Lawmakers Considers Penalty on States That Give Illegal Aliens Driver's Licenses

Some advocates say illegal immigrants should be granted driver's licensees, at least as a way to keep track of them. But critics complain it would reward aliens who have already broken U.S. law.

The debate has led some U.S. lawmakers to threaten financial consequences to their own states.

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Smuggled for the holidays
FROM STAFF AND AP REPORTS

An increasing number of smuggling suspects have been arrested trying to bring children from Mexico, an annual problem as illegal immigrants working in the United States arrange to have their kids shipped north for holiday reunions.

While the problem has been on the rise elsewhere along the border, the number of unaccompanied children detained by the U.S. Border Patrol in the Yuma sector remains constant, spokesman Michael Gramley said.

Apprehensions of unaccompanied minors take place every day in the Yuma sector, he said, but the apprehension numbers have not increased during this holiday season.

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Mexico tries to purge drug gang-corrupted force
REUTERS

MEXICO CITY – Mexico is trying to purge 800 corruption-tainted federal agents from an elite force modeled on the FBI but infiltrated by drug gangs, the attorney general's office said Saturday.

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U.S.: Mexican Military Rife with Drug Corruption
NewsMax.com Wires

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials and analysts say there are new signs that drug corruption is spreading within the Mexican military, an institution long regarded as more professional and less prone to criminality than the country's law enforcement agencies.

In interviews, four senior U.S. officials, a senior Mexican intelligence official and three independent analysts all expressed concern about the expanding role of the Mexican military in the drug war. Some pointed to low pay among the middle and lower ranks as making military personnel vulnerable to offers from cartel leaders who may double or triple their pay.

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Officials focus on puppy smuggling from Mexico

Dogs sold in U.S. at exorbitant prices are often unable to survive
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO - Smugglers are buying puppies at rock-bottom prices in Mexico and selling them in the United States for up to $1,000, often to owners who later discover the canines are too sick or too young to survive on their own, authorities said.

The Border Puppy Task Force — a group of 18 animal control and health agencies and animal protection groups — said last week that a two-week operation at San Diego's two border crossings confirmed what they long suspected: Mexico is a breeding ground for unscrupulous puppy peddlers.