Overcrowded Morgues as Desert Deaths Soar

MoonHowler

New York Times:

The increase in deaths has happened despite many signs that the number of immigrants crossing the border illegally has dropped in recent years. The number of people caught trying to sneak across the frontier without a visa has fallen in each of the last five years and stands at about half of the record 616,000 arrested in 2000.

Not only has the economic downturn in the United States eliminated many of the jobs that used to lure immigrants, human rights groups say, but also the federal government has stepped up efforts to stop the underground railroad of migrants, building mammoth fences in several border towns and flooding the region with hundreds of new Border Patrol agents equipped with high-tech surveillance tools.

These tougher enforcement measures have pushed smugglers and illegal immigrants to take their chances on isolated trails through the deserts and mountains of southern Arizona, where they must sometimes walk for three or four days before reaching a road.

“As we gain more control, the smugglers are taking people out to even more remote areas,” said Omar Candelaria, the special operations supervisor for the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector. “They have further to walk and they are less prepared for the journey, and they don’t make it.”

Many different factors contribute to this increase in deaths.  A soaring heat wave is believed to be a main contributor to the morgue in Pima County, near Tucson, simply running out of room. Two weeks ago, the medical examiner had to bring in a refrigerated truck because there was simply no more room.   Many of the remains will go unidentified. 

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The Wannabe Delegate

MoonHowler

 Corey Stewart is still hasn’t learned he isn’t a delegate to the General Assembly nor is he a state senator.  Perhaps he is going to run for either Senator Colgan’s seat or Del. Miller’s seat so he can introduce  his immigration reform.

The News & Messenger:

On Thursday, Stewart plans to announce multiple pieces of legislation for the General Assembly to con-sider, one of which is based on legislation passed recently in Oklahoma.

The first item would require all law enforcement officers in the state to check immigration status upon lawful detention if there is reasonable suspicion that the person detained is an illegal immigrant.

The second piece would be similar to legislation currently passed in Oklahoma that taxes international money transfers. The fee, which went into effect last July, is $5 on money transmissions up to $500, plus 1 percent of the amount in excess of $500. Consumers who file state tax returns can get a refund of the fees.

Businesses that fail to remit the fees to the Oklahoma Tax Commission face possible suspension of their licenses.

Stewart said this would adversely affect illegal immigrants who don’t have Social Security numbers and do not pay state taxes.

“A normal guy who pays state taxes, you are going to get money your money back,” Stewart said.

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Update from the Utah ‘List”

MoonHowler

2 state employees in Utah compiled and stole a list of 1,300 people thought to be illegal immigrants. They were caught and have been fired. However, the debate continues.

The Latino community is concerned. What stuck me in particular is the charge that illegal immigrants need to learn to speak English. Jesus seems to speak pretty good English. He came here as a 15 year old–brought by his parents. He is now 25.

What happens in Arizona very much affects Utah since it is directly north of the Grand Canyon State. Utah is also the most homogeneous state in the Union, according to Pat Buchannan.

Immigrant detention center to open in Prince Edward County

MoonHowler

From the Washington Post July 18, 2010

The largest immigrant detention center in the mid-Atlantic will soon open in Prince Edward County, an effort to accommodate Virginia’s unprecedented surge in detentions of illegal immigrants picked up on criminal charges.

The $21 million, privately run center will house up to 584 immigrant detainees when it opens its doors. Over the next year, it might grow to hold 1,000 prisoners, most of them snagged by the federal government’s growing Secure Communities program, which aims to find and deport criminal illegal immigrants.

Last month, Virginia became the second state, after Delaware, to implement the program statewide, requiring jails and prisons to screen prisoners by immigration status and check their fingerprints against the country’s immigration database.

With three months left in the fiscal year, the number of illegal immigrants with criminal convictions detained in Virginia and the District has increased by 50 percent from last year’s total, to 2,414. Those numbers are expected to increase now that the program is being implemented statewide.

The new facility “is mostly here to address the impact of Secure Communities,” said Robert Helwig, assistant director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “We do anticipate a surge in detainees.”

The immigration debate has grown increasingly polarized, and the Secure Communities program has become a symbol of that division. John T. Morton, head of ICE, calls it the agency’s attempt to “secure the nation and protect public safety.” But many immigrant advocates, including Enid Gonzalez, a lawyer at CASA of Maryland, say the program “claims to keep violent criminals off the streets, but instead it’s just incarcerating innocent busboys.”

There’s one point on which experts across the spectrum agree: Without additional detention space, the program cannot function. ICE has detained fewer than one-quarter of the immigrants identified by Secure Communities, a range of suspected criminals facing charges as varied as misdemeanors and murder.

“The Obama administration can’t expect to increase enforcement measures without increasing detention capacity,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies

.

Prince Edward County is sure to appreciate the 300 jobs that will come to the county. It only makes sense that those states using the Secure Communities program will need a place to house criminal illegal immigrants rather than putting them in already overcrowded local detention centers. If we want to take violent criminals off the street, we must be able to detain them rather than have our criminal justice system merely serve as a revolving door.

If Virginia has implemented the Secure Communities program, how does it differ from our 287g program? Do we use both? Secure Communities seems to have tiptoed in without a great deal of notice. Contributors, what do you know about Virginia implementing this program?

From the June 21, 2010  Washington Post: (background)

Immigration status check in Va. arrests

A new system that lets local law enforcement check fingerprints of people who are arrested against immigration records maintained by the Department of Homeland Security is now in use in every county in Virginia, according to a joint release by the Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Previously, authorities could check fingerprints against the FBI’s criminal history database. But the new “Secure Communities” program lets them check DHS records and automatically alerts ICE to those with immigration violations. According to a release, ICE will prioritize enforcement for those who are convicted of major drug offenses, murder, rape and kidnapping.

Counting Virginia’s participation, the program is now available in 336 jurisdictions in 22 states and will be available nationally by 2013.

“This information sharing enables criminal aliens to be identified at the time they are booked in a jail anywhere in Virginia, and those convicted of serious crimes can be prioritized for deportation after serving their sentences,” Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) said in a statement.

Alan Colmes Gets Corey Stewart on the Ropes

MoonHowler

In a recent interview with Corey as a guest on his radio show, Alan Colmes tried to convince Corey Stewart that begging the US governemnt to sue Virginia is fool-hearty and expensive. Corey disagreed that such a law suit could cost the state millions defending itself.

Furthermore, Stewart continued to say that our local law is almost identical to Arizona’s law. That statement simply is not true and Corey knows it. Why lie if he is so sure he is right.

Briefs Filed by 9 States, including Virginia, Supporting Arizona’s New Law

MoonHowler

Although not mentioned, Virginia was one of those states.

According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Richmond, Va. —
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli joined eight other states today in support of Arizona’s new immigration law.

The amicus brief, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, defends Arizona’s and all states’ authority to enforce federal immigration laws along with the federal government. This is particularly true because of the selective and lack of enforcement by the federal government, the brief states.

“While much of border enforcement is left to the federal government, federal law expressly allows states to arrest people who are not legally present in the United States,” Cuccinelli said in a statement.

“Arizona’s law doesn’t change any of this. That’s why we are stunned that the government has sued Arizona.”

The Arizona, set to take effect July 29, requires officers, while enforcing other laws, to question a person’s immigration status if there’s a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally.

It also makes it a crime for legal immigrants not to carry documentation of their status in the U.S.

The Obama administration has filed suit against the Arizona law, contending that federal law pre-empts the Arizona statute. It seeks an injunction against its enforcement.

How many briefs and law suits has the AG files since his inauguration? More importantly, how much has all of this cost? Those $350 filing fees are going to add up.

Unnamed Utah Group Outs Illegal Immigrants

MoonHowler

The unnamed group is now the hunted.  It is thought to be an inside job.  Apparently someone has access to inside information. About 1,300 people’s names appear on the list. There are more than 30 pages.

This behavior belongs in the Hall of Shame. The State of Utah is doing the right thing in attempting to find and prosecute those who published these 30 pages.

Employers of Illegal Immigrants Caught in “Silent Raids”

MoonHowler

guest workersThe Obama administration has taken a different tact than previous administrations in dealing with illegal immigration. Rather than hundreds of agents pouring into one factory or farm, 1 agent pours over records of hundreds of different factories and farms looking for evidence of illegal immigrants. According to the New York Times:

While the sweeps of the past commonly led to the deportation of such workers, the “silent raids,” as employers call the audits, usually result in the workers being fired, but in many cases they are not deported.

Over the past year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted audits of employee files at more than 2,900 companies. The agency has levied a record $3 million in civil fines so far this year on businesses that hired unauthorized immigrants, according to official figures. Thousands of those workers have been fired, immigrant groups estimate.

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Bloomberg’s Al Hunt says crime is down in Arizona

MoonHowler

Politifact.com reports:

The debate about immigration often involves discussions about whether illegal immigrants cause more crime.

The topic came up on ABC’s This Week on July 4, 2010, when Al Hunt, the executive editor in Washington for Bloomberg News, criticized John McCain for the Republican senator’s comments about crime in Arizona.

McCain had explained his shift on immigration by saying, “The violence is incredibly high. The human smuggling and drug cartels are at a level of violence where 25,000 — 23,000 Mexican citizens have been murdered in the last few years, 5,000 already this year. There’s a level of violence which has increased to a significant degree, which makes the situation far different than it was in 2007” when the Senate last considered immigration reform.

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It was All About Election 2007

MoonHowler

Pay close attention to the very end.  How much more of an admission is needed before people will see that the Immigration Resolution in PWC was all about an election.  Hethmon admits it.  He brags about it.  FAIR is also involved in AZ.  Leopards do not change their spots! Note the arrow coming from FAIR to AZ. It had started then.

Prince William County was a field experiment.  The end of the video is critical. Around 2:30 Michael Hethmon says it is a political issue. They were scared that Republicans were going to lose in elections because of the Iraq War.

WaPo Editorial Examines Corey Stewart’s Latest Bid for Attention

MoonHowler

Yesterday July 3, 2010, , the Washington Post printed  an editorial entitled: In Prince William County, a call for a tough immigration law. The editorial castigates the chairman of the board of supervisors and his ilk for being an opportunist. 

ARIZONA’S SPASM of xenophobia has inspired copycats as well as critics around the country, a disparate response that reflects Americans’ ambivalence toward illegal immigration. In a Washington Post-ABC poll last month, a majority of respondents said they favored the Arizona law, which allows police broad discretion to check the residency status of people — “your papers, please!” — based on an arbitrary “suspicion” that they may be undocumented. At the same time, a majority in the poll said they favored amnesty for the estimated 11 million immigrants living in this country illegally — that is, allowing them to remain in the county, shift to legal status and eventually become eligible for citizenship if they pay a fine and meet other requirements.

That ambivalence, and the political impasse around immigration reform, framed President Obama’s speech on the issue Thursday — his first since becoming president. The president accurately diagnosed the political dimensions of problem: that mending the nation’s broken immigration system is stalled in the absence of Republican support in the Senate. Unfortunately, he offered no new ideas to fix the system. His speech, prompted mainly by immigrants’ groups unhappy with his administration’s inaction, seemed more an attempt to keep Hispanic voters within the Democratic coalition than to inject new life into a moribund debate.

With Congress incapable of acting, other states are now likely to come under increasing pressure to do what Arizona has done.

A test case may be developing in Virginia, where a local politician who has ridden the wave of sentiment against undocumented immigrants wants to push the issue even more. Corey A. Stewart, the top elected official in Prince William County, has proposed a legislative agenda that takes Arizona’s law as its template but goes further. Mr. Stewart, a Republican who faces reelection next year, has proposed what he calls the “Virginia Rule of Law Campaign,” a package of legislation that, among other measures, would authorize police to ascertain the immigration status of any individual upon “any lawful contact.” If that’s not an invitation to racial profiling and harassment-on-a-whim, nothing is.

Mr. Stewart, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, was the driving force behind Prince William’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants in 2007, which bred intolerance in the previously relatively harmonious county. The law he sponsored requires the county police to determine the immigration status of suspects upon arrest. Its passage, and bluster from Mr. Stewart and his allies, prompted some illegal immigrants to leave the county — and probably go to neighboring jurisdictions. Mr. Stewart, with his characteristic disdain for facts, asserts that their departure is responsible for the county’s falling crime rate. In fact, the drop in crime mirrors regional and national trends

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) has wisely kept his distance from Mr. Stewart’s attempt to take his crusade statewide, saying only he’ll study whatever comes up. The governor correctly notes that the federal government has failed to fashion a workable immigration system, and that the nation’s laws should be obeyed “and lawful immigration . . . encouraged and facilitated.”

Americans remain deeply divided over immigration, and politicians like Mr. Stewart have enjoyed some success in stoking tensions over that divide. Until Congress reforms the nation’s immigration system, undocumented immigrants will remain in limbo, and Mr. Stewart and his ilk will make political hay by hounding them.

Entire Editorial

The Washington Post sees right through Corey and his ambitions. Both the News and Messenger and the Washington Post have been around to see the debacle unfold, going back to 2007. Johnny-come-latelies like Fox News don’t know the background and won’t be asking the difficult questions like both of the Post and
N & M ask. Say what you want about print media, they are the ones who will ultimately make you look in the mirror. Both the Post and N & M have done just that.

Speaking of which….where are Corey’s old cronies? Who is going to crawl out from under a rock and cheer Corey on? Perhaps this latest move has thinned the ilk herd a bit. Perhaps the ilk will be more selective about whom they associate with.

Brewer: ‘Illegals’ on a Decaptiation Spree

MoonHowler

If Governor Brewer is to have any credibility left, she is going to have to start sorting out illegal immigration from drug cartel crime.

From TPM:

The Arizona Guardian followed up, asking the state’s county coroners — who would examine any body connected with a crime — if they’d seen the headless bodies from the desert.

They hadn’t.

(Although one coroner, gruesomely, told the paper they did sometimes get human skulls– but not as a result of a fatal beheading. Such skulls are found after people die in the desert and “the animals … get a hold of them and start moving their body parts around,” the coroner said.)

Asked for comment, a spokesman for Brewer told the Guardian said the governor had never said anyone was beheaded inside Arizona. “I’m not aware of any statements where the governor specifies where any crimes were committed,” he said, despite his boss having made exactly that specific claim on two different news programs. On the contrary, he claimed that Brewer was talking about the fear that crimes that occur in Mexico could spread to Arizona.

“That report, which is based on other news reports, suggests that the drug cartels who operate on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border, have not beheaded their victims,” the spokesman, Paul Senseman, told Politico. “Even a cursory check of news stories on the internet suggests otherwise.” Perhaps his boss should have done one before appearing on news programs to make such a claim.

The great divide just seems to drift further apart when we have to deal with this type of ‘exaggeration’ on the part of a public official, time and time again.