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1. GAO: Tech will take a decade
2. UT Gov. signs multiple bills
3. KS lawmaker to push enforcement
4. AZ GOP advances legislation
5. Officer cleared in shooting

1.
New border technology slow to be deployed
The Associated Press, March 15, 2011

Technology to replace a now defunct virtual fence project at the Mexican border likely won't be fully in place for at least another decade, maybe longer, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Richard Stana, director of homeland security and justice issues at the GAO, said Tuesday that the mix of cameras, radar and other sophisticated technology will first be deployed to the border in Arizona over the next two years. The technology mix is expected to be fully deployed in that state by 2015 or 2016.

Stana, who testified Tuesday before a House subcommittee on border and maritime security, said the security project would next expand to California, New Mexico and Texas but isn't likely to be fully in place until at least 2021, and possibly not until 2026.

The new technology plan replaces a virtual fence project that cost nearly $1 billion before the Obama administration scrapped it earlier this year after repeated delays and glitches. It will be added to stationary cameras, underground sensors and other security infrastructure already in place.

Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, balked at the idea that the high tech gear, which he said is already available to the military, would take more than a decade to be deployed.

"You are talking 10 to 15 years. It took us a decade to put a man on the moon," McCaul said. "I don't understand why it takes so long. You have a crisis going on down there. Everyone knows it. We know how dangerous it is in Mexico, we know how dangerous it is on the border. Why can't we ramp up this process?"
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iJXJodaWDfV-puafGpuT7O...

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2.
Utah Governor Signs Landmark Immigration Bills
Fox News Latino, March 15, 2011

On Tuesday, Republican Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has signed a landmark set of immigration legislation that has drawn protests from people on both sides of the immigration debate.

Herbert signed the four bills at the state Capitol.

One of the bills requires police to check the immigration status of anyone stopped for a felony or serious misdemeanor. Another bill creates a guest worker program for unauthorized immigrants in the state.

The other bills allow businesses to recruit Mexican workers and let American citizens sponsor foreign residents wanting to work or study in Utah.

Supporters say the package balances enforcement, compassion and economic realities.
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http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/03/15/utah-governor-signs...

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3.
Despite defeat, sponsor still hopes to pass immigration bill in Kansas
By Brad Cooper
The Kansas City Star, March 15, 2011

Kansas Rep. Lance Kinzer of Olathe said Tuesday that he will still push ahead with an Arizona-style immigration bill that was handed a defeat earlier in the week.

“I think it’s a good bill as originally drafted,” said Kinzer, a Republican. “I’d like to see us pass a strong, meaningful immigration reform bill this session. I am going to continue to do what I can to see that happens.”

Kinzer was tweaked by the very committee he leads when the panel Monday tabled the bill that would require police to check the legal status of those they suspect might be in the United States illegally.

The measure also would require state and local governments and their contractors to run citizenship checks on new hires, and require proof of citizenship for anyone seeking public aid.

Rep. Pat Colloton, a Leawood Republican, led the legislative assault on the bill. She said it would lead to racial profiling and potentially hurt charities that don’t comply with the law by costing them their grant money.

Kinzer said that he tried to compromise on the bill. He offered amendments that would have lightened some of the penalties and added a provision that would forgive businesses that may violate the law inadvertently. His amendments, however, were narrowly rejected.
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http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/15/2728681/despite-defeat-sponsor-stil...

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4.
Republicans advance immigration bills
By Luige del Puerto
Arizona Capitol Times, March 15, 2011

A slew of immigration measures, including legislation that supporters say would get the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the issue of American citizenship, survived rigorous questioning on Tuesday, when senators conferred with party-mates to discuss them.

The battle now shifts to the Senate floor, where legislators must debate and decide whether to further advance the proposals.

It’s up to Senate President Russell Pearce, a champion of the measures, when to schedule those debates.

But while the immigration bills survived the Republican caucus, it remains unclear whether they actually have the votes to pass out of the Senate.

Only a handful actually spoke for or against the measures, and those who are perceived to be still deciding which way to vote mostly listened to the arguments.

During the meeting, Senate Majority Whip Steve Pierce advised the bills’ sponsors to carefully count the votes.

The debate among Republicans was informative, passionate and testy, which in many ways mirrors the larger conversation Arizonans are having about how to best confront illegal immigration.

During the caucus, Sen. Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix, highlighted what he sees as flaws in the bills, particularly the legislation dealing with birthright citizenship. His main point was that the two bills, SB1308 and SB1309, don’t actually deal with American citizenship, but with Arizona citizenship.

Contrary to what supporters say, the legislation won’t resolve the question of whether children born to illegal immigrations should automatically be granted American citizenship, Driggs said.

“United States citizenship is where you are born,” he said, adding it doesn’t really matter whether Arizona provides a birth certificate stating someone is or is not within the country’s jurisdiction.

But supporters like Pearce said they’re confident that’s the question that the bills will force the U.S. Supreme Court to answer. And as an aside, they asked: In the case that’s not the question, what’s the harm of passing the legislation?
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http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2011/03/15/republicans-advance-immigratio...

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5.
LAPD officer cleared in shooting of day laborer
By Joel Rubin
Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2011

A Los Angeles police officer was justified when he fatally shot a Guatemalan day laborer armed with a knife in an encounter last year that triggered days of unrest, the LAPD's oversight body decided Tuesday.

Authorities, concerned that the Police Commission's decision would spark another round of violent protests in the Westlake district, dispatched a large contingent of officers to the area. By Tuesday evening, however, only a small group of protesters had gathered.

In making the announcement at a tense news conference attended by diplomats from several Central American countries, Commission President John Mack went out of his way to call the shooting a "particularly sad incident for all involved" and said "the loss of any life is tragic."

But, in a clear effort to preempt claims by police critics of a whitewash, Mack said the Los Angeles Police Department's investigation into the shooting, and the commission's review of the inquiry, had been "comprehensive" and "exhaustive."

The unanimous ruling by the five-member panel, along with the decision Tuesday by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office not to file any criminal charges in the case, fully exonerated Officer Frank Hernandez, a 14-year veteran of the department, of any wrongdoing. In clearing Hernandez, the commission went along with the recommendation of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck that the shooting be judged to have been within department policies.

Luis Carillo, an attorney representing the dead man's wife in a federal civil lawsuit against the city, denounced the commissioners' decision. "The script had already been written.... They just followed it," he said.

The shooting occurred on a Sunday afternoon in September, when Hernandez, who was assigned to a bicycle unit in the LAPD's Rampart Division, responded with two other officers to a report of a disturbance in the densely-populated, Latino-immigrant neighborhood.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-police-shooting-20110315,0,60597...