illegal immigration

I just returned from Congressman John Lewis’ Faith and Politics Pilgrimage to Alabama and was deeply moved by the experience.

Fifty years ago, courageous Americans stepped out of their comfort zone and confronted an unjust segregation system that not only debased black America but white America as well.

I was struck by the intimate stories of complacency toward an immoral social norm by white businessmen and the church. I was amazed by the bravery of the black youth who saved a foundering downtown economic boycott in Birmingham, despite the water hoses and dogs of Bull Connor. I was entranced by the bravery of two black students willing to face a hate-filled Gov. George Wallace and a thousand others at the college doors in Tuscaloosa. I was overwhelmed with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s epiphany at the kitchen table in Montgomery late one night that he must conquer his fears and do what is morally right. I was in awe of the marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma who knew they faced violent opposition on the other side, but marched and suffered horribly anyway.

Much like then, America now faces another soul-searching moment surrounding an outdated, irrational and dehumanizing immigration system. One hundred years ago, America took all comers to its shores. Now our byzantine immigration system encourages would-be immigrants to put their livelihoods on the line in order to seek the American dream. It makes criminals out of business owners and farmers for hiring folks to do work that no one else will do; work that Americans benefit from and take for granted every day. And it generates an unconscionable trade in human beings and human rights violations that operate in dark shadows, often beyond our legal and law enforcement systems.

The discussion about immigration is not about documented and undocumented immigrants. It is about the very nature of who we are as Americans — our beliefs, our morals and our need to share the unalienable rights our immigrant forefathers bequeathed upon us 238 years ago. The loud lack of acceptance among a vitriolic few diminishes hope in aspiring Americans and undermines the progress we have strived for since our country’s inception. Is this our Christian theology? Are these the values of our Declaration and Constitution? Is this how we raise our children?

Merchants and farmers whisper to me that they need and value their employees as individuals and they are critical to the fabric of a recovering American economy. But these voices must be raised loudly and convincingly in your community, in the papers and with your state and federal representatives. As Dr. King often quoted, “Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.”

While individual churches and their charities have exhibited great acts of kindness toward many vulnerable families who have immigrated to our country, the leaders of organized religion must collectively demand an end to an unjust system — a system that separates husbands, wives and children for years; a system where getting to the “back of the line” means waiting 20 years; a system that allows a two-caste system for worker rights in this country.

I am pleased to see young people, particularly in Latino communities, begin to step up like the African-American youth did 50 years ago. Their bravery in stepping up without legislative guarantees and solely on the president’s executive order on the Dream Act is courageous. They captured America’s attention with their votes in this last election. Without Mano y Mano and thousands of youth-oriented groups like it across America, we would not be having the discussion of comprehensive immigration reform today in Congress.

What remains is for Congress to have our own epiphany. To do right no matter the political cost and march across that bridge despite some vehement opposition at home. As Dr. King said in his letter from his Birmingham jail cell, “Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere ... Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere in this country.” Read more about Rep. Kurt Schrader: Faith, politics and immigration reform

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eight senators aim to cap months of talks next week with a comprehensive deal to overhaul the U.S. immigration system, a member of the bipartisan group said on Thursday.

Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a longtime reform advocate, said once the agreement is done, aides will draw up legislation that could be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee in April.

"That's our goal," Menendez told Reuters. "We hope to agree on all of the major issues, hopefully, by the end of next week. But it could slip a bit," he said, perhaps by a couple of days or so.

"I'm not rigid about anything other than getting it right," Menendez said.

The timetable Menendez spelled out mirrored one that the group suggested earlier this year. It said it aimed to have a bill in March and a vote by the full Democratic-led Senate in June or July.

The eight senators - four Democrats and four Republicans - announced a "framework for comprehensive immigration reform" in January and have been working to flesh it out.

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, many of them living in the shadows while seeking work and trying to avoid detection.

The eight senators have tried to draft a plan that would include a pathway toward U.S. citizenship for undocumented immigrants while strengthening border security.

They also want to create a more effective system to guard against U.S. employers hiring undocumented immigrants, and develop a program to better forecast and meet future U.S. workforce needs in a bid to curb illegal immigration.

The eight senators came together shortly after the November 2012 election results reflected the growing power of Hispanic voters and their pleas for immigration reform.

"There have been hard and tough negotiations, but it has been done all in the spirit of achieving the goal, in which compromise has been made on both sides," Menendez said.

The senators have worked with the encouragement of the White House and reached out to members of the Republican-led House of Representatives.

This week Obama met separately with Republican and Democratic lawmakers, mainly to talk about budget deficit concerns. But immigration reform also was discussed.

On Wednesday, Obama told a closed-door meeting of Senate Democrats that immigration was "'something that we can get done,'" Democratic Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland said.

On Thursday, Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a member of the group of eight, said he thanked Obama for "playing a role that's behind the scenes."

Flake said the issue of future immigration to the United States is a sticking point for Democrats, and that Obama could build support for that part of the pending immigration bill.
  Read more about Senators aim to reach bipartisan immigration deal next week

The Obama administration reversed itself Thursday, acknowledging to Congress that it had, in fact, released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants from immigration jails due to budget constraints during three weeks in February.

The director of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, said his agency had released 2,228 illegal immigrants during that period for what he called "solely budgetary reasons." The figure was significantly higher than the "few hundred" immigrants the Obama administration had publicly acknowledged were released under the budget-savings process. He testified during a hearing by a House appropriations subcommittee.

Morton told lawmakers Thursday that the decision to release the immigrants was not discussed in advance with political appointees, including those in the White House or Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. He said the pending automatic cuts known as sequestration was "driving in the background."

"We were trying to live within the budget that Congress had provided us," Morton told lawmakers. "This was not a White House call. I take full responsibility."

The Associated Press, citing internal budget documents, reported exclusively on March 1 that the administration had released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants since Feb. 15 and planned to release 3,000 more in March due to looming budget cuts, but Napolitano said days later that the AP's report was "not really accurate" and that the story had developed "its own mythology."

"Several hundred are related to sequester, but it wasn't thousands," Napolitano said March 4 at a Politico-sponsored event.

On March 5, the House Judiciary Committee publicly released an internal ICE document that it said described the agency's plans to release thousands of illegal immigrants before March 31. The document was among those reviewed by the AP for its story days earlier.

The immigrants who were released still eventually face deportation and are required to appear for upcoming court hearings. But they are no longer confined in immigration jails, where advocacy experts say they cost about $164 per day per person. Immigrants who are granted supervised release _ with conditions that can include mandatory check-ins, home visits and GPS devices _ cost the government from 30 cents to $14 a day, according to the National Immigration Forum, a group that advocates on behalf of immigrants.

Morton said Thursday that among the immigrants released were 10 people considered the highest level of offender. Morton said that although that category of offender can include people convicted of aggravated felonies, many of the people released were facing financial crimes. Four of the most serious offenders have been put back in detention. Other people released include immigrants who had faced multiple drunken driving offenses, misdemeanor crimes and traffic offenses, Morton said.

After the administration challenged the AP's reporting, ICE said it didn't know how many people had been released for budget reasons but would review its records. Read more about Gov't acknowledges thousands released from jails

Drugs discovered during an Albany traffic stop Monday afternoon led detectives to Salem, where police arrested two men suspected of dealing methamphetamine.

About two pounds of meth and more than $5,000 in cash were seized.

Police served search warrants on two Salem residences after midnight on Tuesday, busting open the door of one home.

Albany Police Detective Lt. Brad Liles said local drug investigations often lead police out of Linn County, because major traffickers don’t typically live in the area.

And individuals caught with controlled substances often will cooperate with police, he added.

The little fish will sell out the big fish.

“That’s how the drug world works,” Liles said.

Enrique Gallegos-Zaragoza, 32, and Antonio Mendoza-Garcia, 28, both of Salem, were arrested on charges of delivery and possession of methamphetamine, and delivery of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold was placed on Gallegos-Zaragoza, who also was charged with first-degree child neglect.

Mendoza-Garcia’s initial bail was set at more than $1 million, and he was charged with endangering the welfare of a minor, as well.

Corvallis police and the Salem task force of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency assisted Albany police in serving the search warrants.

Liles said that after the traffic stop, the driver helped police set up a drug buy with Gallegos-Zaragoza in the parking lot near the Roth’s IGA and McDonald’s off Portland Road in Salem.

Gallegos-Zaragoza was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. Police secured his home in a trailer park off Lancaster Drive until a search warrant was obtained.

Further investigation also led police to a house in the 3900 block of N.E. 39th Avenue.

Early Tuesday morning, police served the search warrants on the residences.

The cash was found at Gallegos-Zaragoza’s home.

Police forced open the door on Mendoza-Garcia’s 39th Avenue residence and found the meth.

Liles said an Albany dealer would typically purchase an ounce of methamphetamine for about $1,000, but broken down into user amounts, the value would be much higher. Read more about Traffic stop leads to drugs, arrests

Three individuals were arrested in Keizer on Wednesday following a long-term methamphetamine distribution investigation.

Keizer Police Department detectives working with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Salem-Area Task Force along with agents from the Oregon Department of Justice served search warrants at the Platinum Spa Auto Detail on River Road N and at the location at Lana Avenue NE as well as a residence at 5270 Woodwind Court N.

Investigators arrested Samuel Diaz-Zermeno, Cesar Leon-Barbosa and Jesus Leon-Barbosa on charges including unlawful delivery of methamphetamine and unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

The investigation started in 2010 when Keizer police detectives got information that Cesar Leon-Barbosa, who owns Platinum Spa Auto Detail, was selling methamphetamine from his business locations with help of his brother Jesus Leon-Barbosa.

Officials said Diaz-Zermeno was contacted as part of this investigation on Wednesday and was found with one pound of methamphetamine.

Investigators recovered more than one and one half pound of methamphetamine, about one and a half ounces of cocaine as well as scales and more than $67,000 in cash.

The street value for the controlled substances is about $25,000.

The three individuals were booked into the Marion County Corrections Facility.

Officials said the investigation is still on-going and additional charges and additional arrests are expected.
 

ICE HOLD - Samuel Diaz-Zermeno, Cesar Leon-Barbosa and Jesus Leon-Barbosa Read more about Meth investigation leads to three arrests in Keizer

A Stockton man was arrested Monday for allegedly carrying 4.5 pounds of methamphetamine on a bus passing through Medford.

Police received a tip that Flavio Jaimes-Toribio, 18, was hauling the meth north from California and into Oregon, Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement officials said in a news release.

Jaimes-Toribio was charged with delivery and possession of methamphetamine and lodged in the Jackson County Jail on $510,000 bail.

Flavio Jaimes-Toribio - ICE HOLD

  Read more about California man found with 4.5 pounds of meth on a bus near Medford

House investigators learned Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials developed plans to release about 5,000 illegal immigrant detainees, although Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has denied responsibility for the decision.

“An internal document obtained by the House Judiciary Committee shows that Administration officials at ICE prepared cold calculations to release thousands of criminal aliens onto the streets and did not demonstrate any consideration of the impact this decision would have on the safety of Americans,” committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., announced.

The ICE document contains a table that proposes “reduc[ing] invoiced daily population by 1,000 weekly.” Between February 22 and March 31st, this plan would drop the number of detainees from 30,748 to 25,748.

“The decision to release detained aliens undermines the Department of Homeland Security’s mission to keep our homeland secure and instead makes our communities less safe and more vulnerable to crime,” Goodlatte said. “[R]egardless of sequestration, DHS actually has plenty of funding to pay for the detention of criminal aliens. Unfortunately, it seems Administration officials are more interested in using sequestration to promote their political agenda than as an opportunity to get our nation’s fiscal house in order.”

Napolitano said that it wasn’t her decision, even though ICE is part of DHS. “Detainee populations and how that is managed back and forth is really handled by career officials in the field,” she told ABC.

She also confirmed that the releases would continue. “We are going to manage our way through this by identifying the lowest risk detainees, and putting them into some kind of alternative to release,” Napolitano said at a Politico event, per The Daily Caller.

The New York Times profiled a “low risk” detainee released by ICE. The detainee was taken into custody “when it was discovered that he had violated probation for a conviction in 2005 of simple assault, simple battery and child abuse, charges that sprung from a domestic dispute with his wife at the time.” NRO’s Jim Geraghty asked, “If convictions for ‘simple assault, simple battery and child abuse’ make you ‘low-risk,’ what do you have to do for Janet Napolitano to consider you ‘high-risk’?” Read more about DHS plans to release 5,000 illegal immigrants due to sequestration