1. State-Local pairing needed against gangs
2. Anti-gang sweep apprehends hundreds
3. McCain revives debate in Spanish
4. MD co. may count students

1.
Immigration, police pairing to fight gangs spurs controversy in South Florida
By Luis F. Perez
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, October 2, 2008
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbgangs1002pnoc...

A study released Wednesday contends that a controversial pairing of local police with federal immigration officials has been a "key ingredient" in the national fight against gangs.

But local immigration advocates say the effort may do more harm than good.

The Center for Immigration Studies, which promotes more restrictive immigration policies, said federal and local law enforcement cooperation led to the arrest of more than 8,000 gang members during the 2005-07 study period. Miami ranked eighth in the number of arrests with 325. West Palm Beach had one; Fort Lauderdale, 11.

Still, there are many more native-born gang members, a center spokeswoman said. Palm Beach County investigators arrested made more than 2,000 gang members in 2007.

"They say they're going after gangs, but they target immigrants," said Bob Louis Jeune of Palm Beach County Coalition for Immigrants' Rights. That could lead immigrants to stop cooperating with local police, advocates say.

In the past year, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and others agencies to arrest members of the high-profile Top 6 and Sur-13 gangs. Broward County's gang task force goes out with ICE officials about once a month, its commander, Lt. Robert Cates, said.

"It's another tool in our tool belt," Palm Beach County Sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The CIS report "Taking Back the Streets" By Jessica Vaughan and Jon Feere is available online at: http://www.cis.org/ImmigrantGangs

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2.
Hundreds Are Arrested in Antigang Crackdown
By Solomon Moore
The New York Times, October 2, 2008

A four-month nationwide crackdown on gangs has brought the arrest of 1,759 people — gang members and their associates, other criminals and immigration violators — from more than 20 countries, the federal authorities announced Wednesday.

Dozens of state and local law enforcement agencies joined federal officers in raids carried out in 28 states, including New York and New Jersey, focusing on gang hubs like Los Angeles, Miami and Boston.

The annual crackdown, which ended Wednesday, is another sign of the increasing prevalence of gangs with a presence in more than one country, and of the high degree of law enforcement cooperation required to counter them.

“We now have over 890 gangs in the United States that we’ve been able to target,” said Brandon Alvarez-Montgomery, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The crackdowns began in February 2005 as a way to combat the Salvadoran gang MS-13. The program has since expanded to make targets of all gangs with international ties and, the authorities say, has led to the arrest of 11,106 gang members and associates.

This year’s sweep, the largest so far, resulted in the arrest of 730 people on new criminal charges, 338 of them foreigners. The others picked up are charged with immigration violations.

Nearly all the arrested foreigners face proceedings leading to deportation, Mr. Alvarez-Montgomery said. Non-American suspects are to be prosecuted by the Justice Department or state and local agencies on charges including murder, rape, drug distribution, firearms violations and illegal re-entry after deportation, a federal felony.
. . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/us/02gangs.html

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3.
McCain Revives Immigration Fight in Spanish
By Ed O'Keefe
The Washington Post, October 1, 2008

The McCain campaign today announced another Spanish-language television commercial blaming Barack Obama for killing immigration reform. Called "Fradulent," the spot will air, the campaign says, in Colorado and New Mexico.

The script: "So what's worse? That Barack Obama and his allies in Congress killed immigration reform? Or that their immigration attacks were called 'unfair,' 'absolutely and directly wrong' and even 'fraudulent' by the press. Or that Obama and his liberal allies think the U.S. has an immigration problem because Mexico is a quote, 'dysfunctional society'? They've said no to us long enough. This election, let's tell them no."

A companion radio ad will convey a similar message.

The "immigration attacks" the ad references appear to be to an Obama ad that attempted to tie McCain to comments made by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh regarding Mexican law. Several news organizations quickly discredited the McCain-Limbaugh associations.
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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/01/mccain_revives_imm...

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4.
Officials want count of illegal immigrant students
The Associated Press, October 2, 2008

Frederick, MD (AP) -- Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and two county commissioners are asking state lawmakers to require a count of illegal immigrants who attend county schools.

The sheriff and commissioners John Thompson Jr. and Charles Jenkins wrote last week to all eight members of Frederick County's delegation of state lawmakers, asking one of them to support the proposal.
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http://www.examiner.com/a-1617879~Officials_want_count_of_illegal_immigr...