Immigration News

[Soldier4Christ]

154 arrested in statewide immigration sweep


In the first sweep of what federal officials promise will be many, Homeland Security agents arrested 154 people throughout Ohio who are accused of being illegal immigrants.

The weeklong effort, dubbed Operation Return to Sender, ended today.

Agents from Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Detroit worked the streets with local police and sheriffs in Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland. Together, they brought in immigrants from 31 countries.

The vast majority - 82 - were from Mexico, followed by 19 from El Salvador and seven from Mauritania. Of the Mexicans, 74 were deported within two days of arrest. The rest are being housed in the Seneca County Jail.

The agents, who work in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, came to Ohio seeking more than 150 specific men and women. They arrested 68 of them; nearly all had been ordered by an immigration judge to leave the country but ignored the order. The agents arrested another 86 they came upon while chasing the targets. Overall, 20 of those arrested were also wanted for or had been convicted of crimes, ICE officials say.

Rob Baker, ICE field office director in charge of detention and removal in Ohio and Michigan, said no incident spurred the sweep. “We are just enforcing the law.''

A permanent team of seven is scheduled to be working Ohio daily beginning by Sept. 30.

[Soldier4Christ]

Illegals leave border trashed

A new Bureau of Land Management report paints a bleak picture of the impact of illegal immigration and drug smuggling on public lands in Arizona, with estimates that as much as 25 million pounds of trash were left in the state’s borderlands during the 2000-2005 fiscal years.

During the current year, however, the situation presents more of a mixed bag, BLM officials say. While conditions have improved markedly along the San Pedro River, for example, public land in the state’s central areas continue to suffer. Meanwhile, environmentalists suggest the increasing militarization of the border is becoming a greater ecological threat than the migrants themselves.

The new BLM report summarizes the accomplishments of a bureau-led effort known as the Southern Arizona Project that sought to mitigate the environmental degradation of public lands over a three-year period. Volunteers recovered 25,000 pounds of trash, 600 abandoned vehicles and 1,725 discarded bicycles while also working to rehabilitate illegal trail routes and maintain roads, the report says.

The study also addresses the damage done to lands in Southern Arizona by illegal immigration. In terms of trash, the BLM estimates each migrant discards 8 pounds of litter during his or her journey, and about 86 percent of that garbage is left on federal and tribal lands in the state’s border region.

Furthermore, important natural and cultural resources, as well as sensitive wildlife habitats, also are harmed by illegal immigration, the study says.

The BLM concludes the problem is “substantial, increasing in amount and spreading.”

The study, however, addresses a period leading up to Sept. 30, 2005. Since then, the Border Patrol has begun to report a decline in the number of apprehensions of illegal entrants in Arizona, which has suggested an overall decrease in migrant traffic through the state.

In southern Cochise County, where apprehensions are down almost 48 percent in the current fiscal year, BLM spokesman Bill Childress said he has noticed a marked change in the impact of illegal immigration.

“Here on the San Pedro, we are just not seeing as many undocumented immigrants as we have in past years,” said Childress, who serves as manager of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. “And we also have not observed as much trash accumulation at traditional pickup sites and camps.”

Because migrant activity has slowed, Childress said his office has been able to focus greater energy on recovering garbage left behind during past years in the more remote areas of the SPRNCA.

“We have gathered trash this year that has obviously been around for many years,” he said.

The BLM’s team leader for Arizona, however, offered a more ambivalent outlook for the state’s public and tribal lands.

“Yes, some areas, like the San Pedro, seem to be showing a decline in the amount of immigrants,” Shela McFarlin said. “But patterns fluctuate, and reports suggest that the (drug and human) smugglers are moving toward central areas.”

As a result, McFarlin said environmental degradation is continuing at the Ironwood and Sonoran Desert national monuments, as well as at the Tohono O’odham Nation.

McFarlin noted that while Border Patrol apprehensions are down in Arizona, drug seizures are up. And she said many of the current problems — abandoned cars and bikes, illegal roads and pathways — appear to be related to the movement of drugs.

The Border Patrol has attributed the recent decrease in migrant apprehensions to a buildup of agency technology, infrastructure and manpower in the state. But both Childress and McFarlin said they had seen little evidence that increased Border Patrol presence on BLM land had itself contributed greater environmental degradation.

They say the BLM and the Border Patrol have communication channels in place to confront any potential problems, and McFarlin said the Border Patrol’s increased use of public land was being mitigated by the National Guard and military reservist units now working to improve access roads.

But Peter Galvin, conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, disagreed. He said the buildup of law enforcement along the border had already begun to show a significant environmental impact.

Galvin said Border Patrol vehicles have damaged lands around the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and that the construction of border fencing has sealed off migratory routes for antelope in western sectors. And he worries similar fencing around the San Pedro River could negatively impact bird migration as well as efforts to rehabilitate local jaguar populations.

“We certainly agree that there are environmental impacts associated with illegal immigrants,” Galvin said. “But those impacts actually pale in comparison to the impact of the militarization of the border.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Mexico has misgivings over Pentagon map plan
Alabama National Guard to attempt to create more precise maps of border

Mexico has misgivings over Pentagon map plan

Chris Hawley
Republic Mexico City Bureau
Jul. 15, 2006 12:00 AM

MEXICO CITY - Mexico is warning National Guard troops to toe the line, literally, as they begin surveying the U.S.-Mexican border in an attempt to create more precise maps.

A Foreign Ministry official said Friday that Mexico is uncomfortable with the Pentagon's plans to use a mapmaking unit from the Alabama National Guard to chart the border, noting that there is a binational committee that has sole authority over the border and its markers.

"We have expressed to the United States government our worry that the National Guard may enter into some matters over which it does not have authority," said Juan Bosco Martí, the Foreign Ministry's director-general for North American affairs.

"If some case were to arise in which the National Guard tried to delineate the border zone, then there would be total opposition by the Mexican government."

The mapping plan, which was first reported by The Arizona Republic on Thursday, is part of President Bush's deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops to help secure the border.

The Pentagon says its mapping techniques could help Border Patrol agents better navigate the line, which is poorly marked in some areas.

But Martí said most Mexican and U.S. border agents don't rely on maps: They use Global Positioning System devices and their knowledge of the terrain to avoid crossing the border.

The current border was set by a series of nine treaties from 1848 to 1970, and it is enforced by the International Boundary and Water Commission, which includes representatives from both countries.

The U.S. troops are free to map their side of the border line, but they must not try to change it, Martí said.

"The border line is the border line, and it will stay where it is forever," he said.

In some places, the only visible sign of the border is a series of obelisk-shaped markers. Those border markers can be placed only by the International Boundary and Water Commission.

In March, the two countries asked the commission to improve the marker system. Mexican members of the commission presented a proposal for modernizing the markers two weeks ago, and the U.S. side is expected to do the same within a month, Martí said.

[Soldier4Christ]

U.S. lawmen outgunned along Mexican border
Bad guys have superior firepower, can eavesdrop on communications of American law enforcement

Hundreds of rounds of automatic-weapons fire rained down on South Texas sheriff's deputies and Border Patrol agents from the Mexican side of the border as they investigated a horror story told by two American brothers who fled across the Rio Grande fearing for their lives.

Several Hidalgo County deputies and at least four Border patrol agents were met with a sustained hail of gunfire alternating from the south to the east and lasting nearly 10 minutes, the officers said.

Yet, not a single shot was returned by the deputies or the Border Patrol officers last Wednesday night because they were outmanned and outgunned – a condition increasingly common along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, say law enforcement officials.

"This is one of the reasons that I do not allow my deputies to patrol the riverbanks or levies close to the river," explained Sheriff Lupe Treviño, "because we do know there are drug gangs and human trafficking gangs that will not hesitate to shoot in our direction to get us out of the area."

U.S. police officers and Border Patrol agents facing superior firepower from drug cartels, criminal street gangs and human smugglers based in Mexico? Yes, say law enforcement officials – and the situation is getting worse, not better.

Sigifredo Gonzales Jr., sheriff of Zapata County, Texas, recently testified in startling detail before a congressional committee how his officers are facing overwhelming odds in any confrontation with the criminal gangs who consider the border their turf.

"The cartels operating in Mexico and the United States have demonstrated that the weapons they possess can and will be used in protecting their caches," he said. "One informant familiar with the operations of these cartels mentioned to us that the weapons we use are water guns compared to what we will have to come up against if we ever have to. These cartels, known to frequently cross into the United States, possess and use automatic weapons, grenades and grenade launchers. They are also experts in explosives, wiretapping, counter-surveillance, lock-picking and GPS technology. They are able to monitor our office, home and cellular phone conversations. The original members of this cartel were trained in the United States by our government."

Gonzales was one of several law enforcement officials who testified before the Committee on House International Relations Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation on what they see as a serious terrorist threat at the Mexican border.

These powerful criminal gangs would not think twice about bringing terrorists or even weapons of mass destruction into the U.S. if the price was right, the officials agreed. Some of them believe they have already arrived.

"We continue to believe that terrorists have expressed an interest and a desire to exploit the existing vulnerabilities in our border security to enter or attack the United States," said Gonzales.

Some also believe that, for operational reasons, an undetected, illegal entry into the U.S. by al-Qaida agents, is preferable to a legal entry.

"For years we have seen individuals enter the country illegally," Gonzales testified. "However, recently, we feel that many of these persons are no longer entering the country to look for legitimate employment. We are now seeing that many of these persons are members of ruthless and violent gangs. All of us are concerned that the border with Mexico is being used as the front door to this country and that terrorists are already in our back yard."

He said many illegal immigrants from "countries of special interest" are attempting to blend in with the mostly Mexican population moving across the border.

"In May of this year my office received information that the cartels immediately across our border are planning on threatening or killing as many police officers as possible on the United States side," he said. "This is being planned for the purpose of attempting to 'scare us' away from the border. It is very possible these cartels may form the nexus, or have already formed one, with members of al-Qaida and other terrorist groups."

Gonzales mentioned that officers along the border have found many tell-tale signs of terrorist traffic – including Middle East currency and clothing and a jacket with patches from countries where al-Qaida is known to operate.

While officials in the U.S. continue to debate whether or not Mexican illegal immigration is good for the economy, Gonzales warns that a dramatic change in migration patterns has occurred.

"These immigrants are not the same as what we saw two or three years ago," he told members of Congress in a special hearing overlooking the border in Laredo, Texas. "Many of the immigrants have tattoos across their chest or back advertising what gang they belong to and demanding from the residents living along the border to use their phone or other necessities. They no longer ask for things but rather demand. These landowners, who have lived on their farms for decades, choose to move away from their properties."

Gonzales also says his officers have witnessed armed incursions into the U.S. from what appears to be members of the Mexican military.

"More and more we are seeing armed individuals entering our country through our counties," he said. "We feel that it is a matter of time before a shootout will occur. In the unfortunate event of a shootout, federal, state and local officers along the southwest border are not adequately armed. Compared to the ruthless and brazen and open behavior of the cartels we face, we are most certainly outmanned. In the event of a shootout, many casualties will likely occur. Federal, state and local officers all along the southwestern border are outgunned and outmanned."

Gonzales gets no argument from his colleague, Rick Flores, sheriff of Webb County, Texas.

"As open as our borders are to narcotics and human smuggling, so well-placed are these channels of contraband, that in the blink of an eye, people who seek entry with treacherous motives can easily pose as those who simply want a better life," he told the committee. "Our southern border is ripe for a terrorist pipeline – even assuming that not a single terrorist has infiltrated thus far, even assuming that we loack confirmation of Middle Eastern groups assimilating into the Mexican culture."

[Soldier4Christ]

Bribery at border worries officials
Mexican smugglers intensify efforts to entice U.S. agents

Federal law enforcement officials are investigating a series of bribery and smuggling cases in what they fear is a sign of increased corruption among officers who patrol the Mexican border.

Two brothers who worked for the U.S. Border Patrol disappeared in June while under investigation for smuggling drugs and immigrants, and are believed to have fled to Mexico. In the past month, two agents from Customs and Border Protection, which guards border checkpoints, were indicted for taking bribes to allow illegal immigrants to enter the United States. And earlier this month, two Border Patrol supervisory agents pleaded guilty to accepting nearly $200,000 in payoffs to release smugglers and illegal immigrants who had been detained.

Authorities say two trends are at work, causing their concern that larger problems may be developing: The massive buildup of Border Patrol agents in recent years has led to worries that hiring standards have been lowered. And, as smugglers continue to demand higher and higher fees to bring illegal immigrants into the United States, they are intensifying efforts to try to bribe those guarding the border.

‘More pressure than ever’
The investigations come at a time when the United States is focused on the security of its borders. Congress is mulling legislation that would pour billions of additional dollars into securing the border, including the construction of hundreds more miles of barriers. The Border Patrol, which has tripled in size in the past decade, is due to grow 50 percent in the next six years.

"There is more pressure than ever on smuggling networks to find agents who will work with them," said Andrew Black, an FBI special agent with the multiagency Border Corruption Task Force in San Diego. "As a result, there's tremendous temptation for someone who is less than honest to work with them. Someone who is working on the border can make their salary in a couple of nights."

While the main corruption problem along the border is still among Mexican law enforcement officials, there have been numerous arrests of U.S. officers, too.

Last year in Texas, for example, 10 federal agents were charged or convicted of taking bribes from drug dealers or human smugglers. Also last year, a U.S. Justice Department operation arrested 17 current or former military and law enforcement officers who were paid $220,000 by undercover agents to allow counterfeit drugs to cross into Arizona. In 2004 and 2005, federal authorities in Arizona uncovered numerous relationships, including marriages, between Border Patrol agents and Latina women illegally in the United States.

Looking for a weakness
"The smugglers have binoculars and spotters, you name it," said James Wong, who heads the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Professional Responsibility in San Diego, which investigates corruption allegations. "They scan the line looking for a weak inspector, someone, for example, who likes to flirt with women. And then they will send a test person, a chatty female. She shows up and says, 'My friend needs to visit a doctor, but she doesn't have papers, can you help?' They will get friendly, and before you know it, they own the employee."

Despite the recent spate of cases around San Diego, the number of federal corruption cases against agents from Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol has not increased since the 2004 fiscal year, according to Kristi Clemens, assistant commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington. So far in fiscal 2006, there have been nine cases. There were 21 the year before and 22 in 2004.

"The bottom line is: If corruption happens anywhere, we're concerned about it, but it's not an upward trend," Clemens said in a telephone interview.

But interviews with other federal law enforcement officials, security experts and a Border Patrol union official paint a less rosy picture.

They note that the Department of Homeland Security can provide only two years of full statistics. There are no data before 2004, because Customs and Border Protection was formed in 2003, when the Customs Bureau and the Immigration and Naturalization Service were merged and divided into several new parts.

Growing number of targets
While the number of cases referred for prosecution may not have increased, the massive influx of new recruits onto the border is of concern to investigators, said one senior official involved in corruption cases at the border. The Border Patrol is now the nation's largest law enforcement agency, with more than 11,000 personnel, and continues to expand.

"The feeling is with the pressure to hire more individuals to monitor the border, perhaps the weeding-out process has not been as diligent as it should be," said the official, who requested anonymity because he was talking about another federal agency.

Last year, Border Patrol agent Oscar Antonio Ortiz pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle 100 people into the country. Authorities discovered that Ortiz was an illegal immigrant born in Mexico, having used a false birth certificate to pass himself off as a U.S. citizen.

More than 90 percent of U.S. law enforcement agencies use psychological tests or polygraphs in their recruiting, but the Border Patrol does not. Kevin Gilmartin, a Tucson-based law enforcement consultant who has worked with the FBI and local law enforcement for two decades, said the Border Patrol must raise its standards and administer polygraph tests.

"If a local law enforcement agency used the hiring practices of the Border Patrol, I am confident that it would be found negligent," Gilmartin said. "And it's highly doubtful that a local city police officer would compromise national security. But a corrupt border patrol agent is clearly capable of affecting national security."

Customs: Screening is rigorous
Customs and Border Protection's Clemens defended the agency's recruiting, saying that only one in 30 applicants to the Border Patrol is accepted after screening. "We think our screening process is pretty rigorous," she said.

T.J. Bonner, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents Border Patrol agents, said, contrary to the statistics, corruption is increasing among the rank and file, but the agency does not welcome whistle-blowers.

"People are told to shut up and not make waves," he said. "It's my impression that things are worsening, not to the degree that should cause people to lose trust in the agency. But I think that it's to the degree that the agency needs to take a long, hard, inward look and try to uncover the causes of this recent trend."

Bonner said a 2004 study, commissioned in part by his union, showed a significant morale problem among agents for the Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection. In the survey of 500 agents, by the Peter D. Hart Research Associates, the results of which were challenged by the Department of Homeland Security, 60 percent said morale was low to very low. Four out of nine said they had considered leaving in the past year. And while nine out of 10 said stopping terrorists was now a big part of their job, the majority said they had not been given the tools and training to do the job.

"Morale is the lowest I've ever seen, and I've been around for 28 years," Bonner said.

Coyotes outfox feds
The Border Patrol agents who disappeared in June were brothers Raul and Fidel Villarreal. Before they disappeared, Raul Villarreal had been angry with the agency about the transfer policy, according to a former colleague, who requested anonymity because the men are under investigation.

Raul was based in Mexico for several years. While there, he made public-service announcements for Mexican television about the dangers of dealing with smugglers, known as coyotes. With his looks, Villarreal played the role -- ironically in light of the corruption investigation -- of a coyote.

He had recently been transferred back to the United States from Mexico City and was back "on the line," working the border, the colleague said. "He seemed pretty upset about it," he said. "And this is a guy who used to love the Border Patrol."

Authorities, though, said the brothers are fugitives now and that officials are actively looking for them -- and whomever tipped them off to the investigation.

[Soldier4Christ]

Ohio sweep nets 154
Federal authorities track down immigrants from 30 countries living illegally in the state

Homeland Security agents took to Ohio streets the past week, arresting 154 undocumented immigrants.

The agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Detroit came heavily armed and loaded with files and warrants for deportation.

They took in immigrants from 30 countries and every continent save Antarctica. Among those arrested, 82 were from Mexico, followed by 19 from El Salvador and seven from Mauritania.

The men and women had been caught entering the country illegally and were ordered to court but never showed or had been ordered deported but never left, authorities said. Twenty had been charged with crimes. One was a reputed member of the Mexican street gang MS13.

No recent event spurred the sweep, government officials said.

"Sept. 11 showed us that, to have security, we have to have an immigration system with integrity," said Marc A. Raimondi, national spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Most of the Sept. 11 terrorists had taken advantage of lax enforcement, he said.

"You can’t have integrity if there is no consequence for abusing the laws or ignoring a court order."

Among those taken were immigrants who had been in the U.S. for a decade or more. They must leave homes, jobs and maybe children born here who are U.S. citizens.

"If they had complied and left 10 or 15 years ago, that wouldn’t be the case," said Rob Baker, field office director in charge of detention and removal for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Ohio and Michigan.

He noted that, by the end of September, seven agents will be based permanently in Cleveland to cover such operations throughout Ohio.

James E. Brown Jr., a deportation officer for the Immigration Fugitives Operation Unit in Boston, said agents received leads from other law-enforcement agencies and by running database searches against immigration court files.

Once in Ohio, the agents tapped local police and sheriffs to help confirm identities and homes of the immigrants.

Agents looking for a Mexican man found he had a barbershop in his basement. There they arrested several waiting men who had no proper documents. More came through the door, were questioned and taken in as well.

The agents can check names against an immigration database that lists who is in the country legally, who has overstayed a visa and more, Baker said.

In all, the agents arrested 68 they’d sought and 86 they came across.

The arrested were taken to the Seneca County jail; 72 Mexicans have already been flown home. Agents escorted them and handed them over to authorities in their homelands.

The agents were within their legal rights, said Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee and a founder of the Network of Immigrant Organizations in Ohio. "People who enter the country illegally have committed a misdemeanor.

"The effectiveness of how we use the resources of this country is another matter."

A policy that would allow those seeking work to register and obtain a permit and the ability to travel would go a long way toward solving the perceived immigration problem, he said.

The vast majority of those who come here would register, allowing the border patrols and inland agents to concentrate on criminals, Velasquez said.

The government and immigrant study centers estimate that 9 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants are in the United States.

If the goal is to remove them all, "it will take some time," Raimondi said.

Velasquez said, "As many years it takes to find them all, more will come over the border."

[Soldier4Christ]

N.C. Guard troops prepare for border patrol in Arizona

About 200 National Guardsmen began training at Fort Bragg this weekend to help protect the U-S border in Arizona.
The soldiers are members of the Fayetteville-based 252nd Combined Arms Battalion.

They'll work along the border from Saturday until August fifth as part of yearly training that had been planned for Fort Bragg.

In May, President Bush requested that up to six thousand National Guard troops be sent to the southern border.

The National Guard battalion had been scheduled to send the troops to New Mexico, but those plans were changed to Arizona because officials decided they had enough resources in New Mexico.

[Soldier4Christ]

Two opposing groups turn out for immigration rally

About a dozen people gathered outside the Federal Building Monday morning in Knoxville. Some were there to show support for easier access to American citizenship, while others, members of Tennessee Volunteer Minutemen, oppose it.

"We believe the illegals should be sent back home," said Minuteman Dave Emerson. "If they want to come here, that's great. We all came here for one reason or another, but there's a proper process to go through."

Azul Cristian Caravaggio was among a small group of people showing support for immigrant rights and standing up to the Minutemen.

"People don't understand from the United States how hard it is to even apply," Caravaggio said. "If I apply right now, I'm 21, in about 20 years, I might be able to come here. By that time I will either have starved to death or everyone in my family will have starved to death."

Nationwide, Minutemen serve as extra eyes to tip off border patrol agents when they see immigrants crossing the border illegally. The Tennessee members hope to persuade lawmakers to support tougher legislation on border security.

[Soldier4Christ]

Immigration backlash

Last week, Hazleton, Penn., a small city 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia, passed a harsh and punitive law against undocumented immigrants and the people who hire them or rent them a place to live. The law also made English the official language of the city.

The vote in Hazleton is part of a disturbing backlash against immigrants in this country. Immigration reform legislation is stalled in Congress, with politicians trying to delay a vote until after the November elections. Meanwhile local jurisdictions are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Other cities are considering laws similar to the one in Hazleton.

This is a dangerous trend. Immigrants, their families, and the people who support them must mobilize as they did earlier this year to protest laws and actions that feed off people’s fears and promote prejudice. Elected officials must work to pass federal immigration law that respects the human rights of law-abiding, hardworking immigrants and acknowledges the contributions they make to our economy and society.

Like many communities, Hazleton’s population was mostly white, decreasing and aging when Latinos began to arrive in recent years. The city’s population reached its peak in the 1940s, at 38,000. The 2000 census reported a population of 23,000, but the influx of immigrants has increased the population to about 31,000 people.

The population increase has brought an economic boom and more crime, though Latino advocates say there is no evidence that undocumented immigrants are responsible for a disproportionate number of crimes. The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund is challenging the new law in Hazleton on the grounds that only the federal government has jurisdiction over immigration. It is possible to pass an immigration law that simultaneously integrates undocumented immigrants into our society, satisfies the needs of the economy and keeps the border secure. That’s what we should be working toward, not laws that exploit people’s fears and biases.

[Soldier4Christ]

 GUAM: Immigration-Customs Agents Nab 6 At Ritidian Point

U.S. Immigration and Customs authorities have detained six people suspected of being illegal immigrants after they were found at Ritidian Point yesterday afternoon.

The six -- four Chinese men and two Chinese women -- are believed to have traveled from Saipan on a boat, said Rob Robertson, resident agent-in-charge for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations.

"An eyewitness who seemed pretty confident said they saw six people getting off the boat and we have six in custody," said Robertson. "At this time, we're not looking for anyone else."

Robertson said the case is under investigation.

A federal report has raised concern about the lack of U.S. immigration control in Saipan and other islands in the Northern Marianas, where local border control has led to the entry of tens of thousands of foreign workers, who outnumber the local population. Saipan is about 80 miles to the north of Guam.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Cities and states are getting in the immigration game!


On another front, states and cities are starting to act on immigration. Conor Friedersdorf writes about immigration issues. You can check his blog (www.beyondbordersblog.com):

"At least 30 states have passed in excess of 57 laws, according to a USA Today analysis" (http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4039405)

Colorado just passed a new law requiring legal residency for state benefits.

Why is this happening? The answer is that local governments are stuck with the cost of schools, health care and crime.

At the national level, immigration is about controlling the border. At city hall, or county level, it is a question of costs.

For example, check this:

"Dallas County is planning to bill Mexico and other countries for treating their indigent citizens at Parkland Memorial Hospital, a practice that county leaders say is becoming a drain on their resources. County Judge Margaret Keliher said she doesn't expect the foreign countries to pay up, just as she doesn't expect neighboring counties to pay for treating their indigent residents.

But that's not the point, she said.

"If you're not Dallas County residents, then we think that where you're from should pay for indigent health care," she said."(http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-parkl and_22met.ART0.West.Edition1.21f4982.html)

Will it work? Probably not. Yet, the point is made. US cities can not continue to provide these services for illegal immigrants.

[Soldier4Christ]

Immigrant Sweep Snags 58 at Fort Bragg

Federal agents conducting a sweep aimed at illegal immigrants detained 58 civilian workers Tuesday as they tried to enter Fort Bragg with suspected false or fraudulently obtained identification, officials said.

Almost all of them were construction workers, officials said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, U.S. marshals and FBI agents worked with the military on the sweep, which was conducted between 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. when most of the thousands of soldiers and civilian workers who live off the post enter the gates.

"Today's operation was part of our ongoing force protection measures," said post spokesman Tom McCollum. "There were no incidents or accidents."
   
   

Some of the people detained were from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, ICE spokesman Marc Raimondi said.

Four people were arrested for drug possession, McCollum said.

People trying to enter Fort Bragg with false IDs can be charged with criminal trespass and presenting false identification, McCollum said. The garrison commander also can prevent contractors who knowingly hire such people from working at the base.

In the past year, more than 150 people have been detained as they tried to enter Fort Bragg without proper ID, McCollum said. The base is home to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and the 82nd Airborne Division.

[Soldier4Christ]

Dozens of Immigrants Found in Ariz. Desert

  About 75 illegal immigrants were found Tuesday in the desert about 50 miles west of Phoenix, many suffering from dehydration and exhaustion from triple-digit heat, authorities said.

Seven immigrants and three sheriff's deputies were taken to hospitals for treatment, said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Officers used a helicopter, canine units and all-terrain vehicles, and conducted foot patrols to search for others believed to be in the area.

 Lt. Chuck Siemens, who was in charge of the search, estimated late Tuesday that fewer than 20 people were still in the desert.

The immigrants told authorities that three people had died in the desert, but the search hasn't turned up any bodies, authorities said.

Investigators suspect that the immigrants were left in the location until smugglers could arrange transportation for them to be taken elsewhere, Arpaio said.

Siemens said some of the immigrants said they hadn't had water since Sunday. "We passed out water bottles and it was a frenzy," he said.

Federal officials said groups of illegal immigrants have been found in that part of the county before.

Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, is Arizona's most populous county.

[Soldier4Christ]

Governor bills U.S.
$50 mil over illegals
Washington chief wants reimbursement
for holding onto 'undocumented' felons


Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire says her state has imprisoned almost 1,000 felons who also are illegal aliens, and she wants the U.S. to send a check for about $50 million to cover the costs of keeping them.

Along with the invoice for Fiscal Years 2005 and 2006, she told U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in a letter that the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government "exclusive jurisdiction" over immigration, so the federal government also has the responsibility for criminal immigrants.

Gregoire notes in the letter obtained by WorldNetDaily that her state held an average of 995 criminal illegal aliens at a cost of $74.44 per person per day for Fiscal Year 2005. That totals more than $27 million. For Fiscal Year 2006 she expects the cost to rise to $76.75 per inmate per day, for a cost of more than $24 million, based on a slightly lower average inmate population.

So far, she says, the state has gotten $1.7 million for 2005, a payment of $4.75 per day per prisoner, under the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. That program pays states to hold federal prisoners, and is an alternative to having the federal government actually take physical custody of every prisoner.

"I am confident you will agree with me that the discrepancy in the 2005 figures is unacceptable and cannot be repeated for FY 2006," she said.

The invoice is an expression of Gregoire's frustration over the issue, and is just a symptom of the problems now facing the United States over illegal immigration. National Guard troops have been dispatched to the U.S.-Mexico border to halt the undocumented flow of people northward and local governments are reacting in multiple ways to the prospect of additional millions of immigrants in coming years.

Colorado just last week approved new requirements for immigrants to document their legal status with a driver's license or another official document in order to receive public benefits. Sandwich, Mass., town officials went one step further than Colorado. They agreed to penalize employers who hire illegal immigrants, as WorldNetDaily reported.

Gregoire spokeswoman Althea Cawley-Murphree told WorldNetDaily yesterday that the invoice is symbolic and more.

"She (Gregoire) does not naively expect she's going to send the letter and the check's going to come tomorrow," Cawley-Murphree said. However, her governor has discussed the problem with Arizona and California officials.

"She met recently with Gov. (Janet) Napolitano of Arizona and Gov. (Arnold) Schwarzenegger of California. They discussed if several western states all asked, all mobilized, there would tend to build a momentum," Cawley-Murphree said.

"If she does not receive a response by Aug. 1, then she will go to the (Washington) congressional delegation and ask them to push this at the congressional level," she said.

Pati Urias, the deputy director of communications for Arizona's governor, said that state has been sending similar invoices for several years. The most recent was sent in May, and totaled more than $279 million.

That's a cumulative total for housing illegal aliens who are criminals from 2003 through April of 2006. And it's an issue that will keep growing until it's resolved, she said.

Victor Joecks, a policy analyst for the Economic Policy Center of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a nonpartisan, public policy watchdog group focused on individual liberties, said Gregoire's move is a good beginning. "Based on this effort, the next logical step is for Gregoire to ensure the state isn't subverting federal immigration law and wasting state tax dollars in other areas by eliminating state services and benefits for non-legal individuals," he wrote in an opinion piece.

Colorado is trying to address its estimated illegal immigrant population of a quarter-million by requiring a valid Colorado driver's license, state ID card, a U.S. military card or another official document for anyone to get taxpayer-funded benefits. Verification would not be required for emergency disaster relief or emergency medical care. However, it penalizes, with fines of $500, only the individual, not company officials who would hire an illegal alien.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said his state's move also was a "good first step." But he said limiting public benefits to illegal aliens does not finish the march. "Anyone who seriously wants to end illegal immigration knows that it is the jobs magnet that drives the vast majority of illegals into our state. By giving employers a free pass, the governor (Bill Owens) and the Democratic legislature failed to address the most critical component of our illegal immigration problem."

Leaders in Sandwich, a Cape Cod town of 23,000, have approved plans to fine businesses $1,000 for employing undocumented workers and revoke their licenses if they do it repeatedly. The proposal will not take effect until a town meeting, expected this fall.

Federal law requires employers to check employees' citizenship status using an I-9 form.

However, as WorldNetDaily has reported earlier, the nine-year-old program allowing employers to use the Internet to verify instantly prospective hires' legal status is used by less than 1/10 of 1 percent of the nation's companies because it is voluntary, under-publicized and puts its users at a competitive disadvantage to firms that continue to hire illegal workers.

[Soldier4Christ]

Snow: Bush 'active' on border problem
Spokesman responds to sheriffs' complaint of being out-gunned


Rejecting two explanations for the out-gunning of U.S. law enforcement on the nation's southern border, presidential press secretary Tony Snow today told WND that Bush's sending National Guard troops to help with the crisis is proof he is doing something about it.

Stated WND: "WorldNetDaily quotes sheriffs in Texas saying that both their departments and the Border Patrol are out-manned and out-gunned by criminal gangs and drug cartels based in Mexico, who are running drug-smuggling and human-smuggling operations into this country. And my question: Is the president willing to accept a situation on our border where American law enforcement is out-manned and out-gunned, or are these quoted sheriffs wrong?"

Responded Snow: "There is a third option, which is, the president is mindful of these kinds of complaints and concerns, which explains why he went ahead and did a $1.9 billion supplemental, which is already putting National Guardsmen in positions where they can relieve the Border Patrol, where you can get Border Patrol agents, and you know the whole riff.

"So option C is the president does care about security at the borders and is active on it."