1. Feds meet with UT officials
2. CA releases criminal immigrants
3. SC law will affect legal residents
4. Second drone to patrol border
5. BP agent jailed for arrest
1.
Feds meet with Utah officials over immigration law
By David Montero
The Salt Lake Tribune, October 25, 2011
Top Utah lawmakers said they’re optimistic about the federal government staying out of a lawsuit against the state’s enforcement-only immigration law after having a “productive” closed-door meeting with key U.S. Department of Justice lawyers Tuesday.
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who called the meeting at the Capitol, said he was able to go over “line by line” provisions in HB497 and believes the attorneys “see Utah is doing something different.”
But Shurtleff said he doesn’t know what the department’s ultimate decision will be.
“I’d hate to guess,” he said. “I hope they don’t join the lawsuit.”
Participants in the 90-minute meeting said Justice Department Assistant Attorneys General Tony West and Tom Perez were concerned by a line in the law that requires local law enforcement to check the legal status of riders in a vehicle when there was reasonable suspicion the driver was transporting undocumented immigrants.
Utah officials were told that the provision was harsher than Georgia’s enforcement-only immigration law, which says local police “may” check the status of vehicle passengers if they have reasonable suspicion the driver is transporting undocumented immigrants, participants said.
Perez heads up the civil rights division of the Justice Department and West is the director of the civil division of the department. Both report directly to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who has met with Shurtleff in the past on the issue. Shurtleff said this was his third meeting with Justice Department officials since HB497’s passage in March.
Xochitl Hinojosa, spokeswoman for the Justice Department, would only confirm the two attorneys met with Utah officials at the Capitol, saying it was a “part of our ongoing review of immigration-related laws that were passed in several states.”
Sen. Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake City, was the lone Democrat in the meeting and was joined by Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, Sen. Stuart Reid, R-Ogden, and the sponsor of HB497, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem.
Robles said it was made clear to West and Perez that HB497 was part of a package of immigration reform bills signed into law by Gov. Gary Herbert — including HB116, which was the state’s attempt at granting visas to undocumented immigrants living and working in the state prior to May 20. Undocumented immigrants would pay a fine and be subjected to background checks when the law takes effect in 2013.
“I told them 99.9 percent of the bills you are meeting on are enforcement-only,” Robles said. “But in Utah you also have HB116 and for any legislation to have passed here, it required them to be packaged and passed together. I think they are taking that into consideration and looking at Utah in a unique way.”
HB497 passed both the House and Senate by large margins and in each body, two Democrats joined in voting for its passage. And while Robles voted against HB497, she said she recognized it was part of a raft of immigration bills — including the guest-worker law — and felt her presence in the meeting Tuesday signaled bipartisan support for Utah’s attempt at a comprehensive solution.
“I think it was important to convey that,” Robles said.
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http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52782306-90/law-immigration-utah-d...
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2.
Uproar over county release of criminal immigrants
The Associated Press, October 26, 2011
Releasing criminal immigrants from jail before federal deportation evaluations has created an uproar in a Northern California county.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen and Sheriff Laurie Smith blasted Santa Clara County supervisors for a new policy that releases immigrants with criminal histories from jail before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents look them over.
The San Jose Mercury News ( http://bit.ly/sHYm4k) says County Executive Jeff Smith is accusing Rosen and Smith of grandstanding and using scare tactics.
The county policy stems from the federal Secure Communities program that requires fingerprint sharing with ICE.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/10/26/state/n05211...
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3.
S. Carolina immigration law will also affect legal residents
EFE, October 25, 2011
Charlotte – South Carolina's new immigration law, SB 20, which faces a lawsuit from pro-immigrant organizations, will not only affect undocumented foreigners but also U.S. citizens and legal residents.
Puerto Rico-born Carolina Belen de Paguada is concerned about the possible entry into force of the controversial law, which was inspired by Arizona's SB 1070 legislation.
Married to an undocumented Honduran, Belen says that even she is in danger of being penalized with a fine of up to $5,000 for transporting a foreigner without authorization to be in the country, or even for giving a neighbor a ride to church.
"My husband is the supporter of the family. I have a 4-month-old baby. If they deport him, I don't know what we're going to do. The situation is terrible for everyone," the 20-year-old told Efe.
Also, SB 20 makes it a misdemeanor for adults not to carry documents that verify their immigration status.
The young mother, who has lived in South Carolina for 15 years, says that the law is "racist."
Under SB 20, local law enforcement officers would be authorized to investigate the immigration status of a person they suspect may be in the country illegally.
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http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/10/25/s-carolina-immigration-...
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4.
2nd drone to patrol Texas-Mexico border to arrive in Corpus Christi
The Associated Press, October 26, 2011
McALLEN — A second unmanned drone to patrol the Texas-Mexico border for U.S. Customs and Border Protection is scheduled to arrive in Corpus Christi next week.
U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar, Michael McCaul and Blake Farenthold of Texas announced the delivery of the long-awaited Predator drone Tuesday.
Officials announced in July that Texas would get a second drone to patrol its 1,254-mile border with Mexico. Along with another planned for Arizona, the drone brings CBP's total to six on the Southwest border.
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http://www.caller.com/news/2011/oct/26/2nd-drone-patrol-texas-mexico-bor...
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5.
U.S. border agent jailed for improper arrest of suspected drug smuggler
By Jerry Seper
The Washington Times, October 25, 2011
A U.S. Border Patrol agent has been sentenced to two years in prison for improperly lifting the arms of a 15-year-old drug smuggling suspect while handcuffed - in what the Justice Department called a deprivation of the teenager’s constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force.
Agent Jesus E. Diaz Jr. was named in a November 2009 federal grand jury indictment with deprivation of rights under color of law during an October 2008 arrest near the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, in response to a report that illegal immigrants had crossed the river with bundles of drugs.
In a prosecution sought by the Mexican government and obtained after the suspected smuggler was given immunity to testify against the agent, Diaz was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses Ludlum in San Antonio. The Mexican consulate in Eagle Pass had filed a formal written complaint just hours after the arrest, alleging that the teenager had been beaten.
Defense attorneys argued that there were no injuries or bruises on the suspected smuggler’s lower arms where the handcuffs had been placed nor any bruising resulting from an alleged knee on his back. Photos showed the only marks on his body came from the straps of the pack he carried containing the suspected drugs, they said.
Border Patrol agents found more than 150 pounds of marijuana at the arrest site.
The defense claimed that the smuggling suspect was handcuffed because he was uncooperative and resisted arrest, and that the agent had lifted his arms to force him to the ground - a near-universal police technique - while the other agents looked for the drugs.
The allegations against Diaz, 31, a seven-year veteran of the Border Patrol, initially were investigated by Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Professional Responsibility, which cleared the agent of any wrongdoing.
But the Internal Affairs Division at U.S. Customs and Border Protection ruled differently nearly a year later and, ultimately, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas brought charges.
The Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council said the government’s case was “based on false testimony that is contradicted by the facts.”
In a statement, the council said that because the arrest took place at about 2 a.m., darkness would have made it impossible for the government’s witnesses to have seen whether any mistreatment took place. It said Marcos Ramos, the Border Patrol agent who stood next to Diaz, testified that he did not see any mistreatment of the smuggling suspect.
The council said other witnesses made contradictory claims and some later admitted to having perjured themselves. Such admissions, the council said, were ignored by the court and the government. It also said that probationary agents who claimed to have witnessed the assault raised no objections during the incident and failed to notify an on-duty supervisor until hours later.
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/25/border-agent-jaile-arres...
