Law enforcement to watch for underage drinkers
FROM STAFF REPORTS

With spring break, law enforcement officials are stepping up their efforts to stop minors from crossing the international border at Andrade with the intention of drinking alcoholic beverages.

The Quechan Indian Tribe Police Department, Imperial County Sheriff's Office and the California Highway Patrol, with the assistance of the U.S. Border Patrol, will be out in full force for the remainder of the spring break, announced Mike Jackson, Quechan Tribe chairman, on Tuesday.

The stepped-up staffing by all the agencies is to enforce zero tolerance on all underage drinking and drunken drivers passing through the U.S. Port of Entry at Andrade.

Jackson said the agencies are particularly concerned about the coming weekend. But the increased vigilance will continue past spring break.

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McCain says he lacks votes to pass guest-worker plan
By Suzanne Gamboa
Photo by Ed Reinke / The Associated Press
The Associated Press

Washington — Supporters of a guest-worker program that would let illegal immigrants stay in the United States said Tuesday that they didn't have enough Senate votes to overcome objections from conservatives who oppose the measure on grounds that it amounts to amnesty.

As negotiators worked on a compromise to let those who have been here longest remain, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said a majority in the 100-member Senate supports his and Sen. Edward Kennedy's proposal to give green cards to illegal immigrants after they've worked in the United States for six years.

But it takes 60 senators to overcome opponents' parliamentary tactics, and McCain said he didn't have that many.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection Offers Tips for a Quick and Safe Easter Holiday Border Crossing Experience

El Paso, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the El Paso port of entry and other international crossings are providing guidance to assist those travelers who intend to enter the U.S. from Mexico in the days before the Easter holiday. The tips are designed to ease the crossing process as CBP officers maintain their principal anti-terror mission.

The upcoming Easter/Holy Week season is historically one of the busiest travel periods at southwest border crossings. A review of statistics indicates that applications for I-94 travel documents typically triple at the El Paso port of entry during the week before Easter falls. Last year, CBP officers processed approximately 2,600 I-94’s a day in the seven days before Easter compared to only 1,000 on the Monday immediately after Easter Sunday. Similar figures are typically recorded at other major border crossings. As a result, CBP officials are proactively reminding members of the traveling public that there are a number of steps they can employ to cross the border as quickly and safely as possible.

“By getting the word out early and working closely with the community, we believe we will be able to keep holiday related traffic moving while insuring that all our enforcement concerns are properly addressed,” said David Longoria, U.S. Customs and Border Protection El Paso Port Director. “It is important that we do all we can to protect the American public while allowing law abiding border crossers to reach their destinations in a timely manner. We believe these tips will help the process.”

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On the lighter side! -mm

Don't bring cascarones from Juárez
Louie Gilot
El Paso Times

Easter Week, one of the busiest travel periods at El Paso border crossings, will bring lines and seizures of cascarones starting this Sunday, Customs and Border Protection officials said.

Cascarones, confetti-filled eggshells meant to be broken on the heads of loved ones for Easter, can carry diseases and cannot be imported into the United States. Seizures at ports of entry have gone down in recent years as the word has spread. But bridge inspectors are still expected to confiscate cascarones daily next week.

The first batch seized this year was taken Monday from a motorist at the Zaragoza Bridge. The eggs' owner had declared them and was not fined. Fines range from $100 to $250, officials said.

The egg creations, handmade and partly painted, are now in the custody of CBP Chief Officer William Coppenbarger.

"That's a lot of work," said Coppenbarger, looking at the wasted handiwork.

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Immigration isn't civil rights
Joe R. Hicks, The Los Angeles Times

The debate over illegal immigration has reached a vigorous boil, with contrasting bills in the House and Senate and hundreds of thousands of protesters demonstrating nationwide. The complexities of this debate seem lost on many of the protesters. Many claim that what lies beneath reform efforts is raw racism, leading to the view that the recent protests signal a new civil rights movement.

It's simply not true. This nation's civil-rights movement of the 1960s broke the back of white supremacy that prevented black Americans (who were citizens) from enjoying the rights guaranteed to them under the Constitution. Undeniably, the freedoms codified by civil rights-era legislation have made life better for all Americans, regardless of skin color, gender or national origin.

Now many Latino immigrant-rights organizers and their sympathizers seem to be saying that there is some inherent right being expressed when people sneak into the country, thumb their noses at the law and make fools out of those who wait patiently in foreign lands for visas to come to the United States.

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ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS ACTUALLY FOREIGN INVASION
By Pastor Chuck Baldwin
NewsWithViews.com

Instead of calling it illegal immigration, we should be calling it a foreign invasion, because the consequences of this invasion are as terminal to our freedoms and to our way of life as any act of terrorism ever perpetrated against us!

First, let's talk about numbers. Even though the Census Bureau (CB) estimates 11 million illegal aliens live in America, the real numbers are much higher. Even CB officials admit that many illegal aliens purposely avoid the census count. A more reliable count is provided by Bear Stern. It puts the number of illegal aliens at around 20 million. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, puts the number at over 18 million.

According to Tennesseans for Responsible Immigration Policies (TNRIP), 6,000 immigrants arrive in America EVERY DAY. That equates to more than 2 million EVERY YEAR. In many communities in the Southwest, including Los Angeles, California, and Houston, Texas, U.S., Hispanics now comprise a majority of the population. But numbers of illegal aliens are quickly beginning to mount in cities throughout the United States.

According to TNRIP, the financial cost of this foreign invasion to U.S. taxpayers is staggering! Here is a break down of the annual costs:

Education: $22.5 billion Bi-lingual Education: $3.3 billion AFDC: $2.4 billion SSI: $2.9 billion Social Security: $24.8 billion Housing Assistance: $2.6 billion Criminal Justice: $2.6 billion Jobs Lost by Americans: $10.8 billion Other Programs: $51.4 billion Food Stamps: $7 billion Health Care: $1.4 billion.