Immigration News

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Tough Immigration Measures Put Heat on Penn. Town


(AgapePress) - The mayor of a small town in Pennsylvania says he won't be intimidated by the ACLU and Hispanic groups that are upset over steps he has taken to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants into his community. As a result of those steps, many illegal immigrants have decided to pack and leave the area.

Mayor Lou Barletta presides over the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a former coal-mining town of 31,000. Barletta says Hazleton has always prided itself on the quality of life it offers. "Senior citizens can sit on the porch and parents can allow their children to play on the playgrounds," notes the mayor. But on a less-positive note, he adds: "In the past two years now, I've seen a change here in the city of Hazleton where that quality of life is being destroyed by illegal immigration."

The mayor says crime perpetrated by illegal immigrants got so bad this summer that the city has initiated stiff ordinances. For example, notes Barletta, landlords can be fined $1,000 per tenant per day for renting to illegal immigrants, and companies can be denied business permits for up to five years for hiring them. On top of that, Barletta says English is now the community's official language.

According to Barletta, the new laws have already been effective. "We have seen illegals literally loading up their furniture in the middle of the night and leaving town," he shares. "Unfortunately, we have been sued for what I believe is protecting the citizens of this city, and we're prepared to fight this fight to the highest court if necessary."

Mayor Barletta contends that if the federal government took the steps he has taken, illegal immigrants across the U.S. would return to their home countries.

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Some illegals find U.S. border tougher to cross
'The 1st fence I jumped. But I never dreamed there would be another one'


On her first try, Mari Paz said, she clambered over the barrier and walked only a short distance before U.S. Border Patrol agents spotted her. On her second, she slipped through a hidden door. She later tried crawling under the border and sneaking across hidden inside a van.

Mari Paz, who asked that her last name not be used, had left central Mexico bound for Houston, where she hoped for a joyful reunion with the son she hadn't seen in five years. Friends told the 50-year-old woman that the illegal journey wouldn't be all that difficult.

But nearly one month, half a dozen attempts and an injured knee later, a family reunion no longer figured in her plans; last month Mari Paz hobbled onto a plane to return home.

America's vast frontier with Mexico remains a highly porous landscape, where migrants by the hundreds of thousands cross annually. But stepped-up patrols, more barriers and high-tech monitoring have made the boundary impenetrable for many people.

Those who are turned back, like Mari Paz, are often less physically fit and middle-aged. They freeze from fright atop fences. They hurt themselves on nighttime journeys through gully-rutted terrain. They run too slowly to elude Border Patrol agents who spot them with remote cameras.

"This is where my dreams ended," said Mari Paz, at the border barrier in Tijuana. "Because of this fence, I haven't been able to see my son."

U.S. Border Patrol officials said the recent buildup has made it harder to cross and appears to be discouraging people from attempting it. From May 15, when President Bush announced the deployment of National Guard troops on the border, to July 23, the number of apprehensions for illegal crossings dropped 25 percent from the same period a year earlier.

"The perception, I believe, that is occurring in Mexico and, frankly, even further south of Mexico," said Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar, "is that our capabilities have increased dramatically."

Federal authorities do not have data showing how many people fail to make it across. But, in one of the few studies touching on the issue, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, found that as many as 8 percent of about 1,000 migrants in their study failed to cross.

Wayne Cornelius, the UC San Diego professor who directed the study, and other experts disagree with the Border Patrol's contention that migration has slowed significantly. Cornelius estimates, however, that tens of thousands of people fail every year to make it to the United States.

Sara Hernandez, a 49-year-old from Guadalajara, said the fear of getting hurt would keep her from trying again to cross the two fences that separate Tijuana from San Diego.

"The first fence I jumped. But I never dreamed there would be another one, and that it would be so, so tall," said Hernandez, who fell from the top and sprained her ankle. She eventually went home.

Jorge Perez Diaz, 48, first came to the United States 25 years ago by walking along the beach from Tijuana. But when he tried crossing last year in the rugged hills east of San Diego, he was forced back by Border Patrol agents.

The fatigue he experienced was enough to discourage Perez from making another attempt to reunite with his wife in San Jose, Calif. "I'm too old now to walk across these mountains," he said.

Fearing long, brutal treks through the desert, people not in peak physical shape often head to urban areas. That's where they confront America's most fortified borders.

At the San Diego-Tijuana border, the two fences — the first 10 feet high and the second 15 feet high — line most of the frontier. Stadium lighting illuminates shadowy canyons. Motion sensors have been seeded across hills and beaches. Most recently, video surveillance cameras have been erected, and National Guard troops have arrived.

The number of apprehensions in the San Diego area jumped 18 percent in the period from Oct. 1 through Aug. 7 over the same period a year earlier.

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Miller Brewing company sponsors immigrant march
4-day event scheduled to end 50 miles away at office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert

Four-Day Immigration March Begins In Chinatown
Group Wants Public Hearings On Immigration Laws

As with other immigration reform marches in Chicago this year, Friday's featured plenty of Mexican flags and signs with slogans written in Spanish. But there were also flags from the Philippines and people like Sally Chung holding signs in Korean that read "The Power To Change Is In Our Hands."

Chung, 16, was one of about 500 people who planned to participate in a four-day march that is scheduled to end Monday 50 miles away in front of the suburban office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

"The issue is it's time for (the government) to see us as Americans," said Chung, who traveled from Los Angeles to participate in the march.

Organizers said they chose Hastert's Batavia office as the march's ultimate destination to highlight what they say are the Illinois Republican's anti-immigration positions. Hastert has suggested fences, pedestrian inhibitors and the use of the Army Corps of Engineers and Border Patrol could be used to help seal the country's border with Mexico.

And they say they chose the starting point -- Chicago's Chinatown -- to demonstrate that this country is a nation of immigrants and that many of them feel the pain of waiting for years at a time for relatives to gain permission to come to the United States and make their families whole again.

"For the Asian community, this is about family unification," said Lawrence Benito, a Philippine American whose mother moved here decades ago to work as a nurse.

"My mother has been waiting for 23 years for her brother to come here," he said.

“We're marching because there are over one million Asian-Americans who are also undocumented; we're marching because hundreds of thousands of Asian-American families are separated,” said Becky Belcore of the Korean-American Resource and Cultural Center.

Hastert, whose district includes some of Chicago's suburbs and outlying rural counties, has been emphasizing the immigration issue in making the case to voters that they should keep Congress in GOP hands.

“In the Senate, Democrats and Republicans are working together; the president is willing to work with the Democrats on this,” said Joshua Hoyt of the Immigration Coalition. ”Speaker Hastert decided that he wants to use this for short-term, cheap, political advantage.”

Brad Hahn, a spokesman for Hastert, said that the speaker is not planning to meet with the marchers and is not planning on even being in his office Monday. But he said Hastert is focused on the issue, has talked to people on all sides of the debate and has visited the United States-Mexico border.

"It's important to note it isn't a question of who can yell the loudest, but finding the most effective solutions to securing the borders and strengthening our immigration system," Hahn said.

In Little Village, the protestors were welcomed by hundreds of supporters, including several priests.

“Many families that I know in my own parish, they've been waiting 12, 15, 17 years,” said Fr. Peter McQuinn of Priests for Justice for Immigrants. “And, you know, so it's just like why is it taking so long?”

But opposition to their cause is also rising.

“We're outraged at them. We've been outraged for years!” said Carl Segvich of the Chicago Minutemen Project.

Segvich says all illegal immigrants should be arrested and kicked out of the country.

“We will be destroyed from within, and that's what we're witnessing sadly, tragically today. We're being invaded and taken over by illegal aliens,” he said.

Friday's rally was a fraction of the size of those held in Chicago earlier this year, including one that attracted about 400,000 in May and another that drew, according to police, about 10,000 in July.

But organizers said the number does not reflect a diminishing interest in the issue, and said that even though perhaps 500 people will participate in the entire march, many times that number will take part in portions or attend rallies along the route.

They also stressed that marchers from countries such as South Korea, India and the Philippines illustrates that immigration reform is of keen interest among immigrants from countries around the globe.

"We see ourselves working together, hand in hand, with other immigrants," said Bernarda Lo Wong, the president of the Chinese American Service League, Inc.

The marchers will sleep two nights in Catholic churches and one night in a mosque, part of the effort to educate people that immigration reform is an issue that affects a wide variety of people, said Gabe Gonzalez, one of the event's organizers.

Gonzalez said he's not concerned that the marchers won't talk to Hastert, particularly since about 5,000 people are expected to attend Monday's rally outside his office.

"(With) 5,000 people in downtown Batavia, the message will be pretty clear this issue is still on the minds of right-thinking people," he said.

The march is being sponsored by Miller beer.

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Mexican deported 7 times pleads not guilty to re-entry 
Man previously held on drug, firearms charges arrested for driving without license


An illegal immigrant who has been arrested previously on drug and firearms charges and deported seven times Friday pleaded not guilty to illegally re-entering the United States.

Felipe Garcia-Morales, 28, a citizen of Mexico, entered the plea and agreed to be represented by a federal public defender.

Chattanooga police arrested Garcia-Morales for driving without a license July 14. He is also charged with violating federal probation in a previous case in Arizona.

U.S. Magistrate Susan Lee, with the assistance of a Spanish-speaking interpreter, ordered Garcia-Morales held without bond pending an Oct. 31 trial.

Records show Garcia-Morales was most recently deported March 3 to Mexico and forced to leave the United States several times before.

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Records show Garcia-Morales was convicted in September 2005 in Arizona on an illegal re-entry charge and sentenced to eight months in prison.

A year earlier he was arrested driving a car "loaded with concealed (smuggled) aliens" Picaco, Arizona, records show.

"The defendant was suspected of being the actual alien smuggler in this case. Prosecution was declined on this matter by the U.S. Attorney's Office for alien smuggling charges and the defendant was ordered deported to Mexico," according to records.

Records also show Garcia-Morales was convicted of misdemeanor drug possession in Las Vegas in February 2000 and sentenced to 45 days as part of a plea agreement after he was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of an unregistered firearm and drawing a deadly weapon in a threatening manner.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Brooks said at the Friday hearing that if Garcia-Morales is convicted, the maximum possible penalty is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 (euro195,000) fine.

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Chicago to sport red, white
and green to honor Mexico 
Prominent buildings will be bathed
in colors to celebrate independence

At a time when national passions are heated about illegal aliens from Mexico, the city of Chicago and state of Illinois are promoting an event to honor Mexican independence.

The celebration, called the "2nd Annual Mexican Independence Skyline Tribute," will feature prominent buildings throughout the Windy City being bathed in Mexico's national colors of red, white and green for six days beginning next Tuesday, Sept. 12.

It's receiving heavy promotion from organizers including Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, D-Ill., the Mexican Consulate and Univision radio host Javier Salas.

"The tribute recognizes the important role that Mexican-Americans have played in Chicago over the last century, from the early days of the railroad and stockyard industries through the steel mill boom to the present," a website promoting the tribute states. "Today, an estimated 550,000 Mexican-Americans live in the Chicago area."

At least 20 businesses and landmarks are slated to participate. Buildings including Sears Tower and the Wrigley Building will be illuminated with red and green lights, while other buildings and locations will spell out messages such as "VIVA VIVA."

The event began last year to mark the Sept. 16 Mexican national holiday.

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Local illegal immigration laws draw a diverse group of cities


ESCONDIDO ---- When a City Council majority voted last month to draft an ordinance banning illegal immigrants from renting in the city, Escondido joined a diverse bunch of 30 small towns and midsize cities around the country that have considered, and in some cases passed, similar local legislation.

There are industrial cities in the Northeast, rural towns that barely stand out on a map, and growing metropolitan suburbs in 13 states that have all looked at doing what Escondido has proposed, fining landlords for renting to undocumented immigrants.

Most of the towns and cities also want to prohibit business licenses for companies that hire undocumented workers, and make English the official language of local government.

Try to determine a common denominator among the cities, however, and there is only one: Joseph Turner, the founder of Save Our State, an anti-illegal immigration group that tried to drum up support for a similar initiative he wrote.

Turner's efforts in his hometown failed earlier this year. But the 29-year-old activist from San Bernardino said that, despite his initial setback, everything is going to plan.

"Without a doubt, I was trying to franchise an idea, a cookie-cutter," Turner said in a recent interview.

Spontaneous combustion


Turner said he was sure that his initiative would tap into what he described as a growing sense of frustration with the federal government's handling of illegal immigration. Many people on various sides of the issue share this view.

An estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States, according to a study by the Pew Hispanic Research Center in Washington, D.C. And efforts to reform the country's immigration laws have been mired in political debate for most of this year.

Many residents in cities around the country, he said, are upset about overcrowded schools, high crime rates and other ills they attribute to illegal immigration.

Passing local legislation was the logical next step, Turner said.

"I believe history will show that taking it to the local level will have a profound impact on this debate," Turner said, adding that he did not anticipate how quickly the "spontaneous combustion" of copycat ordinances would crop up.

Some critics of the ordinances ---- including civil rights groups ---- say that the rapid spread of Turner's idea is more knee-jerk reaction than thoughtful response to community problems.

Feather in the cap


So far, five cities have passed laws similar to Turner's initial proposal, including Hazleton, Pa., and two of its neighboring towns, Valley Park, Mo., and the industrial commuter town of Riverside, N.J. And nearby, Vista recently passed a law requiring individuals to register with the city before hiring day laborers.

Not every city that looks at an ordinance passes one, however. Cities such as Avon Park, Fla., and Huntsville, Ala., have swatted down proposals from some council members, or simply postponed indefinitely any discussion.

In many ways, Escondido could stand out among the crowd of local immigration legislation, if an ordinance passes when it comes before the council this fall.

Located just 45 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, Escondido would be the first California city to adopt part of Turner's initiative.

And with 133,000 residents, it would also be the largest city, and the one with the largest Latino population of any town, to follow Turner's lead.

Over the last decade, Escondido's Latino population has swelled significantly, from about 16 percent in 1990 to 44.5 percent in 2005, according a recent survey by the U.S. Census, which provides annual demographic updates for cities with populations over 100,000.

A recent city-sponsored survey of the Mission Park area in the city's core found that, of the 16,000 residents in the 1 1/2-square-mile area, the majority were born in other countries, especially Mexico. And 66 percent self-reported speaking primarily Spanish.

Such figures are not lost on Turner, who characterized Escondido as the next big step in his vision of communities around the country writing their own, stricter immigration laws, until Congress follows their lead.

"Escondido would be a huge feather in the cap," Turner said.

'Preventative maintenance'


Nevertheless, Turner's initiative has already taken root in a diverse range of places.

In many ways, Hazleton has led the charge. In June, it passed a broad ordinance aimed at squashing work and living opportunities for what some community members characterized as a growing population of illegal immigrants in the 31,000-resident town.

The Pennsylvania city's law denies business licenses to companies that hire undocumented workers, establishes English as the town's official language and ---- similar to the proposal in Escondido ---- fines landlords up to $1,000 for renting their property to illegal immigrants.

Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have already filed lawsuits trying to overturn Hazleton's law. On Friday, Hazleton agreed to delay enforcing the new law while city officials draft a replacement version they said would better withstand court challenges.

The initial draft of Hazleton's ordinance copied Turner's own initiative nearly word-for-word, he said. The final version was later modified somewhat, but retained the basic concepts and penalties proposed in Turner's version.

The former coal-mining city's efforts paved the way for a slew of similar proposals in 10 other Pennsylvania towns, many with populations of less than 5,000, with few Latinos and even fewer residents born outside the U.S., according to 2000 U.S. Census data.

Some larger cities, such as Allentown, Pa., have also started considering their own illegal immigration laws.

But in corners around the country, small cities such as Arcadia, Wis., a rural town of 2,400 with a Latino population of 3 percent, have also followed step. Arcadia Mayor John Kimmel recently wrote a newspaper column promising stiff consequences for those who employ or rent to illegal immigrants.

"They are not welcome here," Kimmel's article stated.

And in Valley Park, which in July passed an ordinance nearly identical to Hazleton's, the mayor has described the new law to local media as "preventative maintenance" for the suburb of 6,500 residents located about a 20-mile drive from St. Louis.

Not a homegrown movement


The fact that cities have begun adopting laws, even though they may not face immigration issues firsthand, worries John Trasvina, interim president of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The Los Angeles-based organization has promised to take "any necessary action" to legally challenge Escondido's proposal, if it is passed.

In all, at least 30 cities and towns across the country have voted on or considered their own illegal immigration ordinances. And in nearly every case the language that is proposed mimics Hazleton's and Turner's efforts.

"The reason there's such a scattered snapshot of these communities adopting these (ordinances) is because so often they hear about them from the Internet and right-wing radio," Trasvina said. "It's not a homegrown movement."

Tim O'Hare, a councilman in Farmers Branch, Texas, a suburban town of 25,000 just outside Dallas, said he proposed an immigration ordinance for his city after hearing of similar efforts in Hazleton. But that was simply one way to address a growing problem in his city, O'Hare added.

"It's not like Hazleton brought it (illegal immigration) to our attention," said O'Hare, stressing that his measure was designed as part of an effort to help revitalize dilapidated neighborhoods.

Councilwoman Marie Waldron of Escondido ---- who has regularly stirred controversy over illegal immigration in the city ---- said she decided to float the idea to her colleagues on the council after reading about the San Bernardino ordinance in e-mail messages circulated among anti-illegal immigration forums. Waldron said she proposed the ban as a way to combat residential overcrowding.

Picking up on what other, faraway jurisdictions are doing and copying their efforts is nothing new, said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst and professor of political science at the University of Southern California.

"It's part of a pattern we've seen with other hot-button issues," Jeffe said, citing the push for term limits in the 1990s as an example. "It's not the first time, and it won't be the last time. It's part of the political dynamic of our country, for better or for worse."

Jeffe said that often, fervor for such legislation dies down, usually after people realize that the law they wanted passed has not proven to be a panacea for the problems they wanted addressed.

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The other way into America
Thousands try to cross from Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico each year

Most of the talk about immigration is about controlling the flow from Mexico into the United States.

Well, there's another human smuggling route — hundreds of miles from the U.S. mainland — that you rarely hear about: Puerto Rico.

Because Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth, the inviting crystal-clear waters off its coasts are just as much a porous border as the one between Texas and Mexico.

On the look-out for illegal migrants, is the air-marine unit of the Customs and Border Protection Agency. CBS Evening News Saturday anchor Thalia Assuras joined them for an exclusive first-hand look at their patrol operation.

Hector Badillo is the radar operator on a C-12 surveillance plane. His team is looking for what are called "yolas" — small, barely seaworthy, barely visible boats.

The intel, the weather, the direction, the size of the vessel the migrants come in, that's all going to play into whether we detect them or not," says Francisco Rodriguez, an air interdiction agent.

Less than an hour after take-off, the team spots a potential target — its cargo camouflaged with a blue tarp.

Minutes later — the tarp off — the flight team knows it has a human smuggling operation in its sights and radios the coast guard. They pick up 11 men from the Dominican Republic.

The migrants come through the highly traveled Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Over the last year, 4,300 illegal immigrants have been caught. So far this year, almost 3,000 have been taken into custody. Most are Dominicans, but increasingly the migrants are Cubans — some 660 this year.

The Cubans set sail from the Dominican Republic aiming for Mona Island — just 38 miles away. That trip is just one-third of the more commonly risked route from Cuba to Florida. It's a costly voyage, both in payment to smugglers — up to $3000 per passenger — and lives lost.

No one knows for sure how many have died trying to cross the treacherous, 3000-foot deep channel, but it's estimated that as many as 10,000 people attempt to cross it every year.

"It's very dangerous," says Brian Schmidt, an executive officer in Key Largo's Coast Guard. "The seas here at the Mona Passage can change very quickly in a matter of (an) hour, two hours. You can go from what you see today to a six-foot swell."

Once the Cubans make it here to Mona Island, the "wet foot/dry foot" policy kicks in. That's because the Island is technically U.S. soil as part of Puerto Rico. The Cubans are not returned home. They're in.

Those caught at sea are immediately sent back home — the "wet foot" side of the equation.

Sgt. Benjamin Lozada, the chief of security on Mona Island for 27 years, says more Cubans have arrived this year than ever before.

Asked what Cubans say when they first encounter Lozada, he says they say, "I am Cuban. I am going to the free land."

But that policy only applies to Cubans. Dominicans, like 38-year-old father of three Francisco Rodriguez, end up in a Puerto Rican immigration detention center facing deportation.

"I thought I was going to die on our dangerous nighttime crossing," says Rodriguez.

Asked if he would do it again, Rodriguez replies that he wouldn't. His children need him.

Most though, try and try again — with the help of the smugglers who face only a few months in jail under lax U.S. laws.

I think we need to prosecute the operators, says Customs and Border Protection Agency's Francisco Rodriguez. "That's the only way we're going to slow it down. There's no retribution to the crime."

So, the patrols run 24/7 over more than a million square miles — on the water, and in the air.

They torch the boats they catch, but know that more are on the way.

[Soldier4Christ]

mmigration activists spar at Phoenix rally 
'These people are illegal aliens. They need to be incarcerated, fined and sent home'

Supporters and opponents of liberalized immigration laws bellowed at each other through bullhorns at a rally in Phoenix on Monday as pressure on the U.S. Congress to break a deadlock over a proposed immigration overhaul gathered pace nationwide.

About a thousand supporters of a Senate bill offering millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship gathered outside the Capitol building in downtown Phoenix on Labor Day, chanting, "We are America" and waving U.S. flags.

They were met by scores of angry opponents of the measure, toting placards urging authorities to "stop the criminal alien invasion" and "secure the border," who jabbed fingers at protesters and tried to shout down keynote speakers.

"These people are illegal aliens. They need to be incarcerated, fined and sent home," said activist Carol Hands, as she stood amid protesters shouting through bullhorns. Capitol police officers watched the groups in bright morning sunshine. There was no violence, and no arrests.

Plans to overhaul U.S. immigration laws have proven highly contentious, with opponents and supporters of a resolution favorable to immigrants divided both on the streets and in Congress.

The Senate approved a measure calling for tighter border security and a shot at citizenship for many of the estimated 11-12 million illegal immigrants that was backed by President George W. Bush, while a measure in the House of Representatives focused on narrowly on border security.

"We love this country, and we want a better deal," said Mexican construction worker Jose Avardo, 30, as he attended the protest with his wife and two children. "We want Bush to see us and bring us in from the shadows," he added.

CARDINAL URGES END TO DEADLOCK

The rally in Phoenix was one of several over the Labor Day weekend as pressure mounted on Congress to break the impasse when members return from recess on Tuesday ahead of Congressional mid-term elections in November.

Speaking at a Labor Day Catholic Mass at Los Angeles Cathedral, Cardinal Roger Mahony criticized lawmakers in Washington for dragging their heels over reforms.

"I say to members of Congress, you do not have the right or the luxury to let four weeks go by and refuse to deal with immigration reform," Mahony said.

Mahony, who has emerged as one of the leading advocates for illegal immigrants in the United States, said he sent letters on Monday to Bush and congressional leaders urging them to break the impasse.

In Illinois, meanwhile, around 3,000 activists gathered at the offices in Batavia of House speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican, and laid crosses to commemorate illegal immigrants who have died crossing the border from Mexico.

The current round of protests kicked off with a march in Chicago on Friday. So far, its numbers have fallen well short of those seen in the first round on May 1, when protesters filled the streets of cities from California to New England.

It culminates on Thursday with a march through Washington that organizers hope will attract a million participants from across the eastern United States.

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Border-crossing deaths soar 
Patrol blames smuggling, others cite increased enforcement

The number of migrants who die each year while crossing the Mexican border has increased dramatically with hundreds expiring of exposure to heat and cold in the desert, a new report to Congress has found.

Last year, 472 border-crossers died, according to the U.S Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. That figure has doubled over the last decade, according to the report.

More than three-quarters of the deaths occurred in the Arizona desert. During fiscal year 2005, 31 migrants died in the El Paso Border Patrol Sector, which includes all of New Mexico and two West Texas counties. During this fiscal year, 34 deaths have been reported in the sector.

The report also found the number of deaths among women illegal immigrant crossers has more than doubled between 1998 and 2005. While most deaths have involved men, deaths among women shot from 9 percent to 21 percent of the total during those seven years, according to the Border Patrol's data.

The soaring number of deaths occurred despite new search-and-rescue efforts by the Border Patrol and without a corresponding increase in the number of illegal crossers apprehended on the border.

The report also criticized the Border Patrol for undercounting deaths in some sectors of the border and for not having a uniform standard nationwide for collecting data on migrant deaths.

The GAO cited a policy shift, launched in 1994, to beef up border enforcement in urban areas as a reason for the increase. "Migrant traffic shifted from urban areas like San Diego and El Paso into the desert following the implementation of ... the strategy," the report states.

Before the policy shift, migrants were more often killed in traffic accidents in urban areas, such as San Diego-Tijuana. The leading cause of death is now exposure to heat and cold, and migrants often die in isolated areas, according to the report.

A New Mexico migrant-aid activist, Alima Miller, said cooperation between Border Patrol and National Guards troops this summer in the Columbus-Deming corridor has "pushed people into more remote areas" in the mountains around Columbus, Miller said.

Miller helped organize a new group, Desert Humanitarians, to set up water stations on both sides of the border near Columbus this summer.

The group provides packages of food to migrants and is also setting up a resource center for migrants in Palomas, Mexico.

However, Doug Mosier, a Border Patrol spokesman in El Paso, said the high number of deaths is not a result of increased enforcement. "The pattern of deaths is directly correlated with smuggling operations that transport people for profit," he said.

The release of the report, which was done at the request of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., coincides with the introduction of a bill by Frist that would authorize $1.5 million to establish "rescue beacons" that migrants could use to signal for help.

The bill would also increase penalties for alien smuggling.

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House backs fence along border with Mexico
Critics say vote has more to do with election year politics than controlling illegals

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday authorized building a fence along portions of the border with Mexico in a vote critics said had more to do with election year politics than controlling illegal immigration.

The Republican-written bill, approved on a vote of 283-138, calls for construction of about 700 miles of fence along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. Democratic opponents said the measure was a charade designed to help Republicans ahead of the November 7 elections.

"This is to score political points that are going to be demagogued in 30-second ads," said Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat. He accused Republicans of trying to appeal to the "fears and passions" of people. He and other Democrats called for a broad immigration overhaul along the lines of the bill passed by the U.S. Senate that would create a guest worker program and legalize millions of illegal immigrants.

President George W. Bush backs comprehensive legislation and a guest worker program and spoke about the need for it during a meeting with House Republicans at the Capitol on Thursday. But the issue divides Republicans. Many feel the Senate bill would grant amnesty to people who broke U.S. law and it is unlikely a broad immigration bill will pass this year.

Instead, House Republican leaders plan to pass a series of border security measures before lawmakers break at the end of the month to campaign for the elections. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, said the fence and other efforts would be added to a domestic security spending bill for next year that the House and Senate are hoping to finish by the end of the month.

Republican supporters of the fence said it was a step toward controlling the borders and would help stem the flow of illegal immigration while reducing drug smuggling and other crimes.

An estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants were arrested in the last fiscal year trying to cross into the United States along the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Sections of the fence will be built in each state.

"We have to know who is coming across our borders and what they are bringing with them," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who heads the House Armed Services Committee.

"If we build it, they will no longer come illegally," Hastert said after the vote.

But even some Republicans opposed the piecemeal approach.

"We're really not debating anything of substance," said Rep. Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican. "This is a feel good piece of legislation."

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Hunter mistakes illegal for hog, shoots him
Grand jury decides man should not be indicted for negligent homicide

A hunter who fatally shot an undocumented immigrant on a South Texas ranch when he mistook the man for a hog should not be indicted, a Maverick County grand jury has decided.

The grand jury's no bill means Jaime Gonzalez will not be charged with manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide for the 2004 shooting near El Indio.

Gonzalez, of Eagle Pass, had told authorities he was shooting at a wild hog about 150 feet away when Celestino Lopez was struck in the abdomen.

Lopez, 36, and a group of immigrants had stopped and stood in the darkness after seeing a shadowy figure, according to court records. After the shooting, Gonzalez and two other hunters put Lopez in the back of a pickup and met an ambulance on the way to the hospital.

"I hoped there would've been more justice," said Anselmo Lopez, the victim's brother. "No one had the right to take his life."

Maverick County District Attorney Roberto Serna said he first presented the case to the grand jury last spring and didn't resume the presentation until Monday, when the jury declined to indict Gonzalez.

He said the grand jurors saw every report related to the case and interviewed live witnesses.

"They asked a lot of questions and were very attentive and tried to sort it out," Serna said. "I just presented the case to the grand jury and they decided what to do."

Celestino Lopez is survived by a wife and five children in the Mexican state of Guanajuato.

Lopez's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit last year against Gonzalez and the owner of the ranch, Eduardo Rodriguez, seeking $8 million in damages.

The case was settled out of court in November for $50,000. The settlement included legal costs for Lopez's widow and $1,800 for each of his five children. The children's money was put into U.S. savings accounts under their names, according to court records.

[Soldier4Christ]

Man bites U.S. border guard
'Do you want me to put you on your a-- again like last time?'

Canadian held after biting border guard


An irate Canadian visitor faced a federal judge Monday in Seattle on a felony charge that he bit a U.S. border guard on the left pinky finger.

Michel Labadie was driving into the United States on Saturday morning at the Blaine border crossing when he was told that he had been randomly selected for secondary inspection, according to a complaint filed by Senior Special Agent Eric Lehmann of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"I don't have time for this," said Labadie, who then entered the secondary inspection area "at a high rate of speed."

While Labadie was undergoing secondary inspection, a computer check revealed that he had been involved in a prior incident involving an assault on officers during an inspection, Lehman said. Customs and Border Protection Officer Edward Escobar, who was present at the first incident, was called in.

When Escobar informed Labadie "that he did not believe he was a bona fide visitor for pleasure," Labadie took exception.

"Under what authority do you have to send me back?" court documents quote Labadie asking. When Labadie was told to take a seat, he refused and asked Escobar "in a threatening manner, 'Do you want me to put you on your ass again like last time?' "

That's when Escobar called for help. Labadie was instructed to unclench his fists and take a seat. When he allegedly refused, officers moved in to restrain him. That's when Escobar was bitten on the pinky and apparently sustained a bone chip to his left elbow.

At a hearing Monday in U.S. District Court, Magistrate Judge Monica Benton ordered Labadie held pending a detention hearing later in the week.

Labadie was not happy.

Before being led away by two deputy U.S. marshals, he told Benton: "There is no justice in this justice system, your honor. You are making a grievous error."

[Soldier4Christ]

LA city 'sanctuary' plan
subject of court hearing 
Judicial Watch complaint alleges order
prevents police action against illegals


A court hearing is scheduled this coming week for arguments in what could be one of the biggest decisions ever in the United States' battle over the integrity of its borders.

Officials with Judicial Watch say the case ultimately could decide whether the borders will be secured and the nation protected from illegal immigration, or not.

The issue is the Los Angeles police department's Special Order 40, which bans officers from enforcing immigration laws in certain circumstances.

"With the help of the ACLU, these illegal immigrants want to be able to seek illegal work on street corners without fear of the police," the Judicial Watch said in an announcement about its battle. "Can you believe anyone would make such an argument in a court of law! Well, the ACLU did."

The legal action seeks "to force the Los Angeles Police Department to drop its politically-correct 'sanctuary' policy and resume enforcing our nation's laws against illegal immigration," Judicial Watch said.

The organization said it went to court because the LAPD has set itself above the law.

"Special Order 40 actually forbids LA police officers from cooperating with federal immigration agents to apprehend and deport illegals!" Judicial Watch said.

The announcement from Judicial Watch, which is lobbying both for publicity and support for the battle, targets LA's plan that actually "prohibits police officers from inquiring about an individual's immigration status and restricts police officers' ability to communicate freely with federal immigration officials about illegal aliens."

The action came about on behalf of Harold P. Sturgeon, an LA taxpayer, earlier this year. It alleges the order violates both state and federal law and it seeks a judgment preventing any further enforcement.

"It cannot be denied that Special Order 40 and the policies, practices, and procedures arising thereunder violate both the letter and spirit of [federal law]," Judicial Watch argued in a legal memorandum filed with the court this summer. "The LAPD has adopted what is in effect a 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' policy with respect to immigration status."

Congress 10 years ago decided that a local, state or federal entity or official "may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now Immigration and Customs Enforcement) information regarding the citizenship of immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual."

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said police officers need to be "our first line of defense" against illegal activity.

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation and promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

One commentator noted that in one case, an illegal alien went on a rampage, mugging three people, burglarizing two apartments and raping a woman in front of her 5-year-old daughter. The illegal previously had been deported for robbery, drugs and burglary, but returned to the U.S.

Judicial Watch noted that although he had been stopped for several traffic violations, police were prohibited from reporting the illegal to immigration authorities and so he continued to roam free.

[Soldier4Christ]

House acts to require voters prove citizenship
'We should not let these criminals defraud our election system by allowing them to vote'

In a move to crack down against illegal immigrants voting in U.S. elections, the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to require Americans to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections.

Democratic opponents said the bill would discourage eligible voters. But it passed with overwhelming support of Republicans who argued that it would prevent fraud and stop illegal immigrants from casting ballots in U.S. elections.

"Those who are in this country illegally want the same rights as United States citizens without obeying the laws of our land," Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, a Florida Republican, said during the House debate. "We should not let these criminals defraud our election system by allowing them to vote."

The legislation passed on a largely party-line vote of 228-196 and although immigration issues are a hot topic in this year's congressional elections, it has little chance of winning Senate agreement before the November 7 vote.

The bill would require voters to present a photo identification to vote in federal elections in 2008. By 2010 the photo identification would also have to show the voter is a U.S. citizen.

Democrats said the bill's requirements would hurt the poor, the elderly and others unable to easily obtain the documents required. They argued that obtaining required documents can be expensive and that there was no evidence to suggest voter fraud is widespread.

"It's an imaginary problem," Rep. Charles Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat, told reporters. "This is calculated to disenfranchise a certain segment of our society and those are minorities. The collateral damage will be seniors, the homebound, victims of disaster and members of the armed services."

But Republicans argued that requiring proof of citizenship and a photo identification would not impose a great burden on voters because identification is routinely required for other purposes. 

If it were enacted it would likely face legal challenges. Judges in Missouri and Georgia recently ruled unconstitutional state laws requiring voter photo identification. Several other states do require photo or other forms of identification.

BORDER SECURITY

It is one of a number of immigration-related measures House Republicans planned to bring to a vote before the November 7 congressional elections. Last week the House authorized the construction of a 700 mile fence along parts of the 2,000 mile border with Mexico. The Senate was poised to take up the measure later this week after it cleared a procedural hurdle.

Democrats have accused majority Republicans of pushing the border security measures weeks before the election for political reasons after they failed to agree on a comprehensive immigration overhaul sought by President George W. Bush. Bush wants legislation that would create a guest worker program and that would have allowed millions of illegal immigrants a chance to legalize their status.

Critics said the voter identification bill passed by the House on Wednesday also was part of election politics.

John Trasvina of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund accused Republicans of bringing the measure up so they could use it in campaign ads against political foes.

"It would certainly make a nice 30 second ad. Somebody's opponent saying, 'He voted against a bill that requires only U.S. citizens to vote,'" said Trasvina.

Chellie Pingree of Common Cause also denounced the bill, saying, "It's a political opportunity for them to show that they are tough on fraud. It is an anti-immigration issue."

"I think it stirs up voter fears at the polls," Pingree said. 

[Soldier4Christ]

llegals escape from federal prison
Among 6 escapees is former cop accused of running drugs from Mexico

Federal and local authorities are still looking for six men who escaped from a federal prison last night.

The men escaped from the East Hidalgo Detention Center around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday by holding a foot-long, homemade knife to the neck of a prison guard, U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Joe Magallan said.

They then tied up the guard and locked him in a room before escaping through the backdoor of the building and using wire cutters to detach an electric fence from the anchor holding it to the ground, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.

Someone had evidently de-electrified the fence beforehand, Treviño said. The guard was unharmed.

The men had been housed in a minimum to medium security building within the prison complex, said Richard Harbison, a spokesman for LCS Correctional Services, the company that runs the private facility.

Harbison said this is the first escape from the facility since LCS took it over from the former management company in 2001. That company had gone bankrupt.

Treviño recalled another escape about five years ago, when a drug smuggler eluded law enforcement officers for 24 hours before his recapture.

The escapees included former McAllen police officer Francisco Meza-Rojas, who was awaiting trial on charges he and his four brothers ran a drug-smuggling operation from Mexico into the area south of Mission. The brothers are charged with nine federal counts, including conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and possession with intent to distribute.

Authorities have identified the five other inmates as illegal aliens from the Weslaco area detained on immigration charges. They were Fernando Garza Cruz, Joel Armando Mata Castro, Vicente Garcia Mendiola, Enrique Peña Saenz, and Saul Leonardo Salazar.

Within five to 10 minutes of the escape, authorities had cordoned off a four-mile perimeter around the prison, which sits on Highway 107 in La Villa, Treviño said.

Footprints show the men broke up into three pairs after scrambling under the fence, he said.

One group went north, one east over a canal about a quarter-mile away and a third group went south.

K-9 units traced them all to Highway 107, where the scent went dead.

Authorities believe an unknown person picked the men up in a car on Highway 107 just east of the facility.

Customs & Border Protection is maintaining its usual patrols and staff levels at border checkpoints, spokesman Felix Garza said. Garza said all the men are a clear flight risk to Mexico.

"If we do run across them, and I think we probably will, we will apprehend them," he said.

The search party includes the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Parks & Wildlife, the U.S. Marshals Service, agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Customs & Border Protection, the Elsa-Edcouch Police Department and various K-9 units and other local police departments, Treviño said.

They have been interviewing family members of the escapees, as well as all employees of the prison and the assaulted guard.

Treviño stopped short of calling the escape an inside job but said the circumstances were dubious.

"From a law enforcement perspective, it appears to be highly suspicious," he said.

Of Meza-Rojas, Treviño said, "He’s an extremely intelligent individual. I wouldn’t put it above Meza to use these gang members as his muscle and as a vehicle to escape."

The La Villa facility has come under scrutiny before, Magallan said.

"We have arrested other jailers from that facility before," he said. "Years back other jailers had been terminated for taking drugs in drugs, taking bribes."

It was still unclear who made the decision to house Meza-Rojas in a medium security private prison. The other brothers are in Willacy and Karnes county jails, Magallan said. Jesus, the only brother to be released on bond, was initially held at the McAllen Police Department's jail.

Marshals from Brownsville, Laredo and Houston have been called in to help the nine-man McAllen team. They have also enlisted the help of Mexican police, who now have photos of the inmates.

"We still believe they are in the area," he said. "It’s a possibty that they went to Mexico."

The La Villa school district remains closed today, although businesses and roads in the area are open.

DPS helicopters patrolled the Cowley Sugar House, sugarcane fields to the east of the prison, for hours Tuesday night. But the infrared radar detected nothing.

Miguel Hernandez, who lives near the field, awoke to the sound of helicopters at midnight. He loaded his 22-caliber gun, he said.

Hernandez was eating breakfast and discussing the previous evening’s escapes at a nearby Quik-Mart Tuesday morning with friend Jose Luis Guzman, Jr.

"How can it be so easy for these guys to get out," Guzman said. "We’re worried that one day someone who’s a killer or a truly dangerous person is going to escape, and we’re all going to be at risk.

"The people in La Villa are up in arms," he added. "They want to know why it’s easy for someone to get out. The facility is obviously run in a very, very bad way."

The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s office handled operations Tuesday night, but the U.S. Marshals Service has assumed control of the investigation. They ask anyone with information about the escapees’ whereabouts to call (956) 618-8025