San Francisco debates sanctuary policy for youths

For years, San Francisco has been a sanctuary city, meaning that police aren't forced to report illegal immigrants to federal authorities. Some police departments like it this way. They're able to get information from community members, who aren't afraid they'll get deported for talking to the cops.

After a high-profile murder in 2008, though, Mayor Gavin Newsom instituted a new policy. If an underage illegal immigrant got arrested, the police were supposed to report them to the feds. The change infuriated activists and the board of supervisors. They argued that young suspects, even if they're undocumented, have the right to challenge the charges in court, just like a full citizen. That way, they'd still have a shot at staying in the country with their family.

Yesterday, the board of supervisors reversed Newsom's policy, and nobody's sure what's going to happen -- though a court battle is likely.

That high-profile murder, by the way, involved an MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, Edwin Ramos, who's accused of killing a man and his three sons. The 22-year-old had been convicted of other crimes when he was younger. And thanks to the sanctuary policy, he was allowed to stay in the county.

From AP: Activists gather outside of a board of supervisors meeting at city hall in San Francisco, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009.

MO troopers will keep doing immigration enforcement

The Missouri Highway Patrol has renewed its agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, allowing specially trained troopers to do some basic immigration enforcement. (Which has traditionally been a job for the feds.) Under the Obama administration, there have been some changes to discourage racial profiling and to make sure that police focus more on illegal immigrants accused of serious, violent crimes -- instead of folks who might have a broken taillight.

The patrol says the changes aren't really a big deal -- they were already doing the things required under the new policy.

Police balk at new rules on immigration enforcement

A while back, the federal government started a program where local police departments could get training and do immigration enforcement, something that's usually a fed job. Cops could run checks on immigration status and even start the deportation process.

The Obama administration has been changing the rules, though, so that local police could be more active and shoulder more responsibility -- something the cops are wary of because it'll take time and money they don't have, USA Today reports.

In some cases, though, the feds have limited some departments' authority. In Maricopa County, Ariz., for example, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is unhappy that his immigration authoritah has been limited to his jail. He says he still plans to do sweeps for illegal immigrants.

Sheriff Joe vs. the feds

A while back, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., signed up with a federal program that let his deputies enforce federal immigration laws, something usually done by Immigrations and Custom Enforcement. The federal government, though, has curtailed some of that power, though, which displeases Arpaio, who's being investigated for racial discrimination and unlawful searches. Snip:

"Let them all go brag that they took away the sheriff's authority. Let them all do that. That doesn't bother me. I don't have an ego. I will continue doing the same thing," the Republican sheriff said, noting he can still enforce state immigration laws. "What has changed, other than the politics and the perception emanating from Washington?"

Should the feds be sued over illegal immigrant's cancer death?

The Supreme Court will determine whether the survivors of illegal immigrant Francisco Castaneda can sue the U.S. officials who denied him care while he was a prisoner. Castaneda -- who did time on meth charges and then was placed in immigration detention -- complained about a lesion on his penis, and doctors recommended that he get a biopsy. A government doctor said no, though because it was an "elective" procedure.

As it turns out, the lesion was a cancer. Castaneda didn't get help for the 11 months that he was in custody, eventually had to undergo an amputation and still ended up dead. The government has acknowledged liability, but Castaneda's survivors want to sue the individuals responsible, too.

Unreported deaths at immigrant detention centers lead to calls for reform

A lawsuit filed by the ACLU led to an in-depth review of ICE agency records and to a disclosure of 10 previously unreported deaths at immigrant detention centers.

In total, 104 immigrants have died at federal detention centers since 2003. The Christian Science Monitor Reports:

"Medical care has been the chief concern," says the ACLU's Kevin Keenan. "There are no enforceable standards for medical care or anything else inside these facilities - there are guidelines but no way to enforce them."

While the Obama administration has announced plans to overhaul the 32,000-bed detention system that is spread out over 350 county jails, state prisons, and privately run facilities, it has rejected implementing legally enforceable standards at the centers. Instead, the government will begin moving noncriminal detainees to smaller, less prison-like facilities and ensure that medical care meets federal guidelines, the administration says. Obama also said he'll place federal authorities at the country's largest detention centers to oversee detainee care.

|Meredith Rodriguez

Murder victim's family sues county because they didn't deport killer

The parents of a murdered 15-year-old girl are suing Clackamas County, Ore., because their daughter's killer was an illegal immigrant and the county, which realized he was here illegally, didn't report him for deportation. (The man in question had a DUI conviction in Clackamas.) The family, which wants $3.5 million, says that he wouldn't have been around to kill their girl if the county had done their jobs.

AP: More U.S. sheriffs, border officials are taking bribes

Because the traffickers and cartels are more eager/desperate to get across the border.

Report: Obama isn't backing off illegal immigration enforcement

From the New York Times:

The administration recently undertook audits of employee paperwork at hundreds of businesses, expanded a program to verify worker immigration status that has been widely criticized as flawed, bolstered a program of cooperation between federal and local law enforcement agencies, and rejected proposals for legally binding rules governing conditions in immigration detention centers.

But they say this is happening only so the White House can do immigration reform later this year or early next.

The feds tell Sheriff Joe to leave illegal immigrants alone

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., has been told by the federal government to stop arresting illegal immigrants willy-nilly if their only crime is being in the country illegally. Sheriff Joe is less than thrilled by the new regulations:

The revamped program would require Arpaio to clear plans for immigration sweeps beforehand with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and coordinate with ICE before releasing information about such enforcement actions to the news media.

AZ cops find 97 illegal immigrants in chilled trailer

They were riding in a trailer carrying fruits and vegetables, so the temperature was only 34 degrees.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Searching!

Report: AZ's illegal-immigrant population drops by a third

Because of the economy and tougher immigration enforcement, the Arizona Republic reports. The nation's population of illegal immigrants has dropped about 14 percent. In Arizona, they're still arguing whether that's a good thing. Businesses say they're losing customers, while opponents of illegal immigration say there's less of a burden on state resources.

Hat Tip: Many thanks to our Southwest correspondent, eephus!

Report: Fewer illegal immigrants coming from Mexico to U.S.

That's according to the Pew Hispanic Center, which says the total number of Mexicans coming to America, both legally and illegally, is down 30 to 50 percent from 2006 to 2008. The Border Patrol credits, well, themselves, for being so awesome. Our rotten economy might be playing a part, too.

One other interesting note -- the media have reported a lot of anecdotal cases of illegal immigrants returning home because there are fewer jobs here, but Pew couldn't find any evidence. Mexico's economy is even worse than ours, after all.

Alabama cops catch illegal immigrant who's been deported 28 times

It might be a while before he gets to No. 29 -- he's facing charges for giving a false name to police when he got pulled over.

Seriously, though -- 28 times? And he still comes back? That's a triumph of the human spirit, if there ever was one.

Illegal immigrants call 911 after smuggler dumps them in the desert

They were lost in 110-degree heat, so it's lucky they got help. A few were taken to the hospital. Everybody who didn't medical attention got booted back to their home countries. Story is from California.

Activists leave water jugs for border-jumpers, get busted for littering

The story is from Arizona, where a couple of humanitarian groups left water jugs on trails used by border-crossers. They were trying to prevent anyone from dying of dehydration, which has been a problem there. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ticketed them for littering -- which is also a big problem there.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, eephus!

Illegal immigrant accused of threatening to kill cop's family, blow up police HQ and federal courthouse

Cape police were interviewing Pedro Quino-Teodoro over the weekend during an assault investigation when Quino-Teodor, an illegal immigrant, threatened to kill an officer and his family if they contacted ICE.

Naturally, the police decided to contact ICE, who said, yep, Pedro is here illegally. Quino-Teodoro allegedly continued to make broad promises of violence and destruction on the way to jail, including blowing up the Limbaugh Federal Courthouse.

Arizona might make illegal immigration a crime

Under state law, by extending Arizona's trespassing law. Legal experts say this is either pretty inventive or unconstitutional, depending on which legal experts you interview. Traditionally, it's been federal officers, using federal law, who enforce immigration law, though there have been some exceptions. (There are a handful of police departments that are trained in ICE procedures and can work with them.)

Critics are worried that it'll lead to more racial profiling -- they say that some police will end up stopping citizens just because they're Hispanic, which wouldn't be fair to U.S. citizens who also happen to be Hispanic.

U.S. immigration courts face their worst backlog in 10 years, report says

Over the past few years, the federal government has put a higher priority on illegal-immigration raids and hired thousands of new agents. Which means there are more cases for the court. Hiring of new judges hasn't kept pace, the New York Times reports. Plus, it sounds like some of these cases take more time -- about 78 percent of those who land in the immigration courts need a translator.

Is San Francisco rethinking its sanctuary policy?

For years, San Francisco has had a reputation as a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. City authorities, for the most part, didn't report undocumented people to the federal authorities. The theory was that city officials would rather the immigrants feel comfortable to report crimes and other concerns to the police.

But there have been a couple of high-profile cases where the suspects were not just illegal immigrants, but people who had had previous contact with the police -- but hadn't been deported.

Now? San Francisco is cracking down -- at least on the underaged who happen to be in the country. Anyone who gets put in the juvenile youth system for a felony charge is questioned about their immigration status, the New York Times reports.

Federal program will check immigration status at almost all local jails

It's a program that started under the Bush administration, but the Obama White House is increasing its funding. Authorities will run suspects' fingerprints through a national immigration database. They're trying to focus on illegal immigrants who've committed crimes, rather than illegal immigrants who, for the most part, live quietly. Officials say this could lead to a tenfold increase in the number of deportees.

Postville

It's been one year since federal immigration authorities raided a meat-processor near Postville, Iowa, one of the biggest such raids in U.S. history. Almost 400 people were arrested. The Star's Mike McGraw has a piece about the anniversary here. And the Chicago Tribune looks at what has happened to the town since then.

The population has dropped about 50 percent. Many of the plant supervisors are facing criminal charges. Several local businesses have failed, area farmers have lost an important market, and the plant itself is in bankruptcy. That's a huge problem for the town, because it still owes $4.5 million on a sewage treatment plant that it built to serve the meat processor.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette also has a huge takeout here.

In this Oct 29, 2008 picture, workers leave the Agriprocessors, Inc. meat packing plant after their shifts in Postville, Iowa. Rallies and prayer vigils will mark the Tuesday, May 12, 2009 anniversary of an immigration raid on a northeast Iowa kosher slaughterhouse, but many residents and town officials in Postville seem more interested in the troubled efforts to sell the plant than events looking back at last year's arrests. The closure and then limited operation of the Agriprocessors, Inc., slaughterhouse have devastated the town's economy. (AP Photo/Cedar Rapids Gazette, Liz Martin)

The newest innovations in border-jumping

The Houston Chronicle has a nice feature about smugglers and the far-fetched methods they use to sneak people across the U.S.-Mexico border, stuff like hiding a baby in a pinata. Snip:

“You don’t expect to find someone in a suitcase. You never expect that,” said Lopez, who is based in the Rio Grande Valley.

Watch out, employers of illegal immigrants

You just moved to No. 1 on ICE's to-do list.

Man pleads guilty to gay immigration fraud

A Washington man has pleaded guilty to charges of immigration fraud. The authorities say he claimed to be an immigration expert and would tell immigrants to pretend to be gay -- and fearful of persecution in their home countries -- so they could stay in the United States.