1. S.F.'s sanctuary law shields criminals
2. ICE to train officers in two counties
3. BP checks upset Washington state locals
4. Illegal workers a "great concern" in HI
5. Candidate says no need for consular ID
6. Judge: Repost Minutemen sign in CA

1.
Feds probe S.F.'s migrant-offender shield
By Jaxon Van Derbeken
The San Francisco Chronicle, June 29, 2008

San Francisco juvenile probation officials - citing the city's immigrant sanctuary status - are protecting Honduran youths caught dealing crack cocaine from possible federal deportation and have given some offenders a city-paid flight home with carte blanche to return.

The city's practices recently prompted a federal criminal investigation into whether San Francisco has been systematically circumventing U.S. immigration law, according to officials with knowledge of the matter.

City officials say they are trying to balance their obligations under federal and state law with local court orders and San Francisco's policies aimed at protecting the rights of the young immigrants, who they say are often victims of exploitation.

Federal authorities counter that drug kingpins are indeed exploiting the immigrants, but that the city's stance allows them to get away with "gaming the system."
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/29/MNCU111QM7.DTL

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2.
ICE to train officers in 2 counties
By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), June 30, 2008

The incarceration arms of two Utah sheriff offices will soon play an active role in immigration enforcement.

Weber and Washington counties have entered into agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for some corrections officers to receive federal training on immigration enforcement.

"We worked really hard to get this," said Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith. "The application process had us in competition with many other agencies around the country. It's exciting stuff."

The counties are Utah's first to participate in the 287(g) program. Some 750 law or corrections officers with 48 agencies across the country have been trained through such agreements.

The two Utah agreements don't apply to officers on the street. The corrections officers who receive the five-week training will question criminal suspects to determine their immigration status as part of the booking process, said Steve Branch, director of the ICE Salt Lake City field office.
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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700239166,00.html

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3.
Security checks on domestic Washington ferries roil islanders
The Border Patrol in Washington state says intelligence indicates a problem. Locals decry a 'culture of fear.'
By Stuart Glascock
Los Angeles Times, June 30, 2008

Anacortes, WA -- Looking to snag illegal immigrants, drug runners and terrorists, the U.S. Border Patrol is staging surprise checks of travelers on domestic ferry runs in the San Juan Islands. What they are catching is heat from ticked-off locals.

Border Patrol agents began conducting random checks and undercover surveillance at the Washington state ferry terminal in Anacortes this year. The agents intercept disembarking passengers, inquire about citizenship, request IDs, and run vehicle and criminal background checks. A plainclothes officer patrols the small terminal.

The beefed-up security has sparked scores of complaints from island residents, but authorities stand by the spot checks on domestic ferries -- which they say could expand to include a second route.

The measures are "not a stretch, not speculative," said Joseph Giuliano, deputy chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol's Blaine, Wash., sector. "Our intel tells us we have a limited problem" a few miles from Canada's Vancouver Island.

"We don't like to go out on limbs with our limited resources," he said.

About 12 times a month since February, armed border agents in fatigues have put up checkpoints -- a jarring presence for many in this vacation destination known for its serene landscape.

Agents have arrested 50 people -- 49 of them Latinos, mostly from Mexico -- on suspicion of immigration violations and have turned them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Ferry ID checks also netted four U.S. citizens on charges of personal use of marijuana.

The Border Patrol wants to secure a porous border and send a message, not to chalk up mass arrests, Giuliano said.

Through history, the archipelago's 170 islands, web of channels and isolated coves have provided cover to criminals -- opium traffickers, moonshine peddlers and pot sellers.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/latinamerica/la-na-checkpo...

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4.
Illegal workers a 'great concern' in Hawaii
Isle numbers relatively small; both employers, laborers targeted here
By Curtis Lum
Honlulu Advertiser, June 30, 2008

City Council member Rod Tam's use of a racially charged term to describe undocumented workers in Hawai'i and recent arrests on O'ahu and Maui have put the spotlight on illegal workers, but the problem in Hawai'i is relatively small when compared with most Mainland states.

There is no clear picture on the number of people who are illegally in the state. Neither the U.S. Census Bureau nor the federal government keeps count of the unauthorized migrant population.

But a study released by the Pew Hispanic Center in 2006 estimated that there were between 20,000 and 35,000 people who were illegally in Hawaii in 2005, or 1.5 percent to 2.7 percent of the state's population.

In another study, the Immigration Policy Center, which is a division of the American Immigration Law Foundation, estimated the state's undocumented population at about 33,000 in 2005.

By comparison, the Pew study estimated California's population of undocumented migrants at 2.4 million, or 6.6 percent of its population, followed by Texas at 1.4 million, or 6 percent of its population, and Florida at 850,000, or 4.7 percent of the state's population.

States with estimated undocumented populations similar to Hawaii are Rhode Island, at 20,000 to 40,000, and Idaho and Louisiana, both at 25,000 to 45,000, according to the Pew report.
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http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080630/NE...

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5.
Congressional Candiate Carl Mumpower Says There Is No Need For IDs
WHKP Radio (Western, NC), June 30, 2008
http://www.whkp.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=588

There is no need for Latinos to receive ID cards in the United States unless they are here illegally according to North Carolina Congressional Candidate Dr. Carl Mumpower. He told WHKP News that the ID cards that the Mexican Consolate issued to Latinos this past Saturday are cards that can be used to help legitimize identiication, and it can help illegal immigrants receive a North Carolina drivers' license. Mumpower said that he believes it is wrong for the Mexican Consolate to use a government owned facility to issue these cards. Mumpower said this issue is not about Latinos, rather it is about illegal immigration.

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6.
Caltrans moved them from I-5 checkpoint
By Tanya Sierra
The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 29, 2008

FEDERAL COURT

A federal judge has ordered Caltrans to repost the San Diego Minutemen road sign on a two-mile stretch of Interstate 5, a victory for the anti-illegal immigration group.

The Minutemen were granted a northbound stretch of the highway near the Border Patrol's checkpoint south of San Clemente in November as part of the Adopt-a-Highway litter cleanup program.

They were reassigned to state Route 52 near Santee in January after complaints to the agency about the group's controversial nature and the location near the checkpoint.

The group, alleging free-speech discrimination, sued Caltrans in February and in May requested a preliminary injunction to restore the sign while lawsuit was pending.

District Judge William Q. Hayes on Friday granted the preliminary injunction, saying there was not enough evidence to support the safety risk.

Caltrans argued there was a risk of confrontation on the freeway near the sign, after meeting with local Latino groups and state legislators.

Minutemen attorney, Howard Kaloogian, said yesterday that safety claims were “bogus.”

“It's a total victory,” Kaloogian said. “The government through Caltrans has taken sides. They are supposed to be viewpoint neutral in the way they administer their rules and regulations.”
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080629-9999-1m29minute.html