ILLEGALS-LAW CHALLENGE REJECTED

The Washington Times
By Seth McLaughlin
December 1, 2007

A federal judge yesterday threw out a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Prince William County's [Va.] new ordinance denying services to illegal aliens.

Judge James C. Cacheris said during a brief hearing at U.S. District Court in Alexandria that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the resolution passed earlier this year by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

Judge Cacheris said he will issue a written ruling at a later time detailing his decision.

The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund filed the lawsuit last month on behalf of plaintiffs who included illegal aliens and the Woodbridge Workers Committee, an organization of day laborers in Prince William County.

But county attorneys argued that the plaintiffs could not demonstrate they had suffered any harm under the measures, which have not been fully implemented.

"This is a big win," said Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. "This is the best shot that some of the best litigators in the country can throw at our resolution against illegal immigration. I think that is very telling."

Mr. Stewart, a Republican, said the decision would encourage other localities to follow Prince William"s lead.

"We think this will give hope to communities all across the country that there is something legally defensible that a locality can do to crack down on the effects of illegal immigration," Mr. Stewart said. "I think that communities all across the commonwealth are going to adopt similar resolutions cracking down on illegal immigration. And I don"t think it stops at the Virginia border. You are going to see localities across the nation adopting similar resolutions."

Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, who is likely to run for governor in 2009, said he was "pleased" with the ruling.

"In the absence of federal action to reform immigration laws and the governor's refusal to take action at the state level, communities are rightfully addressing the problems of illegal immigration," he said.

The problems associated with illegal aliens led 20 Virginia communities to create a multijurisdictional Coalition on Illegal Aliens. The localities include Culpeper, Spotsylvania, Shenandoah, Loudoun, Rappahannock and Orange counties and the towns of Herndon, Quantico and Culpeper.

Culpeper Town Council member Steve Jenkins, who headed the effort to form the coalition, said yesterday's ruling showed Prince William County is on the right path.

"I certainly believe that what Prince William County has put in place are the absolute correct measures that should be out in place by municipalities around the state," he said. "I would like to think that coalition would consider recommending that jurisdictions that choose to adopt a resolution should put in place [ordinances] like Prince William for their municipalities."

Herndon Mayor Stephen DeBenedittis, who was elected chairman of the coalition on Thursday, said the coalition would "look at anything that seems to be effective in any other jurisdiction."

"Anything that seems like it is successful I think we can learn from, but there are a lot of communities that have dealt with this issue, and I think there are some different ways to handle it," he said.

Last month, Prince William County approved one of the most aggressive crackdowns on illegal aliens in the country.

The ordinance denies county-funded public services to illegal aliens and authorizes police to check the immigration status of a detainee whether they have probable cause to think the detainee violated immigration laws.

A report released this week from the Center for Immigration Studies estimated there are 259,000 illegal aliens in Virginia.


• This article is based in part on wire service reports.

Illegal aliens have no rights under the Constitution of the United States for the Constitution is for the United States and its legit citizens.

" WE the People of the United States...."

Get it now???

Certainly not for the criminal invaders that have come here in an attempt to steal a country, ours.

And it is ours not theirs in no way , shape, form, or fashion!

Send them home and send the Tories and Bendict Arnolds with them, for they are actually traitors to the people of this nation and it.

quote:

Originally posted by Z-RESISTANCE:
Illegal aliens have no rights under the Constitution of the United States for the Constitution is for the United States and its legit citizens.

" WE the People of the United States...."

Get it now???

Certainly not for the criminal invaders that have come here in an attempt to steal a country, ours.

And it is ours not theirs in no way , shape, form, or fashion!

Send them home and send the Tories and Bendict Arnolds with them, for they are actually traitors to the people of this nation and it.

"
"We rhw Pwoplw" is from the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. You need to look at the 14th Amendment and the definition of "US Person." BTW, the Supreme Court is the law of the Land, You can disagree with them if you like, but that would be foolish and derogatory.

quote:

Originally posted by Hudson:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Z-RESISTANCE:
Illegal aliens have no rights under the Constitution of the United States for the Constitution is for the United States and its legit citizens.

" WE the People of the United States...."

Get it now???

Certainly not for the criminal invaders that have come here in an attempt to steal a country, ours.

And it is ours not theirs in no way , shape, form, or fashion!

Send them home and send the Tories and Bendict Arnolds with them, for they are actually traitors to the people of this nation and it.

"
"We rhw Pwoplw" is from the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. You need to look at the 14th Amendment and the definition of "US Person." BTW, the Supreme Court is the law of the Land, You can disagree with them if you like, but that would be foolish and derogatory.[/QUOTE


YOU ARE SHOWING YOUR LACK OF kNOWLEGDE BIG-TIME
HUDSON.

It is the preamble to the Constitution that you find

" We the People.."

And that admendment refers to those that are born in the United States and was a special purpose admendment to make all Black Americans born here citizens after slavery.

Let me guess Hudson- illegal alien?

I never heard of the word 'rhw' or 'Pwoplw' Hudson. Are those actually in the Declaration or Constitution? I guess they forgot to run it through the spell check. Those old nationalistic guys, they are a crazy bunch aren't they?

quote:

Originally posted by Z-RESISTANCE:
YOU ARE SHOWING YOUR LACK OF kNOWLEGDE BIG-TIME
HUDSON.

It is the preamble to the Constitution that you find

" We the People.."

And that admendment refers to those that are born in the United States and was a special purpose admendment to make all Black Americans born here citizens after slavery.

Let me guess Hudson- illegal alien?

Want to show me the Supreme court ruling that says the 14th amendment was solely for granting citizenship to the former slaves ONLY? I understand that is what you want it to say, but a number of Supreme Court rulings say otherwise.

As for me, I am a USC. You can challenge me, but I must watn you, your do so at your own peril.

quote:

Originally posted by davdah:
I never heard of the word 'rhw' or 'Pwoplw' Hudson. Are those actually in the Declaration or Constitution? I guess they forgot to run it through the spell check. Those old nationalistic guys, they are a crazy bunch aren't they?

Your right, you should have used the spell check

Hudson,

What about your mistake on the Constitution gonna own up to that?

As far as the admendment History tells you what the admendment was for even if the Supreme Court has no clue.

The Supreme court has been out to lunch for more than 100 years.

Those that lean left (Supreme court judges) and those that lean right interupt the Constitution as they please whether right or wrong.
That means very few just rulings that "We the People..." have to live with.

Just long wordy pages of support for their opinion. Truth stands on its own, needing no support while half-truths and mislead judgements need plenty of props.

quote:

Originally posted by Beverly:

quote:

Originally posted by Z-RESISTANCE:
Hudson,

What about your mistake on the Constitution gonna own up to that?

As far as the admendment History tells you what the admendment was for even if the Supreme Court has no clue.

Those that lean left (Supreme court judges) and those that lean right interupt the Constitution as they please whether right or wrong.
That means very few just rulings that "We the People..." have to live with.

Just long wordy pages of support for their opinion. Truth stands on its own, needing no support while half-truths and mislead judgements need plenty of props.

Truer words . . . the revisionist history courtesy of the OBL advocates along with that of illegal aliens anchor baby breeders is nothing short of mind boggling. The fact that Hudson twisted your words to suit his needs by adding the word "ONLY" to your statement, merely serves to validate that he is the out to lunch guest of the left leaning Supreme Court.

STERLING

Areas Targeted for Stiffer Zoning Enforcement

By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 30, 2007; Page B01

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted last night to step up enforcement of anti-crowding and other zoning laws in an area where some officials have blamed illegal immigrants for bringing blight to the neighborhood.

Under the new policy, which must be confirmed at a meeting Tuesday, county inspectors would target homeowners in two areas of Sterling who rent out rooms illegally, park broken-down cars on the street and otherwise violate state and county guidelines.

Previously, such infractions were investigated only when someone complained. The pilot program would operate for six months and include some educational outreach. After the six months, the policy could be continued or modified.

The measures are part of a broad crackdown on illegal immigration that began during the summer, when supervisors passed a resolution aimed at cutting off county services to and stepping up deportations of illegal immigrants.

Last night was one of the board's last chances to make some headway. At the end of the year, the board will change hands to a Democratic majority that might not address the issue with the same zeal.

"We've done as much as we could in the short period we had and with the laws that are in place today," said Lori L. Waters (R-Broad Run). "I think it is having and will continue to have an impact on the community."

The board has struggled to fulfill its promises, confronting the legal limitations imposed on counties by the state and federal governments and facing the high cost of taking on federal enforcement duties.

Also yesterday, the board voted to require companies that have contracts with the county to certify that they do not hire illegal immigrants. Parents who enroll their children in county child-care programs also would be asked to sign a document saying that the children are in the United States legally. This year, Loudoun supervisors directed the sheriff's office to forge a closer relationship with federal immigration authorities, a deal that is in negotiations.

It is impossible to know how many illegal immigrants live in Loudoun, but officials believe an increasing number are settling there. In particular, they said, there has been growth in Sterling Park, a diverse, working-class community that borders Herndon and Fairfax County.

Years ago, residents said, the community was a sea of tidy lawns and well-maintained homes. Today, many homes have fallen into disrepair. Residents complain that some overcrowded homes appear to be illegal boardinghouses. Since July, the county has experienced a rise in complaints of overcrowding, and county officials say they could see a 58 percent increase in such calls over last year.

Illegal immigrants are responsible for many of the violations because they are not assimilated into the broader culture, said Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling), chief sponsor of Loudoun's anti-illegal immigration efforts.

"Part of the problem is these people who don't understand the culture and don't know there's a standard," he said.

At last night's meeting, Delgaudio wanted to require the county to hire three more inspectors. However, other supervisors opted for a less harsh approach.

Under the policy, inspectors would target homes on North Argonne Avenue and Williamsburg Road that are overcrowded, have trash in the yard or inoperable cars on the street, among other violations. Penalties would range from a warning to fines of thousands of dollars for ongoing offenses.

Such policies are common in neighborhoods with homeowners associations, or HOAs, which often exert considerable control over the appearance of the community, they said.

"I don't know how it's going to be received in the community," said James Burton (I-Blue Ridge). "I don't want to get into a situation where it seems like we're becoming some sort of police state or a super-HOA."

If the police enter your house or apartment, don't resist, but ask for their "Search Warrant". It is better to cooperate, and ask to communicate with the closest Consulate.

NORTH CAROLINA, CHARLOTTE

Homeland Security's New Immigration Man

Dec. 2, 2007

Jim Pendergraph will help coordinate immigration policy between Homeland Security and state and local police agencies. (CBS)

Policing Immigrants

A homeland security program equips police and sheriff departments with the ability to detect illegal immigrants. But many say that patrolling immigrants could cause problems.

(CBS) The county jail in Charlotte, N.C., is part front line, part revolving door in America's debate over illegal immigration. It's an issue Sheriff Jim Pendergraph knows well. He'll need every bit of that knowledge when he starts his new job in Washington on Monday, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts.

"The problem is so big the federal government can't handle this alone," said Pendergraph, who will serve as director of state and local coordination for Homeland Security. "There has to be a partnership with state and locals to attack this problem."

Pendergraph was one of the first sheriff's in the country to participate in a Homeland Security program called "287G." His deputies are now armed with the latest technology to detect illegal immigrants that come through the jail for everything from driving violations to felony assaults.

So far that's more than 3,000 illegal immigrants in two years in Charlotte alone. But only a small percentage will ever actually face deportation because most are released after being given a court date that they never show up for.

Take a man recently arrested for disorderly conduct. The computer shows he has entered the United States illegally six times.

When asked if he was deported, a Charlotte police official said, "In '06, then he came back across the border at some time and then we caught him again. He was a re-entry."

Pensergraph said he sees situations similar to this often.

The illegal immigrant -- he has offenses from serious assaults to aggravated felonies to drunk driving charges -- claims to CBS News that this time he won't be back.

It's a frustrating process, with few allies in local law enforcement, even in Charlotte.

"What we want to do to help the members of our community is to make them safe," said officer Danielle Williams of Charlotte Police. "And we can't do that without victims reporting crime, which they're not going to do if every time we go out to a crime scene, we're asking their immigration status."

Sheriffs across the country don't support the federal program. They say it's not their job to enforce immigration laws.

"There are some that think it puts a chilling effect on their ability to extract information from your immigrant community about criminal activities," said Pendergraph, who estimates there are about 24 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

"But they (undocumented immigrants) didn't get here overnight, either," added Pendergraph. "They have entered this country over a period of many, many years and it's going to take many years to resolve this issue. And we are not going to solve it overnight."

But as Homeland Security's first ever executive director of state and local coordination, it's now his job to get more police and sheriff departments on board, and he knows he doesn't have much time.

© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

SONYA N. HEBERT/DMN
Nuria Prendes has been in charge of regional detention and removal operations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas since 2003. The agency's Dallas office is one of the busiest in the country.

Dallas immigration officials cracking down on those who ignore deportation orders

11:56 PM CST on Sunday, December 2, 2007
By DIANNE SOLÍS / The Dallas Morning News
dsolis@dallasnews.com

Every day in Dallas, a bus loaded with Mexican deportees pulls out of a Homeland Security Department office near an interstate highway. Some days, there are two buses.


SONYA N. HEBERT/DMN

Nuria Prendes has been in charge of regional detention and removal operations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas since 2003. The agency's Dallas office is one of the busiest in the country. It's a get-tough testament to the federal crackdown against illegal immigrants – enforcement unseen in decades in the U.S.

"We are definitely doing all we can to tackle illegal immigration," said Nuria Prendes, head of regional detention and removal operations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas since 2003.

Detention and removal operations took more than 40 percent of ICE's $4.7 billion budget last fiscal year.

And Ms. Prendes is part of a new emphasis on what the law enforcement agency calls fugitive operations – that is, the removal of illegal immigrants who have outstanding deportation or exclusion orders. In October 2006, there were nearly 624,000 persons who fit ICE's profile of a fugitive, according to federal audits done by the Office of Inspector General for the Homeland Security Department.

Such high numbers of illegal immigrants who ignored deportation orders – or in some cases never received them – come, in part, because ICE resources are stretched thin and detention bed space is sparse, the report said. But that effectively "created an unofficial mini-amnesty program," said the auditor's report in 2006.

The backlog is now down by about 42,000. Fugitive operations teams have been increased to 75 around the country, from about 50 a year ago.

And ICE has placed quotas on the fugitive operations teams to nab 1,000 persons a year, up from goals of 125 arrests in 2003, according to an updated 2007 report from the same auditors.

Nevertheless, with an estimated 11.5 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., the report said, "the fugitive alien population is growing at a rate that exceeds the teams' ability to apprehend."

Others are critical, as well.

"What kind of rule of law do you have when you order them deported and then you just sort of let them go into the fabric of the country?" said Roy Beck, executive director of Numbers USA, a group that wants restrictions on legal immigration and an end to illegal immigration.

For immigration attorneys fighting for clients, ICE's toughened procedures cause new worries, especially in North Texas, where the sweep of illegal immigration has been significant.

"Nearly everyone in that system believes their chance of promotion depends on racking up statistics that show they have deported a lot of people," said John Wheat Gibson, a Dallas immigration lawyer. "That is the ethos of the whole organization."

And that includes Ms. Prendes, Mr. Gibson said.

Ms. Prendes is herself an immigrant – albeit legal.

She left her native Guantánamo, Cuba, as a 9-year-old when her banker-father was forced to cut sugar cane and her mother was forced to sort beans on an island-nation being reconstructed by a young guerrilla named Fidel Castro.

Her family first defected to Spain. Then they came to the U.S. Soon they settled on the Texas-Mexico border. She graduated from high school in McAllen, Texas, earned her bachelor's degree in criminal justice, and took at job as a Border Patrol agent in Eagle Pass. A huge Smith & Wesson pistol on one hip and a large flashlight on the other padded out her self-described "Olive Oyl" frame.

"I know the system," said Ms. Prendes, who still carries a pistol, a 9 mm Glock. "I've lived through the system. I've seen my family live through the system. We left for political reasons. I know the difference between leaving for political reasons and leaving for economic reasons."

If Mr. Castro were to fall, she'd probably return to Cuba for a short visit, but she's "a proud U.S. citizen" now.


The Dallas office that she heads covers a 128-county region and Oklahoma. Two fugitive operations teams, each with seven persons, are based in Dallas, and a third is in Tulsa County, Okla.

Local efforts

Tulsa County now participates in a federal program that certifies local officers to perform certain federal immigration enforcement duties, under a section of immigration law known as 287(g).

Use of the program is on the rise. As Congress debated and then deadlocked on passage of a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws, 26 more states or municipalities certified some of their law enforcement officers for 287(g) training, which enables them to arrest people under federal immigration law.

There are now 34 state or local law enforcement agencies, with nearly 600 local officers participating in the program. But no city or county in Texas has been certified, Ms. Prendes noted.

ICE also operates what it calls the Criminal Alien Program – taking referrals from local law enforcement agencies that believe an illegal immigrant is involved in a criminal misdemeanor or a criminal felony. ICE agents then place a hold on the person and potentially proceed with a deportation.

That program has become so popular in North Texas that ICE officers say they're sometimes overextended.

Last month, ICE announced it would still take referrals but may not be able to respond to the mounting requests if the detainee is involved in a Class C misdemeanor. Class C misdemeanor charges include speeding, assault, public intoxication and hot checks. The penalty for the misdemeanors is a fine of no more than $500.

The move was a controversial one. ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said, "We are a victim of our own success. If we are getting huge amounts of referrals on any given day, we might say that we cannot take your Class C's right now."


'We do what we can'

As the public clamors for tougher enforcement, civil libertarians have hammered the agency with lawsuits, asserting Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations on the use of warrants and due process. Some efforts have been more diplomatic.

A month ago, the American Bar Association complained in a letter to Homeland Security that detainees who are transferred to remote facilities won't have sufficient access to immigration legal assistance. Illegal immigrants arrested in the Dallas area, for example, are sent some 200 miles away to Haskell, a city of about 2,700 in Central Texas.

Ms. Prendes emphasized that ICE has a contract with a jail there because the conditions meet corrections systems standards.

"We would love to have a jail closer but it must meet our standards," Ms. Prendes said.

She adds that warrants are properly administered in her ICE district. The absence of warrants in home arrests has been the subject of litigation in New York and New Mexico.

And workers do everything by the book, calling consulates when an arrest is made, and giving them access to detention facilities, as per a United Nations treaty on consular relations dating back to 1963.

Updated agreements on deportation processes cover minors, women and others considered "vulnerable," such as injured deportees.

For several years, federal immigration authorities rented detention space just outside Dallas in Denton County, but that space is now filled by "their own criminals," Ms. Prendes said.

To those who say frequently and loudly that ICE isn't doing enough to detain those in the U.S. illegally, Ms. Prendes responds: "Congress is the one who enacts the laws. All I do is enforce the laws. We do what we can."

FUGITIVE OPERATIONS

Size: Nationwide, 75 teams target those who have been given orders of deportation, removal or exclusion. Teams usually consist of seven persons. There are three teams that report to the Dallas regional ICE office.

Scope: There are an estimated 11.5 to 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. About 5 percent of them have been given orders to depart and are now classified as "fugitive aliens."

Challenge: The floating population of illegal immigrants with removal orders has grown, partly because of a lack of detention space, according to an Inspector General report. Those here unlawfully can be released under certain restrictions, such as a bond or with an electronic monitoring device, or with stipulations to report to ICE.

SOURCES: ICE and Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security



NURIA PRENDES

Title: Field office director for detention and removal, U.S. Immigration

and Customs Enforcement

Birthplace: Guantánamo, Cuba

Education: Criminal justice degree, Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University), San Marcos

Career start: Border Patrol, Eagle Pass

Portfolio: Supervises teams in Oklahoma and North Texas in such areas as fugitive operations, the Criminal Alien Program and deportations by bus and plane.

Most rewarding part of the job:

"I get to make a difference. There are a lot of criminals out there. We have our own native-born criminal element. We do not need the foreign criminal element."

In your cartoon telling illegals to ask for a warrant. There is one mistake. If you let the police in the door you have already granted them permission for search and seizure.

If they have a warrant illegals should be instructed to stand clear of the door.

When did the police start wearing yellow suits? Oh wait.. I get it. To emphasize the stereotypical overbearing evil white man. The grints are shown huddled in fear, nice touch. Another mistake is the warrant would not be in Spanish either.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: davdah,

ARIZONA, PHOENIX


Phoenix reverses immigration enforcement policy

Paul Giblin, Tribune

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon says he will ask a blue-ribbon panel of former top federal and state law officials to craft a new policy for the Phoenix Police Department that would allow local officers to apprehend illegal immigrants and notify immigration officials if they detain undocumented immigrants.

Gordon has enlisted the aid of former U.S. attorneys Paul Charlton and Jose Rivera, former state Attorney General Grant Woods and former Maricpoa County Attorney Rick Romley to come up with a new policy.

Currently, the police department operates under a rule that prohibits officers from enforcing immigration laws. The Phoenix police union has recently asked the department to change the policy.

Gordon made the announcement at a news conference this afternoon. In a statement issued shortly before the press conference began, Gordon said the department’s current policy was written years ago and does not take into account today’s public safety, social and political concerns.