Tuesday, December 31, 2002

A Message from American Border Patrol ABP - Sierra Vista - 11:15 AM PST American Border Patrol will be using it's e-mail alert system to send out an important message between now and 11 PM Pacific time today, December 31. If you do not receive this message and are subscribed to the ABP e-mail alert system you may have to re-subscribe, as often subscribers change their e-mail addresses and forget to notify us. Click here and fill out the form to subscribe or to re-subscribe. Past Features   ABP Updates

ABP - Sierra Vista ABP BorderCam Alert Software Available Now The BorderCam Alert 2.0 software is a program designed to keep you informed. This software will alert you whenever we are in the field watching for SBI's (suspected border intruders), when we are on the trail of SBI's and when we see SBI's and have them on camera. This software at the click of your mouse will take you to the Live Cam page so that you can watch in real time SBI's entering the USA. Click above to download or to order the software.

The News Herald - Morgantown, NC Hispanic drug arrest figures in North Carolina rise As law enforcement officials across North Carolina attribute a flood of immigrant drug trade to the growth of Hispanics in the state, Burke County officials concur, saying there is a connection between the drug trade and Hispanic immigrants in the area. -- In Burke County, where Hispanics make up 3.6 percent of the total population, law enforcement officials said they have seen a large number of Hispanic-related drug arrests in the past few years.

Associated Press Groups urge government to rethink policy on alien registrations Muslims, Arab-Americans, civil libertarians and others are urging federal officials to refrain from wholesale arrests if visitors from countries considered high risks for harboring terrorists fail to meet deadlines for registering with the U.S. government. -- Hundreds of people were detained in Southern California two weeks ago when the registration deadline arrived for the first group of visa holders.

Stan Wasbin - Orange County Register Heavy-handed government behind inane push to import Mexican doctors When Gov. Gray Davis signed Assembly Bill 1045 on Sept. 30, he enacted one of 2002's most inane pieces of legislation. The bill authorizes creation of a program that calls for the importation of 60 Mexican doctors and dentists to practice in "underserved" areas of the state for three years. Unfortunately, the measure, at an unspecified cost, will provide no answer to the problem of restricted access to health care, and will evoke nothing but questions. Such as.... -- How much will AB 1045 cost?

KJCT-TV - Grand Junction Illegal alien charged in sex assault, burglary A man in Grand Junction illegally made an appearance in Mesa County Court today to be officially charged with first degree sexual assault and first degree burglary. Twenty year old Carlos German- Gusman, an illegal immigrant, is accused of sexually assaulting a fifteen year old girl in her own home Halloween night. -- The assault allegedly happened after German-Gusman became too drunk to drive and was allowed to sleep on the family couch.

Associated Press Kidnapped Los Angeles Girl Found At Border A 12-year-old Los Angeles girl allegedly kidnapped by a 30-year-old male friend has been found at the U.S.-Mexican border. -- A news release from the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Petra Ponce was found Tuesday, alone, at the San Ysidro Port-of-Entry attempting to enter the U.S. from Mexico without any identification. -- Police are still searching for the man authorities believe took the girl. He is identified as Geronimo Luevanos Galvan. (See L.A. Times story of 12/28)

Christian Science Monitor US Benefits for Mexicans Mexico's President Vicente Fox long has pressed the US to relax immigration rules between the two countries. But Sept. 11 intervened, and now tighter, not looser, borders are the order of the day in fighting terrorism. -- Enter a new proposed US-Mexico agreement that will synchronize, or "totalize" (a government finance term), the retirement programs of both countries. Among other things, it would allow full access to their benefits for Mexican employees...

Portland Press-Herald Maine border on high alert Security along Maine's northern border remains extremely tight as the FBI searches for five men who are believed to have entered the U.S. illegally this week from Canada. -- The names, ages and pictures of the five Middle Eastern men have been distributed among officials guarding Maine's border with Canada and patrolling the port of Portland. -- "We're not confirming or denying that they came through Canada," said Angela Bell, an FBI spokeswoman in Washington.

ABP - Sierra Vista ABP BorderCam Alert Software Available Now The BorderCam Alert 2.0 software is a program designed to keep you informed. This software will alert you whenever we are in the field watching for SBI's (suspected border intruders), when we are on the trail of SBI's and when we see SBI's and have them on camera. This software at the click of your mouse will take you to the Live Cam page so that you can watch in real time SBI's entering the USA. Click above to download or to order the software.

Nogales International Another border drug tunnel found Law enforcement officials on Friday morning uncovered a drug smuggling tunnel that opened in the middle of a busy street. -- The tunnel opened directly onto International Street which parallels the U.S.- Mexico border, and is a half- block east of Morley Avenue [see interactive map]. -- But the U.S. agency involved refused to release any information about the tunnel's discovery. -- The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) handled part of the operation which took place Friday morning.

Washington Post L.A. Tax Hike Shows Growing Voter Concerns On Health Care David Altman, the chief medical officer of the largest trauma center in this sprawling county, scoffed when he first heard the idea. Raise property taxes to stave off the financial collapse of local public health care? Fat chance that will ever pass. -- Or so he thought. -- In their desperation to keep hospitals open, voters here last month did just that, approving new property taxes for the first time in a generation. The county hasn't had a property tax referendum on the ballot since the statewide, landmark anti-tax Proposition 13 in 1978, but this year's passed overwhelmingly, with 73 percent of the vote.

Letter to the Editor

Bisbee Observer - John Petrello III (Published) What vigilantes hate I keep reading stories about how we Cochise County vigilantes hate Mexicans. I'll tell you what I hate. I hate it when guys that don't live here chime in with two cents worth of hot air. Take Salomon Baldenegro for instance. Instead of defending American Citizens and the sanctity of our people. He takes the side of non American law breakers. That's what I hate..

Sham ID Cards

Commentary - Christian Science Monitor Mexican IDs in the US... Entering the US without a visa is a bit like downloading copyrighted music off the Internet. So many people do it and the benefits seem so great, who really cares if it's illegal? -- That "pragmatic" attitude toward illegal migrants has become so pervasive that Mexico now feels no shame in handing out special IDs to thousands upon thousands of its citizens in the US who lack legal documents. -And- President Bush must soon come up with a plan to end illegal immigration before Mexico takes the matter any further into its own hands. Can the US afford to simply wait as a foreign legal system sweeps the land?

Associated Press Sales tax urged for hospitals San Antonio - University Health System officials have proposed a statewide quarter-cent sales tax that would help public and private hospitals pay for uninsured emergency patients [read: illegal aliens]. -- The system itself is saddled with millions of dollars in unreimbursed costs for treating life-threatening injuries and illnesses. Last legislative session, it proposed an increase only in Bexar County, but the proposal went nowhere.

Free Republic Mexicans Illegals to receive Social Security Benefits? ...In the news we've been hearing that there may be new legislation coming in DC which would change the 10 year work requirement for Social Security Benefits for Mexicans and quite possibly even Illegal Aliens from Mexico. I personally think this is outrageous and believe most Americans would agree with me. Here's something else for all Freepers to consider:.....

Associated Press Customs agents detain Michigan homicide suspect A Mexican fugitive wanted by the Michigan State Police and the FBI in a fatal shooting is in the Hidalgo County Jail after U.S. Customs agents detained him at the Progreso international bridge. -- Customs agents said they discovered warrants for Alfredo Aviles on Sunday while checking him against a national crime database as he attempted to enter the United States. [They just sneak in to do jobs Americans won't do.]

Salt Lake Tribune Utah Gang War Escalates ..The Tiny Oriental Posse and the Original Laotian Gangsters have feuded for more than a decade. Police suspect their on-again, off-again battle has resulted in more than 25 shootings in recent months. So far no one has been killed, but a West Valley City gang member was struck in the stomach and leg early Sunday during a drive-by shooting near 3000 South and 5600 West.

Mountain Home News (Idaho) Murders lead top stories of 2002 The Mountain Home News covered four murders, including a triple homicide during the year, as well as the county's largest heroin bust ever, and a series of vandalism attacks that damaged both public and private property. -- The triple homicide involved a woman and her two children who were shot and then burned in a car in rural Elmore Co. The suspect fled to Mexico and remains at large.

Tucson Citizen Gangs: Influx from California could add to local crime Experts say a wave of violent gang activity could be in store for Tucson as members from California move here to expand their organized crime empires. -- Because of recent budget cuts to a force created to keep tabs on gang activity in Arizona, officials say they may not have the tools to monitor and control the groups before it's too late. -- Los Angeles gang activity increased by about 40 percent this year with 35 slayings - most of them gang-related - in the past two weeks of November alone, said Wes McBride, president of the California Gang Investigators Association.

Denver Post Meth labs mushrooming in state Methamphetamine labs are growing in popularity in Colorado, with El Paso and Teller counties leading the way, and many experts are blaming the drug's cheap prices and long-lasting high. -- "It fits the addictive personality perfectly," said Tom Knight... "It's an instant high, and it lasts longer than cocaine." -- [Note: "Senator Feinstein also says Mexican nationals operate 85 percent of the illicit methamphetamine labs in California." -- Christian Science Monitor | Also see this item]

The Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois) Mexican hit and run suspect nailed Nearly a year-and-a-half after Gerardo Diaz was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Carpentersville, the driver accused of fleeing the deadly scene has been found. -- Crecencio Benitez, of Elgin, faces a felony charge of leaving the scene of a fatal traffic accident. -- The search for Benitez was not an easy one, however, as he fled to Mexico for about five months before returning to the Fox Valley, Carpentersville police Sgt. James Kruger said.

KVOA - Tucson   [Short-lived link] Armed civilian patrols to continue Tombstone -- In an attempt to show critics that border vigilante groups are not racist in either theory or practice, a Mexican- American man is asking Arizonans to join him on armed patrols along the border. -- Henry Esparza, who is one of four members on the Civil Homeland Defense board, believes if critics can observe the border patrols in person, they will see that the patrols are based on law and not xenophobic in nature.

The Express-Times Easton, Pa. area law enforcers hunt terror suspects Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli on Monday alerted local law enforcement and the public to the FBI's interest in finding five suspected terrorists. -- -- "The fact that these suspected terrorists were able to enter the U.S. illegally, through either Canada or Mexico, once again underscores President Bush's and Congress's utter disregard for how lax border security threatens our northern borders," Morganelli said at a news conference in his office. -- Earlier this month Morganelli asked county judges and district justices to set bail at a minimum of $25,000 in cases involving illegal aliens as defendants. [Several more links related to this story]

News & Observer Latino victims, suspects on rise - Authorities noting homicide trend ...Among the trends emerging -- an increase in the number of Hispanic victims and suspects. Hispanic residents constitute one-fifth of the 1.4 million people added to the North Carolina population between 1990 and 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Only two Hispanic residents of Durham were killed in 2001, but seven were this year. There were no Hispanic homicide victims in Raleigh last year, but five this year.

Tucson Citizen B.P. busts illegal wanted in California The U.S. Border Patrol arrested an undocumented El Salvadoran who entered the United States illegally through Douglas. -- The man is wanted on a federal warrant charging illegal possession of a firearm. Marcellino Alberto Bonilla, was arrested Saturday at 7 p.m. about six miles from downtown Douglas along with five undocumented Mexicans who also crossed the border illegally, authorities said. -- The five will be sent to Mexico under the voluntary return policy, said spokesman Ryan Scudder.

Amarillo Globe News Mexican murder suspect sought Authorities issued an arrest warrant Monday for a Mexican national wanted for the March death of an Amarillo restaurant owner. -- The 47th District Attorney's Office sought the warrant for Miguel Angel Osuna Cervantes, an illegal alien from Mexico, said Lt. Ed Smith, coordinator of the Potter/Randall Special Crimes Unit. -- Cervantes is wanted for the death of Maria Manquero, owner of La India Bonita Restaurant, Smith said. [They just sneak in to do jobs Americans won't do.]

Associated Press Mexicans continue to strip mine America: $10 billion in remittances ...Money transfers from Mexican immigrants working in the United States to relatives back home increased to a record $10 billion in 2002, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C. This year's amount is up $800 million from the previous year. -- The transfers, or remittances as they are officially known, are Mexico's second largest source of income behind oil exports. Workers say their cross-border transfers increased this year because the Mexican economy was in even worse shape than the U.S. economy, leaving many Mexican families desperate for income.

Jack Ward

Sierra Times 'Aztlan': A Warped Vision Of History As the US began to grow, immigrants started flowing into this new land of opportunity. Immigrants from Europe and Asia made up the majority of the newcomers. Thousands of miles of ocean separated the newcomers from their old homeland. The remoteness from their roots made it a little easier to 'cut the ties' from the homeland and assimilate into a new 'American' culture. For the last several decades immigration (illegal and legal) from Mexico has increased significantly and is now a major source of immigrants...