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Congressional investigators reviewing the failed gun-tracking program Operation Fast and Furious have formally asked the Obama administration to turn over copies of "all records" involving three key White House national security officials and the program, other ATF gun cases in Phoenix, and all communications between the White House and the ATF field office in Arizona.

The letter signed Friday by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was sent to National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon, a top aide to President Obama.
 
Topics: Border violence, U.S.-Mexico border, Mexican drug cartels, ATF, Operation Fast and Furious, congressional investigations

Illegal federal fugitive costs taxpayers $350,000 at Miami-Dade hospitals

An undocumented immigrant who was a federal fugitive for 27 years cost taxpayers $350,000 for his healthcare at South Florida hospitals.

A longtime federal fugitive who was an undocumented immigrant cost taxpayers more than $350,000 in healthcare at Miami-Dade hospitals before he died last year, a county investigative report has revealed.

The Miami-Dade Office of the Inspector General said the patient was a Colombian who fled the United States in 1983 after a cocaine smuggling conviction but returned under a false name. In 26 visits to the Jackson Health System from 2003 through 2010, his care cost $201,716 — $155,334 in charity care paid by Miami-Dade taxpayers and $46,382 paid by Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, taxpayers, hospital costs, fraudulent documents, previously deported, illegal alien arrests

CA - Malibu's coastline a magnet for drug, immigrant smuggling

The discovery of an abandoned smuggling boat with 250 pounds of marijuana last Friday, along with the arrest of 10 illegal immigrants from Mexico the week before, are the latest incidents in an ongoing trend of human traffickers and drug smugglers targeting the Malibu area.

An abandoned drug smuggling boat found just north of Leo Carrillo State Beach last Friday, which contained at least 250 pounds of marijuana, is the latest example of a trend of human traffickers and drug smugglers heading further north up the California coastline to circumvent U.S. authorities.

Friday's discovery followed the apprehension of 10 Mexican nationals in Malibu a week before. The eight men and two women, ranging in age from 20 to 40, were discovered after their 25-foot, open-air “panga” boat washed ashore at Leo Carrillo, officials say. There were no drugs on board and the immigrants have since been deported, according to authorities.

Topics: Illegal immigration, panga boats, smugglers, ICE, DHS, California coastline, illegal immigration statistics

The Department of Homeland Security has made only a small dent in dealing with the millions of immigrants who have illegally overstayed their visas, despite the fact that several Sept. 11 hijackers were able to remain in the country by doing just that.

The finding was one of many outlined in a new report this week by the Government Accountability Office measuring progress at the department created in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks.

The report lauded DHS for making strides in building up the comprehensive and massive security department but said a number of "gaps and weaknesses" remain that must be addressed. GAO reported that about half of its 1,500 recommendations have been implemented, while others are still in progress.

Topics: Illegal immigration, DHS, GAO, terrorists, visa overstays, E-Verify program

Maria del Carmen Diaz was supposed to be dead. The 8-year-old girl was killed in a car crash in 1981, but this week authorities said a woman stole the girl's identity years ago to build a life for herself in Delray Beach.

Juliet Sherry-Ann Mahabir, 38, allegedly worked at a bank, bought a house and went into debt — all with Maria's name and Social Security number, according to the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office and the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud.

Mahabir was arrested Thursday on a charge of criminal use of the personal identification of a deceased victim, and faces up to 30 years in prison, the State Attorney's Office said.
 
Topics = Illegal immigration, identity theft, illegal alien arrests, illegal immigrant crimes, identity fraud

September 9, 2011
Judicial Watch

The nation’s second-largest county has enacted legislation directing local police to disregard federal government orders to hold arrested illegal immigrants, including those with criminal records or serious felony charges.

Hours after commissioners in Illinois’s Cook County, which includes Chicago, passed the measure a local newspaper reported that an illegal alien charged with a felony was released after posting bail. The man, Eduardo Sanchez, had previous offenses and got arrested this week after running a red light and assaulting a police officer.

Before the famously liberal Cook County Commission passed its new law, federal authorities would have illegal immigrants like Sanchez held in local jails for up to 48 hours after posting bond or completing their sentence. The extra time gives the feds a cushion to begin deportation proceedings for illegal aliens who pose a threat.

Subjects = Illegal immigration, ICE, DOJ, illegal alien arrests, disregard federal immigration law, sanctuary city

Officials released President Obama’s uncle from Plymouth County jail yesterday after holding him for more than two weeks on an immigration detainer for violating an order to return to his native Kenya in 1992.

US officials refused to disclose any other information about Onyango Obama, who remained in the United States undetected until Framingham police arrested him Aug. 24 on drunken driving and other charges.

Yesterday, federal immigration officials refused to say whether the 67-year-old Framingham resident posted bond, whether they are keeping track of his whereabouts, or even whether they are still seeking his deportation, raising questions about public accountability in the case.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement website confirmed Obama’s release by listing him as “not in custody.’’

Subjects - Illegal immigration, ICE, Barack Obama, uncle, DUI, Massachusetts, release.

PHOENIX – Authorities confirm a weapon from the failed ATF program 'Operation Fast and Furious' was found at a violent crime scene in Maricopa, Ariz. in 2010. This is the latest in a series of cases where Fast and Furious guns have been linked to violent crimes across the U.S. and Mexico.

The two guns found at the scene were an AK-47 and a Beretta pistol, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The AK-47 is linked to Fast and Furious, according to ATF. The weapons were found inside a stolen truck in March 2010 after the driver slammed into two DPS vehicles while trying to evade members of the Arizona Vehicle Theft Task Force, ABC 15 reports.

The driver, Angel Hernandez Diaz, was reportedly arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, aggravated assault on an officer with a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon, theft of means of transportation and misconduct involving a weapon, according to court documents.

Topics: Illegal immigration, Mexico, DHS, ATF, Fast and Furious

September 4, 2011 - Tuesday, Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested several members of the Sinaloa Cartel as part of an 18-month investigation dubbed Operation Broken Glass. The arrests took place in the Salt Lake Valley and along Interstate 15 in and around Juab County.

DEA Supervisory Special Agent Sue Thomas told the Associated Press: “It was a great day. We removed the cell head, who was the guy who was coordinating the shipments coming to Utah from Mexico and California.”

Thomas said that the cartel cell was trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin and deeply entrenched in the Salt Lake City area.

The Salt Lake Valley arrests included a traffic stop, a raid on a home in South Jordan and one at Mi Ranchito restaurant in South Salt Lake.

Agents seized more than 30 pounds of methamphetamine, 200 pounds of marijuana, a kilogram each of heroin and cocaine, several guns and over $322,000 in cash.

“As the case progressed, we had the opportunity to take some drug traffickers out (of the operation) - just quietly. ... I-15 is a pipeline and ... we'll know that drug flows are coming into Salt Lake City. It is usually advantageous to our operation to not stop them in Salt Lake City,” said Thomas.

 
Topics: illegal immigration, Mexican Drug cartels, Utah, Mexican nationals. Los Zetsa

BOSTON (CBS) – It’s a case that has galvanized protest and political backlash: the recent hit-and-run killing of a young man in Milford.

Last month, Matthew Denice was allegedly killed by a drunken Nicolas Guaman, an illegal immigrant who ran a stop sign, struck Denice, and dragged him to his death.

The case has quickly become a flash-point for an emotional debate over an aggressive federal push to deport criminals known as Secure Communities.

This summer, Gov. Patrick lectured skeptical Milford residents on why using Secure Communities to help deport repeat-offender illegal immigrants is a bad idea.

“What you get on the downside is a whole lot of folks who are worried about being targeted,” said Gov. Patrick, at the time.

Then, last month, Milford lost Denice, a popular 23-year-old man.

“You know, illegal immigration didn’t kill this person, a drunk driver killed this person,” Gov. Patrick said late last month.

After Gov. Patrick mixed condolences with another lecture in his first public comments on the case, Denice’s family had a lecture of their own to deliver about the governor’s manners.

“Please show a little more respect for my son and at least refer to him by his name, Matthew,” said Maureen Maloney, Denice’s mother.

The family was also angered by Gov. Patrick’s refusal to use every law-enforcement tool available.

Topics: Illegal immigration, Mexico, DHS, 

Amid brewing controversy over the ATF's botched Fast and Furious gunrunning operation comes new allegations that the Department of Justice also let off an Arizona man suspected of supplying grenades to Mexico's drug cartels.

The WSJ reports today that federal authorities are now investigating why the U.S. Attorney's office in Phoenix — the same office that oversaw Fast and Furious — released Jean Baptiste Kingery after he confessed to providing military-style weapons to the now-defunct La Familia Michoacana drug cartel.

Kingery, who was arrested and released in June 2010, confessed to manufacturing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) using grenade components from the U.S. He also admitted to helping the cartel convert semi-automatic rifles into machine guns. Mexican criminal organizations are increasingly using these military-style weapons as the cartels' escalate their wars against the government and one another.

Despite Kingery's confession, and over loud protestations from the arresting ATF officers, the U.S. Attorney's office let Kingery go within hours of his arrest.

Kingery's release is now the subject of an internal probe by the DOJ inspector general. The findings in the DOJ probe were a major catalyst in the recent staff shakeup that ousted Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennie Burke and Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson from their posts.

The Phoenix U.S. Attorney's office denies that it declined to prosecute the case, saying that it wanted to continue surveillance. The office alternatively told investigators that ATF agents wanted to make Kingery an informant, but lost contact with him within weeks of his release.

Prosecutors involved in the case also accuse ATF agents of devising a failed sting that allowed Kingery to take hundreds of grenade parts across the border in the months about six months prior to his arrest.

The Congressional Oversight Committee has also expanded its Fast and Furious investigation to include the Kingery case. The Committee is investigating who in the Obama administration knew about the gunrunning program, under which ATF agents allowed more than 2,000 guns to "walk" across the border.

Topics: Fast and Furious, DHS. Mexico. ATF, Project GunRunner, Obama Administration

ALIPAC NOTE:  As seen in this article, the Obama administration's Labor Department is focused on trying to provide Amnesty and jobs to illegal alien invaders instead of the historic millions of Americans that are unemployed or underemployed in 2011!

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Immigration Reform is an Economic Imperative

Google, Goya, Yahoo, Intel and Levi Strauss. It’s hard to imagine a day without these iconic and uniquely American brands.

Most people don’t know that all were founded or co-founded by immigrants.

Goya foods was started by Don Prudencio and Carolina Unanue — a young immigrant couple who in 1936 sold olives and olive oil from a tiny Manhattan storefront. Almost 60 years later, the website Yahoo was co-created by Jerry Yang, who immigrated to California from Taipei as a child. Immigrants founded 18 percent of the 2010 Fortune 500 companies — which post combined revenues of $1.7 trillion dollars and employ more than 3.6 million people.

Our current economy needs to foster success stories like these. But just as important: We also need to foster the successes of countless immigrants who mow our lawns, build our roads, clean our offices and harvest our crops. Because we all benefit from their work, too.

Too often, immigrants work in an underground economy — earning unfair wages, suffering unsafe conditions and hiding from authorities. This is not only wrong, but economically self-defeating. For generations, immigrants have helped to bring prosperity to America through entrepreneurial spirit and sweat equity. Given their economic potential, why would anyone want to shut off the tap of foreign-born talent? Why force willing wage earners — and potential taxpayers — into the shadows with no path to legal citizenship?

I’m perplexed by the questions — because the answers seem so obvious. Yet the current U.S. immigration system does exactly these things.

We educate foreign-born workers at a faster rate than any other country. But our outdated immigration system often sends them packing, only to create billion-dollar companies in countries that compete against us.

Our flawed immigration system also threatens the country’s agriculture industry. Growers that can’t find field labor end up shutting down — or turning to undocumented workers.

I’ve heard the arguments: Immigrants take jobs away from native-born workers. They depress wages. Both claims are false. In fact, every immigrant farm worker supports three additional jobs — often in better-paying sectors. In high-skilled industries, the impact is even greater — with each immigrant worker creating five additional jobs. As for pay, studies show that native workers earn higher wages in areas with higher immigration.

If the status quo persists, America stands to miss enormous opportunities to accelerate our recovery.

Topics: Illegal immigration, US immigration, Dream Act, Obama Administration

September 6, 2011
Garance Burke
Associated Press
Las Cruces Sun-News

A new government report released Tuesday shows that more than half of all people sentenced to serve time in federal prison for committing felonies are Hispanic, a seismic demographic shift swollen by immigration offenses.

Hispanics already outnumber all other ethnic groups sent to prison for committing federal felonies. The preliminary U.S. Sentencing Commission shows that now, for the first time, Hispanics comprised 50.3 percent of all federal offenders in the first nine months of this fiscal year.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, illegal alien crimes, alien smuggling, illegal border crossings, immigration laws

Want to know what the U.S .would look like under Barack Obama's amnesty for illegals? Look no further than the president's own family, warn officials for the Washington watchdog organization Judicial Watch.

"President Obama's 'Uncle Omar' is the face of what is wrong with the Obama administration's lawless and dangerous approach to illegal immigration. Instead of being deported, as the law requires, Uncle Omar was allowed to roam the streets and endanger the lives of innocent people, including a law enforcement officer," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

"And Uncle Omar is exactly the kind of person that local police would have been able to easily keep off the streets as a result of new immigration laws in states such as Arizona and Georgia, which are being challenged in court by the Obama administration," he said.

Topics = Illegal immigration, stealth amnesty, President Obama, DHS, Onyango Obama, ICE, immigration laws

The imposing new border fence running through Nogales is proving to be a treacherous obstacle for undocumented border-crossers, several of whom have been injured in recent weeks while descending the U.S. side of the barrier.

The victims, who include two women and one man hurt during a 10-day span, won’t find much sympathy from the Border Patrol, however. The agency says it’s not responsible for people who tangle with the 23-to-30-foot security fence.

On Aug. 12, a woman identified only as “Asian” broke her leg after climbing the border fence near East Hudgins Street, according to a Nogales Police Department report.

Subjects = Illegal immigration, border fence, U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Border Patrol, border security

Friends of ALIPAC,

Members of Congress and their staff are returning to DC today after a recess.

Obama's approval numbers have continued to fall following his last major executive action to decree an unlawful and unconstitutional form of Amnesty for illegal aliens. This halt to deportations means they are now being released from jails and given work permits.

Obama is going to try to divert attention away from his Amnesty, using a speech on jobs coming this Thursday.

How can anyone who is supposed to represent American workers talk about creating jobs while handing out hundreds of thousands of illegal work permits to illegal aliens?

Please take the following steps...

By David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey,

Published: September 2, 2011

The Washington Post

only Congress has constitutional authority to establish U.S. immigration policy, and fundamental reform requires legislative action. Thus the administration’s recent announcement that deportation will be sought only for undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes in the United States violates the separation of powers and is unconstitutional.

No president, of course, can hope to expel every undocumented person in the United States — they number perhaps upward of 11 million people. Human and financial resources to identify, apprehend, process and promptly deport millions have been lacking for years as has, arguably, the political will to do so. In this environment, immigration enforcement authorities, under administrations of both parties, have performed as best they could given their resources. Still, millions have been deported over the years. And while many had been convicted of serious criminal offenses, most deportees have not been in that category.

Over 150 Mexican law enforcement officials have been killed as a result of Fast and Furious. As have nearly 1,000 Mexican civilians, at least one U.S. Border Agent (God bless the family of Brian Terry), and who knows how many other humans on both sides of the border who have yet to be accounted for,” BigGovernment’s AWR Hawkins said in regards to Project Gunrunner. “And there are still over 1,000 weapons on the loose, although we are starting to find them more and more at crime scenes in America. . . ‘Straw purchasers’ went into gun stores to buy weapons they had pre-determined to pass on to criminals, and now those criminals have used the weapons against Mexicans and Americans alike. It has put us all at risk, and especially those living near the border in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.”

Where are the consequences? The DOJ recently announced Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson was re-assigned to a new DOJ position in Washington DC, while reporting US Attorney Dennis Burke’s resignation to ‘return to personal life.’ Only a couple weeks prior, the DOJ admitted to re-assigning “two A.T.F. Phoenix division supervisors, William Newell and William McMahon…to positions in Washington.” 

President Obama has denied any prior knowledge of the operation on behalf of himself, the White House, and the Department of Justice, but according to some recent finds by CBS News, three White House officials received email updates on Project Gunrunner. Kevin O’Reilly’s communications with ATF William Newell are now fairly well known. Just days ago, Dan Restrepo, senior Latin American advisory; and Greg Gatjanis, a national security official, were added to the list of involved and/or informed.


Topics: Fast and Furious, ATF, Project Gunrunner, Obama Adminsitration

Two top Republican lawmakers say Arizona prosecutors “stifled” attempts by agents for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to interdict weapons purchased by “straw buyers” in that state that later were “walked” to drug smugglers in Mexico, and may have covered up the fact that two of those weapons were found at the scene of the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa of California, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told Acting U.S. Attorney Ann Scheel in Phoenix in a letter Thursday that “explicit approval” was required from federal prosecutors before any of the weapons purchased in “Operation Fast and Furious” could be stopped from leaving the country.

Topics: Operation Fast and Furious: Project Gunwalker: ATF

EL PASO, Texas -- Border Patrol officials are investigating an incursion by Mexican federal police into the United State on Thursday morning.

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said armed officers with Mexico's Secretaria de Seguridad Publica federal police were in the incursion, which took place in El Paso, near the Border Patrol's Ysleta station.

The Mexican government, Border Patrol and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are investigating the incident. U.S. authorities responded to the incident.

Topics: Mexican Incursion: The Border Patrol: The Border