The Hill

Appropriators deal blow to border fence

By Walter Alarkon – 10/07/09

Appropriators dropped a requirement in the 2010 Homeland Security spending bill to rush the construction of a fence at the Mexican border, disappointing conservatives who pushed the project as a way to slow illegal immigration.

The conference report for the $42.8 billion appropriations bill left out language in the Senate’s version that required the installation of 700 miles of the border fence by the end of next year. The fence requirement was inserted in July as an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). It was adopted with the support of most GOP senators and 21 Democrats…

HERE

NRO – The Corner

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

National Review Online

More on Broken-Taillight Policing
[Mark Krikorian]

Broken-taillight immigration enforcement must be working, because the ACLU is against it. Their latest salvo is against Cobb County, near Atlanta, where the 287(g) program (which facilitates state/local cooperation with the feds) is supposedly causing “racial profiling” and other bad things — though no one seems to deny that the people who end up getting deported really are, you know, illegal aliens. And, like a dog to its vomit, these guys keep returning to the Big Lie of this part of the anti-enforcement push; in the words of a “civil rights lawyer”: “I believe that the original intention of the 287(g) program was to identify serious criminals who were already in detention and allow the federal government to deport them.” Rep. Lamar Smith disagrees, saying it was intended for any kind of illegal immigrant who came to the attention of law enforcement. And I’m pretty sure he’d know, since he was one of the authors of the law.

THE REST HERE

Mark Krikorian is a friend of the Dustin Inman Society

Jessica Vaughan — Center for Immigration Studies

An inside look at three sheriff’s departments using 287(g)

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano took a swipe at her erstwhile rival, the popular Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, by unceremoniously yanking his investigative 287(g) program late last week. Since previous audits found no serious problems, DHS seems to be throwing a bone to the many ethnic and civil liberties groups…

HERE

From the Cobb County, Georgia Sheriff’s office:
COBB COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE PRESS RELEASE Re; 287 (g)
October 13, 2009

Sheriff signs new Memorandum of Agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement

As a result of an audit conducted by the Government Accounting Office earlier this year, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced on July 10th that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) would be entering into new uniform agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies who participate in the 287(g) program. In today’s Commission meeting, Sheriff Neil Warren asked for the Board’s endorsement of his intention to sign the new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). This updated agreement will allow the Sheriff’s Office to continue checking the immigration status of inmates booked into jail.

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office was the first agency in Georgia to take advantage of the 287(g) program that allows local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration statutes. Since the implementation of the 287(g) program in July 2007, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office has identified over 6,600 inmates in jail custody who were in the United States illegally. According to Sheriff Warren, the program has been an effective tool to aid jail staff in accurately identifying foreign nationals coming into jail custody.

Once an offender is identified as being in the country illegally and local charges satisfied the individual is transferred to ICE custody. “As I have said many times, immigration is a federal issue “stated Warren. “However, when illegal aliens come into our community and commit a crime, it becomes a local issue.” “Our partnership with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been a resounding success and I am proud to continue this association.

Warren stated that later this month four additional deputies from Cobb will join deputies from Gwinnett County in a training program to become certified as ICE agents.” Sheriff Warren welcomes the addition of surrounding Sheriff’s offices who are taking advantage of the opportunities this program offers for improving safety in their communities.

The new MOA provides both a uniform national agreement and clarifies expectations for the program. Based on the way the program is implemented in Cobb, the Sheriff’s Office anticipates nominal change to its current operation. Although the 287(g) program in general has been criticized as “profiling”, that simply is not the case in Cobb County. Pursuant to the provisions of the Vienna Convention, all foreign nationals must be identified upon coming into custody and in many instances, their embassy notified. The use of ICE resources facilitates this identification and has the side benefit of putting ICE on notice when the individual is determined to be in the United States illegally. The decision as to whether the individual is ultimately deported rests solely with federal immigration authorities.

# # #

Market Watch

Obama fails to win Nobel prize in economics

In a decision as shocking as Friday’s surprise peace prize win, President Obama failed to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences Monday. — While few observers think Obama has done anything for world peace in the nearly nine months he’s been in office, the same clearly can’t be said for economics…

HERE

Columbus Ledger Enquirer

ACLU: Ga. immigration program has led to profiling
By KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press
October 12, 2009

ATLANTA — A 2-year-old program that gives the Cobb County sheriff’s office power to enforce federal immigration laws has led to racial profiling and other problems, a civil liberties group said in a report released Monday.

“Terror and isolation in Cobb: How Unchecked Police Power under 287(g) Has Torn Families Apart and Threatened Public Safety” also claims that immigrants have been unnecessarily detained under Cobb County’s 287(g) program. The program, is named for the section of immigration law that governs it.

The report is based on interviews with 10 residents who have been affected by the program and five community advocates and attorneys based in Cobb County, said report editor Azadeh Shahshahani of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

“Cobb County residents who appear to be foreign-born have been subjected to rampant racial profiling and are routinely picked up by the police for minor or nonexistent violations,” the report said. “Families have been torn apart as people are arrested on their way to conduct everyday business, leaving many wary of leaving their homes.”

Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren did not return a phone call seeking comment about the program and did not respond to questions sent by e-mail.

The report said the program causes immigrants to distrust law enforcement, making them less likely to report crimes and emboldening criminals.

“We had someone call us. He was arrested for false ID. He was walking down the street. A police officer came up to him and asked for his papers. They said they were fake and they arrested him. We do not live in a police state,” civil rights lawyer Jamie Hernan said in an interview quoted in the report.

The report’s release coincides with the departure this week of 18 deputies from another metro Atlanta county for about a month of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement training in Charleston, S.C. The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department in July became the fifth law enforcement agency in Georgia to be approved for participation in the program. In addition to Cobb and Gwinnett counties, Hall and Whitfield counties and the Georgia Department of Public Safety also participate.

Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office – the investigative arm of Congress – said ICE had not clearly explained to local law enforcement agencies that serious criminal offenders, such as drug smugglers and murderers, should be the main targets.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department, which oversees ICE, said changes have been made to incorporate the GAO’s suggestions in the program.

The ACLU report released Monday echoes complaints by many immigrant rights advocates nationwide that the changes don’t go far enough to prevent racial profiling.

Cobb County resident and anti-illegal immigration activist D.A. King is the founder of the Dustin Inman Society, which seeks stricter laws against illegal immigration and is named for a Georgia teen killed in a traffic accident caused by an illegal immigrant.

King bristles at the notion raised by opponents of the program that people are deported for relatively minor offenses like having a busted tail light or driving without a license. They are deported, he said, because their illegal status is revealed when they are arrested for these or more serious offenses.

“287(g) was never intended to only go after a certain group of criminals,” he said.

The law essentially allows local officers to perform the same functions as immigration officers. However, it also says local agents are beholden to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who has said the program should be used “to identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens.”

Hernan, the civil rights lawyer, said in a phone interview that he doesn’t disagree with the program’s premise but thinks it’s used incorrectly.

“I believe that the original intention of the 287(g) program was to identify serious criminals who were already in detention and allow the federal government to deport them,” he said. “That’s a sound policy. But if you look at the history of the program and how it’s being used, it’s clear that it is profoundly flawed.”

The rest HERE

AJC
12 October 2009

ACLU: Report documents ( its own charges of) racial profiling in Cobb

Added info: HERE

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia on Monday released a report documenting the stories of 10 people who say they experienced racial profiling by Cobb County law enforcement.

A spokesperson for the organization said the report shows the human impact of the 287(g) program at the Cobb County jail, a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security which allows deputies to check the immigration status of inmates. Inmates who are in the country illegally are turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to begin deportation proceedings.

“Cobb police have abused the power granted to them under 287(g),” Azadeh Shahshahani, an ACLU of Georgia spokesperson, told about 15 people who huddled in the Marietta square during a rain-soaked morning press conference. “This has led to an atmosphere of terror where immigrants are afraid to contact police.”

The ACLU of Georgia’s report was aimed at convincing the government to halt the controversial program.

On the opposite side of the square, a group on the opposite side of the immigration debate held an informal rally to show support for 287(g). About 10 people were in attendance.

“Illegal immigration is not a race issue,” said Inger Eberhart, who is on the board of the Dustin Inman Society, an anti-illegal immigration organization. “It is an issue of enforcing immigration law.”

Eberhart, who is black, said the ACLU of Georgia was “race baiting” and hijacking the civil rights struggle of the recent past to further its goal of ending 287(g).

The release of the report this week coincides with an Oct. 15 deadline for the public to submit to the Department of Homeland Security comments about existing 287(g) agreements. The DHS is in the process of updating its agreements with participating law enforcement agencies.

HERE

VIDEO ( turn up your volume ) HERE AND HERE

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Cobb sheriff hero to some, profiler to others

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office became the first local law enforcement agency in Georgia to begin implementing the 287(g) program in July 2007. Whitfield and Hall counties inked similar agreements in 2008 and Gwinnett is soon to follow.

…D.A. King, president and founder of the Dustin Inman Society, which advocates for the enforcement of immigration laws, sees Cobb’s participation in the 287(g) program as a success. — “Neil Warren was the first sheriff in Georgia to take advantage of 287(g),” King said. “He is a hero to most Americans in Georgia and we are all very, very proud of him.”

HERE

“It also was unclear why Rangel-Ochoa hadn’t been deported after his drunken-driving convictions — all of which preceded 2003. Lopez-Wilson, who handles immigration cases, said that, back then, authorities were more concerned with illegal immigrants who committed violent offenses.”

Omaha World Herald

Illegal immigrant faces prison

By Todd Cooper
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The suspended driver and illegal immigrant blew a red light and slammed a pickup into a minivan near 180th Street and West Center Road in May — killing 4-year-old van passenger Josie Bluhm.

For those actions, Eleazar Rangel-Ochoa pleaded no contest Tuesday to driving under suspension, a felony, and misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide.

And Rangel-Ochoa remains distraught, his attorney said.

He isn’t the only one. Josie’s loved ones, including parents Kyle and Jayme Bluhm, have had to carry on without their 4-year-old middle child — a blonde-haired, blue-eyed bundle of fun.

Jayme Bluhm was driving the couple’s three children, then ages 5, 4 and 1, to day care on May 12, when the crash happened, prosecutors said.

“All of these cases are horrible,” said prosecutor Matt Kuhse, who handles Douglas County’s motor-vehicle homicide cases. “But it’s particularly troubling when it’s a child who is so, so young — especially when her life ended in such a violent way.”

Rangel-Ochoa’s case has been marked with questions about why he was driving and why he was still in the country after three drunken-driving convictions.

Rangel-Ochoa’s attorney, Joe Lopez-Wilson, said Rangel-Ochoa, 27, is torn up over his actions — and has little explanation for why he was driving.

Lopez-Wilson said Rangel-Ochoa got behind the wheel of the pickup because the truck’s owner wasn’t going to work that day. Rangel-Ochoa and his two passengers were headed to work at a construction site.

The attorney said he was uncertain whether Rangel-Ochoa’s two passengers could have driven, or whether they had driver’s licenses. Rangel-Ochoa didn’t. His driver’s license had been suspended for 15 years after his third-drunken driving conviction in 2003.

It also was unclear why Rangel-Ochoa hadn’t been deported after his drunken-driving convictions — all of which preceded 2003.

Lopez-Wilson, who handles immigration cases, said that, back then, authorities were more concerned with illegal immigrants who committed violent offenses.

Shortly after the crash, Lopez-Wilson said, his client wanted to “man up” by pleading to the charges against him. Lopez-Wilson said he wouldn’t let Rangel-Ochoa do so until the attorney had a chance to review the charges and all of the evidence. (Rangel-Ochoa wasn’t drunk that morning — hence the misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide charge.)

Rangel-Ochoa faces up to six years in prison — five years for driving under suspension, one year for motor vehicle homicide — when he is sentenced in December. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have a deportation hold on him now — and Rangel-Ochoa is expected to be deported after he serves his sentence.

HERE

KNXV-TV — Phoenix

287 (g) works again!

County Attorney attributes crime dip to immigration control

Phoenix — County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Sunday new numbers bolster his support for efforts to curb illegal immigration. — “The crackdowns on illegal immigration are working. They have been controversial. I have taken a lot of heat for them, so has the sheriff, but they are working,” Thomas said Sunday…

HERE