Border city No. 8 on most violent list
By Blake Schmidt, Sun Staff Writer

San Luis Rio Colorado, Son. — This city is the most violent city per capita in Sonora, and the eighth most violent city per capita in all of Mexico, according to a study released by an arm of Mexico's department of justice this month.

The study, which was done by the Secretary of Social Development, ranked 121 Mexican cities with populations of more than 50,000 residents by comparing the number of
reported homicides, rapes, violent accidents and suicides between 1998 and 2002 with each city's population.

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House kills immigration enforcement bill
From Staff And Capitol Media Services Reports
Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden said legislation that would have financially penalized city and county law enforcement agencies for not enforcing federal immigration laws would not have affected his department had it become law.

Reversing course, the state House of Representatives refused this week to financially penalize cities and counties whose police departments don't enforce federal immigration laws.

The 32-28 vote to kill the legislation came amid complaints from some lawmakers that HB 2837 would amount to the state taking control of the operations of local police agencies. That is because cities that have what the measure calls "sanctuary'' policies for illegal immigrants would forfeit their state revenue sharing, costing them thousands, if not millions, of dollars.

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Smuggler who hid aliens in lettuce sent to prison
From Staff Reports
A Mexican national who attempted to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States hidden among lettuce boxes in a refrigerated trailer will spend the next five years in prison, according to the El Centro sector U.S. Border Patrol.

Miguel Angel Quintero-Ramos, 45, was found guilty in U.S. District Court in El Centro Monday on six charges of an indictment for transporting illegal aliens for financial gain. After his prison term he will spend three years on supervised release, according to the Border Patrol.

Agents stopped the semi-trailer at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Winterhaven on Aug. 30, 2005. Upon inspection, 55 illegal aliens were found hiding among lettuce that was being refrigerated at 37 degrees.

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Pursuit ends in wreck, death
By Jeffrey Gautreaux, Sun Staff WritER

Federal charges are being sought against an alleged alien smuggler who crashed while being pursued by the U.S. Border Patrol, killing a woman.

Humbert Limas Arreola, 27, of Mexico, was driving the 1990 Chevrolet Suburban — filled with 20 illegal aliens — when it attempted to avoid a spike strip placed on the road and rolled over at 6:27 a.m. at milepost 32.9 of eastbound Interstate 8, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Flora Carrillo Carmona, 55, of Mexico, was ejected from the vehicle and sustained fatal injuries, DPS said. Her city of residence in Mexico was unknown.

"It's unfortunate that one did die, but it could have been a lot worse than it was. We could have had a number of fatalities," said DPS Sgt. Brian Turner said.

Turner said federal charges are being pursued against Arreola. However, Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said it was too early to tell if charges would be filed. "This is still an ongoing investigation," she said.

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Mexico to help fight trafficking but won't stop border crossers
By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services

Phoenix — Mexico's public safety director said Friday he will work with U.S. and Arizona officials to cut drug traffic and arrest human smugglers but not to keep people from emigrating to this country.

Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza said his government realizes the flow of illegal drugs from Mexico to the United States, as well as the business of ferrying people across the border, are binational problems.

He said the criminals running those activities end up sending guns and money back to Mexico, where they wind up in the hands of criminal gangs.

"Either we fight this battle together and win it together or we won't be able to achieve our goals," he said after a meeting with Gov. Janet Napolitano.

The governor expressed the same sentiment, saying efforts to cut the importation of methamphetamines into this country require "both countries and both states to be working together."

But Medina-Mora made it clear the scope of that battle is limited.

"Our obligation in terms of constitution and the law is fighting organized crime and people who are exploiting the needs of migrants," he said. Organized crime groups are "facilitating" the flow of people across the border, Medina-Mora said.

He said there is no interest at this point in going after the migrants themselves, at least not until Congress enacts a new "guest worker" program.

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Border Patrol nabs pot and 5 horses hauling it
Arizona Daily Star

Border officials working west of Tucson seized more than 650 pounds of marijuana being carried by five horses early Thursday.

At about 2:30 a.m. on Federal Route 19 near Sells, Border Patrol agents encountered the five horses packing 25 bundles of marijuana, according to Johnny Bernal, spokesman with the Border Patrol. Agents captured the horses and the 651 pounds of marijuana but didn't get the men riding the horses.

The agency turned the horses over to the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Bernal said agents don't usually capture horses because illegal entrants riding them usually cut the bags and flee when the Border Patrol chases them.

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Mexico's role as way station complicates immigration issues
By Kevin G. Hall
Knight Ridder Newspapers

The Bush administration wants Mexico to crack down on transiting Central Americans before it supports legislation in Congress that would make it easier for Mexican migrants to work legally in the United States. The issue is expected to be among those discussed when President Bush meets with his Mexican counterpart, Vicente Fox, in Cancun next week.

U.S. officials note that U.S. immigration officers now apprehend more Central Americans than Mexicans. So far this fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have apprehended 791,973 Central Americans in the United States. Only 595,084 Mexicans were caught in the same period.

But there's little inclination among average Mexicans to do much to stop the flow. Many see themselves in the lives of the desperate Central Americans.

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Chertoff Says Families Crossing Border Illegally to Be Detained

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the U.S. in May will open a detention center to house families caught illegally crossing the border, ending the practice of releasing some of those caught into the U.S.

The U.S. will speed the deportation process by stepping up pressure on the illegal aliens' home countries to accept their return, he said.

Chertoff, in a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, also said he's heading up a lobbying effort to abolish an ``almost 20-year-old'' court order that slows the deportation of illegal Salvadoran aliens. The ruling was made when Salvadorans were fleeing their country during a civil war.

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Mexico Takes Out Full-Page Newspaper Ads Stressing Rights for Migrants
Published: March 20, 2006 2:37 PM ET
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexico published advertisements in major newspapers in Mexico and in the United States on Monday saying migrants should have the same rights as everyone else and calling it "indispensable" that the two countries reach a migration accord.

Published in English in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, and in Spanish in leading Mexico City newspapers, the full-page ads coincide with expected U.S. Senate debate on a bill that would extend fences along the U.S.-Mexico border crack down on illegal immigration with law enforcement and the military.

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The Big Lie: Illegal Immigration Benefits Americans
By Jim Kouri

It's widely been reported that illegal aliens comprise upwards of 27 percent of the US prison and jail population. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection -- two agencies within the Department of Homeland Security -- claim in several reports that they've apprehended over 100,000 criminal aliens whose offenses go far beyond violation of immigration laws and regulations.

Sadly, only about 25 percent of expenses for imprisoning criminal aliens is reimbursed by the federal government to state and local governments. This creates a hardship for taxpayers in states with high incarceration rates for criminal aliens. The proponents of open borders or lax immigration enforcement always point to the benefits derived from illegal immigration such as the amount of taxes they pay into the government system. Evidence, however, exists that refutes those claims. For instance, there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence that suggests a large number of illegal aliens are paid "off-the-books" therefore those wages are not taxed.

The National Research Council has estimated that the net fiscal cost of immigration ranges from $11 billion to $22 billion per year, with most government expenditures on immigrants coming from state and local coffers, while most taxes paid by immigrants who actually do pay taxes go to the federal treasury.

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Prostitute gets 12 years in '04 slaying
By Dana Littlefield
Union-Tribune Staff Writer

A Tijuana prostitute was sentenced yesterday to 12 years in prison for her voluntary manslaughter conviction in the death of a retired chiropractor she bound, drugged, suffocated and stabbed.

A San Diego Superior Court jury found Julie Wynne Parrish, 38, guilty last month after acquitting her of first-and second-degree murder in the slaying of Jerald Lautin, 62.

Authorities linked Parrish to the slaying after they discovered someone had been making calls on Lautin's cell phone. They said she stole Lautin's wallet, rental car and part of his collection of miniature toy cars.