Category: 
U.S. Republicans willing to relax
conditions for illegal immigrants
to reach broader deal
Associated Press, by Staff Original Article
Posted By: Gray Ghost (h/t lucianne.com) 4/23/2007 8:45:21 PM
Washington: Searching for a bipartisan deal on immigration, Republicans are backing off from strict conditions they floated earlier this year for allowing illegal immigrants a crack at citizenship. Deep rifts are keeping the two parties from agreeing on a broad overhaul, however, with only a couple of weeks left to reach a compromise under a self-imposed Senate deadline.
Well of course they are. When our representatives only represent themselves, we have the beginnings of tyranny. – Ed.
Headlines and quotes from all over (4/10/2007 – 4/23/2007):
Recaps from an eventful two weeks:
4/23/2007
On tighter US border with Mexico, violence rises
US law officers and illegal border-crossers are under increased attack, as beefed-up patrols cut into smugglers’ illicit trade.
Watch Out Big Guys, Here Comes Tancredo
Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo, a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, received a big financial boost for his presidential campaign from his home state, but also took in tens of thousands of dollars…
Border cop charged with murdering migrant
PHOENIX (Reuters) – A U.S. Border Patrol agent was charged with murder on Monday for shooting dead a Mexican immigrant last January …
Border cop charged with murdering migrant
PHOENIX (Reuters) – A U.S. Border Patrol agent was charged with murder on Monday for shooting dead a Mexican immigrant last January in a case that prompted condemnation and increased tensions with Mexico.
Shipments from Mexico draw special U.S. scrutiny
When Mexican President Felipe Calderón launched his sweeping campaign against narcotrafficking late last year, he sent navy ships and thousands of troops to the port of Lázaro Cárdenas to clamp down on the reputed hub for smuggling drugs to the United States.
Storm gathers over trade corridor
There are signs on U.S. 67 on the edge of town saying the highway is part of ‘La Entrada al Pacifico’ corridor, but until recently most locals paid little attention to them. That changed last month …
Cross-border collaboration landing U.S. suspects in Mexican courts
Criminals have long fled across borders to escape prosecution, but growing cross-border collaboration between California and Mexico is landing more of these fugitives in court in their native country.
Hundreds of people gathered yesterday outside the White House, calling for stricter immigration laws and chanting such messages as “no more amnesty” and “protect our borders.” The rally was organized by the Dustin Inman Society, a nonpartisan group that educates the public and elected officials on the consequences of illegal immigration.
Rapid expansion raises doubt over integrity of recruits
The U.S. Border Patrol’s push to expand the number of agents on the lookout for illegal crossings has some current and former agents worried that the pressure will lead to corner cutting and will jeopardize public safety. Raising the Border Patrol’s numbers from about 12,000 to 18,000 …
New deputies will chase illegal migrants, smugglers
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is getting funds to hire 15 deputies whose main job will be to arrest illegal immigrants and human smugglers and enforce Arizona’s anti-coyote law. The office has been using the law to arrest the people who are smuggled across the border as conspirators with human smugglers. Deputies have arrested 523.
Students asked to boycott school for immigration demonstration
Tucson activists are calling for high school and college students to boycott school and participate in a planned May 1 march for immigrant rights. The march will coincide with similar work and shopping boycotts in Phoenix and throughout the country on May 1.
A Mexican national, charged with intoxicated manslaughter and failure to render aid in the deaths of a Porter woman and her pregnant daughter, had three prior drunken driving convictions…
Until We Throw A Bunch of Them Out of Office, and Into Jail, Probably
Film director Bob Clark, best known for the beloved holiday classic A Christmas Story, and his son were killed Wednesday in a head-on crash with an alleged drunken driver on Pacific Coast Highway, the filmmaker’s assistant and police said.
….The driver of the other vehicle, Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, of Los Angeles and his passenger, described as a 29-year-old woman, were taken to UCLA Medical Center with minor injuries.…The initial investigation has concluded that Nava was driving without a license northbound in the southbound lanes while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage,” Vernon said.
Hispanic name, no license, reckless driving….
Gee, you don’t suppose…?
Well, you supposed right:
Of course, in much of California, the law is only able to take cognizance of criminal illegal aliens after they commit some other crime:abc7news.com:
Apr. 20 – KGO – San Francisco police chief Heather Fong re-asserted San Francisco ’s status as a sanctuary city. That means local police will not assist federal agents in arresting illegal immigrants.The chief’s comments come just as the Feds are fully engaged in a crackdown on immigration fugitives.
I wonder how long we will continue to put up with an immigration “system” in which those very folks who are supposed to protect law-abiding Americans defy the laws they are supposed to enforce, in favor of criminals who are here in the United States illegally?
Agents: No confidence in border chief
The leaders of the U.S. Border Patrol’s rank-and-file agents have unanimously voted a no-confidence resolution against Chief David V. Aguilar, citing, among other things, his willingness to believe the…
Okla. bill mandates bosses check immigration status
Oklahoma doesn’t have much of a problem with illegal immigration in the grand scheme of things. The state’s undocumented population is estimated at 75,000 or fewer. But it is about to pass one of the nation’s broadest state laws restricting illegal immigrants.
Officials seek compromise for new Laredo border bridge
Laredo and Webb County have decided to drop competing lawsuits and intend to cooperate in building a new bridge spanning the Rio Grande, top officials said. Plans for a fifth Laredo bridge connecting the Texas city with Nuevo Laredo in Mexico stalled as the two local governments developed competing plans and then sued to derail each other’s projects.
Is It Wrong For Us To Call Ourselves Americans?
Memo From Mexico, By Allan Wall
“Although we realize that the term American is commonly used to refer to the U.S. population, we view American as including other North and South Americans as well. Therefore we have tried to limit the use of this term when referring to the United States.” These words of wisdom are from the introduction to Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society
More women rule, and die, in Mexico’s drug gangs
Challenging the stereotype of macho Mexico, women are moving into positions of power in male-dominated drug cartels but in the process suffering gruesome deaths in turf wars among traffickers. At least 20 women drug smugglers have been killed by rival gangs so far this year, many of them suffocated with tape, compared to about 15 for all of last year…
Border Patrol video of shooting leaked to Internet
Surveillance video of a deadly shooting last month of a would-be illegal migrant by a Border Patrol agent is prompting calls by the Mexican government for an investigation, although it shows the agent apparently firing in self-defense.
Cartel hiring teens in Texas as hitmen
If the teenage hitman had stayed locked up in his concrete cell after the first murder, maybe Moises Garcia would still sing goofy Spanish songs to his son.
Illegal crossers’ last try: brazen dash through city
Gabino Ibarra leans against a white stucco wall outside a church in the late-afternoon shadows, prying a few remaining cactus splinters from his calloused hands. It’s mid-April and the 37-year-old father of four from Veracruz, Mexico, is staying at a migrant shelter …
2 seizures yield over ton of marijuana
U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than a ton of marijuana in two incidents southwest of Tucson. At 5 a.m. Friday, an agent using night-vision goggles spotted a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck driving across the border illegally near the village of San Miguel on the Tohono O’odham Nation, said Gustavo Soto, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.
Senate approves fix of flaw in immigrant-smuggling law
The Arizona Senate approved a proposal Thursday that’s intended to fix a flaw in a state law targeting immigrant smugglers. Some authorities have complained that they have found it hard to hold illegal immigrant witnesses to the crime when they haven’t been accused of working as smugglers or charged with state crimes.
Officials seek compromise for new Laredo border bridge
Laredo and Webb County have decided to drop competing lawsuits and intend to cooperate in building a new bridge spanning the Rio Grande, top officials said….
4/22/2007
Basics of an expansion of the Border Patrol
QUALIFICATIONS: Recruits must have either a college education or a year of work experience that exposed them to stressful situations demanding quick decision-making. They are required to pass a drug screening, medical exam, physical fitness test and an interview by agency officials. They can’t have felony or domestic violence
MCSO to beef up immigration patrols
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is getting funds to hire 15 new deputies whose main job will be to arrest illegal immigrants and human smugglers and enforce Arizona’s anti-coyote law. The sheriff’s office has been using the law to arrest the people who are smuggled across the border as conspirators with human smugglers.
Cocaine seized at Calexico port of entry
A 32-year-old Mexican man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly attempting to smuggle 119 pounds of cocaine into the United States at the Calexico downtown port of entry, according to a news release. The cocaine seized is valued at roughly $1.2 million.
Dupnik setting up border crime unit
Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik, who for years has bemoaned the strain that border crime places on his department, is forming a squad of officers who will fight crime along the Pima County-Mexico border. A sergeant and six deputies will enforce state and local laws along the border …
Latin America Feels U.S. Housing Slump
The slowing U.S. housing market is being felt in Latin America as the plunge in home construction has lowered the amount of money that immigrant workers are able to send to their families in other countries.
Landowners, U.S. agents talk about border fence
The first public steps toward building President Bush’s proposed border fence in Texas are beginning, with Border Patrol agents gathering Rio Grande Valley landowners for a meeting.
Virginia Beach ripped as ’sanctuary’ for illegals
The deaths of two teenagers whose car was hit by an illegal alien from Mexico has prompted some to portray Virginia…
Police still seek clues in freeway shooting
One man was killed and at least two others were wounded when rival immigrant smuggling gangs engaged in a noontime gunbattle that started on the Southwest Freeway and ended on the feeder road, police said.
Mexico army chief faces lawmakers over alleged rape
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s defense minister will face lawmakers next week who suspect the army covered up a reported rape and killing by soldiers of an elderly peasant woman.
State Department warns about Mexican drug war violence
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department warned Americans on Thursday of increasingly violent drug gangs in Mexico and urged travelers to stick to main highways and well-known tourist destinations.
Massive traffic cripples Tijuana border crossing
SAN YSIDRO BORDER CROSSING, Calif (Reuters) – The world’s busiest land border crossing between the United States and Mexico is “saturated” and “grossly out of date” but it is unclear if Congress will provide the money to overhaul it, a senior U.S. official said.
A World Bank report released Sunday shows that Mexico sends more migrants abroad than any other country on earth exceeding even the flows from nations that are much bigger, much poorer or convulsed by war and famine. Two million Mexicans left their homeland between 2000 and 2005, according to the study, most of them to seek employment in the United States.
Newspaper in Mexico drug war hotspot hit by grenade
An unknown assailant tossed a grenade into the offices of a northern Mexican newspaper a day after gunmen snatched a reporter from a nearby city, part of a campaign against the media by drug gangs. The grenade exploded inside the offices of Cambio newspaper in the northern city of Hermosillo Tuesday night, breaking windows and startling reporters
Police and soldiers battled gunmen at a hospital in the border city of Tijuana Wednesday in violence that left at least three people dead before the authorities subdued the attackers, officials said. Shooting first erupted when about seven masked gunmen entered the public hospital and were confronted by a group
Man will be charged with assaulting border agent
A 28-year-old man will face a charge of attempted assault on a U.S. Border Patrol agent in connection with a shooting Tuesday at an East-Central auto supply business. Gerardo Felipe Ortiz of El Paso is being investigated by the FBI on allegations of trying to run over a Border Patrol agent …
Newsman abducted in Agua Prieta
A reporter for a small Mexican newspaper was kidnapped in front of the police station in the Mexican border town of Agua Prieta, Mexican law enforcement officials and family members said. Saul Martinez Ortega, 36, was taken from his sport utility vehicle on Monday by men with assault-style weapons, said his brother, Edgar Martinez.
Slaying suspect faces deportation to Mexico
A man suspected of first-degree murder in what police describe as a plot to get a $500,000 life insurance policy is facing deportation to Mexico, a U.S. immigration official said Wednesday.
2 suspects in Green Valley migrant killings indicted
A Pima County grand jury has indicted two Mexican citizens on murder charges in the shooting deaths of two suspected illegal immigrants among a group attacked in a pickup truck, authorities said. The indictment charges Rosario Humberto Araujo-Monarrez, 21, and Martin Esrain Flores-Gaxiola, 18.
A Texas Shootout on Houston’s Southwest Freeway
The shooting took place on Tuesday, April 17. It may have involved an immigrant smuggling ring. The lede: More than 24 hours after a chaotic, noontime shooting that killed a Salvadoran man off the Southwest Freeway, Houston Police Department detectives said they are still investigating whether the slaying was connected to immigrant smuggling.
Southwest Freeway ambush ends in death
One man was killed and at least two others were wounded when rival immigrant smuggling gangs engaged in a noontime gunbattle that started on the Southwest Freeway and ended on the feeder road, police said.
Mexico arrests border city chief of drug gang
Mexican police have arrested the local head of the notorious Gulf Cartel drug gang in a city on the U.S. border as part of President Felipe Calderón’s nationwide crackdown on organized crime. Juan Oscar Garza was the cartel’s leader in the city of Reynosa, just south of McAllen, Texas and was sought in Mexico for smuggling drugs, guns and people…
We like to say there are two sides to every story. But here on the front lines of the immigration wars, there are 10 sides. Maybe more. Last week we made our annual trek to a great old horse ranch on the Arizona side of the Mexican border.
Alleged rape at center of human rights controversy in Mexico
In life, Ernestina Ascencio was an unheralded 73-year-old grandmother who lived quietly in a rural village 120 miles from here. In death, she’s become the center of a controversy that’s raising questions about Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s commitment to human rights.
EU Official Criticizes U.S.-Mexico Wall
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday criticized U.S. plans to extend barriers along its border with Mexico, saying immigrants should not be treated like criminals. “A wall that separates one country from another is not something that I like or that the European Union members like,” Solana said at a news conference in Mexico City.
Border Patrol agent wounds alleged assailant in truck
Feds: Suspect in slaying should have been deported to Mexico
A man being held on first-degree murder charges in connection with a shooting here last week should have been deported to Mexico a year ago for a prior felony conviction, authorities said. The U.S. Immigration Office in Phoenix has placed a hold on Jose Quintero-Figueroa and will move to deport him after his court proceedings and potential sentencing.
Prosecutor to decide soon whether charges filed against agent
A U.S. Border Patrol agent involved in the fatal shooting of an illegal immigrant near Douglas may find out whether he’ll face criminal charges within two weeks, authorities said. Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer said hopes to make a decision by April 27 in the case involving agent Nicholas Corbett, 39.
4/18/2007
The citizenry is getting honked
April 23-25 … American truckers plan to circle the White House and state capitals in a “rolling blockade” to protest a federal government plan to allow Mexican long-haul rigs to operate throughout the U.S.
Rolling gunfight on Southwest Freeway kills 1
At least one man was killed and several were wounded when rival immigrant-smuggling gangs engaged in a noontime gunbattle that started on the Southwest Freeway and ended on the feeder road, police said.Authorities suspect one gang was attempting to steal a load of immigrants from the other…
…About noon, the occupants of two trucks — one carrying at least 10 people — exchanged gunfire while heading northbound on the freeway, Elliott said. The vehicles exited at Bissonnet and ran a red light before one truck crashed into an older model Honda Accord that was not part of the chase.
Elliott said the occupants of the two trucks “then proceeded to get out of their vehicles to have a shootout.”
Incidents like this have been happening out in the desert for quite awhile now. The fact that the coyotes are getting so bold as to pull this stunt in the city says a lot for the contempt in which they hold our law enforcement organizations.
While I do not often comment on our need to secure our borders, I have mentioned the lax attitude of a certain police chief when it comes to illegal aliens.
Mexico arrests border city chief of drug gang
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican police have arrested the local head of the notorious Gulf Cartel drug gang in a city on the U.S. border as part of President Felipe Calderon’s nationwide crackdown on organized crime.
Chertoff, Gutierrez, Rice: Plotting Bush’s North American Union
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is a busy guy these days securing our border with Mexico—at least that’s what the “mainstream media” wants Americans to think.
Mexican trucks to enter U.S. in 15 seconds
Mexican trucks carrying loads of consumer goods into the United States under a test program could be across the border in as little as 15 seconds, according to government officials setting up the procedures.
Police Find 17 Bodies Across Mexico
Police found 17 bodies stuffed in cars or dumped on streets in garbage bags across Mexico on Monday in the latest wave of violence apparently triggered by warring drug gangs. In the resort city of Cancun, the bodies of three men and two women were found…
Border not stopping prosecutions
Criminals have long fled across borders to escape prosecution, but growing cross-border collaboration between California and Mexico is landing more of these fugitives in court in their native country.
In this weeks episode…
Rape trees on the border?
Do street cops support sanctuary city laws? We take a look.
Identity theft: American citizen almost thrown in jail for illegal aliens crimes!
Illegal immigration: Is it time to build a moat?
Like the man says, it doesn’t have to be water. Could be raw sewage, could be oil, it could even be lava. I believe the Tancredo plan calls for lava.
If the housing downturn persists, we might not even need it.
Mexico drugs cartels feud erupts
Mexican police investigate an outbreak of drug-related killings which have left at least 20 dead.
4/17/2006
DRJ on an El Paso TX Border Patrol Chase
I’m not up to Ramos/Compean blogging yet (soon) but I couldn’t pass up this El Paso story from last week:
“EL PASO, Tx. – A multi-agency, high-speed chase on I-10 results in the detention of a suspected drug runner and his drug load. According to law enforcement officials, the chase started near the Ft. Hancock Port of Entry, 59 miles east of El Paso. Agents spotted a suspicious vehicle near the bridge which then fled into the US and onto the freeway.
US Customs, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department units chased a late-model ford pickup truck from the county, all the way into city limits. Once in the city limits, El Paso Police joined in the chase, and began shutting off the entrance ramps to the freeway. The chase came to an end on I-10 west, just before the McRae entrance ramp.
The suspect was unable to get around several tractor-trailer rigs that had slowed to hamper his getaway. His truck then struck a Ford Explorer, forcing him out of the vehicle. TxDot traffic cameras caught the suspect as he ran from the truck and was quickly tackled by several law enforcement officials. El Paso County Sheriff’s officials say they found nearly 1000 pounds of pot in the bed of the truck, covered by bags of animal feed.
A US Customs Blackhawk helicopter was also involved in the chase. TxDoT officials closed I-10 West and the Yarbrough on-ramp (west-bound) for at least 2 hours as they cleared the scene.”
If I recall correctly from the Ramos/Compean trial transcript, Fort Hancock is adjacent to the Fabens sector. I’m glad to see so many local and state law enforcement agencies were involved. Good job by the truckers, too.
H/T James Taranto.
4/16/2006
For Illegal Immigrants, Housing Slump Takes Toll
Many immigrant workers who rode the construction boom now find jobs on building sites few and far between.
U.S. donates “dirty bomb” detectors to Mexican ports
The United States will donate radiation detectors to Mexico and help install them in busy sea ports to prevent a terrorist attack with a “dirty bomb” or other radioactive material.
Mexico industrial output flat, fuels economy fears
Mexican industrial output was unchanged in February from a year earlier as even the booming construction sector slid, surprising analysts who had expected a rise and fueling concerns about a slowing economy. Manufacturing fell 0.1 percent after a lull in auto production.
Mexican officials rescue 54 at border
Mexican authorities plucked a total of 54 immigrants and two suspected immigrant smugglers from the border near Tecate yesterday in what they said was a rescue effort. “The objective was to prevent them from becoming victims of the criminals that operate in these zones.
Mexican Smugglers Seize U.S. Territory
MSM (And Bush Administration, Needless To Say) Asleep VDARE.com note: Readers are aware of how much we like to publish what the MSM is too politically correct and cowardly to report. This PowerPoint slideshow from NumbersUSA is an example of exactly that. What is this un-reportable information? That there are armed and dangerous foreigners manning Listening Posts and Lookout Posts (LP/OPs).
Anti-Illegal Immigration Radio Hosts Head for Washington
More than 30 talk radio hosts and hundreds of their listeners are scheduled to converge on the nation’s capital next week to lobby against comprehensive immigration reform measures that would offer what critics views as “amnesty” to illegal immigrants.
Immigration efforts help economy of one-time mining town
The federal government’s push for better security along the U.S.-Mexican border has pumped new life into this one-time mining town. Most of the more than 200 Border Patrol agents who now work in Ajo have moved to town. About 100 more agents are on the way.
Bipartisan immigrant bill called a ‘lie’
Some immigrant-rights groups are voicing opposition to a bipartisan immigration proposal that includes a temporary-worker program and a path to legalization for some illegal entrants.
Saw 728 illegal entries, Minuteman Corps says
The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has reported spotting more than 725 illegal immigrants crossing the Arizona-Mexico border in the past two weeks. “They’re actually swarming through there,” said Al Garza, the group’s executive director. The Minutemen have been patrolling the border since the beginning of the month.
A Daunting Immigration Equation
When he appeared in Yuma, Ariz., last week to deliver an endorsement of “comprehensive immigration reform”-shorthand for a border-security bill with a guest-worker program-President George W. Bush said he thought “the atmosphere up there [in Washington] is good right now” for such a bill. The sunny statement matched the Arizona morning, but it may not reflect the current reality. Most advocates of such policies say they’re facing major obstacles in Congress: In the Senate, weeks of closed-door negotiations have failed to yield a proposal acceptable to Democrats. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, says she won’t even consider bringing a bill to the floor until at least 70 Republicans support it, or enough to inoculate Democrats against attacks from the right.
Surprise, Surprise
Bush Administration Foot Dragging On Hiring Border Guards
One of the biggest problems with getting an immigration bill passed is that you absolutely cannot trust the pro-amnesty people in the government, be they Republican or Democrats, to keep their promises about enforcing laws against illegal immigration. Here’s another…
Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
Life wasn’t so bad for the women who worked in a multistate immigrant prostitution ring broken by federal agents last year, the defense lawyer for Juan Balderas-Orosco — who managed the ring’s Austin-area brothels — argued at his sentencing Friday…
4/15/2007
Heart-ache: Florida legislator calls illegal aliens “illegal aliens”
And dares to imply that illegal immigration might impose some sort of a cost on American taxpayers.He’s a Republican, so this matters.
Mexico bus crash kills at least 24
A bus and tractor-trailer rig collided near Juarez, Mexico, killing at least 24 people and injuring 18 more.
Drug cartel hires Texas teens as border hitmen
A Houston Chronicle review of court, police and jail-booking records shows one youth was able to keep killing after bonding out twice on murder charges.
Drug cartel hires Texas teens as border hitmen
A Houston Chronicle review of court, police and jail-booking records shows one youth was able to keep killing after bonding out twice on murder charges.
Man gets more than 6 years in brothel ring case
A man who pleaded guilty to managing brothels as part of a nationwide ring that forced immigrant women into prostitution was sentenced to six years and eight months in federal prison.
Minutemen say they’ve spotted 700 migrants in 2 weeks
The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has reported spotting more than 700 illegal immigrants crossing the Arizona-Mexico border in the past two weeks….
4/14/2007
As border emphasis changes, drug cases drop
Federal drug prosecutions have dropped dramatically along the Texas border in recent years, reflecting both a lack of personnel and a shift by Justice Department officials to focus on immigration violations, according to U.S. government memos and statistics.
Immigrant youth shelter ordered closed
A federal youth shelter for detained immigrant minors in Gonzales County was ordered closed and government officials are considering moving the operation to San Antonio.
4/13/2007
Chris Simcox Attacked on Campus SEE VIDEO
“We hope that the voices of hatred and bigotry will silence themselves for this debate…”Sen. Ted KennedyTed, let’s see where the hate speech is coming from:
PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM CHRIS SIMCOX:
YOU can make a REAL DIFFERENCE as a MINUTEMAN. This is what I face everyday as I take the message to secure the border around the country. I CAN TAKE THE HEAT, but I need you to support the MCDC organization to make this fight effective! Please send your financial donations, so we can continue to educate and inform a nation in danger of losing its borders, its sovereignty, its liberty.The politicians will talk; the liberal media and the “Hate America” crowd will lie, try to shout us down, and offer AMNESTY to law breakers. The Minutemen will ACT in defense of America!
Sincerely,
Chris Simcox, President
Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
Mexican truck stampede to hit U.S.! WND ….for complete articleDespite congressional opposition, the Bush administration is fully committed to beginning within weeks a pilot test that will allow Mexican trucks to operate freely across the U.S.
A spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Ian Grossman, told WND the agency plans to grant the first authority for a Mexican trucking company to operate its long-haul rigs throughout the U.S. as early as the end of this month.
Why don’t they just use Grayhound Buses for all the illegals who no longer have to walk across the border?
On the news awhile back they showed showed Troopers that investigated American trucks and truck drivers and took them off the road for different violations, will they do the same with the mexican drivers and trucks or will they have aclu complain of violations against their civil rights as they go on our highways killing Americans?
Hunter is against this so he is sponsoring HR 1756 to include Mexican transport vehicles in the rules and regs domestic transport vehicles must abide by. Thus ensuring protection for American motorists and pedestrians, and less drug and illegal alien smuggling.
Contact your Congressmen and urge them to support HR 1756.
Los Angeles sued over sanctuary policy
It’s about time: Illegal immigration opponents have sued the Los Angeles Police Department, taking aim at its long-standing policy of ignoring most suspects’ immigration status. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Superior Court seeks to force officers to inform federal immigration…
Where’s the Dobbs Democrat?
Ben Smith of Politico wonders why no anti-immigrant-amnesty presidential candidate has emerged on the Democratic side. Whether any Democrat will attempt to gain an advantage by tapping into these currents within the party …
4/12/2007
Letter to Readers’ Rep on L.A. Times Misinformation
Jamie,
An article today states:
The Los Angeles Police Department’s landmark Special Order 40, which prohibits officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects, has come under an aggressive assault by anti-illegal immigrant activists who argue that it ties the hands of police.
“L.A. police immigrant policy faces another test,” April 11, 2007.
It is incorrect to assert that Special Order 40 “prohibits officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects.” You can read Special Order 40 here:
http://keepstuff.homestead.com/Spec40orig.html
It doesn’t say what today’s article claims. The Rampart Independent Review Panel explained in 2001, in a report on Special Order 40:
On November 27, 1979, Chief of Police Darryl Gates issued Special Order 40, which is now codified in the LAPD Manual. . . [N]othing in the [LAPD] Manual actually bars an officer who is investigating an individual for criminal activity other than an immigration violation from asking that person about his or her immigration status and then advising INS.
http://www.lacity.org/oig/Special_Order_40_708061_v1.pdf
Special Order 40 primarily prevents LAPD officers from initiating contact with a suspect for the purpose of enforcing immigration laws. Once a person is lawfully in custody for a non-immigration related offense, however, nothing in Special Order 40 prevents an officer from inquiring into the suspect’s immigration status.
The Panel explained that LAPD practice has become more restrictive than the language of Special Order 40. So your paper’s article may have properly described LAPD practices. But those practices are not compelled by Special Order 40, and Special Order 40 does not “prohibit[] officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects,” as today’s article claims.
Yours truly,
Patrick Frey
I know you all like to keep up with my correspondence with the Readers’ Rep, so there you go. I’ll let you know what I hear back.
4/11/2007
Judge won’t release immigrant children at Hutto facility
A federal judge called the continued detention of immigrant children in “substandard conditions” at a controversial center in Texas an “urgent problem,” but declined to release them from custody.
Groups sue over police immigration policy
A Los Angeles police policy that prohibits officers from asking suspects about their immigration status is being targeted by anti-illegal immigrant …
Immigration: It’s Time for Parties to Act Like Grownups
Now that President Bush has put immigration back into play with a visit to the Arizona border, it is time for Republicans and Democrats in Congress to act like adults and deal with the nagging issue.
L.A. Times Misstates Requirements of Special Order 40
The L.A. Times reports:
The Los Angeles Police Department’s landmark Special Order 40, which prohibits officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects, has come under an aggressive assault by anti-illegal immigrant activists who argue that it ties the hands of police.
Unfortunately, this is misinformation, as Special Order 40 actually does no such thing. You can read Special Order 40 here. Contrary to today’s Times article, Special Order 40 does not prohibit officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects. The Rampart Independent Review Panel explained this quite clearly in a 2001 report on Special Order 40:
On November 27, 1979, Chief of Police Darryl Gates issued Special Order 40, which is now codified in the LAPD Manual. . . [N]othing in the [LAPD] Manual actually bars an officer who is investigating an individual for criminal activity other than an immigration violation from asking that person about his or her immigration status and then advising INS.
Indeed, if local government tried to prohibit law enforcement from cooperating with the INS (now ICE), that would violate federal law.
What does Special Order 40 actually do? Its primary dictate is to prevent LAPD officers from initiating contact with a suspect for the purpose of enforcing immigration laws. As the Panel report explained:
As set forth in the Manual, Special Order 40 provides that “[u]ndocumented alien status in itself is not a matter for police action. It is, therefore, incumbent upon all employees of this Department to make a personal commitment to equal enforcement of the law and service to the public, regardless of alien status.” Special Order 40 precludes LAPD officers from initiating “police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person,” and from arresting or booking a person for “illegal entry” into the United States.
Once a person is lawfully in custody for a non-immigration related offense, however, nothing in Special Order 40 prevents an officer from inquiring into the suspect’s immigration status.
The reason that Special Order 40 is generally thought to prohibit any inquiry into immigration status is because, despite the wording of the order, that has been LAPD’s practice. As I explained in a March 2005 post, interviews with then-Chief Bernard Parks and other LAPD officials revealed that the Department’s actual policies and procedures are stricter than what is called for by Special Order 40 or anything else in the LAPD Manual. As the report by the Rampart Independent Review Panel explained:
Indeed, as articulated, the procedures are more restrictive than as written. First, LAPD officers are not supposed to ask individuals suspected of criminal offenses, crime victims, or witnesses, about their immigration status. Second, in practice LAPD officers do not notify the INS of the arrest of an illegal alien. Only after a person has been arrested, arraigned, and held in the county jail pending prosecution will his or her alien status be investigated by the INS, and that is in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Sheriff, not the LAPD. Thus, there is no reason for an LAPD officer to even ask a person who has been arrested for a crime about his or her alien status, although that appears to be permitted under the Department’s articulated policies and procedures.
The Panel emphasized that these informal policies (with which the Panel largely agreed) were not set forth in Special Order 40 or the LAPD manual, but rather were practices that had developed apart from the specific requirements of the written Manual, including Special Order 40.
It has become conventional wisdom that Special Order 40 “prohibits officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects.” However, the fact that something is conventional wisdom doesn’t make it so, and the L.A. Times owes a clarification to its readers.
P.S. The article also downplays the conflict between LAPD’s practices and state law by describing the relevant state law as “obscure”:
Los Angeles was the first major city to enact the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on illegal immigration, though most other police agencies have followed suit. So the outcome of the legal challenges could have a widespread effect.
The latest challenge would come this week, with a lawsuit that would ask a judge to require that the LAPD inform federal immigration officials when illegal immigrants are arrested on drug charges.
The suit, which is endorsed by the Federal Immigration Reform Enforcement Coalition and is scheduled to be filed as early as today, cites an obscure state code that appears to require local police to report to federal authorities the names of any illegal immigrant arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking or possession.
I’m pretty sure that laws don’t have to be followed if they’re “obscure.” Isn’t that how it works?
He’s Rotten on Illegal Immigration and Amnesty, Too
4/10/2007
Judge sets August trial for detained immigrant children case
Living conditions at a center for detained immigrant families may be unsuitable, and federal officials overseeing the facility should have spent more time researching how to properly care for children in detention, a judge has found….
A few of the reasons why we don’t believe Carol Lam was fired because of lax immigration enforcement on the California-Mexico border …
