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Daily news updates from CIS
September 4, 2009
Support CISNEWS by donating on line here: http://cis.org/donate
Daily morning news updates are available online at: http://www.cis.org/blog/5
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[For CISNEWS subscribers --
1. U.S. clears family visits to Cuba
2. NC senator's aide hosts immigration meeting (story, link)
3. AZ Rep. supporting checkpoint project
4. IL Rep. threatens radio chain with suit over ad
5. Report: Immigrants at higher risk of wage fraud
6. Report: Immigrants' sons at risk of obesity
7. CNMI seek further delay of federalization
8. VA gubernatorial candidate presses state-wide 287(g)
9. NJ Lt. Gov. hopeful blasts AG on enforcement
10. CO judge shuts down fraudulent firm
11. NC county jail to continue 287(g)
12. TN county sheriff mulls dropping 287(g)
13. Hawkish AZ county sheriff may run for governor
14. Boston program brings music to foreign kids
15. MA activists praise immigrant health care
16. NY amnesty activists to host youth summit
17. CO activists protest detention center expansion
18. Controversial apparel company pink-slipping 1,500
19. Mexican immigrant gives back to GA county
20. Columbian fitness guru leads FL exercise craze
21. AZ sweeps nab hundreds of gang members
22. Houston man guilty of cheating foreign worker (link)
23. Mexican jailed eight years on imm. convictions (link)
24. CA checkpoint snags 12 illegal aliens (link)
25. Illegal suspected of OK crash that killed elderly biker (link)
26. Illegal blamed for NJ collision (link)
27. Chinese immigrant accused of deadly wrong-way crash (link)
28. Illegal charged with rape of wife in TN (link)
-- Mark Krikorian]
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1.
U.S. Lifts Almost All Curbs on Family Visits to Cuba
By Karen DeYoung
The Washington Post, September 4, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/03/AR2009090303810.html?hpid=sec-world
The Treasury Department formally lifted nearly all U.S. restrictions on family travel to Cuba on Thursday, along with limits on how much money families can send to relatives on the island.
The department also eased regulations prohibiting U.S. telecommunications and satellite linkages between the United States and Cuba and licensing requirements for visitors engaged in agricultural and medical sales.
President Obama first announced most of the changes in April as part of a general opening that he said would allow Americans to reach out to the Cuban people, and he ordered Cabinet departments to take steps to implement the changes. Since then, the administration has also resumed a regular dialogue with the Cuban government on immigration issues and said it would move toward a resumption of direct mail service between the two countries.
The United States severed diplomatic relations with communist Cuba and first imposed a broad trade embargo during the Kennedy administration. Restrictions on travel and other nongovernmental contact have ebbed and flowed over the past five decades, with the tightest limits on family travel and remittances imposed during the administration of President George W. Bush.
U.S. citizens and residents were limited to family visits once every three years, and strict ceilings were placed on the amount and frequency of remittances. Although a congressional majority pushed through provisions exempting the sale of certain agricultural and medical goods from economic sanctions, the Bush administration set tight rules for allowing American sales representatives to travel to Cuba to negotiate the deals.
Obama has said the United States is not willing to explore a resumption of diplomatic ties with Cuba until it releases its political prisoners and the Cuban people are allowed democratic freedoms, measures that the government of President Raúl Castro, who replaced his brother, Fidel, last year, has shown no sign of undertaking.
Licensing for Cuba travel and remittances is regulated by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which officially amended its regulations Thursday.
The amendments expanded the definition of 'close relatives' -- previously limited to parents, spouses and children -- and said there would be 'no limits' on the frequency or duration of their visits to Cuba. Virtually all restrictions on money sent to Cuban family members were lifted.
The measure easing the sale of agricultural products was not part of the changes Obama initially announced, but it was pushed by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), who said in a statement Thursday that the change 'will make it easier for our producers to sell their goods to Cuba, and it makes good economic sense for family farmers in North Dakota and across the country.'
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2.
Immigration meeting draws crowd looking for changes
By Dioni L. Wise
The News Record (Greensboro, NC), September 4, 2009
http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/09/04/article/town_hall_meeting_on_immigration_draws_crowd_looking_for_changes
Greensboro, NC -- Sandra Hernandez is a naturalized citizen from El Salvador who lives in Alamance County with her children, Fernando and Leticia. But her husband, Francisco Javier Calderón, is thousands of miles away, she says, because of an inefficient immigration system.
Hernandez pleaded to Sen. Kay Hagan’s staff for better immigration policies along with dozens of reform advocates at the Congregational United Church of Christ on Thursday.
'Is it incompetence or ill will that is keeping him from us?' 12-year-old Fernando asked, as he translated for his mother, who spoke little English. 'How can it take six months to review a marriage license?'
Hagan, D-N.C., did not attend the packed town hall meeting. Her deputy state director, Tony Caravano, went in her stead.
'The main reason that Sen. Hagan has asked me to be here today was to listen,' he said.
An immigrant student, civic leaders and business people testified about the way the immigration system devastates families.
Hernandez, who owns a cleaning service, was naturalized in 1996. She said she has fought futilely for her husband’s citizenship ever since.
'Every time we get our hopes up, something goes wrong,' Fernando Hernandez said, from a statement offered by his mother.
'The consulate misplaces our papers, they need to interview him one more time, somebody who has to decide something is on vacation.'
In the current system, speakers said people invited to work from other countries aren’t provided visas, children of immigrants aren’t provided an affordable college education, and immigrant workers labor in terrible conditions.
Caravano read a statement from Hagan, saying that she would consider the speakers’ accounts in a comprehensive immigration reform package to be written as early as this month.
'The reform should cut back on waste, duplication and needless delays by reducing backlogs and streamlining the application process,' Caravano said.
'We could provide incentives for individuals and companies to follow rules by restoring common sense in the current system.'
Hagan opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants. She said in a statement this week that reform should focus on strengthening borders, strengthening guest worker programs and punishing businesses that knowingly hire illegal workers to cut off the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that North Carolina had about 350,000 illegal residents in 2008.
The Rev. Julie Peeples said after the gathering that she was pleased with the turnout.
'There was a great spirit in the crowd,' she said. 'There is obviously a huge desire to see immigration reform.'
The Rev. Maria Palmer, director of multicultural student affairs at N.C. A&T, encouraged the audience to call and write their congressmen repeatedly.
'Please don’t let this be a one-night sacrifice to be heard,' she said. 'The families cannot forget this for one night, one dinner.
'Please keep this in your hearts and act on it.'
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Greensboro Church Hosts Immigration Reform Meeting
By Sarah Lanse
The WFMY News (Triad, NC), September 3, 2009
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=129796&catid=57
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3.
'Staggering' flow cited in border-area checkpoint push
By Dan Shearer
The Green Valley News (AZ), September 3, 2009
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/09/03/news/doc4a9f787852cb1247661276.txt
Green Valley, AZ -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is heading back to Washington with an earful of advice on the Border Patrol checkpoint north of Tubac. But she supports moving forward with $1.5 million in improvements to create an interim checkpoint.
About 200 people showed up Wednesday to hear a Government Accounting Office pan-el discuss a new study on the effectiveness of interior checkpoints in the Southwest and to hear a Border Patrol response to the report that was critical of its accounting methods.
The GAO, called the 'eyes and ears' of Congress, is given free rein to independently study issues, and was asked in 2007 by Giffords, Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain and other lawmakers to launch the study.
The 147-page report, released Monday, says the 15 checkpoints in four Southwestern border states it studied are effective in seizing drugs and illegal immigrants. But it also said the Border Patrol uses flawed methods to measure just how effective, and to gauge the impact of its efforts on surrounding communities where smugglers go to evade checkpoints.
'We have failed in several areas,' said Robert Gilbert, chief of the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector.
'We have failed in several areas,' Tucson Sector Border Patrol Chief Robert Gilbert told the crowd in Green Valley. But he said the agency is working with universities and other agencies to develop monitoring systems and boost effectiveness.
Gilbert called the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants through Arizona 'staggering,' and said the Border Patrol will continue to push for a permanent checkpoint at kilometer 41, south of the tactical checkpoint at Agua Linda Road north of Tubac.
Giffords supports the interim checkpoint but would not say yet whether she supports a permanent facility. Congress has told the Department of Homeland Security it wants to measure the effectiveness of the interim checkpoint before it OKs a permanent one.
Just one of the 30 people who signed up to address the crowd Wednesday favored a permanent checkpoint, and that person was among a handful who didn’t get to speak because of time, according to Giffords’ staff.
Richard Stana, who led the GAO study team, checkpoints 'contribute to border security,' and that agents seize a large amount of drugs and illegal immigrants. He added that those apprehended help identify routes and offer other intelligence in the drug battle.
Stana said 4 percent of Border Patrol agents in the Southwest are at tactical checkpoints such as Tubac and are responsible for one-third of drug seizures. Gilbert said he has 10 percent of his agents in Arizona at the tactical checkpoints.
Stana said the key to a successful operation is continuous operation, full-time canine capability and nonintrusive inspections (X-ray technology), all hallmarks of a permanent facility. While the report acknowledged checkpoints are important, it said performance measures by the Border Patrol 'do not indicate if checkpoints are operating efficiently and effectively.' It also said lack of oversight resulted in the patrol overstating results in 2007 and 2008.
Stana said permanent checkpoints in other parts of the country have 'general support,' and residents do not want the facilities removed. This includes checkpoints in rural and urban areas.
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4.
Senate Hopeful Warns Station to Cancel Ad
By Chip Mitchell
The WBEZ News (Chicago), September 4, 2009
http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=36582
Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk’s campaign is warning a Spanish-language radio chain to cancel an ad that attacks him.
Kirk (R-Highland Park) represents suburbs north of Chicago in Congress. On the House floor two years ago, he endorsed providing contraceptives in developing countries. He said it would help reduce illegal immigration from Mexico.
An immigrant group ordered an ad ridiculing Kirk for that suggestion. The group says it scheduled 35 airings on three Univision stations in Chicago.
The ad says Kirk wants to send condoms to reduce births in Mexico.
But the ad is now on hold. Univision received a fax this week from Patton Boggs, a Washington law firm representing Kirk’s campaign. The fax points out that Kirk didn’t mention 'condoms' and claims Univision could face liability.
HOYT: Congressman Kirk would prefer to bully Univision Radio than to engage in a real conversation about what are solutions to our broken immigration system.
That’s Joshua Hoyt of Illinois Immigrant Action, the group behind the ad.
Kirk’s campaign and Univision declined to answer our questions.
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5.
How the Lowest-Paid Workers Get Ripped Off
A new study shows that low-wage workers are being deprived of dollars they've earned
By Liz Wolgemuth
US News and World Report, September 3, 2009
http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/careers/2009/09/03/how-the-lowest-paid-workers-get-ripped-off.html
In large cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, there's a good chance that the employee mopping up drips at the car wash, the delivery driver at the nearby gourmet grocery store, and the temp worker hired to do janitorial work are not being paid much. It turns out, there's also a good chance they are not even being paid what they've earned.
According to a new study, the average low-wage urban worker earning $339 a week is cheated out of $51 of that amount by an employer committing one or more workplace violations—such as paying less than minimum wage, refusing overtime pay, requiring off-the-clock work, or preventing workers compensation claims. Whether damning proof of the government's inability to adequately enforce labor laws or evidence of a need for stronger standards, the report offers insight into the working lives of an often under-the-radar demographic.
The study, funded by the Joyce, Haynes, Ford, and Russell Sage foundations, is based on interviews with 4,387 low-income workers—39 percent unauthorized immigrants, 31 percent authorized immigrants, and 30 percent U.S.-born citizens—in the first half of 2008. The median hourly wage for workers surveyed was $8.02, and the workers were in a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, construction, food service, and child care. Employing a method that uses social networks to recruit participants, the study focused on workers who tend to be the most difficult to survey. The questions asked were aimed at gaining accurate information about employer policies from workers who might not understand the law, and surveys were translated into languages that included Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Polish, and Haitian Creole.
More than two thirds of the workers surveyed had experienced at least one pay-related violation within the previous workweek, according to the study. Nearly a quarter worked off the clock and were rarely paid for it. And 76 percent of workers who had worked overtime were not paid the overtime rate, as required by law. More than two thirds of workers entitled to lunch breaks had either not received them, had them shortened, had been interrupted, or continued to work through their break.
More violations were found in certain industries than in others. Minimum wage violations were most common in apparel and textile manufacturing, personal and repair services, and in private households. Violations were lower in residential construction, social assistance and education, and home healthcare. Employees of businesses with more than 100 employees experienced violations less often than those who worked at smaller businesses.
Study coauthor Ruth Milkman, a sociologist at University of California-Los Angeles, says the study results provide convincing evidence that the enforcement of labor laws has been very limited. 'In that segment of the labor market, it also appears that employers have realized that enforcement is extremely unlikely and they can do this stuff without much fear of consequences,' Milkman says.
It's not clear how violations affecting low-wage workers compare with those who are paid more. Milkman suspects that overtime violations extend to groups of higher-earning workers. The researchers found that women, immigrants, and people of color were disproportionately more likely to experience a violation. Three quarters of the workers surveyed had a high school degree or less. Foreign-born workers were nearly twice as likely to experience minimum wage violations, and foreign-born Latino workers had the highest minimum wage violation rates of any ethnic or racial groups.
The study's authors argue that 'the best inoculation against workplace violations is ensuring that workers know their rights, have full status under the law to assert them, have access to sufficient legal resources, and do not fear retaliation.' This is, they point out, a near impossibility for unauthorized immigrant workers. 'Any policy initiative to reduce workplace violations must prioritize equal protection and equal status in national immigration reform, and ensure status-blind enforcement of employment and labor laws,' they write.
In the existing labor market, employers who hire illegal immigrants benefit from an unnatural balance of power, since undocumented workers have little leverage with employers who violate the regulations of the formal labor market, says Will Wilkinson of the Cato Institute. He believes there needs to be much greater integration in the labor market in North America and policies that give undocumented immigrants the status to live and work here.
According to the New York Times, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said her department was hiring 250 additional wage-and-hour inspectors. But greater enforcement of the existing workplace standards could complicate the route to employment for many illegal immigrants because they often rely on jobs that are below minimum wage as entry points in the U.S. job market and use those jobs to gain the skills to reach higher pay levels, Wilkinson says.
Milkman tells of interviewing a hotel worker whose supervisor would enter hotel rooms before her and take the tips that had been left for her. The worker also was required to work more hours than she was paid for. When she complained, she was essentially fired—told her services were no longer needed.
EDITOR’S NOTE: At time of publication, the Milkman study was unavailable online.
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6.
Sons of Immigrants Have High Obesity Levels, Report Finds
By Tara Bahrampour
The Washington Post, September 4, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/09/04/ST2009090400697.html
The sons of immigrants to the United States suffer from alarmingly high levels of childhood obesity, according to a new report funded by the Foundation for Child Development.
Thirty-four percent of kindergarten-age immigrant boys are obese or overweight, compared with 25 percent of the sons of native-born Americans, according to an analysis of data collected by the U.S. Education Department. By eighth grade, that number rises to 49 percent, compared with 33 percent among natives. No similar discrepancy was found among girls.
Adult immigrants do not tend to become overweight until they have been in the United States for a while and become more acculturated, but 'children from the newest, least acculturated immigrant families tend to be the most at risk of obesity,' said the report, 'Moving to the Land of Milk and Cookies,' which was released this week. It relied on a federal study that tracked 21,000 children from kindergarten to eighth grade, a quarter of whom were children of immigrants.
The higher level of obesity among sons of immigrants cut across socioeconomic levels and was most pronounced among those whose parents do not speak English, the study found.
It was most prevalent among newly arrived Hispanic immigrants and non-Hispanic white immigrants. Black children of immigrants do not face a higher rate of obesity than their native counterparts, and the problem does not show up among Asian children of new arrivals, although it does appear among children of Asian immigrants who have been in the United States for 15 or 20 years, said Jennifer Van Hook of Pennsylvania State University, the report's lead author.
Although the report did not study the reasons for the discrepancy, it cited likely factors such as the prevalence of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages in schools and in advertising directed at children, and the fact that new immigrants are often unaware of the risks of too much junk food or of opportunities for exercise.
Jeffrey Koplan, chairman of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Childhood Obesity and director of Emory University's Global Health Institute, said the findings do not surprise him. Many immigrants 'may be used to a more rural setting overseas where there's no access to soft drinks or they are too expensive, and here they find them all over the place and at a very low cost,' he said.
Van Hook said the obesity rates might be influenced by the tendency of immigrant children to take the lead in their families in deciding what to snack on, as well as children's tendency to acculturate faster than adults and to try harder to fit in with American peers.
'I think part of making it in America is to participate in American consumerism, and part of that is eating,' she said.
The stigma of obesity might be lower among new arrivals, particularly those from cultures in which extra weight is a sign of prosperity. 'A lot of immigrant families come from a place where obesity's not a problem for kids and under-eating is a problem,' Van Hook said, adding that in another study she and her colleagues had found obesity to be more pronounced among immigrants from less economically developed countries.
As to why the problem is more prevalent among boys, she said it might be because immigrant boys often have more freedom outside the home, whereas girls tend to be more protected and might watch their figure more.
Carmen Bonilla, 58, of Springfield said her family's diet has changed considerably since it moved to the United States from El Salvador two years ago, although she tries to provide nutritious food at home.
'I don't think American food is healthy, because they use a lot of oil, sugar, salt,' she said as she sat in the Springfield Mall's food court, where two of her grandchildren feasted on chicken nuggets and french fries and a third ate a kebab. 'We eat here only for fun.'
One of the nugget-eaters, Samuel, 8, said his father had told him that he should eat more healthfully. 'I agree,' he said, grinning, 'but this is my favorite food. I love the taste of it, fries especially.'
A few tables away, Elaine Cabling, 39, of Alexandria said her nephew Christian, 8, had gained a lot of weight since moving from the Philippines two years ago. 'We encourage them to eat vegetables, fruits, and drink milk and a lot of water,' she said as Christian ate from a container of chocolate chip ice cream. 'His mom is worried. She wants him to stop eating the soda and the candies.'
Some kids do tone it down after an initial fast-food binge. Kenda Yagura, 13, who moved with his family from Japan to Michigan two years ago, said that at first he dived into the culinary offerings of his new environment. 'I loved American food. I ate a lot of junk food. My parents said that they didn't like it, but I liked it.'
But his parents watched his diet, cooking Japanese food at home, and on a recent visit to the Pentagon Mall food court, he followed their example and ordered Thai noodles.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Foundation for Child Development can be found online at: http://www.fcd-us.org/
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7.
CNMI wants further immigration delay
By Gemma Casas
The Australia Network News, September 4, 2009
http://australianetworknews.com/stories/200909/2676697.htm?desktop
The administration of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) will ask the United States Congress to delay by another year a law bringing the territory's immigration system under federal control.
Acting governor Eloy Inos says they will join Northern Marianas congressman Gregorio 'Kilili' Sablan in asking the US Congress to delay the law handing control to the US Department of Homeland Security.
CNMI Senate President Pete Reyes says he, too, supports the move but admits it is a long shot, given the congressional process.
Mr Sablan told a group of local businessmen this week he supports the further delay because the federal government is not yet ready for a full takeover.
But Allen Stayman, a senior staffer of the US Senate who recently visited Saipan, says time is against the Northern Marianas to push for a legislative delay.
It took the Congress about a decade to pass legislation federalising Northern Marianas' immigration system.
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8.
McDonnell supports statewide immigration enforcement plan
By David Sherfinski
The Washington Examiner (DC), September 4, 2009
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/McDonnell-supports-statewide-immigration-enforcement-plan-8193799-57046147.html
Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell would move to expand a local immigration enforcement program statewide if elected, the former attorney general said.
The Republican said he would like to see Virginia State Police trained for the program, known as 287(g), which allows local law enforcement officials to enforce some federal immigration laws. Some local jurisdictions in the state, including Prince William and Loudoun counties, participate in the program.
'I have urged Governor Kaine for one and a half years to enter into [the] partnership,' he said in an interview with reporters and editors at The Washington Examiner. 'It would be a proper and limited tool to help us enforce the law.'
McDonnell said he has met with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials about six times, as well as leaders of the ethnic community, to make sure they knew what the program entailed and that it was 'not a subterfuge for profiling.'
Prince William County Police Chief Charlie Deane also has tried to assure residents that the department does not engage in racial profiling, and that crime victims and witnesses will be protected. A University of Virginia study released last month said that most citizens approve of the way Prince William police are enforcing the policy, but also that the county policy would be challenging to implement on a large scale.
McDonnell, however, said he was confident that the program could be expanded to the state level, adding that it was a 'legitimate and prudent' way to enforce the law.
Critics argue that the program lacks a clear directive and is not an effective solution.
'Creigh Deeds supports common-sense efforts to identify and deport undocumented immigrants in local jails,' said Deeds campaign spokesman Jared Leopold.
Leopold added that Deeds would oppose a statewide program that would force local governments to pay for what he said was a federal responsibility.
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9.
Lt. Gov. candidate Guadagno blasts N.J. Attorney General Milgram on immigration policy
By Chris Megerian
The Star Ledger (Newark, NJ), September 3, 2009
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/gop_lt_gov_candidate_guadagno_1.html
Trenton, NJ -- Chris Christie's running mate accused state Attorney General Anne Milgram of 'hate mongering' in a letter released today.
Kim Guadagno, the Monmouth County sheriff, said Milgram had spread inaccurate information when she cautioned local police departments interested in enforcing immigration law against illegally profiling residents.
Andrew MillsNew Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie, left, with his running mate, Kim Guadagno, the Monmouth County sheriff, in this July 20, 2009 photo.
'It is a sad day for law enforcement when its leader not only becomes politicized, but does so in a way that hurts the residents she is sworn to protect,' Guadagno wrote.
Milgram sent letters Friday and Tuesday to officials in three counties -- Morris, Hudson and Monmouth -- that are seeking to participate in the federal government's 287 (g) program, which trains local officers to enforce immigration laws. She cautioned them to avoid profiling and she said effective policing requires maintaining a 'positive relationship' with the community.
Milgram denied politics played any role in her letters, which followed moves by Morristown officials to deputize officers as immigration agents.
'It's relevant now solely for the fact that they were just granted the authority to do it and that the application process is happening as we speak,' Milgram said. 'We cannot allow profiling to occur and we can't allow pretextual arrests to occur.'
But Guadagno said Milgram's letter incorrectly implies Monmouth corrections authorities will be rounding up immigrants in the community.
'Because your letter so inaccurately characterizes the Monmouth program, you have incited an immigrant community in a way that can be fairly characterized as hate mongering,' Guadagno's letter states.
Christie has made consistent overtures to Hispanic voters as part of his effort to pry votes from the Democrats' urban base.
But several Hispanic leaders and immigration advocates said they became discouraged about Christie when he selected Guadagno to join his ticket. Critics accused Guadagno of capitalizing on suspicion towards immigrants to further her own political career.
Christie had also been critical of the 287 (g) program in the past. But he and Guadagno have said her application of the program does not promote intolerance or involve roundups, instead running federal background and immigration checks of those in the Monmouth County jail.
Speaking to reporters in Newark today, Gov. Jon Corzine backed Milgram, calling her guidelines 'very straightforward.'
He said enforcing federal immigration laws at the local level can be 'counterproductive to public safety' by creating distrust in the community.
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10.
Judge bars Immigration Center from operating
By John C. Ensslin
The Gazette (Colorado Springs), September 3, 2009
http://www.gazette.com/articles/immigration-61349-judge-company.html
A judge has granted a preliminary injunction against a Colorado Springs company accused of misleading customers into believing they were dealing with federal immigration officials.
Fourth Judicial District Judge Theresa Cisneros on Tuesday barred The Immigration Center from operations and continued a freeze on the company’s bank accounts until a hearing in May.
The Colorado Attorney General’s office filed a complaint against the company, alleging that it charged people $300 to $700 to provide standard immigration forms and assistance from untrained 'document specialists.'
Charles Doucette, one of people named in the complaint, appeared at the hearing without a lawyer and denied the charges. Doucette said he has shut down the operation at 2910 Wood Ave., gotten out of the immigration business and moved to Reno, Nev.
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11.
Sheriff plans to renew immigration enforcement agreement
By Robert Boyer
The Burlington Times-News (NC), September 3, 2009
http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/immigration-27858-sheriff-county.html
A federal/county illegal immigration enforcement program will continue at the Alamance County jail.
On Thursday, Sheriff Terry Johnson said there is 'no doubt' that he will sign a new memorandum of agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to maintain the 287(g) program, which has been in place at the jail since February 2007. The program, identifies and processes illegal immigrants taken into custody after officers arrest them on state charges.
Johnson didn’t give a specific time for putting his name on the dotted line, but said he will sign the new agreement once 'everything is sufficient to both parties.'
On July 10, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that all 287(g) agencies had to sign a new agreement within 90 days if they wanted to remain in the program.
Johnson and the sheriffs with 287(g) programs in Mecklenburg, Cumberland, Gaston, Henderson, Wake, Cabarrus and Guilford counties, along with Durham police Chief Jose Lopez Sr. and York County, S.C., Sheriff Bruce Bryant, met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Aug. 28 and shared their concerns about the new agreement. Among them is a directive requiring 287(g) agencies to release employee files to ICE investigators if they request them.
Turning over the files would violate state law, Johnson said.
Johnson said he is confident that snag can be worked out, though, and said he has 90 days from the date of the Aug. 28 meeting to sign the new accord.
Federal officials assured him at the Aug. 28 meeting that an ICE prohibition against the use of Tasers won’t affect his jail’s status as a 287(g) agency, Johnson said.
The issue arose after ICE officials gave the county jail a 'deficient' rating last December because of a sheriff’s policy that allows Tasers to be used on inmates. Inspectors initially gave the jail a rating of 'acceptable' after conducting an annual ICE detention standards compliance review in August 2008.
Local jails can have Tasers, but can’t use the electroshock weapons on federal detainees, according to the intergovernmental service agreements that governs 287(g), ICE spokesman Richard Rocha told the Times-News recently. In addition to that agreement, which Rocha said handles 'all of our needs and policies,' local agencies must sign a memorandum of agreement before they can take on 287(g).
Johnson has said he has no intention of changing his Taser policy. On Thursday, Johnson said the Taser prohibition doesn’t apply to his 287(g) program or local 287(g) inmates because they were arrested and placed in the county jail under state charges and therefore are not federal detainees.
Federal authorities knew about and didn’t have a problem with his jail’s Taser policy when they signed a 287(g) agreement with his office early in 2007, Johnson said.
A December 2008 overall review of the jail’s 287(g) program by ICE’s Management Inspections Unit seems to confirm Johnson’s current contention that the memorandum of agreement alone governs 287g) programs. But it also reports that Johnson, and some of his supervisors and deputies who work as 287(g) officers were confused about the issue.
As part of their summary, the reviewers reported that some sheriff’s officers 'incorrectly consider … the (jail’s) detention services to ICE, as provided under the Inter-Governmental Service Agreement contract, as part of its 287(g) operations. The 287(g) officers assigned to booking duties avoid processing arrestees brought to the jail by other law enforcement agencies in the county to compensate for having to handle ICE detainees transferred in under the IGSA contract.'
Reviewers went on to say that Johnson 'seems to consider' that the ICE detention services the county jail provided were part the jail’s 287(g) operation.
Johnson said Thursday that he has never considered that to be the case, but some of his officers might have been confused.
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12.
Federal immigration agency wants to limit public access to information about detainees, cases
By Travis Loller
The Associated Press, September 3, 2009
http://www.whnt.com/news/sns-ap-tn--icesecrets,0,5478516.story
Nashville, TN (AP) -- A Tennessee sheriff who's a strong backer of a program that lets local authorities enforce federal immigration laws may stop participating because of new restrictions that could keep secret basic information like who's been detained.
In a new standardized agreement between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local partners, information about suspects and cases would be part of a broad category of documents that the new agreement says 'shall not be considered public records.'
Sheriff Daron Hall of Nashville was one of the first to participate in the 287(g) program. He says public support for it would grow if ICE could offer data showing it works. And he says he will stop participating if the public records provisions in the new agreement aren't eased.
The new agreement also concerns immigrant rights and free speech advocates.
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13.
Arpaio may be considering run for governor
By Mike Sunnucks
The Phoenix Business Journal, September 3, 2009
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/08/31/daily75.html
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio could be considering a run for governor in 2010, according to rumblings around town.
The Republican sheriff has toyed with the idea, but never pulled the trigger on a gubernatorial run.
Arpaio, 77, was elected to his fifth term as sheriff in November despite his image as a polarizing figure in the state.
Arpaio’s name comes up as Gov. Jan Brewer struggles to close a budget deal with the Legislature and her popularity among conservatives wanes after backing a sales tax increase referendum. State Treasurer Dean Martin also is pondering a run against Brewer in next year’s GOP primary.
Jason Rose, a political consultant who does work for the sheriff, said Arpaio is popular and could be formidable in next year’s governor’s race.
'Anyone with polling numbers like the sheriff must be taken seriously. And 2010 will be the year when wearing the badge of state government will be a political scarlet letter,' Rose said.
Arpaio’s crime sweeps and raids on businesses suspected of hiring undocumented workers endear him to those who favor a get-tough approach to immigration, but prompt criticism from others, including Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard is expected to be the Democratic nominee for governor next year.
One complication to a possible Arpaio run is a state law requiring those running for a new office to step down from their current post.
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14.
Celebrating 100 years of community music
By David Weininger
The Boston Globe, September 4, 2009
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/09/04/celebrating_100_years_of_community_music/
The music began in a pair of settlement houses in 1910. Within those institutions, the Community Music Center of Boston initially offered education and a sense of community to recent immigrants. Since 1971, the center has been housed at the Boston Center for the Arts in the South End, but its mission has remained consistent: to provide music instruction to urban students of varying ages and skill levels. They include some 5,500 students each week, many of them enabled by the $150,000-plus in scholarships given out annually.
The Community Music Center is marking its centennial with a series of 100 concerts, the first of which is next Friday at the Boston Arts Festival in the North End’s Christopher Columbus Park. The concerts will run through June 2011 and will range from solo recitals and orchestral performances to jazz and world music. According to David Lapin, the center’s executive director, virtually all of the concerts will be free, and more than half will take place in Boston schools. The Boston Public Library will also host an exhibition of Center memorabilia from January through April.
Lapin says that in its first years, the center focused on Eastern European immigrant children and the small African-American population that had migrated from the South.
'Obviously, we have a much fuller orbit to travel today,’’ he says. The school’s population now includes students from Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. In the 1980s it began working with people with AIDS; more recently it has been reaching out to children with autism and older adults with Alzheimer’s disease.
'What we’ve tried to do, in each decade, is not simply look to respond to demand that’s out there for music lessons, but to create demand where it might not otherwise exist,’’ says Lapin, who has led the center since 1983. 'We’re not just waiting for people to come through the door; we’re trying to create new relationships in the community and nurture a demand for arts education generally.’’
That’s why the concerts - which Lapin calls 'a gift to the city’’ - will be as much about outreach as about public music-making. Many will feature students from schools with which the center has had long-running partnerships, but there will also be what Lapin calls 'reasonably high-end performers’’ in the recital series and in special events.
'It reflects the twin goals of access and excellence in both education and programming more generally,’’ Lapin explains. 'It’s part and parcel of what we do on a regular basis, but we’re trying to enhance the visibility of the music center and use [the concerts] as a way to not only celebrate the music center [but also] try to raise higher the banner of arts education throughout the city.’’
Some of the notable events include 'Performathon,’’ the center’s annual daylong fund-raising concert, and a student composer venture with the new-music ensemble Dinosaur Annex. One set of performances seems particularly intriguing: the entire cycle of Beethoven symphonies in arrangements for solo piano, four-hand piano, and two pianos. That series - which opens with the first two symphonies on Dec. 10 - should provide an interesting counterpart to the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s performances of the symphonies.
Like other arts institutions, the center has been affected by the recent economic downturn. Lapin found that 'the demand for arts education is relatively inelastic; people will still pay for education more than they might pay for tickets to a performance.’’ The largest decline has been in contributions: Lapin says that during the winter, 'no one knew what was going on, and so basically, people stopped giving for a few months. And that was pretty scary, quite frankly.’’
Though the situation has since stabilized, Lapin is taking nothing for granted. 'We’ll see,’’ he says. 'Like everyone else, we have more than one set of fingers crossed.’’
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15.
Immigrant health care coverage praised, but not 'ideal'
By Michael Morton
The Metro West Daily News (Framingham, MA), September 4, 2009
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1139673260/Immigrant-health-care-coverage-praised-but-not-ideal
Advocacy groups and hospitals are commending state officials for striking a deal to maintain health insurance for 31,000 low-income legal immigrants but are questioning the plan's implementation and financial burden.
'It was a real tough battle and I think the governor and Legislature came up with the best solution they could find,' said Joe Kirkpatrick of the Massachusetts Hospital Association. 'On the other hand, the solution doesn't leave patients and providers in an ideal situation.'
The immigrants include refugees, green card holders and others who have lived in the country less than five years, with many, if not all, paying taxes.
Although the group qualifies for the same state assistance afforded other low-income residents, the immigrants' coverage is not matched by the federal government and was initially subject to a budget cut by the state Legislature.
The Legislature later restored $40 million to the $130 million program, with the Patrick administration announcing a plan this week to maintain coverage for all 31,000 through a new private insurer, CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts.
The new coverage will be phased in across the state, with Boston first up next month and Metro West and Milford areas not scheduled to receive service until Dec. 1. Until then, the immigrants will receive more limited services through the Health Safety Net and a pared version of MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program.
When CeltiCare kicks in, hospital and doctor visits will still be covered, but dental, vision, hospice and skilled-nursing services will not. Many co-pays will also increase.
'We think it's a great step,' said Franklin Soults, spokesman for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, contrasting the plan will a complete coverage cut. 'But it's not the full enchilada.'
In addition to higher out-of-pocket costs and reduced services, Soults pointed to worries about CeltiCare's short history in the state and a so-far limited network of medical providers accepting its insurance.
'Those three things are things we'll continue to work on,' he said.
CeltiCare has pledged to expand its network, but among area hospitals only Metro West Medical Center takes its insurance, with Marlborough Hospital recently beginning discussions about rates.
While the plans of Milford Regional Medical Center and Newton-Wellesley Hospital could not be determined, the latter's corporate parent, Partners HealthCare, has committed up to $5 million for the state's immigrant coverage.
At Marlborough Hospital, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Dion said he was waiting for details of the CeltiCare plan, but said historically higher co-pays have caused hospital collection rates from low-income patients to fall.
'It's obviously a negative impact on hospitals,' he said, adding that financial considerations would not be taken into account when patients come for treatment. 'We'll still care for these people the way we always have.'
Staff at other area hospitals said they were not sure yet what financial impact the CeltiCare plan would have. But Kirkpatrick said his association's member hospitals were worried about what level of reimbursements CeltiCare might seek in negotiations, given the state's $40 million budget.
'There's a whole question about how that reduction will be accommodated, who will get the onus of the burden,' he said.
Additionally, Kirkpatrick said use of the Health Safety Net as a stopgap measure could cause a further shortfall at the underfunded program, one that hospitals might be called on to cover.
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16.
Latino leaders plan youth summit in Brentwood
By Sumathi Reddy
Newsday (NY), September 3, 2009
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/latino-leaders-plan-youth-summit-in-brentwood-1.1420531
Latino leaders gathered Wednesday at Timberline Park in Brentwood, the site of several recent gang-related shootings, to promote what they are billing as the region's first-ever youth summit.
Though being promoted by Latino and immigrant advocates, the event - to be held at the park on Sept. 19 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. - is open to all youths, organizers said.
'We're always talking about children and our future, and yet we don't listen to them,' said Luis Valenzuela, executive director of the Long Island Immigrant Alliance.
'The answer's always because you don't vote,' he added. 'But you know what, we're going to change that. We're going to get all the youth of Long Island activated, mobilized to participate in civic life.
Ed Roldan, a community organizer for the alliance, said the event would feature music performances and art displays and information booths on issues including health, education and civil liberties, along with advocacy groups.
Timberline Park was chosen to symbolize that the community lays claim to the park, not the gangs that have threatened it, organizers said. The park has been the site of several shootings. In June, a 13-year-old was shot by an alleged gang member when authorities say he was mistaken for a rival gang member.
'We were here tragically before because this is the spot where young Wilson Batista was shot,' said Legis. Ricardo Montano (D-Brentwood). 'He lays still in the hospital with brain injuries. Within the last several of weeks, we've had a number of gang-related . . . shootings in this community involving our young people. I think we've reached a point where we as a community say enough.'
Roldon said gang activity would not be a topic at the summit. 'Everything's going to be positive,' he said. 'Everything going to focus on education.'
The event will also highlight the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, commonly known as The DREAM Act. The federal bill would give undocumented immigrants who graduate from a U.S. high school and meet certain criteria the right to receive some types of aid and join the military; it would also grant them a path to citizenship after completing two years of college or military service.
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17.
Vigil set to oppose detention center’s expansion
By Adam Goldstein
The Aurora Sentinel (CO), September 3, 2009
http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2009/09/03/news/metro_aurora/doc4aa07f613e86a128645408.txt
Aurora, CO -- A local consortium of religious leaders and community representatives will gather for the fifth month in a row to protest the coming expansion of a privately managed detention center.
The American Friends Service Committee, the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado and the Council of Churches are set to hold a prayer vigil at 6 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Colorado Immigration and Customs Enforcement center near East 30th Avenue and Smith Road. Organizers of the event say they plan to protest the center’s current operations, its planned expansion and the wider state and federal policy toward such immigration detention centers.
'Our concern is that when the center expands toward the end of the year, we’re going to see increased detention of people who are key members of our communities,' said Jennifer Piper, the organizing director for immigrant rights for the American Friends Service Committee. 'We want to talk about whether this is the best use of our money and our energy.'
Last year, Aurora’s planning commission approved plans to expand the ICE structure — which was approximately 200,000 square feet and held beds for about 400 prisoners — to add capacity for approximately 1,100 new prisoners. The GEO Group, Inc., a privatized correctional and detention management firm based in Boca Raton, Fla., currently owns and operates the center. The firm has estimated the expansion’s cost about $65 million.
Piper said that the vigil will mark the fifth such event held in as many months.
'There is a serious community of people who have become really serious and interested in this issue,' Piper said. 'Each month, it’s been slowly growing. It’s definitely something that I think people find morally compelling.'
The vigil will include appearances by local religious leaders and representatives from several immigrants rights organizations.
Last year, the proposed expansion drew vocal protests from several area immigrants rights groups, who decried the extension as immoral and questioned The GEO Group’s treatment of prisoners.
But GEO representatives have stressed the positive impact of the facility for the city. Last year, GEO Group Chairman, Founder and CEO George Zoley claimed that the expansion would expand the facility’s payroll from $7.7 million to $21 million and usher in a total of $122 million in local impact. According to The GEO Group’s calculations, such a facility at 90-percent capacity would net an annual revenue of $30 million.
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18.
American Apparel Sets Layoffs Tied to Probe
By Miriam Jordan
The Wall Street Journal, September 4, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125201213087984483.html
Hip clothing maker American Apparel Inc. will lay off more than a quarter of its factory work force in Los Angeles amid a probe by U.S. immigration authorities -- an early indication of how the Obama administration crackdown on employers of illegal immigrants could play out.
In early July, the company announced that it had been notified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, that 1,600 of it is 5,600 factory employees, who are largely Hispanic immigrants, might be in the U.S. illegally. An American Apparel spokeswoman said that about 1,500 workers would be terminated in coming weeks.
In a letter to employees in English and Spanish, Chief Executive Dov Charney said he was 'deeply saddened' that the company has to shed workers who have been at the company for several years.
Mr. Charney, a champion of immigration reform, promised to give the workers priority for jobs when 'you are able to get your immigration papers in order.'
Virginia Kice, an ICE spokeswoman, declined to comment on the American Apparel dismissals. She said that whenever the agency conducts an audit, 'we get back to the company with specific documents about individuals working without employment authorization. It is incumbent upon the employer to determine the appropriate next steps.'
On July 1, Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano announced that ICE, a unit of her agency, had begun audits of 652 companies as part of a new strategy to focus immigration enforcement on employers. That number has since grown, according to ICE officials. By specifically targeting employers, the agency is reversing its tactics during the Bush administration, when it relied on high-profile raids at factories. The raids rounded up hundreds of workers but rarely resulted in penalties for the companies.
American Apparel is likely to face thousands of dollars in penalties for hiring workers who weren't eligible to be employed. The government has said fines may exceed $800 per employee.
Companies that employ low-skilled workers in agriculture, manufacturing and hospitality have been bracing for the crackdown, saying they have no way to ascertain whether the identification presented by workers to secure jobs is authentic.
As of Sept. 8, all federal contractors will need to use an electronic system known as E-verify to determine the employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers. Critics say the system is imperfect and encourages racial profiling.
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19.
Former immigrant giving back to Colquitt County
By Adelia Ladson
The Moultrie Observer (GA), September 3, 2009
http://www.moultrieobserver.com/local/local_story_246214633.html
Ellenton, GA -- Luz Cooper came to Colquitt County as an immigrant and, finding opportunities here that she did not have before, wants to give back to the community that has helped her.
'I would not think twice about helping the community. I am the Colquitt County creation,' she said smiling.
Cooper is from Veracruz, Mexico, and came here to work in 1999 on the H2A visa program. She said language was her biggest barrier and she was scared because she did not understand.
'It was like I was blind. ... I was glad to find the Ellenton Clinic with the ESL classes,' she said.
She said the clinic was offering the classes through the Children Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) program.
'So, I started to study with them,' she said.
She worked in the fields for five years and would try to stay awake at night to study her English, she said.
Cooper said the teachers encouraged her to continue her education and she was able to take her G.E.D. in English.
'That is something I always wanted to do. After I took my G.E.D., I was ready to take the next step,' she said.
She enrolled in Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and after taking one more class, she will enroll in the nursing program, she said. She also said that nursing was something she had wanted to do since she was a little girl.
'It’s great that I have the opportunity to do it here. ... My good luck continued. I was a CYFAR child,' she said with a laugh.
She was offered a job with the CYFAR program, which assisted the families that are at risk, she said.
'Families have little control over that,' she said.
The program, which was discontinued in June of this year, took information to those families on crime prevention, child abuse, health, hygiene and home buyers information.
'I’ve seen a great improvement in these families,' she said.
She said they were more conscious about their health and how to take care of their children. She said she has seen a lot of good things happen because of the program.
Cooper has also been working with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP.) She said it focuses on teaching families how to prepare meals that are nutritious, cheap, easy and fast.
'Better snacks for children and better food options for pregnant women,' she added.
She said she has always thought about helping people and she wanted to give back to the community what she had received.
'Now, I want to share this with other people. ... I feel that I have a lot to give back,' she said.
She said all the time that she has lived in Colquitt County, the people have been so nice and helpful. She said people like Cynthia Hernandez, Debbie Purvis and now Andrea Scarrow have been important to her life.
'Mrs. Cynthia has been there for me since I came to the United States,' she said.
Among her other achievements, Cooper is also a graduate of Leadership Georgia and is a facilitator for Emerging Leaders, a local leadership program.
She said the favorite part of her job was being with people, working with them one-to-one and being able to meet their needs with the programs available. She said when she sees how her families have changed, it gives her a sense of empowerment.
'That motivates you a lot. No matter how many hours you spend with them. Just keep going,' she said.
She said she has seen much improvement over the years in the conditions of the families she works with. She believed that lack of information was the biggest part of the problem. She said she wants to teach people what she has learned.
'We teach about 30 or 40 families each year,' she said.
She said the program will expand to about 75 families per year.
She said she remembered how it had been to work in the fields — especially in the extremes of hot, cold and wet. She said she would have cuts on her hands from nicking herself while cutting greens and still has some scars to remind her.
'Now that I’m here, I think about them and how hard it is for them,' she said.
She said she didn’t think the people who created the programs she worked for really realized 'how wonderful' they were and how much they changed people’s lives. Cooper, who was a past client of these programs and is now a facilitator of these programs, seems to be a testament to that.
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20.
Zumba Fitness: Colombian immigrant is behind fitness craze
By Victor Manuel Ramos
The Orlando Sentinel (FL), September 4, 2009
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_hispanicaffairs/2009/09/zumba-fitness-colombian-immigrant-is-behind-new-fitness-craze.html
People are trying the steps in their homes. They are signing up for classes in gyms and some have performed it in public parks.
It's called Zumba, the latest fitness craze that consists of aerobics dancing to the tunes of Latin music.
The fitness program was created by a Colombian immigrant in Florida. According to a Zumba Fitness publicist, it has spread to more than 75 countries and has more than 5 million followers.
Zumba creator Alberto 'Beto' Pérez, a choreographer, is visiting Orlando this week as part of a convention of Zumba instructors taking place until Sunday at the Orange County Convention Center.
More than 2,000 of his Zumba fanatics were expected to attend during the weekend, as they seek to perfect their moves and learn new programs that Pérez's company is unveiling.
But success didn't come easily, said the 39-year-old Pérez, who found himself alone and penniless in the streets of Miami when he came to Florida to sell his big idea.
'I had the dream of being someone important in the world of fitness,' Pérez told the Orlando Sentinel's Hispanosphere.
Beto Perez, creator of Zumba -- Zumba Fitness picture It all started in Cali, Colombia, when Pérez was a budding aerobics and dance instructor at 17 years of age. One day he forgot his usual aerobics music tape for class and instead used popular Latin music. He discovered that it allowed him to come up with some new exercise moves.
'People sweat a lot and were happy and I thought 'I have something here,'' Pérez said. 'I started a program that I called Latin aerobics.'
He traveled to Brazil to promote his new aerobic dance style, but soon decided he had to be in the United States to reach a worldwide audience. He didn't have a permanent visa, so he started visiting the U.S. for several months at a time. He would knock on doors, try to get jobs at gyms or fitness clubs, only to return to Colombia to hatch new plans.
On his third try, he ended up homeless, sleeping at a Miami park. But he returned to Colombia and sold everything he had to give it another try.
He started his new life in the U.S. with $800, which went quickly for the first month of rent and the purchase of a beat-up Pontiac car.
That's when he met Alberto Pearlman, who joined him as a business partner and worked with him to produce the first Zumba exercise video in 2002. The video not only sold, but created demand beyond their wildest expectations.
They tapped a dormant market for a fitness program that would make exercise fun by combining it with the dances of popular Latin rythms such as cumbia, merengue, salsa and reggaetón.
'We realized that people who take part in the program feel as if they were at a party or at a concert, but at the same time are doing exercise,' Pearlman said. 'And we have found Zumba is an effective class that burns lots of calories.'
Looking back at his success, Pérez thinks all the struggle of walking up and down Miami streets, carrying his VCRs and music CDs to show his idea from place to place, was worth it.
An immigrant with a dream, and the determination to make it happen, can succeed in the United States, he said.
'I had my dream, which would have seemed impossible, but I got even more than I expected,' Pérez said. 'I never expected to change lives, that people could lose a lot of weight, or that cancer survivors would come to me and attribute their healing to the exercise, or that people would come out of depression, or that the elderly could do these exercises.'
His explanation for all that happened: 'You play Latin music for people and they are filled with life.'
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21.
Hundreds of suspected gang members arrested in sweeps
By Nathan Gonzalez
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), September 3, 2009
http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2009/09/03/20090903mr-gangarrests0904.html
Southeast Valley police agencies, together with state and federal authorities, arrested 271 suspected gang members and seized guns, drugs and vehicles in two gang taskforce operations.
The 17-day Operation Lone Star, which began in April and ended May 16, resulted in 144 arrests, including 64 known gang members, according to figures released this week.
The second gang taskforce, Operation Summer Surge, was held Aug. 12 to 29 and resulted in 127 arrests and the seizure of a half-pound of heroin.
Interim Mesa Police Chief Vicki Myers said the operations should send a message that gang members are never welcome anywhere in the East Valley.
'We will not tolerate gang activity, not now, not ever,' Myers said.
The taskforce involved gang detectives with Mesa, Apache Junction, Chandler, Scottsdale and Tempe police who worked with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, Maricopa County Adult Probation and agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
'In these times of tough economic resources, it is these East Valley agencies that make things like this very successful,' said Apache Junction Police Chief Jerald Monahan.
In Operation Lone Star, detectives served eight search warrants, seized nine guns, three vehicles, three sets of body armor and more than 80 pounds of marijuana. In Summer Surge detectives served six search warrants and seized two guns and a half-pound of heroin.
While authorities applauded both operations as successes, Mesa Police Lt. Tony Labalos said recent increases in violent gang-related crime in the Valley mirrors the increase in gang members.
'We all continue to be in budget crisis, but our gang members are not,' he said. 'Our gang members continue to grow.'
Gangs have changed since the 1990s and have become more violent, Labalos said. Today more are involved in armed robberies and home invasions, which have been on the increase locally.
Between from January to July robberies were up in the city 12 percent over the same period last year, according to police statistics. Included in those figures are several home invasions, where residents were tied up and robbed at gunpoint.
Mesa Assistant Police Chief John Meza has worked the city's gang issues for much of his 23-year career with Mesa police. In previous years gang members were quick to retaliate violently against rivals, but that appears to have changed, he said.
'Gang members now see it as a business,' Meza said, noting that when drugs and cash are seized many gang organizations take it as a 'business loss.'
However, that's not to say gang members won't retaliate with violence if someone loses drugs and cash to police.
Still, taskforce operations such as the two this summer act as deterrents to gang activity in the East Valley, Meza said.
'That sends a strong message to the gang members that this is an all-the-time-thing, that we aren't going to let up,' Meza said.
'We have been fighting gangs for 50 years and it gets better the way we do it,' Meza added. 'You see different (police) uniforms and you see different agencies, and that's how you attack gangs.'
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22.
Houston man guilty of bilking immigrant worker
By Dale Lezon
The Houston Chronicle, September 4, 2009
A Houston man has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay more than $140,000 in back wages after he pleaded guilty to visa fraud for not paying a woman the amount he promised her when he brought her to the United States from Saudi Arabia to work for him.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6602417.html
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23.
Mexican man sentenced for immigration violations
The Associated Press, September 3, 2009
Phoenix (AP) -- Arizona authorities say a Mexican man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for multiple immigration convictions.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13262655
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24.
CHP: Feds arrest 12 in immigration raid at Lake Tahoe
By Kyle Magin
The Sierra Sun (CA), September 3, 2009
Kings Beach, CA -- Federal immigration officers arrested 12 suspected illegal immigrants after stationing near a recent DUI checkpoint on Lake Tahoe's North Shore, a California Highway Patrol officer said Thursday.
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http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20090903/NEWS/909039997/1056/NONE&parentprofile=1056
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25.
Suspected Illegal Immigrant Has Criminal History
By Abbie Alford
Fox23 (Tulsa, OK), September 3, 2009
A suspected illegal immigrant accused of hitting and killing 74-year-old Beverly Duffield on her bike this week has prior arrests.
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http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Suspected-Illegal-Immigrant-Has-Criminal-History/DIzXVV0VWEqL0Fyz059mlQ.cspx
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26.
Illegal immigrant blamed for serious Upper Deerfield crash
By Sean C. McCullen
The News of Cumberland County (NJ), September 3, 2009
Upper Deerfield Township, NJ -- An unlicensed, illegal immigrant seriously injured an Atlantic County woman when she crashed her SUV into the woman's car after running a red light at Irving Avenue and South Woodruff Road on Wednesday, according to state police.
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http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2009/09/illegal_immigrant_blamed_for_s.html
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27.
Chinese immigrant to stand trial for wrong-way head-on crash
By Bobby Kerlik
The Tribune Review (Pittsburgh), September 4, 2009
A Chinese immigrant from Maryland was ordered this morning to stand trial for vehicular homicide for driving the wrong way on I-279 en route to the Three Rivers Arts Festival and crashing his vehicle head-on into a Green Tree driver.
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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_641610.html
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28.
Illegal Charged in Wife's Beating
By Jill Monier
Fox 13 (Memphis, TN), September 2, 2009
Memphis, TN -- An illegal immigrant and convicted felon made his first court appearance Wednesday in Bartlett. He's charged with beating and raping his wife, in front of their children.
Police say it happened on the 6000 block of Fairway Heights Cove, Monday. Bartlett police say they have not been called to the home before. Neighbors, who knew the family well, say they were quiet and friendly. They say the whole incident turns their stomach.
Neighbor Scott Phillips says, 'When you live on the same street with people and see them taking care of their yard and their children, their children played with our children, to us we took it all personally.'
Police say, around 11pm, 33-year old Marcelino Navarro-Calderon savagely beat his 25-year old wife and raped her. Police reports show blood covered the bed, floor and walls.
Court documents show he admitted to firing two gunshots in her direction, although did not hit her.
Neighbors called police. The couple's 4 little boys, all under the age of 6, asked officers if their 'mommy was going to die.'
Lt. Rory Mack with Bartlett Police says, 'Officers made entry into the bedroom where found victim lying on the floor face down who had been bound, tied up.'
Navarro-Calderon was arrested and charged with attempted first degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, rape and unlawful possession of a weapon. Detectives say he has a rap sheet from California, dating back to 1996.
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http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/tennessee/090209_Illegal_Charged_in_Wifes_Beating
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********Center for Immigration Studies
1522 K St. NW, Suite 820
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076
center@cis.org www.cis.org
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