The Town the Law Forgot

An L.A. ’burb is mired in gangs, cartels and south-of-the-border-style politics

By Jeffrey Anderson

Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 12:00 pm

Cudahy resembles a Mexican border town more than it does a Los Angeles suburb. Entrenched gangs and Mexican drug trafficking have trapped working-class legal and illegal immigrants in a cycle of violence and fear, in a city where less than a quarter of the 28,000 residents are eligible to vote. An uneducated city council, a deeply troubled police force imported from Maywood two towns over, and the raw power of the 18th Street Gang — a complex criminal organization with a knack for setting up business fronts and obscuring underground drug activity — make Cudahy residents seem like hostages in their own city.

Records prompt call for new Ramos-Compean trial

Congressman has DEA reports confirming smuggler in 2nd drug incident
Posted: February 28, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., plans to reveal today Drug Enforcement Agency investigative reports that confirm a previous WND story presenting evidence the drug smuggler given immunity to testify against border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean was involved in a second smuggling incident.

The DEA documents and Department of Homeland Security investigative reports already presented by WND contradict the prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, who repeatedly has insisted to the public that smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was not a suspect under investigation in a second drug incident.

Sutton gave Aldrete-Davila immunity to testify as the prosecution's chief witness regarding the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting incident on the Texas border that led to prison sentences for Ramos and Compean of 11 and 12 years respectively.

In a statement released by his office, Rohrabacher said, "Upon review of these new documents, it is obvious that U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton knowingly presented a false picture of the drug smuggler in order to justify his ruthless prosecution of Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean."

Mexico’s Kidnap Culture Appears in Florida

Posted on VDare Blog By Brenda Walker On 27th February 2007 @ 14:26 In General, Immigration, Crime | No Comments

Clay Moore is one smart — and lucky — young fellow. The 13-year-old resident of Parrish, Florida, was kidnapped at gunpoint by an illegal alien on Friday in an attempted kidnap-for-ransom plot. Clay cleverly used a safety pin to escape being duct-taped to a tree in a remote wooded area 20 miles from the abduction, and then found a farmer with a cell phone which he used to call for help.

Mexican wives want U.S. to return husbands

By Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published February 26, 2007

The women of Tecalpulco, Mexico, want the U.S. government to enforce its immigration laws because they want to force their husbands to come back home from working illegally in the United States.
They have created an English-language Web page where they identify themselves as the "wetback wives" and broadcast their pleas, both to their men and to the U.S. government.
"To the United States government -- close the border, send our men home to us, even if you must deport them (only treat them in a humane manner -- please do not hurt them)," it reads.

VDare Blog Entry

Common Sense America Blog

Unions, Safety Groups Oppose Mexican Trucks on US Roads

By Greg Flakus
Houston, Texas
27 February 2007

Flakus report (Real Audio) - Download 525k
Listen to Flakus report (Real Audio)

Last week, the Bush administration announced a plan to send U.S. inspectors to check trucks in Mexico that would then be allowed to cross over the border and deliver loads anywhere in the United States. This would be a pilot program, but the eventual goal is to open the border to more such traffic as called for by the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. The Teamsters Union and highway safety groups in the United States are among those opposing the plan. VOA's Greg Flakus has more from Houston.

Allowing Mexican trucks to travel across the border and to all parts of the United States sounds like a great idea to Sarah Sanchez. The interim executive director of San Antonio's Free Trade Alliance says her city, which sits a little over 200 kilometers from the border, would benefit greatly by becoming a logistical hub for U.S.-Mexico trade.

But what might be good for San Antonio's business leaders may not be good for the rest of the country and could pose a threat to motorists on U.S. highways, according to the Teamsters Union. The president of that labor organization, which represents most U.S. truckers, Jim Hoffa, says the administration's plan amounts to a "game of Russian roulette on America's highways."

ICE begins immigration cross-training for Davidson County deputies

Sheriff’s office partnering with ICE to expedite removal of criminal aliens

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Sheriff's deputies from Davidson County began a rigorous four-week training course today to allow them to do limited immigration law enforcement as part of an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

As part of the curriculum, 10 sheriff's deputies from Davidson County will receive in-depth instruction on a variety of immigration enforcement topics, including immigration law, civil rights and intercultural relations.

The agreement, which has been finalized with the Davidson County Sheriff's Office, will allow the 10 trained deputies to interview foreign national inmates in the county's correctional facilities to determine whether there is probable cause for an immigration violation. Under the program, the deputies will complete the processing of any criminal aliens and prepare documentation to place those aliens in deportation proceedings.

ICE to train Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies to enforce immigration law

ICE and Sheriff’s Office sign agreement to work together to combat illegal immigration

PHOENIX - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) allowing deputies to perform immigration law enforcement functions as permitted by Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

A total of 160 officers from the MCSO will join the growing list of state and local agencies receiving immigration training and authority under the supervision of sworn ICE officers. The cross-designation is a benefit to both ICE and local law enforcement agencies by helping to restore integrity to the nation's immigration system.

Immigration in the 21st Century

By Frank Morris and James G. Gimpel
Center for Immigration Studies | February 28, 2007

* While social scientists continue to debate the impact of large-scale immigration on low-skilled American natives, these same Americans certainly believe that high levels of immigration threaten their economic well-being. Current research shows that these fears are as much alive among African Americans as Caucasians.

* Conflict between African Americans and Latina/os for group position, status, and political power is increasing as most immigrants of Hispanic ancestry settle in areas proximate to African American populations in the nation’s largest cities.

* African American gains in office-holding appear to be leveling off at higher levels of office, while Latino gains are rapidly rising. These gains are coming at the expense of non-Hispanic white office-holders and African Americans, though African Americans are more threatened given their smaller overall numbers.

* Steadily rising immigrant populations will continue to change the racial complexion of U.S. House representation in a number of California, Texas, and New York congressional districts within the next 20 years.

* With the 2010 census redistricting, just a few years away, as many as six seats currently held by members of the Congressional Black Caucus could be given up to Latino candidates.

Mexico Troops With HIV Win Case Vs. Army

Feb 28, 1:06 AM EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the armed forces cannot kick out HIV-positive members because doing so is discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The court, with an 8-3 vote, ordered Mexico's Defense Department to return to duty four soldiers who were expelled from the armed forces for testing HIV-positive.

The judges spent five sessions debating whether HIV-positive armed forces members were "useless," as the military had argued.

The president of the court, Guillermo Ortiz, said the military can still expel members who have full-blown AIDS or who medically cannot complete their duties.

Mexico Vows to Improve Migrant's Treatment

Feb 28, 12:36 AM EST

By LISA J. ADAMS
Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's head of migration on Tuesday pledged to improve the agency's detention centers in response to criticism that Mexico fails to give Central American immigrants the same respect it demands for its own citizens in the United States.

Cecilia Romero Castillo, who said many of Mexico's 48 detention centers lack adequate personnel, supplies, medical care and social services, announced a plan to install doctor's offices in 16 centers, upgrade facilities and improve staff training.

Romero also said the agency will no longer use jails as detention centers and will fire any supervisor found violating the rules.

The Mexican government has acknowledged that many officials are bribed by human smugglers. Migrants face abuse from corrupt police as well as violent gangs who wait on the southern border to rob and assault them.

Nice words! We'll see if they can "walk the walk!" -mm

Lawmaker: Man shot by ex- agents had other drug charges

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 02/28/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

The drug smuggler who was shot in the buttocks by two El Paso Border Patrol agents who went to prison for it was involved in another drug smuggling attempt, U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., said.

Rohrabacher said he would talk today in a news conference in Washington, D.C., about new evidence he said proves that Osvaldo Aldrete Davila was again involved in drug smuggling after the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton had repeatedly denied knowledge of a second arrest but Rohrabacher said Sutton's statements were misleading because Aldrete Davila was not arrested either time.

"Johnny Sutton's play on words to imply the second offense didn't occur or was not relevant to the case is dishonest. Only an unscrupulous lawyer would believe this is an acceptable tactic," Rohrabacher said in a written statement.

S.B. supervisors back ex-border agents

By Jeff Horwitz, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 02/28/2007 12:00:00 AM PST

President Bush should consider pardoning two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting an alleged drug smuggler, according to a unanimous resolution by San Bernardino County's Board of Supervisors.

"This case appears to be a highly unusual situation where law-enforcement agents were not supported or given due process by their own agency or by the courts," said Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who proposed the resolution.

The agents, Ignacio Ramos (far right) and Jose Alonso Compean (left), were convicted last year of shooting Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, who allegedly brought a van loaded with marijuana across the border from Mexico. The man survived and was granted immunity for his testimony against the agents.

In light of congressional outcry over the agents' convictions and the circumstances of the case, the county's resolution states, President Bush should "act quickly to conduct further investigation of the matter in order to consider a Presidential Pardon at the earliest opportunity possible."

Agua Prieta police chief cut down in drug war

The Arizona Republic

Published: 02.28.2007

MEXICO CITY - As drug wars raged along other parts of the U.S.-Mexico border, things had remained mostly quiet in the Sonoran town of Agua Prieta.

Not anymore.

On Monday, assassins gunned down Police Chief Ramón Tacho Verdugo, spraying more than 40 bullets in an ambush outside police headquarters. The motive is murky, but it almost certainly involved control of the lucrative smuggling routes into Arizona, Mexican and U.S. officials said Tuesday.

"Rival organizations are vying for control of these lucrative corridors," said Ramona Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "(Tacho's murder) is a reminder of how violent these criminal organizations are, and they will continue to use whatever means they need."

Officials ID 3 immigrants killed in truck shootings

Associated Press

Feb. 28, 2007 07:04 AM

TUCSON - Authorities have identified three people fatally shot in a Feb. 8 attack on a pickup truck filled with undocumented immigrants as two Mexican nationals and a Guatemalan.

The identities were made through partial identifications found on the bodies of the three and with assistance to verify their authenticity from the Mexican and Guatemalan consulates, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday.

Agencies differ on migrant law

County seeks wider role in helping feds tackle immigration

Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor and Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 28, 2007 12:00 AM

Increased cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies is turning up the heat on illegal immigration and drawing sharp reactions.

Ten Immigration and Customs Enforcement detectives are already embedded in the Phoenix Police Department. About 160 Maricopa County sheriff's deputies and detention officers, seven Phoenix police officers and an undetermined number of Department of Public Safety officers will be trained by ICE on immigration law and how to identify undocumented immigrants.

But those agencies differ on how the federal training will be put into use.

Napolitano says Congress must tackle immigration this year

Feb 27, 7:23 PM EST

By JENNIFER TALHELM
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat whose state is the No. 1 entry point for illegal immigration, implored Congress Tuesday to fix the nation's broken immigration system before the year's end.

"We've heard too much talk about border security and not enough action," Napolitano said in a speech at the National Press Club. She urged Congress to "end the rhetoric, stop the politics, provide sustained funding and turn away from extreme, unworkable solutions that solve nothing and only delay the benefits of real reform."

"All of America is waiting - and time is running out," said Napolitano, who is in Washington for the National Governors Association winter meeting.

Arizonans support trespass charges against illegal immigrants, poll says

BY HOWARD FISCHER, CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

February 27, 2007 - 5:29PM

Phoenix - Arizonans want a state law to allow those who cross the border illegally to be charged with trespass.

The new statewide survey shows that 65 percent of the 600 registered voters questioned support having a law that would allow state and local police officers to arrest border crossers.

Now, a police officer who comes across someone not here legally can only detain them and wait for Border Patrol to arrive. More often than not, those who are caught are deported - a situation that supporters of a trespass law said simply gives them another chance to try to sneak across the border.

Bill would mandate nicer term for illegals

By Bill Cotterell
news-press.com Tallahassee bureau
Originally posted on February 27, 2007

TALLAHASSEE -- A state legislator whose district is home to thousands of Caribbean immigrants wants to ban the term "illegal alien" from the state's official documents.

"I personally find the word 'alien' offensive when applied to individuals, especially to children," said Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. "An alien to me is someone from out of space."

She has introduced a bill providing that: "A state agency or official may not use the term 'illegal alien' in an official document of the state." There would be no penalty for using the words.

In Miami-Dade County, Wilson said, "we don't say 'alien,' we say 'immigrant.'"

She said she encountered the situation when trying to pass a bill allowing children of foreigners to get in-state tuition at colleges and universities. Wilson, who directs a dropout prevention and education program in Miami, said she politely asks witnesses at public hearings on such issues not to use the term.

A supreme example of "The Peter Principle". Certainly, this woman has risen to the level of her own incompetence. Not only is she trying to legislate speech and the freedom thereof, she is ignorant of the etymology of the word "alien" which can be traced back thousands of years to the Latin where it simply means "belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing ". It did come to reference beings from outer space until recently. -mm

Drug seizures are up at border crossings

3-month total rises 22%; cocaine 57%

By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 27, 2007

Drug seizures are up at the ports of entry on the California-Mexico border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. During October, November and December, the first three months of the 2007 federal fiscal year, the quantity of drugs confiscated jumped 22 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

This includes all classes of narcotics found at the state's six border stations: the amount of marijuana seized is up 21 percent, cocaine up 57 percent, heroin up 30 percent and methamphetamine up 49 percent.

Wells Fargo to Offer Cards to Undocumented Customers

Posted on BankNet360 By Damien Weaver Feb 26 2007 05:45:08 PST

Wells Fargo and Co. [ticker: WFC] said it may be the next bank to offer credit cards to checking account customers who lack Social Security numbers, according to the South Florida Business Journal.

The plan, which many claim targets a consumer base composed largely of illegal immigrants, comes a week after Bank of America Corp. [ticker: BAC] announced a similar program to start in Los Angeles, home to the country’s largest undocumented Hispanic population. A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said the goal is to give every customer "an equal chance to build credit, establish financial security, and achieve the American Dream."

Man agents shot ran drugs into U.S. after he was given immunity, DEA report says

By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Article Launched:02/27/2007 12:00:00 AM PST

The Mexican national shot by two Border Patrol agents in a drug-related incident in February 2005 brought a second van load of drugs into the U.S. while he waited to testify against the agents, according to Drug Enforcement Administration reports obtained by the Daily Bulletin.

Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila - who was given immunity by U.S. prosecutors in exchange for testifying against former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean - is the focus of a November 2005 DEA report that identifies him as the person responsible for stashing more than 750 pounds of marijuana in a van parked at a house in Clint, Texas, in October of that year.

"(A witness) stated that Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was the individual that dropped off the 1990 Chevy Astro van," according to the DEA document. "This van contained approximately 6 bundles of marijuana."

CBP Border Patrol Agents Rescue 56 Aliens from Truck

Monday, February 26, 2007

Kingsville, Texas - U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol agents from the Sarita Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 77 rescued 56 undocumented aliens from inside a tractor-trailer Sunday. The driver of the truck was arrested.

The rescue occurred on February 25, just one week after agents at the Falfurrias checkpoint intercepted a tractor-trailer and rescued 40 Brazilian nationals. Agents assigned to the checkpoint observed a tractor-trailer enter the primary lane for inspection. A Border Patrol canine team alerted to the tractor-trailer and driver was referred to the secondary inspection area for further inspection.

Upon closer inspection, agents discovered a 56 people, small children to adults, of different nationalities crammed inside the trailer. All of the people found in the trailer were found to be in good health. All were taken into custody pending removal proceedings and the driver, a U.S. citizen from Harlingen, Texas, was arrested on federal felony alien smuggling charges.

Mexican boy secreted by mother into U.S. for cancer treatment dies

By Betsy Blaney
Associated Press
Feb. 27, 2007 07:35 AM

LUBBOCK, Texas - An 8-year-old Mexican boy whose mother illegally brought him into the U.S. for cancer treatment and then struggled with immigration laws has died, officials said.

Months after being deported to Juarez, Mexico, Luis Carranza's mother was permitted to return to the U.S. to be with her son until his death Thursday at his grandparents' home in El Paso, Child Protective Services officials said.

Protective services and the mother had shared custody of Luis.

I grieve for this mother's loss. She broke the law by entering illegally without regard to the reason. However, this does illustrate that we, the US, must do a better job of handling and expediting requests for visas, etc. There are legitimate reasons for coming to the US, but the bureaucracy is so snarled and backlogged as to make such requests vain and an exercise in futility. Congress must do a better job at managing our government. -mm

Agents Foil Smuggling Attempt

By Kandiss Crone
KYMA-TV

Border patrol agents in Wellton seized nearly 200 pounds of marijuana early Thursday morning. It happened just after midnight along interstate eight.

Agents spotted seven people carrying large bundles.

As soon as the group saw the agents, they dropped the bundles and took off.

The border patrol arrested four of the seven people.

All are Mexican nationals.

Hiring illegals trumps law, agent alleges

Federal immigration officer blames politics for fatal accident
Posted: February 24, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

An illegal alien involved in a traffic accident that killed a 64-year-old Kentucky woman probably was driving that night – instead of back in his own country through a deportation – because of political pressure local farmers applied to the county jailer, a federal agent has told WND.

WND already has reported that violence brought into the United States by illegal aliens costs about 12 American lives daily, and that a wave of gang-rapes has been linked to illegal aliens. It also has documented the death toll from illegal aliens on U.S. roads and how illegals who drink and drive cause further tragedies in the United States.

The newest case being reported adds to that list of impacts the unwelcome suggestion from the federal agent that at least this fatal accident could have been avoided by following the existing laws regarding illegal aliens, but that political influence interfered.

Mexico Battle Lines — There and Here

Posted on VDare Blog By Brenda Walker On 25th February 2007 @ 17:40

This photo looks like something straight from Baghdad, but it’s actually just across the border in Tijuana. The Mexican government has stationed military checkpoints on the edge of town so the army can check for serious weapons (RPGs are popular) and other signs of criminal activity. As well it should, since more than 300 people were murdered last year in the city. Many Mexican police are on the payroll of the drug cartels, so el Presidente Calderon’s only hope of rescuing his country from total crime anarchy has been to send in the troops to various hot spots.

Not only is tourism down, but kidnapping for ransom is up, and many well heeled Tjuanans are “moving” north to San Diego. At least the worsening crime wave is swell news for the armor-plating shops.

More Americans killed by illegal aliens than Iraq war, study says

By Jim Brown
AgapePress
February 22, 2007

(AgapePress) -- Illegal aliens are killing more Americans than the Iraq war, says a new report from Family Security Matters that estimates some 2,158 murders are committed every year by illegal aliens in the U.S. The group says that number is more than 15 percent of all the murders reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the U.S. and about three times the representation of illegal aliens in the general population.

Mike Cutler, a former senior special agent with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (the former INS), is a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and an advisor to Family Security Matters (FSM). He says the high number of Americans being killed by illegal aliens is just part of the collateral damage that comes with tolerating illegal immigration.

"The military actually called for the BORTAC team, ... the elite unit of the Border Patrol, to be detailed to Iraq to help to secure the Iraqi border," Cutler notes. "Now, if our military can understand that Iraq's security depends in measure on the ability to protect its border against insurgents and terrorists, then why isn't our country similarly protecting our own borders?" he asks.

Lawmaker: No workers' comp for entrants

Proposal runs into opposition from Chamber

By Howard Fischer

CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX — Rep. Russell Pearce doesn't think that people who are working in this country illegally should be able to get benefits if they're injured on the job.

But Pearce's effort to bar compensation is getting a fight from business interests that fear that the alternative would be far worse: lawsuits.

David Selden, a member of the board of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the workers' compensation program is set up as a no-fault system. Companies agree to cover medical bills and a percentage of lost wages regardless of whether the injury is due to employee or company negligence.

In exchange, though, employers generally cannot be sued: The workers have to accept the benefits within the workers'- comp law.

But Selden said that if the injured employees are denied benefits, then they are free to sue. And Selden said even if the company eventually wins in court, that can be an expensive process.

Pearce, a Republican, is unmoved by business protests. He said any company that hires an undocumented worker probably deserves to be sued.

2 taken into custody in border-area gunfire

By Aaron Mackey
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

A person injured Saturday when a Border Patrol agent fired at an oncoming vehicle was treated at a hospital and released.

That person and a passenger who was in the vehicle at the time remain in custody on unspecified charges.

The agency provided few details Sunday but gave the following account:

Agents tried to stop a Lincoln Navigator driving north on Arizona 286 about 10 miles north of the Sasabe port of entry, said Jesus Rodriguez, a Border Patrol spokesman.

An agent got out of his vehicle and approached the sport utility vehicle, which appeared to have stopped.

The SUV quickly turned around around and came toward the agent, who fired his gun because he felt threatened. The Navigator didn't strike the agent, and was driven away. It was later stopped in Sasabe, Rodriguez said.

Let's watch and see how long it is until some incompetent D.A. offers these "victims" immunity so that they can make headlines by putting another US law enforcement officer in jail. -mm

Bill would require SSN number for a home loan

WASHINGTON — New legislation on Capitol Hill seeks to curb an increasingly popular mortgage concept: providing home loans to applicants using their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), in lieu of a Social Security number.

ITINs are issued by the Internal Revenue Service to assist immigrant workers who do not qualify for a Social Security number — but do have taxable income — to report their income and pay federal taxes.

Dozens of banks around the country have begun offering home mortgages to undocumented immigrants using ITINs, but their programs generally have been low-key and small in volume. Bank of America stirred controversy earlier this month when it announced a pilot program in Los Angeles to provide credit cards to resident-alien customers who lack Social Security numbers but have ITINs.

Lake Havasu may require business vow against hiring illegal migrants

Feb. 26, 2007 12:00 AM

LAKE HAVASU CITY - The City Council will consider a proposal Tuesday to require businesses doing work for the city to sign affidavits saying they don't hire illegal immigrants.

Mayor Mark Nexsen said the purpose of the proposal is to try to make sure contractors or subcontractors with the city have gone through the correct channels to ensure their workers can legally work in this country.

Immigration reform

Feb. 25, 2007 11:25 PM

Local leaders are coming up with their own ways of dealing with undocumented immigrants in Arizona.

• Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is getting ready to put as many as 160 of his deputies through training to enforce federal immigration laws.


• Randy Pullen, head of the Arizona Republican Party, has pledged to try again to get a measure on the ballot that would require police officers to be trained to enforce federal immigration laws. His previous attempt was unsuccessful.


• Stacey O'Connell, former state director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, is running for a Phoenix City Council seat, pledging to "work toward local governments being able to enforce immigration laws."

Phoenix police, immigration agents teaming up

PHOENIX (AP) -- Ten agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement have joined Phoenix police to get illegal immigrants who commit crimes off the streets.

With agents and officers working side-by-side, officials say the instantaneous exchange of information will mean that criminals and victims in the country illegally can be more quickly identified.

And the faster they are identified, the better chance police have at solving cases, making arrests and putting a dent in illegal immigration.

"It's allowing us to do what we do, and that's going after criminal aliens," said Alonzo Pena, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent in charge.

Dealing with illegal immigrants isn't new to the Phoenix Police Department. Last year, the department arrested 2,800 criminal illegal immigrants and turned them over for prosecution and deportation.

They also turned over to federal authorities 1,200 illegal immigrants for being in the country illegally.

Congressman: Bush 'doesn't give a damn'

Republican blames White House for failed appeal by Ramos, Compean
Posted: February 24, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., denounced President Bush for his refusal to intervene in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to deny the bond requests of imprisoned former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, pending their appeal.

Rohrabacher, in a statement, spared no words in laying the blame on the White House for not freeing Ramos and Compean on bond:

"Acquiescing to the insistence of the White House, the court has decided to treat Ramos and Compean worse than they would common criminals, which is consistent with the way the Bush administration has handled these two border agents from the beginning," Rohrabacher said. "To suggest that this underscores President Bush's mean-spirited and vindictive nature is an understatement."

Rohrabacher said the "lives of Ramos and Compean are obviously at risk, and the president not only doesn't care about securing our southern border, he doesn't give a damn about those who protect it."

Arellano's arrest location challenged

Captain questioned on yacht's position
By Kelly Thornton
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 24, 2007

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – The captain of the yacht on which suspected drug kingpin Francisco Javier Arellano Félix was arrested last summer has become the center of a fascinating legal debate with international political implications.

Capt. Edgar Omar Osorio took the witness stand yesterday during an unusual pretrial hearing, and questions by Arellano's lawyers seemed to lead in one direction: Did the arrest take place in international waters, as prosecutors maintain, or did U.S. officials apprehend him outside their jurisdiction, in Mexican waters?

Perhaps the more important question is, does it matter where the Aug. 14 arrest occurred?

Jealous Mexican husbands may face trial in court

REUTERS
3:11 p.m. February 23, 2007

MEXICO CITY – Mexican men who display extreme jealousy or avoid sex with their wives could be tried in court and punished under a new law, the special prosecutor for crimes against women told a local newspaper Friday.

Men who phone their wives every half hour to check up on them, constantly suspect them of infidelity or try to control the way they dress are committing the crime of jealousy, special prosecutor Alicia Elena Perez Duarte told Excelsior newspaper.

Those who stop talking to their wives, avoid sex or try to convince suspicious spouses they are “crazy” even if they are caught red-handed having an affair, are guilty of indifference, she said.

Men found guilty of jealousy or indifference could face up to five years in prison, the newspaper said. Mexico's individual states will determine the punishments, it said.

Federal police to permanently guard Acapulco hotels

By Greg Brosnan
REUTERS
3:05 p.m. February 23, 2007

ACAPULCO, Mexico – Mexican federal police will patrol the hotel zone of Acapulco day and night to prevent an outbreak of drug gang violence from affecting tourism, a senior police official said Friday.

Acapulco, a former playground for Hollywood stars that has long been in decline, is one of the main battlefields in a war between Mexico's two main drug cartels.

Two thousand people were killed nationwide last year, including two policemen who were decapitated, their heads displayed outside a government building in Acapulco.

Baja effort targets crooked cops

Citizen watchdogs to stop shakedowns
By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 23, 2007

TIJUANA – The idea is simple: Police won't try to extort money from tourists if someone is watching over their shoulder.

That's the premise behind a program being started by a Baja California advisory council to train citizen watchdogs and prevent police shakedowns.

After undergoing background checks and classroom training, volunteers will be given a credential from Baja California's Consejo Ciudadano de Seguridad Publica. The Consejo is a government-sanctioned citizens advisory council that provides input on public security issues statewide.

Its program is emphasizing tourist assistance because of ongoing allegations of police extortion, but it won't be limited to visitors.

The program's creation is a tacit acknowledgment of the poorly documented problem. Many victims don't report shakedowns because they don't feel it will make a difference or don't know whom to go to.

You have to be especially careful around the holidays - Christmas, Mother's Day, etc. -mm

Attorney: LA Court Has No Legal Right To Try Mexican Cardinal

Lawsuit Accuses Cardinal Of Molestation, Rape
POSTED: 3:11 pm PST February 25, 2007
UPDATED: 3:46 pm PST February 25, 2007

MEXICO CITY -- A court in Los Angeles has no legal right to try Mexico's most prominent cardinal in connection with alleged child molesting and rape by a Mexican priest, the cardinal's lawyer said Sunday.

Bernardo Fernandez, who represents Cardinal Norberto Rivera, said only a Mexican court has the authority to rule on the lawsuit.

"The plaintiff is Mexican, complaining about alleged acts that happened in Mexico City in 1994, and the suit is against Mexicans," Fernandez told reporters after Rivera gave Sunday mass in the capital's metropolitan cathedral. "Mexican tribunals should oversee this case."

ICE agents arrest four and seize more than $5 million of heroin

DEA agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers partner to uncover airport smuggling attempt

NEWARK, N.J. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents arrested four suspects for attempting to smuggle over 12 pounds of heroin, with an estimated street value over $5 million, into the United States.

ICE special agents working in conjunction with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Newark Liberty Airport discovered the drugs concealed in a passenger's luggage on a flight arriving from Guyaquil, Ecuador. During a routine inspection of passenger Eddie Palma-Jurado, a 23-year-old native of Ecuador, CBP inspectors found dozens of heroin pellets hidden within bars of candy. The candy bars were each individually wrapped, and then re-packaged into larger packs. The heroin was contained in over 100 separate candy bars.

Smugglers raise stakes along border

By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published February 23, 2007

Rival alien and drug smugglers on the U.S.-Mexico border are targeting each other in a wave of escalating violence to win control of smuggling corridors into the United States, with at least four recent killings tied to efforts to kidnap migrants for ransom.
Three of the killings took place Feb. 8 north of Tucson, Ariz., in what federal and state law-enforcement authorities have described as one of the nation's most popular alien- and drug-smuggling corridors. Another occurred Jan. 28, south of Tucson.
Authorities said gang members are kidnapping illegal aliens being guided into the United States, demanding ransoms of up to $2,500 a person and killing the illegals, along with gang rivals, who resist. The kidnappings save the gangs the cost of recruiting migrants in Mexico and hiring guides, or "coyotes," to bring them across the border.

The Latino Revolution

By Dick Morris
FrontPageMagazine.com | February 23, 2007

A revolution is underway among America’s Latino population that will have profound implications for the future of American politics. Of the 41.3 million Hispanics in the United States today, 37 percent identify themselves as “born-again” or “evangelical.” Just 10 years ago, the proportion that did so was about 15 percent. All told, there are now about 11 million Evangelical Protestant and 3 million Evangelical or Charismatic Catholic Latinos in the United States. In 1996, there were only 4 million.

This explosive growth in Evangelical religious affiliation among Latinos — about 1 million converts annually — portends huge changes for American politics. With the Latino population swelling from 22 million in 1990 to 41 million in 2004, any change of these proportions in the beliefs of Hispanic-Americans will have a momentous impact on politics.

Evangelicals, of any race or ethnicity, are fertile ground for Republicans and may provide a huge opening to swing the formerly Democratic Hispanic vote toward a more even-handed stance or even make it a core element of an emerging Republican majority.

Truckers may be reluctant to come over

Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso Times
Article Launched:02/25/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

The big news last week was that the U.S. government took the first steps toward finally allowing Mexican trucks to roam the interior of the United States.

The trucks have been cooped up in the border region, shuttling between Juárez plants and El Paso warehouses, since 2000, when they were supposed to be set free by the North American Free Trade Agreement rules.

U.S. truckers and environmentalists have been successful in delaying implementation of the rules so far. But last week's announcement, which involved U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters inspecting a big rig at the Bridge of the Americas cargo facility, left little doubt that the stalling is over.

The Associated Press reported that the announcement drew an angry reaction from labor leaders, safety advocates and members of Congress.

Teamster President Jim Hoffa spoke about "playing Russian roulette" with U.S. roadways.

But what Mexican truckers will do with the new opportunity remains to be seen.

Just like all those folks we trust in the SENTRI system that they are always going to obey the law and never smuggle drugs or humans - that system is working so well why now let truckers from Mexico freely roam the whole country and we will simply trust that their trucks meet the minimums for driving our highways, that they will obey the laws, that they will not be transporting drugs or humans! -mm

Illegal parrots still smuggled through EP

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso Times
Photo by Heidi Lindskog / El Paso Times
Article Launched:02/25/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

Eight or 10 years ago, it wasn't uncommon for pet-shop owner Dean Travis to be approached by bird smugglers with Mexican parrots stuffed into their coat pockets. He always turned them down.

But it has been years since Travis was last propositioned and, he said, the pet industry is the better for it.

"I think people understand that they want to buy a parrot that will be part of a family and be happy. And to take a bird from the wild is not going to achieve that," said Travis, the owner of Pet's Barn, where the birds for sale have been bred in the United States.

Things have changed so much in just a few years that the U.S. demand for exotic birds is not what's driving the illegal market anymore.

A recent report by the Washington, D.C.-based group Defenders of Wildlife found that while El Paso is still a route for smuggling Mexican parrots into the United States, most of the market for the birds is now in Mexico. Only 4 percent to 14 percent of the captured wild birds are now smuggled into the United States, a sea change from the '70s and '80s, according to the report.

Operation Linebacker | 1 year later

Border crime down; many still fear immigrants targeted

By Brandi Grissom and Louie Gilot / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 02/25/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

Flash Graphic: Operation Linebacker Crime Rates

Related: State money helped smaller counties most

AUSTIN -- Crime in Texas border counties dropped overall in the first year of Gov. Rick Perry's state-led border security operations, but increased in some of the border's most populated and violent regions.

Crime dropped in the 16 Texas-Mexico border counties by 8.2 percent on average between 2005 to 2006, two years of crime report data the El Paso Times analyzed show.

"This is clear evidence that our state-led border security initiatives are having a sustained impact and are making all Texans safer," Perry said through a spokeswoman.

State officials say the borderwide statistics show that security operations are meeting their intended goal: preventing and reducing crime. The numbers, Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw said, contradict critics' complaints that Perry's efforts are little more than a disguised strategy to round up undocumented immigrants.

Frequent Traveler Participant Arrested on Narcotics Smuggling Charges

Friday, February 23, 2007

San Ysidro, Calif. -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the San Ysidro, Calif. port of entry arrested a 41-year-old U.S. citizen male registered to participate in the CBP frequent traveler program Wednesday morning, February 21, after they discovered marijuana in the vehicle he was driving.

The driver's SENTRI pass was revoked, he was arrested and was transported to the San Diego County jail. The vehicle and narcotics were seized by CBP.

"SENTRI participants are regarded with a higher level of trust and confidence," said Adele Fasano, director of operations in San Diego. "When that trust is broken, we make every effort to work with federal and or state officials to prosecute the violator."

The man was arrested after he entered the port through a designated SENTRI lane driving a 2007 Nissan Altima at about 10:30 a.m. CBP officers, during a secondary examination, discovered 15 wrapped packages of marijuana in the spare tire well of the vehicle. The marijuana had a weight of about 41 pounds worth $14,000.

Feds bust 200 workers in illegal-immigrant sweep

MIKE MADDEN

Published: 02.23.2007

The management of a firm that cleaned restaurants such as the ESPN Zone, Dave & Busters and Hard Rock Cafe was charged Thursday with failing to pay $18 million in payroll taxes for their mostly illegal immigrant work force.

Authorities also arrested nearly 200 workers employed by the firm, Rosenbaum-Cunningham International Inc., as the workers started or finished their cleaning shifts at 63 locations in 17 states and Washington, including one in Phoenix.

The company's managers, based in Florida, allegedly paid workers in cash for at least four years and kept the money they should have been paying the government in income taxes, Social Security, Medicare and other taxes.

U.S. kids won't need passports at land crossings

Homeland security reversal affects those age 15 and under

USA TODAY

Published: 02.23.2007

U.S. children will not need passports to come into the country by land or sea, the Homeland Security Department announced Thursday.

The decision was praised by tourism groups and Canadian government officials who fought the requirement.

Under anti-terrorism passport rules that could take effect as early as January, all adults including U.S. citizens, will have to show passports to cross the nation's borders.

But the government reversed a widely criticized decision to require children to have passports as well.

What this does allow is for the thousands of former "anchor babies" who now live back in Mexico to continue to freely attend school illegally in the USA cost US taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars each year! They should modify the requirement to include only those children who are US citizens and can prove residency in the USA. -mm

Police officers in San Luis Rio Colorado test positive for drug use

BY CESAR NEYOY, BAJO EL SOL

February 24, 2007 - 11:47PM

SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. - Eight municipal police officers and a police cadet in this border city tested positive for drug use in three recently administered tests, city officials said.

Arturo Santana, a police spokesman, said tests showed use of marijuana and methamphetamines among the nine, but he declined to identify them.

The future employment status of the officers will be determined by a city promotion and selection board. The board president, Carlos Corral Quintero, said the officers have been reassigned in the meantime.

"Let it be clear, it's not good for the public or for (public) officials when police officers who carry a pistol are under the influence of drugs," he said.

And to whom does this come as a surprise? -mm

Critics bash Mexican truck decision

By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press WriterFri Feb 23, 10:11 PM ET

The news that Mexican trucks will be allowed to haul freight deeper into the United States drew an angry reaction Friday from labor leaders, safety advocates and members of Congress.

They said Mexico has substandard trucks and low-paid drivers that will threaten national security, cost thousands of jobs and endanger motorists on the northern side of the Mexican border.

The Bush administration on Thursday announced its plan to have U.S. inspectors oversee Mexican trucking companies that carry cargo across the border.

"This program will make trade with Mexico easier and keep our roads safe at the same time," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Friday. She announced details of the plan to let 100 Mexican trucking companies travel beyond the border area while she was in El Paso, Texas, at the Bridge of the Americas, which connects to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Mexican anger over US 'trespass'

Mexico's Congress has condemned what it says is a border violation by US workers building a controversial barrier between the two countries.

Legislators say workers and equipment building a section of the barrier have gone 10 metres (yards) into Mexico.

The alleged border violation comes ahead of a high-level meeting in the Canadian capital Ottawa.

US, Mexican and Canadian foreign ministers are to discuss border security and trade issues.

Mexican legislators said they had photographs and video, taken on Monday, of the workers and heavy-duty construction equipment that showed them about 10 metres inside Mexico near the border city of Agua Prieta and the town of Douglas, Arizona.

The Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said she had complained to the US authorities and that the men and equipment had been withdrawn.

A whole 10 meters, really?!?! What about all those invasions by the Mexican military? What about the daily invasion by hundreds of Mexicans into our sovereign nation not because it was an accident but with the purpose of intentionally breaking our laws, importing illegal drugs and persons? What about that Mexico? Should we respond in like manner to equal your self-righteous, hypocritical blather? -mm

U.S. checks claim that fence builders went into Mexico

The Associated Press

Published: 02.23.2007

MEXICO CITY - U.S. and Mexican officials will review reports of an intrusion on Mexican soil by workers erecting U.S. border fences between Douglas and Agua Prieta, Son., U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said.

Garza, in a statement released Thursday, stressed that the United States respects Mexican sovereignty and works to avoid intruding on its territory.

Mexican legislators said they had photos and video showing U.S. workers and equipment crossing about 10 yards into Mexico on Monday.

Garza said U.S. and Mexican officials would visit the site to ascertain what happened.

Sheriff: Deputy prosecuted by Mexico's demand

Claims there were no plans to charge Gilmer Hernandez until intervention

Posted: February 22, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Investigators had no plans to bring charges against Texas Sheriff's Deputy Gilmer Hernandez until the Mexican government intervened and demanded it, the officer's supervisor told WND.

Sheriff Don Letsinger of Rocksprings, Texas, said the Texas Rangers were not going to recommend prosecution, but federal law enforcement took over the case in response to the Mexican government's intervention.

Also, in the high-profile case of border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, the Department of Homeland Security investigation was opened March 4, 2005, the same date the Mexican Consulate demanded prosecution for the shooting of drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, according to numerous agency investigative reports authored by Special Agent Christopher Sanchez.

WND can find no documentation of any Border Patrol investigation launched against Ramos or Compean prior to that date.

Nuevo Laredo handcuffed by drug trade

Traffickers imposing will in border town
11:15 PM CST on Wednesday, February 21, 2007
By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News
acorchado@dallasnews.com
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico – The evening calm here is deceiving.

As dusk settles, folks gather and mill around the town square, as they do in town squares throughout Mexico. But soon the talk turns to the latest deadly incident, this week's ambush of a federal congressman, which left him seriously injured and his 31-year-old driver dead. And the inevitable question arises: Is it too late to save Nuevo Laredo?

"You look around here, and nothing seems real anymore," said Mari Moreno, whose sons live in Irving. "You do your best to get through the day, but you know this city will never be normal again."

More than three years after warring drug cartels launched a battle for Nuevo Laredo and its smuggling routes into Texas, senior U.S. law enforcement officials say the Gulf cartel and its enforcers, the Zetas, have established significant control over the beleaguered city.

Ex-Mexican Leader Accused of Violating Law

Feb 22, 1:07 AM EST
By IOAN GRILLO
Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's largest leftist party announced Wednesday that it is filing a legal complaint against former President Vicente Fox, accusing him of violating the law by intervening against its presidential candidate who lost last year.

The Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, accuses the Fox administration of having supported current President Felipe Calderon with public comments, government television ads, and other means. Mexican law prohibits the president and other officials from using their office to support or oppose candidates.

The PRD claims that comments made by Fox last week at the Kennedy Center in Washington amount to a confession that he helped Calderon win the 2006 race.

CBP's Weekend Operations At Tucson-Area Ports Result in 14 Arrests for Attempted Narcotics Smuggling

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Tucson, Ariz. — During a busy Presidents’ Day weekend, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry in Arizona stopped 14 attempts to smuggle narcotics into the U.S., arresting 14 people and seizing more than 800 pounds of illicit drugs.

CBP officers at the DeConcini port of entry in Nogales arrested a 25-year-old woman from Nogales, Sonora Feb. 16 after finding 38 pounds of marijuana hidden inside the back seat of a 1996 Buick Regal.

That afternoon, officers at the land border port arrested a 50-year-old woman from Culiacan, Sinaloa after finding 28 pounds of cocaine hidden in the front fenders of a 1974 Plymouth sedan.

California CBP Officers Find Smuggled Woman Hidden in Car Engine Compartment

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Calexico, Calif. -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers conducting border security inspections at the downtown Calexico port of entry arrested a Mexican man on Friday afternoon after he allegedly attempted to smuggle a Chinese woman into the United States in the engine compartment of the vehicle he was driving, officials said today.

The failed attempt was the second at the busy port in two days involving the smuggling of Chinese migrants into the U.S. hidden inside the engine compartment of passenger vehicles

CBP Border Patrol Seizes $884,000 Worth of Marijuana

1,000 Pounds of Marijuana Confiscated by Laredo Sector Agents
Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Laredo, Texas — U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol agents assigned to the Laredo Sector Border Patrol seized more than $884,000 worth of marijuana.

The seizure occurred on February 21, when Hebbronville station Border Patrol agents confiscated 1,105 pounds of marijuana while they were working by Highway 359. The agents encountered two males in a Ford F-250 pick up truck. As the agents followed the truck the driver accelerated at a high rate of speed. The agents continued to follow the vehicle and eventually the driver stopped the truck.

The agents apprehended the driver and discovered 67 bundles of marijuana with an estimated value of $884,640. The suspect, narcotics and vehicle were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.

Frequent Border Crosser Charged with Alien Smuggling Attempt at San Ysidro

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

San Ysidro, Calif. -- A 29-year-old U.S. citizen registered to participate in a frequent traveler program was arrested Friday evening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro port of entry after the discovery of an undocumented Mexican male hidden in the vehicle she was driving.

Noemi Becerra from San Diego was arrested after she entered the port through a designated SENTRI lane driving a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup at about 11:30 p.m. Upon inspection of the interior of the vehicle, CBP officers found a male hidden beneath blankets covering the floor behind the front seats.

CBP Sees Narcotics Seizures Grow While Immigration Apprehensions Fall During Quarter in Southern California

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

San Diego – The amount of narcotics seized at ports of entry on the California-Mexico border increased substantially while the number of immigration apprehensions decreased during the first quarter of fiscal year 2007, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in San Diego announced today.

The quantity of drugs seized increased 22 percent to 60,792 pounds compared to the same three-month period the previous year when CBP officers confiscated 49,833 pounds, officials noted. The federal fiscal year began October 1.

Increases were noted in all classes of narcotics confiscated at California’s six border stations. The quantity of marijuana seized jumped 21 percent to 57,595 pounds; cocaine seizures climbed 57 percent to 2,362 pounds; heroin increased 30 percent to 28 pounds; and methamphetamine rose 49 percent to 807 pounds. The California ports of entry seizures represent 46 percent of all drugs confiscated at border stations on the Southwest border and 38 percent of all drugs seized at ports nationwide.

UA brings back speaker from Mexico

Human rights talk last year disrupted by protesters
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Published: 02.22.2007

An official with Mexico's National Human Rights Commission will return to the University of Arizona a year after members of an anti-illegal immigration group forced him to cancel a talk because he was speaking Spanish.

Members of Border Guardians disrupted a talk by Mexican Human Rights Inspector Mauricio Farah Gebara at the University Services Annex last spring when they demanded that the university provide an interpreter or that Farah speak English. When university officials explained that the talk was planned and advertised in Spanish, the protesters prevented Farah from speaking by telling him to "go back to Mexico," according to several witnesses.

New 'Sigo' card gives immigrants options

SAFER BANKING, WITHOUT SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS
It provides access to ATMs, online banking
Los Angeles Times
Published: 02.22.2007

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. A nonprofit worker center here called New Labor, which helps immigrants learn English and find jobs, in November became the first in the U.S. to offer the "Sigo" card - a combination of Spanish for "yes" and English for "go."

The New Brunswick center has distributed 300 cards. The program - which is affiliated with MasterCard - is under way at eight other worker centers across the country. Organizers hope to make it available to thousands of immigrants at 140 worker centers nationwide, enabling them to use ATMs and store credit card machines, pay bills online and avoid high fees for sending money home or cashing checks.

Man shot and wounded by border agent identified

DAVID L. TEIBEL

Published: 02.21.2007

A man shot and wounded by a U.S. Border Patrol agent this morning in Rio Rico has been tentatively identified as Fernando Ramos Cholio, 30.

He is being held under law enforcement at a Tucson Hospital with non-life threatening wounds and could face charges of threatening and assaulting a federal agent, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Antonio Estrada said this afternoon.

Estrada said the wounded man gave deputies a name, but, "sometimes, if they're here illegally, they'll give us false names."

The suspect carried no identification, Estrada added.

'Massive' march planned by pro-immigration camp

Feb. 22, 2007 12:00 AM

Pro-migrant activists plan to hold a "peaceful but massive" march May 1 in Phoenix, where they will call for immigration reform.

Up to 10,000 people are expected to demonstrate, organizer Lydia Hernandez said.

The buildup to the May event will include community forums about the state and federal lawmaking process, Hernandez said. With the education, the marchers should be informed and open to civic participation, she said.

Bandits attack migrants' car

3 gunmen open fire on vehicle in Chandler, kidnap driver

Sarah Muench
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 22, 2007 12:00 AM

Violence against groups of migrants by unknown armed bandits reached the Valley on Wednesday with a freeway attack in Chandler, the fourth similar incident in a month.

Three gunmen attacked a car carrying undocumented immigrants and kidnapped driver José Guzmán, who is believed to be a Mexican in his early 20s.

Guzmán, driving a car with five passengers, pulled off westbound Interstate 10 early Wednesday to get gas near Maricopa when two pickup trucks began to follow them, Chandler police said.

40 Immigrants Found in Trailer in Texas

Feb 20 9:02 PM US/Eastern

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) -- Forty Brazilian immigrants were found loaded inside a stifling tractor-trailer about 75 miles north of the Mexican border, authorities said. No injuries were reported.

Border Patrol agents discovered the immigrants Saturday at a highway checkpoint in Falfurrias, officials said. A patrol dog alerted agents to the scent of people.

"As soon as those agents opened the back of the trailer, they could just feel the heat coming from inside," said Border Patrol spokesman Oscar Saldana.

The driver, a U.S. citizen, was charged with smuggling, but his identity was being withheld.

Senate hearings on Ramos-Compean postponed

Democrats who want 'extreme' sentences probed blame 'scheduling difficulties'
Posted: February 20, 2007 7:57 p.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Senate Judiciary Committee hearings scheduled by Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., to investigate the prosecution of border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean and Texas Texas Sheriff's Deputy Guillermo "Gilmer" Hernandez have been postponed, WND has learned.

Sen. Feinstein told WND that scheduling difficulties were responsible for the cancellation of the Feb. 27 hearing and her office anticipates that a new hearing date will be set soon.

A spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he was disappointed to hear of the postponement, noting the senator's staff had done extensive work in preparation.

Smuggler's 2nd drug case confirmed by accomplice

Judge's gag order in border agents' case prevented jury from learning of situation
Posted: February 20, 2007 11:44 p.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A report by a Department of Homeland Security agent confirms the drug smuggler given immunity to testify against imprisoned border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean committed a second offense, which was hidden by prosecutors, and identifies the smuggler's accomplice.

As WND previously reported, El Paso Judge Kathleen Cardone sealed all information about smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila's second offense and refused to allow the defense to present the information to the jury.

Cardone placed the attorneys involved in the Ramos-Compean case under a gag order and threatened to prosecute the families if any member discussed publicly Aldrete-Davila's second drug-smuggling incident.

Mexico tightens jail terms for child abuse

REUTERS

8:52 p.m. February 20, 2007

MEXICO CITY – Mexico, one of many developing countries tarnished by a clandestine but thriving child sex industry, moved Tuesday to tighten jail sentences for abusers of minors to up to 30 years.

The law, approved by the Senate Tuesday after passing through the lower house last year, will lengthen prison terms and end the classing of sexual exploitation of children as a minor offense where convicts often get early release.

Priests, offenders charged with abusing underage family members and public sector employees like teachers or doctors who used their position to access children will automatically be given a double sentence, meaning up to 30 years.

Mexican official's SUV attacked near border

Associated Press

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico - Gunmen wielding assault rifles attacked a vehicle carrying federal Congressman Horacio Garza in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, wounding him and killing his driver Monday, just one day after the government announced a sweeping crackdown on drug-fueled crime in the area.

Garza was in stable condition after suffering gunshot wounds to the neck, leg and shoulder in the attack, but his driver, Hector Morales Juarez, died at the scene on a roadway leading to the city's airport.

"He's all right, he's stable, he's out of danger," Garza's wife, Carmen Galvan, told reporters outside the Specialized Hospital in Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo.

The city has been wracked by bloody turf battles between drug gangs, but police offered no immediate information on a possible motive in the attack.

Six Charged in ICE-led Probe that Nets Record California Heroin Seizure

Street value of drugs found in Anaheim home estimated at up to $6 million

SANTA ANA, Californa - Six suspects are in custody today in connection with an investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that culminated Wednesday night with the recovery of more than 120 pounds of brown heroin from an Orange County home, the largest seizure of Mexican heroin in California history.

The six defendants in the case, including four men from Mexico and two Anaheim women, appeared in federal court here yesterday where they are charged with possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, a violation that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The United States Attorney for the Central District of California is prosecuting the case.

The arrests and record heroin seizure came after ICE agents in San Diego received a tip from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the port of entry in San Ysidro about a possible heroin smuggling scheme. ICE, aided by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and officers from the Irvine and Anaheim police departments, traced the drugs to an Anaheim home at 1454 West Chevy Chase Drive. Wednesday night, authorities searched the residence, seizing the cache of heroin, along with more than 30 pounds of marijuana and three pounds of a substance believed to be methamphetamine.