Illegal Immigration
8/6/2008 | Border Issues, Illegal Immigration, Terrorism
US races to erect controversial steel fence on Mexican border
Breitbart.com
Just west of El Paso, near where Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico in 1598, construction crews have completed a steel fence authorities say is a new model for border security. The five-meter (18-foot) tall fence has a mesh woven so tightly that feet and fingers cannot grab hold, but it still allows people to see through. Steel pylons are set close enough to stop a truck from bursting through, and two meters of reinforced concrete underground deters any tunneling. The structure is designed to push would-be illegal immigrants and drug smugglers out into the desert where they are more easily caught, said Border Patrol Agent Martin Hernandez. "Will it completely stop them from coming across? Of course not," Hernandez said. "Rest assured, there will eventually be holes in parts of the wall made by people trying to get in. But it buys us valuable time." The US Department of Homeland Security is racing to meet a December 31 deadline to raise 670 miles of steel fences and vehicle barriers along the 3,200 kilometer (2,000 mile) long southern border. About half has been completed, including this six kilometer (four mile) segment at New Mexico's Santa Teresa Port of Entry. But DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff faces a flurry of lawsuits by environmentalists and border communities that could stop construction cold. To meet his deadline, Chertoff is using sweeping authority Congress granted in 2005 to waive 36 federal laws protecting water, air quality, endangered animals, and native American sites.
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7/17/2008 | Illegal Immigration
McDonald's franchisee fined 1 mln dlrs for hiring illegal immigrants
Breitbart.Com
A company that owns 11 McDonald's restaurants in Nevada was fined one million dollars Wednesday after pleading guilty to employing 58 illegal immigrants. The company, Mack Associates Inc., knew the employees were illegal immigrants and had offered them names and social security numbers belonging to other people, the US Justice Department said. The company pleaded guilty in federal court in Las Vegas to conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien's unlawful residence in the United States and aiding and abetting an alien to remain in the country, the department said. The company's director of operations also pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting an alien to remain in the country. And the former vice president of Mack Associates pleaded guilty to inducing an illegal alien to remain in the United States and faces a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a 250,000 dollar five. About 30 of the illegal workers have returned to their native countries while the rest were allowed to stay in the United States until the case closes.
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7/15/2008 | Border Issues, Illegal Immigration, Presidential Issues
McCain rejects Obama attack on immigration
Yahoo News
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain defended himself on Monday against charges from Democrat Barack Obama that he adopted a more aggressive stance against illegal immigration for political purposes. McCain's support among Hispanic Americans is lagging behind that of Obama, who has attracted many Hispanics who had supported Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. Hispanics are a key constituency in the November 4 election and could make a difference in several battleground states.
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7/7/2008 | Illegal Immigration, Presidential Issues
Illegal immigrants face threat of no college
USA Today
Some states are making it harder for illegal immigrants to attend college by denying in-state tuition benefits or banning undocumented students. In the past two years, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma have refused in-state tuition benefits to students who entered the USA illegally with their parents but grew up and went to school in the state. That represents a reversal from earlier this decade, when 10 states passed laws allowing in-state rates for such students. This summer, South Carolina became the first state to bar undocumented students from all public colleges and universities. North Carolina's community colleges in May ordered its 58 campuses to stop enrolling undocumented students after the state attorney general said admitting them may violate federal law. "The new trend is to kick illegal aliens out of college altogether," says William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, which opposes taxpayer subsidies for undocumented immigrants.
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7/1/2008 | Illegal Immigration
Feds probe S.F.'s migrant-offender shield
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco juvenile probation officials - citing the city's immigrant sanctuary status - are protecting Honduran youths caught dealing crack cocaine from possible federal deportation and have given some offenders a city-paid flight home with carte blanche to return. The city's practices recently prompted a federal criminal investigation into whether San Francisco has been systematically circumventing U.S. immigration law, according to officials with knowledge of the matter. City officials say they are trying to balance their obligations under federal and state law with local court orders and San Francisco's policies aimed at protecting the rights of the young immigrants, who they say are often victims of exploitation.
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6/24/2008 | Environmental Issues, Governmental Control, Illegal Immigration, Border Issues
Next battle over border fence may be Texas
Yahoo News
McALLEN, Texas - A U.S. Supreme Court decision paving the way for a 670-mile federal fence along the U.S.-Mexico border drew swift criticism from environmentalists, who promised to make another legal stand in Texas. The justices' turned down a plea Monday to hear a lawsuit opposing a two-mile section of the fence in Arizona brought by the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife. The section of fence in question in that case has already been built and even if the court had taken the case, oral arguments would not have been heard until October. But Monday's decision could have the most immediate implications for Texas, where opposition has been most widespread and fence construction is expected to begin next month.
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6/17/2008 | Illegal Immigration, Presidential Issues
Dems raise stakes on immigration
Politico.Com
Going into November’s elections, House and Senate Democrats are outbidding the White House on spending for immigration enforcement, with a special emphasis on deporting people convicted of major drug offenses and violent crimes. Immigration remains a highly divisive political issue — especially in the House Democratic Caucus. But targeting convicted criminals is seen as safe ground for the party and a pressure point to highlight shortcomings in the current enforcement system.
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6/9/2008 | Illegal Immigration
Bush orders contractors to check legal status of employees
Yahoo News
WASHINGTON - President Bush has signed an executive order requiring contractors and others who do business with the federal government to make sure their employees are working in the country legally. Bush signed the order Friday and the White House announced the order Monday. The order says federal departments and agencies must require contractors to use an electronic system to verify that the workers are eligible to work in the U.S. The order comes as a worker verification bill has stalled in Congress.
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6/4/2008 | Illegal Immigration
2 workers accused of releasing illegal immigrants
My Way News
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Two workers for a Border Patrol contractor were arrested for allegedly conspiring to release illegal immigrants for $2,500 apiece instead of returning them to Mexico. Christopher Saint Lucero and Manley Lamont Smith work for Wackenhut Corp., which holds a contract to escort illegal immigrants to Mexico after they are captured by Border Patrol agents in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. It was unclear how long the alleged scheme lasted and how many illegal immigrants were released on U.S. soil. According to court documents, Saint Lucero told a colleague that he had been involved in about 10 smuggling attempts. The men were arrested Sunday after Saint Lucero allegedly escorted a group of illegal immigrants from the Border Patrol's Chula Vista station in suburban San Diego to the border in Tijuana, Mexico. According to a statement of probable cause, Mexican authorities refused to admit two who identified themselves as Salvadorans. One was an undercover agent.
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5/19/2008 | Illegal Immigration
Texas group sues to stop border fence
United Press International
WASHINGTON, May 18 (UPI) -- The Texas Border Coalition, which includes a number of cities along the U.S.-Mexico border has filed a lawsuit against the border fence. In court papers filed Friday in Washington, the group asked a court to block the construction of the fence in the Rio Grande Valley. The coalition, which also includes business groups, charges that the Department of Homeland Security did not consult landowners in the area. DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff denied that in a news conference Friday. Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, who chairs the coalition, called the fence "an antiquated solution for a 21st century problem."
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5/19/2008 | Illegal Immigration
Immigration agency plans new family detention centers
Los Angeles Times
The federal government is accepting bids for up to three new family detention centers that would house as many as 600 men, women and children fighting deportation cases. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a call for proposals last month and set June 16 as the deadline. New facilities are being considered on both coasts and on the Southwestern border. The agency calls for minimum-security residential facilities that would provide a "least restrictive, nonsecure setting" and provide schooling for children, recreational activities and access to religious services.
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5/9/2008 | Illegal Immigration
10-year-old gives birth in Idaho; Suspected illegal immigrant charged with rape
USA Today
A 37-year-old man is charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who gave birth last month in Idaho. "St. Anthony Police said they were notified of the young girl's pregnancy by medical personnel after she went in for treatment at a doctor's office," KIFI-TV reports on its website. One day later, the ABC affiliate says the young mother delivered a 6-pound girl at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Idaho. KIDK-TV says Guadalupe Gutierrez-Juarez, a suspected illegal immigrant, is being held at the Fremont County Jail. He's due in court next week to face rape charges.
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3/11/2008 | Illegal Immigration
Coast Guard tests fingerprinting at borders
USA Today
WASHINGTON — The Coast Guard is using a new weapon to fight illegal immigration: electronic fingerprinting. A test program in which Coast Guard sailors take digital fingerprints from people picked up on boats headed to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic has led to more than 100 prosecutions in the past year. The fingerprints are e-mailed to the U.S. mainland by satellite and are checked against a government database that shows deportation orders and criminal records. Those prosecuted were charged with attempted illegal entry into the USA, Coast Guard data show. The Coast Guard says the prosecutions are deterring other potential illegal migrants, who in the past were not identified and typically rode back to the Dominican Republic on Coast Guard boats. "Before, it was pretty much a ferry service to repatriate them," said Coast Guard researcher Tom Amerson, who came up with the idea for the fingerprinting program. "But now there's a consequence that they can serve jail time."
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2/29/2008 | Illegal Immigration
'Virtual Fence' Along Border To Be Delayed
Washington Post
The Bush administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border, delaying completion of the first phase of the project by at least three years and shifting away from a network of tower-mounted sensors and surveillance gear, federal officials said yesterday. Technical problems discovered in a 28-mile pilot project south of Tucson prompted the change in plans, Department of Homeland Security officials and congressional auditors told a House subcommittee. Though the department took over that initial stretch Friday from Boeing, authorities confirmed that Project 28, the initial deployment of the Secure Border Initiative network, did not work as planned or meet the needs of the U.S. Border Patrol. The announcement marked a major setback for what President Bush in May 2006 called "the most technologically advanced border security initiative in American history." The virtual fence was to be a key component of his proposed overhaul of U.S. immigration policies, which died last year in the Senate.
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2/28/2008 | Illegal Immigration
Virtual Fence Is A Virtual Farce
WeNeedAFence.Com
The “virtual fence” era in America’s long-running immigration debate ended on Friday – less than 24 hours after both Democratic candidates for the Presidency put themselves squarely on the wrong side of it. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would abandon plans to extend the Boeing-designed “virtual fence” beyond its initial 28-mile long demonstration phase. In the Thursday night Democratic debate, Senator Clinton said “there is technology that can be used instead of a physical barrier.” A minute or so later, Senator Obama said “this is an area where Senator Clinton and I almost entirely agree,” and then added: “for the most part, having …surveillance, deploying effective technology, that’s going to be the better approach.” Within a few hours, this “better approach” was revealed to have been a failed experiment. There are three elements that are essential to achieving genuine border security: physical infrastructure, adequate manpower and technological backup. Failure to provide any one of them will result in failure to secure the border. A physical fence by itself can be breached, but one that is properly designed, backed up by cameras and high-tech detection devices and adequately staffed with border agents that can get to a point of attempted or successful breach within minutes will in fact secure the border against mass intrusion like nothing else.
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2/27/2008 | Illegal Immigration, Presidential Issues, Terrorism
Virtual Fence is a Virtual Farce
WeNeedAFence.Com
The “virtual fence” era in America’s long-running immigration debate ended on Friday – less than 24 hours after both Democratic candidates for the Presidency put themselves squarely on the wrong side of it. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would abandon plans to extend the Boeing-designed “virtual fence” beyond its initial 28-mile long demonstration phase. In the Thursday night Democratic debate, Senator Clinton said “there is technology that can be used instead of a physical barrier.” A minute or so later, Senator Obama said “this is an area where Senator Clinton and I almost entirely agree,” and then added: “for the most part, having …surveillance, deploying effective technology, that’s going to be the better approach.” Within a few hours, this “better approach” was revealed to have been a failed experiment. There are three elements that are essential to achieving genuine border security: physical infrastructure, adequate manpower and technological backup. Failure to provide any one of them will result in failure to secure the border. A physical fence by itself can be breached, but one that is properly designed, backed up by cameras and high-tech detection devices and adequately staffed with border agents that can get to a point of attempted or successful breach within minutes will in fact secure the border against mass intrusion like nothing else.
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2/25/2008 | Illegal Immigration, Presidential Issues, Terrorism
Needed on the Border: A Real Fence and a Real Gate
"Virtual Fence" is a virtual farce
An era in America’s long-running immigration debate ended on Friday – less than 24 hours after both Democratic candidates for the Presidency put themselves squarely on the wrong side of the fence. On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would abandon plans to extend the Boeing-designed “virtual fence” beyond its initial 28-mile long demonstration phase. The night before, Senator Clinton said “there is technology that can be used instead of a physical barrier.” A minute or so later, Senator Obama said “this is an area where Senator Clinton and I almost entirely agree,” and then added: “for the most part, having …surveillance, deploying effective technology, that’s going to be the better approach.” Within a few hours, this “better approach” was revealed to be a failed experiment. There are three elements that are essential to achieving genuine border security: physical infrastructure, adequate manpower and technological backup. Failure to provide any one of them will result in failure to secure the border. A physical fence by itself can be breached, but one that is properly designed, backed up by cameras and high-tech detection devices and adequately staffed with border agents that can get to a point of attempted or successful breach within minutes will in fact secure the border against mass intrusion. Sophomoric comments such as Arizona Governor Napolitano’s that even a 50 foot fence will prove useless because border crossers will just find 51 foot ladders miss the point entirely. A fence does not need to be completely impenetrable in order to be effective. It merely needs to slow intruders down sufficiently to permit border agents to get to the point of attempted intrusion in time to stop it or in time to close the breach after only a small number of intruders have successfully entered. Inadequate staffing will cripple the fence’s effectiveness. Inadequate fencing will cripple the Border Patrol’s effectiveness. And poor technology will severely diminish the effectiveness of both infrastructure and staffing. The “virtual fence” or Project 28 was doomed from the start. It failed the most fundamental test of a fence: to serve as a barrier. The “virtual fence” was thus never a fence at all; it was merely a series of detection and depiction devices that would not even slow down intruders, must less stop them. It can be fairly easily defeated by a simple parry and thrust decoy strategy, in which a small contingent of intruders crosses in one spot, attracting Border Patrol agents to chase them as soon as they enter United States territory, leaving another area unprotected which is then flooded with a much larger group of intruders. Senator Clinton got it precisely backwards when she said:”there is a smart way to protect our borders, and there is a dumb way to protect our borders.” She meant that the physical fence was the dumb way, but in reality the virtual fence is the dumb one. That same technology, however, or even a scaled-down version of it, becomes smart when coupled with a well-designed physical fence and adequate manpower. Even a good fence backed up by technology and staffing is still missing an important element, however. A real fence also needs a real gate – in fact, many of them. The purpose of border security is to stop illegal immigration, not legal immigration, commerce and tourism. The proposed barrier is between allies and trading partners, and the legal free flow of persons and goods must be facilitated, not impeded. Finally, once illegal immigration has been reduced, legal immigration almost certainly must be increased. This great country should remain a welcoming nation to those whose skills, values, ideals and culture will make us stronger. It only makes sense, however, to welcome them on our terms and we must know who they are.
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2/22/2008 | Illegal Immigration, Terrorism
Arizona 'Virtual Fence' to Get Final OK
My Way
WASHINGTON (AP) - A 28-mile "virtual fence" that will use radars and surveillance cameras to try to catch people entering the country illegally has gotten final government approval. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Friday was to announce approval of the fence, built by the Boeing Co. (BA) and using technology the Bush administration plans to extend to other areas of the Arizona border, as well as sections of Texas. These projects could get under way as early as this summer, officials said. The virtual fence is part of a national plan to secure the southwest border with physical barriers and high-tech detection capabilities intended to stop illegal immigrants on foot and drug smugglers in vehicles. As of Feb. 8, 295 miles of fencing had been constructed. The virtual fence already is working. On Feb. 13, an officer in a Tucson command center - 70 miles from the border - noticed a group of about 100 people gathered at the border. The officer notified agents on the ground and in the air. Border Patrol caught 38 of the 100 people who tried to cross illegally, and the others went back into Mexico, a Homeland Security official said.
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2/12/2008 | Illegal Immigration
Arizona Seeing Signs of Flight by Immigrants
The New York Times
PHOENIX — The signs of flight among Latino immigrants here are multiple: Families moving out of apartment complexes, schools reporting enrollment drops, business owners complaining about fewer clients. While it is too early to know for certain, a consensus is developing among economists, business people and immigration groups that the weakening economy coupled with recent curbs on illegal immigration are steering Hispanic immigrants out of the state. The Arizona economy, heavily dependent on growth and a Latino work force, has been slowing for months. Meanwhile, the state has enacted one of the country’s toughest laws to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants, and the county sheriff here in Phoenix has been enforcing federal immigration laws by rounding up people living here illegally. “It is very difficult to separate the economic reality in Arizona from the effects of the laws because the economy is tanking and construction is drying up,” said Frank Pierson, lead organizer of the Arizona Interfaith Network, which advocates for immigrants’ rights and other causes. But the combination of factors creates “ a disincentive to stay in the state.” State Representative Russell K. Pearce, a Republican from Mesa and leading advocate of the crackdown on illegal immigration, takes reports of unauthorized workers leaving as a sign of success. An estimated one in 10 workers in Arizona are Hispanic immigrants, both legal and illegal, twice the national average. “The desired effect was, we don’t have the red carpet out for illegal aliens,” Mr. Pearce said, adding that while “most of these are good people” they are a “tremendous burden” on public services.
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1/17/2008 | Illegal Immigration, Presidential Issues
Huckabee vows to send all illegal aliens home
The Washington Times
TIGERVILLE, S.C. — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee yesterday continued to move to the right on immigration during this year's presidential campaign, signing a pledge to enforce immigration laws and to make all illegal aliens go home. The pledge, offered by immigration control advocacy group Numbers USA, commits Mr. Huckabee to oppose a new path to citizenship for current illegal aliens and to cut the number of illegal aliens already in the country through attrition by law enforcement — something Mr. Huckabee said he will achieve through his nine-point immigration plan. "Some would say it's a tough plan. It is, but it's also fair and reasonable," Mr. Huckabee said. Mr. Huckabee signed the pledge in South Carolina, whose Saturday Republican primary is shaping up as the most important contest so far. Unlike the previous primaries and caucuses, which have been contested usually by just two candidates, four Republicans are making all-out efforts here: Mr. Huckabee, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.
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