Agents seize 1,200 pounds of marijuana
BY JEFFREY GAUTREAUX, SUN STAFF WRITER

U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than half a ton of marijuana from a stolen pickup that illegally crossed the border Monday morning. This was one more in a long list of seizures that has the Yuma sector on pace for a record number of busts this fiscal year.

At 8 a.m., Yuma station Border Patrol agents saw a white 2004 Chevrolet Silverado illegally enter the U.S. about 13 miles northwest of the U.S. Port of Entry at San Luis, Ariz. When the driver saw agents in the area, he turned around to head back south but the truck became stuck in soft sand, according to the Border Patrol.

The unidentified driver evaded apprehension by fleeing on foot to Mexico.

Agents found 1,208 pounds of marijuana in individual bundles in the pickup's bed. Some of the bundles were stored in plain view on the pickup's passenger seat, said Yuma sector Border Patrol spokesman Rick Hays.

"Year to date, the Yuma sector has seized 18,000 pounds of marijuana," Hays said. "When compared to last year at this same time there has been a 187 percent increase."

The truck was found to be stolen out of San Bernardino, Calif. Hays did not know when it had been taken.

The drugs and vehicle were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Yuma sector is not the only one to be on a record pace for marijuana seizures. "The majority of the Southwest border sectors have seen an increase in marijuana seizures," Hays said. "It's not just Yuma."

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YCSO may charge illegal alien in death of his daughter
By Jeffrey Gautreaux, Sun Staff Writer

Authorities are seeking to prosecute an illegal alien from Mexico who they say contributed to the death of his 12-year-old daughter Sunday night.

Lourdes Cruz-Morales was killed when she and her father, Juan Cruz-Torralva, 26, were run over by a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle that they were trying to elude by hiding in brush, according to the Yuma County Sheriff's Office. The accident occurred at 7:40 p.m. in desert about 5-1/2 miles southwest of Milepost 78 on Interstate 8.

YCSO Capt. Eben Bratcher said the agency wants charges brought against Cruz-Torralva because he brought his 12-year-old daughter on a 30-mile hike through the desert after illegally entering the United States.

"He endangered her life there, but then he contributed to her death by hiding," Bratcher said. "He could have just stood up and avoided the whole thing."

Bratcher said YCSO would be working to have charges of reckless manslaughter or endangerment filed against the father.

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Bill would restrict entry
Carefree boozing in Mexican bars to be harder for minors if law OK'd
By Brady McCombs
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

NOGALES, Sonora — Felix Grimberg lights a cigarette and grimaces as he recovers from a fiery shot of tequila that sent him running to the bathroom to throw up.

Grimberg, an 18-year-old University of Arizona student, and his friend Josh White, 21, have been drinking since they arrived in Nogales, Sonora, at about 6 this Friday evening. They've paid $15 for all they can drink at a popular nightclub, Kookarachas.

They say they're disappointed to find only a few people at the club on this quiet night, but that hasn't stopped them from enjoying the "change of scenery" that Mexico offers.

Crossing the border into Mexico — where the legal drinking age is a lightly enforced 18 — has long been the golden ticket for high school and college students who can't legally drink at bars in the United States.

But it's becoming more difficult for teens under 18 to have their fun without getting in trouble with the law.

Increased enforcement by Mexican police has pushed Nogales bar owners to more rigidly check IDs. Law enforcement officials in Nogales, Ariz., and the other border communities of Douglas and Agua Prieta have set up special operations on unannounced weekends to enforce a law Arizona legislators passed in 2002 making it illegal for those under 21 with alcohol in their systems to cross back into the United States.

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Border trespassing bill moving
The Associated Press

Illegal immigrants who "trespass" in Arizona could be hauled away by local police under a proposal approved by a legislative committee yesterday.

Supporters say expanding Arizona's trespassing law would help communities catch illegal immigrants who get past federal agents.

The bill has cleared the state Senate and squeaked through its first hearing yesterday in the House on a 3-2 vote.

The House's Federal Mandates and Property Rights Committee also amended the proposal, SB1157, to let local police ask criminal suspects about their immigration status.

Supporters said police need to get rid of "sanctuary policies" that, in some cases, discourage or prohibit officers from inquiring about a person's immigration status. Opponents said the approach could lead to racial profiling of Latinos.

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Ban on wire transfers by illegals proposed
Supporters believe it will remove major incentive for crossing border
James L. Lambert
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A Republican candidate for a vacated congressional seat in southern California is proposing a ban on wire transfers by illegal aliens from the U.S. to Mexico.

The plan "will remove a major incentive for illegal immigration and increase national security," said Howard Kaloogian, a well-known California activist who launched the effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis.

Kaloogian is the front-runner for the San Diego-area congressional seat held by Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was sentenced last week to eight years in prison on corruption charges.

"[T]he Mexican government is making billions of dollars every year from illegal aliens who enter the U.S. illegally and then wire that money back to their families in Mexico," Kaloogian said Saturday at a news conference at the border.

The economy, he contended, bears the cost of illegal aliens, who pay no taxes but receive taxpayer-funded services.

"It's absurd that we continue to allow those who have broken the law by entering this nation illegally to then enjoy the benefit of collecting wages illegally and then sending those funds to a foreign nation," Kaloogian said.

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Rockland's TB rate rising
By Jane Lerner
The Journal News

The number of people in Rockland who contracted tuberculosis increased last year, and the rate of infection among local residents remains among the highest in the state, health officials say.

Thirty people in Rockland had illnesses diagnosed as the highly infectious disease during 2005, according to a report recently compiled by Dr. Germaine Jacquette, director of tuberculosis services for the Rockland Department of Health. Two of them died.

"Unfortunately, we are not seeing the numbers go down," Jacquette said.

One reason is Rockland's large immigrant population, Jacquette said. The county is a popular destination for immigrants, many of whom come from developing nations with limited public health services and therefore high rates of TB.

In fact, all but two of the 30 people found to have the illness in Rockland in 2005 were born outside the United States.