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April 29, 2007

Deportations strand young U.S. citizens

"As federal immigration authorities ratchet up enforcement actions such as the one last week at a Little Village market on Chicago's Southwest Side -- critics call them raids -- the resulting deportations have highlighted how almost a third of the nation's 6.3 million so-called unauthorized families are an amalgam of "mixed" status -- that is, illegal immigrant parents with at least one child who was born in the U.S. and is therefore a citizen, according to statistics by the Urban Institute and Pew Hispanic Center."

IJJ 2003-2004 Border Justice Fellow MICHAEL MARTINEZ in the Chicago Tribune.

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 05:50 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Borders Spell Trouble for Arab-American

"Abe Dabdoub calls the day he was sworn in as an American citizen last year the proudest moment of his life, little suspecting that his new identity would set off a bureaucratic nightmare at the hands of the Department of Homeland Security."

NEIL MacFARQUHAR in the New York Times.

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 08:54 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 28, 2007

A family's painful split decision

"After years of lax enforcement, U.S. immigration authorities have stepped up arrests and deportations across the nation in recent months, forcing an increasing number of adults who are here illegally to make drastic and difficult decisions: take their U.S.-born children with them or leave them behind. About 3 million children who are U.S. citizens by birth have at least one illegal immigrant parent."

ANNA GORMAN in the Los Angeles Times.

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April 27, 2007

SF Bay Reacts Angrily to Immigration Raids

It was just before dawn on March 6, when dozens of federal immigration agents conducted surprise raids in San Rafael and nearby Novato, two comfortable Marin County suburbs.

The raids are part of the government’s Operation Return to Sender, in which more than 23,000 people have been arrested nationwide, including more than 1,800 in Northern and Central California, immigration officials said.

And while the raids have upset many pro-immigrant groups nationwide, that displeasure has been particularly acute in the Bay Area, a region that generally bends left politically and where many cities consider themselves so-called “sanctuaries” for illegal immigrants. JESSE MCKINLEY in The New York Times.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 09:02 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

U.S. Border Guard Blocks Canadian Psychotherapist

"Andrew Feldmar, a well-known Vancouver psychotherapist, rolled up to the Blaine [Wa.] border crossing last summer as he had hundreds of times in his career. At 66, his gray hair, neat beard, and rimless glasses give him the look of a seasoned intellectual. He handed his passport to the U.S. border guard and relaxed, thinking he would soon be with an old friend in Seattle. The border guard turned to his computer and googled "Andrew Feldmar."

The psychotherapist's world was about to turn upside down."

LINDA SOLOMON in The Tyee.

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April 26, 2007

ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Immigration Enforcement Agency

Bay Area civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of a seven-year-old boy, a U.S. citizen by birth, who was detained for 10 hours by immigration agents, after arresting the boy's father on an immigration violation last month.

Lawyers said it's the first time they've documented a U.S. citizen, the child of an immigrant, detained in the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigrants called "Operation Return to Sender." JESSIE MANGALIMAN in the San Jose Mercury News.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 06:01 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 25, 2007

Legislators Reach Agreement on Prison Upgrades

After weeks of negotiations, legislative leaders today said they've reached agreement with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on a plan to build new prison beds and better prepare inmates for release.

The package will expand prison capacity and rehabilitation programs in an attempt to ease an overcrowding crisis in the sprawling correctional system, which houses nearly 172,000 inmates in space intended for about half that many.

The crisis has become so severe that federal judges are considering whether to cap the inmate population. Hearings on that issue are set for June. JENIFER WARREN in the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 04:21 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 24, 2007

Task Force Arrests Dozens of Suspected Immigrant Smugglers

Roughly 60 people suspected of being linked to immigration smuggling operations were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol and other agencies in a task force operation in inland San Diego County, officials said Tuesday. ANGELICA MARTINEZ in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 06:28 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Immigration groups split on boycott

"LOS ANGELES — Last year, popular Spanish-language disc jockey Eduardo "Piolin" Sotelo was hailed for helping to persuade hundreds of thousands of people to join protests demanding amnesty for illegal immigrants.

But at a recent immigration rally, many people called him a traitor, accusing him of not working hard enough to support the cause."

PETER PRENGAMAN for the Associated Press.

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April 23, 2007

On tighter US border with Mexico, Violence Rises

The harder it gets to sneak illicit cargo – immigrants or drugs or other contraband – into the US, the more violence-prone the border has become, not only for border-crossers but also for law officers trying to halt the smuggling.

During the first three months of the year, roaming bandits, heavily armed and looking to hijack valuable payloads, waged at least eight attacks on illicit shipments of people or drugs traversing Arizona. Though no US border patrol agents have been killed, they've been assaulted more often by illegal immigrants this year – 112 attacks, an 18 percent jump – in the state, compared with the same three-month period a year ago. FAYE BOWERS in the Christian Science Monitor.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 09:54 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Gov. Halts Death Chamber Amid Prison Reform Controversy

SACRAMENTO - Attempting to head off a confrontation with legislative leaders over the secret construction of a new death chamber at San Quentin State Prison, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday ordered a halt to the project until the Legislature OKs money to complete it.

Legislators were kept in the dark until revelations came to light last week that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation had nearly completed the renovation of a room for carrying out lethal injections without the Legislature's knowledge. That unleashed Democratic threats to pull the plug on Schwarzenegger's $10 billion prison reform effort. STEVE HARMON of MediaNews Group in the Times-Herald


Posted by Susan Grant at 08:22 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

New Zealand Advocates Call for Prison Reform

A lobby group for prison reform is accusing Corrections of trying to smudge the issue of segregation after an inmate was assaulted in a Chubb prison van last week.
 
The victim, an intellectually impaired man facing child sex charges, was confined with a 24-year-old who had several violent convictions.
 
They had all asked for segregated status, which meant they were segregated from other prisoners, but not from each other.
 
But the president of the Howard League for Penal Reform Peter Williams says that definition of segregation is incorrect. TV3 NEWS

Posted by Susan Grant at 08:12 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Border Patrol agent who shot illegal entrant charged with murder

"A U.S. Border Patrol agent who fatally shot a Mexican illegal entrant in January has been charged with murder by the Cochise County [Az.] Attorney who said Monday that the shooting was not justified."

BRADY McCOMBS in the Arizona Daily Star.

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Border Patrol video of shooting leaked to Internet

"Ramiro Gamez Acosta, 20, was shot once in the chest by an agent armed with an M-4 carbine last March 26. He died within minutes."

GREG GROSS in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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April 22, 2007

Mental Hospitals Vie With Prisons For Medical Staffs

Lawyers for mentally ill prisoners will ask a federal judge Monday to force California to take drastic action to stem a staff exodus from the state's mental hospitals that has jeopardized patient safety and left psychotic inmates to languish in jails and prisons without proper treatment.

In February, U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton ordered the state Department of Mental Health to formulate a plan to reverse a staff exodus in recent months from the state's beleaguered hospitals. The staff departures occurred after the court ordered raises for prison mental-health staff that made prison jobs more attractive than those at hospitals. LEE ROMNEY and SCOTT GOLD in the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 09:40 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Injuries, Unpaid Wages Common for Workers

Day laborers, many of them illegal immigrants, face harrassment from law enforcement and non-payment trying to make a living in New Orleans.  KATY RECKDAHL in the Times-Picayune.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 09:37 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Islamic Racial Profiling Examined in San Francisco

Racial profiling against Muslim Americans will be the focus of a study to be conducted by the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the organization reported.

The study aims to document and investigate claims from anyone who may have been profiled based on skin color, clothing or religion, and CAIR is looking for anyone who believes they've been profiled to contact the organization.

CAIR hopes the study will help the group advocate on behalf of victims of racial profiling, as well as to compile statistics for an annual civil rights report on racial profiling, according to CAIR-SFBA spokeswoman Abiya Ahmed.

CBS5.com Bay City Newswire 

Posted by Susan Grant at 08:23 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Institutions Plead for Action While Inmates Suffer

Lawyers for mentally ill prisoners will ask a federal judge Monday to force California to take drastic action to stem a staff exodus from the state's mental hospitals that has jeopardized patient safety and left psychotic inmates to languish in jails and prisons without proper treatment.

In February, U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton ordered the state Department of Mental Health to formulate a plan to reverse a staff exodus in recent months from the state's beleaguered hospitals. The staff departures occurred after the court ordered raises for prison mental-health staff that made prison jobs more attractive than those at hospitals. LEE ROMNEY AND SCOTT GOLD in the Los Angeles Times

Posted by Susan Grant at 08:16 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves

"About 200 million migrants from different countries are scattered across the globe, supporting a population back home that is as big if not bigger. Were these half-billion or so people to constitute a state — migration nation — it would rank as the world’s third-largest."

JASON DePARLE in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. 

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April 21, 2007

Candidate Giuliani Shifts His Tone on Immigration

A decade ago, as mayor of New York, Mr. Giuliani used the historic backdrop of Ellis Island to champion the cause of immigrants, calling attacks on people who came here legally a blow to “the heart and soul of America.” And from City Hall he often defended illegal immigrants, ordering city workers not to deny them benefits and advocating measures to ease their path to citizenship.

But now he is running for president, and the politics of immigration in the post-9/11 world is vastly different, with the issue splitting the Republican Party.  Perhaps more than any other candidate, Mr. Giuliani has a record on immigration with the potential to complicate his bid for the nomination. MARC SANTORA and SAM ROBERTS in The New York Times.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 05:08 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 19, 2007

Australia and the U.S. Join to Discourage Refugees

Australia and the United States have come up with a novel way to discourage refugees who risk all to stream to their borders, only to spend years in detention.

Swap them. Then admit them. CAROLINE BROTHERS in the International Herald Tribune.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 03:46 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Tenn. Senate Passes Immigration Bill

The Senate on Thursday passed a proposal to require employers to verify the immigration status of all new hires.

The bill passed on a 27-2 vote after Sen. Jack Johnson, the bill's main sponsor, amended the proposal to require the immigration checks only for those workers for whom an employer is required to file a W-2 tax form. ERIC SCHELZIG in Business Week.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 03:43 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

A Plea for Prison Reform

IT SEEMS bizarre that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would construct a new execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison without telling the Legislature about it.

Prison officials tell us that they were only trying to meet the concerns expressed by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel last December about the cramped conditions and poor lighting of an antiquated gas chamber built in 1938 and recently used for lethal injection. Until those concerns are met, no one can be executed in California.

EDITORIAL in the San Francisco Chronicle 

Posted by Susan Grant at 03:35 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Senate Tries to Curb Convict Dumping in Pierce County

The state Senate is expected to pass a wide-ranging reform bill today that would require Washington prison officials to look elsewhere for new offender work-release and reporting centers and change policies that have made Pierce County a dumping ground for ex-convicts.

Senate Bill 6157 would make the state Department of Corrections prepare a release plan for every inmate who is sent to prison and figure out whether they need drug treatment, schooling and other services while they are still in prison to better prepare them for a crime-free life once they get out. JOSEPH TURNER in The News Tribune

Posted by Susan Grant at 03:32 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

NY State Assembly Pushes for Drug Reform

On Wednesday, April 18, the Drug Policy Alliance and members of Real Reform New York held a press conference and film screening to support reform of the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws (RDLs) in New York. The New York State Assembly went on to pass legislation which would further reform these laws, widely considered the nation’s harshest.

Assembly Bill 6663, introduced by Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry (Chair, Assembly Standing Committee on Correction), would expand drug treatment for people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, and continue sentencing reform by allowing certain people serving time for “B” felonies to apply for resentencing--a key piece missing in changes to the law made in 2004 and 2005. The bill would also increase judicial discretion and allow for some people convicted of first- and second-time drug offenses to receive treatment and probation instead of prison. Posted on Drugpolicy.org

Posted by Susan Grant at 03:28 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 18, 2007

Panel Urges Evidence Reform in California

Rebuffed last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a panel of justice experts is pressing the state to adopt safeguards it believes will curb wrongful criminal convictions.

The commission is proposing bills to help prevent false eyewitness identifications and forced confessions, and to make it harder for prosecutors to rely on jailhouse informants in building criminal cases. MIKE ZAPLER in the Mercury News.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 03:14 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Oklahoma Senate Votes to Deny Illegal Immigrants Jobs, Benefits

Immigration legislation that would bar illegal immigrants from jobs and public benefits was overwhelmingly approved by the Oklahoma Senate on Monday after opponents described it as a mean-spirited measure that will cost the state more than it will save.

The measure passed 41-6 after supporters said state taxpayers are clamoring for action because of the federal government’s failure to act. TIM TALLEY (AP) in the Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 03:10 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Korean Community Reacts to Va. Tech Shooting

The disclosure today that the gunman suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre was a South Korean national made the killings all the more shocking and painful for Los Angeles' huge Korean American community.

Community leaders said they hoped that the incident will not trigger a backlash against Korean American students. K. CONNIE KANG in the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 01:00 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 17, 2007

BBC Documentary Exposes Dark Secrets of British Prison

A reporter working undercover as a prison officer at the troubled Rye Hill jail found widespread intimidation of staff and incidents where diligent custody officers were urged to "back off" by senior colleagues for fear of upsetting inmates. It also found that prisoners had easy access to drugs and mobile phones.

The investigation, which will be shown tonight, comes after the jail had already been heavily criticised by inspectors over the murder of an inmate and the "avoidable" suicides of prisoners.

MATT WEAVER in The Guardian Unlimited

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Gov. Spitzer Prison Reform Plan Gets Mixed Reviews

In his first budget plan, Spitzer proposed creating a commission to study the state's sprawling prison system and mark some of its 70 facilities for closure by year's end. The likely targets? Medium and minimum security facilities, places like Fishkill, Woodbourne and Wallkill.

But the idea proved less than popular with the Legislature, especially in the state Senate, where upstate Republicans hold sway. Lawmakers made sure a closure commission was not in the budget that passed April 1.

BRENDAN SCOTT in The Times Herald-Record

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Prison Guards Challenge Schwarzenegger

SACRAMENTO – A national newsmagazine cover last week showed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger balancing a globe on a fingertip to symbolize leadership on global warming, but a powerful prison guard union has him in a hotter place.

With a face painted a lurid red and horns sprouting from his forehead, Schwarzenegger is depicted on a big mobile billboard parked at union headquarters that says: “The devil's in the details.” Schwarzenegger said last month he thought legislative leaders were only a couple of weeks away from a $10 billion bond deal to relieve prison overcrowding and avoid a court-ordered early release of inmates.

Many believe Schwarzenegger first may have to give a new labor contract to the prison guards, who have battled him with lawsuits and arbitration, rejected an offer that could give them an 18 percent raise over four years, and formed coalitions to push their own proposals on overcrowding. ED MENDEL in The San Diego Union Tribune

Posted by Susan Grant at 07:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

UK Police Trying to Even the Playing Fields

POLICE chiefs are pushing for new laws allowing them to recruit more women and ethnic minority officers.

But the demand for a shake-up, which would handicap white males, was condemned as PC madness and met immediate opposition from the Government.

The Association of Chief Police Officers is expected to call for “affirmative action” to meet diversity targets.

TOM WHITEHEAD in The Daily Express 

Posted by Susan Grant at 07:50 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

NY Governor Calls for Resignation of Attorney

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Eliot Spitzer says the chairman of the state panel that rules on judges' conduct should resign after co-authoring a humor book that said the accused are likely guilty.

Manhattan attorney Raoul Felder, the unpaid chairman of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, wrote a book with comic Jackie Mason titled Schmucks! Our Favorite Fakes, Frauds, Lowlifes, Liars, the Armed and Dangerous, and Good Guys Gone Bad.

Felder's colleagues on the commission have already called for him to step down, citing several passages in the book they considered offensive, including: "anytime you hear the word 'allegedly,' you can bet it's true," and "nothing in our country is more insidious than affirmative action." ASSOCIATED PRESS in firstamendmentcenter.org

Posted by Susan Grant at 07:46 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Housing Slump Takes a Toll on Illegal Workers

Some of the casualties of America’s housing bust are easy to spot up and down California's Central Valley.

But another set of losers is less visible: the immigrant workers, mostly illegal, who rode the construction boom while it lasted and now find jobs on building sites few and far between. EDUARDO PORTER in The New York Times.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 09:04 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 16, 2007

Bush Targets Republicans in Last Ditch Immigration Try

President George W. Bush, with the backing of more than 50 business groups, is mounting an all-out effort to win support among skeptical Republican lawmakers for an immigration overhaul that may be his last chance for a domestic achievement.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff are meeting lawmakers weekly to build support for a plan that would combine a path to citizenship for undocumented workers, which most House Republicans oppose, with stricter enforcement. CATHERINE DODGE and JAY NEWTON-SMALL for Bloomberg.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 03:31 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Dallas Morning News: Death No More

The Dallas Morning News editorial board has taken a stand against the death penalty.  Read more here, here, here and here.

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 11:33 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

Tax Returns Rise for Illegal Immigrants

With the tax deadline approaching, illegal immigrants are sending in federal returns in what appear to be record numbers despite fears heightened by recent immigration raids around the country.

The increase in filings comes amid talk of an immigration overhaul, with some proposals introduced in Congress linking amnesty to the payment of taxes. Many illegal immigrants showing up at tax preparation offices around the country say they hope that filing a return will create a paper trail that could lead to citizenship one day. NINA BERNSTEIN in The New York Times.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 09:29 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 15, 2007

Inmates Unaware of Services Available for Their Children

Despite valiant work by many agencies and prison facilities, services for children with incarcerated parents in Illinois resemble a fragile web in which few of the strands connect and through which many children fall.

Although many say an effort to meet children's needs require a comprehensive approach, a Chicago Reporter investigation found that many inmates are unaware of available services for their children, many caregivers experience financial strain, and overwhelmed service providers are perceived by inmates to work alone, rather than in concert with families and other agencies. JEFF KELLY LOWENSTEIN, IJJ Fellow. Cover story in the Chicago Reporter.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 02:06 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Death Penalty Appeals Follow Party Lines

An Enquirer analysis of the court's death-penalty decisions since 2000 shows that 6th Circuit judges consistently voted along partisan lines.

If the judges assigned to a case were appointed by Democratic presidents, odds are good they will overturn a death sentence because of new evidence or mistakes made during the trial. If the judges were appointed by Republicans, the chances are slim.

That's especially true at the 6th Circuit, the powerful and deeply divided court that decides death penalty appeals from Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. DAN HORN in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 02:01 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Latinos Fight for "War" Memorial

Latino advocates have been up in arms recently over the exclusion of Latino soldier stories from Burns' new seven-part documentary, "The War," which explores the conflict through the personal narratives of veterans and their families. Critics argued that the history would not be complete without the stories of Latino soldiers who enlisted in droves — as many as 500,000 strong — and were represented in the ranks more prominently than in civil society back home.

This week, PBS announced that Burns agreed to incorporate Latino and Native American voices. Burns will assemble a new production team, including a Latino, to create the material in time for the Sept. 23 premiere. AGUSTIN GURZA in the Los Angeles Times.

Report from the AP. 

Posted by Amanda Becker at 01:54 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Border Agents Revive Arizona Town

The copper mine closed nearly 25 years ago, leaving residents with a 1.5-mile-long pit and the feeling their town may not survive.

But the federal government's efforts to heighten security along the U.S.-Mexican border have pumped new life into the historic Arizona town of Ajo. CHAD GRAHAM in the Arizona Republic.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 01:49 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Battle Over the Banlieues

The unrest in France’s impoverished immigrant suburbs has dominated the country’s presidential campaign, leaving voters to wonder just what it means now to be French. DAVID RIEFF in The New York Times Magazine.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 11:51 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

Drug Rearrests Up After Prop 36

Convicted drug users in California are more likely to be arrested on new drug charges since Proposition 36 took effect than before voters approved the landmark law mandating drug treatment rather than incarceration, according a long-awaited study released Friday. MEGAN GARVEY and JACK LEONARD in the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 11:32 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

For Some Hispanics, Coming to U.S. Means Abandoning Religion

A wave of research shows that increasing percentages of Hispanics are abandoning church, suggesting to researchers that along with assimilation comes a measure of secularization. LAURA GOODSTEIN in The New York Times.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 11:23 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 13, 2007

Immigration Debate Sours for Illegals

The terms of the immigration debate have turned less friendly for illegal immigrants as lawmakers and the Bush administration struggle to reach a deal in the next few weeks.

The landscape for an immigration overhaul has turned upside down in only a year, with a different party in control of Congress and new political realities for President Bush and the chief congressional negotiators. AP for MSNBC.

Posted by Amanda Becker at 05:07 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Did Smugglers Kill Santiago Rafael Cruz?

Santiago Rafael Cruz, a Mexican labor activist who had lived in Toledo, Ohio since 1998, was brutally murdered early this week in the offices of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO (FLOC) in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.  Co-workers suspect the killing was a message: Cruz and FLOC were fighting corruption, ripoffs and alien smuggling.  FLOC has a contract to recruit H-2A workers for a North Carolina pickle company.  The U.S. State Department has called for an investigation.

CLYDE HUGHES and wire reports in the Toledo Blade here and here.

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April 12, 2007

Paper's Series on Racial Profiling in Maryland Generates Buzz

FREDERICK -- The Frederick News-Post's StopWatch series published during two days in late March elicited comments from about 25 readers. Reactions ran the gamut from those who believed the findings echoed their own experiences, to readers who said the series damaged the trust between the community and local law enforcement agencies.

The News-Post also invited comments from the Frederick Police Department, Maryland State Police and the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. City Police Chief Col. Kim Dine and Sheriff Chuck Jenkins responded to the series, while state police officials declined comment.
ALISON WALKER-BAIRD AND NANCY HERNANDEZ in The Frederick-News Post

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Morristown Mayor Pushes for Immigration Training Program

A North Jersey mayor believes municipal laws will not resolve illegal-immigrant problems in his town or any other town, including the Burlington County community of Riverside.

But Donald Cresitello does have a suggestion that he considers workable for Riverside and other municipalities that are searching for solutions to their problems: Deputize police as federal immigration officers.

Cresitello, the mayor of Morristown in Morris County, is leading the charge for Morristown to become the first community in the state to have its police officers trained and deputized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The governing body in Morristown endorsed Cresitello's plan last month.
TODD MCHALE on PhillyBurbs.com

Posted by Susan Grant at 08:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Virginia Officers to Enter Federal Immigration Training Program

HERNDON, Va. -- This northern Virginia town plans to send at least seven officers to a federal program that trains police officers to enforce U.S. immigration laws, despite concerns from critics.

Herndon could become the first locality in the Washington area to start such training. The town already has been accepted into the federal program, and the Town Council voted unanimously last month in favor of the partnership with the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

ASSOCIATED PRESS in The Daily Press

Posted by Susan Grant at 08:49 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Accusers Recant, But Hope Fades at Sing Sing

After five young people identified him in court as the murderer, Fernando Bermudez was convicted in 1992 of killing a 16-year-old youth in Greenwich Village. No other evidence — a gun, a fingerprint or a clear motive — tied him to the crime.

He has been jailed ever since, despite the fact that for 14 years, the same five witnesses have insisted their testimony was false.

Nonetheless, the recantations have had little impact. The same judicial system that once relied on the witnesses now no longer believes them. PAUL Von ZIELBAUER in The New York Times.