1. VA county sees crime drop
2. CT sanctuary ID case decided
3. NE city considers ordinance
4. Post-raid lawsuit dismissed
5. SC employer faces new charges
6. TX employer to be charged

1.
Stewart touts county’s immigration policy
By Cheryl Chumley
InsideNoVA.com, July 9, 2008

Prince William's immigration policy has led to a 19-plus percentage drop in crimes against persons, Board of Supervisors' Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at-large, told a roomful of primarily congressional staffers and media members at a Tuesday panel discussion at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

The immigration panel was hosted by the House Republican Policy Study Committee and moderated by its vice chair, Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas. Other panelists were Mark Krikorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies; T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council; and George Fishman, a staff member for Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who was a scheduled speaker but did not attend.

"They were clearly interested in the [county's immigration] program," said Stewart, in a Wednesday interview to discuss the outcomes of the panel session. "I told them we have so far transported out 875 inmates from jail who were illegal immigrants who will now be deported instead of let back into the community."

Stewart said he also presented figures showing a 19.3 percent drop in certain crimes that Prince William has experienced since the immigration policy took effect, as well as a decrease of 1,200 in the school's English for Speakers of Other Languages

program.

"I think that's pretty dramatic," he said, adding those figures came from reported police and school system statistics, respectively.

And the crime drop, especially, is not coincidental, he added.

"The only difference between Prince William County and the localities to our north where there's a crime rate increase … is that we have the crackdown," Stewart said. "That's the only policy change."
. . .
http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/local/article/stewart_touts_countys_i...

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2.
Bid To Expose Illegal Immigrants Spurned
By Stephen Singer
The Associated Press, July 10, 2008

The state Freedom of Information Commission rejected Wednesday a request by a newspaper editor and a community group to release the names of people who have been issued New Haven resident ID cards.

The commission voted 3-1 to adopt a report last month by a hearing officer who said the names can remain confidential. The FOI officer said specific, credible threats of violence against New Haven officials and illegal immigrants justify keeping the identities of the card holders secret.

The city began issuing the cards a year ago. They are available to New Haven's entire population and are meant to help anyone without a state- or federal-issued ID open a bank account and use other services that would otherwise be inaccessible. Advocates argue that if immigrants can open bank accounts, they will be less likely to carry large amounts of cash, a practice that makes them easy targets for robbers.

An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 of New Haven's 125,000 residents are believed to be in the country illegally.

Opponents of the program have said the ID cards encourage more illegal immigration.
. . .
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-apfoi0710.artjul10,0,796814.story

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3.
Fremont Considers Illegal Immigration Proposal
By Julie Hong
KPTM (Omaha, NE), July 10, 2008

Fremont (KPTM) -- Fremont city leaders are considering a proposal outlawing illegal immigrants.

The proposed ordinance is drawing lots of attention in Fremont.

"I know they're desperately passionate about the cause," says city council president Gary Bolton.

Councilman Bob Warner asked the city attorney to create an ordinance outlawing harboring, hiring or renting to illegal immigrants.

"If we do nothing, nothing is going to happen," says long-time Fremont resident and World War II veteran Marv Eden. "We need to do something to let the higher authorities, the federal government, the state government know how the people feel."

He spoke in favor of the law at last night's council meeting, but says he isn't anti-immigrant.

"I have good feelings for immigrants, I'm one, but my folks came legally," says Eden.

Bolton agrees there's a problem, but says this proposal is not the answer.

"We do our part and the federal government doesn't do their part and this ordinance won't change that," says Bolton.

He also says it's an expensive lawsuit waiting to happen.
. . .
http://www.kptm.com/Global/story.asp?S=8651682

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4.
Immigration raid lawsuit voluntarily dismissed
By Amy Lorentzen
The Associated Press, July 10, 2008

Des Moines, IA (AP) -- A federal lawsuit that claimed a major Immigration bust at a kosher meatpacking plant in northeast Iowa violated the rights of detained workers has been dismissed at the request of the attorneys who filed the action.

Nearly 400 people were arrested as a result of the May 12 raid at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville. U.S. attorney's officials called it the largest single Immigration raid in the nation's history.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of detained workers, named the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division and several government officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

It was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa just days after the raid, and requested class-action status on behalf of an unspecified number of workers. The lawsuit named three of the petitioners: Roman Trinidad Candido, Antonin Trinidad Candido and Maria del Refugio Masias.

The lawsuit alleged that government agencies and officials violated the detainees' constitutional rights, accusing the government of arbitrary and indefinite detention. It said that the immigrant workers' rights to consult with counsel had been violated, among other claims.

The workers' lawyers were trying to prevent them from being transferred out of the state, which has happened with immigrants who have been arrested in similar raids.

Joshua Weir, with the Peck Law Firm in Omaha, Neb., one of the firms representing the workers, said the action was dismissed July 1 because the demands of the lawsuit were met. That included keeping the detainees in the area so they would have access to their attorneys and be closer to their families.
. . .
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-postvilleraid-law,0,7456401...

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5.
New arrest at chicken plant in immigration violation case
By Eric Connor
The Greenville News (SC), July 9, 2008

A federal indictment alleges that employees were instructed to use falsified employment eligibility forms at a Greenville chicken-processing plant that has been the subject of a months-long federal immigration investigation.
Advertisement

Elaine C. Crump was charged with 20 counts of telling "employees to use fraudulent Form I-9s," charges related to her employment at the Columbia Farms House of Raeford plant on Rutherford Road, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald told The Greenville News.

Crump was released Wednesday on $25,000 unsecured bond after being arraigned in U.S. District Court in Greenville.

The House of Raeford, based in Raeford, N.C., said in a statement Wednesday that the company had received a copy of Crump’s indictment and was reviewing it.

"The company has complied with all requests for information and will continue to cooperate fully with state and federal authorities," the statement said.

Last month, federal agents arrested five supervisors of the facility near North Pleasantburg Drive as part of the investigation.

On Tuesday, the five men, all from Mexico, were indicted on multiple immigration and identity fraud charges, including that they supplied false information on federal immigration forms for employment verification, according to court records.
. . .
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080709/NEWS...

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6.
Judge: Sufficient evidence to charge business after immigration raid
KOHU (Houston, TX), July 10, 2008

Houston -- According to a federal judge, there is enough evidence to charge the owner and three managers of a Houston business with harboring and hiring illegal immigrants.

The case stems from a June immigration raid at Action Rags USA in east Houston.

More than 160 employees were detained in the raid.
. . .
http://www.khou.com/news/local/crime/stories/khou080710_tnt_actionrags.3...