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1. Liberals demand coverage
2. Corruption a major threat
3. Plot exposes challenges
4. inoculations for illegals
5. CO city to host ICE

1.
Liberals seek health-care access for illegals
By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times, September 28, 2009

Fearful that they're losing ground on immigration and health care, a group of House Democrats is pushing back and arguing that any health care bill should extend to all legal immigrants and allow illegal immigrants some access.

The Democrats, trying to stiffen their party's spines on the contentious issue, say it's unfair to bar illegal immigrants from paying their own way in a government-sponsored exchange. Legal immigrants, they say, regardless of how long they've been in the United States, should be able to get government-subsidized health care if they meet the other eligibility requirements.

"Legal permanent residents should be able to purchase their plans, and they should also be eligible for subsidies if they need it. Undocumented, if they can afford it, should be able to buy their own private plans. It keeps them out of the emergency room," said Rep. Michael M. Honda, California Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

Mr. Honda was joined by more than 20 of his colleagues in two letters laying out the demands.

Coverage for immigrants is one of the thorniest issues in the health care debate, and one many Democratic leaders would like to avoid. But immigrant rights groups and the Democrats who sent the letters say they have to take a stand now.

President Obama has said he does not want health care proposals to cover illegal immigrants. The bill drawn up by Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, excludes illegal immigrants from his proposed health care exchange.

Mr. Honda and his allies, though, say illegal immigrants should be allowed to pay for insurance if they can afford it, even if it comes through a government-established exchange. As a generally young, healthy part of the population, illegal immigrants could help reduce overall costs for those who buy into health exchange plans, the lawmakers said.

The Democrats' letters, however, do not issue ultimatums or threaten to withhold support for the bills if their requests aren't met.

The National Council of La Raza launched its own "flood their voice mail" campaign last week to put pressure on Mr. Baucus to expand coverage in his proposal to include all legal immigrants and to drop verification language in the legislation that would prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining coverage.

Mr. Honda told The Washington Times that he's not pushing for illegal immigrants to gain access to taxpayer-subsidized benefits. "That's an argument that's been done already," he said.

Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, said proposals that include government coverage for illegal immigrants leave him incredulous.

"If anybody can, with a straight face, advocate that we should provide health insurance for people who broke into our country, broke our law and for the most part are criminals, I don't know where they ever would draw the line," he said.

Mr. King, who opposes Democrats' health care plans in general, said illegal immigrant access in legislation "would be a poison pill that would cause health care to go down" to defeat.
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/28/liberals-seek-health-car...

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2.
Exclusive: FBI Says Corrupt Border Officials Accepting Bribes Expose U.S. to Terrorist Risk
FBI Worries Corrupt Border Officials Could Let in Terrorists Without Detection
By Pierre Thomas
The ABC News, September 24, 2009

The Federal Bureau of Investigation worries that corrupt U.S. officials at the nation's border crossings are exposing Americans to serious risk, and are stepping up efforts to root those officials out.

With evidence of corrupt U.S. border officials allowing illegal immigrants to enter the country in exchange for bribes, the FBI is concerned terrorists or materials that could be used in a terrorist attack might also slip through.

"If you're a corrupt border official, and you're allowing illegal immigrants to come into the country, you're not going to know who you're letting in," Kevin L. Perkins, assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division for the FBI, told ABC News.

In one instance at the U.S.-Mexico border, FBI video surveillance obtained by ABC News caught a truck full of illegal immigrants pulling up to Customs and Border Protection officer Michael Gilliland, and being waved through his border inspection lane for $100,000, officials said.

And in Texas, an undercover FBI operation allegedly caught a deputy sheriff in the act.

"You can either pay me here or follow me all the way to Petula and you can pay the judge," the deputy sheriff told an undercover FBI agent posing as a Mexican national, despite the agent having broken traffic laws.

"So the fine is $150 here," the deputy sheriff was recorded as saying.

"You don't have to worry about court or anything," he said, after the undercover agent handed over $150 in cash.

"I don't worry about nothing?" the agent asked.

"No," the deputy sheriff replied.

The FBI says corrupt border officials willing to betray their badge for a price represent a potentially grave national security threat.

"Whether it's a truckload of illegal narcotics or whether it's components of a weapon of mass destruction. We have to know what those are. We have to have assurance that our borders are safe, that our borders are secure and that we can find these things before they enter our country," said Perkins.

Custom and Border Protection is one of the key agencies under increasing federal scrutiny. They are the frontline sentries in the fight against illegal immigration. Right now, the bureau says they are investigating more than 100 such cases of corruption.

"They are the first line of defense coming into the country. They are the people that check people, goods and other things coming across the border," said Perkins.

Since 2004, 94 federal customs officials have been charged with mission-related corruption. The agency said it's taking the problem seriously and has been agressively expanding efforts to root out crooked employees.

The case of customs officer Margarita Crispin underscores the seriousness of the problem.
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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/corrupt-border-officials-accepting-bribes...

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3.
Alleged skyscraper plot highlights problems of keeping tabs on immigrants
By Todd J. Gillman
The Dallas Morning News, September 27, 2009

Washington, DC -- The tension between security and civil liberties, between surveillance and privacy, has simmered for eight years. The plot exposed last week in Dallas by the FBI – a Jordanian teenager allegedly hoping to level a skyscraper – provides the latest fuel.

Initially, the disturbing image of Hosam Maher Husein Smadi allegedly trying to leave a scar in Dallas' skyline vindicates the post-Sept. 11 push for a more robust national security apparatus, particularly with FBI officials exposing plots to attack targets in New York and Illinois on the same day they arrested Smadi.

"It's going to give the Cheney crowd some bragging rights," said one liberal-leaning national security expert, Steven Clemons of the New America Foundation, referring to former Vice President Dick Cheney.

For all the early rhetoric about reversing Bush-era policies, the Obama administration has embraced many post-Sept. 11 techniques. The latest rash of allegations of jihad-inspired schemes can only reinforce that trend, national security and legal scholars say.

Obama ended abusive interrogations. But he angered his liberal base by refusing to walk away from other policies, including the placing of wiretaps on foreign suspects without warrants.

"Obama came into office at a point where people thought the Bush administration had gone too far on the curtailment of civil liberties and had basically created a national security state," Clemons said, but support for a more robust approach persists.

"There's no doubt that during a high-fear time, American citizens become more gripped up and become more in favor of these really intrusive measures."
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"As much as people want to think they're out there snooping on everybody, they're not," said Janice Kephart, another 9/11 commission counsel and now director of national security policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates tougher enforcement. "They've found the balance they didn't have before. ... We wouldn't have seen these types of arrests prior to 9/11."
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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-terro...

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4.
Officials push swine-flu shots for migrants
By Erin Kelly
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), September 26, 2009

Washington, DC -- With swine-flu vaccinations set to begin next month, public-health officials are mobilizing to ensure that the nation's estimated 11 million-plus illegal immigrants are vaccinated.

And unlike the divisive debate over whether illegal immigrants should get federal health care, there is little dispute that they should receive the H1N1 shots.

"We believe it's important that all people be vaccinated regardless of immigration status if there's a pressing public-health concern," said Jon Feere, legal policy analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies, which opposes taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants and wants to reduce immigration.

Leaving up to 12 million immigrants unvaccinated - an estimated 500,000 in Arizona - would increase the health risk to everyone and make it much harder to control the epidemic, said Dr. Kevin Fiscella, associate professor of family medicine and community and preventive medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York.

"We're all in this together," he said.

About 800,000 to 1 million doses of the vaccine should arrive in Arizona next month, but not everyone will be able to get a shot right away. Priority will go to infants and young children, kids with chronic health infections and pregnant women, followed by school-age kids and adults who care for newborns or have chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes.

Most of the general public will likely have to wait until at least December for their immunizations.
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/09/26/200909...

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5.
Oft-delayed ICE office now slated for mid-January
By Chris Casey
The Greeley Tribune (CO), September 27, 2009

The long-delayed opening of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in west Greeley is now slated for mid-January.

The office, which will house several ICE agents and serve as an investigations field site, was originally scheduled to open in fall 2008. Various construction and funding issues disrupted work on the 11,000-square-foot, one-story office at 4645 18th St.

After federal funding hit a snag early in the year, the U.S. General Services Administration, which supervises the construction of the office, put a hold on work in late spring. At that time, GSA officials estimated the office would come on line by early fall.

Sally Mayberry, spokeswoman of the GSA's regional office in Denver, said Friday that two more items had to be worked into the current schedule.
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http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090927/NEWS/909279975/1005/NONE&...