Please visit our YouTube, Twitter and Facebook pages.

1. Push in prosecutions
2. States think twice
3. FL legislator threatened
4. Gingrich, Dean debate
5. Sheriff warns of conflict

1.
Study finds jump in immigration prosecutions
The Associated Press, February 1, 2011

New government data shows the Obama administration has sharply increased immigration prosecutions and has stepped up cases against white-collar crimes, drug violations, organized crime and official corruption.

An analysis compiled by a private group using government data also found that there has been a decline in the Justice Department's felony prosecutions aside from immigration cases, particularly outside the Southwest.

The study was released Tuesday by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a private, nonpartisan group based at Syracuse University that compiled the data from the first two years of the Obama administration and the last two years of the Bush administration.

Justice Department spokeswoman Jessica Smith said Tuesday that the department cannot confirm TRAC's numbers or its methodology. She said the Justice Department's U.S. Attorney's offices filed a record number of criminal cases in U.S. District Courts last year.

"The U.S. attorneys' offices and the litigating divisions have been extremely busy with active investigations not necessarily reflected in these numbers, as well as the thousands of criminal cases they've pursued in the last two years," Smith said. "In fact, we've seen increases in the last two years in some of the most complex areas of criminal prosecution, including white collar, organized crime, public corruption and significant drug trafficking cases."

TRAC said that felony immigration prosecutions in federal court systems along the border from Houston to San Diego went up 259 percent from 2007 to 2010, increasing nearly 16,000 to 36,321.
. . .
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h4VwJe6Dq8YIk7yXAy_Ui7...

********
********

2.
Copying Arizona not working for many states
The Oklahoman, February 1, 2011

Some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature are eager to pass an immigration reform law that’s every bit as stout as the one signed into law last year in Arizona. House Speaker Kris Steele and Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman aren’t in such a hurry, wisely suggesting that law enforcement and others who deal with this issue every day be consulted before moving forward.

Lawmakers, Bingman said recently, need to “identify what the problem is.” They also might want to see how copying Arizona’s law has worked out for other states. The short answer: not very well.

A major reason for this is money — most states are hurting, badly, as a result of the recession and thus have no way to pay for the changes that Arizona-style immigration reform would mandate, such as having police become much more involved in enforcing immigration laws. Oklahoma’s treasury is certainly hurting, with a budget deficit of about $600 million forecast for the next fiscal year.

The Washington Post reports that at least 10 states drafted bills that copy Arizona’s law, but in the nine months since it was enacted several bills have been reworked or have stalled. “There’s always an initial flush of enthusiasm and then the reality of politics sets in,” said Mark Krikorian, head of the Center for Immigration Studies, which works for stricter immigration laws. “These states are bankrupt — they need to decide what battles they want to fight.”
. . .
http://newsok.com/many-states-struggling-to-emulate-arizona-law/article/...

********
********

3.
Florida lawmaker threatened over immigration bill
By Marc Caputo
The Miami Herald, February 2, 2011

Massachusetts police have arrested a resident of that state who allegedly sent a threatening e-mail to Florida state Rep. Will Snyder over the Republican's proposal to bring an Arizona-style immigration law to Florida.

``You better just stop that ridiculous law if you value your and your family's lives, a-----, the e-mail said.

Snyder told The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times that police had identified the suspect as Manuel E. Pintado, 47.

``It's a pretty thoughtless letter, don't you think?'' said Snyder in his trademark low-key style.

Snyder said he received the e-mail just one hour after the Tucson shooting rampage targeting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. Snyder referred the matter to the Martin County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 9, and the office soon contacted authorities in Northampton, Mass.

Massachusetts police said Pintado acknowledged sending the e-mail from a local Starbucks. A self-described ``political activist,'' Pintado said he was concerned Snyder wanted to undo the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to those born in the United States.
. . .
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/02/2046388/florida-lawmaker-threatene...

********
********

4.
Gingrich, Dean debate immigration
By James Hohmann
Politico (DC), February 2, 2011

A characteristically feisty Newt Gingrich mixed it up – and traded some good-natured cracks - with Howard Dean about immigration policy and a host of other hot-button issues Tuesday night during a student-sponsored debate at George Washington University.

The all-but-declared Republican presidential candidate said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had devised the DREAM Act so it could never pass but that Democrats could score political points with Latino voters. The former chairman of the Democratic National Committee revved up – his face red, his finger wagging – as he talked about how every American who doesn’t have Native American blood comes from an immigrant family.

“I think Newt’s very common sense about this,” Dean said. “Obviously we can’t open our borders and let all kinds of people through, and he’s thought this through, and I agree with most of what he said, but I don’t believe we ought to demonize people who try and do the best they can.”

Gingrich thanked Dean for the kind words.

“That’s the kiss of death,” Dean said. “That’s not going to help you in Iowa!”

“It’s nice at a time when people are exhausted of partisanship to actually exchange ideas you can actually chat about, rather than scream about,” Gingrich said.

It was a clear but jovial dig at Dean, whose 2004 presidential campaign imploded after his scream-filled concession speech the night he lost the Iowa caucuses.

The crowd, a mix of College Republicans and College Democrats packed into a campus auditorium, let up a collective whooping.

Now, eight years later, it will be Gingrich – even more bombastic than Dean – who will need a strong showing in Iowa to stay viable for his party’s nomination.

Each man took a handful of shots at the other through the 100-minute debate, aired live on C-SPAN, but the tone stayed good-natured as they clashed on ideological grounds. Dean spoke of his passion for “social justice” and “fairness.” Gingrich talked about his belief in a “limited but very strong government.”

“Newt and I like each other,” Dean said, to laughs. “At least I like him, and I think he likes me.”

In his opening remarks, Dean marveled at how multicultural American society has become. He waxed on about how young people from different backgrounds can date each other.

“I’m not sure what life was like in Vermont, but in my generation we dated too,” Gingrich deadpanned.
. . .
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/48655.html

********
********

5.
Pinal sheriff expects armed conflict with cartels soon
By Lindsey Collum
The Arizona Republic, February 2, 2011

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is anticipating an armed conflict between his deputies and cartel members within the next 30 to 60 days.

Babeu made that prediction last week as he addressed an Ahwatukee Foothills Republican women's club, and reiterated it Tuesday on the heels of a speech by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano asserting that border communities are safer than ever.

A gunbattle is all but certain, Babeu told The Arizona Republic, because his deputies and members of a regional SWAT team are now routinely working to stop smugglers from pushing cargo through Pinal.

"We have had enough," Babeu said. "That's why we're going into these areas and sending a very clear message to the cartels: We see you and we're not going to let you through."

An outspoken critic of U.S. immigration policy, Babeu said cartels have stepped up their tactics in Pinal County by reinforcing smuggling routes with armed guards to ward off potential bandits, in addition to stationing more lookouts on high points of the landscape. Some bandits are impersonating police, Babeu said, and he worries that smugglers won't know the difference.

"When we announce ourselves in Spanish, 'This is the sheriff, drop your weapons, this is an arrest,' I pray every time they will surrender," Babeu said. "In the event that any of them decide to point their weapons at our deputies . . . my directive is there had better be rounds going downrange to neutralize that threat."

Babeu for months has faulted Napolitano, accusing her of downplaying border-related violence and of being "divorced from reality."
. . .
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/02/01/20110201pinal-county-s...