Tuesday, August 6, 2002

American Border Patrol "A Good Idea" Muriel Watson - Widow of Border Patrol official and force behind "Light Up the Border." Muriel Watson - the force behind the movement to build the San Diego border barrier. Interview -- May 12, 2000 Glenn Spencer: We could have "snapshot at the border" Watson: That's a good idea. Have folks take pictures. Spencer: And we could put them on the Internet so everybody could see. Watson: Absolutely, and the rest of the country. You know the folks in Iowa and North Dakota and all of those areas have absolutely no idea of the problems we have down here. Click here to join American Border Patrol Network and get a free video, "The American Border Patrol Story." Specify VHS or DVD in comments section. Past Features   About American Border Patrol

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Media Watch

Tom Tancredo - 8 AM Pacific - Thursday, August 8 Mike Rosen Show - KOA - 850 AM - Denver - Listen on the internet

Associated Press Mexicans set up new fifth-column cheerleader office Vicente Fox inaugurated a new outreach council Tuesday that will represent the 20 million Mexicans living in the United States and replace a popular presidential office for migrant affairs that his government dissolved last month. -- In a ceremony at the presidential residence Los Pines, Fox said the new Council for Mexicans Abroad will allow "more facets of the federal government to devote more attention" to the needs of Mexicans living and working in America. -- "We are reinforcing our close relationship with our co-nationals outside the country," Fox said. "We are taking a strong step forward in our efforts to meet their demands and defend their human rights."

Reuters Migrant deal not likely Security concerns and an upcoming overhaul of the INS mean Mexico is unlikely to get an agreement on immigration with Washington any time soon, analysts said on Tuesday. -- President Vicente Fox of Mexico wants an immigration deal with the United States that would allow migrant workers to work legally and make more immigrant visas available for Mexicans. -- Fox is the only foreign head of state Bush will receive during his August vacation in Texas. No agenda has been announced so far, although in the past Fox has made immigration the top issue in bilateral relations.

CNS News BP Vows More Security on the Way The U.S. Border Patrol plans to deploy an additional 170 agents on the U.S./Canadian border in the next 30 to 60 days, according to a spokesman for the agency, who responded Tuesday to criticism that little has been done to beef up security since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. -- The Detroit News, in its Tuesday edition, quoted unidentified border patrol officials as saying there was little prospect for beefing up security along the 5,500 mile U.S./Canadian border any time soon, especially in the Detroit area where millions of people pass through border checkpoints every day.

UPI - NewsMax.com Millions of Mexican Illegal Aliens Endanger U.S. Security The millions of Mexican illegal aliens in the United States endanger national security by creating a demand for false identity documents and smuggling networks that could also assist terrorists, experts said Tuesday. -- The three experts, speaking at a panel hosted by Nixon Center and Center for Immigration Studies, also said that amnesty for Mexican illegal aliens in the United States should not be considered until immigration enforcement at the U.S.-Mexican border is strengthened. -- Robert Leiken, a guest scholar at Nixon Center, said that Mexican illegal aliens themselves did not pose a terror threat. But operating in the shadow economy, they help to undermine the rule of law in the United States and in Mexico, he said.

Orange County Register Fox offers ousted migrant-affairs chief a job as historian Vicente Fox has offered a former literature professor who was forced out of his post as Mexico's migrant-affairs chief an obscure new job, asking him to become presidential historian. -- Fox's office said Juan Hernandez, who has dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship, could become Coordinator of Presidential Records, a new position that would see him chronicle Fox's activities, prepare reports on the administration's accomplishments and start an Internet site devoted to the Mexican presidency.

Arizona Daily Star Candidate opposes military on border Republican Ross Hieb is hoping his role in Yuma politics and civic groups helps propel him into Congress. -- A retired Marine colonel and Harrier attack-jet pilot, Hieb held a seat on the Yuma City Council, heads the local United Way chapter and is involved in other civic groups. -- Now he wants to lead the new Congressional District 7. -- His support for keeping a strong military presence in the region, however, does not include expanding its role to include border enforcement.

Rocky Mountain News Illegal charged in INS caper An illegal immigrant is charged with impersonating an immigration agent to arrest a fellow Iranian and search his east metro apartment. -- Peyman Bahadori, also known as Paul Badori, flashed a round badge with a star on it, threatened to shoot one witness to the arrest and even persuaded four Aurora police officers to help him, according to documents unsealed Monday in Denver U.S. District Court. -- Bahadori is an illegal resident of the United States with a criminal record, according to the documents.

Arizona Republic Mexican government frustrates migrants The Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry is making every effort to let migrants know it cares about them by introducing a National Council for Migrants Abroad at a ceremony today at Los Pinos, the Mexican presidential palace. -- But some U.S. migrant leaders, angry over the closing of the President's Office for Migrant Affairs three weeks ago, don't plan to attend. -- "With the installation of the council, the President's Office for Mexicans Abroad disappears," several leaders said Saturday in a news release that also was sent as a letter to President Vicente Fox. "We do not accept that change. We will not endorse with our presence a decision we judge contrary to the dignity and interests of migrants."

Modesto Bee SEALs launch efforts to diversify its ranks It's one of the most elite units in the U.S. military, but the Navy SEALs are finding one of their toughest battles is on the home front. -- The Navy's special warfare branch, historically one of the whitest segments of the U.S. military, is making an ambitious effort to increase the number of blacks, Hispanics and Asians in its ranks. And the campaign, now in its third year, is beginning to show results. -- Between 1997 and this year, the percentage of minorities among the 1,600 enlisted SEALs has risen from 9 percent to 13 percent....

KLAS - Las Vegas Will Vegas Taxpayers subsidize UMC's $6-million-year loss? University Medical Center trustees say the hospital must care even for the uninsured, but that has come at a hefty price. -- University Medical Center is reportedly losing $6 million this fiscal year. Now Clark County taxpayers may be asked to subsidize the hospital budget for the first time in a decade. -- Hospital officials blame an increase in uninsured patients for the budget shortfall. [Also see: Hispanic immigrants flocking to Las Vegas]

N.Y. Times (Free Registration) Alien trespasser deaths up ...Even though deaths along the border have declined over all as the slumping American economy has attracted fewer migrants, the toll is reaching record rates in the most remote and dangerous outposts. To avoid the stepped-up border patrols in populated areas, the most desperate migrants cross in the more unguarded and desolate deserts of Arizona and California. [Mexican 'border czar' tells deported illegals, "try again", then crackpot Marxist blames U.S. when accidents happen.]

N.Y. Times (Free Registration) N.Y. income gap caused by mass immigration The New York Times reports on researcher's conclusions regarding the drop in median income in New York City. "The surprising drop in median income in New York City that has puzzled demographers studying the results of the 2000 census appears to be traceable in large part to immigration, according to new census data that show income declines concentrated heavily in neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens that have become magnets for new arrivals." [Also see: Importing Poverty]

WorldNetDaily.com Activists want tougher policies to deter terrorism, security called 'atrocious' Immigration-reform advocates and lawmakers are among a growing number of people concerned that U.S. borders remain dangerously porous nearly a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, largely because immigration-enforcement policies continue to be ineffective. -- Government officials disagree, but many experts and analysts say border-security deficits still exist and on many levels are even compromising efforts to increase homeland defense ­ especially at a time when U.S. intelligence believes the war on terrorism could hit home again in the form of new attacks.

Agence France-Presse California looking to give bucks to former Mexican farm laborers The government of California is looking to contact "hundreds" of former farmers in Mexico who at one time worked in the U.S. to hand over "thousands of dollars," [MEChA boy] California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante said in Mexico City on Monday. -- Bustamante said California would establish telephone numbers so former farmers can call free of charge to find out how to receive their pensions. -- In the last few years, the UFW has found thousands of retired farmers who were eligible to receive payments.

Agence France-Presse Mexicans blame U.S. for deaths A total of 52 Mexicans died trying to enter the U.S. illegally in July, the Foreign Relations Secretariat reported Monday. -- This year, 231 people have died along the Mexico-U.S. border - 169 of them Mexicans - and another 800 came close to death. -- The Mexican government said the higher death toll resulted from tougher border security, which forced the estimated 1 million people who attempt to cross the border annually to seek more remote and difficult terrain along the border. [Mexican 'border czar' tells deported illegals, "try again"]

The Mercury News  Judge blocks ban on day workers A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a key part of a Los Altos law intended to prevent day laborers from causing traffic jams and safety hazards by trying to solicit work from passing motorists in certain areas. -- The preliminary injunction issued Friday by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel leaves part of the ordinance in effect, pending resolution of the case. Los Altos may continue to cite workers and anyone else who solicits moving vehicles in a posted "no vehicle solicitation'' zone along El Camino Real.

Associated Press Immigration judge prevents man's deportation The federal government cannot deport a legal immigrant from the West Bank for failing to report a change of address, an immigration judge in Atlanta ruled Monday. -- The INS wanted to deport Thar Abdel-Jaber, a 30-year-old father of five, because he broke a law requiring noncitizens to report address changes. The law is rarely enforced, but Attorney General John Ashcroft said last month that will change.

We Get E-Mail Border 'war zone' his priority Joe Sweeney is describing his frustration with the government's inability to control the flood of illegal border crossers pouring into the Arizona desert from Mexico. -- "The border has become a war zone," said Sweeney, one of three Republicans facing off in the Sept. 10 primary election for the right to face one of eight Democrats and one Libertarian also in the race. "It's the damnedest, depressing thing, to see people crossing like a bunch of hyenas."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Windtree takes on gangs Attention gangs, burglars and thieves: Residents of the Windtree neighborhood aren't yielding any turf. -- In just over a month, they have banded together to combat persistent graffiti and robberies that threaten to send the diverse working-class neighborhood into a tailspin between Lilburn and Norcross. -- Latino gangs have spray-painted the fence in the past with messages such as "Los Malditos" --- "the bad ones," --- and "I87," the Los Angeles police code for murder.

Arizona Daily Star Border Edition  Anti-water station suit tossed out by judge A Superior Court judge has decided to throw out a lawsuit filed against Pima County and Humane Borders. -- In April, six Pima County residents filed a lawsuit alleging that $25,000 spent by the county to help establish water stations in the desert last year violated state law. County supervisors approved the expenditure about a month after 14 Mexican migrants died of exposure near Yuma.