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"When Duthoy congratulated Alameda and eyed his certificate, she noticed something.
"They wouldn't let you change your clothes when they took your picture?" she asked Alameda.
"No," he replied.
Alameda's permanent document of citizenship shows him in his orange jail uniform -- a reminder of the price he paid to prove it"
SASHA ASLANIAN for Minnesota Public Radio.
"[A]lmost 15 years after his crimes, by applying for citizenship, Mr. Wu, 29, came to the attention of immigration authorities in a parallel law enforcement system that makes no allowances for rehabilitation. He was abruptly locked up in November as a “criminal alien,” subject to mandatory deportation to China — the nation he left at 5, when his family immigrated legally to the United States."
NINA BERNSTEIN in the New York Times.
"Five years later, the Mayas say they have only questions and a burning sense of betrayal. They insist they held up their end of the bargain, risking their lives in hours of undercover work, wearing wires and using fake names. But for reasons they do not understand, ICE and the agents who were their handlers abruptly turned against them-and they now face imminent deportation."
HELEN O'NEILL for the Associated Press.
Superior Forestry Service Inc., based in Tilly in southeast Arkansas, and the workers filed the class-action settlement proposal Thursday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, Tenn."
CHUCK BARTELS for the Associated Press.
"An Arizona sheriff said he planned to defy Washington's attempts to roll back his staunch enforcement of federal immigration law, a move that could put him on a collision course with the U.S. government."
MIRIAM JORDAN in the Wall Street Journal.
"A review of more than 800 pages of inspection reports obtained by the Houston Chronicle through a Freedom of Information Act request shows that inspectors have, in some instances, given positive reviews to facilities with serious problems — ranging from inadequate medical care to poor grievance procedures. In many cases, ICE has required facilities with deficiencies to make improvements, though inspectors often failed to note in subsequent reports whether changes were made."
SUSAN CARROLL in the Houston Chronicle.
"In an order filed Friday, a federal judge in Austin questioned U.S. prosecutors for seeking criminal convictions in court against some illegal immigrants, writing that the practice "presents a cost to the American taxpayer ... that is neither meritorious nor reasonable."
The order by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks comes as his docket, like others in Texas, is swollen with defendants charged with immigration crimes."
STEVEN KREYTAK in the Austin American-Statesman.
A. In addition to the civil consequence of deportation (now called "removal"), entering the U.S. surreptitiously is a federal crime. For first offenders it may be a misdemeanor under 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1325, with a penalty of six months imprisonment. Repeat offenders might be sentenced to 10 years or more under the illegal reentry felony provision, 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1326. Recently a federal district court judge in Austin questioned the wisdom of such prosecutions and ordered the U.S. Attorney's office to justify future cases.
Dan Kowalski will field general questions regarding immigration law and policy but is not able to answer, in this column, questions regarding individuals’ legal cases. Send questions and comments to dk@justnews.org.
Army veteran Rennison Castillo claims officials failed to act on his pleas in 2005 to check his military record and Social Security number.
It wasn't until immigration attorneys stepped in that his citizenship was confirmed and he was freed."
MANUEL VALDES for the Associated Press.