President Obama FINALLY supporting measures to ONLY target Felonious Criminals! Will Stop Deporting DREAM Students and Workers!

At Last! As I've long suggested to our President: STOP Targetting DREAM Students and workers for Deportation. Focus the Deportations ONLY on the Felonious Criminals! IF this policy is successful, then we will Finally see an Accomplishment towards POSITIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM! We at ITWAMA will keep you posted on the Progress!
CNN Reports: Administration says it will conduct case-by-case review on deportation
Washington (CNN) -- In a move that could shake up the U.S. immigration system, the Department of Homeland Security is going to begin reviewing all 300,000 pending deportation cases in federal immigration courts to determine which individuals meet specific criteria for removal and to focus on "our highest priorities." DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the review will enhance public safety. "Immigration judges will be able to more swiftly adjudicate high priority cases, such as those involving convicted felons," Napolitano wrote Thursday in a letter to assistant majority leader Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and 21 other senators including Indiana Republican Richard Lugar.

In April, Durbin and Lugar sent a letter to Napolitano asking her to stop deportations of immigrant students who could earn legal status under the the DREAM Act -- legislation that would give children of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship through military service or college education. Napolitano said the Obama administration has frequently pointed out "it makes no sense to expend our enforcement resources on low-priority cases, such as individuals... who were brought into this country as young children and know no other home."

Officials say immigration court dockets are clogged, putting public safety in jeopardy, costing money, resources and time. They want to see DHS enforcement resources diverted from illegal immigrants who don't have criminal records to individuals who pose a threat to public safety and national security. A senior administration official, who requested anonymity because details of the policy change had not yet been announced, told reporters 79% of deportations involve people without a criminal record -- people who have just entered the country illegally or had been previously deported and re-entered.

Napolitano said the new policy change would not negate reforming immigration laws and "will not alleviate the need for passage of the DREAM Act," which would give legal status to illegal immigrant students who attend college or join the military. She added, "President Obama has called the DREAM Act the right thing to do for the young people it would affect, and the right thing to do for the country."

But the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) (the group the ADL says is RACIST!), which advocates changing policies to decrease the number of immigrants coming to the United States (aka MASS Deportation), said in a statement on its website that the action by the Obama administration "amounts to an administrative amnesty and a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration policy without approval by Congress."

FAIR President Dan Stein said in the statement, "In essence, the administration has declared that U.S. immigration is now virtually unlimited to anyone willing to try to enter and only those who commit violent felonies after arrival are subject to enforcement." Under the new process, a DHS and the Department of Justice working group will develop specific criteria to identify low-priority removal cases that should be considered for prosecutorial discretion, including cases with minors, the elderly, pregnant and nursing women, victims of serious crimes, veterans and members of the armed services and individuals with serious disabilities or health problems.

Durbin expressed support for the Obama administration announcement, saying in a written statement that it was "the right decision" specifically as it relates to students. "These students are the future doctors, lawyers, teachers and maybe, senators, who will make America stronger," Durbin stated. "We need to be doing all we can to keep these talented, dedicated, American students here, not wasting increasingly precious resources sending them away to countries they barely remember." Durbin's statement added that when reviews of individual cases result in cases being closed, those individuals "will be able to apply for certain immigration benefits, including work authorization." Durbin's statement did not elaborate on that aspect of the policy change, beyond saying such applications for benefits would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network, an organization advocating improved rights for day laborers, praised the move. "The administration had earned the President the title of 'Deporter-in-Chief.' We hope the statement today announcing review of the current caseload of victims of indiscriminate enforcement is carried forth," the group said in a news release.

SHOCKING BREAKING NEWS: Extremist, Fringe, Former Minutemen Teapartier Vigilantes are ON THE LOOSE in Arizona! Scare Mercer into Closing MCDC!

SHOCKING BREAKING NEWS: Extremist, Fringe, Former Minutemen Teapartier Vigilantes, armed and in camouflage are Locked and Loaded terrorizing any/all brown people they believe are "illeegals" in southern Arizona. The Border Reporter is reporting: Federal agents have received complaints from hunters in Southern Arizona of being accosted by armed white men in camouflage who (falsely) told the hunters they are with the Department of Homeland Security, sources say. They say they weren’t affiliated with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, but law enforcement doesn’t know yet who is driving this group, what their members are like, and what their motives are. U.S. Border Patrol confronted the group: “They interviewed them, they denied everything, of course. But yeah, those bastards are out there now.” The incident was reported in Arizona’s Pima County, down towards Sierrita Mountain Road off Ajo Way.


The vigilantes on the loose may be a direct result of an invitation sent out by Carmen Mercer, head of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps. (MCDC). On March 16, Mercer sent out an email inviting her followers to come to the border "Locked and Loaded." "You are strongly encouraged to exercise your rights and duty as an American citizen to carry a long arm and if challenged use it to defend the United States of America," she wrote. “We will forcefully engage, detain, and defend our lives and country from the criminals who trample over our culture and laws.” Teapartier Mercer said she shot off her email in ANGER. Mercer said her anger with the federal government about health-care reform and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's claims that the border is secure led her to send out the March 16 e-mail.


Basically, Mercer incited a riot, encouraging people to bring rifles, hunt those they suspect are illegal migrants down and confront those they suspect are drug traffickers.


After she sent out the email, Mercer received over 350 eager responses ready to rampage the streets, roads, trails, hills, valley, desert of Southern Arizona, LOCKED and LOADED and ready to KILL/MURDER all of those they suspected as being "illeegals." This eager response SCARED Mercer so much she SHUT DOWN the MCDC forever. This week, Mercer told the Arizona Daily Star: “People are ready to come lock and loaded and that’s not what we are all about. It only takes one bad apple to destroy everything we’ve done for the last eight years.” To scare her to this level, those emails must have detailed unbelievable atrocities the vigilantes planned for Brown People they suspect as "illeegals." (The FBI needs to obtain these emails from these domestic terrorists!!)


The Border Reporter asks the question: "Who’s coming down to the border this weekend? And who is this second group, accosting American citizens and Mexican nationals, alike?" And I agree. I think the FBI should obtain the emails from Mercer and investigate the domestic terrorist vigilantes in camouflage, armed and dangerous and arrest anyone who has terrorized the men, women and children of the local communities.
References:
The Vigilante You Know is Better Than the Vigilante You Don’t
AZ-based border Minuteman group calls it quits
Minutemen Cancel Hunting Party

The Only Way to Stop Terrorism is to be UNITED!

I was listening to talk radio today and the right wing shock jock was going on and on about the terrorist on Northwest Flight 253. He blamed the Obama administration and Janet Napolitano in particular for this latest threat. He said Homeland Security needed to start racially profiling terrorists and stop picking on grandma at the airport. He said we needed to stop being so "PC" and have airport security zero in on those that look like terrorists.

I had read a little about the terrorist the day before, mostly because I wanted to read more about the hero who bravely stopped the terrorist and burned himself severely while he took the terrorist down.

Today, as I read about Flight 253, my mind was boggled! How on earth are we going to stop the terrorists?
We have troops in Iraq. We have troops in Afghanistan. Bin Laden is supposedly hidden in the hills and caves along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. We hear most of the actual terrorists are in Afghanistan and Pakistan and we should have never taken that left turn to Iraq because we are wasting our resources and making more enemies. Now, we are hearing that the latest terrorists are being trained in Yemen. Two of the Al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen were prisoners Bush released in 2007 from Guantanamo. According to ABC news: "American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials."

This latest terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is not your typical terrorist. He looks like a young Eddie Murphy. He is Nigerian and comes from a very wealthy family. He was educated abroad, including studying mechanical engineering in London graduating in 2008. He was to continue his education but instead abandoned his plans and moved to Yemen. His family became worried about him. They said he was changed.. brainwashed. About 2 months ago, they reported him to the Nigerian security agency and other agencies to gain their assistance in returning him home.

The terrorist boarded his flight in Kenya, carrying only a small bag; then stopped in The Netherlands, then on to Detroit. (this was NOT in the U.S.--- the security was in Nigeria and The Netherlands) One of the passengers of Flight 253 relates his experience with airport security in The Netherlands, "At Amsterdam we went through security, and what seemed like the time was good security. At the gate everyone was interviewed by a team of around 10 personal screeners, who asked us a battery of questions in quick succession. This was something I had only experienced at Tel Aviv airports and it came as quite a surprise, but one that I welcomed. After personal screening we passed through metal detectors and a baggage X-ray. Even though I had all the change out of my pockets, cell phones, and belt removed I still set off the detector (perhaps the rivets in my jeans). As soon as that happened I was frisked so thoroughly by the young Dutch security guard that I began to wonder if he was enjoying himself. Later on when I read the news reports I realized that if Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab had the explosives stashed in his underwear, even if he had been thoroughly frisked the only way the guard would have noticed anything is if he literally put his hands down the guy's pants, and searched his groin."
I have to agree with the Flight 253 passenger. ABCNews provided this picture of the bomb that the terrorist was carrying. It was small, not much larger than a tampon. The lower picture shows the PETN explosive. It's just a powder. The tragedy was averted because the detonator, acid in a syringe, didn't work. There was no metal. Merely powder and plastic, again, the size of a plastic tampon. Officials indicated this tiny bit of powder was more than sufficient to blow a hole in the plane. There was no way for anyone to find this small amount of powder in his underwear unless they made him do a complete strip search, and once his underwear was off, tear apart the underwear. Women wear much larger pads just in the course of their monthly cycles.

What boggles my mind is, this young man came from a very wealthy family. He had the world at his fingertips. He was educated in one of the best schools in the world, in London. He never suffered anything. His family was utterly shocked by the immediate change in him. He was willing to die for this new cause he was "brainwashed" into believing.

What is becoming abundantly clear is, we are NOT going to stop any terrorists if we are not UNITED in our fight against them. I go back and think of that right wing shock jock promoting racial profiling of all Muslims or anyone he thinks "fits the profile." He blames Obama. He blames Napolitano. He keeps pointing his fingers back at our own people. We cannot blame ourselves. We need to unite with each other and try to understand what each of us should do to help each other and stop the insanity of terrorism.
Here are the questions we should be asking ourselves:
1. How do we stop the Brainwashing?
2. How do we stop people who are willing to kill themselves for their cause?
3. How do we UNITE and help Homeland Security/our Country?

ICE Has Changed Strategy Under the Obama Administration

With Comprehensive Immigration Reform next on the National Agenda, it is important to understand how ICE has changed its strategy under the Obama Administration:

1. Target Felonious Criminals instead of Workers

2. Rigorously target Exploitive Employers to stop them from establishing and maintaining exploitive worksites, thereby eliminating the need for inhumane workplace ICE Raids and costly, inhumane detention centers.

3. Reward Employers for using e-verify.

These changes have been effective in enforcement, reducing crime, increasing safety, while being humane. We can expect more of the same with any Immigration Reform legislation under the Obama administration.

1. Targeting Felonious Criminals:
SEATTLE — Deportations of illegal immigrants with criminal records from Alaska, Oregon, and Washington this past year spiked by nearly 40 percent, while overall removals dropped for the first time in five years, according to new data released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The data, from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009, shows that 10,793 people were deported from the Pacific Northwest, a drop of 117 compared to the previous year.
That marks the first time in the last five years that deportations from the Northwest have dropped. Deportations had increased from more than 4,000 in 2005 to nearly 11,000 in 2008.
But removals of people with criminal records went from more than 3,100 to nearly 4,500 between 2008 and 2009 — a jump of 39.7 percent. Since 2005, criminal removals have more than doubled.The data "illustrates pretty vividly the priority we're placing on the removal of criminal aliens," ICE spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said. "We believe it's the best way to enhance public safety."

2. Targeting Exploitive Employers

WASHINGTON — Immigration enforcement officials said Thursday that they were expanding a program for auditing companies that hired and exploited illegal immigrants and had notified 1,000 companies this week that they would have to undergo such a review. John Morton, who heads Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, announced the new initiative, saying it was part of the administration’s plan to deal with companies that hire illegal workers. “ICE is focused on finding and penalizing employers who believe they can unfairly get ahead by cultivating illegal workplaces,” Mr. Morton said.

3. Reward Use of E-Verify

Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security, urged American consumers to favor companies that make efforts to ensure that they do not hire illegal immigrants. To that end, Ms. Napolitano said that her department was permitting companies that use a new computerized system to check the legal status of employees to feature a special logo on their products and ads saying “I E-Verify.”The E-Verify campaign allows employers to match a prospective candidate’s name against a database that combines several government lists, including Social Security, passport and border information. The first audit conducted by ICE covered 654 companies and resulted in the filing of formal notices to seek a fine from 61. ICE officials said they were considering seeking fines from an additional 267 companies from that first audit. An audit consists of ICE officials checking each worker’s Employee Eligibility Verification Form, known as an I-9, to determine what steps were taken to confirm the person was eligible to be hired. If irregularities are found, the companies may then be fined for lax monitoring. The strategy is part of the Obama administration’s effort to reduce illegal immigration by forcing companies to fire unauthorized workers rather than by conducting raids at the workplace, actions that are often accompanied by great personal trauma, including deportation and the dividing of immigrant families.

Racial Profiling Sheriff Arpaio Says: ICE "Just Don't Want Me Anymore!"

Preliminary reports indicate Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have chosen not to renew their federal immigration arrest authority agreement (287(g) with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpiao indicated he will no longer be able to complete his "suppression sweeps" however he continues to maintain his authority over the jails. Apraio said of the changes, "this (ICE agreement) just includes the jail, and deep down, I feel that I ought to take it and rip it all up," Arpaio said. Federal officials also refused to comment further.

Under the new agreement deputies and detention officers could continue screening individuals once they are booked into the Maricopa County jail, but federal authorities had not offered to allow Arpaio's street-level "suppression sweeps" to continue. The Racial Profiling Sheriff said in a radio interview last night: "They (ICE) just don't want me, I'm the poster boy," snarled Arpaio. "I say, `they,' that's the Obama administration, the White House, certain members of congress, certain politicians here, [DHS honcho Janet] Napolitano, don't want me enforcing the 287 federal immigration laws on the streets. So they came down here last week. I shocked them by signing both parts of that agreement, on the streets and in the jails. They sent their top guy down the next day -- he took away my street operations and stuck us with the jails."

Without an agreement that authorizes immigration "suppression sweeps" screenings on the street, deputies will need probable cause to detain a suspected illegal immigrant until federal agents can determine the suspect's immigration status.

"He's not going to be able to arrest people for those kind of routine civil-immigration violations," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Arizona. The news was met with cautious optimism at the ACLU, which is working with plaintiffs in two lawsuits that accuse Arpaio's deputies of racial profiling in the normal course of their duties and in the "crime-suppression operations" the Sheriff's Office has conducted during the past 18 months.

A Republic analysis of arrest records from 10 of the sheriff's crime-suppression operations showed that MORE THAN HALF of the illegal immigrants arrested during the sweeps were held on federal immigration violations and hadn't committed another crime. During a crime-suppression operation in Chandler this summer, ICE agents told sheriff's deputies that they could not arrest suspected illegal immigrants who met that criteria and instead had to free them after giving them a "notice to appear" at ICE for processing.
References:
Sheriff Arpaio may lose some immigration authority
arpaio defiant on 287(g)

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Asks Barack Obama to Terminate 287(g) Program

The brave members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) are taking a stand against Racial Profiling. They have sent a letter to President Obama asking him to terminate the 287(g) program -- which has been so rife with Racial Profiling!
Members of the conservative community and the conservative MSM are already attacking the brave members of the CHC. We need the CHC to stand strong against their attackers and follow through until this program is terminated! STOP THE HATE!!!
From Phoenix New Times:
In a letter to Barack Obama dated Monday, September 28, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called on the President to terminate the 287(g) program, and cease all of the so-called Memorandums of Understanding authorizing local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law. The letter -- which is signed by Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, Representative from New York, and Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Chair of the CHC's Immigration Task Force -- takes note of efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to reform the program with supposedly new and improved agreements with local cops. But the missive makes it clear that the CHC, an influential group of lawmakers in a majority Democratic Congress, sees the 287(g) program as fatally flawed. (You can read the letter in its entirety, here.)

"Although its stated purpose is to provide law enforcement a tool to pursue criminals," notes the letter, "it is our experience that state and local law enforcement officials actually use their expanded and often unchecked powers under the program to target immigrants and persons of color. It is our opinion that no amount of reforms, no matter how well-intentioned, will change this disturbing reality." The letter continues, with this verbal coup de grace: "For these reasons we ask you to reconsider your evaluation of 287(g) and instead of reforming it, end it entirely."

This communication comes less than a month after 521 organizations -- including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the ADL, and the ACLU -- signed a letter pressuring the Obama administration to end the much-hated 287(g) program. That letter and this recently-released one from the CHC, which can be viewed on the Web site of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, each cite the current U.S. Department of Justice investigation into 287(g)-poster boy Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office's racial and ethnic profiling ways.

In July, DHS honcho Janet Napolitano announced new agreements for the scores of local law enforcement agencies that DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have partnered with. The new rules were seen as aimed at Arpaio and as a sop to the Hispanic community over concerns that Latinos are being treated as second-class citizens by 287(g)-empowered cops. The new agreements have to be re-signed by the 60-plus agencies already involved within 90 days of the announcement. Those 90 days are almost up. Arpaio stated recently that he would sign the new agreement. But my sources inform me that negotiations are ongoing, and that Arpaio's side has sent DHS a "revised" version of the new agreement that would be acceptable to the sheriff.

Though federal worksite raids have generally been brought to heel under Napolitano, Arpaio continues to violate the terms of his old agreement with constitutionally questionable raids on businesses and neighborhood sweeps seeking undocumented Mexicans. This is why Arpaio remains a lightning rod for pro-immigrant and civil rights groups nationwide. But Arpaio is a symptom of the disease, not the disease itself, which is a deadly mixture racism and xenophobia. The Obama administration has allowed -- under the counsel of DHS secretary Napolitano -- this fever to strengthen. Now they are left with a metaphorical dilemma: Either sever a pox-ridden limb (Arpaio) from the corpus; or once and for all battle the infection to its core.

Whether the Obama-ites have the courage to lance the blisters of this grotesque pandemic remains to be seen. Phoenix civil rights activist Salvador Reza of the Puente movement alerted me to this letter to the President. Thursday morning, he and others in this struggle will demand that the Department of Homeland Security release -- under the Freedom of Information Act (if that still means anything) all correspondence between the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and ICE/DHS. The purpose of the request is to discover what back-room wheeling and dealing has been going on between the sheriff and the feds. If DHS and ICE do not cough up the docs, then you can safely assume they have something too hide.

Obama Continues to Support PRO Immigration Reform Perspectives!

An ANTI friend of mine sent me a message with this article (see below) saying President Obama was against the PROs and was not keeping to his promises to Latinos. The title of the article is: "Firm Stance on Illegal Immigrants Remains Policy." The reason my ANTI and Republican friend sent me the article is because there is nothing the ANTIs would like to see more than division between the PRO Immigration Reformers and our President.
What my ANTI friend and most Republicans fail to understand is the President and Janet Napolitano ARE making positive changes in regards to Comprehensive Immigration Reform. It is very important that we understand what the President and the Administration are doing in support of CIR. We also must understand the differences and difficulties in regard to actions that require legislation.
Obama's policies towards Immigration are not the same as Bush's. Here are some differences.
Obama/Napolitano have:
1. stopped the inhumane ICE Raids.
2. focused on penalizing the employers vs workers
3. focused on capturing violent felonious criminals and drug dealers vs targetting workers
4. modified 287(g) policies to target felonious criminals vs workers, reigning in the evil sheriff arpaio, his masked henchmen and their tactics.
-- These are positive steps, not negative.
His next steps are:
. reduce the backlog, particularly in Immigration Courts
. improve/automate the legal pathways to immigration and clear up the bottle-necked current process.
. improve the current Guest Worker process
-- these can be done without legislation
These next steps require legislation:
. establish a process that will enable those here to get in line and apply for citizenship.
-- Because this step requires legislation, we need to wait for the correct political climate for this to pass. I suggest AFTER the passage of Universal Healthcare which must pass this year. We can wait for CIR but it must pass in early 2010.
The NYTimes reports:
Firm Stance on Illegal Immigrants Remains Policy
After early pledges by President Obama that he would moderate the Bush administration’s tough policy on immigration enforcement, his administration is pursuing an aggressive strategy for an illegal-immigration crackdown that relies significantly on programs started by his predecessor. (not true) A recent blitz of measures has antagonized immigrant groups and many of Mr. Obama’s Hispanic supporters, who have opened a national campaign against them, including small street protests in New York and Los Angeles last week.
The administration recently undertook audits of employee paperwork at hundreds of businesses, expanded a program to verify worker immigration status (all in a move against employers) that has been widely criticized as flawed, bolstered a program of cooperation between federal and local law enforcement agencies, and rejected proposals for legally binding rules governing conditions in immigration detention centers (yet has not conducted, nor supported 1 ICE Worker Raid). “We are expanding enforcement, but I think in the right way,” Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, said in an interview.

Ms. Napolitano and other administration officials argue that no-nonsense immigration enforcement is necessary to persuade American voters to accept legislation that would give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, a measure they say Mr. Obama still hopes to advance late this year or early next.

Update: Mexican Police and FBI Arrest Human Traffickers for Shooting Latino Border Agent Rosas

Breaking News: Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas was Fatally Shot very close to Minuteman Camp Vigilance. Latino BP Agent Rosas was following a group that had crossed the border, then, when he went off into the darkness near Camp Vigilance he was fatally shot -- murdered. Camp Vigilance is the Minuteman Camp where murderer/minuteman Shawna Forde was trained.

There currently is an investigation underway to find the perpetrators of this crime.

My condolences to the Rosas Family and to all who are suffering while we await Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

UPDATE: The Mexican Police and the FBI have arrested six suspects in the death of Border Agent Rosas. The trained Border Patrol Agents are heroes in the War against Drugs and Human Trafficking.
From Obama.com:
Tragically, Border Patrol agent Robert Rosas was fatally shot yesterday while working on the U.S.-Mexico border. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano offered her condolences:
I am deeply saddened by the tragic death of one of our own. Agent Robert Rosas was gunned down while protecting our nation’s Southwest border. This act of violence will not stand—nor will any act of violence against the Border Patrol. I have directed that the full resources of the Department assist in the investigation to find and bring to justice those responsible for this inexcusable crime.
My thoughts and condolences are with Agent Rosas’ family and his fellow agents at this difficult time. I want to commend those in the law enforcement and first responder community in Southern California for so quickly responding to the scene and attempting to save Agent Rosas’ life. His death is a vivid reminder that we are engaged in a serious effort to secure our border and that thousands of Border Patrol agents and other DHS employees risk their lives every single day to protect and defend our nation.

Breaking News: Janet Napolitano Revises 287(g) Program! Will Arpaio be Reigned In?

Breaking News:
Joe Arpaio Reined In? Homeland Security Revises 287(g) Agreements Nationally
Janet Napolitano's Department of Homeland Security has just issued a press release announcing new, standardized 287(g) agreements that all law enforcement agencies participating in the program will have to sign, including Sheriff Joe's MCSO, which boasts a massive 160-man 287(g)-trained force, the largest in the nation. "DHS and ICE will begin working with their current 287(g) partner agencies to re-sign the standardized agreements," reads the press release. "Ultimately, only those agencies with newly signed agreements will be permitted to continue enforcing immigration law."

Furthermore, there will be provisions that might put a crimp in Arpaio's future anti-immigrant dragnets in Maricopa County. "The new MOA aligns 287(g) local operations with major ICE enforcement priorities," states the announcement, "specifically, the identification and removal of criminal aliens."

Speaking to me via phone from DC, DHS spokesman Matt Chandler said by "criminal aliens," DHS means "people who present a public safety threat." That is, persons suspected of "major crimes," such as rape, murder, drug running, etc. Not car washers, landscapers, or folks running water slides. Indeed, a side by side comparison provided by Chandler of the key aspects of the old agreements versus the new agreements details ICE's three levels of prioritization regarding criminal aliens. Currently, the MCSO does not make any such prioritization during its raids and sweeps.

Chandler also indicated that if Arpaio wanted to use his 287(g) authority in a sweep or worksite raid, an "ICE supervisor" would have to approve "a copy of the operation plan" for the action. He told me DHS was asking for these new agreements to be signed within 90 days by the respective LEAs involved.

The press release also makes clear that Arpaio cannot arrest someone on a bogus charge just so they can end up being turned over to ICE. "To address concerns that that individuals may be arrested from minor offenses as a guise to initiate removal proceedings," says the release, "the new agreement explains that participating local law enforcement agencies are required to pursue all criminal charges that originally caused the offender to be taken into custody." Chandler clarified that no matter what charge an individual is originally arrested for, the law enforcement agency will have to "see it through to the end," if 287(g) authority is used during the arrest.

The bad news with announcement is that Arpaio will be able to keep his 287(g) agreement with ICE, if he accepts the new dictates. This, despite being under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department over civil rights violations that are a direct result of the use of his 287(g) authority. Should Arpaio accept these new rules, he could still conduct sweeps and raids using his state authority, but using his federal authority in these situations would be problematic, and, subject to administrative approval by ICE and DHS. These new rules are not only for Arpaio. ICE has 66 agreements with law enforcement agencies across the country, all of which will have to be redone. Eleven new agreements under the new language were announced today as well.

Will Arpaio accept this curtailment of his 287(g) power with a shrug? Or will he denounce the new rules, thumbing his bulbous nose once more at federal authority? Something tells me we won't have to wait long to find out.

Sheriff vows to continue immigration enforcement
PHOENIX (AP) - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he'll keep up his immigration enforcement efforts even if he decides to opt out of a deal giving 160 of his officers the power to enforce federal immigration law.

Napolitano/Holder Keep to Promise! Feds partner with State/Local Authorities to Crack Down on Gangs vs Workers!

Janet Napolitano and Eric Holder, are keeping to their promise to focus on incarcerating Employers and Drug Cartels/Felonious Criminals versus workers. Last Thursday, Federal Authorities in partnership with Local/State authorities in cooperation with Hawaiian Garden's Mayor Michael Gomez, captured and arrested 147 gang members. The charges, part of a massive racketeering case dubbed Operation Knock Out, were outlined in several indictments charging the 147 members and associates of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang with murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and witness intimidation.

Sal Hernandez, the FBI's top agent in Los Angeles said, "The gang, also known as VHG, is so pervasive in Hawaiian Gardens that it is estimated one in 15 people living in the square-mile city just north of Long Beach has ties to it. With these arrests, the good people will be able to live in peace."

The probe into the gang initially began in 2005 after Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Jerry Ortiz was fatally shot by a Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang member he was trying to arrest in connection with the shooting of an African American man. The shooter, a veteran gang member with devil's horns tattooed on his forehead, has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien, speaking at a news conference at the Lakewood sheriff's station, where the slain deputy had been assigned, touted the case as the "largest gang takedown in United States history. Today we honor Deputy Ortiz by coming together to crush the outlaw gang that took his life and make a positive difference for the law-abiding people who live in Hawaiian Gardens," said O'Brien, who stood in front of a memorial to Ortiz and other officers killed in the line of duty as he spoke.

The Federal/State/Local policies focusing on felonious criminals and drug cartels are the right path to follow vs the 287(g) Arpaio type policies and ICE Raids focusing on arresting migrant workers. Both PRO and ANTI agree that law enforcement at all levels should focus on capturing felonious criminals vs Racial Profiling of Latinos or targetting workers who have not committed any felonious crimes.

References:

Janet Napolitano Restructures ICE Policies to Focus on Employers, Drug Cartels/Felonious Criminals but Faces Fierce Opposition!

Dozens arrested in crackdown on Latino gang accused of targeting blacks

Latino 'hate gang' busted in L.A.

President Obama to Meet with Congressional Leaders About Immigration

Our President will meet with Congressional leaders in two weeks, on June 8, 2009 to finally begin Immigration discussions. The ANTIs are already up in arms and preparing to attack Congress via emails, phones and fax machines. Get Ready to Call your Senators/Congressman to support our President.

The Wall St. Journal reports:

President Barack Obama will gather congressional leaders at the White House next month to launch a policy discussion on immigration, according to an administration official, but legislative action isn't likely until next year at the earliest. The June 8 meeting is meant to show the White House is moving on the issue -- which is key for Hispanic advocacy groups that helped Mr. Obama get elected in November. The issue remains politically fraught among Americans frustrated by illegal immigration, particularly as the U.S. unemployment rate nears 10%. Unlike some other White House sessions on key issues, this one will be behind closed doors.
White House officials have made clear they don't expect action on immigration this year. The administration official who discussed the meeting said it was aimed at having "an honest discussion," and meant to identify points of agreement and "areas where we still have work to do." Mr. Obama has embraced the general concept of creating a program to provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the U.S., while continuing to tighten the border with Mexico. The administration official said the White House intended to invite a small bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House and Senate, including party leaders and people who have worked on immigration issues.
"Earlier this year, the president asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to develop principles to help guide congressional action on immigration, one White House official said. But another added that there were no plans to distribute a set of principles at this meeting. At a briefing with reporters Tuesday, Ms. Napolitano gave few hints about the administration's tenets for an immigration initiative. But she did say strong enforcement needs to continue, arguing that the government can't afford to lose "operational control" of its border with Mexico as it did in the 1990s.
Federal data released Wednesday suggest illegal immigration into the U.S. is approaching a low for modern times, a decline analysts have pegged to the recession. Apprehensions along the border with Mexico are down 27% during the current fiscal year compared with the same period a year ago, even as enforcement efforts have been increased. If the trend continues, this year's decline would be steeper than the 24.5% drop in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

This New Swine Flu Reminds Me of Reye's Syndrome of the Past! Please Take Early Prevention Measures!

When my oldest son was a baby, there was a terrible flu-virus like disease going around. It attacked little children and old people. They called it Reye's syndrome. This was primarily a good old American disease although it occurred in other places too. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, studies in Ohio, Michigan and Arizona pointed to the use of aspirin during an upper respiratory tract or chickenpox infection as a possible trigger of the syndrome. The CDC cautioned doctors and parents about the association between Reye’s syndrome and the use of aspirin in children and teenagers with chickenpox or viruslike illnesses. Like other parents, I was very cautious about this disease and stopped using baby aspirin completely. As careful as I was, my son still developed the flu in 1980 and it lingered. He became sicker. This was over a weekend so I took him to the emergency room twice. Both times they sent me away saying I was over protective. I was so insistent however that on my final trip they finally gave him an antibiotic shot and provided me suppositorities to keep his temperature down overnight and they also said I should take him to his pediatrician in the morning. We sat up all night giving him cold baths and the suppository to keep his temperature down. When we walked into the Pediatrician's office, he knew right away. My son had Meningitis, NOT Reye's Syndrome. My son stayed in the hospital for two weeks to recieve his full treatment. The doctors said it was lucky he received the shot and suppository the 1st night and the cold baths. This precaution prevented him from developing brain damage and death. Though it took two weeks for his complete recovery, my baby was saved!

I share this with you because there is a new flu-virus that may become a pandemic and we should all be on the alert for our family's sake. Please take every precaution. This flu is called the swine flu. It has hit Mexico and they currently have a death toll of 149. CDC / News reports indicate this is a particularly severe version of the flu. This version not only impacts children and the elderly, but many of the early victims were young adults and some adults from 25 - 37. Adults who were in good health and strong. This flu is following the same pattern that emerged during the 1918-1919 Spanish influenza epidemic, which killed at least 50 million people, and it remains unexplained in that case as well. One theory is that the virus triggers an excessively aggressive immune response that destroys the throat and lung tissue.

Researchers are saying that one reason people have died in Mexico as opposed to the U.S. (which has had several cases but no fatalities) is that similar to Reye's syndrome, it is NOT the flu that kills you, it is the After-Flu "super-infection" that kills you. This is a new virus that no one has seen before. It must be taken seriously and treated immediately. In Mexico, apparently the early victims did not address their illnesses quickly enough.

However, this has changed. The entire nation has made solving this crisis their main priority. President Calderón has given Mexico a national lesson on public health, instructing people to wash their hands regularly, wear surgical masks, cover their mouths when they cough and avoid sharing food. Officials in Mexico City have handed out 6 million masks.

In the U.S., Janet Napolitano, the head of the Dept of Homeland Security, and the CDC are holding press conferences every day at 3pm ET to provide U.S. updates on what is happening with this Flu virus. Today she advised that the CDC/DHS are in close communications with Mexico, their officials/health officials. Mexico and the U.S. are partnering in sharing information and developing solutions. Napolitano has asked that for the time being, travel to Mexico should be limited. Border/Airport/Port security is on the alert to watch for anyone who may be entering the country with the flu. They will be advised to seek medical treatment and asked to postpone their trips to the U.S. The key to this illness is receiving medical treatment very quickly. It is not the flu, it is the after-flu superinfection that is causing the deaths. The CDC is also monitoring all flu activity across the nation.

Napolitano also advised that we all be pro-active in mitigating the impact of the flu. Primarily, if you feel the flu coming on, seek treatment. Do not go to populated places. Cover your mouth when you sneeze. She advised we access the CDC website and take the listed precautions.

From the CDC website:

There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy.
. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze.

. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
. Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
. If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

References:

Mexico Raises Swine Flu Death Toll to 149

Map of Swine Flu Cases

Reverse Border Security: Napolitano Does It Right!

Janet Napolitano, President Obama's head of Homeland Security, has made a shift in Immigration policy. While Border Patrol Agents are still assigned to stopping drugs and illegal immigrants from entering the United States, hundreds of additional agents are being redeployed to stop the weapons and cash that flow into Mexico.

In a speech before the newest agents arriving in Laredo, TX, Napolitano said, “You know, early this week I met with President Obama, and this morning I met with President Calderón of Mexico, and you guys are at the cutting edge of something new we’re trying to do to make the border safer.”

Ms. Napolitano’s initiative to send an additional 360 agents to the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, announced two weeks ago, is intended not only to respond to growing concerns about national security, she said, but also to change the way Americans view the threat.
“We understand that this port needs to move, that time is money, especially when it comes to trade,” said Ms. Napolitano, standing in the shadow of a line of tractor-trailers that extended as far as the eye could see. “But from now on, when trucks come into this port, they are going to see something they haven’t seen before, and that’s southbound inspections.”

Ms. Napolitano rarely uses the word terrorism, and she has said she does not intend to practice the “politics of fear.” She has said her agency will devote as much attention to preparing for natural disasters as for “man-caused disasters,” her euphemistic term for terrorism. She made public her disapproval of an immigration raid of a mechanics shop in Washington State, freed the immigrants who had been detained, and gave them work permits. Her actions sent a signal that future enforcement would focus on employers who rely on illegal immigrants, rather than on the workers.
While on the border, Ms. Napolitano has essentially turned previous policies upside-down, warning Americans that what leaves the country is as much a risk to their security as what comes in.
Ms. Napolitano has begun making changes at Homeland Security and revealed how some of her own views have shifted since she took her new job. Ms. Napolitano was once a leading opponent of the Bush administration’s decision to build some 600 miles of fencing along the border. In an interview, she said she had come to see that the fence has “helped us get operational control of some areas.” As governor, she was among the first to call for the deployment of the National Guard to help stop smuggling. Now, she said, “minds were open” to a request for troops from Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a Republican. But she said she wanted Mr. Perry to explain how the troops would be used.

During her visit in Laredo, Ms. Napolitano learned that the heightened border security southbound into Mexico might already be yielding results. A few hours before her arrival, the authorities conducting southbound inspections stopped an American couple and a 5-year-old child in a car carrying 10 grenades, nearly $122,000 in cash, a barrel for a sniper rifle and a cache of high-caliber ammunition, officials said.
The man told the authorities that he was a former Marine and that he had obtained the weapons from a military friend linked to drug smugglers in Michigan, officials said. Climbing aboard her airplane to return to Washington, Ms. Napolitano boasted, “We said we were going to do this, and we’re doing it.”
References:
A Shift to Make the Border Safe, From the Inside Out

Janet Napolitano Restructures ICE Policies to Focus on Employers, Drug Cartels/Felonious Criminals but Faces Fierce Opposition!

As Janet Napolitano, head of Homeland Security, moves forward with plans to restructure ICE policies to focus on incarcerating Employers and Drug Cartels/Felonious Criminals versus workers, she is facing fierce opposition not only from "The Party of NO" (Republicans), but also from rogue Agents from within her own ICE Divisions who are only interested in sidling up with the owners of the "for profit" prisons where entire families of workers are jailed for PROFIT at tax payers expense. ANTIs, of course, are cheering on Napolitano's opposition.

Delay in Immigration Raids May Signal Policy Change

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has delayed a series of proposed immigration raids and other enforcement actions at U.S. workplaces in recent weeks, asking agents in her department to apply more scrutiny to the selection and investigation of targets as well as the timing of raids, federal officials said.
A senior department official said the delays signal a pending change in whom agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement choose to prosecute -- increasing the focus on businesses and executives (employers) instead of ordinary workers.
"ICE is now scrutinizing these cases more thoroughly to ensure that [targets] are being taken down when they should be taken down, and that the employer is being targeted and the surveillance and the investigation is being done how it should be done," said the official, discussing Napolitano's views about sensitive law enforcement matters on the condition of anonymity.
"There will be a change in policy, but in the interim, you've got to scrutinize the cases coming up," the senior DHS official said, noting Napolitano's expectations as a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general.
Another DHS official said Napolitano plans to release protocols this week to ensure more consistent work-site investigations and less "haphazard" decision-making...
Critics say workplace and neighborhood sweeps are harsh and indiscriminate, and they accuse the government of racial profiling, violating due process rights and committing other humanitarian abuses...
"Raids that break up families in that way, just kick in the door in the middle of the night, taking [a] father, a parent away, that's just not the American way. It must stop," Pelosi added at a Capitol Hill conference on border issues sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

But Obama also faces pressure from conservative lawmakers and many centrist Democrats, who say that workplace enforcement is needed to reduce the supply of jobs that attract illegal immigrants, and that any retreat in defending American jobs in a recession could ignite a populist backlash. When the White House announced plans last week to move more than 450 federal agents and equipment to the border to counter Mexico's drug cartels, lawmakers warned Napolitano against diverting money from workplace operations.
Rep. Lamar Smith (Tex.), ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said the administration "appears to be using border violence as an excuse" to undercut immigration enforcement in the nation's interior. "It makes no sense to take funds from one priority (worksite enforcement) to address a new priority (the growth in border violence). This is just robbing Peter to pay Paul," Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), the powerful chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee for homeland security, said in an e-mail. Led by Byrd, Congress this year ordered ICE to spend $127 million on workplace operations, $34 million more than President George W. Bush had requested. Reducing those amounts, even in ICE's overall $5 billion budget, would provoke a fight, senior aides in both parties said.
Napolitano has sought to chart a middle course by ordering a review of which immigrants are targeted for arrest. While a policy is still under development, Napolitano has said she intends to focus more on prosecuting criminal cases of wrongdoing by companies. Analysts say they also think ICE may conduct fewer raids, focusing routine enforcement on civil infractions of worker eligibility verification rules...

(ANTI) Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which seeks to reduce immigration, said Obama aides are trying to manage the issue until an economic turnaround permits an attempt to overhaul immigration laws. "I think their calculus is, how do they keep Hispanic groups happy enough without angering the broader public so much that they sabotage health care and their other priorities?" Krikorian said...
Within ICE, the front-office vetting of cases has led to some doubts. Last week, for example, ICE postponed plans to raid employers at a military-related facility in Chicago for which they had arranged to temporarily detain as many as 100 illegal immigrants, according to one (Rogue) official. A second official said Napolitano thought the investigative work was inadequate.
The raid would have been the second under the Obama administration. After the first, a Feb. 24 sweep of an engine-parts maker in Bellingham, Wash., that led to 28 arrests, Napolitano publicly expressed disappointment that ICE did not inform her beforehand and announced an investigation into agency communication practices.
In response, Leigh H. Winchell, the ICE special agent in charge (Rogue ICE Agent) in Seattle, wrote an e-mail to his staff -- subsequently leaked to conservative bloggers -- saying they had acted correctly. He (Rogue ICE Agent) also copied a statement from House Republicans calling Napolitano's review "beyond backwards."
"You did nothing wrong and you did everything right," Winchell wrote. "I cannot control the politics that take place with these types of situations, but I can remind you that you are great servants of this country and this agency."

Napolitano to increase number of U.S. Agents on Border to Check Flow of Illegal Guns & Drugs into Mexico

Janet Napolitano, Director of Homeland Security, has announced the U.S. will soon send a large contingent of federal agents to its southern border to help stem recent violence in northern Mexico. The new initiative will mobilize more border-enforcement teams, multiply the number of intelligence analysts working on the border, step up searches of vehicles going into Mexico from the U.S. and stem the flow of illegal guns and drugs going into Mexico. Napolitano said the increase in agents is in response to violence by drug cartels, including murders of police, kidnappings and beheadings in Mexican border towns in the past year.

As the number 1 user of illegal drugs in the world and the largest provider of illegal weapons to Mexican Drug Cartels, the U.S. has culpability in these Drug Wars. Law-enforcement officials say gun dealers in Arizona and other southern border states provide three-quarters (MSNBC reports 95%) of the black-market firearms to Mexico, a nation that strictly controls gun ownership. Phoenix is considered a hub for illegal exportation of AK-47s, SKS rifles, .50-caliber rifles and other weapons favored by narcotics gangsters.

Democratic House members pressed officials about whether Congress should strengthen U.S. gun laws to try to make it more difficult for the cartels to arm themselves. "My personal opinion is we could tighten up our gun laws," said retired Vice Adm. Roger T. Rufe Jr., director of Homeland Security's Office of Operations Coordination. "We shouldn't be selling assault weapons on the streets."

"We take this extremely seriously and intend to make some significant movements to the southwest border," Napolitano said. "Every American has a stake in this. Violence on the border can easily seep into our communities. It also creates a fear in border communities that the rule of law doesn't apply anymore, and that's just unacceptable."

Reference:

Napolitano: U.S. agents to increase on border

Late Breaking News: CHC Elated After Meeting with Napolitano! Republicans Furious & OUT themselves as ANTIs!

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with Janet Napolitano today and were elated by her feedback. Republicans were Furious, outing themselves as ANTIs even though they know their response will LOSE more Latino Votes!

thehill.com reports:

Hispanic lawmakers hopeful on immigration

Hispanic lawmakers are more hopeful than ever that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will end workplace raids by immigration enforcement officials. Several lawmakers emerged elated from a closed-door meeting Thursday with Napolitano, held one day after she promised to investigate a raid of an engine shop in Bellingham, Wash. Earlier this week. During the meeting with the lawmakers, Napolitano said she had “grave concerns” about the raid, in which 25 people were detained for deportation hearings.

According to CHC members, Napolitano herself brought up the Bellingham raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, preempting questions from lawmakers who have long sought to end the policy of raiding workplaces to target workers.“The meeting was very, very constructive. We’re happy,” said CHC Immigration Task Force Chairman Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.).“We shared with her our concerns about the raid. She shared with us that she had grave concerns about the manner in which it was carried out and that it’s under evaluation.”“I think the most important words were that she had ‘grave concerns,’” Gutierrez said.

Napolitano told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday that she would look into the raid. “I want to get to the bottom of this as well,” she told the panel. Napolitano also reiterated the administration’s commitment to focus on the employer side – rather than the employee side — of workplace enforcement.The Tuesday raid is the first conducted by federal authorities since President Obama took office. Although the raids had become a staple of the Bush administration’s approach to immigration enforcement, Napolitano told lawmakers on Wednesday that she was unaware of the raid until it was over.

In Tuesday’s raid, 25 men and three women were suspected of being undocumented aliens working in the United States illegally. All but three – who were released for humanitarian reasons – were detained for immediate deportation proceedings. After having to temporarily give up on a comprehensive immigration reform bill, the CHC and its allies have pivoted to pushing for a scaling-back of the tough enforcement provisions enacted under President Bush’s watch. Some Republicans were as furious as the CHC was pleased with Napolitano’s remarks at the hearing. “Let me see if I have this straight,” House Judiciary Committee Ranking Republican Lamar Smith (Texas), one of the strongest defenders of the Bush policy, said in a statement. “ICE agents arrest a criminal illegal immigrant gang member, discover he had worked illegally with other illegal immigrants at a manufacturing plant, begin an investigation of the employer and arrest the illegal immigrants to get more facts … and the secretary orders an investigation of ICE? “This sounds like good police work, not something to investigate,” Smith continued. “Secretary Napolitano’s decision is beyond backwards.”

Hispanic Democrats had been growing frustrated with what they saw as a lack of commitment from the Obama administration to even consider rolling back the raids policies. Hispanic voters were critical to Obama’s election victory in November. Exit polls showed Obama won the constituency with more than a 2-to-1 margin. He also won several states with large Hispanic populations that were carried by President Bush in 2004, including Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.

Gutierrez, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and others described Napolitano as giving a firm commitment to thoroughly review a Bush administration policy that has resulted in dozens of workplace raids and the deportation of hundreds of immigrants. The CHC has complained that the raids break up families and communities while doing little to punish the employers who hire undocumented workers.

Eric Holder Has it Right! Focus on Drug Cartels and Felonious Criminals!

Eric Holder has it right. ICE should focus their energies on Drug Cartels and felonious criminals! All sides agree!

CNN Reports:

Arrests 'crushing blow' to Mexican drug cartel, U.S. officials say

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. investigators have wrapped up a major 21-month drug-enforcement operation aimed at crippling a powerful and violent Mexican cartel operating in the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday. "Enormous amounts of narcotics" have been confiscated in the operation, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said.
Investigators made 52 arrests in overnight raids in California, Minnesota and Maryland, increasing to more than 750 the number of suspects detained in the coast-to-coast operation to disrupt the Sinaloa cartel, Holder said. Drug Enforcement Administration agents said $59 million has been seized in what was dubbed Operation Xcellerator. Holder heralded the operation and vowed to vigorously help the Mexican government battle the powerful cartels. "International drug trafficking organizations pose a sustained, serious threat to the safety and security of our communities," Holder told reporters.

DEA acting Administrator Michele Leonhart, who joined Holder at the Justice Department for the announcement, said the operation dealt "a crushing blow" to the Sinaloa cartel. "We successfully concluded the largest and hardest-hitting operation to ever target the very violent and dangerously powerful Sinaloa drug cartel," she said. Large amounts of illicit drugs, including 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, 1,200 pounds of methamphetamine and 1.3 million ecstasy pills, were confiscated in the United States during the operation, Holder said. "These are enormous amounts of narcotics -- drugs otherwise destined for the streets of the United States," Holder said.
In two years, cocaine prices more than doubled, while purity dropped by a third, indicating enforcement efforts are having an impact, Leonhart said. "The result of law enforcement pressure is less cocaine on the streets of the United States. That's why the price has been affected. That's why the purity has been affected," she said.
Holder praised Mexican President Felipe Calderon as "courageous" for his willingness to fight the drug cartels, and noted the estimated 5,000 deaths that resulted from drug battles in that country last year. DEA agents said fierce fighting between the two most powerful Mexican cartels -- the Sinaloa cartel, known as "the Federation," and the Gulf Cartel -- was largely about control of transportation routes for illegal drug trafficking.
Wednesday's announcement comes as increased violence along the Mexican border is prompting concern among state and federal officials in the United States. In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry called on the Department of Homeland Security to send "1,000 more troops" to the border in his state. "I don't care whether they are military troops, or National Guard troops or whether they are customs agents," he said.
Meanwhile in Washington, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee urged Democrats to call a hearing on border violence to highlight the threat. "The recent surge in drug-related violence on the Southwest border has turned some American communities and neighborhoods into the "Wild West," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas.

BREAKING NEWS: Napolitano Said She Didn't Know About The Raid & Orders Investigation!

Late Breaking News: During Congressional Testimony today, Janet Napolitano was asked by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) about the ICE raid in Washington. Napolitano said she had not heard about the raid in advance and was surprised to find out about it this morning. She asked ICE to send her details about it today so she could review why it was carried out. In her testimony, she said enforcement should target employers and felonious criminals versus targetting workers.

The Associated Press reports:

Napolitano orders review of raid at Wash. plant

By MANUEL VALDES – 1 hour ago
SEATTLE (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has ordered a review of a raid at a Washington manufacturing plant that ended with the arrests of 28 illegal immigrants. Homeland Security spokesman Sean Smith says Napolitano wants to know why Tuesday's raid occurred and what led up to it.
President Barack Obama, who appointed Napolitano, has signaled for a shift in immigration policy that would rely less on work site enforcement, focusing instead on employers who hire illegal immigrants and overall immigration reform.

Smith says the raid at the Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham was the first work site action that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has taken since Obama took office.
ICE spokeswoman Lorie Dankers in Seattle declined comment.

NCLR's Statement re: Bellingham ICE Raid: On Immigration, We Need CHANGE We Can Believe In!

The NCLR has issued the following statement regarding the Bellingham ICE raid:

ON IMMIGRATION, WE NEED CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN
Washington, DC—On Tuesday, February 24, 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a workplace in Bellingham, Washington, reportedly arresting 28 people. This is the first major workplace raid since President Obama took office. The following is a statement by Janet Murguía, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.
“We are better than this, and our nation deserves better than the continuation of a failed immigration policy that contradicts American values and civil liberties. Our community understands the federal government's pursuit of hardened, dangerous criminals and our country’s need to protect its borders. But the systematic demonization, detention, and deportation of peaceful immigrant workers and parents under the pretense of homeland security is an assault on our values as a country. At a time when messages of change and hope abound, we are left to wonder how change will come to these failed policies.
“We are a nation of immigrants, and we are indeed a nation of laws, yet when our government engages in practices that violate the very laws we hold dear, it is a clear indication that we must evaluate the course. The zeal with which federal and local law enforcement agencies have applied these policies has violated the rights and civil liberties of many in various communities, including legal residents and U.S. citizens. Latinos specifically have been racially profiled, arrested without warrant, detained without counsel, and in some cases even deported out of the country although legally present. Such policy is an abrogation of civil rights, common decency, and human dignity.
“Escalating immigration raids and local police crackdowns over the past eight years have spread indiscriminate terror among millions of people who pose no threat to the United States and who have lived peacefully and productively within our borders for years. Most have worked hard, paid taxes, lived productive lives, and been good neighbors. Many have children and spouses who are U.S. citizens. Many have served in our nation's defense. Yet over the past eight years, U.S. policies have sought to criminalize this population, raid their homes and workplaces, suspend their civil liberties, put them in chains, and ultimately deport them. In the process, families are torn apart and children are separated from their parents, despite the fact that under U.S. law, immigration violations are a civil offense.
“Billions of dollars have been allocated over the last decade to such ill-conceived tactics, yet the undocumented population has continued to grow. While some may claim that these techniques have staunched unauthorized migration, the reality is that the most powerful factor in that equation has been a slowing economy. Restoring the rule of law to our immigration system requires systematic change and smart enforcement strategies that do not blur the line between innocent workers and those who mean us harm. An urgent response is needed, and it should include a thorough examination of Department of Homeland Security practices and policies to provide a cost-benefit analysis in terms of the effectiveness, security, resource efficiency, and ethics of these operations. We also need clarification from the administration as to its plan to reform our immigration system in a manner that protects families, workers, and our nation’s ideals.
“Let us not forget that how we resolve the status of the undocumented will say much about who we are as a country. We would do better to listen to the better angels of our nature.”

BREAKING NEWS! ALARMING!! ICE RAID SENDS WORKERS TO GEO DETENTION CENTER NOTORIOUS FOR ABUSES!!

ALARMING BREAKING NEWS:

JANET NAPOLITANO HAS A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!!!

Congressional Hispanic Caucus -- PLEASE ASK HER THESE QUESTIONS:

1. Why are the ICE Raids continuing?

2. What Happened to your drive to arrest Felonious Criminals vs Workers?

3. Why are workers being sent to deplorable Detention Centers with history of Abuses?

4. What happened to your plan to have the Detention Centers investigated?

CHC: THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!!

The Seattle Times reports:

Immigration officers today raided an engine remanufacturing plant in Bellingham, arrested 28 illegal immigrant workers and began processing them for deportation. The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham. ICE officials say the 25 men and three women — most of them from Mexico — may have gained employment at Yamato using phony social security numbers and other counterfeit identity documents.
Yamato officials, who said they had been cooperating with ICE since last fall when investigators began looking at employment documents, were shocked by today's raid.
In fact, three of the workers arrested today had been cleared as having legitimate documents during an employment records audit by ICE in 2005, said Yamato spokeswoman Shirin Dhanani Makalai.
We have been audited before so we do due diligence to get the proper paperwork," Makalai said. "People bring you paperwork that by law you are required to accept. You can't always tell if it's not correct."
With about 100 workers, Yamato specializes in rebuilding Japanese car engines and transmissions.
ICE investigators began looking into its employment records following the arrest of a criminal illegal immigrant who had previously worked there.
After being processed earlier today, officials released three of the immigrants on humanitarian grounds. The others are being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.
"The lure of jobs in the United States continues to be one of the primary factors fueling illegal immigration," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Seattle. "ICE remains committed to investigating cases where the evidence shows employment laws are being violated."

Northwest Detention Center Examples of HISTORY of Abuses:

1. Food illnesses at GEO detention facility.
Hundreds of detainees fell sick from apparent food poisoning at the Northwest Detention Center near Tacoma, Washington. Northwest is a 1,000 bed immigrant detention center owned by GEO, a private corporation that holds contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for facilities across the country.

2. Public document showdown averted
Posted by Scott Fontaine @ 03:18:06 pm
A court battle over open records and the company that operates the Northwest Detention Center has been avoided. The GEO Group, which has operated the 1,030-bed Northwest Detention Center since 2004, filed a petition in Pierce County Superior Court last week to block the release of several documents requested through public-disclosure laws.

3. Quarantine ends for most at Northwest Detention Center

The quarantine of more than 900 of the 1,000 immigrants held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma ends Wednesday, six days after a detainee fell ill with chickenpox and federal officials locked down the facility. Court cases for immune detainees resumed Tuesday, and deportations start again as early as Wednesday, said Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

4. Report: Conditions at the NW Detention Center are inhumane and violate international law and the U.S. Constitution A Report on Human Rights Violations at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) confirm human rights abuses are taking place at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on the tide flats of Tacoma.

GEO Group History of Abuses:

The GEO Group is an international corporation that operates prisons around the country and is frequently in the news for its abuse of prisoners in its care resulting in many preventable deaths.