illegal immigration

An overwhelming number of children are being apprehended while attempting to illegally cross the the U.S.-Mexico border during recent months. The crisis, which has strained federal resources, has prompted lawmakers from around the U.S. to demand more funding to "accommodate" the children crossers. Opponents, however, claim that increased funding will not fix the real problem--they believe that the Obama Administration's failure to secure the border is ultimately what caused the spike in child victimization.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, more than 60,000 unaccompanied children are expected to illegally cross into the United States this year--that figure is substantially up from 2011, when only about 6,500 minors crossed. The Rio Grande Valley (RVG) Border Patrol Sector alone now apprehends about 1,000 illegal aliens per day, many of whom are children without parents.

The sharp influx of youth traveling into the U.S. has strained federal resources and left authorities without a plan-of-action moving forward.

Roll Call reported that this "phenomenon" has turned "Border Patrol offices into day cares and military barracks into youth dormitories. The Health and Human Services Department struggles to keep up with the demands for its foster care, often leaving the kids stuck in detention facilities designed for adults."

U.S. facilities have become so overcrowded that 1,000 illegal immigrant children were recently sent to San Antonio's Lackland Air Force Base where they were provided with clothing, food, education, foster care programs, and "behavioral treatment centers." The cost of the provided benefits and housing has not been disclosed to U.S. taxpayers.

Academics and government officials claim to be "stumped" as to why there has been such a steep incline of children illegal crossers along the border.

Some cite safety concerns and the pressure to join cartels.

Breitbart Texas’ contributing editor and border expert, Sylvia Longmire said, "It’s so difficult for many Americans to really comprehend the horrible situation these families and children find themselves in every single day, because we don’t have to worry about our own children being forcibly recruited into these lethal gangs."

Not everyone, however, agrees that safety is the real cause of the increase of child crossers.

Zack Taylor, Chairman of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers, told Breitbart Texas that the Obama Administration's rhetoric has "encouraged" illegal immigrants to cross the border.

"Being an illegal alien is not a right to citizenship," Taylor said. "When Vice President Biden says these kinds of things, that is just an invitation for foreign nationals to come up here. It's time for the U.S to get serious about immigration. We can start by taking away their incentives to be here. All benefits: medical, food stamps, public housing, education, everything."

Rather than focus on the root of the problem, which in Taylor's view is border security, Washington would rather throw money at the problem.

"Senate appropriators have said there is an obvious need for more money to help DHS intercept and humanely detain the unaccompanied minors, to aid HHS in housing and caring for the children and to facilitate trials to determine whether the children will be deported," Roll Call reported.

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski told a panel, "This is a humanitarian crisis, and we have to go to the edge of our chairs to at least get the estimate for fiscal ’15...our failure to appropriate could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis."

New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen reportedly added, "Rather than worrying about the silos where the money comes from, we need to think about what we can do that’s right for the kids."

It is easy to surmise that Mikulski, Shaheen, and their colleagues are using emotional appeals to divert attention away from the need to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

One could additionally surmise that the "humanitarian crisis" was brought about by the Obama Administration's narrative that has seemingly sought to victimize immigrants while demonizing Border Patrol agents.

"The U.S. is partly responsible for foreign nationals taking extreme measures that risk the lives of their children," Taylor concluded. "Our government is encouraging foreign nationals to come into our country illegally and stay." Read more about Sharp Increase in Illegal Immigrant Children at Border Causes Crisis

It's been exactly one year since Princess Irina Walker, the daughter of the last king of Romania, was indicted on federal charges that she and more than a dozen co-defendants were involved in a cockfighting business in eastern Oregon...

...Apolinar Munoz-Gutierrez, also known as Polo. He has been in custody since his arrest and has an immigration hold.

At least three defendants pleaded guilty in a companion case from Washington state ...

Authorities say the couple staged at least 10 cockfighting derbies...

They have pleaded not guilty.

...trial is set for July 14.

Walker, 61, has lived in Oregon for decades. She is the third daughter of former Romanian

  Read more about Princess Irina co-defendant 'Polo' to change plea in eastern Oregon cockfighting case

With border authorities in South Texas overwhelmed by a surge of young illegal migrants traveling by themselves, the Department of Homeland Security declared a crisis this week and moved to set up an emergency shelter for the youths at an Air Force base in San Antonio, officials said Friday.

After seeing children packed in a Border Patrol station in McAllen, Tex., during a visit last Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Monday declared “a level-four condition of readiness” in the Rio Grande Valley. The alert was an official recognition that federal agencies overseeing borders, immigration enforcement and child welfare had been outstripped by a sudden increase in unaccompanied minors in recent weeks.

On Sunday, Department of Health and Human Services officials will open a shelter for up to 1,000 minors at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, authorities said, and will begin transferring youths there by land and air. The level-four alert is the highest for agencies handling children crossing the border illegally, and allows Homeland Security officials to call on emergency resources from other agencies, officials said.

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A child from Honduras was among the youths from Central America being processed at the Border Patrol station in Brownsville, Tex., in March.Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times

In an interview on Friday, Mr. Johnson said the influx of unaccompanied youths had “zoomed to the top of my agenda” after his encounters at the McAllen Border Patrol station with small children, one of whom was 3.

The children are coming primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, making the perilous journey north through Mexico to Texas without parents or close adult relatives. Last weekend alone, more than 1,000 unaccompanied youths were being held at overflowing border stations in South Texas, officials said.

The flow of child migrants has been building since 2011, when 4,059 unaccompanied youths were apprehended by border agents. Last year more than 21,000 minors were caught, and Border Patrol officials had said they were expecting more than 60,000 this year. But that projection has already been exceeded.

By law, unaccompanied children caught crossing illegally from countries other than Mexico are treated differently from other migrants. After being apprehended by the Border Patrol, they must be turned over within 72 hours to a refugee resettlement office that is part of the Health Department. Health officials must try to find relatives or other adults in the United States who can care for them while their immigration cases move through the courts, a search that can take several weeks or more.

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Jeh JohnsonCredit Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Health Department maintains shelters for the youths, most run by private contractors, in the border region. Health officials had begun several months ago to add beds in the shelters anticipating a seasonal increase. But the plans proved insufficient to handle a drastic increase of youths in recent weeks, a senior administration official said.

Mr. Johnson said Pentagon officials agreed this week to lend the space at Lackland, where health officials will run a shelter for up to four months. The base was also used as a temporary shelter for unaccompanied migrant youths in 2012. It became the focus of controversy when Gov. Rick Perry of Texas objected, accusing President Obama of encouraging illegal migration by sheltering the young people there.

Mr. Johnson said the young migrants became a more “vivid” issue for him after he persuaded his wife to spend Mother’s Day with him at the station in McAllen. He said he asked a 12-year-old girl where her mother was. She responded tearfully that she did not have a mother, and was hoping to find her father, who was living somewhere in the United States, Mr. Johnson said.

Mr. Johnson said he had spoken on Monday with the ambassadors from Mexico and the three Central American countries to seek their cooperation, and had begun a publicity campaign to dissuade youths from embarking for the United States.

“We have to discourage parents from sending or sending for their children to cross the Southwest border because of the risks involved,” Mr. Johnson said. “A South Texas processing center is no place for a child.”

Officials said many youths are fleeing gang violence at home, while some are seeking to reunite with parents in the United States. A majority of unaccompanied minors are not eligible to remain legally in the United States and are eventually returned home. Read more about U.S. Setting Up Emergency Shelter in Texas as Youths Cross Border Alone

NOTE: While we can give a sigh of relief for now, we must not let our guard down - for even a moment.  We know that Congress is  likely plotting and planning something for the lame duck session!

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leaders intervened Friday to prevent a vote on U.S. immigration legislation, dealing a severe blow to election-year efforts to overhaul the widely denigrated system.

Rep. Jeff Denham labeled his bill the ENLIST Act and said he would seek a vote as an amendment to the popular annual defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA.

In response, Doug Heye, spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, said: "No proposed ENLIST amendments to NDAA will be made in order."

Heye said no stand-alone vote on the measure would be permitted, either.

It was the latest setback for President Barack Obama's efforts to move comprehensive immigration legislation through Congress to boost border security, remake legal worker programs and offer legal status to the estimated 11.5 million people now living here illegally. The Senate passed an immigration bill last year, but it's been stalled in the Republican-led House.

Friday's developments seemed to all but rule out anything happening on the issue this year in the House, if even Denham's limited measure could not advance. Despite a wide coalition of business, labor, religious groups, farmers and others pushing for an immigration overhaul, many individual Republican House members who represent largely white districts have been unmoved.

Cantor, House Speaker John Boehner and other House Republican leaders have insisted they want to advance immigration legislation, though they've rejected the Senate's comprehensive bill. Chances have always looked slim, but the White House and outside advocates saw a window for action over the next several months, before Congress' August recess and November midterm elections.

Denham's measure was widely popular and seen as perhaps the likeliest area for compromise.

But in recent weeks prominent conservative groups, including the Heritage Foundation, announced their opposition. Heritage Action, the group's political arm, announced it would include the vote in its ratings on lawmakers and called Denham's legislation "deplorable."

Cantor himself faces a primary election challenge in the state of Virginia June 10 from a tea party opponent who has criticized the majority leader for not being conservative enough and accused him of supporting amnesty for immigrants living here illegally.

Dave Brat, an economics professor at Randolph-Macon College, is a long-shot to unseat Cantor, but his campaign has won attention and support from conservative leaders such as radio host Laura Ingraham, partly because of his attacks against Cantor over immigration.

Denham's office had no immediate reaction to Cantor's announcement. But in an interview beforehand, Denham, who has a competitive race in his heavily Latino district in central California, said he would keep pushing his legislation regardless of what leadership did.

"I am prepared for a long-term fight on this," he said.

Denham's bill would allow immigrants who were brought to this country on or before Dec. 31, 2011, and were younger than 15 years old to become legal, permanent residents — the first step toward citizenship — through honorable service in the military.

It was co-sponsored by 50 House members, 26 Democrats and 24 Republicans, but an outspoken minority was opposed. Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican, had warned that "all hell will break loose" if Denham tried to promote the measure.

The Senate could still revive the issue if the Senate Armed Services Committee includes the ENLIST Act in its own version of the defense policy bill, something Sen. Carl Levin, a Democrat, the panel chairman, has indicated was possible. Read more about Republican leaders to block US immigration measure

 About 500 people gathered at the Capitol on Thursday for the annual May Day rally and march in support of driver cards, comprehensive immigration reform, civil rights, same-sex marriage and workers rights...

...Comprehensive immigration reform has stalled in the U.S. House. In Oregon, voters in November will decide whether to grant driving privileges to Oregonians who can't prove they're in the state (country) legally...

Thursday's crowd was about a quarter of the size of last year's rally, when Gov. John Kitzhaber signed the driver cards bill into law in front of a rapturous crowd of 2,000. Opponents gathered enough signatures to send the law to the November ballot.

Instead of celebrating a victory this year, many of the May Day speeches and signs focused on defending driver cards and rallying support for the November referendum. Supporters registered voters and recruited volunteers.

"This is a solidarity thing -- we're celebrating workers, immigrants and others," said Darlene Huntress, executive director of Oregon Action, a Portland group that works for economic and social justice. "We have a lot of work to do to engage our base and educate Oregonians about what this law is about: fairness and giving our economy what it needs by letting people get to work."...

  Read more about May Day: Oregonians rally to support driver cards, immigration reform, civil rights

TALLAHASSEE —
As students in the Senate gallery wiped tears from their eyes and the voice of the bill’s sponsor cracked, the Senate approved a measure Thursday that would grant in-state tuition to immigrant students brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Afterward, undocumented students, parents and supporters who had sat on the floor outside the doors to the Senate all week cried, pumped their fists in the air and took selfies with the Senate version’s sponsor, Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.

“I’m a big softy,” said Latvala, whose voice cracked during his final remarks before the vote. “This is a big deal. It’s one of the things we’ll remember the rest of our lives.”

Two hours after the vote Gov. Rick Scott held an impromptu press conference in the rotunda.

“It’s an exciting day for every student that dreams of a college education,” Scott said. Then, after thanking lawmakers, Scott took a quick swipe at Charlie Crist, his opponent in the governor’s race.” This corrects the wrongs of Charlie Crist.”

It was the second vote of the day in the Republican-controlled Legislature in support of immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

Earlier Thursday, the House approved legislation (CS/HB 755) that would allow the Florida Supreme Court to admit a Tampa man as a lawyer, even though he remains an undocumented immigrant, brought to the state from Mexico when he was 9 years old.

The court earlier this year declined Jose Godinez-Samperio’s bid to become a lawyer, citing a federal restriction. But justices also urged lawmakers to change state law to override the federal ban — a move set for a final vote today in the Senate.

The tuition bill (HB 851) similarly must return to the House for a final vote because of changes made in the Senate since the House initially passed it.

The politics behind the developments, though, may be rooted in the upcoming governor’s race. Polls show Scott doing poorly with Florida Hispanics.

A Quinnipiac University survey before the session began showed Crist holding a two-to-one lead over Scott with Hispanic voters. As a candidate in 2010, Scott campaigned in support of a tough, Arizona-styled anti-immigration law, but failed to pursue such an effort as governor.

Scott’s appointment of Carlos Lopez-Cantero as lieutenant governor earlier this year also was seen as an attempt to bolster the governor’s prospects with the key voting bloc in Florida.

House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston of Fort Lauderdale pointed out after the in-state tuition bill passed, that similar measures had been introduced in the Florida Legislature since 2002. Each year, ruling Republicans blocked it.

“We’ve tried to get this bill passed because it’s something we truly believe in,” Thurston said. “It’s not something that we’re doing because it’s politically expedient.”

The Senate voted 26-13 in favor of the tuition bill after an hour of impassioned speeches for and against the measure.

Speaking against the bill, Sen. Aaron Beach, R-Jacksonville, asked the same question he posed during earlier debates: “Does being an American matter any more?”

“The laws aren’t being followed any more and we’re rewarding those who don’t follow the law,” Bean said. “We are giving so many benefits to non-citizens.”

Students wearing orange mortar board in support of the measure wiped away tears as Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, recalled her experience as a black fifth grader in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court banned segregation in schools and the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

“I never gave up my dream for equality,” Joyner said, addressing the students directly. “You are not to be blamed for wanting to be the best.”

The bill garnered unanimous support from Senate Democrats along with votes from several Republicans, including Sen. John Thrasher, R-Augustine, Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness and Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs. Opponents of the bill included Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville and Senate Budget Chief Joe Negron, R-Stuart.

The legislation that would help Godinez-Sampiero is narrowly tailored.

It would affect only someone who has lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years, came to the country as a child, is authorized to work and has been issued a Social Security number.

For males, the potential Bar member also would have had to signed up for Selective Service, which Godinez-Sampiero has done.

Godinez-Sampiero, who graduated from Florida State University College of Law in 2011 and passed the Florida Bar exam and its moral character test, watched the House vote Thursday from the public gallery and later acknowledged that combined with the tuition bill, it made for a remarkable day.

“The Florida Legislature is clearly moving in the right direction, recognizing the importance of immigrants in this state,” said Godinez-Sampiero. “I believe we are number four in the nation for immigrants…we’re great contributors to the economy. And the Florida Legislature is recognizing that.”
 
  Read more about Undocumented immigrants win big with in-state tuition, law license votes

Both the Marion County and Polk County jails will no longer hold foreign-born persons in jail based solely on formal requests from federal immigration officials, county sheriffs announced this week.

Officials at both jails now will require a warrant from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, in order to keep someone in custody. Inmates previously could be held solely on a formal request from the agency known as an immigration detainer.

The policy changes were triggered by a U.S. District Court of Oregon decision announced last Friday in the case of Maria Miranda-Olivares v. Clackamas County.

In that case, Miranda-Olivares was arrested for violating a domestic violence restraining order and subsequently booked into the Clackamas County jail. As is customary policy when someone of foreign birth is lodged into the jail, officials notified ICE, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE issued a request to the jail, called an immigration detainer, that Miranda-Olivares be kept in custody up to 48 hours as ICE officials investigated her immigration status.

The trouble arose when, after Miranda-Olivares finished her court case and was supposed to be released from custody, the jail continued to keep her an additional 19 hours before she was released into the custody of Homeland Security agents.

The federal court ruled that the jail misinterpreted ICE’s request as mandatory, and violated Miranda-Olivares’s Fourth Amendment rights because keeping her at the jail essentially meant she was taken into custody a second time despite not having a new warrant for her arrest.

That decision has started a ripple effect among Oregon’s sheriffs, some of whom have swiftly acted to change their policies to comply with the law.

Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers sent out a statement Thursday saying that, effective Wednesday, the jail would no longer hold inmates based solely on immigration detainers. If ICE officials want the jail to keep someone in custody, they must issue a federal judicial warrant or court order.

“ICE may issue or forward a federal judicial warrant or order authorizing a suspected alien’s detention, and the jail will honor such warrants and orders,” the statement read. “Jail staff will continue to collect and submit information to ICE regarding foreign-born arrestees, but will not place holds upon such arrestees unless a judicial warrant or court order is received authorizing detention.”

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Chris Baldridge confirmed that little else is changing as a result.

“Basically, what the decision says is we can’t hold on their detainers anymore,” he explained. “We will continue to share information with ICE, but if they want us to hold their detainees for them, they will have to give us a judicial warrant.”

Polk County Sheriff Bob Wolfe confirmed Friday that the Polk County jail has taken the same position.

As of April 10, there were 36 inmates in the Marion County jail with ICE holds. The jail roster Thursday afternoon had wiped all record of ICE holds.

“All of those folks are being held on detainers and those detainers are no longer valid,” Baldridge said. “So in compliance with the new court decision, we’re not going to hold them anymore on those detainers.”

That doesn’t automatically mean all 36 go free, however. Almost all of the inmates are facing charges in Marion County and will continue to be prosecuted for those charges as normal.

Baldridge confirmed only one inmate was released as a direct result of the change in policy. Silvestre Hernandez-Hernandez had already served a sentence on a possession of methamphetamine charge and was being held solely on a detainer; he has since been released.

The sheriff’s offices in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties all announced Wednesday that they would also suspend the placement of immigration detainers in their jails.

“The Sheriffs are committed to remaining in compliance with all state and federal laws and the Constitution of the United States,” they announced in a joint statement. “As the pertinent law evolves through court decisions and/or legislation the sheriffs will adjust their policies accordingly.”

Baldridge emphasized that Marion County would do the same.

“We are going to comply with what the courts request of us,” he said. Read more about Marion and Polk end jail holds on immigrants for ICE

...Rep. Steve Israel of New York said Sunday that not all Republicans are motivated by racism but many in the GOP oppose a bipartisan immigration bill on those grounds...

...Nancy Pelosi blamed racial issues for the GOP's failure to act on comprehensive immigration legislation.

Oregon's Rep. Greg Walden, who heads Republicans' efforts to elect House members, said Pelosi's comment was "both wrong and unfortunate."

Israel and Walden spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."

  Read more about Republican base 'animated by racism,' Dem rep says

Call it the Jeb Bush, establishment-Republican variation on “they are just looking for a better life” cliché. And let’s just call him “Jeb.”

Apparently American families – of all descriptions – are not a priority for Jeb when it comes to the politics of dutifully providing the business bosses with “cheap” labor. (D.A. King)

In what should be the last words of a viable presidential campaign probe, Jeb defends the victims of borders who illegally enter the remnants of the Republic and take American jobs with the unforgettable words "yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony. It's an act of love, it's an act of commitment to your family.”

Is Jeb saying that anyone in the world with a commitment to their family should be allowed to live and work in the U.S. as long as they don't plan on felonious activity? If so, it could get very crowded. We already take in more than a million legal job-seekers every year.

Not many Americans should have much trouble closing their eyes and imagining Jeb’s mindless, pandering proclamations coming out of the mouth of any screaming SEIU street protestor carrying a “not one more deportation” placard.

If not a careful explanation of why Marco Rubio took a painful – and likely permanent – nosedive in the presidential polls, somebody may want to forward the current unemployment numbers to the Bush compound. And maybe send along the United States Code regarding identity fraud and theft of Social Security numbers. Or the fact that coming back to the USA after deportation is a felony.

Jeb floated his “so be it” ramblings while at least 20 million Americans who are committed to their families are out of work or underemployed. The day after Jeb’s remarks, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a bill to again extend unemployment payments for Americans who have been out of work for at least six months.

Apparently American families – of all descriptions – are not a priority for Jeb when it comes to the politics of dutifully providing the business bosses with “cheap” labor.

Call it an exploratory expedition. In publicly supporting the 2013 Gang of Eight amnesty/immigration expansion scam that will never see the president’s desk and putting forth his Chuck Schumer-esqe “it’s an act of love” notion, Jeb set out to gauge the progress of the tireless propaganda work of the amnesty-again coalition. Somebody had to venture out to see if Big Business, Big Religion, “Big Raza”, many in Big Media, the Democrats and the Republican establishment bosses have convinced the GOP’s conservative base that it is time for another amnesty. “Do you believe us yet?” they wonder, “this time, we are really going to secure the borders. But later. Trust us.”

It was big of Jeb to allude to “the rule of law” in his remarks. And to the possibility that the 40 percent or so of the illegal aliens present in the U.S. who are visa overstayers may be “politely” asked to leave. What next, a Jeb suggestion that the “secure the homeland” laws put in place after 9/11 requiring biometric monitoring of temporary visa holder’s departures actually be funded and politely enforced?

Many Americans who love their families suspect that if there were any real intent to secure American borders and enforce our immigration laws, it would have begun on September 12, 2001.

Using information recently released by DHS, Jessica Vaughan at the Center for Immigration Studies notes “ICE released 68,000 criminal aliens in 2013, or 35 percent of the criminal aliens encountered by officers. The vast majority of these releases occurred because of the Obama administration’s prosecutorial discretion policies.”

“The preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that immigration enforcement in America has collapsed. Even those with criminal convictions are being released. DHS is a department in crisis” says Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

One can only imagine a Jeb-run immigration enforcement apparatus.

Somebody tell Jeb: According to news reports, in an annual report released this month, "One Nation Underemployed: Jobs Rebuild America," the National Urban League noted that the underemployment rate for African-American workers was 20.5 percent, 18.4 percent for Hispanic workers and 11.8 percent for white workers.

"Many Americans are being left behind, and that includes African-Americans and Latinos who are being disproportionately left behind by the job creation that we see," National Urban League President Marc Morial said. We won’t hear it from the “party-of-the-working man” Democrats, but another amnesty and doubling immigration is not the solution to this shameful crisis.

Neither is Jeb.

Republicans with a commitment to inclusion and victory should keep looking for a presidential candidate. As an act of love.

D.A. King is president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society, which works to control immigration . He is not a member of any political party. Read more about On Jeb’s 'Act Of Love': Republicans Should Keep Looking For A Presidential Candidate