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Tempers flared Tuesday night at a Los Angeles Police Commission community forum on a controversial proposal to ease the towing and impound policy for unlicensed drivers. Under current laws, the cars of unlicensed drivers are towed and impounded for 30 days if they are stopped by officers. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has proposed lifting the 30-day impound and giving the registered owner or a licensed driver a reasonable chance to retrieve the vehicle. Critics, including the LAPD police union, say the changes just reward lawbreakers and put politics above safety. The meeting in Northridge was packed with residents who were...

The hotline, run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, is available 24/7 for detained individuals to phone if they think they “may be U.S. citizens or victims of a crime.” The hotline will have translation services available in several different languages. ICE personnel will gather the caller’s information and send it to a field office for immediate action, according to the press release. The purpose of the hotline and other measures, including a new detainer form, are “to ensure that individuals being held by state or local law enforcement on immigration detainers are properly notified about their potential...

This holiday season, activists in California are urging the state’s undocumented population to be particularly vigilant. That is because, at this time of year, law enforcement sets up driver’s checkpoints, attempting to ferret out intoxicated motorists. Activists warn that this can be a particularly dangerous situation for immigrants, whether or not they hold valid drivers licenses, since police officers are likely to use this opportunity to check the legal residency status of those individuals suspected of being undocumented.This holiday season, activists in California are urging the state’s undocumented population to be particularly vigilant. That is because, at this time of...

A federal judge on Thursday blocked three key provisions of South Carolina's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigration. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel granted the federal government's request for an injunction against the law that's set to take effect Jan. 1. The ruling applies to portions that require law officers to check the status of anyone they stop for something else and suspect is in the country illegally. Gergel also halted the implementation of sections pertaining to the transportation of illegal immigrants and immigrant registration cards. Gergel has denied the state's request that he suspend all court hearings

A powerful Republican state Senate leader who championed Arizona's controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants lost his office on Tuesday in a historic recall election, returns showed. Russell Pearce's defeat is a message to the GOP, say some analysts, that jobs and the economy should be a higher priority than illegal immigrants.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House subcommittee on Wednesday authorized a subpoena against the Homeland Security Department for information about illegal immigrants who have been identified but not deported. The authorization cleared the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration policy and enforcement by a 7-4, party line vote. Democrats voted against the measure, saying it was premature to issue a subpoena because Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is cooperating with the committee. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, says the subpoena authorization is necessary because the Obama administration hasn't responded quickly enough to his request, which was made in...

As states such as Alabama and Georgia make waves with a hard-line approach to illegal immigration, California took a leap in the other direction this weekend when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a host of bills that make the nation's biggest state one of the most accepting of immigrants living here illegally. Some saw the flurry of new laws, especially the California Dream Act, as a rejection of the political fervor against illegal immigration in other parts of the country. "Wherever California goes, so does the nation. It may put a halt to some of this," said Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Cupertino,...

(NewsCore) - A seven-day operation led to the arrest of more than 2,900 illegal immigrants with criminal records, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said Wednesday. "The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE's ongoing commitment and focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens and those that game our nation's immigration system," said ICE director John Morton.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) thanked President Obama for circumventing the Legislative branch when it comes to immigration law. Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code makes it a federal crime to be in the United States illegally. Nevertheless, the Obama administration in August directed federal immigration officials to use "prosecutorial discretion" in deciding which illegal aliens to detain and deport. “We had a president of the United States that recently was speaking at National Council of La Raza who said during his speech, ‘There are those who simply wish me to bypass Congress when it comes to immigration,’ and...

SAN FRANCISCO -- More than half of all people sent to federal prison for committing felony crimes so far this year were Hispanic, a major demographic shift swollen by immigration offenses, according to a new government report released Tuesday. Hispanics already outnumber all other ethnic groups sentenced to serve time in prison for federal felonies. Hispanics reached a new milestone for the first time this year, making up the majority all federal felony offenders sentenced in the first nine months of fiscal year 2011, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Hispanics comprised 50.3 percent of all people sentenced in that...

According to a Treasury Inspector General audit, Individuals Who Are Not Authorized to Work in the United States Were Paid $4.2 Billion in Refundable CreditsRedaction Legend: 1. Tax Return/Return Information 2(f). Risk circumvention of agency Regulations or Statutes IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS Many individuals who are not authorized to work in the United States, and thus not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number (SSN) for employment, earn income in the United States. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides such individuals with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to facilitate their filing of tax returns. Although the law prohibits aliens residing...

The Homeland Security Department said Thursday it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria such as attending school, having family in the military or are primarily responsible for other family members’ care. The move, announced in letters to Congress, comes after Hispanic activists and Democrats had urged President Obama to exempt broad swaths of illegal immigrants from deportation while Congress wrestles with the issue. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said her department and the Justice Department will review all ongoing cases and see who meets the new criteria on a case-by-case basis....

(CNSNews.com) - The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Tuesday that it has awarded $28.8 million to 67 community health centers with funds from the Obamacare health reform law. Of that $28.8 million, "approximately $8.5 million will be used by 25 New Access Point awardees to target services to migrant and seasonal farm workers," Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Spokeswoman Judy Andrews told CNSNews.com. HRSA is a part of HHS. Andrews said that grant recipients will not check the immigration status of people seeking services. “Health centers do not, as a matter of routine practice, ask...

At the age of 21, Sergio has an undying love of politics. He has already interned for two state lawmakers and hopes to pursue a career in politics. He plans to commit himself to changing his community, but there is one catch: Sergio is in the country illegally; he can’t even vote. "It is something that I am really passionate about, but because of my position, it gets really frustrating," Sergio said. A student at San Diego State University, Sergio graduated from San Diego High School with a 4.3 GPA and entered SDSU with a full, privately funded scholarship.

SAN FRANCISCO -- An estimated half-million illegal immigrants live in the Bay Area, according to a study that is one of the first to try to measure the number of local residents living in the U.S. illegally. The report by the Public Policy Institute of California used tax returns, previous national estimates and mathematical models to determine that 563,000 illegal immigrants live in the Bay Area, about 8 percent of the region's total population. Santa Clara County leads the Bay Area with 180,000 illegal immigrants, followed by Alameda County with 124,000 and Contra Costa County with 79,000, the study found....

When “relocating” to the United States, it’s best to avoid states that have selfishly put the interests of their legal residents ahead of yours with laws that hinder your access to jobs and benefits. But many attractive destinations remain, endorsed by millions of illegal aliens already living in each. 1. California California’s state motto “Eureka” (I have found it!) aptly applies here. The state's population includes 3.2 million illegal aliens -- almost 24% of all illegal aliens in America -- have chosen the Golden State as their preferred domicile. Despite its $26 billion budget deficit, the state spends $21.5 billion...

The eighth annual Mexican Interior Repatriation Program will feature one flight a day instead of two and is expected to cost the U.S. government about $10 million. Under the voluntary program, non-criminal Mexican illegal immigrants caught by the Border Patrol in Arizona are offered free flights to Mexico City. From there, they are given bus passes to return to their hometowns. The goal of the annual summer initiative is to prevent illegal immigrants from trying to cross the border again in the hopes of saving lives during the scorching summer months when hundreds die each year in Arizona.

Fire-gate, the cover up of who started the Arizona wildfires. Smugglers have exploited environmental restrictions along the border for decades. Arizonans pay the price after smugglers set several wildfires that have burned homes and cost millions of dollars. All of the images in this video were taken after the forest was closed to the public. Smugglers and Illegal Aliens were among the only people in the wilderness. The Department of Homeland Security has failed to provide security for the people of Arizona and beyond.

Facing a barrage of criticism from some Democratic governors, members of Congress and local officials, the Obama administration is altering a controversial federal program in which law enforcement agencies share fingerprints of suspects held in local jails with U.S. immigration authorities. The Secure Communities program, which was intended to identify and deport convicted felons, wound up also ensnaring minor offenders, victims of domestic abuse and other crimes, as well as witnesses to crimes and people who were arrested but not convicted of offenses. In response, U.S. Homeland Security officials announced Friday that the department had issued new guidelines in an...

(Reuters) - The Texas Senate early on Wednesday passed a measure pushed by Governor Rick Perry aimed at cracking down on cities that provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants. "Drug traffickers and transnational gangs should think twice before they step foot in Texas," Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate, said in a statement. "Prohibiting sanctuary city policies will make the apprehension, detention and deportation of dangerous criminals more uniform -- keeping us all safer and Texas more secure." The measure now heads to the House, which passed a similar bill during the regular legislative session that ended May...

The General Accounting Office estimates that as of 2009 there were currently about 350,000 criminal aliens in U.S. prisons, “the majority from Mexico.” At $30,000 per year, per inmate, that’s $11 billion annually, with most of the costs born by the states.   While not all of the criminal aliens are here illegally, criminal illegals are putting a strain on budgets, especially in the states with large illegal immigration populations such as Arizona, Colorado, California, Florida, New York, and Texas. Not coincidentally, many of those same states are facing the largest budget shortfalls for fiscal year 2011 and 2012, including New...

The suspect accused of driving his vehicle through a police barricade and killing a Houston police officer may be an illegal immigrant, records show. Johoan Rodriguez, 26, charged with the intoxicated manslaughter of Houston officer Kevin Will, has an immigration detainer placed in his arrest records after investigators found "reason to believe" he was not a citizen. It’s not clear exactly what evidence prompted the detainer. Typically, a detainer is placed when a individual’s fingerprints surface in federal immigration databases. However, fingerprints of lawful immigrants are also kept in the same database. "No further info can be released at this...

The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General plans an investigation of an immigration enforcement program that purports to target "serious convicted felons" for deportation but has ensnared many illegal immigrants who were arrested but not subsequently convicted of crimes or who committed minor offenses, a letter obtained Wednesday shows. The letter from acting Inspector General Charles K. Edwards to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), who requested an investigation late last month, said the watchdog agency had already scheduled a review of the program, known as Secure Communities. Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency launched the program in...

In the latest collusion between the Obama Administration and the leftwing American Civil Liberties Union, Homeland Security officials have suspended the scheduled deportation of an illegal immigrant at the ACLU’s request. The move is part of a bigger plan to perhaps eliminate the federal program (Secure Communities) that identified the illegal alien in the first place. The influential open borders movement—which includes the ACLU—has aggressively pressured the administration to nix Secure Communities, which requires local authorities to check the fingerprints of arrestees against a federal database. The idea is to deport dangerous criminals, many of whom have fallen through...

Barack Obama has declared that "immigration reform is an economic imperative", and is promising to do his best to get an immigration bill pushed through Congress this year. But will "legalizing" all of the illegal immigration that has taken place over the last several decades improve the struggling U.S. economy or will it actually make our economic problems worse? One of the favorite tricks of top politicians is to promise that the economy is going to improve if we just support what it is that they are currently pushing. Hopefully the Americans people will not buy the nonsense that Obama...

Four months after Gov. Rick Perry put out an urgent request to wrap up a bill cracking down on cities providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants, the Texas House passed it Monday night, advancing it to the state Senate, which is expected to approve it and send it to Perry's desk. Under the bill, police officers in so-called "sanctuary cities" will be able to question detained suspects about their immigration status even if their bosses disapprove. The term "sanctuary cities" is used to describe places where local officials refuse to enforce federal immigration laws and undocumented workers are free to seek...

EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- President Barack Obama says his administration has answered the concerns of Republican lawmakers who want the U.S.-Mexico border better secured before they are willing to take on comprehensive immigration reform. Standing at the border Tuesday, Obama mocked Republicans for never being satisfied and always changing the conditions about what's needed to secure the border. Said the president: "Maybe they'll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat."

San Francisco, one of the first sanctuary cities in the nation, plans to end its cooperation with federal immigration officials and start releasing illegal immigrants arrested for minor offenses before they can be picked up for deportation. The city's decision is the latest development in a tug of war between several communities and the federal government over its controversial national program that automatically checks the immigration status of arrestees. Officials in jurisdictions including Providence, R.I., and Chicago have also challenged the program, which they say undermines trust that it has taken local law enforcement years to build in immigrant communities....

A bill unveiled today by Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Penn.) would slash federal funding for cities whose local law enforcement don’t enforce immigration laws. The legislation, the “Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act,” would crack down on more than a hundred American cities, Barletta said during a press conference today. “Local officials who choose not to enforce immigration laws are aiding illegal immigrants,” Barletta said. “My bill makes sure that sanctuary cities no longer get federal money as long as federal officials ignore federal law.”

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that time has almost run out for the Florida Legislature in their efforts to pass an immigration bill similar to the one passed in Arizona last year. The bill had been pushed by Tea Party supporters while immigrant groups and large businesses had opposed the measure.

President Barack Obama is ramping up his push to overhaul the country’s immigration system, launching a sustained personal campaign to pressure Congress into taking up the controversial issue that will rely in part on recruiting outside help. “He is committed and will be leaning into this issue in a very serious and very vigorous way,” Melody Barnes, director of the Domestic Policy Council, said Tuesday at a briefing for a small group of reporters. “We are upping the intensity on this issue.” Barnes and Cecilia Munoz, the White House director of intergovernmental affairs, detailed a strategy of pressuring Congress from...

Los Angeles -- Elvira Sosa left Mexico for the United States more than 30 years ago, but last year was the first time she'd been counted as part of the U.S. Census. Sosa was among thousands of illegal immigrants in Los Angeles who filled out a census form last year, and city officials said the response, especially among Latinos, might have saved the area money and congressional representation. The increased count was purposeful: A Census Bureau outreach program...included Spanish call centers that would field questions about the census, plus billboards, bus advertisements and fliers with information... The response: The 2010...

(CNSNews.com) - April is National Fair Housing Month, and to mark the occasion, the Obama administration is addressing discrimination in housing based on national origin. The emphasis is on immigrants, legal or illegal. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on Monday that it plans to educate the public -- through community talks and a media campaign -- about discrimination against "persons of foreign descent." “Through this education campaign, HUD will work with communities to prevent housing discrimination and promote immigrant integration into the broader society," said John Trasvina, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal...

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a lower court decision that blocked the most contested provisions of Arizona’s immigration law from taking effect. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that a federal judge did not abuse her discretion in blocking provisions of the law that would, among other things, require police to check immigration status if they stop someone while enforcing other laws. The decision is a victory for the Obama administration,

(CNSNews.com) - Do fewer apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border really reflect a lower number of illegal crossings? Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says yes, but an Arizona sheriff says no. Republican Sheriff Larry Dever of Cochise County, which lies on the Arizona-Mexico border, told Fox News on April 1 that border apprehension numbers fail to tell the real story of what is happening on the southwest border. “We do not know who’s crossing that border,” Dever said, adding that “anyone who wants to, can. That’s the message our nation needs to hear -- that anyone who wants to (cross...

In a move closely watched by other Southern California law enforcement agencies, LAPD Chief Chalie Beck has ordered his officers end the practice of immediately seizing the cars of undocumented immigrants who are stopped at sobriety checkpoints. The move comes amid concerns that police were unfairly targeting those drivers. The news came as a relief for Maria Ranjel of Boyle Heights. Her husband and three sons are undocumented immigrants who drive all the time, even though they're ineligible to apply for drivers licenses in California. “We know well that it’s against the law to drive without a license but it’s...

(Reuters) - Workers have been leaving Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc in the nation's capital and Virginia since getting notice that U.S. immigration officials are auditing restaurants in the area.A survey of help-wanted websites, including Chipotle's own, shows a higher level of hiring in those markets than in others like Ohio, where the company has twice as many units. Chipotle co-Chief Executive Monty Moran called the departures "very limited" and said they came after he told workers that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was reviewing worker eligibility documents at the chain's roughly 60 restaurants in Virginia and Washington, D.C. Just...

McALLEN, TX—A DPS employee and several others have been arrested and charged for attempting to provide a fraudulent Texas driver's license to another individual under an assumed name in exchange for cash, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today. Maritza De Leon, 32, of McAllen, Texas, an employee with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), along with Marco Antonio Hernandez, 40, Edinburg, Texas, and Romana Soto-Varela, 39, a Mexican national residing in Donna, Texas, and San Juan De Dios Alejandro Rocha-Zuniga, aka Oscar Rocha, 33, were arrested late Wednesday, March 2, 2010. Each is charged with conspiring to...

White House press secretary Jay Carney did not shed any light Monday on the allegations uncovered by CBS News that ATF intentionally let thousands of assault rifles and other weapons fall into the hands of Mexico's drug cartels. Insiders call the controversial practice letting guns "walk." In the wake of our CBS News investigation, Mexico has asked the U.S. for more information. Two AK-47 type variant assault rifles that ATF allegedly let "walk" were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry last December. Here's the excerpt from today's White House briefing: CBS News chief White House...

Students from several area high schools walked out of class and walked to Arizona's State Capitol Friday morning. The students are protesting SB 1611, which makes numerous changes to immigration law. "This state legislature continues to introduce divisive legislation and now our students are scared, threatened and are taking desperate actions by walking out of class to march to the State Capitol," said Sen. Steve Gallardo. "SB1611 is unconstitutional and is nothing, but politicking." SB1611 was passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on February 23 and hasn't been heard by the full Senate. "The Republican majority is wasting the voters'...

A man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for beating and blinding a 78-year-old widow inside her Daly City home after she surprised him during a robbery attempt, a prosecutor said Thursday. Jose Perez-Gonzalez, 31, an illegal immigrant who was living in South San Francisco, committed an especially horrific, savage and vicious crime, Judge Craig Parsons of San Mateo County Superior Court said Wednesday as he sentenced him to 11 years and eight months behind bars. Parsons called Perez-Gonzalez's actions "selfish and stupid," said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. The judge also ordered him to pay more...

The outrageous rumors were true. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was forced to use beanbags against armed Mexican killers before he was shot dead in Arizona in December. video Agent Brian Terry was forced to defend himself and this country with beanbags. The Arizona Daily Star reported: Border Patrol agents shot beanbags at a group of suspected bandits before the men returned fire during a confrontation in a remote canyon, killing agent Brian Terry with a single gunshot, records show. And an illegal immigrant wounded in the gunbattle who is now the only person in custody linked to the slaying...

TRENTON - Bail for an illegal alien from Guatemala accused of kidnapping, duct taping and robbing a woman was nearly doubled today by a Mercer County Superior Court judge. An illegal immigrant detainer was placed on Sergio Sarceno Cano, 30, who was charged with kidnapping, terroristic threats, criminal restraint, theft and weapons offenses for the Feb. 21 alleged assault, said Assistant Prosecutor Skylar Weissman. Cano allegedly kidnapped the victim from her Hamilton home, bound her arms, legs and mouth with duct tape and moved her around various places in the township against her will, the prosecutor said. “He taped her...

This should get their attention. A measure filed by State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham, Texas) would allow any law enforcement agency that has custody of an illegal immigrant to take the illegal to 'the office of a U.S. Senator or Representative' and leave them there. 1200 WOAI news reports the measure also allows county sheriff's deputies or city police officers to 'request an agent or employee of the United States Senator or United States Representative to sign a document acknowledging the release or discharge of the illegal immigrant at the senator's or representative's office.

Here is our 2 billionth "wake up call" about Mexico and drug cartel violence. Just how many more do we need before we truly wake up and aggressively face this issue????? Now the cartels are hiring people to assassinate in the USA! (Mr. President, please listen to your Secretary of State Hillary Clinton! She is right about Mexico and you are wrong. Mexico is like Colombia of 20 years ago...and it is inching into our country.) --- Three arrested in Palmdale, CA were found with 2 AR-15s and a thousand rounds of ammo.... Lieutenant in the Arrellano Felix sought for...

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) – Nine On Your Side has learned three of the four suspects arrested in the shootout that killed U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry will not be charged with his murder. In fact, all three suspects could be freed and deported sometime this week. The FBI suspected bandits shot and killed Terry on the night of December 14th. Agents immediately arrested four suspects. But two weeks after Terry's killing, KGUN9 News learned the FBI had yet to charge them with murder. The Federal Public Defender's office and private defense Attorney Leslie Bowman then sounded off by telling Nine...

How much is masking your identity worth? A doctor was sentenced to prison for conspiring to surgically alter the fingerprints of an undocumented immigrant for $4,500. A Boston federal judge sentenced Dr. Jose Elias Zaiter-Pou to one year and one day in prison. Elias Zaiter-Pou, originally from the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of conspiring to conceal unauthorized immigrants from detection by law enforcement authorities. U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock ordered the 62-year-old Zaiter-Pou be deported to the Dominican Republic at the end of his prison sentence.

MANASSAS, Va. -- A Salvadoran man who was ordered deported nearly a decade ago but never left has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in a series of shootings and a knife attack in a Virginia suburb of Washington, authorities said Friday. Jose Oswaldo Reyes Alfaro, an illegal immigrant, was charged in the pair of attacks blocks apart Thursday night that left three people dead and three others injured, Manassas Police Chief Doug Keen said.

Despite two arrests since a judge ordered his deportation in 2002, Jose Oswaldo Reyes Alfaro -- accused of killing three and wounding three more in Manassas Thursday night -- remained in the United States.

MANASSAS, Va. — Authorities say a 37-year-old man has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder following a series of shootings in a Virginia suburb of Washington. Manassas Police Chief Doug Keen says Jose Oswaldo Reyes Alfaro is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was ordered deported a decade ago but never left...Two people were fatally shot and two others were hurt about 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Georgetown South neighborhood of Manassas, city police spokesman Sgt. Tim Neumann said. About 20 minutes later, police were called to another home about a quarter-mile away where one person had...