U.S. faces 'grave threat' in Mexico's drug fight

By Jerry Seper
January 21, 2008



Mexican federal agents escorted Marcos Estrada Delgado in Mexico City. The U.S. man was among four police officers and seven civilians accused of working for Mexico's powerful drug cartel.

Mexican military efforts to crush heavily armed drug-smuggling operations in five cities along the U.S.-Mexico border pose a "grave threat" to U.S. authorities and a half-million Americans in the area, according to former U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Naturalization Service officials.

"What we face is more of a challenge than law enforcement can be expected to cope with," said Kent Lundgren, chairman of the 800-member National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO). "The best solution is for the U.S. military to assume armed positions along the border ... and use whatever force is necessary to control the border zone."

On Jan. 12, Mexican Brig. Gen. Rigoberto Garcia Cortez said the Mexican military and other personnel had surrounded five border cities in the lower Rio Grande Valley — Matamoros, Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Miguel Aleman and Nuevo Laredo — in response to gunfights between Mexican police, military forces and heavily armed drug smugglers.

Gen. Garcia told reporters last week his soldiers were encircling the targeted cities and were "organized to fight all criminal activity." He said it would take time, but the drug smugglers "will not be able to handle the government and the army. ... We are fighting for the security of the nation and its people."

A spokesman at the Mexican Embassy in Washington said drug trafficking is a "shared responsibility and a threat to both our countries and our people."

"President Felipe Calderon has demonstrated his commitment to fight drug-trafficking and organized crime head-on and his willingness to work with the U.S. Irresponsible statements are not the way to deal with it," the spokesman said.

"Unfortunately, border violence south of our nation's border is not new," Border Patrol spokesman Michael Friel said, adding that it not only has increased in Mexico but also has directly affected U.S. authorities.

The number of assaults against Border Patrol agents on the border rose from 384 in 2005 to 987 in 2007, he said.

"Violence is on the rise, and we are fully aware of that phenomenon," Mr. Friel said. "But we feel strongly that as we add resources as we have been doing, we will gain effective control of the border. We are working with the Mexican government, along with our state, local and tribal local law-enforcement partners, to address, decrease and stop the violence."

Violence has been the key to long-standing efforts by the Gulf Cartel to control drug smuggling on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mr. Lundgren said NAFBPO, whose membership includes eight former chiefs of the Border Patrol and 14 former INS district directors, thinks the next step for the Mexican military will be to begin closing the "noose on the gangs," but the targeted cities "abut the Rio Grande River, the international boundary and Mexican forces must stop there."

"The predictable consequence is that those bandits will retreat across the Rio Grande into the United States — they will not surrender to Mexican authorities," he said. "We need not expect Mexican authorities to inhibit their departures.

"This is a grave threat to U.S. Border Patrol officers, other U.S. law enforcement, and to residents of adjacent cities and towns in the United States," he said.

The Gulf Cartel, based in Matamoros just across the border from Brownsville, Texas, is the second largest in Mexico and transports tons of cocaine, marijuana and heroin into the United States each year. Using violence and intimidation, it works closely with corrupt law officials in Mexico.

"They are very well armed, and numerous. Their strength has enabled them to seriously challenge civil authority in Mexico for control, with grisly executions being the tool of persuasion when money won't do," Mr. Lundgren said. "When they come here they will be looking for new bases of operations, even if only until the situation returns to normal."

He said the drug smugglers would bring "new, unimaginable levels of venality and violence" to the United States and that deploying U.S. military troops on the border is the "best solution." He said to do less would be to "abandon the area and our officers to its fate."

http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2...ATION/529346712/1001

6 corpses exhumed at house in Chihuahua
Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 01/20/2008 12:00:00 AM MST


The bodies of six alleged members of the Juárez drug cartel were unearthed Friday from a single grave in a residence in Chihuahua City, an official with the Mexican attorney general's office said.

Officials said they received an anonymous tip "that gave the address of a house linked to the Juárez cartel in Chihuahua City and that indicated that there were people buried in a grave there," according to a news release.

Armed with a warrant, federal agents and forensic experts from the organized crime bureau started their search Thursday at 1201 Luz C. Villa street. With the help of cadaver-sniffing dogs and tools, they dug up six corpses. None of the victims was identified, and the causes of death were unknown Friday, officials said.

The beginning of the year has been especially violent in Juárez -- 26 homicides in the first 15 days, many of which appear to be drug-related executions. No suspect has been arrested in any of the cases.

Friday's gruesome discovery was reminiscent of the case of 12 male bodies found buried in graves behind a Juárez house in January 2004. Those victims, including at least one U.S. citizen, had been tortured before they were killed. That case led to the U.S. prosecution of a high-ranking official in the Juárez drug cartel.

Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz said last Tuesday that he would ask the Mexican federal police to intervene because local police were not equipped to deal with violent drug cartels.

Louie Gilot may be reached at



lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_8022452

Green card holders can be deported

By Lourdes Santos Tancinco
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 11:02am (Mla time) 01/22/2008

JOHN, A GREEN CARD holder, was returning to California after a two-week Christmas vacation in Manila. At the port of entry, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspector asked him further questions about his green card and he was taken into custody at the airport.

During interrogation, it was revealed to John that there was a serious defect in the issuance of his green card. In 1992, when he was issued a green card based on his marriage to Carol, a US citizen, it was discovered that he did not annul his first marriage to Gloria.

John divorced Carol after getting his green card, and re-married a Filipina, Gloria. After many years, she got her own green card after being petitioned by John. His two minor children were also able to immigrate.

John had applied for naturalization before he left for Manila. His application was pending when he attempted to re-enter the United States in the first week of January 2008.

He was incarcerated while waiting for his hearing date. So that he would be released immediately, he accepted an Order of Removal from the Immigration Court. He also waived his right to a hearing as he was told by a consultant that he has a “hopeless” case. Now John wants to re-enter the US, where his wife and two children are awaiting his return.

Permanent status

The green card is usually referred to as the ID card issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), indicating status as a lawful permanent resident of the US. When an individual is granted a green card, he/she can reside in the US and will be eligible for naturalization to US citizenship after three or five years, depending on the basis for the green card issuance.

Permanent residence status is not actually “permanent” in the sense that it can always be revoked or rescinded by the issuing agency. An example of cases where the green card is revoked is when the holder obtained it through fraud or misrepresentation, a crime that renders the holder removable. Even if the green card is not conditional, should the resident be discovered at any time to have committed fraud at the time of its issuance, the USCIS may still revoke the card.

Unlike a holder of a non-immigrant visa, a green card holder is entitled to a hearing before the green card is actually rescinded. If the reason for the hearing is that there was fraud in the issuance of the green card, it’s the green card holder’s burden to overcome that finding.

Fraud, misrepresentation

From among the many legal bases for rescission of a green card, the most common is fraud or misrepresentation. Cases most commonly encountered are: an applicant not revealing actual marital status; misrepresenting their actual days spent abroad to the CBP inspector; marriage fraud. Once instances of fraud are discovered, the CBP inspector may initiate the action of having the green card rescinded.

Unless there is a prior final order of deportation or removal, an applicant for admission with a permanent resident status is entitled to a hearing. While waiting for the hearing date, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement may take the green card holder in custody. Bail may be posted for the release of this individual. The amount may be set by ICE or by the Immigration Court after a bond hearing determination.

Once the case is heard by the judge and the green card holder is determined to be ineligible for the green card with no other relief available, an Order of Deportation/Removal will be issued and the green card holder is ordered deported/removed from the US.

In John’s case, the USCIS may have discovered the fraud during his application for naturalization. Marriage fraud will be found if John used his second wife just for immigration purposes and never intended to a have a bona fide relationship with his American citizen wife. If the finding is marriage fraud, John is barred from having any petition filed on his behalf under section 204(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

On the other hand, if it is fraud or misrepresentation other than marriage fraud, he may file the appropriate waivers before he can actually have a visa issued again.

It does not matter when the fraud was actually committed to obtain a visa. With the improved technology and data bases available to the USCIS, any green card holder who may have committed fraud in the past may find themselves facing removal proceedings or receiving orders of deportation.

(Tancinco may be reached at law@tancinco.com or 02-887 7177)

Coming soon to a city near you...The Mexican 'Gropers'


Mexico starts grope-free buses for women
Women-only bus service protects female passengers from harassment
Reuters
updated 11:23 a.m. ET, Tues., Jan. 22, 2008


A bus with a sign reading "service exclusive for women" drives through the streets of Mexico City last week.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico City has started a women-only bus service to protect female passengers from groping and verbal abuse common on the city's packed public transportation system.

Millions of people cram into subway trains and buses in the Mexican capital, one of the world's largest cities, and women have long complained of abuse from men taking advantage of overcrowding to sneak in an inappropriate grab.

"One time a man stuck his hand up my skirt. They grab your butt ... It's gross," said 27-year-old office assistant Lourdes Zendejas, who waited 20 minutes during the evening rush hour to catch one of the new buses.

The special buses pull up at ordinary stops but have large pink "women only" signs on the front and side. They were added to two busy routes last week and the city government plans to expand the program to 15 other routes by April.

'This is wonderful'
Mexico City's transport system, which also includes hundreds of privately operated "micro" buses, carries twice as many riders as New York's.

"We were constantly receiving complaints of women being leered at, kissed or followed," said Carlos Cervantes, spokesman for the city's public bus system.

Mexico City already had reserved the first three cars in subway trains for women and children but this is the first time the model has been tried in buses.

Women using the new service on Monday had space to sit down and giggled as the driver turned away men at the door.

"This is wonderful. Men never give up their seat for us old people, no one is a gentleman," said 73-year-old Beatriz Perez, whose bulging shopping bags were tucked under her seat.

But not everyone was convinced that having only women would make the ride more pleasant.

"Women can be aggressive too," said telephone operator Rosa Maria Vargas, 42, traveling with her 9-year-old son. "When it gets really crowded, I've been pushed and punched before by men and women."

Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22783181/

Fact: Illegal Aliens Fuel Healthcare Crisis In U.S.
Posted by Bernard
Tuesday January 22, 2008 at 9:04 am

Richard Wolf, writing for U.S.A. Today ( http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-99589.html ), points to the fast-escalating health care costs in the United States owing to illegal aliens mining the system and arrives at this observation:

Quote:
One thing is clear: Undocumented immigrants are driving up the number of people without health insurance. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 59% of the nation’s illegal immigrants are uninsured, compared with 25% of legal immigrants and 14% of U.S. citizens. Illegal immigrants represent about 15% of the nation’s 47 million uninsured people — and about 30% of the increase since 1980.


Does it follow then that Democratic candidates vying for their party’s presidential nomination, in trumpeting their respective proposals for federally-sponsored, universal healthcare plans, are speaking largely to the welfare of people they intend to get on their party’s voter rosters via amnesty and a path to citizenship at a future date?

I think so.

One statement made by Richard Wolf that I’m not so sure squares with what we do know about the costs associated with the taxpayer-subsidized healthcare largess enjoyed by border-jumpers and visa over-stayers in this country is this:

Quote:
Data on health care costs for illegal immigrants are sketchy because hospitals and community health centers don’t ask about patients’ legal status.


Frank Laughter at Common Sense Junction, for example, published this excerpt from a news story on the impact of medical care for illegals at just one large hospital in Dallas, TX, ( http://www.commonsensejunction.com/archives/3036 ) from which I take the following:

Quote:
A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were illegal immigrants. That’s 11,200 anchor babies born every year just in Dallas.

According to the article, the hospital spent $70.7 million delivering 15,938 babies in 2004 but managed to end up with almost $8 million dollars in surplus funding. Medicaid kicked in $34.5 million, Dallas County taxpayers kicked in $31.3 million and the feds tossed in another $9.5 million.


Understand, Dear Readers, that the $75.3 million expended at Parkland came out of the pockets of American taxpayers and not just those in Dallas County!

Think that may be just an anomaly because Texas is a border state? Think again. Let’s take a look at a major East Coast city — Philadelphia. Here’s a post at Immigration Watchdog ( http://www.immigrationwatchdog.com/?p=4197 ), quoting from a story published at Philly.com, from which I quote:

Quote:
Four city health systems provide care at no cost at Philadelphia health clinics. Undocumented women make up 60% to 65% of the nearly 3,000 prenatal patients treated at the city health clinics annually, Kate Maus, director of Maternal, Child and Family Health at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said, adding that eight years ago “all of [the patients] were insured.” Jack Ludmir — chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Pennsylvania Hospital — also noted that the percentage of women in Philadelphia who did not provide a Social Security number after giving birth rose from 4.8% in 2003 to about 7% to 8% this year.


And, crossing over to the West Coast, here’s an excerpt from a piece published at VDARE by Joe Guzzardi ( http://www.vdare.com/guzzardi/health_care.htm ):

Quote:
But take a hypothetical “Gloria,” a twenty-year old Los Angeles resident who is seven months pregnant? Like Diaz, Gloria is uninsured, unemployed and illegally in the U.S.

Medi-Cal will cover Gloria’s prenatal care and child delivery costs.

If Gloria doesn’t speak English, the hospital must, by law, provide her with a Spanish-speaking translator.

Gloria’s newborn child will also get car seats and diapers under her Medi-Cal coverage.

In the event of post-partum complications, California will absorb all of the costs.

U.S. taxpayers have spent hundred of millions on patients like Diaz and Gloria. As a consequence, the states are facing a crisis of unparalleled magnitude. As Los Angeles Times columnist Ronald Brownstein wrote in his December 30 column “Health-Care Storm Brewing in California Threatens to Swamp U.S.” ( http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=14&ID=79568&r=1 ), “the impending Medicaid disaster is not a problem the states can handle alone; their budget shortfalls are too big.”

If you want to reduce the cost of quality health care for U.S. citizens then you cannot provide it to every illegal alien in the country ( http://www.vdare.com/misc/levin_illegals_in_er.htm ).


Does Mr. Guzzardi’s “hypothetical Gloria” bother you? Then let’s look instead at this column published at WorldNetDaily ( http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43275 ), from which I excerpt the following:

Quote:
Cristobal Silverio emigrated illegally from Mexico to Stockton, Calif., in 1997 to work as a fruit picker.

He brought with him his wife, Felipa, and three children, 19, 12 and 8 – all illegals. When Felipa gave birth to her fourth child, daughter Flor, the family had what is referred to as an “anchor baby” – an American citizen by birth who provided the entire Silverio clan a ticket to remain in the U.S. permanently.

But Flor was born premature, spent three months in the neonatal incubator and cost the San Joaquin Hospital more than $300,000. Meanwhile, oldest daughter Lourdes married an illegal alien gave birth to a daughter, too. Her name is Esmeralda. And Felipa had yet another child, Cristian.

The two Silverio anchor babies generate $1,000 per month in public welfare funding for the family. Flor gets $600 a month for asthma. Healthy Cristian gets $400. While the Silverios earned $18,000 last year picking fruit, they picked up another $12,000 for their two “anchor babies.”

While President Bush says the U.S. needs more “cheap labor” from south of the border to do jobs Americans aren’t willing to do, the case of the Silverios shows there are indeed uncalculated costs involved in the importation of such labor – public support and uninsured medical costs.


And, as AHN reports today ( http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-593205.html#593205 ):

Quote:
As the federal government unveiled an economic package designed to pump prime the U.S. economy, the cost of providing economic relief to millions of Americans includes dealing with expensive health care. Like other issues concerning illegal migration, the inclusion of illegal migrants in health care benefits is the subject of hot debates across the nation.


And rightfully so. And we need to derail this runaway freight train, rather than to add more cars and locomotives to it, as the Democratic Party would have us do. As the Dallas Morning News points out this morning ( http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/health...dition2.376b7f7.html ):

Quote:
Democrats’ stump speeches talk of covering all Americans but so far have avoided the politically explosive issue of whether to treat the 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S.

http://acertainslantoflight.net/?p=2264

Hi College Student,

I am in NC, and we have a large population of exploited workers. There is a Farmworkers Unit with Legal Aid of NC, Inc. that you can call and I am sure they will give you tons of information, maybe evan a specific case that you can write about. The Senior Managing Attorney is MaryLee Hall, and you can reach her at 1-800-777-5869. They are out of the Raleigh office.

Good luck on your studies.

Pushed out of school in Arizona

January 25, 2008 | Page 4

JEFF BALE reports on the effects of an anti-immigrant ballot measure.

SOME 4,000 college and university students in Arizona have been denied in-state tuition because they didn't prove they were legal residents of the state or U.S. citizens.

This is the result of Proposition 300, a ballot initiative passed in the November 2006 elections. Prop 300 added to the anti-immigrant hysteria in the state by claiming that huge numbers of undocumented immigrants were benefiting from tax-funded benefits, such as deep discounts on tuition at state colleges for Arizona residents.

On the one hand, these statistics reported by Arizona's three state universities and community colleges dispel the myth that hordes of undocumented students take advantage of the system. The number of students denied in-state tuition is just over 1 percent of in-state enrollment at Arizona institutions of higher education.

But it would be wrong to downplay the chilling effect that Prop 300 is having.

To “comply” with the new law, students must sign an affidavit attesting to their immigration status and/or citizenship. Any time forms like these are linked to social services, it affects a number of people who are legal residents, but are unsure of signing papers that threaten jail time for perjury.

In addition, high school students who benefit from “dual enrollment” programs that allow them to earn college credit for advanced math, science and foreign language classes have also been affected.

In one district in the Phoenix area, reports from teachers indicate that dual enrollments have dropped by one-half. Of course, this doesn't mean that one-half of the students are undocumented, but instead speaks to the fear that such laws create.

Defenders of Prop 300 say that undocumented students are not being kicked out of school, but “only” have to pay out-of-state tuition. At Arizona State University (ASU), though, this means a jump in full-time tuition from around $5,000 a year to over $18,000.

Even at community college, tuition jumps three- or four-fold for out-of-state students. No wonder then that the impact of Prop 300 is being felt most at the community college level.

But even more dramatic effects of the law have gone unreported. Other provisions of the ballot initiative effectively criminalize adult education offered by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). Undocumented adults are barred entirely from all ADE programs, even if they pay for them. What's more, state-supported aid for child care is also now denied to undocumented residents.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

PROP 300 was passed overwhelmingly in the 2006 election as one among a number of anti-immigrant ballot initiatives that also declared English the official language of Arizona and barred undocumented immigrants from receiving jury awards. These referendums follow other vindictive laws passed in Arizona recently, including a 2000 measure outlawing bilingual education--named “English for the Children”--that was promoted by anti-immigrant bigot Ron Unz.
Last year, legislators passed an employer sanctions law stiffening penalties for companies that knowingly employ undocumented workers. In addition, several of Arizona's largest cities have directed police departments to begin conducting immigration status checks during routine policing.

These last two developments have led to the topsy-turvy situation where the business community and police chiefs have become the loudest voices against anti-immigrant laws and policies.

Taken together, these laws, referendums and directives make Arizona by far the most hostile state in the country in terms of the immigration panic. That doesn't mean, however, that there aren't openings to build a fighting movement.

For example, ASU President Michael Crow identified the roughly 200 students affected by Prop 300 and secured private scholarships to make sure they can stay in school. ASU's undergraduate student body passed a resolution in support of Crow when he came under fire from right-wingers in the state capitol and on the radio.

More important are the results of a recent Rocky Mountain Poll of residents in Maricopa County. Maricopa is home to over 3.5 million people in greater Phoenix, which accounts for over 60 percent of the state's total population. About one-third of the county's population is Latino.

The poll found that 76 percent of people thought that a federal law should be passed to allow for easier immigration to the country--an increase of 3 percent over the same poll conducted in May 2006. Some 83 percent agreed with the statement that “securing our borders should be our top priority, but fair and humane treatment foreign workers is also very important.” And 64 percent disagreed with the statement that “people who enter the United States illegally to seek work are no better than common criminals.”

These are not radical, pro-immigrant rights opinions, but they are in contrast to the vitriolic political atmosphere stoked by state legislators, right-wing radio hosts and Minutemen vigilantes--and they exist despite the absence of a strong immigrant rights movement.

In other words, even in the nastiest of anti-immigrant environments, the opening exists to revive activism and turn back these vindictive laws and initiatives.

Listed below are a few videos on the AZTLAN & Reconquista movements which call for the take over of America, particularly the southwest which they claim is their land.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHnzn2KT7JE&eurl=http%3A...%2F%3Fpage%5Fid%3D31

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCCVUot-hBo&eurl=http%3A...%2F%3Fpage%5Fid%3D31

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO1Qqhx7xhI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc1XAQc8hS8&eurl=http%3A...%2F%3Fpage%5Fid%3D31

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VSDiiRJMcg&eurl=http%3A...%2F%3Fpage%5Fid%3D31

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UidZjiEzYY&eurl=http%3A...%2F%3Fpage%5Fid%3D31

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1000&u_sid=10240746

Published Thursday | January 24, 2008
Feds Target Immigrants Far From Border
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

A Border Patrol agent watches as illegal immigrants file towards a holding facility for processing prior to being returned back to their country of origin in Pearl, Miss. in this Jan. 17, 2008 photo. Federal agents, with help from local law officers, have begun intercepting illegal immigrants and smugglers along stretches of highway deep in the U.S. interior, where those who have slipped into the country usually have little chance of getting caught. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

PEARL, Miss. (AP) - Detective Nick McLendon, on stakeout duty along a dark stretch of eastbound Interstate 20, noticed a red Chevy Suburban with heavily tinted windows and no light over its rear Texas license plate. The missing light gave him all the excuse he needed to pull the SUV over.

Packed into the Suburban, he discovered, were 14 illegal immigrants, two suspected smugglers, and a spiral notebook on the front seat, listing the passengers and their destinations in Spanish - "Arterio Ramires to Nuy Yersey; David Luna to Nueba York; Marcelina and Jasmin to Carolina del Norte; Jose Aguilar to Alabama; Josefina Ortega to Chicago; Gustavo Ribera to Florida."

The arrests - some 800 miles from the Mexican border - represented a new and dramatic shift in U.S. immigration enforcement strategy.

Federal agents, with help from local law officers like McLendon, a Pearl detective, have begun intercepting illegal immigrants and smugglers along stretches of highway deep in the U.S. interior, where those who have slipped into the country usually have little chance of getting caught.

"They think they're pretty much home free once they get up here," said Bill Botts, the assistant chief patrol agent in charge of the Border Patrol's Gulfport, Miss., station. But Operation Uniforce, as the two-week crackdown begun Jan. 13 is called, "is pretty much a shocker for the smuggling organizations."

More than 300 immigrants and suspected smugglers had been arrested as of Tuesday, more than a week into the operation.

Interstate 20 has become a major corridor for immigrant smugglers. It peels off from I-10 in West Texas and runs across the South, passing through Atlanta and linking up with other major highways, including I-95, which leads to Miami to the south and Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston to the north.

About 40 Border Patrol and customs agents who normally work at or close to the border have been temporarily assigned to the crackdown. They and local law officers have spread out along several miles of I-20 and some of its connecting highways, parking their vehicles out in the open in the median or by the side of the road.

After the two weeks are up, they will return to their usual jobs and evaluate what they learned. In the coming weeks or months, they may return to I-20 and do it again.

The hope, though, is whether they come back or not, the crackdown will put immigrant smugglers on notice and disrupt their business by forcing them to take longer, slower and more costly detours.

Border Patrol spokesman Ramon Rivera said the vast majority of those caught in the crackdown are Mexicans headed to the East Coast, where they typically land jobs in agriculture, construction and manufacturing. Agents also found a Mexican who had paid a smuggler $400 to get him home to avoid a murder charge in Chicago.

But perhaps more important, the agents also uncovered vital information about a few prolific smuggling rings and a popular Texas stash house where immigrants were being kept after crossing the border.

"The intelligence we are getting is absolutely priceless," Rivera said.

The Border Patrol said it had no immediate estimate of the cost of Operation Uniforce.

Federal agents ran three such operations closer to the border last year: two in Baton Rouge, La., and one in Mobile, Ala. Those efforts seemed to force the smugglers north from I-10 to I-20. So this time, agents picked up and moved deeper into the interior to I-20, some 800 miles from the nearest border crossing, at Brownsville, Texas.

The Associated Press was allowed to document the operation during an nighttime ride-along last week in Mississippi.

On that night, McLendon, who normally pulls over motorists in a search for drugs, found the exhausted immigrants crammed in the Suburban, shoes off, a few blankets on the floorboards, a half-empty jug of water in the back. The passengers, including a girl of about 10, had crossed into the United States from Mexico near Nogales, Ariz., some 1,200 miles away from this Mississippi town.

It was unclear whether they sneaked across the open desert on foot, or passed through a border crossing station and then climbed into the SUV. But the Suburban had made it all the way from the border in Arizona - a receipt in the vehicle showed that someone bought a new battery there on Wednesday - and passed through Dallas on Thursday - the driver stopped for an oil change about 1:30 p.m. - before being stopped outside Jackson, Miss.

If McLendon had come across these immigrants a week earlier, he would have issued a ticket for the missing light and sent them on their way. The nearest fixed Border Patrol station is 160 miles away in Gulfport, and he wouldn't have called it because the agents wouldn't have made the three-hour trip for such a routine matter.

This time, Border Patrol agents posted along the highway promptly arrived on the scene, and all 16 people were arrested and held for deportation.

"When Border Patrol pulled up you could see the disappointment on their face, that they would be going all the way back," McLendon said.

Gotta love Tom Tancredo

http://blogs.chron.com/immigration/archives/2008/01/post_78.html

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo -- the recent one-note presidential candidate -- today issued a statement responding to complaints by legislators from Mexico about immigrants self-deporting to Mexico. (See our earlier post.) In the process he brainstormed an idea that, well, only Tancredo could come up with. Here's part of his statement:

Tancredo pointed out that in 2005, the Mexican government actually produced and distributed copies of a "Guia del Migrante Mexicano" (Guide for the Mexican Immigrant) which contained "practical advice" for Mexicans on how to safely sneak into the United States.

The guide contained tips on everything from crossing rivers and navigating the desert to ones "rights" as an illegal alien if apprehended. The booklet is widely available online. This increased the flow of illegal aliens into the United States - illegal aliens who will be returning to Mexico through Sonora as enforcement efforts in the U.S. intensify.

"Perhaps the Department of Homeland Security and Government Printing Office can return Mexico's 2005 favor and help local officials in Sonora cope with the influx of returning Mexicans," said Tancredo. "We can develop a 'Guide for the Returning Illegal Alien' packed with helpful information like how to get back to various points in Mexico from the U.S. border, and a reminder that illegally immigrating is, well, illegal - and has consequences."

Tancredo said he is exploring the option of drafting legislation to authorize the production of the booklets.
---------------------------------------------

STOLEN PICKUPS

A trafficker's vehicle of choice

Cartels swipe rugged Ford F-250s, F-350s in state for smuggling drugs and humans

By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Here's a look at the total number of Ford F-250s and F-350s stolen in three Texas cities: City 2006 2007
Houston 888 1,245
San Antonio 295 354
Brownsville 16 41


TEXAS TOTAL

Here's a look at the total number of Ford F-250s and F-350s stolen statewide
• 2005: 1,549

• 2006 : 2,539

• 2007: 3,508

Houston entrepreneur Bill Christmann was shocked when thieves stole his souped-up black Ford F-250 pickup from his west Houston driveway one night last July.

But shock turned to concern the next day after Christmann learned thieves had driven the 2001, heavy-duty, four-wheel-drive truck to Laredo, loaded it with illegal immigrants and drove it back from the border, roaring off-road through fenced ranch pastures.

Police chased the truck south of San Antonio before the smugglers crashed the vehicle into a tree. The smugglers escaped, and the immigrants fled.

''That is a little scary, being that close to home," said Christmann, referring to criminals linked to smuggling rings showing up in his driveway.

Christmann is among hundreds of Houstonians who purchased one of Ford's two popular and expensive pickup models — the Super Duty F-250 and Super Duty F-350 — and have since learned that their rugged trucks are increasingly favored by gangs of auto thieves.

Many of the trucks, police officials in Houston and border towns say, are being stolen for Mexican criminal cartels who use them as vehicles for narcotics and human trafficking.

In 2006, thieves made off with 888 of the F-250s and F-350s from locations in Houston, according to Lt. Scott Dombrowski, of the Houston Police Department's auto theft division.

In 2007, he said, thefts of the same models increased 40 percent, to 1,245.

During the same two-year period, police say, the overall number of vehicle thefts in the city fell slightly.

Cartels are stealing the Ford trucks, in part, to evade increasing law enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities say.

The trucks, many equipped with double cabs and four-wheel drive, hold a lot of cargo and can easily cross remote areas.

Experts say the big Fords have also been easier to steal than other trucks.

"You can steal these trucks with a screwdriver," Dombrowski said.

Wes Sherwood, manager for Ford truck communications at company headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., said steps have been taken to change that.

Until the 2008 model year, computer chips were not embedded in keys for F-250s and F-350s, he said. Without the "secure lock" key, which has been standard in recent years on other Ford trucks and SUVs, the electronic ignition cannot be activated.

Sherwood said earlier Super Duty models had an anti-theft device that included a car alarm.

Dombrowski said many groups are stealing the trucks in Houston, then driving them south.

"They are not running them just to Brownsville and McAllen," he said, "but running them to Del Rio and other border crossings."

The big trucks continue to be stolen at a time when Houston has seen a slight decline in auto thefts, Dombrowski said.

During the first 11 months of 2007, 18,016 vehicles were reported stolen in Houston, compared with 19,305 during the same period in 2006.


Border terrain
The trucks are being increasingly used to transport illegal immigrants, Dombrowski said, because profits are high and criminal penalties for human trafficking are less than for narcotics violations.

The trucks can easily evade police.

''It's big business," Dombrowski said. ''If you have human cargo, and they bail out, they don't get caught. And law enforcement has nothing, no evidence. They get away with it, and they're charging up to $5,000 a head."

Police in El Paso say Mexican cartels are stealing the Ford trucks because they can cross the border in the rough terrain of West Texas as well as the harsh deserts of New Mexico and Arizona.

''They use them to make entry in the outlying areas where there are no ports of entry," said Stephen Plummer, crime prevention officer for El Paso's auto theft task force. ''They're avoiding the ports of entry by using these offroad-type vehicles."

Plummer said in the past two years there have been 362 Ford F-250s and F-350s stolen in his border city, where full-size trucks and large SUVs make up the majority of the vehicles stolen.

''That's been a regional problem for Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California," he said, referring to the Ford trucks, which can cost in excess of $50,000. ''It's all going to relate back to narcotics and human trafficking, and the terrain of the Southwest."

Police in the border town of Brownsville say they reduced automobile theft in that city by 12 percent last year compared with 2006.

But during the same period, thefts of Ford F-250s and F-350s increased dramatically, from 16 in 2006 to 41 last year, said Lt. James Pascall, who heads the auto theft detail.

John Mitchell, a special agent with the National Insurance Crime Bureau assigned to South Texas, said auto thieves connected to the smuggling organizations have focused on the big Ford trucks.

"I haven't heard of any instances where Chevys and Dodges have been used to smuggle illegal aliens or narcotics," said Mitchell, an investigator with the industry nonprofit group.


Using 'bait cars'
Susan Sampson, director of the state's Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority, said police officers are using grants from the agency to employ ''bait cars" equipped with hidden cameras and satellite locators to catch thieves.

So far, the agency has purchased 10 automated license plate readers that can alert patrol officers if a passing vehicle has been reported stolen.

Dombrowski, who heads the Houston police auto theft detail, said officers have followed bait cars all the way to the border to crack the rings stealing Ford pickups.

''We've done a lot of things, but there's a lot more thieves than there are police to track them down," he said.


Switch to Chevy
Christmann, who owns a construction firm, has replaced his stolen Ford F-250 with a big new Chevrolet pickup. He bought it for the Chevy diesel motor and, he said, because ''it does have a lot better security on it."

Two of Christmann's friends who work for another Houston construction company had their F-250s stolen on the same day last summer.

The trucks were next to each other in the company lot and were found 10 days later at a Houston apartment complex a mile away. They were returned to their owners.

One of the men, Chris Parrack, has installed a concealed kill switch on his 2007 model F-250, and hopes for the best.

''Every time I walk out into the parking lot, I grin and wonder if my truck is going to be there," Parrack said.

james.pinkerton@chron.com

Swinford trims immigration bills from agenda

Globe-News Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - He may live far from the Mexican border, but State Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, knows firsthand how illegal immigration impacts a community and the entire state.

Thousands of illegal immigrants live in his district, especially in Cactus where the biggest employer is Swift & Co., the meat packing plant raided by U.S. immigration authorities in December.

But Swinford also has been a legislator long enough (16 years) to know that immigration is a federal issue, even if he thinks that Washington has done a lousy job protecting the U.S. southern border.

So, with that in mind, Swinford, who also chairs the influential House State Affairs Committee, pretty much made this official Wednesday morning: Most illegal immigration-related bills coming before his committee will not see the light of day.

"What I am trying to do is to determine what Texas can or cannot do," he told reporters. "Immigration is not in our program."

Swinford said he made his decision after he and the other eight members of State Affairs consulted with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Abbott's office reviewed the bills and concluded that most are unconstitutional and would not survive a court challenge.

One bill in particular, House Bill 28, by Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, would deny basic public services such as education and health care to U.S.-born children whose parents are here illegally.

Speaking to another group of reporters and just a few feet from Swinford, Berman said he is furious that the State Affairs chairman, who he considers a friend, arbitrarily decided to kill his legislation.

"All I'm asking is for my day in court," Berman said. "All I am asking is that my bills are heard."

Another of Berman's bills under fire, particularly from Hispanic legislators and immigrant rights advocates, is HB 29, which would impose an 8 percent tax to any money wired from Texas to Mexico or to any other Latin American country.

Rep. Jessica Farrar of Houston, the only Hispanic and one of only two Democrats in the panel, praised Swinford for pulling the plug on more than two dozen immigration-related bills she and other Democra