Please visit our YouTube, Twitter and Facebook pages.

1. Sec. attends agent's funeral
2. TX Rep. wants to strip funds
3. Lax security found after bust
4. Poll: UT split on solutions
5. IN weighs AZ-style law
6. KS repeals tuition break

1.
Slain ICE agent's funeral brings top US officials
The Associated Press, February 22, 2011
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gHtrkyW60zjJ2FnVD26feE...

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is among the top Obama administration officials expected to attend the funeral of a U.S. federal agent killed in Mexico.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jamie Zapata is to be buried Tuesday in his hometown of Brownsville along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The 32-year-old was killed last week. U.S. officials say drug cartel gunmen ambushed Zapata's car while he was on the job in San Luis Potosi state.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and ICE Director John Morton are also expected to speak at the funeral service.

Nearly 1,000 mourners attended a prayer service for Zapata on Thursday. Also shot during the Feb. 15 attack was fellow ICE agent Victor Avila. He was struck twice in the leg but survived.

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

2.
Lawmaker seeks to strip funds for government’s case against Arizona immigration law
By Josiah Ryan
The Hill (DC), February 18, 2011
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/145151-lawmaker-seeks-to-str...

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) is seeking to pass a measure that would ban the federal government from using funds to challenge Arizona's new immigration law.

Poe will seek to attach his measure to the House GOP spending bill being considered on the House floor.

“This is an issue of public safety, and that’s why its important for the federal government to get out of the way of the state of Arizona,” Poe said. “The sovereign state of Arizona is being overrun by dangerous people.”

Arizona's controversial law requires police to question a person's immigration status while enforcing laws if there is reasonable suspicion he or she is in the country illegally.

But Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) argued that Congress should allow the law to see its day in court.

“Let the process occur, and then we will know whether or not Arizona has the power to deal with immigration in this way,” Pastor added.

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

3.
Problems remain in flight school security
By Maria Sacchetti
The Boston Globe, Febraury 21, 2011
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/02/21/stow_...

Several months after federal officials arrested the immigrant owner of a Stow flight school and 33 of his students for being in the United States illegally, officials have not instituted new safeguards to prevent something similar from happening again.

No links to terrorism were found at TJ Aviation Flight Academy, but critics jarred by the episode nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks questioned how it was possible for an illegal immigrant to obtain a pilot’s license, open a flight school in Massachusetts, and teach other immigrants here illegally to fly small aircraft.

“It’s shocking how many vulnerabilities are still there, gaping open, this long after 9/11,’’ said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favors tougher limits on immigration. “We clearly need to have more checkpoints and more due diligence along the way to make sure that this can’t happen.’’

US immigration officials arrested school owner Thiago DeJesus last July and, during the next several months, 33 students at the school, all from Brazil and many carrying expired visas, for being in the country illegally. DeJesus said the students had obtained clearance from the Transportation Security Administration to learn to fly single-engine planes at Minute Man Airfield, about 30 miles northwest of Boston.

The TSA, which is in charge of scrutinizing all foreign flight students before they can take flying lessons or get a pilot’s license in the United States, is working with federal immigration officials “to refine the process for checking the immigration status of alien flight school students,’’ said TSA spokesman Greg Soulé.

Soulé said the TSA fully vets foreign flight students using criminal, terrorism, and immigration databases when they apply for permission to take lessons, to ensure that they are not known or suspected threats to aviation. Flight schools are required to keep a copy of each visa for their records.

But the TSA does not always follow up to ensure that a student stops flying when his or her visa expires. And after the initial TSA check, students can go on to obtain a pilot’s license from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA is also investigating what happened with the Stow flight school. But agency spokeswoman Laura J. Brown said her agency relies on the TSA for criminal and immigration background checks.

She said the FAA does not have the legal authority to revoke a pilot’s license for being in the country illegally.

DeJesus’s pilot’s license remained valid after his arrest last year. After he was released pending a hearing in Boston immigration court, he resumed teaching people how to fly. His school closed after a Globe article about the arrests was published in November.Continued...

In an interview last year, DeJesus told a Globe reporter that he was in the country legally. But his lawyer, Venessa Masterson, said he had overstayed his visa.

On Dec. 22, a Boston immigration judge gave DeJesus 60 days to leave the United States voluntarily, by the end of this month, instead of being deported, his lawyer said.

Of the 34 arrested from the Stow school last year, three have been allowed to return to Brazil voluntarily and two others were deported, said Chuck Jackson, spokesman for US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which made the arrests. The rest are in removal proceedings, he said.

Vaughan suggested that several federal agencies should assume part of the responsibility for screening illegal immigrants from flight schools.

The FAA could check immigration status before issuing a pilot’s license, she said, and the TSA and ICE could ensure that immigrants aren’t continuing to fly airplanes after their visas expire.

“Everyone seems to be passing the buck,’’ she said.

Christopher Willenborg, administrator for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division, which oversees 36 public and private noncommercial airports in Massachusetts, said he has seen better coordination since the Globe article was published.

The TSA and ICE appear to be working together more, he said, and TSA agents are showing up more frequently at airports.

In addition, airport managers plan to meet soon with immigration officials, and the aeronautics division is updating its security directives at the airports.

“The airport managers are obviously working more closely with TSA and ICE,’’ he said. “They’ve increased their visits out to the airports. There’s an increased effort to coordinate better in regards to all parties involved.’’

Still, security varies by airport in Massachusetts.

At Massport’s Hanscom Field, all flight students and pilots must undergo a criminal background check and obtain a security badge, in addition to whatever the TSA requires, said spokesman Richard Walsh. If they are foreign nationals, Walsh said, their badge expires when their visa does.

He said the airport, among the busiest noncommercial airports in New England, instituted the requirements after Sept. 11, 2001, as an added layer of security.

“We do more than what is required because security is our first priority,’’ said Walsh.

But at Minute Man Air Field, which is a much smaller airport off a quiet country road in Stow, there are no such requirements. Airport owner Don McPherson said checking immigration issues is the federal government’s responsibility.

“I don’t think it’s up to the airports [to question immigration status]. It’s out of our jurisdiction,’’ he said. “Most airport managers have tenants that provide flight training, and it’s the tenant’s responsibility to follow those rules.’’

Eli Luria, who opened his own flight school, Tenle Aviation Inc., in the same location that TJ Aviation vacated in Stow, said he told a TSA agent that he would monitor the visas himself to ensure that none of his foreign students take lessons with expired visas.

“Basically I’ve made my own commitment to myself that when I do have an alien that wants to do training, that I’ll verify his visa on my own, even though it’s not a requirement,’’ said Luria, who was a part-time instructor at TJ Aviation.

He said his new business is separate from the former school.

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

4.
Pollster: Utahns want immigration solution, just not sure what it is
By John Daley
Deseret News, February 22, 2011
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705367185/Pollster--Utahns-want-immig...

When it comes to illegal immigration — one of the state's toughest, trickiest issues — Utahns seem to want a solution, but just aren't sure what it is.

"I don't know of an issue that's been more confusing for a long, long time," said pollster Dan Jones, who has been conducting surveys on the issue for years.

A trio of poll questions for the Deseret News and KSL that Dan Jones & Associates asked a sample of Utahns highlights the conundrum and underscores the challenges Utah lawmakers face as they try to craft new legislation.

• Asked if it's worth additional resources for local law enforcement to check the legal status of those they suspect could be illegal immigrants, 54 percent of those surveyed said, "yes."

• Seventy-one percent support creating a state-issued work permit for undocumented immigrants to allow them to stay here if they have a job and agree to a criminal background check.

• And 55 percent back the Utah Compact, a document supported by local business, government and religious leaders that calls it a federal, not a state issue, and recognizes immigrants' value to society.

Jones said the numbers seem to indicate a desire for action, some kind of action.

"They would like the issue resolved, the sooner the better," Jones said. His interpretation of where Utahns are on the issue, based on the polls is that "they see good in each one of them."

The poll of 496 Utahns was conducted February 8-10. It had margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.

Jones said just two years ago immigration was at No. 10 among issues Uthans most wanted state lawmakers and the governor to address. It's now No. 3, just behind jobs and education.

"It's come right to the top," Jones said.

Meantime, hearings at the State Capitol on a variety of immigration related issues ranging from enforcement, employment or college tuition for illegal immigrants have attracted large, diverse crowds. A Latino Day celebration last week at the Capitol drew hundreds.

But what proposal will have a enough support to become law?

House leaders want to vote on each proposal separately, while the Senate wants a comprehensive law of the best elements of each bill. Jones' poll found 52 percent support the House approach.

Utah is not alone is wrestling with illegal immigration and demanding Congress also address it. An Arizona law, which sparked many of the immigrations bills before the 2011 Utah Legislature, has been largely struck down by a federal judge and is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But Utah leaders remain confident the best solutions will survive the legislative process.

"I think that we will come together," said House Speaker Becky Lockhart, R-Provo, "and we will find solutions that are unique and specific to Utah's issues."

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

5.
Daniels in a tight spot on immigration
By Mary Beth Schneider
The Indianapolis Star, February 20, 2011
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011102200371

Importing an Arizona-style immigration law to Indiana puts Gov. Mitch Daniels in a no-win situation politically.

No wonder he hasn't said whether he'll sign it.

Support Senate Bill 590, which would require state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws, and Daniels will be going against business and university leaders who oppose the bill. Among them: his former employer, Eli Lilly and Co.

Oppose the bill, and he's standing against key forces in the Republican Party, including tea party activists whose support he will need if he runs for president in 2012.

Daniels' office insists he's treating this issue the same as he did in past sessions when similar bills were introduced, lying low during the legislative process.

But this year, the stakes are different.

Democrats no longer control the House, so they can't be counted on to stop this legislation. And as Daniels ponders a bid for the White House, it isn't just Hoosiers who are waiting to see what he says and does on the issue; it's political handicappers and interest groups nationwide.

He has weighed in on other national issues, sitting recently with Washington-based reporters to discuss federal health-care policy and talking to the Conservative Political Action Conference about the federal debt.

And he's raised a storm of protest from social conservatives by calling for a "truce" on divisive social issues such as abortion in order to focus on what he sees as the fiscal equivalent of war.

But Daniels has said little about his views on how or whether states should intercede on illegal immigration issues. What he has said can be interpreted by either side as a signal that he backs their position.

Daniels speaks Spanish fluently. His office maintains a Spanish-language website and he's held a news conference in Spanish. When pressed on his views during a stop in Lafayette last week, Daniels said he's "pro-immigration."

But he also said the nation's laws "need to be enforced."

"I don't understand the argument that they should not," Daniels said, "as long as it doesn't interfere with the enforcement of our own laws."

And, he said, he is "not persuaded" by the arguments made by Lilly, Cummins Inc. and other businesses that enacting an Arizona-style law here would hurt what has been one of his top priorities: economic development.

"I don't think we've seen any evidence of that yet," Daniels said. "You know, laws like this are advancing in dozens of states. So I don't think there's clear evidence of it, and I don't think it's the strongest claim opponents can make against it."

He also expressed some support for a section of the bill that would require most government hearings and documents to be in English, a provision that might pull the plug on Spanish-language websites and press conferences.

Daniels indicated that's a provision he can back, particularly since the bill has exceptions for public safety and health.

"The only thing that unites America are our ideals and our language. I am pro-immigration, but I have said to immigrants often in their own language -- Spanish -- that to me the terms of the arrangement ought to be obey the law, provide for yourself and speak and learn the language. Or make sure your children do," he said. "And, you know, I always get agreement from new Americans about that."

But asked if he'd sign SB 590, Daniels was noncommittal.

"The bill's been changing and probably will some more," he said. "So I'm going to wait and see if there's a final version and what it looks like before I make that decision."

People on both sides of the immigration debate, though, said they want Daniels to speak up now, while his words might make a difference in what the legislature does.

"We would absolutely love to hear what he says about this bill. It's one of our top priorities in the tea party movement," said Monica Boyer, a leader of Kosciusko Silent No More. "It will show courage. It will show strength. Silence is never good on an issue like that."

Particularly not for a presidential prospect.

Lisa Deaton, a tea party activist from Columbus, said if Daniels "is even thinking remotely about being president, that puts him in a different arena than he was as governor."

"He needs to step up to the plate and say what he really thinks, and he might be able to influence it for the positive."

That's the hope of people who oppose the bill, too.

"I hope Mitch would," Butler University President Bobby Fong said.

He is among a group of business, religious and education leaders who joined Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller in signing an "Indiana Compact" that says immigration is an issue the federal government, not the states, must confront.

Daniels, Fong said, "is a man of vision and tolerance. What I think the bill represents is, at the very least, a lack of understanding of what it would do to our state economically."

And, he added, it will hurt Indiana's hospitable image.

"The bill goes, I think, contrary to what we want to believe is the best about Hoosiers," Fong said.

Indiana Chamber of Commerce President Kevin Brinegar, though, said he's not sure if Daniels can say anything at this point that would derail the bill, which already has passed two Senate committees and is headed to a vote by the full Senate this week.

"On this particular issue, the governor's preferences might well be less influential than many, many other topics," Brinegar said. "The author of the bill and many of those who support it are so personally passionate about this issue that I don't know that they are willing or interested in listening to anybody, including the governor."

And politically, he conceded, "it's a no-win issue."

Robert Dion, a political science professor at the University of Evansville, said that although any governor has "the luxury" of not weighing in on an issue publicly until it reaches his desk, this case is different.

"He's pondering a presidential candidacy. Every move that he makes is going to be analyzed from a national political standpoint and not from a Hoosier standpoint," Dion said.

And, he added, with substantial GOP majorities in the Senate and House, it's harder to put together a coalition of moderate Democrats and Republicans to stop such legislation.

"They're literally shooting with real bullets," he said. "In this instance, Daniels would be the only thing that could stop such a bill from passing, and he'd be doing that by saying no to his own party."

That puts Daniels in a precarious position, said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia who follows politics nationally.

"For the Republican nomination, it makes more sense to be for it," Sabato said. "For the general election, if he's the nominee (in 2012), it makes more sense to be against it."

Republicans, he said, need Hispanic support to win the White House.

"If it's anywhere near where it was in 2008 (for GOP nominee Sen. John McCain), the nominee has zero chance of winning. Not 1 percent chance of winning. Zero," Sabato said. "So that's the choice. Do you play up to the nominating crowd? Or do you think ahead to the general election?"

Earl Goode, Daniels' chief of staff, indicated that the governor isn't thinking at all about what the opposing sides on this bill want.

Right now, Goode said, Daniels is staying apprised of the bill's status and exploring what it means to law enforcement.

"Ultimately," he said, "he'll come down on the side of what's in the best interests of the citizens of Indiana."

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

6.
Kansas House votes to repeal tuition break for children of illegal immigrants
By Brad Cooper
The Kansas City Star, February 21, 2011
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/02/21/2672706/kansas-house-votes-to-repea...

A bill that would repeal in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants cleared a major legislative hurdle Monday.

The Kansas House voted 69-49 to approve the bill, which would repeal a law the Legislature passed in 2004.

“We had an election in November, and we have a group of folks who see things differently,” said Rep. Lance Kinzer, an Olathe Republican and one of the bill’s sponsors.

The law grants in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants who graduate from a Kansas high school and pledge that they intend to become citizens. Last fall, 413 students — including 84 at Johnson County Community College — received the benefit while studying at state universities or junior colleges.

Several unsuccessful attempts have been made in recent years to repeal the law. But with conservatives seizing more seats in the Legislature during the last election, repeal efforts gained new momentum.

The bill now goes to the Kansas Senate, where Senate President Steve Morris, a Hugoton Republican, said the bill would have a tougher time.

“The Senate has never shown much interest in repealing that in the past. I assume that’s still the case,” Morris said.

The debate over in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants is unfolding across the nation. Since 2001, 11 states, including Kansas, have allowed in-state tuition for immigrant students, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

But in recent years, the trend has started to reverse itself, with five states ending the in-state tuition benefit. Supporters of the repeal say the current law gives an advantage to the children of undocumented immigrants over students in Kansas legally.

“Our constituents know what they want, and they want support of this bill,” said Rep. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican and another sponsor of the bill.

Opponents contend that the bill would penalize children who had no choice in following their parents to the United States. They also contend that it would discourage children from going to college after the state had invested in their elementary and high school educations.

Repealing the law could save $1 million or more a year for the state, supporters contend. But critics say that amount is inflated because it falsely assumes every student now paying in-state tuition would stay in school and pay out-of-state tuition. Repeal could chase those students away from Kansas, meaning the state could potentially lose about $900,000 a year in tuition.