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PHOENIX — If you're running for president, how do you convince supporters you are tough enough on immigration? Get the endorsement of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America whose uncompromising stand on illegal immigration is a point of pride.

On Wednesday Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann was the latest Republican presidential candidate hoping for Arpaio's backing. She met in Phoenix with the Republican sheriff, whose endorsement is frequently sought by candidates in all types of races across the country.

Arpaio said he hasn't yet decided which candidate he will back in the GOP primary race.

Bachmann, who was in Arizona for campaign fundraisers, focused almost entirely on immigration during the three minutes she talked to reporters. She then went into a private meeting with Arpaio.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, campaigns, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Republicans, U.S.-Mexico border

On immigration, Rick Perry strays from tea party script

By Marc Caputo, Miami Herald
In Print: Wednesday, September 14, 2011

TAMPA — Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry had the tea party crowd on his side at Monday night's debate, only to get booed when he espoused moderate-sounding positions on immigration.

Now the Texas governor is a target of some immigration hard-liners for voicing opposition to a border fence and defending a bill he signed that could help some illegal immigrants receive in-state tuition.

"If you're working toward your college degree, and if you are working and pursuing citizenship in the state of Texas, you pay in-state tuition there," Perry explained at the CNN/Tea Party Express debate at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

"And the bottom line is, it doesn't make any difference what the sound of your last name is. That is the American way."

Cue the boos...

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans plan to hold hearings, perhaps within the next three weeks, to fight back against a new Obama administration deportation policy that will allow some undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States.

The hearings will likely focus on the American jobs Republicans say will be lost to undocumented immigrants who will remain in the country, Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.), chairman of the House immigration subcommittee, hinted on Tuesday.

"This is consistent with the Obama jobs program -- just another way to lose another 300,000 or 400,000 American jobs," said Gallegly, adding he doesn't know "whether [Obama] cares or he doesn't care. If he doesn't care, it makes sense. If it does care, it questions his intelligence."

Subjects = Illegal immigration, amnesty, American jobs, deportations, reward illegals, DHS, Congressional hearings

Appellate Court Rules Lawsuit Challenging Houston’s Illegal Alien Sanctuary Policy Will Continue

September 13, 2011
Judicial Watch

Appellate Court Reverses Decision by District Court Dismissing Judicial Watch Lawsuit Filed by Houston Police Sgt. Joslyn Johnson, Widow of Police Officer Murdered by Illegal Alien

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled in favor of Judicial Watch client Houston police sergeant Joslyn M. Johnson, the widow of a fellow police officer murdered by an illegal alien. The three-judge panel reversed a decision by the district court. Sgt. Johnson’s lawsuit against the City of Houston’s illegal sanctuary policy will now continue (Johnson v. City of Houston (No. 10-207343)).

Subjects: Illegal immigration, immigration court rulings, sanctuary city policies, illegal alien crimes

Friends of ALIPAC,

While the issue has been heavily discussed by supporters on our website, or organization has avoided issues of Obama's eligibility, birth certificate, etc...

However, today two very reliable sources that we have a lot of trust in through direct observation and experience with are reporting something extraordinary.

World Net Daily (WND) and Dr. Jerome Corsi (Best selling author) are reporting that Barack Obama's social security number has just been tested against and failed the E-verify system. They claim that the Social Security number Obama is using was issued years after his first job and is from a state that Obama appears to have no connection with...

September 12, 2011

CONTACT: Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC)
Press@alipac.us / (866) 703-0864

GOP Presidential primary front runner Rick Perry will likely experience a significant drop in support after the crowd booed him tonight at the CNN and Tea Party debate during discussions of his support for in-state tuition for illegal aliens, which is opposed by 81% of Americans according to numerous polls.

"Perry was the first GOP candidate that the crowd booed tonight, and they started to boo as he rationalized his support for in-state tuition for illegal aliens," said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC. "We are about to see what we will call the 'Perry Plunge' in the polls since surveys show 81% of Americans oppose the kind of illegal immigrant support legislation he signed into law in Texas."

A recent Rasmussen Poll released on August 23, 2011 showed 81% of Americans oppose in-state tuition for illegal aliens. This poll confirms a JWP Civitas Poll run in North Carolina in 2005 that also showed 81% opposition.

In the second violent crime in this country connected with the ATF’s failed Fast and Furious program, two Arizona undercover police officers were allegedly assaulted last year when they attempted to stop two men in a stolen vehicle with two of the program's weapons in a confrontation south of Phoenix.

The officers, members of an elite Arizona Department of Public Safety law enforcement unit, said the driver rammed their cars and threatened them with the firearms, and then fled into the Arizona desert. The driver was caught and arrested, and two firearms –- a Beretta pistol and AK-47 semiautomatic assault rifle -- were found in the stolen Ford truck, the police said.

The suspect, Angel Hernandez-Diaz, 48, believed to be a Mexican national, was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, driving the stolen vehicle and illegal possession of the weapons. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial in Pinal County, Ariz., next month.

Also arrested in the incident was the passenger, Rosario Zavala, 30, of Mexico, who was charged with possession of narcotics and the stolen vehicle.

Subjects -  Illegal immigration, Operation Fast and Furious (aka Gunrunner, Gun Walker), weapons, ATF, Brian Terry, Mexico, border, drugs.

Gun store owner had misgivings about ATF sting

September 12, 2011
Richard A. Serrano
Los Angeles Times

When federal agents with Operation Fast and Furious told Andre Howard to sell weapons to illegal purchasers, he complied, but he feared someone would get hurt. Then a border agent was shot.

Reporting from Glendale and Rio Rico, Ariz.—

In the fall of 2009, ATF agents installed a secret phone line and hidden cameras in a ceiling panel and wall at Andre Howard's Lone Wolf gun store. They gave him one basic instruction: Sell guns to every illegal purchaser who walks through the door.

For 15 months, Howard did as he was told. To customers with phony IDs or wads of cash he normally would have turned away, he sold pistols, rifles and semiautomatics. He was assured by the ATF that they would follow the guns, and that the surveillance would lead the agents to the violent Mexican drug cartels on the Southwest border.

Topics = Border violence, ATF, Operation Fast and Furious, Mexican drug cartels, U.S.-Mexico border, illegal gun sales

O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — A St. Louis-area town is taking a get-tough stance on immigration enforcement.

The Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis reports that O'Fallon City Council members voted unanimously Thursday to adopt a resolution declaring the St. Charles County town a "Rule of Law" city. That means the city will strictly enforce existing state and federal immigration laws.

Subjects = Illegal immigration, Rule of Law city resolution, enforce existing immigration laws, E-Verify, ICE

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