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1. USCBP commissioner Nominated
2. Census concerned by boycott
3. Gov't struggles with policy
4. Agents fire upon smugglers
5. OH senator for enforcement

1.
Obama names Customs and Border Protection commissioner
Former California Education Secretary Alan Bersin has experience in law and border enforcement as well as education. If confirmed by the Senate, he'll take charge of about 57,000 employees.
By Sebastian Rotella
The Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009

Washington, DC -- President Obama has nominated the administration's point man on Southwest border strategy to be the new commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the nation's largest law enforcement agency, the White House announced Tuesday.

Alan Bersin, a veteran of federal border enforcement and a former San Diego schools superintendent, has served since April as assistant secretary for international affairs at the Homeland Security Department. Bersin, 62, is the department's special representative for border affairs, working with Mexican leaders and U.S. border-area agencies on challenges such as drugs and immigration.

If approved as commissioner by the Senate, Bersin will take charge of about 57,000 employees who police the nation's borders while struggling with a massive workload, grappling with the threat of corruption and trying to speed travel and commerce.

Customs and Border Protection encompasses the U.S. Border Patrol agents who guard the Mexican and Canadian boundaries, a far-flung army of inspectors working at ports of entry, and an air and sea interdiction fleet.

The agency faces a persistent terrorist menace as well as powerful drug mafias that have responded violently to a crackdown by the U.S. and Mexican governments.

Bersin will continue to advise Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on issues related to Mexico and the border, although he will relinquish the title of special representative, officials said.

"Under Alan's leadership over the past several months, we have forged new international and domestic partnerships along our borders to strengthen security," Napolitano said in a statement. "I look forward to continuing to work with Alan in his new position."

Known for a cerebral yet hard-charging style, Bersin has alternated between law enforcement and education.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-border-czar23-2009s...

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2.
Groves urges public campaign to boost 2010 census
By Hope Yen
The Associated Press, September 22, 2009

Washington, DC (AP) -- The head of the Census Bureau says he's worried the poor economy and tensions over immigration will deter people from participating in next year's high-stakes count.

Robert Groves appeared before Congress on Tuesday for the first time since he was confirmed in July. He told a House panel it may be hard to find residents because of growing homelessness, foreclosures and people "doubling up" in single-family homes.
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jhV8xbFisPzv8An_L4pTsB...

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3.
U.S. closes door on a onetime Iraq ally
A former commander with the Sunni militia that aided the U.S. military 'surge' in Baghdad has been turned down for immigration to America as a refugee. His case poses a policy challenge for the U.S.
By Ned Parker
The Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009

Aman, Jordan -- The man who had fought Al Qaeda in Iraq sat in the waiting room of the immigration office. He watched others go up before him. After several hours, they called his name: Saad Oraibi Ghafoori.

In a way, the waiting burned him. He had once led more than 600 men in Baghdad; Iraqi officials and U.S. commanders came to him for help. Now he lived in a nondescript home in Jordan's capital with an upset wife and two restless children -- a 9-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl -- who had been hoping for more than a year to get the call to go to America.

He had sat in classes given by the International Organization for Migration, learning about U.S. apartment rental prices and how to apply for food stamps. He was ready to do whatever the Americans wanted: If they wished him to train U.S. forces heading to Iraq, he would do it; if they wanted him to fight in Afghanistan, he would go.

He missed being a soldier. He hadn't gone to a shooting range in more than a year. When he heard fireworks, he confessed, it made his blood pump. The 36-year-old ex-paramilitary commander, who once patrolled west Baghdad in camouflage, had developed a slight pot belly in a year of sitting at home.

In the office that day in July, Ghafoori was finally summoned to a table. The case officer was blunt: He had been rejected and there was no point in appealing the case.

The letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services read: "As a matter of discretion, your application for refugee resettlement . . . has been denied."

He looked at the other Iraqis around him. He squirmed a bit. They had already recognized him and knew him by his nom de guerre, Abu Abed, the man who had ignited Baghdad's Sunni Arab revolt against the militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq.

"I broke that day," he said. "I saw myself as the biggest loser in the world."

Last year, the U.S. government removed hurdles that had made it difficult for its Iraqi employees whose lives were endangered to flee to America. It also cleared similar obstacles for Iraqis working with U.S. companies. The number of Iraqis accepted in America through the State Department's refugee assistance program jumped from 1,600 to nearly 14,000 in 2008 and is expected to reach 18,000 this year.

But Ghafoori's case poses a policy challenge for the U.S. government. How should it handle the pool of 100,000 paramilitary fighters called the Sons of Iraq, many of them former insurgents, who have little in common with the Iraqi translators and civil servants that the refugee assistance program aims to help?

Does the United States have any obligation to men like Ghafoori, whom the U.S. military once funded and fought with against a common enemy?

Until now, accepting a man who may have at one time fought the U.S. military, a man who admits he killed his enemies, has been considered politically untenable in post- 9/11 America, where immigration policies have been guided by the fear of another attack on U.S. soil.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-visa23-2009sep2...

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4.
U.S. Closes Mexico Border Crossing After Shootout
By Joshua Brustein
The New York Times, September 23, 2009

Federal agents opened fire Tuesday on three vans carrying at least 70 people suspected of being illegal immigrants when the drivers of the vehicles tried to crash through a California border crossing that is considered the busiest such crossing in the world, officials said. Four people were injured.

The border was closed for several hours after the incident, which occurred at around 3:25 p.m. local time at the San Ysidro crossing. Federal immigration and customs agents fired their guns during the incident, officials said. Three passengers in the van were injured and taken to local hospitals, and a passenger in a separate vehicle was also injured. No agents were hurt, and none of the injuries were considered life-threatening.

The San Diego Police Department is investigating the shooting. Federal agents are questioning the passengers, who have been detained.

Lauren Mack, a spokesperson for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that smugglers had tried to storm the border in the past but that security improvements in recent years had made it much more difficult.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/us/24border.html

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5.
Ohio immigration bill returns
State Sen. Cates says law could help county officials curtail ‘flood of illegal aliens.’
By Josh Sweigart
The Middletown Journal (OH), September 22, 2009

A local state senator is taking another stab at a controversial change to Ohio law that would give county sheriffs more leeway to enforce immigration laws.

As immigration reform has languished on the national stage, Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester Twp., said southwest Ohio has seen “a flood of illegal aliens” that “has put an undue burden on local law enforcement and impacted the stability of local services.”

The bill introduced by Cates would allow county sheriffs, upon request from federal officials, to investigate and apprehend illegal immigrants for breaking immigration laws.

Current law only allows deputies to arrest immigrants who commit some other crime. Because deportation matters fall under civil law, they are enforced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The bill also would allow county commissioners to direct local sheriffs to hold people being detained for deportation or charged with civil violations of immigration law.
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http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/ohio-immigration-b...