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America's Third War: A New Eye on the Border

A new high-tech, low-cost camera system is helping to detect illegal immigrants along the Texas-Mexico border, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The new system of cameras is catching undocumented immigrants sneaking across private ranches and farms -- groups that would have otherwise gone undetected, according to local landowners.

“There are literally hundreds of trails out here that are being frequented and used by drug smugglers and human smugglers, ” said border rancher Michael Vickers. “There’s a lot of desperate people coming in here from all over the world and, frankly, a lot of them are getting through.”

Subjects: Illegal immigration, U.S.-Mexico border, smugglers, drugs, illegal immigrant arrests, border security

Democrats consider new illegal immigration reform push

Democratic sources tell CNN that it's likely that Democrats on Capitol Hill –with the approval of the White House– will re-introduce some form of immigration reform, possibly as early as December. At this point, the details of any plan are unclear. But what is clear is that Democrats are interested in using their version of reform as a "contrast issue" to Republicans, who largely emphasize border security.

Sources say there are ongoing discussions among Democrats ranging from re-introducing comprehensive reform to bringing up the Dream Act again, which would allow the children of illegal immigrants who go to college or serve in the military to become citizens. The Dream Act was defeated last year.

Topics = Illegal immigration, amnesty, Dream Act, border security, campaigns

5 Tons of Marijuana, $4.3 Million Seized, U.S. Attorney Says

INDIANAPOLIS -- In what authorities said may be the biggest drug bust in state history, officers seized more than 5 tons of marijuana and $4.3 million in drug money in a six-month investigation, U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett said Monday.

Officials said the investigation began on March 6, based on information they had received that drugs were being run from a Mexican grocery store on Indianapolis' west side.

A tractor-trailer search resulted in the seizure of $2.6 million that was in a false roof, Hogsett said. The money was not claimed and was distributed to several law enforcement agencies earlier this month.

Subjects = Illegal immigration, Mexican drug cartels, illegal immigrant arrests, U.S.-Mexico border, illegal immigrant crimes

October 25, 2011

By William Gheen
President of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC)

While elite political and media influences do their best to make illegal immigration a non-issue, the truth that the issue is a top concern to voters and that voters are polarized 4 to 1 in favor of enforcement over Amnesty has pushed the issue to the foreground once again.

Battles against legislation in states like Arizona and Alabama have further awakened the public's conscience about the illegal immigrant invasion of America and the global power brokers who are facilitating the invasion via their control over the White House and top leaders in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Despite the floundering US economy and Obama's eagerness to deploy US troops in more wars, his polling numbers have held steady until the news broke that his administration was creating Amnesty for illegal aliens by memo. Since word has spread of this unconstitutional and illegal move by Obama and his minions, Obama's approval numbers have declined steadily and finally dropped below 40!

Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Darrell E. Issa on Monday to expand their formal “Fast and Furious” investigation to include accusations that similar gunrunning probes took place in Texas.

Mr. Cornyn said he asked U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in August to address the “scope and details of any past or present ATF gun-walking programs” in his home state, but never got a response.

“Though their failure to respond is not direct evidence of malfeasance, the department’s reluctance to address allegations of additional ‘gun-walking’ schemes in my state raises serious questions, and Texans deserve a full accounting of the department’s role in this matter,” he wrote.

Mr. Cornyn, a former Texas attorney general, said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) “gun-walking” schemes have had significant “spillover effects” in Texas. In two separate incidents in January and April 2010, 60 rifles that were “walked” during the Fast and Furious operation were recovered from criminals in El Paso, Texas.

Subjects:  Fast and Furious (aka Gunwalker, Gunrunner), John Cornyn, Darrell Issa, Eric Holder, ATF, weapons, Jaime Zapata, ICE, Los Zetas, Mexico, drug cartels.

Six indicted in case involving 67 guns taken in Guadalupe County in July

A cache of 67 high-powered firearms seized in July in Guadalupe County was a shipment intended for the Zetas drug cartel in Piedras Negras, Mexico, federal officials said Monday.

The revelation came during a bail hearing in San Antonio for two of six suspects indicted on charges of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States and of aiding and abetting.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Mathy ordered Antonio Fidalgo-Cabello, 18, and Jessica Carolina Martinez, 31, both of Eagle Pass, held without bail after hearing an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration testify that the guns — hidden in a stack of gypsum wallboard on a trailer towed by a pickup — were “destined for individuals associated with the Zetas gang in Mexico.”

Topics - Drug cartels, illegal weapons, conspiracy, Texas, US-Mexico border, indictments, Los Zetas, DEA.

Nearly 10 people were sent to the hospital after a truckload of undocumented immigrants collided with an SUV on Monday in Brooks County.

Emergency responders were called shortly after 11 a.m. to State Highway 285 about seven miles east of Falfurrias to find several people injured and a pickup on fire.

The truck carrying about seven undocumented immigrants made a left turn onto Farm-to-Market Road 1329, colliding almost head-on with an SUV carrying a 72-year-old Hebbronville woman and a male relative, said Trooper Benjamin Ramirez, of the Department of Public Safety.

Authorities also found several bundles of marijuana in the bed of the truck, Ramirez said.

Subjects - Illegal immigration, drugs, accident, injuries, Border Patrol.

A new FBI assessment has found there are now an estimated 1.4 million gang members in the United States with gangs expanding even infiltrating the U.S. military.

The National Gang Threat Assessment has found there are 33,000 officially designated gangs in the United States. The gangs’ 1.4 million members represent a 40 percent increase in gang membership since 2009. The FBI’s National Gang Threat Assessment has found that gangs are expanding in the United States and are responsible for up to 48 percent of violent crime in many urban communities.

FBI officials also say the use of social media sites has assisted in recruitment with youth becoming interested in gang culture and displays of bravado on Facebook and YouTube. The threat assessment notes that local police in Missouri have seen a rise in gang “promotion teams” using internet chat rooms to promote clubs and parties. Displays of gang signs and walks are found abundantly on YouTube which FBI officials say may influence youths to seek out gangs.

While FBI and law enforcement officials do not have estimates on the number of gang members in the military officials have seen gangs in 100 jurisdictions in the U.S. and overseas with 53 different gangs who are in every branch of the military.

“Gang recruitment of active duty military personnel constitutes a significant criminal threat to the U.S. military,” the threat assessment noted. “NGIC [National Gang Intelligence Center] reporting indicates that law enforcement officials in at least 100 jurisdictions have come into contact with, detained, or arrested an active duty or former military gang member within the past three years.”

“Some members are joining the military to get away from the gang life,” said Calvin Shivers, FBI assistant section chief of the Violent Criminal Threat Section, at a briefing today.

“Many gangs are sophisticated criminal networks with members who are violent, distribute wholesale quantities of drugs, and develop and maintain close working relationships with members and associates of transnational criminal/drug trafficking organizations,” the assessment noted. “Gangs are becoming more violent while engaging in less typical and lower-risk crime, such as prostitution and white-collar crime. Gangs are more adaptable, organized, sophisticated, and opportunistic, exploiting new and advanced technology as a means to recruit, communicate discretely, target their rivals, and perpetuate their criminal activity.”
Topics: illegal immigration, Mexico US Border, US Military, ICE, gangs

The far-reaching immigration debate in Florida and the nation has been going on for years, but until last week, the plight of students like Wendy Ruiz — an aspiring podiatrist — had been largely invisible.

Born and raised in Miami, Ruiz is a U.S. citizen. But in the eyes of Florida’s higher education system, she’s a dependent student whose parents are undocumented immigrants — and not considered legal Florida residents .

As such, Ruiz is charged higher-priced out-of-state tuition, even though she has a Florida birth certificate, Florida driver’s license and is a registered Florida voter. One semester of in-state tuition at Miami Dade College costs about $1,200, while out-of-state students pay roughly $4,500.

Many students are simply unable to absorb the increased cost. Ruiz has been attending Miami Dade College and, so far, has a 3.7 GPA but must work multiple part-time jobs just to pay for one class. Other similarly-affected students have completely given up on college.

“As an American, and a lifelong Florida resident, I deserve the same opportunities,” Ruiz said. “I know that I will be successful because I have never wanted something so bad in my life like I want this.”

Last week, Ruiz and several other South Florida students emerged as the lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit challenging Florida’s in-state residency guidelines. The same week, a Jacksonville state lawmaker filed a bill that would grant in-state tuition to students like Ruiz.

The lawsuit and the proposed legislation have focused attention on a little-known issue in Florida, where immigration activists have long concentrated on passage of a federal Dream Act.

The proposed Dream Act has languished in Congress for years. It would legalize certain undocumented immigrants who have been accepted into college or the military. These young people were typically brought to the United States illegally as children. Proponents argue they should not be penalized for the illegal actions of their parents.
Topics: illegal immigration, Anchor babies, Dream Act, Florida

The Obama administration is facing charges of hypocrisy for fighting a controversial Alabama immigration law while using the measure to arrest and deport illegal immigrants in the state.

Civil rights and Latino advocacy groups laud the Justice Department’s (DOJ) lawsuit challenging Alabama over its newly enacted immigration law, which allows state law enforcement officials to require suspected criminals to show proof of their immigration status.

But the groups blasted the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) continued use in Alabama of the Secure Communities program, which transmits the immigration status records of people arrested in the state to federal authorities. The new state law subjects the Latino community to racial profiling and the Secure Communities program places illegal immigrants who are arrested in line to be deported by DHS, the groups said.

“You have two agencies that are pursuing courses that are inconsistent with each other,” said Joanne Lin, a legislative council for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in an interview.

“In Alabama, DHS is continuing to operate its immigration program, which means you have people who are definitely being processed and referred for deportation. DHS is actively pursuing a program that, in my view, undermines DOJ’s litigation.”

Matt Chandler, a spokesman for DHS, said that the department was keeping close tabs — through its Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties — on whether the civil rights of those arrested under the new law are violated.

Topics: illegal immigration, Obama administration, DHS, Eric Holder, Alabama

If there were only one way to sum up the illegal immigration crisis in the United States, the people who run the government in the nation’s Capital may have found it: Washington D.C., where our laws are made, where there the words “Equal Justice Under Law” are displayed over the Supreme Court Building and where the Chief Executive of the Republic resides … is now a sanctuary city for illegal aliens.

The District of Columbia became a sanctuary city on Wednesday after Mayor Vincent Gray signed a new order forbidding D.C. police to ask about an individuals immigration status.

Furthermore, Mayor Gray said District police will not help Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents execute federal warrants unless the individual has committed another crime.

The new order also forbids D.C. police from contacting Immigration and Customs Enforcement to inquire about an individual's immigration status.

Topics: Illegal immigration, sanctuary cities, I.C.E., Mexican immigration laws, Washington D.C., Mexico City

PHOENIX — Arizona has no legal right to sue the federal government for failing to secure the border, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Judge Susan Bolton acknowledged that federal law directs the Department of Homeland Security to achieve “operational control” of the border. And a separate law requires construction of at least 700 miles of fencing.

But the judge said both of those are only goals and that Congress set no deadline for when that fence needs to be completed. Bolton said that means Arizona cannot seek — and she cannot grant — an order for the federal government to do something.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, immigration court rulings, illegal immigration costs, DHS, Obama administration

On May 6, just hours before his asylum hearing, Mario de la Rosa, a Mexican immigrant living in Waukegan, waited in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy for the person representing him in his case, Margaret Carrasco, to arrive. She never did.

Eventually, Mr. De la Rosa said, he drove to Ms. Carrasco’s home, where she handed him a messy stack of forms, all filled out in English and unintelligible to Mr. De la Rosa, who speaks only Spanish. Ms. Carrasco apologized for being too ill to appear in court, he recalled. He believed her. He had no reason not to.

He said he felt lucky to work with Ms. Carrasco, a bilingual immigrant activist in Waukegan and, he thought, a lawyer. She even allowed clients to pay her $500 fee in installments.

But sick or not, Ms. Carrasco, 51, may have had a more pressing reason to avoid representing Mr. De la Rosa in court: she does not have the proper legal accreditation to do so. On Oct. 14, Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit against Ms. Carrasco, accusing her of misrepresenting herself as an immigration lawyer and charging her clients “unconscionable fees” for services she did not even render.

Subjects - Illegal Immigration, misrepresentation, fraud, lawyer, memo amnesty, deportation, ICE.

Opponents of a new law that allows illegal immigrants to receive college financial aid were given the green light to begin collecting signatures for a referendum to overturn the measure, Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office announced today.

Led by Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, referendum backers hope to halt implementation of the California Dream Act. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the measure Oct. 8.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, state immigration laws, California Dream Act, undocumented college students, taxpayers

The use of local and state law enforcement officers to enforce immigration law isn't intruding into a federal function, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Thursday.

"It is not encroachment," Kobach said during a symposium focusing on illegal immigration and sponsored by the Washburn University School of Law.

Congress has contemplated and invited states into the regulation of immigration, he said.

Kobach was one of three members of a panel assessing the immigration landscape.

"Breaching Borders: State Encroachment into the Federal Immigration Domain?" is a two-day program conducted at the Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center on the Washburn campus. About 80 people attended the Thursday morning session.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, Kris Kobach, I.C.E., immigration facts, illegal immigration costs

Gov. Jan Brewer provides behind-the-scenes details in her new book about her handling of Arizona's controversial immigration enforcement law last year, including a tense meeting with President Barack Obama and her administration's attempts to avoid being branded racist over the crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Brewer devotes much of the book to defending the immigration law, describing it as a fair, effective and necessary response to what she said amounts to Washington turning a blind eye on border security. She said her administration was aware early on that the state would face an outcry and allegations of racism, and responded by making what they thought were important changes to the law to minimize those concerns.

Topics: Illegal immigration, state immigration laws, Governor Jan Brewer, SB 1070, border security

Chris Crane, president of a union that represents Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, testified in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration last week that ICE agents have been told by ICE headquarters not to arrest illegal aliens who do not have a prior criminal conviction even if they are fugitives who have been ordered deported by an immigration judge or are individuals who have illegally re-entered the United States after being deported and thus have perpetrated a felony.

“Aliens who could not be arrested included but were not limited to ICE fugitives that had been ordered deported by a federal immigration judge as well as aliens who had illegally re-entered the United States after deportation, a federal felony,” Crane, who is also an active-duty ICE agent, told the committee on Oct. 12.

Subjects = Illegal immigration, I.C.E., criminal aliens, DHS, illegal re-entry, Obama administration

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that under the administration’s policy of exercising “prosecutorial discretion” in the enforcement of the immigration laws, her department is currently authorizing some illegal aliens to work in the United States.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking-member of the Senate Judiciary panel, asked Napolitano: “According to the information from your department, some individuals who are given relief will obtain work authorizations. So people with no right to be in the country will be allowed to work here. Is that correct?”

Napolitano said: “Well, senator, since around 1986 there has been a process where those who are technically unlawfully in the country may apply for work authorization. This goes to CIS [Citizenship and Immigration Services]. It's not an ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] or CBP [Customs and Border Protection] function. And those cases are reviewed by CIS in a case-by-case basis. So there’s no change in that process. Like I said, that goes back to the mid-80s that is contemplated now.”

Sen. Grassley then asked, “But yes, some of them could have an opportunity to work here even though they are here illegally?”

“Well, that happens now, senator,” said Napolitano.

The three agencies she mentioned are all components of DHS.

Subjects - Illegal immigration, Dept of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, memo amnesty, Chuck Grassley, Jeff Sessions, Simpson-Mazzoli Act, employment, guest worker amnesty.

President Felipe Calderon on Monday accused U.S. authorities of deporting Mexican criminals to save on judicial costs, a policy that ostensibly "exacerbates" violence.

Within the framework of the inauguration of National Immigration Week 2011 in this capital, Calderon said that, for example, U.S. authorities "are deporting up to 80,000 people in a year" into the border cities of Reynosa and Ciudad Juarez.

Some of these deported people "are migrants, certainly, probably all of them," although some were "already involved in criminal acts" in the United States.

"In the face of the dilemma of pursuing the legal process in the American courts, which implies costs for the administration of justice in that country, they simply prefer to deport them to border cities, by which the cycle of violence is exacerbated even more," he said.

Topics:  Illegal immigration, Felipe Calderon, criminals, deportation, Mexico

SAN DIEGO — The first Mexican carrier is set to roll over the border into Texas and head along Interstate 35 toward the U.S. interior within days, but the Teamsters union and two California congressmen haven't given up on stopping the cross-border trucking program that had been stalled for years by safety concerns and political wrangling.

U.S. Reps. Duncan Hunter and Bob Filner joined Teamsters President James Hoffa at the border Wednesday to take a bipartisan stand against the pilot project that will let approved Mexican trucks come deep into the U.S. The first Mexican truck will enter Texas on Friday on a route likely to take it through Austin.

The lawmakers and Hoffa were surrounded by more than 75 union members at a news conference near a major border crossing in San Diego. Hunter is a San Diego-area Republican, and Filner is a Democrat whose district includes California's border with Mexico.

Allowing Mexican trucking companies to deliver the goods rather than transfer them to U.S. haulers at the border will put American jobs and highway safety at risk, they said.

"We're literally taking good jobs here in America and passing them over the line to Mexico," Hunter said.

Subjects - Mexican trucking, NAFTA, Texas, Duncan Hunter, safety.