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

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.

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

3 illegal aliens had to be rescued from desert. More taxpayer money wasted

PHOENIX - Border agents say they rescued a woman and her 11-year-old son lost in the desert after finding the boy's father.

Agents apprehended the man, an illegal immigrant, on Sunday. He told them he had left the woman and son behind as he looked for help.

The Border Patrol's search and rescue team began a tracking operation, and found the woman and boy a few hours later.

The boy needed treatment, and was taken to a local hospital and later discharged.

The family will return to Mexico.

The Border Patrol says its agency has rescued more than 540 people in the first 10 months of this fiscal year, which ends next month.

http://ktar.com/index.php?sid=1331465&nid=6

400 Illegal aliens arrested in Midwest

Almost 400 illegal immigrants have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Of those arrested, 347 had prior criminal convictions. The sweep was a three-day operation throughout the Midwest.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The arrests were made in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. The operation was part of the agency's "Cross Check" operations that began in 2009 and are being held across the country.

"We are doing more than ever to prevent people from coming here illegally and we're doing more than ever to focus on those criminal aliens who are threatening our public safety," Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman for ICE's Chicago, Illinois, office said.

More than half of suspects arrested had prior convictions for serious violent crimes such as armed robbery, drug trafficking and aggravated assault.

"These are crimes that have been committed here in the United States," Montenegro told CNN Radio. "They have criminal convictions for criminal conduct that they have committed here in the United States.

"We used a number of different leads," she said. "We tracked individuals with information we had available in our databases. We worked with other law enforcement and used information they had as well to develop our target lists."

Some of the suspects were affiliated with gangs or convicted of sexual crimes against minors. More than 50 were immigration fugitives who had outstanding deportation orders.

The operation, which ended last week, was the largest of its kind for the agency.

"ICE is focused on arresting convicted criminals who prey upon our communities, and tracking down fugitives who scoff at our nation's immigration laws," ICE Director John Morton said in a statement. "The results of this operation demonstrate ICE's commitment to those principles."

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=38039&wf=rsscol

Manhunt over, illegal alien accused in injuring state trooper arrested

BRUNSWICK – After nine days on the run, the man accused of injuring a state trooper has been caught. Abel Jiminez, 30, of Easton, was arrested by State Police in Brunswick Sunday morning after a search of a barn the Wagner Farm on Dater Hill Road.

State Police had been searching for Jiminez in Washington and Rensselaer Counties since Aug. 20, when Jiminez allegedly fleeing a traffic stop. As he tried to get away, he dragged a trooper with his pickup truck for approximately a quarter of a mile.

The trooper, Joseph P. Smith, of State Police at Greenwich, suffered numerous injuries and was hospitalized at Albany Medical Center Hospital for several days.

Smith had stopped Jimenez in response to a domestic incident reported to State Police by Jiminez's girlfriend.

State Police reported following a tip Saturday that Jimenez, an illegal Mexican immigrant who had been a farm laborer in the area for the last five years, had left the Washington County area and moved south.

Jimenez was arraigned on first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault of an officer and endangering the welfare of a child charges in Easton Town Court on Sunday afternoon.

http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=13063917

Buz Mills raising funds for sheriffs' SB 1070 defense

Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate and millionaire businessman Buz Mills is taking on a new challenge.

He's focusing his fundraising efforts on helping two Arizona sheriffs defend themselves against lawsuits challenging Arizona's controversial immigration law.

Mills is chairing the Border Sheriffs, a new non-profit organization set up to raise private funds to cover the legal fees of Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, two of the state's 15 county sheriffs named in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil-rights groups.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio also is named as a defendant in a separate lawsuit filed by the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, but he is not part of the Border Sheriffs group. None of the other four Senate Bill 1070 lawsuits name any sheriffs as defendants.

Mills said the goal of the Border Sheriffs is not to defend SB 1070, which he supports as a tool for law enforcement, but to help the sheriffs on the front lines. Cochise County shares about 80 miles of border with Mexico, and Pinal County is a major corridor of travel for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

"Helping them raise funds lets them focus on their main job: protecting Arizonans against this international violence," Mills said.

Mills, who spent $3.2 million of mostly his own money on his gubernatorial campaign before suspending it in July, said he will travel around the country to talk to potential donors about border challenges as well as take donors to the border to see the situation for themselves.

He said he got to know Dever and spend time with him along the border during his campaign. It was that firsthand look that spurred him to get involved, he said.

"I really got to see what's going on down there," he said. "It's another world. We've got serious, serious problems."

He said he met rancher Robert Krentz two weeks before he was murdered, and Mills got to know many other ranchers, farmers and businesspeople in the area.

"You hear all these stories: Ranchers talking about eight or 10 times a day people knocking on their door wanting food or water and the lady of the house lying on the floor with a pistol, praying that they'll go away," he said. "There are people whose homes have been broken into 30 times. This is America. How does that happen?"

He said that sheriffs along Arizona's border don't have the resources to patrol their large counties and deal with the violence of the Mexican cartels. And he said the economic crisis and rising unemployment mean even less money for counties.

"I'm embarrassed and ashamed that our federal and state government don't do more for them," Mills said.

He said his goal as chairman of Border Sheriffs will be to raise awareness as well as money.

"We need to get this issue in front of the public," he said. "SB 1070 has brought national awareness of the issue, but we need to take that national issue and focus in on what's actually going on down there."

The group has raised about $125,000, but Mills said they need about $4 million. Under Internal Revenue Service rules, a non-profit does not have to disclose an itemized list of donations or donor names. Mills said most of the money has come in as small individual donations. Sen. John McCain is reported to be the largest private donor to date, giving $5,000.

The group's website, www.bordersheriffs.com, says funds will cover the legal defense of Dever and Babeu.

Scottsdale attorney Jordan Rose and her law firm are representing Dever.

And while Babeu is working with the group, he is still being represented in the lawsuits by Pinal County Attorney James Walsh.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/08/29/20100829arizona-immigration-law-buz-mills.html

Illegal aliens ignore jurisdiction

In Congress in the 1980s, amnesty was granted to 2.5 million illegal aliens as part of a compromise to close loopholes in immigration laws. Employers of illegals would suffer severe fines and possible imprisonment.

Unfortunately, only the amnesty of illegals was real. The laws have not been enforced because politicians need votes to stay in office. Even though they take an oath to "support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic," they choose to protect themselves at the sacrifice of the Constitution and the rule of law.

Congress should immediately pass the following: Citizenship shall not be granted on the basis of an illegal act. This will make the 14th Amendment more clear. It currently has two requirements for citizenship: All persons born or naturalized in the United States; and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.

It is clear to me that a pregnant female who enters the United States illegally for the purpose of having the baby born in the United States is not subject to the jurisdiction thereof!

It is clear that all babies born under such illegal circumstances are not citizens. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is wrong to grandfather these pawns of criminals. We welcome legal immigrants, but we are a nation of laws -- although the federal government seems to have forgotten that.

Consider the absurdity of the wife of an ambassador to the United Nations or other foreign diplomat gaining citizenship for her newborn. Diplomats are not subject to the jurisdiction thereof. They and their families have "diplomatic immunity."

Those who enter the United States illegally are also not subject to the jurisdiction thereof. By their actions they reject that jurisdiction!

http://chronicle.augusta.com/opinion/letters/2010-08-28/illegal-immigrants-ignore-jurisdiction

More Illegal Aliens Found at Pickens School Construction Sites

After continuing complaints, more subcontractors have been identified as hiring illegal immigrants in Pickens School construction sites.

On July 1, 2010, the date the South Carolina law became effective for every employer working on the construction projects, the department began an investigation of all employers on the site. That investigation is on-going.

Jim Knight from the Office of Immigrant Worker Compliance said that 4 subcontractors had employed 32 illegal aliens in July alone. The organization brought this to the attention of the employers and they have terminated all 32 employees.

As required by state law, the department of LLR notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the situation.

The are 5 companies who hired a total of 35 illegal immigrants since November 2009.

http://www2.wspa.com/news/2010/aug/27/more-illegal-immigrants-found-pickens-school-const-ar-758328/

Illegal Aliens Want Sanctuary Policies In Writing

Lawmakers and police in a major U.S. city have reassured illegal immigrants that they’re protected under longtime sanctuary policies amid demands from open borders advocates that the measures be formalized in writing.

A group of Latino activists, clergy and civil rights leaders took to the street this week to command Baltimore officials to further solidify the city’s measures to shield illegal aliens from federal authorities. Like many law enforcement agencies across the nation, Baltimore Police bans its officers from inquiring about suspects’ immigration status.

Now emboldened illegal immigrants want the policy in writing to reduce crime and help bridge the gap between officers and immigrants after the recent murders of three Hispanic men in the area. The most recent victim, a Honduran, was clubbed and beaten with a wooden stake by a mentally disturbed teen who professed to hate “Mexicans.” Illegal immigrants are more prone to cooperate in these sorts of police investigations if the department has a written don’t-ask-don’t-tell immigration policy, their advocates say.

But Baltimore Police Chief Frederick Bealefeld asserts that a written policy is unnecessary because his officers never ask about immigration status as per the citywide sanctuary measures. In the three years he’s served as department head, Bealefeld says he hasn’t heard “one utterance on enforcement of immigration laws.” For their part, city officials assure residents that they should trust police to focus on fighting violent crime, not enforcing immigration laws.

This week a Maryland legislator threw a wrench in Baltimore’s sanctuary public relations campaign by announcing a proposed bill that will give citizens the power to sue public officials who violate federal immigration laws. If the measure passes, citizens can file complaints against public officials in circuit court and, if convicted, the official could be booted from office or face criminal charges.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/aug/illegal-aliens-want-sanctuary-policies-writing

Arizona Files Legal Brief Hitting Back at Federal Ruling Against State's Immigration Law

PHOENIX -- Gov. Jan Brewer's lawyers on Thursday filed the first brief in their appeal of a ruling that put the most controversial elements of Arizona's new immigration law on hold.

The governor says the federal ruling blocking portions of Arizona's controversial immigration law "has caused irreparable harm" to the state's residents.

Brewer wants the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to reverse the ruling U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton made last month.

The governor's office says Bolton abused her discretion by applying the wrong legal standards and basing her ruling on the federal government's speculation that it would be harmed by Arizona's law. Brewer says the judge ignored key provisions of federal law that allow states to enforce immigration law.

"The decision to suspend portions of SB 1070 has caused irreparable harm to the safety and well-being of Arizona's citizens who continue to suffer every day that the federal government refuses to do its job," Brewer said in a written statement.

The U.S. Justice Department went to court in a bid to invalidate the law.

The Justice Department had no immediate comment Thursday.

Bolton blocked provisions of the law that requires immigrants to obtain or carry immigration registration papers and that require police, while enforcing other laws, to question people's immigration status if there is a reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally.

But the judge let other portions take effect late last month, such a ban on blocking traffic when people seek or offer day-labor services on streets, and amendments to existing state immigration laws.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/26/arizona-file-brief-supporting-immigration-law-face-federal-ruling/

Brewer appeals Arizona law ruling on illegal aliens

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Thursday she has asked a federal appeals court to lift a lower court's injunction and let the state's tough immigration law to go fully into effect.

"This federal judge's decision applied the wrong legal standard and ignored key provisions of federal law that empower states to enforce immigration laws," Mrs. Brewer said in a statement.

It's the latest step in a long legal struggle between Arizona and the Obama administration, which is expected to end with the Supreme Court eventually ruling on the law.

Late last month, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton issued an injunction halting key parts of the law, ruling that they infringed on the federal government's right to control immigration policy. She blocked a provision that required police to check the status of those they encountered during regular enforcement who they suspect of being in the country illegally and a provision that required immigrants to carry residency documents.

Judge Bolton allowed provisions banning sanctuary policies and cracking down on the practice of hiring day laborers.

Judge Bolton is still considering the full case, but Mrs. Brewer has asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to step in and reinstate the law, arguing that Arizona residents "continue to suffer every day that the federal government refuses to do its job."

A Justice Department spokesman did not return a call seeking comment.

Immigration is an intensely political issue in Arizona and has dominated this year's campaigns in the state.

Mrs. Brewer's standing in polls has soared since she has taken the lead in defending the state's law, and polls show her leading her Democratic opponent for the governorship, state Attorney General Terry Goddard.

Mr. Goddard, who opposes the state law, removed himself from the defense team after Mrs. Brewer sidelined him and has accused the governor of "election-year grandstanding."

The federal government's lawsuit was one of a handful challenging the state law brought by citizens and immigrant-rights groups. Earlier this week, Judge Bolton dismissed one of those challenges, finding that the plaintiff did not show an actual injury from the law.

Mrs. Brewer said she expects the other pending challenges to also be dismissed.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/26/brewer-appeals-illegals-law-ruling/

Video - No Plan to Deport Illegal Alien With Long History of Arrests

Video - Feds: Illegal Alien Arrests at Sea Double

Immigration Agency Ends Some Deportations

Immigration enforcement officials have started to cancel the deportations of thousands of immigrants they have detained, a policy they said would pare huge case backlogs in the immigration courts.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said the new approach was part of a broad shift in priorities at the agency, to focus its efforts on catching and deporting immigrants who have been convicted of crimes or pose a national security threat. The policy — announced in an Aug. 20 memorandum from John Morton, the head of the agency — drew praise from immigrant advocates, who called it a common-sense strategy, and was denounced by several Republicans as evidence that the Obama administration was weakening enforcement and making it easier for illegal immigrants to remain in the country.

The change in emphasis at the immigration agency, which represents a significant break with longstanding practices, has awakened resistance among agents and detention officers on the ground, according to officials of the agency, which is known as ICE, and of the union representing those employees.

Mr. Morton’s memorandum refers to a particular group of illegal immigrants: those who have been detained in ICE operations because they did not have legal status, but who have active applications in the system to become legal residents. The memo encourages ICE officers and lawyers to use their authority to dismiss those cases, canceling the deportation proceedings, if they determine that the immigrants have no criminal records and stand a strong chance of having their residence applications approved.

The policy is intended to address a “major inefficiency” that has led to an unnecessary pileup of cases in the immigration courts, Mr. Morton said. The courts have reported at least 17,000 cases that could be eliminated from their docket if ICE dismissed deportations of immigrants, like those married to United States citizens, who were very likely to win legal status, the memo says.

To resolve that number of deportation cases, officials will have to fix persistent breakdowns in coordination between two federal agencies that oversee the nation’s overburdened and troubled immigration system, ICE officials acknowledged. On one hand, ICE enforces immigration law. Another agency, Citizenship and Immigration Services, is in charge of approving applications for immigration documents. When ICE opens a deportation case against an immigrant, it is heard in immigration court.

The courts are swamped under a backlog that reached a record in June of 247,922 cases, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research group at Syracuse University that analyzes federal data. The average waiting time for cases in those courts was 459 days.

But immigration lawyers said they are currently waiting as long as two years to get a hearing date in some especially crowded immigration courts.

The new policy “is a pretty basic, common-sense thing to do,” said Helen Harnett, policy director for the National Immigrant Justice Center, a legal assistance group in Chicago. She said that if an immigrant’s application for legal residence was ultimately denied, ICE could reinstate the deportation.

“This is for people who do have a path to legalize their status,” said Mary Meg McCarthy, director of the justice center. “This does not create a new path to legalization for anyone.”

But Republican lawmakers said the Obama administration was moving toward a de facto legalization program by allowing some illegal immigrants to remain here despite their violations of the law.

“Actions like this demoralize ICE agents who are trying to do their job and enforce the law,” said Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. “Unfortunately, it appears this is more evidence that the Obama administration would rather circumvent Congress and give a free pass to illegal immigrants who have already broken our law.”

Mr. Morton’s memorandum was first reported this week in The Houston Chronicle, which found that some immigrants in Texas had already seen their deportations canceled.

ICE officials said they arrived at the policy after conferring with immigration court officials. “This is not a backdoor amnesty,” said Beth Gibson, assistant deputy director of ICE. “It is really about efficient use of docket space and smart use of everybody’s scarce resources.”

The agency has deported a record number of 167,000 immigrants with criminal convictions in the past year, ICE officials said, an increase of about 43 percent over the previous year.

However, dissension in the ranks at ICE surfaced on June 25, when a local of the American Federation of Government Employees representing some enforcement and detention officers announced that it had taken a vote of no confidence in Mr. Morton.

The director and other senior ICE officials had “abandoned the agency’s core mission of enforcing United States immigration laws,” the local said in a news release, undertaking “reckless and misguided initiatives” while failing to alert Congress to the need for more manpower and funds for ICE.

Chris Crane, the president of the local, did not respond to an e-mail message on Thursday.

The national president of the federation, John Gage, said the union had not yet taken a position on the issues raised by the local. Mr. Gage said after several ICE locals had complained, he called a meeting next week of representatives of all of the federation’s locals that represent ICE employees.

“I really would like to get some facts,” Mr. Gage said Thursday. “Our ICE officers have real concerns, but there is conflicting information. If there is any increased risk to our people, we will be all over it,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/us/27immig.html?_r=2&hpw

Video - Backdoor Amnesty for Illegals?

Illegal alien gets 20 years for shaking a baby to death for crying

RENO, Nev. -- A man who prosecutors say shook his infant daughter so hard that she suffered massive brain injuries because her cries interrupted his video game has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

During a sentencing hearing Wednesday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Greco said Gerardo Espinosa condemned the girl to a life of misery, unable to see or hear and with limited mobility.

District Judge Patrick Flanagan said he would have sentenced the 19-year-old illegal immigrant to life in prison if the law allowed.

A jury last month convicted Espinosa of child abuse causing substantial bodily harm. His daughter was 11 weeks old when she was injured.

He told investigators the injuries were from an accidental fall.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/25/AR2010082505996.html

Homeland Sec. Dismisses Deportation Cases

In a remarkable move that has stunned the legal profession, the Department of Homeland Security is systematically dismissing pending deportation cases against illegal aliens, even when the offenders have been previously convicted of crimes in the U.S.

The government agency charged with keeping America safe quietly began dropping cases against deportable illegal immigrants about a month ago, according to a story in Texas’s largest newspaper. The effort began in Houston and has baffled local immigration attorneys who say the government dismissed their clients’ deportation even when expulsion was virtually guaranteed. “It was absolutely fantastic,” said one lawyer who had three cases dismissed this week.

Five full-time Homeland Security attorneys are assigned to “review” all active cases in Houston’s immigration court, which is among the nation’s busiest, and an undisclosed number of others are reviewing cases nationwide. The plan is part of the Obama Administration’s broader strategy to prioritize the deportation of illegal aliens who present a national security or public safety threat. Undocumented immigrants determined by the administration to be harmless will be allowed to stay in the U.S.

In some cases, Homeland Security officials will allow illegal immigrants with criminal convictions to go free as long as the crimes don’t involve drunken driving, family violence or a sexual offense. For the most part, illegal aliens who have been in the U.S. for at least two years without a felony conviction will be allowed to stay, according to an attorney who serves as a liaison between the government and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Can you say backdoor amnesty? It’s no secret that the president wants to legalize the country’s estimated 12 million undocumented aliens and in fact he has a backup plan to accomplish it if Congress doesn’t pass legislation to do it. Earlier this month a conservative news magazine exposed an internal Homeland Security document detailing the plan to enact “meaningful immigration reform absent legislative action.”

The administration has also implemented other measures to protect illegal aliens while an amnesty plan is crafted, including a directive prohibiting both federal and local law enforcement officers from arresting illegal immigrants as a result of traffic violations and an order halting the removal of some 700,000 undocumented students nationwide.

Source - http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/aug/homeland-sec-drops-deportation-cases

ICE Won’t Arrest Illegal Aliens Caught In Traffic Stops

In its latest surreptitious effort to protect illegal immigrants the Obama Administration plans to prohibit both federal and local law enforcement officers from arresting undocumented aliens discovered as a result of traffic violations.

It marks the third time this month that a covert plan to shield illegal aliens from deportation gets exposed. A few weeks ago the administration ordered authorities to halt the removal of some 700,000 illegal immigrants who are students while lawmakers craft legislation to officially spare them from expulsion. Weeks earlier an internal Homeland Security document revealed that the president has a secret backup plan to grant illegal immigrants amnesty in case Congress doesn’t pass legislation to do it.

This week’s plan du jour is to shield illegal immigrants who break U.S. law by operating a vehicle without a license or driving recklessly, possibly endangering innocent Americans. A draft policy issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says that agency Chief John Morton intends to prohibit his agents as well as local law enforcement officers from detaining illegal aliens stopped during traffic violations.

The three-page ICE memo was made public this week by a research organization dedicated to studying immigration issues. Even police departments that participate in the local-federal partnership known as 287(g) will be prohibited from apprehending or reporting an illegal alien in the course of a traffic stop. Federal agents will be forbidden from issuing what’s known as an immigration detainer unless the illegal alien has committed a separate criminal violation.

Morton is implementing the new measure in response to the “many concerns” of immigration enforcement critics (i.e. open borders, La Raza movement) who believe local police abuse their authority to arrest “innocent” illegal aliens in order to have them deported. That’s according to an ICE political appointee who discourages cooperation between local and federal authorities.

Never mind that local police across the country regularly encounter unlicensed illegal immigrants operating unsafe vehicles, smuggling other undocumented aliens or plotting serious crime sprees. Two of the 9/11 hijackers (Ziad Jarrah and Nawaf al-Hazmi) had been stopped for speeding by police in separate states but were not detained even though they were in the U.S. illegally.

Jarrah was ticketed by a Maryland State trooper just days before he boarded United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field, and al-Hazmi, one of the 9/11 masterminds, got pulled over in Oklahoma around eight months before he crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon.

Source - http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/aug/ice-won-t-arrest-illegal-aliens-caught-traffic-stops

Video - Life in the Shadows: Minnesota's illegal aliens

In a sparsely furnished apartment in Minneapolis, Veronica does her best to put authentic Mexican food on the dining-room table.

"This is Mexican bread," she said, pointing to a round loaf in the middle of the table. "Well, Mexican-style, because it was made in the United States."

Para leer este reportaje en español, haga clic aquí.

For Veronica, 37, it?s a struggle to find the food she is accustomed to eating. And more significantly, it?s a struggle to feed her four children ? especially when three of them are close to college age and talking about careers in business, medicine and law.

"When I hear these three professions ? that they're not talking about something small ? that's when I think I have to do something more," she said.

Veronica is a hard working, taxpaying single mother who, like any parent, is concerned about how she?ll pay for school, clothes and rent. What makes her different is what she went through so her kids could grow up here.

That difference puts Veronica in the middle of the national immigration debate.

"The river pulled me under a little," she said, recalling her attempts to swim across the Mexico-U.S. border. "And I didn't bring anything to protect me, a life jacket or anything."

Veronica crossed the Rio Grande, between Mexico and Laredo, Texas, where she said the river is one-third as wide as the Mississippi River, between Minneapolis and Saint Paul. But along the Rio Grande, the current was rough, and there were guards.

She didn?t make it until her fourth try.

"I said, ?This time, I'm going to make it?," she said. "And I made it."

Now that she's here, she is forced to live in the shadows because she does not have the government's permission to be here.

Her real name is not "Veronica." She and others interviewed by KARE11 News for this story agreed to participate only if KARE agreed not to reveal their identities. According to a survey by the Pew Hispanic Center, "Veronica" is one of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, and one of the estimated 75,000 -100,000 living in Minnesota.

Veronica came to Minneapolis four years ago. She worked in a clothing store until she earned the $10,000 she needed to have her children smuggled across the border.

"Because I wasn't here with my children, all I did was work and work and work, day and night," she said.

Her husband decided to stay in Mexico. Veronica had a fourth child in the U.S., where she is convinced the future is brighter.

In Mexico, where Veronica was certified as a nurse, she said there was too much corruption for her to find work.

"If you don't have money (in Mexico), it's not possible for you to have a job. You have to pay for the job opportunities," she said.

In Minnesota, Veronica spent $200 to get a fake ID and a bogus Social Security number. The black market papers easily got her a job at store owned by a major U.S. corporation.

"And after two months, I was made a manager," she said.

That job got her a real W-2. Last year, Veronica earned almost $19,000, before taxes.

She does pay taxes. She even has been honored by the Minnesota Department of Revenue for volunteering to help other Spanish speakers pay their taxes.

But at the end of last year, it looked like the government might have begun to crack down.

Federal authorities arrested 1,297 undocumented workers in raids at Swift meatpacking plants, including one in Minnesota. Of the workers arrested, 274 were charged with identity theft for allegedly using the IDs of actual citizens to get their jobs.

Veronica left her job soon after the Swift raids. She says her Social Security number doesn't actually belong to anyone real. But her employer asked her to fill out a questionnaire issued by a company whose clients include the Department of Homeland Security.

"On Dec. 28, I received a call saying they want us to sign a document, because they're looking for criminals," she said. She worried it was a step toward deportation and refused to sign the papers.

"I have to feed my children," she said. Now, Veronica cleans houses and hopes her children won't have a story like the one you're about to read.

"My, my dad told me that they had taken my mom," Melissa, 10, told KARE11.

Melissa?s mother, who had had being living in the United States for 17 years, was deported last spring after authorities became aware of her immigration status.

Her mother returned to Mexico with Melissa's two-year-old brother.

"They don't understand that the parents, they come here to work, to give their children a better life," Melissa said through tears.

She was born in Iowa, which makes Melissa an American citizen.

"I?m from the United States," she said. "I know my rights to have my mother with me. It's not fair that they take her away from me."

Melissa's father works in restaurants and said he sometimes works 16-hour days.

"Yes, it's true, we don't have papers and all that. But we're not hurting anyone, either. We only came here to work," her father said.

In the Unites States, there are plenty of people who might sympathize with the immigrants? stories, but they?ll often ask, "Why don't these immigrants just follow the rules?"

KARE11 learned, through interviews with the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security, that "following the rules" is almost impossible if someone just wants to move here to look for a better life. The state department only grants immigrant visas to people who are sponsored by a U.S. employer, a spouse, or a close relative who is a citizen.

The only other authorized way to immigrate to the United States is to win the "green card lottery." But that lottery is closed to Mexicans, and to people born in Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Pakistan, Philippines, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and Vietnam -- because these nationalities already are well represented in the U.S.

What's more, the 55,000 lottery winners only win the opportunity to apply for a visa. That said, the United States does accept more authorized immigrants every year than any other country.

"We have a very generous immigration system," said Tim Counts, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Counts said U.S. policies have to be enforced so the system maintains its integrity.

"When we find evidence that there has been illegal activity, whether it's someone working as a U.S. citizen, whether it's an illegal alien gang member, whether it's an employer who is knowingly hiring illegal aliens, we conduct an investigation. If we have the evidence, we prosecute. It's that simple,? he said.

Counts said priority is given to cases involving national security. But as the political debate swirls around people like "Veronica," she has taken it upon herself to talk to lawmakers in Saint Paul for help with health care and education.

She compares her battle to historic struggles for civil rights.

"If African-Americans would have stayed hidden, the laws would not have changed," she said. "Somebody has to do it."

For "Veronica", it is a battle to move out of the shadows and live a new version of the American dream.

"We have hope that, in this country, things will change," she said.

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=245391

WALPIN: 14th Amendment never meant for illegal aliens

The suggestion by at least three senators that the Constitution be amended to deny birthright citizenship to children of illegal aliens born in the United States has induced derogatory retorts that to do so would negate the 14th Amendment's protection of civil rights. Historical facts - ignored by those opposed - in fact demonstrate that such an amendment would reinstate the rule as originally intended by the adoption of the 14th Amendment in 1868.

At issue is the first clause of the 14th Amendment, which states, "All persons born ... in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." As the Supreme Court held in the Slaughterhouse Cases shortly after the adoption of that amendment, the main purpose "was to establish the citizenship of the negro," who, while recently freed in the Civil War, "were still not only not citizens, but were incapable of becoming so by anything short of an amendment to the Constitution." No one has ever suggested that the three civil rights amendments (13th, 14th and 15th) would have been adopted, absent the need to give citizenship and protection to blacks.

Even more relevant, and totally ignored in the current discussion, is that, while the 14th Amendment reads "all persons born in the United States" are citizens, it has never been disputed that "all" never meant "all." In 1873, less than five years after the adoption of the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court addressed the meaning of that citizenship provision by considering the facts surrounding the adoption of the 14th Amendment, "almost too recent to be called history, but which are familiar to us all." The court concluded, without dissent on this point, that "[t]he phrase, 'subject to its jurisdiction' was intended to exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign States born within the United States."

If that had remained the Supreme Court's ruling on this issue, there would be no need for a new amendment to deny citizenship to children of illegal aliens. But more than a quarter-century later - when the members of the Supreme Court no longer claimed personal knowledge of the events leading up to the 14th Amendment - the court, in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, spoke again on this issue. It first reaffirmed that "all" in the 14th Amendment did not mean "all." It recognized exclusions: A child born in the United States to a member of an Indian tribe, or to ministers or consul of a foreign government, or to alien enemies in hostile occupation, was not a U.S. citizen. The reason for these exceptions was that such parents did not owe this country "direct and immediate allegiance."

This later Supreme Court, however, disagreed with the earlier decision holding that a child born to aliens in this country does not have birthright citizenship, at least on the facts presented in that case. At the time of his birth, Mr. Wong's "mother and father were domiciled residents of the United States, and had established and enjoyed a permanent domicile and residence therein ... and were engaged in the prosecution of business." Mr. Wong had, throughout his life, lived in the United States at the family home in Sacramento Calif., leaving only for short visits to China. These facts were the antithesis of current illegal aliens. Given those facts, the court held that Mr. Wong met the requirement of being "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States, and thus sustained his citizenship from birth.

Should that decision necessarily mean that "all" persons born to illegal aliens automatically receive citizenship? It doesn't even discuss illegal aliens (which did not then exist) and thus does not answer that question.

The court, however, sets forth two conditions that, if existent, warrant providing citizenship to children of aliens: "allegiance" and "ligeance." For example, American Indians were excluded from birthright citizenship, because they were held to owe allegiance to their tribes, not to the United States. Ligeance, for those unfamiliar with that old English term, is the "connection between sovereign and subject by which they were mutually bound, the former to protection and the securing of justice, the latter to faithful service."

A bill just introduced in the Texas Legislature by Rep. Leo Berman prohibiting the issuance of a birth certificate to a newborn child of an illegal alien - if enacted - would undoubtedly make it necessary for the Supreme Court to decide which of its two 19th-century holdings on the meaning of the citizenship provision in the 14th Amendment is the correct one as related to children of illegal aliens.

That issue would be presented by a lawsuit by such child to require issuance of the birth certificate and for a declaration of the unconstitutionality of the law. The court would then have to consider whether an illegal alien meets the requisite requirements of allegiance and ligeance to have truly placed himself "subject to the jurisdiction of" this country's government. How would that be possible given the alien's violation of this country's laws by entering and remaining? Isn't violation of law, by definition, inconsistent with allegiance and, particularly, faithful service to this country?

Unless that statute is enacted in Texas or another state, this issue cannot readily be presented to the Supreme Court because of a judicial prerequisite to hearing a case that requires the plaintiff to have "standing" - a personal interest. It is doubtful that any interested taxpayer would have standing to object to issuance of a birth certificate, documenting a claim of citizenship by a child of an illegal alien. Hence, absent a case challenging a state's refusal to issue a birth certificate, the courts could only rule on it if and when the government itself were to raise this issue in the courts - unlikely, at least with the current administration.

Thus, without state action on the subject, the only practical way to return to the original intent of the 14th Amendment would be through a new constitutional amendment. Beyond that, these facts demonstrate that those seeking to return to that original intent should not be castigated for supposedly seeking to emasculate the 14th Amendment; they are not.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/24/14th-amendment-never-meant-for-illegals/

Video - Illegal Alien Votes in Election

Illegal Alien MS-13 gang member Walter (Duke) Torres pleads guilty to plotting to kill federal agent

An MS-13 member pleaded guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court on Monday to plotting to assassinate a federal agent who was turning up the heat on the violent gang.

Walter (Duke) Torres spilled the beans about the deadly plan - ordered by the gang's leaders in El Salvador - to NYPD detectives last fall after he was busted for disorderly conduct in Queens.

Torres, 29, admitted his role in a conspiracy to murder the unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, a killing he hoped would enhance his own status in the gang.

"I did knowingly agree with others to commit a murder," Torres said. "These are rules that we follow in our gang."

Torres was a member of a Mara Salvatrucha 13 crew in Virginia, but was put in charge of carrying out the scheme and traveled to Queens to begin the planning.

At the time of his arrest, gang members were attempting to obtain a high-powered assault rifle capable of penetrating the agent's body armor, according to court papers.

Defense lawyer Bobbie Sternheim said the plot did not go beyond the "talk" stage.

Torres faces a maximum of 10 years in prison when he's sentenced by Federal Judge Sandra Townes on Dec. 10.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/08/23/2010-08-23_ms13_gang_member_walter_duke_torres_pleads_guilty_to_plotting_to_kill_federal_ag.html

Illegal alien "visa overstays" escape detection

Each year, millions of visitors, foreign students, and immigrants come to the United States. Foreign visitors may enter on a legal temporary basis -- that is, with an authorized period of admission that expires on a specific date -- either with temporary visas (generally for tourism, business, or work) or, in some cases, as tourists or business visitors who are allowed to enter without visas.

The majority of visitors who are tracked depart on time, but others overstay -- and since September 11, 2001, the question has arisen as to whether overstay issues might have an impact on domestic security.

Significant numbers of foreign visitors overstay their authorized periods of admission. Based in part on its long-standing I-94 system for tracking arrivals and departures, the Department of Homeland Security estimated the overstay population at 2.3 million. But this estimate excludes an unknown number of long-term overstays from Mexico and Canada, and by definition and it excludes short-term overstays from these and other countries.

Because of unresolved weaknesses in DHS's long-standing tracking system (e.g., non-collection of some departure forms), there is no accurate list of overstays. Tracking system weaknesses make it difficult to monitor potentially suspicious aliens who enter the country legally--and limit immigration control options. Post-September 11 operations identified thousands of overstays and other illegal immigrant workers who (despite limited background checks) had obtained critical infrastructure jobs and security badges with access to, for example, airport tarmacs and U.S. military bases.

While federal investigators have arrested more than 1,360 illegal workers, the majority have eluded apprehension. Together with other improvements, better information on overstays might contribute to a layered national defense that is better able to counter threats from foreign terrorists. A more comprehensive system, US-VISIT, the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, is being phased in.

The design and implementation of US-VISIT, however, face a number of challenges. It is important that this new program avoid specific weaknesses associated with the long-standing system. Checking for these weaknesses might help identify difficult challenges in advance and--together with other efforts--enhance US-VISIT's chances for eventual success as a tracking system.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security calls for preventing foreign terrorists from entering our country and using all legal means to identify; halt; and where appropriate, prosecute or bring immigration or other civil charges against terrorists in the United States. Congress reported in June 2003 that the visa revocation process needed to be strengthened as an antiterrorism tool and recommended that the Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Departments of State and Justice, develop specific policies and procedures to ensure that appropriate agencies are notified of revocations based on terrorism grounds and take proper actions.

An analysis shows that the Departments of State and Homeland Security took some actions -to address weaknesses in the visa revocation process identified in its June 2003 report. However, a review of visas revoked, including a detailed review of a random sample of 35 cases, showed that weaknesses remained in the implementation of the revocation process, especially in the timely transmission of information among federal agencies.

For example, delays exist in matching names of suspected terrorists with names of visa holders and in forwarding necessary information to the State Department. In at least 3 of the 35 cases, it took them 6 months or more to revoke visas after receiving a recommendation to do so. In 3 cases, it took a week or longer after deciding to revoke visas to post a lookout or notify the Department of Homeland Security.

Without these notifications, DHS may not know to investigate those individuals who may be in the country. In 10 cases, DHS either failed to notify or took several months to notify immigration investigators that individuals with revoked visas may be in the country. It then took over 2 months for immigration investigators to request field investigations of these individuals.

After government investigators initiated its first inquiry, additional actions were taken to improve the process, including revising procedures and reassessing the process. The DHS and State Department believe these actions will help avoid the delays experienced in the past. The State Department revised its procedures and formalized its tracking system for visa revocation cases. DHS has developed new written procedures and acted to ensure that immigration investigators are aware of all individuals with revoked visas who may be in the country.

The State Department and DHS also took some steps to address legal and policy issues related to visa revocations. In April, the Terrorist Screening Center, an interagency group organized under the Federal Bureau of Investigation, identified the visa revocation process as a potential homeland security vulnerability and developed an informal process for TSC to handle visa revocation cases. However, weaknesses remain.

For example, State's and DHS's procedures are not fully coordinated and lack performance standards, such as specific time frames, for completing each step of the process. Outstanding legal and policy issues continue to exist regarding the removal of individuals based solely on their visa revocation.

http://www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/illegal-alien-visa-overstays-escape-detection

Becoming a U.S. citizen isn't a right

Regarding "Don't draw Constitution into immigration morass" (Our Views, Aug. 17): This "growing, legal Hispanic population" exists because of illegal immigration and "anchor babies." Pandering to it is playing with fire, as it risks alienating the existing large voting bloc of American citizens. To suggest that denying citizenship to children born here as anchor babies is punishment is to suggest that U.S. citizenship is a human right. It's not.

The Oklahoman fails to cite what illegal aliens have contributed to our society. Nothing good comes to mind. If the illegal aliens, most of whom came from Mexico and central America, were such high-quality, desirable people, why aren't their home countries paradises? Why do those countries have a history of unrest, corruption and poverty? In fact, the illegals come here to feed off our prosperity without adopting our culture.

We don't need to change the Constitution. Let's deport illegal aliens as they're discovered. If they have children who are U.S. citizens, give them the option of taking those children with them or putting them up for adoption. In either event, the parents must leave! Republicans will get the Hispanic vote right after they get the black vote. It's a sad reality that Republicans have been stereotyped and are subject to as much mindless prejudice as any ethnic minority.

The only hope Republicans have is standing on principles and trusting that people of all races will respect that.

http://www.newsok.com/article/3487120?searched=illegal%20alien&custom_click=search

Video - 1/8/07 - Costs of ILLEGAL Aliens

Where They Don't Speak English and Don't Even Want to

This is from 2003:

Fans of Thornton Wilder's 'OUR TOWN' will remember Mrs. Webb's daydream of taking a trip to far-off exotic climes, "Where they don't speak English and don't even want to."

'BIENVENIDOS' -- The large sign over the entry to an elementary school in Escondido, CA welcomes all that enter. Below that enthusiastic salutation, second billing is given in smaller letters in English---GREETINGS. All who enter know which language is most valued.

"We are NOT a Minority" is emblazoned below the fierce-faced Indo-Hispanic on a billboard in Los Angeles. An American citizen visiting the City of Angels would be mortified to see dozens of foreign languages on billboards and storefronts everywhere in Southern California. Even more sobering are T-shirts that read, "Go back to where you came from Gringos." Among the logos scattered through the high school textbook, 'THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE', are clench-fisted, open-mouthed figures declaring 'Viva La Raza' and a picture of an artist atop a ladder leaning against the Statue of Liberty. He has already carved 'AZTLAN' across Lady Liberty's base and adds traditional Mexican symbols across Liberty's gown. He's reaching for her crown and flame. His actions represent a symbolic 'taking' of America from Americans-which is not lost to young Hispanics.

On the other side of our nation, a Mexican Indian girl, illegal alien immigrant - whose infant has been taken from her custody is suing because the Alabama child welfare agency didn't give her custody advice in her native Mayan tongue of K'iche'. She speaks neither Spanish nor English. Another Mexi-Indi woman is suing a hospital for not providing her with translations in her Indian language. Jorge Ramos, Univision anchorman and author of "NO BORDERS: A Journalist's Search for Home" was asked why Latin American immigrants are retaining so much of their culture, while Irish or Italian immigrants, for example, in the past have tried so hard to assimilate?

"I think it's particular to Latino culture. The new wave of immigrants and the second generation Latinos are truly transforming this country, underlining that it is a multi-ethnic, multi-racial country. The country is going through an incredible demographic revolution. By 2025, there will be more Latinos than (non-Hispanic) whites in this country. This will be a Hispanic nation, and we are in the middle of this process. In this process of Latinization, Latinos are affecting everything. Spanish is being spoken in every corner of the country."

In a recent speech, 'HOW TO DESTROY AMERICA', former Colorado Governor Richard Lamm outlined eight methods. One of the most powerful methods in his argument is to allow immigrants to keep their own language without adhering to America's language and culture. The ensuing confusion, conflict and violence will dismantle this nation's ability to communicate with itself. Given enough time, it would be like the computer inside the Star Ship Enterprise not being able to communicate with itself and all systems becoming inoperable-thus a complete breakdown would ensue.

That's enough of describing the growing situation in America today. What would English--speaking Americans, who created, fought and died for this country, have to say about the invasion of our nation by those who have no intention of becoming a part of the melting pot? Indeed, they give ample indication on taking over America for their own purposes.

It's time to gather your citizenship. It's time for the Betsy Ross' to start stitching. It's time for the Paul Revere's to start riding. It's time for the Martin Luther King's to start marching. It's time for each of us to step beyond uncertainty, reticence and reserve-- and move into action! Not all our Founding Fathers participated at the Boston Tea Party. They organized and spoke to their neighbors. They wrote letters and they learned not only the principles for which they would soon fight, but also learned to network and depend upon one another.

So far, too many Americans have remained silent while our Congress has turned a blind eye to 10 million aliens who have illegally crossed our borders. Illegals have depressed wages for America's poorest working citizens, and, are relentlessly 'colonizing' construction jobs formerly held by middle class Americans. Illegals have brought a resurgence of diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis, leprosy and new maladies such as Chagas Disease. They've bankrupted numerous hospitals with their 'anchor babies' and have overwhelmed our schools with 140 languages. In the process, our kids suffer as their own education goes into a Third World chaos.

The California recall election was a last gasp effort to bring that state back from the abyss. Texas and Arizona are not far behind. Georgia and North Carolina struggle to cope with 100 different languages in their school systems. They are failing. What sickens most Americans is that our leaders continue accommodating illegal aliens instead of deporting them. At what point will too many finally be enough? When will all the meat-packing plants gain enough illegal labor? How long before all construction jobs speak nothing but Spanish and all American construction workers live in unemployment lines? How will cities maintain a tax base for the estimated 2,000,000 illegal alien students who speak only foreign languages? At what point will we begin to pull our country out of our $7 trillion bankruptcy? How will we survive environmentally and socially as we overwhelm our 'carrying capacity' if another 10 million illegal aliens cross our borders?

Perhaps the largest obstacle keeping us in the reactive-defensive mode is our lack of organization, lack of networking and lack of confidence. Horrific as 9/11 was, it reminded us that we Americans are made of strong, and even great character. Together, we can do anything! Ever hear of Yankee Ingenuity? It's you and it's us. Our forefathers formed, built and defended this great nation. Now, the challenge lies with us, and we will meet it with the same courage and ingenuity they did. Go to www.numbersusa.com for one of the most powerful networks in the nation. Fellow American patriots will help you become a letter writer, faxer and more. You can send that web site address to ten of your friends and they can send to their friends. They key is to kick up a fuss in every corner of our nation from 'sea to shining sea'.

The facts show our country is in trouble. This is our nation and it is our actions that will save it. Finally, future generations will thank us as we thank those who came before us.

http://www.frostywooldridge.com/articles/art_where_they_dont_speak_english_2003.html

Facing Budget Shortfall, Texas Spends $250M on Illegal Alien Care

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas spent at least $250 million in the past year for medical care and imprisonment of illegal immigrants and other non-citizens.

The House State Affairs Committee heard testimony in Austin. Lawmakers who convene in January could face a projected $18 billion budget shortfall.

Jerry McGinty, with the Texas Department of Corrections, says prisons last month had 11,766 inmates who are foreign citizens and housing them costs $171 million annually. The federal government reimburses 10 percent.

Rick Allgeyer, with the Health and Human Services Commission, said Wednesday that health care to illegal immigrants cost Texas nearly $100 million.

Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine says there could be significant effects if public agencies were asked to reallocate resources to check citizenship.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/20/facing-budget-shortfall-texas-spends-m-illegal-immigrant-care/

One illegal alien facing sex-trafficking charges

Two Houston-area people were arrested on charges involving sex trafficking, and nine women forced into prostitution were taken into federal custody, officials said on Thursday.

Pedro Corporan Cedano of Deer Park was charged with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, federal officials said. A criminal complaint accuses the 38-year-old of using apartments in Houston and Pasadena to promote and provide commercial sex.

The complaint said the women were in the country illegally, some paying off smuggling fees through prostitution. Cedano is an illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, officials said.

Carmen Angeles was charged with harboring illegal immigrants. The 33-year-old was arrested at an apartment on Goodson in Houston, one of the apartments used for sex trafficking, officials said. Angeles is a native of the Dominican Republic and a naturalized U.S. citizen.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/7160983.html

158 arrested in Utah crackdown of illegal aliens with gang ties

SALT LAKE CITY — One belongs to the Surenos-Alley Boys. Another hangs with Toonersville Rifa 13. They have criminal records involving violence or drugs. They were deported but returned to the United States illegally.

And they are typical of the 158 people arrested in Utah during a four-month anti-gang sweep led by federal immigration authorities.

Officials on Thursday called it the largest operation of its kind ever carried out in the state.

"This effort shows our collective resolve in Utah to attack and dismantle these dangerous criminal organizations," said Kumar Kibble, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations for the Rocky Mountain region. "For too long, street gangs here and elsewhere have used violence and intimidation to hold communities hostage."

The arrests came through a coordinated effort of the Operation Community Shield Task Force comprised of HSI, ICE, the Utah County Major Crimes Task force and police departments in South Salt Lake, Midvale, Ogden and St. George. Salt Lake City, along with Dallas; St. Paul, Minn.; and Charlotte, N.C., are the first cities in the nation to set up the task force.

"This joint operation brings together local and federal resources to target individuals who are in the country illegally and committing crimes in our communities," U.S. Attorney for Utah Carlie Christensen said.

Of the those arrested, 93 face federal or state charges ranging from solicitation to commit aggravated murder and forcible sexual abuse to drug and firearms violations and re-entry after deportation. The remainder, including some who were deported once, face prosecution in immigration court for being in the country illegally. A re-entry conviction is a felony that carries a potential 20-year prison term.

"If we don't extract those people from the community, they're going to be left to victimize people again," said Jon Lines, ICE assistant special agent in charge for Utah.

South Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Snyder said, aside from getting criminals off the streets, the operation from a local perspective is a quality-of-life issue. Gang members, he said, become nuisances in neighborhoods, with loud parties or intimidating looks.

"It's a stressful living environment. It's a stressful working environment," he said.

Christensen said the operation focused on those previously convicted of crimes and deported only to return to "bad habits" in Utah.

Prosecuting those people deters and disrupts gang activity and has a positive impact on communities, she said.

Arrests were made in 23 Utah cities and towns and in West Wendover, Nev. There were 29 arrested in St. George, 29 in Provo, 18 in Ogden and 17 in Salt Lake City. Arrests also were made in small towns like Hyrum, Delta and Santa Clara.

The 125 foreign nationals taken into custody come from Argentina, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and Peru.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700058421/158-arrested-in-Utah-crackdown-of-illegal-immigrants-with-gang-ties.html

Video - 158 illegal aliens arrested in Utah's biggest gang crackdown

 

Stop Amnesty - Defend Arizona From Illegal Aliens ! 8/19/10

To:
President Barack Obama
Sen. Arlen Specter
Sen. Robert Casey
Rep. Glenn Thompson

August 19, 2010

Please Support Governor Brewer and the State of AZ. Say NO to amnesty and secure the border now.

DO NOT LET Obama Put More Americans at Risk.

Until you in the federal government are willing to enforce the immigration laws that are already on the books, we Americans will be highly skeptical of Obama and his plans that include the issue of executive Orders and departmental pronouncements that limit the ability for law enforcement to do its job and a re-tasking of Federal Agents and bureaucrats to other "more important" duties and not take action to secure the border.

Recent history ahows that amnesty in ANY form would only encourage a new wave of illegal aliens. Obama lied to Governor Brewer in the Oval Office when he committed to present details within two weeks, regarding his plans for sending National Guard troops to the Arizona border and is making America's uncontrolled and unacceptable immigration debacle even worse.

Support Gov Brewers 4 point plan to deploy the National Guard, complete the Border Fence, enforce Current Federal Immigration Laws and reimburse states for the cost that illegal aliens put on state budgets.

The most important job you have to do right now is to SECURE OUR BORDER and SUPPORT GOV BREWER against illegal aliens.

Like millions of other Americans, I'm sick and tired of your "inside the beltway" politics on this issue; I will listen to NO MORE weasel words or slick excuses from you.

This issue is BLACK OR WHITE - there are NO "shades of gray." We need TRUE border security.

Support Governor Brewer and the State of AZ. Say NO to amnesty and secure the border now.

DO NOT LET Obama Put More Americans at Risk.

State College , PA

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=3181&letter_id=5672878061

Texas faces rising cost for illegal alien care

AUSTIN, Texas — The cost of keeping illegal immigrants in prison and providing them with medical care exceeded $250 million last year in Texas, according to state health and corrections officials.

The testimony before the House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday came as lawmakers faced a projected state budget shortfall of up to $18 billion.

"We want to focus on what the real costs are for state services," said Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, the committee chairman. "There's really not a lot of wholly accurate data."

Jerry McGinty, the Texas Department of Corrections' chief financial officer, said state prisons held 11,766 offenders who are foreign citizens in July. He said it costs the state about $171 million per year to hold them, although the federal government reimburses about 10 percent of that total.

Rick Allgeyer, director of research for the Health and Human Services Commission, said illegal immigrant health care — mostly emergency hospital care — cost the state nearly $100 million last year.

Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, said an Arizona-type law allowing police to question anyone they stop about their citizenship status could fill every county jail in Texas. "It would bust all our counties," said Oliveira.

Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, told fellow committee members that when making policy, "you always have to be aware of unintended consequences."

Gallego said there could be significant effects if law enforcement and other public agencies were asked to reallocate already-sparse resources to check citizenship of people in Texas.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38770431/ns/health

Illegal alien indicted, accused of trying to enter McConnell AFB

(WICHITA, Kan.) — The U.S. attorney's office indictes a second illegal alien on document fraud charges after trying to gain access to McConnell Air Force Base.

Investigators say Lorenzo Mondragon-Sanchenz, a Mexican national, tried to enter the base earlier this month as part of a crew working on building projects on the base.

Jose Gonzalez-Ramirez was indicted for a similar incident. He was working at McConnell as part of the cleaning crew.

Both men are currently in federal custody.

http://www.kwch.com/news/crimewatch/kwch-news-jf-illegal-allien,0,6136688.story

39 illegal aliens in Laredo house

LAREDO, Texas—A raid by federal law officers led to the discovery of 39 suspected illegal immigrants in a house in Laredo.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nina Pruneda says agents detained 24 men, 10 women and five juveniles. The 720-square-foot house was raided Tuesday.

Pruneda says people from Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and India were taken into custody, facing deportation or possible criminal charges. She says none required medical attention.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15826503?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

Video - Dino Rossi for Washington 2010

Illegal alien faces charge of statutory rape of 12-year-old girl

CARTHAGE, Mo. — A 23-year-old man was charged with statutory rape of a 12-year-old girl after an investigation by Carthage police.

Police Detective David Strubberg said officers received information Saturday afternoon regarding the possible sexual assault of a girl on the east side of Carthage. An investigation led to the arrest of Fulgencio Vasquez, 23.

Further investigation showed that Vasquez is an illegal immigrant, and an immigration detainer was placed on him in addition to a $50,000 bond, the detective said. Vasquez was arraigned Tuesday in Jasper County Circuit Court on a charge of first-degree statutory rape.

Strubberg said the defendant is believed to have had sexual contact with the girl on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

http://www.joplinglobe.com/crime_and_courts/x239934619/Man-faces-charge-of-statutory-rape-of-12-year-old-girl

Police: Illegal alien burglarized same home 4 times

SARASOTA - An illegal immigrant from Mexico burglarized the same Sarasota home four times since he was hired to paint there about a year ago, Sarasota Police said.

Detectives arrested Daniel Garza-Rodriguez, 25, on Tuesday after learning his fingerprints matched those taken from the window where the thief entered in the latest burglary on Aug. 11, police said.

Police say Garza admitted to burglarizing the residence in the 2600 block of Ringling Boulevard on March 16 and May 1, 2010. But claimed that the prints from the Aug. 11 break-in must have been left during one of the earlier burglaries, police said.

Detectives recovered some of the stolen items such as jewelry and collectible currency and coins at Garza's home, which is just a few blocks from the house he burglarized, police said.

Garza remained in the Sarasota County Jail on a hold Wednesday.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100818/BREAKING/100819784/-1/news?Title=Police-Man-burglarized-same-home-4-times

Video - illegal aliens are killing america

Two illegal aliens arrested after shots fired on Tulsa highway

Two men were arrested Wednesday afternoon after shots were fired from one vehicle toward another on U.S. 169, their arrest reports show.

Juan Manuel Hernandez, 18, and Jose Jonathan Rivera-Chavez, 20, were arrested on complaints of shooting with intent to kill and firing a weapon from a vehicle.

Officers received a call about 2 p.m. about people firing a gun from a vehicle in the northbound lanes of U.S. 169 near 21st Street, according to the arrest reports. They were shooting at a Chevrolet Suburban, the reports say.

Police located the vehicle with Hernandez, Rivera-Chaves and two other people in it and stopped it near the 2000 block of North Mingo Road.

According to arrest reports, three witnesses identified the vehicle officers stopped as the one from which the shots were fired.

Officers with a K-9 unit located a HiPoint C9-380 pistol near the 3200 block of North Mingo Road, and police believe that it is the weapon used in the shooting, according to the reports.

Gang officers were notified of the incident and reported that they already had a search warrant for Hernandez. After Hernandez was arrested, the search warrant was executed, and officers found what they believed was methamphetamine in his residence, according to his arrest report.

Video - Illegal Aliens cost taxpayers $100 billion dollars

Video - Amnesty Will Cause a National Security Nightmare

Video - Meg Whitman is tough as nails on illegal immigration

No Amnesty - GOT IT?

Obama to bypass Constitution and Congress while instituting Amnesty

Fuhrer Obama is ready to use Executive Orders to bypass the Constitution and Congress.

Barack Obama is again bypassing the American people and the entire Congress and, by Executive Fiat, is undermining the Constitution and gutting domestic national security. Department of Homeland Security and ICE are impotent as Obama prepares to address "comprehensive immigration reform" not constitutionally as a part of the political process but as a bureaucratic power play.

With a gutted Homeland Security and the welcome mat out, uncounted terrorists and illegal aliens by the millions will cross the border and be accepted by the Obama regime as US citizen voters!!!

Obama's plans include the issue of Executive Orders and Actions, and departmental pronouncements that limit the ability of law enforcement to do its job. There will be a re-tasking of Federal Agents, resources and bureaucrats to other "more important" duties.

While Executive Orders are being abused beyond their Constitutional authority, don?t underestimate their power. As Clinton advisor Paul Begala once said about them: "Stroke of the pen?law of the land?kinda cool."

Proof of the Amnesty Plan - Obama Fighting Hard To STOP AZ Law! Obama's Federal Government refuses to secure the border and enforce immigration law. The Feds went to court actively seeking to STOP Arizona's law and supporting illegal aliens - not American citizens.

Obama argued for an injunction in court to halt the AZ law from taking effect, saying the Constitution gives the Federal Government exclusive authority to enforce immigration law.

The court issued a mixed decision, saying that although the law and its enforcement measures were legal the State of Arizona, and in fact no State in the Union, can enforce immigration laws.

Instead of upholding the law, the judge indicted Obama and the Feds at Homeland Security with the "preemptive" obligation, saying they have the exclusive right and responsibility to enforce immigration law and secure the borders of the United States.

This leaves Obama right where he wants to be ? ready to issue his Executive Orders for Amnesty to "solve" the border and illegal immigration crisis. More than 60% of Americans want the AZ law enforced and the Open Borders crowd wants the law and all other Federal immigration laws abolished.

So most of America?s legal citizens PLUS the illegal aliens lobby are mad at Obama! What is his wily political solution ? ensure the crisis worsens, and passions rise, so drastic Washington "intervention" is essential? Siding with illegals against legal US taxpayers and voters and opening the border for the world to flood in - and then "have to" solve the escalating crisis with "by hook or by crook" AMNESTY.

http://www.rogueriver.tzo.com/NoAmnestyBlog.html

Illegal Alien Arrested For Sugar Land Home Invasion

Following a car chase and chase on foot, Sugar Land police apprehended one man out of several suspected of breaking into a Sugar Land home and tying up the occupants last night. The suspect is thought to be an illegal immigrant.

Around 10:30 p.m. last night, several people were inside a Sugar Land home in the 3000 block of Rivera when multiple suspects broke in through the back door.

Police suspect the family was targeted by criminals who believed that cash receipts from the family’s small businesses may have been stored in their home.

The occupants were tied up, a number if valuables were taken, but there were no serious injuries.

A Sugar Land police officer, responding to the call for help, saw a suspicious car heading north on U.S. 59 with occupants matching the descriptions of the suspects.

Two police cars followed the car into Houston city limits. The suspects stopped the car and ran in an area near Sharpstown Mall. Officers chased the suspects on foot, and caught one.

Police arrested 32-year-old Elmer Marquez, who is believed to be an illegal immigrant. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement was notified.

Stolen property from the residence was located in the suspects’ vehicle. No other details are being released at this time pending the investigation.

Source - http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/08/17/47336

Illegal Alien Manages to Vote In Election

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It wasn't her election, but it's now Debbie Steidl's problem: the 6-year-old case of a Cookeville man, with zero documentation to prove U.S. citizenship, being allowed to vote and now working backward to be naturalized the legal way.

Asked if the man, whose identity Steidl would not reveal, should have voted that fateful election day in November 2004, she replied: "No, because he's not a citizen of the U.S., and you have to be a citizen of the U.S. to vote!"

Debbie Steidl is Putnam County's administrator of elections, on the job just a year-and-a-half now. Steidl is refusing to keep quiet about the newly revealed case, she has notified, in writing homeland security; the TBI; office of the district attorney general; and the state election commission.

Her letter was prompted by this mystery man's return to her office right around primary election time last week, to offer a confession about his casting a ballot in '04, and now his quest to undo it. The immigrant, according to Steidl, came armed with a letter from the Department of Homeland Security, headquartered in Memphis. The letter instructed Steidl to 'purge' the man from the Putnam County voter registration rolls.

"If he doesn't get purged, he can't become a citizen," Steidl told NewsChannel 5, in an exclusive interview Tuesday afternoon.

She confirmed the man, by his own admission, had managed to get himself a social security number; two forms of identification, required to cast a ballot; he was able to register to vote, said Steidl; and he perjured himself, according to Steidl, admitting in writing that he was a U.S. citizen, before successfully voting six years ago.

Steidl seemed frustrated by, not only the federal government's apparent willingness to assist this illegal immigrant, but by the election commission's inability to demand proof that anyone is a legal, U.S. citizen.

"He is being enabled," Steidl said. "And that's what bothered me more than anything!"

Even in defense of the previous election headquarters' administration, Steidl was quick to point out: "And there was nothing they could do! They did exactly what they were supposed to do."

Although Steidl did inform the State, in writing, about the man's success breaking through election security measures, NewsChannel 5 informed one state election commission member of the development after a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

"We would investigate it," reassured Beth Henry Roberts, the deputy election coordinator. "That would be an illegal activity, and that would be something that we would have to refer to the D.A. (district attorney), based upon whatever information and evidence we gather."

Steidl's whistleblowing attempts hit yet another brickwall: the Honorable Randy York, district attorney general, told her the statute of limitations had run out on prosecuting the illegal immigrant, and illegal voter, on any level.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=13000987

Educating illegal aliens is costly

As the debate on illegal immigration rages in Washington and state capitals, it’s troubling to see both sides rely on emotional rhetoric to the detriment of facts. The impact of illegal immigration on public education is a case in point.

No one can deny that increasing numbers of children of illegal immigrants attend public schools in the United States and that U.S. taxpayers pay the costs. Those sympathetic to illegal immigration tend to remain silent about these costs, while illegal-immigration opponents often fall short on specifics. In the interest of more informed discourse, here are the numbers.

According to a study released last year by the Pew Hispanic Center, as of 2008, 11.9 million illegal immigrants lived in the United States, more than triple the 3.5 million who lived in the country in 1990.

Among the states, California has the largest number of illegal immigrants with 2.7 million, nearly double the 1.4 million in Texas. California’s illegal-immigrant population has swelled by 1.2 million since 1990, while Texas has added a million. A large proportion of illegal-immigrant households are families.

Nearly half, 47 percent, of illegal-immigrant households consist of parents with children. This proportion is more than double that of U.S.-born households, where just 21 percent are parents with children. Over the years, the number of children of illegal immigrants has increased significantly.

In 2003, there were 4.3 million children of illegal immigrants. By 2008 that number had climbed to 5.5 million, more than the entire population of Colorado. The large number of children of illegal immigrants greatly impacts public schools and education-funding costs.

The Pew study found that in 2008, “Children of unauthorized immigrants are 6.8 percent of students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12,” an increase from the 5.4 percent in 2003. The proportion was double in California, where 13.5 percent of k-12 students in 2008 were the children of illegal immigrants.

Given these percentages, cost estimates of educating these children are staggering.

The U.S. Census Bureau just released 2008 figures showing the national average total per-pupil funding from all revenue sources was $12,028. Although estimates of the number of school-age children of illegal immigrants don’t separate those attending public vs. private schools, it’s reasonable to assume that nearly all attend public schools since most come from lower-income families. Therefore, if one multiplies $12,028 by the roughly 3.7 million students with illegal-immigrant parents, then one gets a national total funding cost of $44.5 billion.

In California, total funding per pupil from all state, federal and local revenue sources was $11,649. With roughly 923,000 students in the state with illegal-immigrant parents, these students represented a total cost of nearly $10.8 billion out of a total 2008 k-12 education budget of $72 billion. An important caveat is that these totals rely on average per-pupil funding numbers.

The actual cost of schooling these children could be higher because many education dollars are earmarked for special purposes. At the federal level, Title I funds are sent to schools to support disadvantaged children, which benefits many children of illegal immigrants. In California, the state’s Economic Impact Aid program provides tax dollars to fund English-language acquisition, which aids children of illegal immigrants. Capital costs for school construction may have increased at a higher rate because of the influx of children of illegal immigrants.

Although almost three-quarters of the children of illegal immigrants were born in the United States and are therefore citizens, had their parents not entered the U.S. illegally these children likely wouldn’t be in U.S. public schools and wouldn’t require taxpayer funding. Thus, it’s fair to say that their education cost stems from their parents’ illegal entry into this country.

The public-education establishment can’t have it both ways on this issue. The Los Angeles school board, for instance, harshly criticizes Arizona’s immigration enforcement law, but also complains about its own budget shortfalls. The numbers, however, confirm that illegal immigration imposes large costs on the public school system. Policymakers should acknowledge and wrestle with this expensive reality instead of satisfying themselves with cheap rhetoric.

Lance T. Izumi is Koret senior fellow and senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/educating-illegal-immigrants-is-594092.html