1. ICE reviews Haitian's care
2. House E-Verify bill in doubt
3. Report alleges abuse
4. Citizenship of baby questioned
5. Coalition seeks probe in WA

1.
US reviews care of deported Haitian who died
The Associated Press, September 20, 2011

A Haitian man who suffered cholera-like symptoms and died in his Caribbean homeland after the U.S. deported him had no pre-existing health problems that might have contributed to his death, according to a review of his medical records from his time in immigration custody.

Wildrick Guerrier, 34, was sent back to Haiti on Jan. 20. He became severely ill while being held at a Port-au-Prince police station with more than a dozen other deportees and various criminal suspects, as is customary for deportees to Haiti. He died on Jan. 29 and was buried in Haiti without an autopsy. Other deportees reported that Guerrier began suffering such cholera-like symptoms as diarrhea, vomiting and weakness after he tried to help other sick detainees.

After his death, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials ordered a review of his medical care while in U.S. immigration custody. The review concluded that Guerrier's medical care was "medically appropriate and accessed timely."

"This medical records review failed to reveal any underlying abnormalities that may have contributed to his sudden death upon deportation to Haiti," the review states.

The attorney representing Guerrier's fiancee said Tuesday that ICE's conclusion makes his death all the more shocking and bolstered the criticism against ICE by immigration advocates and human rights organizations, who contend that conditions in Haiti make it inhumane and unsafe for the deportations to continue.

"If Mr. Guerrier was healthy when he was deported, this is definitive proof of the extreme nature of the danger faced by deportees sent back to Haiti. The United States must not deport people back to Haiti when we know that they will be detained in unsanitary conditions that spread cholera and other life-threatening diseases," said Rebecca Sharpless, director of the immigration clinic at the University of Miami School of Law.

The Associated Press obtained the medical review and other records pertaining to Guerrier's 109 days in immigration custody through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Guerrier was among more than two dozen Haitians deported Jan. 20. They were the first Haitians to be deported since a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti's capital in January 2010. All had been convicted of a crime in the U.S., except for one who was acquitted in a 2007 terror plot but deemed a national security threat. ICE has said it expects to deport this year 700 Haitians convicted of crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, sexual assault, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, embezzlement, money laundering and extortion.

According to Homeland Security records, Guerrier entered the U.S. through Miami in 1993 as a legal permanent resident with his parents. He was taken into ICE custody Oct. 4 after serving a sentence for a 2009 conviction for a charge of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon.

ICE Health Service Corps officials reviewed of Guerrier's medical records from a Miami-area detention center, the Baker County jail and a Louisiana detention center.

Guerrier's physical and mental health remained normal throughout his detention, according to the records. A Jan. 20 medical summary showed Guerrier did not suffer from any current medical problems, nor required any special care while he was in transit.

The ICE review noted that in the week before his deportation, Guerrier had joined 22 Haitian detainees who refused to eat meals served at the Louisiana detention center for six days.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/APc100abc244db4732b2ac6a25eaa31172.html

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2.
E-Verify Bill Against Illegal Workers in Doubt
By Miriam Jordan
The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2011

Conservative, tea-party and libertarian groups have joined liberals in fighting a signature Republican bill in Congress that would crack down on illegal-immigrant workers. The legislation, they argue, would hurt businesses and employees while expanding government regulation.

The bill, by Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R., Texas), would require all employers to use E-Verify, an electronic government database that checks whether new hires are eligible to work in the U.S.

Its prospects had looked good in the GOP-controlled House, where it is to be finished by the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Regarded as less controversial than others drafted to tackle illegal immigration, it was seen as able to win bipartisan support in the Senate, too, especially with unemployment high.

Now, the backlash threatens to sideline the bill, as Republicans seek to placate conservatives wary of legislation they consider intrusive and to court Hispanic voters who might deem it discriminatory.

Last week, a coalition of regional and national groups that champion less government, privacy protection and small-business interests wrote a letter to members of Congress urging them to vote against the bill, and took out an ad on Politico. The coalition is using social media to spread the word to affiliated members. It plans to start airing radio spots in some districts.

The letter said requiring the use of E-Verify, which is currently voluntary, would create a de facto national identification system, infringe on rights such as the freedom to seek work, cripple small businesses, turn employers into immigration agents and encourage identity theft. The letter calls the bill a "job killer" that will cost employers millions of dollars. Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation and one of the letter's 27 signatories, said that his movement strongly opposed illegal immigration but that "it's not private enterprise's job to enforce immigration."

"The bill doesn't stem the tide of illegal immigration," said Andrew Langer, president of the Institute for Liberty, an antiregulation group. Instead, he said, "it adds to the burden on small business when the economy is in the doldrums—a baffling idea."

The bill "has not yet been scheduled for floor consideration," a GOP congressional aide said, "and the House will be focusing this fall on our pro-growth agenda to remove harmful regulations that are increasing uncertainty and preventing economic growth and job creation."

Asked about House Speaker John Boehner's position on the bill, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner (R., Ohio) said, "We will review the legislation after the committee passes it."

The efforts of the conservative and libertarian groups put them on the same side of the bill as liberal organizations that favor an amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants. "We may disagree on many aspects of the immigration debate, but we can all agree we want to see this bill fail," said Michael Ostrolenk, national director of the conservative Liberty Coalition and coordinator of the campaign against mandatory use of E-Verify.

E-Verify works by comparing information entered from an employee's I-9 employment form with Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records. It is used by 4% of U.S. employers. Federal contractors must participate, and a few states also mandate its use.

"A few have claimed that a federal E-Verify requirement will cause jobs losses," Mr. Smith said in a written response to questions about opposition to the bill. "Yes, E-Verify is a jobs killer, but only for illegal workers."

Mr. Smith said it didn't make sense to rely on "the paper-based, error-prone" system currently used by employers, when a "successful, Web-based program is available."
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405311190337400457658297257002091...

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3.
Border agents mistreat migrants, report says
By Daniel Gonzalez
The Arizona Republic, September 21, 2011

A report by a humanitarian group based on interviews with thousands of illegal immigrants caught by the Border Patrol in Arizona claims agents threw unpackaged food on the floor for them to eat, took away medicine for diabetes and other illnesses, made them sleep on overcrowded cell floors and called them ethnic and racial slurs.

Migrants also complained of being shoved by agents into cactuses, kicked and hit, made to walk in the desert without shoes and subjected to sleep deprivation by agents who blared music in detention centers, according to the 72-page report by the Tucson-based group No More Deaths.

The report is to be released today in Tucson. Without addressing the specific complaints in the report, a Border Patrol spokesman said the agency does not tolerate acts of misconduct and mistreatment, and the Border Patrol would cooperate with any investigation.

"Each and every Border Patrol agent has a responsibility to the United States government and its citizens to place loyalty to the Constitution and its laws and ethical principles above private gain," Agent Mario Escalante, a Border Patrol spokesman in Tucson, said in an e-mail statement. "That duty should be carried out at all times with the highest degree of integrity and professionalism."

No More Deaths provides water, food and medical assistance to illegal immigrants along the Arizona border with Mexico as part of an effort to reduce migrant deaths. This is the first time the non-profit group has done a report based on a large number of migrant interviews. It was triggered by a smaller report released by the group in 2008 based on interviews with fewer than 400 migrants.
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/09/21/20110921border-agents-...

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4.
Nationality in Question After Baby Born Over International Waters on Flight From Philippines to US
FoxNews.com, September 21, 2011

Officials were trying Tuesday to ascertain the nationality of a baby born mid-flight, apparently while over international waters, in a passenger jet heading from the Philippines to the U.S.

Pregnant Philippines woman Aida Alamillo, 41, was on Philippine Airlines Flight 104 from Manila on Monday when she began to feel nauseous and realized she was in labor, earlier than expected.

A short time later, about four hours out of San Francisco and at 30,000 feet, she gave birth to a healthy, six-pound boy.

Woman gives birth to boy on flight from Philippines to San Francisco

Flight attendants had taken her to a private spot in the business class cabin and summoned for help from passengers -- resulting in three nurses volunteering to help, NBC Bay Area reported. The rest of the travelers burst into applause on hearing the baby had been born.
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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/21/nationality-in-question-after-baby-...

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5.
Coalition seeks probe of Border Patrol in state
The Associated Press, September 20, 2011

A coalition of 21 civil-liberties, immigrant-rights and labor groups has written to Washington state's congressional delegation urging them to look at U.S. Border Patrol operations, saying that agents routinely profile immigrants and use interpretation as a pretext to make arrests.

The letter is the latest in ongoing tensions between the agency and these groups, which include the American Civil Liberties Union.

In the past few years, the Border Patrol has increased manpower in Washington by a few hundred agents and stepped up operations, such as inspections of buses and ferries. Even so, arrests of illegal immigrants have fallen since 2001 from about 2,000 to just below 700.
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016266410_bordertension...