the same time, the Justice Department brought a lawsuit to stop a new immigration enforcement law in Arizona, saying it violated the Constitution by trying to supersede federal law and by impairing illegal immigrants' right to travel and conduct interstate commerce.

 

Mr. Cutler said it was 'outrageous' for the BLM to direct travelers to dial 911 to report suspicious activities since the calls do not go to the federal government but to state and local police. He said the signs are telling Americans to call state and local law enforcement authorities to deal with border lawlessness while at the same time telling Arizona that only the federal government can write and enforce immigration laws.

 

'You can't make this stuff up,' he said.

 

Mr. Godfrey said that just because the signs direct travelers who witness illegal activity to call 911, 'that does not mean that only a local agency will respond.'

 

'The idea is that people will get help as quickly as they can,' he said.

 

Sheriff Babeu has dealt firsthand with the rising violence in his county since his 2008 election. One of his deputies, Louie Puroll, was shot and critically wounded in April after he spotted five men he suspected of transporting drugs along a remote span of desert near Interstate 8 and Arizona 84.

 

He said his experience makes him see the issue differently from the administration in Washington.

 

'The president is only looking at this from a political perspective,' he said. 'Everything is not fine. Everything is not OK.'

 

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7.

 

Fairbury next in immigration battle

By Cindy Gonzalez

The Omaha World Herald (NE), September 1, 2010

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100901/NEWS01/709019918

 

 

Nebraska’s latest battle over illegal immigration is about to unfold in the town of Fairbury, where residents number less than 3,700 and foreigners are only a few dozen.

 

It is in this Jefferson County seat — where the legendary Wild Bill Hickok is said to have begun his infamous gunslinging career — that six taxpayers have filed a lawsuit asserting that Nebraska’s 2006 law granting in-state tuition rates to certain illegal immigrants violates federal law and is an improper use of their tax dollars.

 

The lawsuit names the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and other state college boards as defendants.

 

The Fairbury plaintiffs are represented by Kansas City, Mo., law professor Kris Kobach, who is building a national reputation as an opinion leader and architect of some of the toughest immigration laws in the country, including those in Arizona and Fremont, Neb.

 

The plaintiffs also are his in-laws and their neighbors.

 

So far the Nebraska law — designed for youths whose parents brought them to the U.S. illegally but have attended at least three years of a high school in Nebraska — has been used by a few dozen students.

 

It has been dogged by controversy. Gov. Dave Heineman unsuccessfully vetoed the law before it went into effect in 2006. A few legislators have since tried to repeal it, and it’s been a contentious issue in several political races.

 

So why has the issue now come to Fairbury, a town that doesn’t even have a local college campus or an industry that attracts immigrants?

 

Kobach said he has been contacted by frustrated taxpayers statewide for years. He spends a lot of time with family and friends in Fairbury, he said, so it is 'convenient' for him to argue the case there.

 

His wife, Heather, is a Fairbury native. Her parents, Doyle and Brenda Mannschreck, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Other plaintiffs are Bruce and Patti Swartz, relatives of the Mannschrecks, and Brad and Danessa Weatherl, the Mannschrecks’ neighbors.

 

Kobach sees no advantage to battling in a Jefferson County courthouse, as all district judges should apply the same case law. He said he could have filed the lawsuit in a different county, as its outcome affects all Nebraska taxpayers.

 

'There has been a great clamoring to overturn this law,' said Kobach, who also is running for Kansas secretary of state. 'Literally, I have been receiving e-mails and phone calls from all over Nebraska since 2006.'

 

Contacted at home, Doyle Mannschreck said the in-state tuition issue came up at the dinner table with Kobach.

 

'We just said, ‘Why don’t we just do it? We’re taxpayers.’ We never thought it was right from the beginning.'

 

Mannschreck, 62, said he and his wife paid to put all three of their daughters through the state university system. He doesn’t think the state should be spending any money to give illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates.

 

The retired farm equipment dealer said he hasn’t heard any uproar about illegal immigration in the town where he has lived for 50 years. His wife is a speech pathologist.

 

'They don’t talk about it,' Mannschreck said, 'but everybody thinks: ‘What part of illegal don’t you understand?’'

 

The essence of the Nebraska case is similar to lawsuits filed by Kobach in two other states. The Kansas challenge was defeated in federal court; California’s is before that state’s Supreme Court. (Texas also has a lawsuit outstanding, but Kobach is not involved in that one.)

 

Kobach argues that the states are violating a 1996 federal law that prevents them from offering in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants unless the state extends the same benefit to out-of-state U.S. citizens.

 

Interpretation of federal law is in dispute.

 

Michael Olivas, a University of Houston law professor who is advising the Nebraska university lawyers on the matter, said federal law allows states to draft their own policies.

 

A 2010 report prepared for Congress by the Congressional Research Service said some states went around the 1996 law by basing eligibility for the lower tuition on criteria that do not explicitly include state residency.

 

In all, 10 states have laws like Nebraska’s, which extends in-state tuition to students who graduate from area high schools after attending for at least three years. Noncitizen students otherwise pay a higher tuition rate.

 

For example, undergraduate tuition and fees this year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln amount to about $7,300 for in-state students and about $19,000 for nonresidents.

 

The students must pledge to seek citizenship at their first opportunity.

 

So far, 38 students are using the law to attend college in Nebraska, officials have said.

 

By contrast, Texas higher education records show that about 12,000 college students benefited in a recent semester from that state’s law granting in-state tuition.

 

Kansas was the first state whose law was challenged. Kobach lost that battle when the federal court determined that the law did not harm the out-of-state college students trying to overturn it.

 

He’s employing different tactics in Nebraska. The plaintiffs are taxpayers, and the case was filed in state court. Taxpayer standing is allowed in Nebraska, Kobach said, to challenge the illegal spending of tax dollars.

 

University of Nebraska lawyer John Wiltse said the Nebraska colleges are asking that the case be thrown out based on their contention that the six Fairbury taxpayers don’t have standing or face harm by the law.

 

The 2006 law, he said, simply extends to illegal immigrant teens the same tuition rate granted to fellow high school graduates. It does not open the door to other aid.

 

Of Kobach, Wiltse said: 'He goes wherever he thinks he can go, wherever he can get a forum to make his views known on immigration law. To try and drive a wedge between these students and the rest of the population is something I am not inclined to let him get away with.'

 

Kobach also works with the Immigration Reform Law Institute, the legal arm of Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). He represented petitioners in Fremont in their fight to adopt an ordinance banning the housing and hiring of illegal immigrants. More recently, the City of Fremont hired Kobach to defend it against a legal challenge to the voter-approved ordinance.

 

Kobach said the legal challenge to Nebraska’s law was 'not something I catalyzed or caused.'

 

Other states and congressional representatives are watching the case, assigned to District Judge Paul W. Korslund.

 

The next hearing date on the lawsuit, filed earlier this year, has not been set. But the judge has requested more written information from Kobach by Sept. 13.

 

Lawyers for the defendants — which include nearly 90 people who govern the University of Nebraska system and other state college governing bodies — have until Oct. 4 to respond.

 

Korslund’s options include throwing out the 2006 law or throwing out the lawsuit.

 

For now, the case hasn’t created much of a stir in the town, about an hour’s drive southwest of Lincoln.

 

Joseph Parker, Fairbury city administrator, said he hadn’t even heard about the lawsuit until a reporter asked him about it last week.

 

Neither has he heard much chatter about illegal immigration. He said he only occasionally sees a Hispanic walking around Fairbury, where the U.S. Census count in 2000 showed 19 foreign-born residents.

 

Parker said he does sense frustration about the ailing economy, and assumes that the six Fairbury plaintiffs are protecting their tax dollars.

 

'Maybe it’s kind of a burr under their saddle,' he said. 'They’re just looking out for their own interest, I guess, and how their tax money is going.'

 

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8.

 

Hispanics urge Rick Scott: Reduce immigration issue emphasis

Some Hispanic lawmakers are urging the Republican nominee for governor Rick Scott to focus less on illegal immigration and more on the economy.

By Beth Reinhard

The Miami Herald, September 1, 2010

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/01/1801823/hispanics-urge-scott-reduce-immigration.html

 

 

The ``800-pound gorilla'' at Tuesday's closed-door meeting between the newly crowned Republican nominee for governor and Hispanic state legislators wasn't their strong support for his former rival, according to one participant.

 

It was Rick Scott's hardline stance on illegal immigration.

 

Scott has championed Arizona's new crackdown that requires police to question suspected illegal immigrants and says he wants to bring a similar law to Florida. Some Hispanic Republicans say they hope the issue will take a back seat to the economy between now and the Nov. 2 general election.

 

``I asked about the issue going forward, and he said immigration is an issue, but the more pressing one is jobs and the economy,'' said Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera of Miami, who has concerns that an Arizona-type law could infringe on civil liberties.

 

'Thorniest Issue'

 

``That was the thorniest issue at the meeting as far as the Miami-Dade delegation is concerned,'' said state Rep. Steve Bovo of Hialeah, who heads the Hispanic caucus. ``We wanted to communicate that this is a very sensitive issue for us. . . . What happens if my dad gets pulled over and he left his license at home?''

 

Bovo and Lopez-Cantera were among the Hispanic lawmakers who later joined Scott at a ``unity rally'' at Sweetwater City Hall. The event aimed to smooth over the animosity Scott faced from the political establishment during his primary battle against Attorney General Bill McCollum.

 

One exception to Scott's isolation during the primary season was Sweetwater Mayor Manuel Maroño, who accompanied Scott to the rally in his hometown and introduced him last week at his election night party. Maroño has been a fixture by Scott's side during campaign events in Miami-Dade for weeks.

 

Scott is being encouraged to consider a Hispanic from South Florida as his running mate to broaden his appeal and diffuse the immigration issue.

 

``We've never seen a Hispanic on the top of the ticket. It's time,'' Lopez-Cantera said.

 

Al Cárdenas, former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said the explosive campaign debate over immigration was one of the reasons for the low turnout in heavily Hispanic Miami-Dade County. Turnout in last week's primary was about 17 percent, one of the poorest showings in the state.

 

``I think the immigration debate discouraged Hispanics from turning out in greater numbers,'' Cárdenas said.

 

Scott's chief competitor in the governor's race, Democrat Alex Sink, has said she opposes the Arizona law.

 

Scott didn't mention immigration in a short speech at the rally before about 250 people, and he didn't answer a question afterward about whether the issue would fade from his campaign. The Naples multi-millionaire and first-time candidate shook up the sleepy Republican primary with an unprecedented media blitz that included a number of spots on immigration.

 

Changing Economy

 

Once Scott started rising in the polls, McCollum retreated from his previous criticism of the Arizona law. But Scott continued to pillory him as a do-nothing, career politician.

 

``This race was won on one issue. Who is going to change the economy and bring jobs?'' Scott told the crowd in Sweetwater.

 

State Sen. Rudy Garcia of Miami, another lawmaker who met with Scott before attending the rally, said he raised the issue of undocumented immigrants who have jobs but can't get drivers' licenses.

 

``The most important thing I got out of the meeting with Rick is that he's listening thoughtfully and carefully,'' he said.

 

``When it comes to the Arizona law, I think we need to be careful about how we proceed.''

 

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9.

 

GOP candidates to Dems: Disavow boycott, 2 unions

By Howard Fischer

The Capitol Media Services, September 1, 2010

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/article_3059134b-4c2f-5eb8-aa17-e77907e885da.html

 

 

Phoenix -- Five Republican candidates for statewide office and several congressional hopefuls called on their Democratic foes Tuesday to denounce a boycott of Arizona and the unions that support it.

 

Gov. Jan Brewer specifically referred to the unions as the 'boycott cartel.'

 

In virtually simultaneous news releases, the GOP candidates for governor, treasurer, attorney general, schools superintendent and mine inspector said their opponents should distance themselves from the United Food and Commercial Workers union and the Service Employees International Union that have urged organizations to move their conferences out of Arizona.

 

Several Republican congressional candidates, including Jesse Kelly, Paul Gosar and David Schweikert, also sent out nearly identical statements, hoping to capitalize on the popularity of Arizona's new immigration law and anti-union sentiment.

 

'It is coordinated, absolutely,' said Brewer campaign spokesman Doug Cole.

 

'We are going to draw the contrast between our Republican ticket and the Democrat ticket who is supported by these two national unions that are trying to harm Arizona and Arizona families by boycotting,' Cole said. 'All those candidates ... need to renounce their (union) endorsements.'

 

He said the Republicans will continue to hammer away at that theme until Election Day.

 

But not everyone involved was enthusiastic about the idea.

 

'I was hesitant to do it,' state Mine Inspector Joe Hart told Capitol Media Services. 'I didn't think I needed to stoop to that. But I darn sure don't need to support anybody that's boycotting Arizona.'

 

Hart said it was part of being a 'team player' for the Republican ticket.

 

Polls show that most Arizonans support SB 1070, the new immigration law. And the state has never been terribly friendly to unions. Arizona has a specific 'right to work' provision in the state constitution banning 'closed shops' where employment is contingent on membership in a union.

 

But Cole, whose candidate has been endorsed by the Arizona Police Association labor organization, insisted the effort is not anti-union. He said it's aimed only at national unions - and these two unions in particular.

 

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Terry Goddard has no intention of rejecting any union endorsements, said his press aide Janey Pearl.

 

'He's proud of any organization that supports workers, which is more than she (Brewer) has done,' Pearl said.

 

Goddard has publicly opposed calls for a boycott, Pearl added, and she called this just a diversionary tactic by Brewer.

 

'This is just another example of them being silly, twisting the truth around and try to focus away from the real issues,' Pearl said. 'Let's look at how she's going to create jobs, not just from the (federal) stimulus.'

 

Pearl also pointed out that Brewer has so far refused to agree to participate in more than the one debate she is legally required to do by virtue of taking public funds for her campaign. That hour-long debate is set to air at 7 p.m. today on both KAET-TV and KUAT-TV.

 

Tom Horne, running for attorney general, called it 'troubling' that his Democratic opponent, Felecia Rotellini, is supported by the United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 99, which gave her the maximum $4,176.

 

Horne was the only candidate to say Tuesday that an opponent specifically took campaign donations from either of the unions.

 

'I believe Ms. Rotellini, if she is serious about enforcing the law, should repudiate the support of any organization, including the UFCW that is targeting Arizona economically,' Horne's statement read.

 

That brought a sharp retort from Dave Cieslak, Rotellini's campaign spokesman.

 

'Here's a better question: Will Tom Horne renounce this morning's endorsement from Andrew Thomas, who is under investigation by the FBI?' Cieslak said. That refers to Horne's own attacks on his now-defeated primary foe, whom Horne said was under scrutiny by the state bar and federal agents over whether he used his position as Maricopa County attorney to pursue political enemies.

 

'Tom should think twice about throwing stones after jumping into bed with the likes of Andy Thomas,' Cieslak said.

 

Andrei Cherny, the Democrat running for state treasurer, said Republican Doug Ducey is in no position to question endorsements. Cherny said Ducey is being backed by organizers of a group that unsuccessfully challenged a 2007 law that allows the state to suspend or revoke the business licenses of companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers.

 

James McLaughlin, president of UFCW Local 99, said the hostility toward his organization is misplaced. He said the Arizona-based local - the group that has made campaign contributions and endorsed some candidates - has never asked people not to come to the state.

 

'It doesn't work that way,' he said. 'We live here.'

 

McLaughlin said the Republicans have purposely chosen to ignore that the boycott calls came from the international union.

 

'These guys have never missed an opportunity to attack working families in this state,' he said.

 

Scott Washburn, state director of Service Employees International Union, said the same situation exists with his union, with any decision not to meet in Arizona coming at the national level.

 

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10.

 

New York Asks Schools to Avoid Pupil Immigration Status

By Kirk Semple

The New York Times, August 31, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/nyregion/01immig.html

 

 

The State Education Department has sent school districts a memorandum strongly recommending that they not ask for information that might reveal the immigration status of enrolling students, after a civil liberties group complained that scores of districts were requesting such information in possible violation of federal law.

 

The memo, which was sent on Monday, explained that a 1982 Supreme Court decision had recognized the right of all children, regardless of immigration status, to attend public school as long as they met the age and residency requirements established by state law.

 

'Accordingly, at the time of registration,' the memo said, 'schools should avoid asking questions related to immigration status or that may reveal a child’s immigration status, such as asking for a Social Security number.'

 

The memo, titled 'Student Registration Guidance,' followed months of pressure from the New York Civil Liberties Union, which had discovered that some 139 districts — about 20 percent of the total — were requiring children’s immigration papers as a prerequisite to enrollment, or asking parents for information that only lawful immigrants could provide. The group repeatedly asked the Education Department to stop those practices.

 

While the group did not find any cases in which children had been turned away for lack of immigration paperwork, it worried that the requirements could deter illegal immigrant families from enrolling children for fear that their status might be reported to federal authorities. The requested documents included Social Security cards and resident alien cards.

 

The state’s education law, which mandates a free public education for all residents ages 5 to 21 who have no high school diploma, allows districts to require documents that prove age and residency, like rental leases, birth certificates, consular identification cards and utility bills. It does not mention immigration-related documents.

 

The Education Department resisted taking any direct action to advise districts on the law. But after The New York Times published an article on the issue in July, some school districts asked state officials for guidance, and the department decided to issue the memo, a spokesman said.

 

'Shortly after the story ran, we revisited the issue and felt that it would be helpful to districts to give them more comprehensive guidance,' the spokesman, Jonathan Burman, said Tuesday. The Education Department developed the memo in consultation with lawyers at the civil liberties union, he said.

 

Asked why the memo stopped short of forbidding districts to request immigration-related documents, Mr. Burman said: 'This was developed by our team of lawyers, and vetted and discussed and shared with the N.Y.C.L.U.’s counsel. So we felt that this was the best, most legally accurate guidance that we could share with the field.'

 

The civil liberties group applauded the memo. 'There’s no question that a strong mandate would’ve been better,' said Udi Ofer, the group’s advocacy director. 'But the language included in this guidance makes it clear that school districts must amend their policies to be in compliance with constitutional law.'

 

Mr. Ofer also warned that the guidance was only as good as its enforcement. 'The state must aggressively monitor the enrollment practices of the school districts,' he said. If not, he warned, 'surely the problem will continue.'

 

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11.

 

Sheriff repeats sanctuary city claim

By Brent Begin

The San Francisco Examiner, September 1, 2010

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Sheriff-repeats-sanctuary-city-claim--101945033.html

 

 

San Francisco -- San Francisco’s sheriff has renewed a call to opt out of a federal program that defies The City’s sanctuary policy by identifying and deporting illegal immigrants even if they haven’t committed a felony.

 

Sheriff Michael Hennessey and a majority of supervisors have blasted a federal program that takes fingerprint information from jails and sends it directly to immigration authorities. The City’s sanctuary ordinance prevents city officials from assisting immigration authorities unless a felony is suspected. Hennessey called on the California Department of Justice to shield information from the federal government.

 

Attorney General Jerry Brown and Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied Hennessey’s earlier request. Now, Brown’s office stands by its decision even though federal authorities last week explicitly told local jurisdictions they can opt out of the program.

 

ICE released a fact sheet Thursday called 'Secure Communities: Setting the Record Straight.' The document was released after a public records request showed that about 26 percent of people deported through the Secure Communities program in nine months were considered non-criminals.

 

The fact sheet caught the eye of local immigrant rights attorneys because it seemed like a reversal on a previous statement on opting out of the program. It said that if a jurisdiction wishes to opt out of the program, it must formally notify the state and ICE in writing.

 

Then ICE would set up a meeting and try to come to a resolution, 'which may include adjusting the jurisdiction’s activation date in or removing the jurisdiction from the deployment plan.'

 

On Tuesday, Hennessey sent a letter to Brown, ICE Executive Director David Venturella and Deputy Director Marc Rapp once again asking to opt out of the Secure Communities program, alluding to the May letter.

 

'I was told at the time in a telephone conversation with Mr. Rapp that there was no provision for a local jurisdiction to opt out,' Hennessey wrote. 'The information provided in ‘Secure Communities: Setting the Record Straight’ would suggest that there is now a procedure in place to address such requests.'

 

However, a spokeswoman for ICE, Virginia Kice, said because Brown has already told the federal government the state will participate, San Francisco must also participate.

 

'The state attorney general has made it clear that this is a statewide public safety issue,' Kice said.

 

A spokesperson for Brown, Christine Gasparac, affirmed in an e-mail, 'Our position has not changed.'

 

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12.

 

Supervisors OK $1.6M to Arpaio for immigration enforcement

By Yvonne Wingett

The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), September 1, 2010

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/09/01/20100901arpaio-immigration-funds-approved-by-supervisors-01-ON.html

 

 

Sheriff Joe Arpaio will get his $1.6 million in state money for his immigration-enforcement funds, after all.

 

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday voted to accept the funding, two weeks after they pulled the matter from the agenda amid concerns over financial accountability within Arpaio's office.

 

The money funds 15 staff positions.

 

The five-member board approved the funding on a 4-1 vote.

 

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he was pleased with the board's decision.

 

'I appreciate them approving this money, every penny counts,' he told The Republic. 'We're going to use this to continue our fight on illegal-immigration programs. We should put our differences aside and do what's right for the people of Maricopa County.'

 

Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was the holdout.

 

Wilcox fundamentally disagrees with the sheriff's enforcement of illegal immigration and always votes 'nay' on funding and donations that appear before the board.

 

Recently, Supervisor Don Stapley has also expressed concerns with the sheriff's immigration enforcement tactics.

 

A handful of sheriff's officials attended the meeting. Sean Pearce of the Deputy Law Enforcement Association asked the board to accept the funds, saying the public wants something done about illegal immigration.

 

'Enough with the politics,' he said. 'Stop playing games when innocent lives are at stake. Our citizens are tired of the violence, the maiming and the numerous deaths, not to mention the financial burden caused by the lack of enforcement. I am not here to defend the Sheriffs office and its fiscal responsibilities, but to remind you that the state legislature ... Holds sole authority to audit those funds and how they're spent - not the Board of Supervisors.'

 

Last year, supervisors initially blocked the funding from going to Arpaio's office. That decision came one month after the Justice Department announced that the Sheriff's Office was the subject of a civil-rights investigation into allegations that deputies discriminate.

 

One month later the Supervisors changed their minds and approved the funding with a 3-1 vote.

 

In 2008, former Gov. Janet Napolitano stripped Arpaio of the $1.6 million and redirected it to a fugitive task force. Republican legislative leadership gave the money back to Arpaio in a budget package in early 2009.

 

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13.

 

AZ Border Sheriff: 'I Have About As Much Regard for the U.N. as I Do the Vermin'

By Penny Starr

The CNS News, August 31, 2010

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/71977

 

 

Sheriff Larry Dever, whose officers patrol Cochise County along the border between Arizona and Mexico, said he finds it 'amazing' that the U.S. State Department would refer the recently passed immigration law in his state to the United Nations Human Rights Council for review.

 

'Well, it’s just amazing to me,' Dever told CNSNews.com. 'Course, I have about as much regard for the U.N. as I do the vermin that hides in the rocks around my house here and reaches out and tries to bite me every now and then.'

 

The Bush administration refused to join the U.N. Human Rights Council, citing lax membership criteria that allowed countries with poor human rights records to sit on the council, including countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Russia, Cuba, Pakistan, Tunisia and Egypt.

 

The Obama administration joined the council, citing its imperfections but made claims that U.S. efforts could change the organization for the better.

 

Now, the U.S. State Department is asking the council to review possible human rights violations that supposedly could occur under the Arizona’s new law against illegal immigration. The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) has also filed a lawsuit challenging the Arizona law.

 

'Where does this end?' Dever told CNSNews.com.

 

'Why the Department of Justice intervened in this case to begin with was beyond comprehension,' Dever said, referring to the DOJ lawsuit, which claims that the Arizona law violated the federal government’s exclusive right to enforce federal immigration laws.

 

Dever said the State Department move, however, is in keeping with the Obama administration’s reluctance to enforce federal immigration law and that it is probably seeking support from the United Nations to further its agenda.

 

'It’s indicative of the personality of the entire administration and what they are trying to get done,' Dever said. 'This is just further evidence.'

 

Dever added that the results of the U.N. review would not have any impact for those with boots on the ground in Arizona who, on a daily basis, fight the flow of illegal immigrants across the porous U.S. border.

 

'They can take their declarations and their findings and pack them all up and keep them in the United Nations because we really don’t care what they think,' Dever said.

 

In its report to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the State Department, headed by Secretary Hillary Clinton, said the following: 'A recent Arizona law, S.B. 1070, has generated significant attention and debate at home and around the world. The issue is being addressed in a court action that argues that the federal government has the authority to set and enforce immigration law. This action is ongoing; parts of the law are currently enjoined.'

 

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14.

 

Md. county rejects Ariz.-style immigration measure

The Associated Press, August 31, 2010

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/breaking/md-county-rejects-ariz-style-immigration-measure-101888138.html

 

 

Frederick, MD (AP) -- The Frederick County Commissioners have rejected a proposal to establish an Arizona-style immigration law in Maryland.

 

Board members voted 3-2 Tuesday not to include the measure in a package of proposals they will send to the county's state legislative delegation to bring before next year's General Assembly.

 

Board president Jan Gardner, a Democrat, opposed the measure, saying individual states should not try to reform federal immigration law.

 

The measure was proposed by County Commissioner John Thompson, state Delegate Charles Jenkins and Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, all Republicans.

 

It would have required police to question criminal suspects about their immigration status. It also would have prohibited hiring illegal immigrants for day labor.

 

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15.

 

Sheriff Steube: If you want Arizona-type immigration law, you'll have to pay for it

By Paradise Afshar

The Bradenton Herald (FL), September 1, 2010

http://www.bradenton.com/2010/09/01/2543431/sheriff-steube-talks-arizona-type.html

 

 

Bradenton, FL -- If an Arizona-type immigration law passes in Florida, Manatee County Sheriff Brad Steube is clear on his position: He 'better get the personnel to handle it.'

 

'This will be another unfunded mandate that our county will have to fund,' Steube said Tuesday during a Republican Women Federated forum at Bradenton Country Club.

 

The immigration issue might soon be hitting close to home for Floridians.

 

Arizona’s SB 1070, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer, is said to be the toughest bill on illegal immigration in the country. Last month, however, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction that blocked the most controversial aspects of the law. Meanwhile, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has proposed a bill that would require police to determine immigration status of a person during the course of a traffic stop, or another law violation, if they have a 'reasonable suspicion' the person is in the country illegally.

 

Steube’s concern: 'To be in the United States illegally is not a deportable offense. It’s a crime. It is not a deportable offense. There has to be a crime committed with it.'

 

'Since 2008, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has removed, and this is throughout the United States, 30,000 criminal aliens. Only 8,500 were convicted of committing crimes such has homicide, rape, kidnapping and robbery,' Steube said.

 

After Steube’s speech and a movie on people crossing the border to Arizona illegally, the meeting became an open forum about immigration, with people of various views sharing their beliefs.

 

Babbs Howland, 53, spoke of her need for people who immigrate to this country to assimilate and learn English.

 

'I don’t have anything against them. But if you come to this country you should learn to speak English,' said Howland, of Sarasota.

 

From the other side, a tearful Rev. Joe Cadena, of the Centro Vida Nueva, told his story of living in this country illegally and how his mother, to this day, does not speak English.

 

Others simply took all the words as a learning experience.

 

'I didn’t realize how difficult it is for them to be deported,' said Susan Benardo, 52, of Bradenton.

 

Steube closed by reminding the audience that illegal immigrants are not just those who come to this country from Mexico.

 

'They come from all over the world,' he said.

 

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16.

 

Feds file new Arizona immigration lawsuit, this time to protect workers

The Justice Department alleges that an Arizona public college discriminated against immigrant job candidates. The case could pit states' rights against those of the federal government.

By Daniel B. Wood

The Christian Science Monitor, August 31, 2010

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0831/Feds-file-new-Arizona-immigration-lawsuit-this-time-to-protect-workers

 

 

Less than two months after the US Department of Justice sued Arizona over the state’s controversial immigration law, it has filed another lawsuit targeting immigration practices by Arizona authorities.

 

The new case is unrelated to the one against Gov. Jan Brewer and the state over the illegal immigration law, but that doesn't mean it won't be a divisive one. Legal experts say it further sets up a clash between the 10th Amendment – which gives to states all powers that aren't explicitly granted to the federal government – and the Supremacy Clause, which gives the federal government exclusive power over immigration.

 

In the new suit, filed Monday, the Justice Department says Phoenix-area Maricopa Community Colleges (MCC) discriminated against almost 250 noncitizen job applicants by requiring them to fill out more documents than the law requires to prove their eligibility to work.

 

Monday's suit is 'stronger in a way' than the suit against Governor Brewer over the immigration law, because it is more specific, says Jesse Choper of UC Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law.

 

Congress has stated what it requires for the employment application, 'but doesn’t say what states cannot require,' says Mr. Choper. 'If the federal government named the requirements and said these are the only ones, this case would be a slam dunk,' he says. 'But they didn’t, so now the government has to argue what they intended.'

 

It’s 'unlawful to treat authorized workers differently during the hiring process based on their citizenship status,' said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement. The government is 'acting now to remedy this pattern or practice of discrimination.'

 

This new lawsuit indicates that the state of Arizona continues to dominate the immigration debate in the United States, says Catherine Wilson, an immigration expert at Villanova University. 'It also tells us that the Obama administration is cracking down on discriminatory hiring practices for noncitizens at the same time [it] faces intense criticism of heightened levels of deportations under its watch – higher than those under Bush.'

 

Representatives for Maricopa Community Colleges – which operates 10 colleges and two vocational training centers in the Phoenix area – have declined to comment on the suit. But Ms. Wilson says that there is a possibility that the MCC could settle with the government. That happened in a similar case earlier this year, when John Jay College was sued by the Justice Department for bias against noncitizens.

 

'They put into effect a training program to avoid further criticism of their hiring practices,' says Wilson. 'The MCC training might include similarly training their personnel over what are the proper forms to use and how to see that this doesn’t happen again.'

 

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Justice Department sues Arizona school system

By Scott Wong

The Politico (Washington, DC), August 31, 2010

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41626.html

 

 

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17.

 

ACLU: Raided Calif firm mistreated illegal workers

Bloomberg News, August 31, 2010

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HUM9B00.htm

 

 

Los Angeles -- Civil rights lawyers filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against a government contractor that was the target of an immigration raid this summer, accusing the company of bilking illegal workers out of pay and violating their rights.

 

The suit accuses Terra Universal Inc. and its owner, George Sadaghiani, of denying illegal immigrant workers overtime and sick pay and discriminating against them because of their visa status.

 

'Our employment laws provide everyone equal workplace rights regardless of what country you came from, how you got here and your immigration status,' said Jennie Pasquarella, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union-Southern California, which is participating in the suit. 'A fair day's pay for a fair day's work is a basic American rule, with no exceptions.'

 

Immigration agents seized 43 workers in June at Terra Universal's Fullerton factory, where lawyers say the company manufactures laboratory equipment for the U.S. military and other government clients.

 

The lawsuit names four workers, two of whom were seized in the raid. Pasquarella said lawyers would seek class-action status for the suit, which seeks lost wages and other damages for what could eventually include some 300 plaintiffs.

 

The suit alleges that the company put red stickers on illegal immigrant workers' personnel files, which marked them for lower pay, longer hours and hostile treatment.

 

It also accuses the company of forcing illegal workers to clock out at the end of their eight-hour work days, then clock back in as a 'second job' in order to evade scrutiny of its overtime payments.

 

'The abuse and exploitation are not part of the laws of this country,' Carlos Lameli, a former Terra Universal worker, said in Spanish through an interpreter. 'The only thing we want is to be recognized for our rights as workers. We want a dignified and fair treatment of our work.'

 

Terra Universal Chief Operating Officer Ken Harms said the company values its employees and is sad to hear some may be dissatisfied.

 

The company is also being investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor, Pasquarella said. A Labor Department spokesman did not return a call.

 

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ACLU: Fullerton company exploited immigrants

By Cindy Carcamo

The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA), September 1, 2010

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/workers-264437-officials-pasquarella.html

 

 

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18.

 

Protestors ask for immigration reform in wake of Obama visit

By Alex Hinojosa

The El Paso Times, September 1, 2010

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15952284?source=most_viewed

 

 

Several protesters took advantage of President Obama's visit to Fort Bliss today to ask for immigration reform.

 

About 150 people from the Border Network of Human Rights held signs and banners near the intersection of Airway Boulevard and Montana Avenue to call attention to their desire for immigration reform.

 

Although Obama was visiting Fort Bliss, organization spokeswoman Louie Gilot said the group wanted to protest even though there was little chance he would see.

 

'He promised that we would pass an immigration reform and he has yet to deliver on that promise,' Gilot said. 'We want him give us the changes he promised.'

 

Nellie Miranda was among those who protested.

 

'We are fighting for a reform in immigration policy,' Miranda said. 'Too many families are being separated with our current policy. Too many tears have been shed. Right now we have more National Guards and Border Patrol troops here and we don't need them.'

 

Several passersby honked in support while several shouted at them to 'Go back home!'

 

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19.

 

Agreement likely for ex-Grady dialysis patients

By Kate Brumback

The Associated Press, August 31, 2010

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/ap/agreement-likely-on-dialysis-for-ex-grady-patients-101905193.html

 

 

Atlanta (AP) -- Thirty-eight indigent patients whose dialysis treatment was set to end Tuesday would continue receiving the service under an agreement a hospital is negotiating with several clinics.

 

The Atlanta-area patients — many of them illegal immigrants — received dialysis at Grady Memorial Hospital until the Atlanta safety net facility closed its outpatient dialysis clinic in October for financial reasons. The hospital had continued to pay for treatment at private clinics, but that contract was set to expire Tuesday.

 

'We have the framework of an agreement,' Grady spokesman Matt Gove said Tuesday. 'It's a community issue and the major dialysis providers in the community have stepped up and said they will provide some charity care.'

 

The hospital is working with DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson, Emory Healthcare, Fresenius Medical Care and DaVita on an agreement. Some critical details, including Grady's portion of the cost and the length of the commitment, are still being worked out, Gove said.

 

'We are in active negotiations and believe this is positive and productive, a good step in the right direction,' said Fresenius spokeswoman Rosemary Heinold.

 

'We continue to work constructively with community leaders to develop a solution while the parties involved resolve this issue,' DaVita spokesman Vince Hancock said in an e-mail.

 

Emory Healthcare has accepted three of the patients and will begin treating them in September at a cost of roughly $40,000 per patient per year, the hospital system said in a statement.

 

Bineet Kaur, a 27-year-old Indian native and Grady patient, was overjoyed Tuesday to hear that an agreement was in the works.

 

'The last two weeks have been so stressful, I've been having pains from stress because I didn't know what I would do,' she said. 'I'm so relieved to hear there's going to be an agreement. Thank you to God.'

 

Kaur came to the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2000 and applied for political asylum, saying she didn't feel safe in India as a single woman living alone. Her asylum request was denied, making her an illegal immigrant. She was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2003 and has been doing better since she began treatment at in 2009, but she still relies on an aunt to help care for her.

 

She is one of 33 patients who sued Grady, claiming the hospital is abandoning them. A judge threw out the case in December, but it's set to be heard in state appeals court this fall, said Lindsay Jones, a lawyer for the patients.

 

Since no formal agreement has been signed, the litigation remains in effect, said Dorothy Leone-Glasser, a patient advocate who has been helping the Grady patients.

 

State Sen. Vincent Fort, whose district includes Atlanta, said he planned to hold a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening outside Grady, 'in memory of those who have passed, and for the future fatalities that will occur due to the closure of the clinic.'

 

Past agreements have led to temporary fixes, he said, and he planned to go ahead with the vigil and a visit to the Fulton County Commission.

 

'We're going to move forward until we are confident those patients are going to continue to receive treatment,' he said.

 

Patients who need dialysis cannot survive long without it. If their care were discontinued, advocates have said, many of the patients would likely end up in emergency rooms, where they would only be treated once their condition was life-threatening.

 

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20.

 

CBP: Juveniles forced to carry drug loads in exchange for food, water

By Lindsay Machak

The Monitor (McAllen, TX), September 1, 2010

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/forced-42362-carry-gloria.html

 

 

La Gloria, TX -- U.S. Border Patrol agents seized five backpacks full of marijuana Monday morning, according to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

 

Agents at the Rio Grande City station tracked footprints for about 13 miles before finding a group of undocumented immigrants resting near some brush.

 

Upon spotting agents, many of the group members tried to flee. Officers took five adults and four juveniles into custody and seized five backpacks stuffed with more than $50,000 worth of marijuana.

 

According to the CBP statement, the juveniles were forced to carry the backpacks in exchange for food and water.

 

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21.

 

Mo. AG obtains temporary restraining order against company accused of defrauding immigrants

The Associated Press, August 31, 2010

http://www.kplr11.com/news/sns-ap-mo--immigrationformsfraud,0,6965598.story

 

 

Jefferson City, MO (AP) -- A Sedalia company accused of defrauding immigrants has been ordered to stop doing business in Missouri.

 

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said in a news release that he obtained a temporary restraining order Tuesday in Pettis County Circuit Court against Immigration Forms and Publications Inc. Koster says the company also has operated under the names Immigration Forms and Services and the U.S. Immigration Center.

 

Koster alleges in a lawsuit that the company charges consumers fees ranging from $250 to $2,500 for immigration-related forms that they could have obtained for free. Koster also said some customers who paid for forms never got them or got the wrong forms.

 

Calls to the toll-free number listed on the company's website rang unanswered Tuesday night.

 

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22.

 

Agent: Ex-Army analyst had manuals on artillery

By Amy Forliti

The Associated Press, August 31, 2010

 

St. Paul (AP) -- A former U.S. Army analyst who tried to board a flight to China with electronic files containing restricted Army documents poses a danger of the 'gravest sense,' a prosecutor argued Tuesday in federal court.

 

Liangtian Yang, 26, of Lawton, Okla., is charged in Oklahoma with one count of theft of government property. During a detention hearing, investigators testified he had copies of two restricted Army field manuals on multiple launch rocket systems on his computer equipment when he was arrested last week at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

 

Yang had quit his job days earlier after he lost his security clearance for failing to report his marriage, prosecutors said.

 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeanne Graham ordered Yang to remain in custody and be transferred to Oklahoma within 10 days to face the charge against him. She said he was a flight risk.

 

'Obviously, danger to national security is a concern,' Graham said. 'There are too many questions and shadows, and maybe more light will be shed in Oklahoma.'

 

FBI special agent Michael Stukel testified that Yang, also known as Alfred Yang, worked on experimental weapons for the Army. Along with the manuals on rocket systems, investigators found evidence indicating a classified document had once been on Yang's computer equipment but was no longer, he said.

 

Authorities found more documents that are being reviewed, Stukel said.

 

Court testimony didn't reveal why Yang may have had the documents, which are not supposed to be loaded onto personal computers or released to foreign nationals.

 

Yang's attorney, Scott Johnson, said his client has lived in the U.S. since 2001, became a U.S. citizen in 2006 and had been with the Oklahoma National Guard. Johnson said Yang intended to return to the U.S. after attending a university in China.

. . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/31/AR2010083105477.html

 

 

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23.

 

Marriage fraud trial of Mexican actress winds down

By Anthony McCartney

The Associated Press, August 31, 2010

 

Los Angeles (AP) -- In tearful, sometimes tense testimony, a Mexican-born actress and her husband accused of entering into a sham marriage said Tuesday they loved each other and intended to start a life together when they married in 2005.

 

Fernanda Romero and musician Kent Ross were among the last witnesses in the marriage fraud trial that could send the pair to federal prison for as long as five years if they are convicted.

 

Jury deliberations could begin Wednesday after closing arguments.

. . .

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/ap/marriage-fraud-trial-of-mexican-actress-winds-down-101930253.html

 

 

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24.

 

Morrow Hit-and-Run Suspect Turns Himself In

Fox 5 Atlanta, September 1, 2010

 

Morrow, GA -- Police said a man wanted in connection with a hit and run that put a 7-year-old boy in the hospital turned himself in Tuesday.

. . .

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/morrow-hit-and-run-suspect-turns-himself-in--083110

 

 

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25.

 

5 Haitian migrants found at sea repatriated

The Miami Herald, September 1, 2010

 

The Coast Guard repatriated five Haitian migrants to Cap Haitien, Haiti, Tuesday after they were found aboard a 25-foot vessel.

. . .

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/01/1801661/5-haitian-migrants-found-at-sea.html

 

 

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