1. ATF program had early signs of failure
2. AZ appeals immigration ruling
3. Feds oppose border agent's parents
4. Iowa Latinos get little attention
5. Hispanic group sees progress

1.
ATF's gun surveillance program showed early signs of failure
By Richard A. Serrano
Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2011

In March 2010, the No. 2 man at the ATF was deeply worried. His agents had lost track of hundreds of firearms. Some of the guns, supposed to have been tracked to Mexican drug cartels, were lost right after they cleared the gun stores.

Five months into the surveillance effort — dubbed Operation Fast and Furious — no indictments had been announced and no charges were immediately expected. Worse, the weapons had turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and the ATF official was worried that someone in the United States could be hurt next.

Acting Deputy Director William Hoover called an emergency meeting and said he wanted an "exit strategy" to shut down the program. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for decades had dedicated itself to stopping illegal gun-trafficking of any kind. Now it was allowing illegal gun purchases on the Southwest border and letting weapons "walk" unchecked into Mexico.

But those at the meeting, which included a Justice Department official, did not want to stop the illegal gun sales until they had something to show for their efforts. Hoover suggested a "30-day, 60-day or 90-day" exit plan that would shut Fast and Furious down for good — just as soon as there were some indictments.

But indictments did not come for another 10 months. By then, two semiautomatics had been recovered after a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed south of Tucson, and nearly 200 had been found at crime scenes in Mexico.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-atf-guns-20110811,0...

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2.
Arizona appeals immigration ruling to Supreme Court
By David G. Savage
Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2011

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer appealed to the Supreme Court to revive the state's disputed immigration policing law, seeking a ruling that could free states to take aggressive enforcement action against illegal immigrants.

"Arizona bears the brunt of the problems caused by illegal immigration [and] is the gateway to nearly half of the nation's illegal border crossings," said former Solicitor General Paul Clement on behalf of the state.

Clement, who served during the George W. Bush administration, urged the justices Wednesday to rebuke the Obama administration for its "extraordinary step" of intervening in court to block the Arizona law, known as SB 1070, from taking effect.

If the justices agree to take up the Arizona case, they would hear arguments in the winter and probably hand down a ruling in late spring as the presidential race gets underway.

Last year, Arizona took center stage in the immigration debate when its lawmakers directed police to check the immigration status of people they lawfully stopped and suspected of being in the country illegally. The state said its stepped-up enforcement was intended to "discourage and deter" illegal immigrants from living or working in Arizona.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-immigration-2...

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3.
Feds oppose agent's parents becoming part of case
The Associated Press, August 11, 2011

Prosecutors are opposing a request by the parents of a Border Patrol agent fatally shot near the Arizona-Mexico border to become a party in the case against a man accused of buying two rifles found at the shooting scene.

They argue the request by Agent Brian Terry's parents shouldn't be granted in the criminal case against Jaime Avila and 19 others accused of participating in a gun smuggling ring.

Prosecutors say Terry was a murder victim, but he wasn't a victim of Avila's firearms offenses as defined under the Crime Victims' Rights Act.

Lawyers for Terry's parents asked a judge to let them become part of the case so they can stay updated on developments.

Terry died in a Dec. 14 shootout with border bandits north of Nogales, Ariz.
. . .
http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Feds-oppose-agent-s-parents-be...

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4.
Ahead of caucus, Iowa Latino voters get little play from GOP field
By Jordy Yager
The Hill (DC), August 11, 2011

The latest census numbers show Iowa’s Latino population nearly doubling over the last 10 years, but Republican presidential candidates aren’t likely to make a push for their votes, according to local political experts.

With Iowa’s renowned Ames Straw Poll just days away, the U.S. Census Bureau released data for the Midwestern battleground state on Thursday showing an overall population growth of about 120,000 people, or 4 percent, since 2000.

One of the largest areas of growth was among the Latino population, which nearly doubled in size, from 82,473 people in 2000 to 151,544 people in 2010, growing from less than 3 percent of the state’s population to about 5 percent, according to the census statistics. About half of those Latinos, 88,337, or about 3.8 percent of the total population, are eligible to vote.

But according to political experts in Iowa, the growth in the state’s Latino presence isn’t likely to make much of an impact on the campaigns that Republican presidential hopefuls wage as they vie for the party’s nomination.

“Republicans are going to make almost no attempt to go after the Latino vote in Iowa heading into the caucus,” said David Peterson, an associate professor of political science at Iowa State University.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/176415-iowa-latino-voters-get-littl...

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5.
Group says progress made for Hispanics now at risk
By Suzanne Gamboa
The Associated Press, August 10, 2011

A coalition of Hispanic advocacy groups said President Barack Obama and Congress have made progress in the past two years on the needs of the nation's largest minority group, but it also warned that proposals for deep spending cuts could put that forward movement at risk.

The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda gave good marks Wednesday to the administration and Congress on early childhood education, health care reform, programs for veterans and Hispanic businesses, and appointments of record numbers of Latinos to the administration.

On immigration reform and enforcement, the coalition of 30 Hispanic groups said in a progress report that Obama and lawmakers "over promised and under delivered."

Several of those gains have required increased spending, such as those included in 2010 appropriations bills to expand Head Start and Early Start by 70,000 in 2010. One in five children under 5 is Hispanic.

Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez, the coalition's chairwoman, said the groups fear losing ground in upcoming budget debates and spending cuts proposed by a bipartisan supercommittee tasked with slashing the federal budget deficit by more than $1 trillion.
. . .
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jR39ZByJ0yM9y02WcE606P...

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