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1. Feds warn of scammers
2. Democrats losing favor
3. AL law solid, say experts
4. VA Gov. pro-enforcement
5. 300 rounds fired in TX

1.
Feds warn immigrants about scammers offering legal aid, other immigration services
The Associated Press, June 12, 2011

Federal authorities are spreading the message in immigrant communities: Be wary of anyone who promises help getting immigration papers.

A spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says scams promising immigration benefits are “becoming pervasive.”

Most scams involve people who pretend to be able to provide legal aid or other services for immigrants, take victims’ money and fail to deliver.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/feds-warn-immigrants-about-scammers-...

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2.
Democrats losing favor with some Latinos
By Mark Z. Barabak
Los Angeles Times, June 11, 2011

Early this year, Brian Sandoval and Susana Martinez made history. He became Nevada's first Latino governor. In New Mexico, she became the country's first Latina governor.

Just as striking as their breakthrough is their party affiliation: Both are Republicans.

For many in the GOP, the twin victories last November, along with the election of Sen. Marco Rubio in Florida, marked an important step in efforts to mend the party's frayed ties with Latino voters, which have suffered over the last several years of hard-line talk on immigration.

For Democrats, the election of the three was something else: a warning sign at a time when Latino support has grown increasingly vital to the party's success, especially in the battleground states of the Rocky Mountains and desert Southwest.

Sens. Harry Reid of Nevada and Michael Bennet of Colorado each withstood the 2010 Republican wave thanks in good part to Latino support. President Obama is counting on strong Latino turnout to hold on to Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico — states he won in the last White House race — and to expand the 2012 competition to Arizona and, maybe, Texas and Georgia.

"The Republicans, by electing three national Latino leaders, have really challenged the Democratic Party," said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, until recently one of the highest-ranking Latino Democrats in the country.

"Democrats have to recruit more Latino candidates and they have to start siding with Latinos on redistricting and other issues," Richardson said, "because many Latinos perceive that the party doesn't care enough about electing more Hispanic officials."

Richardson's concerns were echoed by Latino lawmakers, political activists and campaign strategists across the country. To them, the Democratic Party — while benefitting from a surge in Latino votes — has, in particular, not done enough to help Latino candidates move from city council, legislative and congressional seats to the party's highest elected offices.

Money is one reason. Many Latinos represent less affluent, more geographically concentrated areas that fail to provide the fundraising base that white politicians have. Boosting Latino candidates requires patience and a grooming process that Democrats have not often undertaken, critics say, pointing to Senate races next year in three key states as an example.

In Nevada and Arizona, they note, there is no credible Latino Democrat running. In New Mexico, state Auditor Hector Balderas is scrambling for traction in a primary against Rep. Martin Heinrich, who started the race as the perceived favorite of the party establishment.

"The Democrats really haven't shown a willingness or any creativity in identifying Latino talent and moving it forward," said Margaret Montoya, a University of New Mexico administrator and a Balderas supporter. "Martin Heinrich is a reliable progressive vote. Hector is a vote, a voice and a face of the future."

Matt Canter, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington, said the party recognized the importance of recruiting and supporting Latino candidates and was staying neutral in New Mexico's primary after sending early signals in favor of Heinrich.

He pointed out that the party helped recruit Ricardo Sanchez, former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, to run for Senate in Texas in 2012, though he is very much an underdog, given the state's Republican leanings.

The discontent among Latinos is a matter of degree.
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http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/11/nation/la-na-latino-democrats-20...

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3.
Alabama's Tough New Immigration Law Can Withstand Legal Challenges, Experts Say
FoxNews.com, June 11, 2011

Alabama's new law cracking down on illegal immigrants will likely survive legal challenges from advocacy groups that say it is unconstitutional and racist, analysts told Fox News.

The law, which takes effect Sept. 1, empowers police to arrest people suspected of being an illegal immigrant if they are stopped for another reason and requires businesses and schools to verify whether workers and students are in the country lawfully. It also makes it a crime to knowingly transport or shelter illegal immigrants.

As soon as Republican Gov. Robert Bentley signed the bill into law Thursday, the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center were vowing to defeat it in court.

"It is clearly unconstitutional. It's mean-spirited, racist, and we think a court will enjoin it," said Mary Bauer, legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"By signing this bill into law, Gov. Bentley has codified official discrimination in the state of Alabama," said Cecillia Wang, director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "We will take action to keep this law from going into effect to ensure that the civil rights and liberties of all Alabamans are protected."

Legal experts told Fox News that they expect the case to head to the Supreme Court where they believe the state will prevail.

"I think the states have the right to do this," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice. "I think it will be successful."

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates strict immigration laws, says the one in Alabama is fair.

"It does not go too far," he said. "The ACLU will object to anything that involves immigration enforcement."

"There are a lot of different pieces to it but I think probably the most important part is completely fair and very neutral and very effective, is requiring all businesses when they hire someone to check that info, the Social Security number against the federal government online E-verify system. Common sense. It works well."
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/11/alabamas-tough-new-immigratio...

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4.
McDonnell presses feds for state immigration-enforcement authority
By Paige Winfield Cunningham
The Washington Times, June 10, 2011

Gov. Bob McDonnell said Friday the federal government is taking too long to decide whether some Virginia police officers should be authorized to deport illegal immigrants.

Last August, the governor asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to allow a group of 28 select officers to deport illegal immigrants who have engaged in terrorism, committed major drug and gang offenses, committed violent crimes like murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and kidnapping, or found driving while intoxicated.

On Friday, he released a letter he sent last month to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano last month, petitioning for speedy approval.

“We have patiently waited nine months for formal approval and the time to act is now,” Mr. McDonnell said in the letter. “Virginia meets all the qualifications and has proven to be an excellent partner state and I ask you to approve our application without further delay.”

The 2002 Homeland Security Act allowed DHS to authorize state police forces to perform some functions of an immigration officer by entering into what is known as a 287(g) agreement. Without such an agreement, Virginia and other states have no authority to process deportations.
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/10/mcdonnell-presses-feds-s...

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5.
300 rounds exchanged during Texas border shootout
By Will Weissert
The Associated Press, June 10, 2011

U.S. law enforcement officials exchanged about 300 rounds of gunfire with suspected drug runners during a pre-dawn shootout across the Rio Grande, but only about six came from the suspects, authorities said Friday.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, whose Rangers were involved in the shootout, said such an overwhelming response was standard given the United States' zero tolerance policy when guns are pointed at its authorities. Department officials previously said the Americans were under "heavy fire," but they've since backed away from that.

The incident began about 6:30 a.m. Thursday, when U.S. Border Patrol agents spotted a Dodge Durango near the lightly populated border town of Abram, Texas, said Steve McCraw, director of the Department of Public Safety Director. He joined officials from Border Patrol and Texas Fish and Wildlife for a news conference Friday in Weslaco, roughly 250 miles south of San Antonio and just north of the river separating Mexico and the U.S.

Agents who gave chase found the truck abandoned on the banks of the Rio Grande, and a group of people on the Mexican shore unloading bundles of marijuana from rubber rafts, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Border Patrol agents say Mexican smugglers often use small, high-quality rafts to float drugs into U.S. territory, where they load them onto waiting vehicles to be taken farther north. Of late, however, smugglers wait with the rafts in American territory in case the vehicles are spotted and have to flee back to the river. There, they quickly put the drugs back onto the rafts and head back to Mexico to keep U.S. authorities from seizing the load.

That's what happened Thursday, the Department of Public Safety said, except U.S. authorities arrived in time to see a group of people who had already made it back to the Mexican side removing packets of marijuana from rafts.

The group threw rocks and shot "at least six" rounds at American agents, who responded by flooding the area with gunfire, the Department of Public Safety said. A U.S. Border Patrol boat was the first to arrive on the scene, followed by boats from Texas Parks and Wildlife and one belonging to the Texas Rangers, it said.
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hPyytvRJVXpoC3iUoTVRSu...