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1. Feds press forward on E-Verify
2. Five detained in BP agents' murder
3. NJ SC overturns deportation
4. La Raza boss frets border hawks
5. FL hospital wins suit

1.
E-Verify, verified by Department of Homeland Security
By Kimberly Dvorak
The Examiner (San Diego), July 28, 2009
http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner...

The federal government finally moved forward on E-Verify and will require all federal contract employers use the verification process to prove U.S. residency and ensure tax dollars are going to legal residents.

“E-Verify is a smart, simple and effective tool that reflects our continued commitment to working with employers to maintain a legal workforce,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

“Requiring those who seek federal contracts to use this system will create a more reliable and legal workforce,” Napolitano said.

A leading advocate for E-Verify is Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.); “This is a perfect common sense law that ensures our tax dollars go to Americans or others authorized to work here. It’s important that we use our tax dollars as wisely as possible.”

According to Bilbray the process is simple to use and the right people are getting through.

The E-Verify process simply compares information from the Employment Eligibility Verification form (I-9) against the feral government’s data base. The Social Security office works jointly with DHS by offering a free website.

Although E-Verify provides a positive confirmation in 96.9 percent of the cases and the Senate approved amendments to require all federal contractors to use the system, there are some critics, most notably, Chuck Schumer-D NY.

He calls the E-Verify system “half-hearted and flawed.”

The proof is in the numbers according to the Center for Immigration Studies, an independent research institute that examines the impact of immigration on the U.S.

“When this program began in 2007 it was used to screen 1 in 19 new hires nationwide,” says Janice Kephart, Director of National Security Policy for CIS. The current numbers for July of this year show an astounding new number.

“The new figures represent a 274 percent increase, or 1 in 4 new hires are vetted by E-Verify,” Kephart says. “The number of queries so far in 2009 is about 6 million, nearly what they were for all of 2008.”

If the current trend holds Kephart believes E-Verify will identify 12.3 million employees this year. DHS states that there are approximately 511,228 worksites using E-Verify program through July, up from 400,000 in January.

CIS Institute says “E-Verify enables cheap, efficient and accurate compliance with the federal ban on hiring illegal aliens.”

On another front the state of California remains bogged down by illegal immigration issues. Some in Sacramento believe E-Verify isn’t accurate enough and have put forward legislation AB 1288 in February of this year.

The legislation would prohibit the state, or a city, county, or special district from requiring the employer other than the government entities to use an electronic employment verification system.

Many businesses use E-Verify to screen potential employees. For example, construction, farming, warehouse and other large companies who employ many unskilled workers.

Congressman Bilbray finds this odd. “No wonder they (Sacramento) wants to tax marijuana, they seem to be smoking it.”

Kephart concurs, “That’s giving employers a permission slip to break the law, and it’s inexcusable.”

The bill is currently waiting for a final vote on the Senate floor in Sacramento. “If this goes along party lines, it (the bill) will pass it along party lines by Democrats,” says Mike Zimmerman a spokesperson for Martin Garrick-R-Assemblyman. “It’s anyone’s guess if Governor Schwarzenegger will veto this bill or not.”

In the end, California suffers a higher-than- national average unemployment rate and according to Kephart “it’s ridiculous for California to NOT use E-Verify.”

“Let’s all remember the federal law is very clear, you must be here legally to be employed,” CIS finishes.

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2.
5 are detained in fatal shooting of border agent;
Mexican authorities arrested the men, but U.S. investigators have not said whether they are suspects.
By Richard Marosi
The Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2009

San Diego -- Mexican authorities have detained five people in connection with last week's fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, but U.S. investigators have not said whether they are suspects in the case.

The detainees were arrested within two days after Robert Rosas, a three-year agency employee, was shot multiple times by suspected smugglers near the border fence.

One of the men, Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, 36, who was identified as the shooter, was injured and carrying a 9-millimeter handgun, according to police in Tecate, Mexico.

Parra and the four other detainees -- believed to be immigrant smugglers and bandits who were near the crime scene Thursday night -- are being held at the federal attorney general's office in Tijuana.

In high-profile cross-border cases, the Mexican government frequently provides U.S. investigators access to suspects, but it is unclear whether U.S. agents have questioned the men.

The FBI, which is leading the probe, has a "strong interest" in the detainees, but is continuing the investigation on several other fronts.

"We don't want the public to think this case has been solved. We consider the investigation ongoing," said Darrell Foxworth, an FBI spokesman in San Diego.
. . .
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-border-agent28-2009jul28,0,44668...

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3.
High court overturns decision to deport immigrant
By Mary Fuchs
The Star Ledger (Newark, NJ), July 28, 2009

The state Supreme Court ruled yesterday that legal immigrants must fully understand they will be forced to leave the country if they plead guilty to violent crimes or sexual abuse of a minor.

The court overturned a decision to deport Jose Nunez-Valdez of Camden, who claimed he did not realize deportation was one of the stipulations to pleading guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual contact.

In the 6-1 decision, the justices said Nunez-Valdez received "false or misleading information about immigration consequences."

Legal immigrants who plead guilty to aggravated felonies _ a wide range of offenses, including theft and drug trafficking _ are deported under federal law.

Many attorneys don't realize this is a price their clients may pay, said Jeffrey S. Mandel, a lawyer for the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

"Prior to this case, there were plenty of very good criminal defense attorneys out there who were completely unaware of deportation consquences for guilty pleas," Mandel said.

In pleading guilty, Nunez-Valdez confessed to improperly touching his 17-year-old neighbor, by force and without her consent, in 1997. At the time, he was living with his wife and three children.

But during the appeal of his conviction, Nunez-Valdez said his trial lawyer, Troy Archie, had pressured him to confess to the crime.

Nunez-Valdez, who court documents say came to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1980 when he was 18, was deported in 2004 as he continued to appeal.

His current lawyer, Justin Loughry, would not comment on his status now.
. . .
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-14/12487455153...

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4.
'La Raza' CEO fears anti-immigrant voice louder
The Associated Press, July 27, 2009

Chicago (AP) -- The head of one of the largest Hispanic advocacy groups in the country says she's worried there's an increase in hate rhetoric directed toward Hispanics and immigrants.

Janet Murguia (moor-GEE'-yah) is the National Council of La Raza's CEO and president. She tells The Associated Press that she believes derisive comments from anti-immigrant rights groups and right-wing television pundits appear to be increasing.

Murguia believes the increase is in reaction to the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor and because there isn't a comprehensive immigration reform bill before lawmakers.
. . .
http://www.bnd.com/326/story/859280.html

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5.
Martin County hospital prevails in immigrant deportation case
By Melissa Holsman
The Stuart News (FL), July 27, 2009

Stuart, FL -- A few minutes after arriving to court Monday, the jury deliberating the false imprisonment case against Martin Memorial Medical Center delivered a verdict in favor of the hospital.

Jury foreman William Phillips, of Jensen Beach, later said when the three-woman, three-man panel began deliberating Thursday, the vote was evenly split.

"At that point we were truly deadlocked," said Phillips, 63. "We ended up by having the need for all of us to take the time on the weekend to mull over our positions and then when we came back this morning, we realized we had all come to a unanimous decision."

The jury deliberated for about nine hours in all before finding Martin Memorial did not act in an unreasonable or unwarranted manner when the hospital relied upon a 2003 court order obtained by a state probate judge to privately repatriate former patient Luis Jimenez to his native Guatemala.

The brain-damaged illegal immigrant, now 37, had lived at the hospital for nearly three years racking up about $1.5 million in unpaid medical care following a devastating car crash.

Phillips, a self-described semi-retired supermarket public relations expert, said he was one of the three who changed his initial vote.

"I was someone who had taken a position at first and then as I listened to the other jurors and analyzed the data, I realized that I was perhaps not as thoughtful as I should have been," he said. "I actually shifted my vote."

There wasn't any one piece of evidence or trial testimony, he said, that persuaded him to find in favor of the hospital.

"Just the sheer totality of it," Phillips said. "We felt as a jury . . . that both the defense and the plaintiffs lawyers did a fabulous job of presenting their individual perspectives."

Attorneys representing Jimenez and his Indiantown guardian Gaspar Montejo Gaspar sued Martin Memorial for false imprisonment, arguing at trial that hospital officials arranged the unusual international patient transfer in order to stop providing free medical care and to halt an ongoing legal battle regarding his medical discharge.

After court, Martin Memorial Chief Executive Officer Mark Robitaille lauded the jury's verdict.

"It's been a long time. We're pleased that after many months, the complete story was able to be presented to a jury and the jury found that we acted in the best interest of Mr. Jimenez," Robitaille said. "However, in spite of the outcome of that decision, we're still concerned about the fact that the issue of undocumented immigrants and their health care has not been resolved at the state or national level, and we certainly hope that this case will bring that to a forefront and that community hospitals throughout this country will not be placed in the same situation as Martin Memorial."
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http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jul/27/jury-favor-martin-memorial-immigr...