VoteKansas.org

Reporting from Washington— Newly obtained emails show that the White House was better informed about a failed gun-tracking operation on the border with Mexico than was previously known.

Three White House national security officials were given some details about the operation, dubbed Fast and Furious. The operation allowed firearms to be illegally purchased, with the goal of tracking them to Mexican drug cartels. But the effort went out of control after agents lost track of many of the weapons.

The supervisor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation in Phoenix specifically mentioned Fast and Furious in at least one email to a White House national security official, and two other White House colleagues were briefed on reports from the supervisor, according to White House emails and a senior administration official.

Topics: Fast and Furious: Project Gunrunner: ATF: The White House: DOJ

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona tried to cover up a link between a government operation and the December 2010 death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, two Republican members of Congress are telling CBS News.

Two assault rifles that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had allegedly allowed onto the street were found at the scene of Terry's death on the Arizona side of the border

Topics: ATF, DHS, US Border Patrol, Fast and Furious

September 1, 2011
Philip Rucker and and Amy Gardner
The Washinigton Post

KEENE, N.H. — Mitt Romney opened his town hall meeting here talking about the economy — his thoughts on growing business, getting government out of the way — just as he does nearly every other campaign event. But when he opened last week’s forum for questions, the first voter he called on didn’t seem concerned about any of that. He wanted to know the Republican presidential candidate’s stance on border security.

A similar scene played out in South Carolina a few days later, when Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) attended a town hall meeting she assumed would center on the economy, jobs and the federal deficit — only to see the assembled voters react most passionately to her comments on illegal immigration.

Polls may not suggest it, and the candidates may not be catering to it, but immigration is an issue that voters won’t let the GOP White House hopefuls escape.

Topics: Illegal immigration, Republicans, candidates, amnesty, U.S.-Mexico border

Undocumented workers received refundable tax credits totaling $4.2 billion in 2010, a dramatic rise from less than $1 billion in 2005, said a report released Thursday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The Internal Revenue Service, however, said it lacks the authority to disallow claims for the credit and a clarification of oftentimes controversial immigration policy might be needed.

At issue is use of a tax break based on earned income called the additional child tax credit, which taxpayers can claim to reduce their taxes owed, sometimes gaining them a check from Uncle Sam if their tax obligation goes below zero.

Wage earners who are not authorized to work in the United States and lack Social Security numbers can use what IRS calls individual taxpayer identification numbers, which, data show, are associated with a higher proportion of fraudulent claims on tax returns. "The payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside and work in the United States without authorization, which contradicts federal law and policy," the report said.

Subjects = Illegal immigration, undocumented workers, IRS, ITIN numbers, refundable tax credits, illegal immigration costs

August 31, 2011
Michelle Malkin
FOX News Network, LLC

There are now enough Operation Fast and Furious officials playing hide-and-seek in the Obama administration to fill a New York City-style “rubber room.”

Yesterday, the Justice Department announced it was shuffling Kenneth Melson, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, out of his job. The disclosure comes amid continued investigations into the administration’s fatally botched “gun sting” racket at the border and spreading outrage over legal obstructionism and whistleblower retaliation by Justice brass. The department’s inspector general is also conducting a probe.

Internal documents earlier showed that Melson was intimately involved in overseeing the program and screened undercover videos of thousands of straw purchases of AK-47s and other high-powered rifles -- many of which ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartel thugs, including those who murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry last December. Fast and Furious weapons have been tied to at least a dozen violent crimes in America and untold bloody havoc in Mexico.

Subjects: Border violence, ATF, Operation Fast and Furious, U.S.-Mexico border

President Obama’s uncle will fight deportation to his native Kenya, one of his lawyers said yesterday, because he has lived in the United States for nearly 50 years and now considers it his home.

Onyango Obama, 67, a half-brother of the president’s father, has turned to the same law firm that helped his younger sister, Zeituni Onyango, overturn a deportation order and win asylum in Boston last year.

Obama was last ordered deported in 1992, but he remained in the United States until Framingham police arrested him last week on drunken-driving and other charges.

“He does want to stay,’’ said Scott Bratton, who with lawyer Margaret Wong in Cleveland have taken on Obama’s case. “He’s just been here for such a long period of time. He hasn’t been to Kenya in forever. He was young when he came to the United States.’’

Bratton said the legal team is still piecing together the details of Obama’s case, and he did not know why the federal immigration courts ordered Obama to leave the country in 1992 - nor why he never left.

The details of Obama’s life that emerged this week trace his path from a fresh-faced young soccer star who charmed classmates at a Cambridge preparatory school in the 1960s to a high school dropout who would disappear into his own networks in Massachusetts. Obama then became a grown man who ran afoul of the Internal Revenue Service, federal immigration authorities, and finally, Framingham police.

With the help of his older brother, Barack Obama Sr. - the father of the future president - Obama arrived in the United States in 1963 to study at Browne & Nichols in Cambridge, according to a new book, “The Other Barack: The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama’s Father,’’ by Globe reporter Sally H. Jacobs.

Topics: Illegal immigrants, DHS, Deportation, Obama Administration,

August 31, 2011
Tim Gaynor
Reuters
WSAU.com

A New Mexico judge blocked on Wednesday a drive by the state's Republican governor to make it harder for illegal immigrants to keep driver's licenses in the state.

Governor Susana Martinez's administration last month ordered the state to reverify the physical residency of foreign nationals who hold New Mexico driver's licenses in order to get or keep their licenses.

But District Court Judge Sarah Singleton in Santa Fe issued a temporary restraining order blocking the program, arguing in a brief ruling that "irreparable injury" would occur from "constitutional deprivations to the applicants."

Subjects: Illegal immigration, licenses for illegals, Governor Susana Martinez, MALDEF, immigration court rulings

Republican governors have a new target in their quest to cut Medicaid costs: illegal immigrants.

In a report released Tuesday, the Republican Governors Association outlined 31 solutions that it says would bring down the cost. Medicaid is a top budget item for states, and governors from both parties have complained it’s busting their purse as more people lose jobs and qualify for the federal-state insurance program for the poor.

The RGA has floated most of the ideas before, but one jumped out as new. Solution No. 5 would “require the federal government to take full responsibility for the uncompensated care costs of treating illegal aliens.” Keep in mind that federal law already prohibits illegal immigrants from enrolling in Medicaid.

Topics = Illegal immigration, Republicans, Medicaid, illegal immigration costs, taxpayers

August 31, 2011
Investor's Business Daily
LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Border: An administration that conducts raids looking for illegal wood rather than illegal aliens signs partnerships with foreign governments to advise these aliens of their rights. What part of "illegal" don't they get?

Right on the heels of enacting the federal Dream Act through administrative fiat, the administration of President Obama, specifically Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, on Monday signed "partnership" agreements with ambassadors from a group of Latin American nations aiming to protect what she described as the labor rights of both legal and illegal migrants working in the U.S.

This ceremony marked the signing of partnership agreements with the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, joining Mexico, Nicaragua and Guatemala, which had signed the agreement previously.

So while the administration works closely with foreign countries to promote illegal immigration, it takes border states like Arizona to court when they try to protect their borders and enforce our immigration laws.
 
Subjects: Illegal immigration, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, illegal workers, backdoor amnesty, halt deportations

U.S. attorney quits, ATF manager moved

The scandal over the Obama administration's handling of Project Gunrunner Operation Fast and Furious today took its toll on executives, with acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson being reassigned and U. S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke resigning – effective immediately.

A statement from U. S. Rep. Darrell Issa's office said Melson is moving to the Justice Department, where he will serve in an advisory capacity on forensic science, and the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Todd Jobs, will provide interim leadership at the agency.

In a letter to his office, Burke said his departure now is the right thing to do and that the time had come to pursue other career options.

Issa said in a statement released by his office even though the "changes are warranted," his committee still has work to do.

Topics: Border violence, Project Gunrunner, Operation Fast and Furious, Mexican drug cartels, ATF, congressional investigations

August 30, 2011
Tom Barnes
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HARRISBURG -- A battle over proposed laws targeting illegal immigration was waged at the state Capitol today.

There was conservative Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalfe of Cranberry, who has vowed to rid Pennsylvania of "illegal aliens," vs. Sister Janice Vanderneck of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden, who said the Bible "compels us to welcome the strangers among us."

There was Tea Party member John Stahl, a former state legislator from Reading, claiming immigrants who are in the state illegally are driving up public education costs, taking Social Security and Medicaid benefits they don't deserve -- often through stolen Social Security numbers -- and causing an increase in crime.

Topics = Illegal immigration, state immigration bills, 14th amendment, illegal immigration costs, E-Verify

A federal judged ruled Friday that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office did not commit racial profiling when they raided a Phoenix landscaping business.

Celia Alvarez sued the MCSO after the February 11, 2009 raid of Handyman Maintenance, Inc. She was arrested on suspicion of document forgery, identity theft and being in the country illegally.

She claimed that she was unlawfully detained and strip-searched by MCSO officers, who had also allegedly used excessive force during her arrest.

Subjects = Illegal immigration, raids, MCSO, immigration court case rulings, document forgery, identity theft

New “partnership” agreements that U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis signed with a number of Latin American nations are aimed at protecting both legal and illegal workers in this country by educating employers and workers about health, safety, and salary laws, reports CNSNews.com.

Solis’s comments at the signing ceremony Monday contradicted immigration law, as defined on the Labor Department’s own website, CNS News found. Solis said all migrant workers possess a “right to a legal wage,” while her agency’s website states that “employers may hire only persons who may legally work in the United States . . . and aliens authorized to work in the U.S.” under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act.

Topics:  Illegal immigration, undocumented, migrant, Hilda Solis, workers, status, agreement, Latin America.

Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, defended the administration's new deportation policy on Tuesday, saying she expects more undocumented immigrants convicted of other crimes to be deported. If states want to see more deportations overall or more funding of border security, though, she said they need to look to Congress.

"The numbers are going to be very robust in terms of numbers of removal -- we don't fool around about this," Napolitano said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "Our border enforcement is second to none."

Subjects - Illegal immigration, deportation, Janet Napolitano, DHS, Memo Amnesty, US-Mexico border, Rep. Steve King.

Kenneth E. Melson, under fire in connection with the controversial Fast and Furious gun-trafficking investigation, will announce Tuesday that he is stepping down as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Sources tell the Times that Melson was to share the news in a conference call at 11:30 am ET with supervisors at the bureau's field offices.

Under Melson's leadership, ATF launched Operation Fast and Furious, through which agents were to watch — in some cases record on video — illegal sales and then use surveillance teams and electronic eavesdropping to follow the guns and learn how the weapons were moved. The goal was to arrest cartel leaders overseeing gun smuggling on the U.S. side of the border.

Topics: Fast and Furious: Project Gun Walker: ATF

By Dave Wedge and Laurel J. Sweet
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Boston Herald

President Obama’s accused drunken-driving uncle — who was busted after a near collision with a Framingham cop — has had a valid Social Security number for at least 19 years, despite being an illegal immigrant ordered to be deported back to Kenya, the Herald has learned.

The president’s 67-year-old uncle, Obama Onyango, has had a valid Massachusetts driver’s license and Social Security number since at least 1992, said Registry of Motor Vehicles spokesman Michael Verseckes.

Onyango, whose sister, Zeituni Onyango, made headlines when it was revealed she was an illegal immigrant living in public housing in South Boston, was wobbly legged, “slurring” and had “red and glassy eyes” when he was pulled over at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Waverly Street in Framingham.

A number of media outlets have already reported that an illegal immigrant from Kenya by the name of Onyango Obama, 67, was arrested last week on Wednesday after he rammed his SUV into a police car in Framingham, Massachusetts.

He was later charged with DUI among other violations. I spoke to Framingham Public Information Officer Lieutenant Delaney who told me that when Onyango Obama was asked at booking if he wanted to make a telephone call to arrange for bail, the Kenyan immigrant replied: "I think I will call the White House."

It should be noted that the Times of London, highlighted an Onyango Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, when the British daily found President Barack Obama's “Aunt Zeituni” living in Boston illegally.:


Topics: Illegal Immigration: Illegal Immigration Alien Arrests: President Obama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- A federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of Alabama's new law cracking down on illegal immigration, ruling Monday that she needed more time to decide whether the law opposed by the Obama administration, church leaders and immigrant-rights groups is constitutional.

The brief order by U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Blackburn means the law - which opponents and supporters alike have called the toughest in the nation - won't take effect as scheduled on Thursday. The ruling was cheered both by Republican leaders who were pleased the judge didn't gut the law and by opponents who compare it to old Jim Crow-era statutes against racial integration.

Topics: illegal immigration court cases rulings: Illegal Immigration News in the US

BY WEDNESDAY, the city - actually the mayor, the district attorney and the 1st Judicial District - must decide whether to end an agreement to provide information on people arrested in Philadelphia to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Until last year, the city provided ICE with the names, fingerprints and biographical info of those arrested, plus names of witnesses and victims. Mayor Nutter thought that discouraged witnesses and victims from coming forward, so it was agreed ICE would not get the victims' and witnesses' data. ICE, the mayor, the D.A., the courts agreed it was a fair, sensible compromise.

Opposition to continuing the agreement now is building among the willfully ignorant, the undocumented enablers and the terminally soft-hearted.

Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez put out a press release demanding an end to the agreement, riding a report from the American Immigration Lawyers Association, an advocacy group.

I have no faith that Quinones-Sanchez read the AILA report. I did, and spoke to one of the authors.

The very title of the report, "Immigration Enforcement Off-Target: Minor Offenses with Major Consequences," concedes there were offenses. The issue, says Alexsa Alonzo, a co-author of the report, is not that the government acted illegally, but that there's a gap between word and deed. Largely because of limited resources, ICE said, it won't target people who have not committed a second crime - the first one is being here illegally - but some non-offenders have been deported.

Topics: Illegal immigration, DHS, ICE, Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez,Deportation

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officials will prioritize deportation processes away from those aliens who have little or no criminal history per changes in policy by President Obama’s Administration. Lamar Smith, R-Texas equates this shift in policy to a “plan to grant backdoor amnesty to illegal immigrants.”

The unintended consequence of this policy shift is that a green light has been turned on for illegal immigration into the U.S. from across the world. This public shift in policy, in that aliens who are illegally within the United States and have not committed any domestic crimes, will not be a priority to deport, literally equates to de facto amnesty for those illegally within the United States.

The ripple effect of this publically announced policy will be felt across the United States.

Topics = Illegal immigration, ICE, backdoor amnesty, U.S. Border Patrol, OTMs, halt deportations