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ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - The U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, John Brownlee, has announced his resignation.

The 43-year-old Brownlee said in a statement Thursday that he will resign effective May 16. He has held the post since August of 2001.

Brownlee’s cases included prosecution of the maker of the painkiller OxyContin on charges of misleading the public about its risk of addiction, and ITT for illegally sending overseas classified night-vision technology used by the U.S. military.

His office also has prosecuted local government corruption cases, drug trafficking and capital murder.

April 3, 2008

Environmental advocates said Wednesday that they weren’t surprised by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision this week to waive several environmental laws to expedite construction of border fencing in four states. Still, they haven’t given up on efforts to stop the project.

“I thought eventually, they would do this,” said Martin Hagne, manager of Valley Nature Center in Weslaco. “But I don’t feel we are defeated, and we’re certainly looking at every avenue possible.”

For months, environmental groups have spoken out against the proposed border fence, saying it would affect wildlife’s ability to migrate and reach fresh water from the Rio Grande.

Hidalgo County’s proposal to construct 22 miles of concrete levees that would double as a border fence rankled environmentalists even more.

Officials from the Rio Grande Valley’s wildlife refuges and environmental advocates said the combined fence-levee structure would make it impossible for endangered species like the ocelot to migrate.

Environmental groups likely will have a tough time finding an avenue to stop the proposal now, however. Under the 2005 Real ID Act, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has the authority to waive any laws that prevent quick construction of border fencing, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

That waiver leaves environmental groups with little legal recourse against the fence’s construction, said Oliver Bernstein, spokesman for the Sierra Club.

Last year, Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife filed a federal lawsuit challenging the construction of fencing on the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Arizona. A federal judge issued an injunction against construction in October that later became moot after Chertoff invoked his waiver authority, Bernstein said.

“Once that waiver was granted, construction started right up and we weren’t able to do anything else,” he said.

The two organizations have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to evaluate whether the Real ID Act is constitutional.

“We expect a response sometime this summer,” Bernstein said.

Chertoff’s announcement came after a March 3 letter from Kenneth Stansell, deputy director of the U.S. Department of the Interior, to Greg Gibbens, director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Secure Border Initiative. In the letter, Stansell says that any border fence or levee that cuts across the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge would ultimately violate the refuge’s purpose, and therefore Chertoff would have to waive the National Wildlife Refuge Administration Act to move forward on fence construction.

Stansell further warned that a proposed fence-levee combination in Hidalgo County would present more environmental problems than the original fence proposal.

“This combined project would eliminate wildlife passage by replacing CBP’s original ‘wildlife-friendly’ fence design with an impermeable 16- to 18-foot high wall built into a flood-control levee,” Stansell said in the letter.

Even with the waiver in place, the U.S. Department of the Interior is still working with the Department of Homeland Security on ways to minimize the fence’s environmental impact, said Department of the Interior spokesman Shane Wolfe.

The agencies are working on an agreement that would grant $50 million to the Department of the Interior to fund mitigation projects that would help endangered species, Wolfe said in a statement.

Environmental advocates said they are appealing to members of Congress to change the Real ID Act, and also are waiting to see what happens with the Supreme Court appeal and the November presidential elections.

“I think the public is starting to see that we have some valid points,” Hagne said. “I think this issue will gain national momentum.”

Refuge officials said, meanwhile, that they’re doing what they can to protect wildlife as fence plans move ahead - even if they feel their hands are tied.

“We’ve tried to figure out a way to make this a wildlife-friendly fence, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be a stretch,” said Nancy Brown, spokeswoman for the South Texas Refuge Complex.

http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=793698

Gov. Janet Napolitano urged Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resolve their differences over immigration enforcement Wednesday as Hispanic leaders called for an end to the sheriff’s immigration patrols, claiming they are dividing the community and could lead to violence.

The governor, speaking at her weekly media briefing, said the problems “should be resolved professionally,” adding, “I think law enforcement ought to be focused on how public safety is most enhanced.”

She said the dispute over notification between the city and the sheriff over their operations needs to be settled.

“You run the risk of somebody getting hurt,” she said. “If you don’t know what other undercover operations or other things are going on out there, you really could have people running into each other… The second question is making sure that you are not violating people’s civil rights as you do these activities.”

Meanwhile, Hispanic leaders said the sheriff’s crackdowns on illegal immigrants are creating fear and unrest in the community.

“As a community, we see him going out setting up his troops and stopping people at random — racial profiling,” said Hector Yturralde, president of We Are America. “After they find out they can’t speak English or they have no identification, then they stop them for immigration.”

Yturralde added, “He is causing a division within this community that is not good. And that is not his job.”

He said the sheriff is using his title to grandstand at taxpayers’ expense.

In the past two weeks, Arpaio has conducted patrols at two Phoenix locations where day laborers gather, using some 200 deputies and posse members. Last week, more than 50 people were arrested in the area around Cave Creek and Bell Roads. More than a dozen were illegal immigrants. Arpaio has vowed to continue the operations.

Yturralde, Lydia Guzman with Respect Respecto and immigrants’ activist and former state lawmaker Alfredo Gutierrez expressed concerns that Arpaio’s patrols, which have drawn large groups of protesters and criticism from Phoenix police and the mayor, will end up in violence.

“We’re seeing people come out of the shadows who are very angry because at some point they feel victimized,” said Guzman. “And other people are coming out of maybe the other side of the shadows and saying we want something done.”

Gutierrez said most “decent” people do not believe the sheriff’s operations are accomplishing anything, except dividing the community.

“He chose to take this extraordinary provocative approach,” Gutierrez said, adding that during last week’s operation, “We were able to maintain control, but barely.”

He said more patrols could lead to formal resistance, i.e. civil disobedience on the streets of Phoenix.

“I think that will begin to occur at his next excursion, the next time he brings 200 or 300 people into a neighborhood to arrest people,” Gutierrez said.

Guzman and Gutierrez said everyone believes that immigration reform is absolutely necessary, but it is the responsibility of Congress and the federal government.

 http://www.yumasun.com/articles/rios_21118___article.html/people_permanent.html

By Jeffery Gautreaux, Sun Staff Writer

A Foothills man who helps hundreds of people every year become U.S. citizens says the biggest roadblocks people face are becoming permanent residents in this country and finding the strength to continue through the process.

Marci Rios, a Yuma insurance agent and The Sun’s 2005 Yuma County Citizen of the Year, became a U.S. citizen at age 18 and has donated his time and money to help others to do the same. The biggest roadblock is the fear, he said.

A lot of times people don’t go to the interview.

In the past, Rios said it would take four to five years for him to help someone receive their citizenship, and, as a result, they would often lose the emotion they initially felt. Now, it may take only a year - sometimes even less.

For someone with a clean record who will be a benefit to the country, the obstacles are not in passing the citizenship, but in becoming a permanent resident in the first place. People have been waiting for the last 10 years to get a permanent resident card, Rios said. Not just from Mexico, but from all over the world. The government is processing the applications for permanent residency from back like in 1997.

Because of the backlog, Rios does not want to see a path to citizenship for illegal aliens in any comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by Congress. He said no matter what happens, illegal aliens should have to go to the back of the line behind those who are following the process.

I would like to see some type of guest worker program in place, he said. That’s how I came here. My parents were part of the Bracero program.

For those who have established permanent residency in the U.S. for five years or more, Rios has the experience to guide them through the process to be naturalized.

First, they fill out a 10-page questionnaire about their background, pay a $400 fee and send in two photo identifications. Rios said the questions cover all kinds of topics: work history, family history and criminal record.

During the process, Rios said honesty is the best policy. I have seen applications denied by people lying about crossing a port of entry saying they are a citizen, Rios said. They say, I forgot my card, but I speak such good English that I was able to get through.’ They deny (the application) because they are lying to the federal government.
Rios said the government does an extensive background check and will find any prior arrests or convictions. About four to five months later, the oral interview is held. It includes a character assessment and questions about U.S. history.

Candidates must be able to write, read and speak English. Rios said people should try to answer all questions in English as best they can, even if they are not fluent. Starting next year, it will probably be harder, he said. It will be more of a written test. Right now, it’s verbal.

If a candidate passes everything, they will be scheduled for a naturalization ceremony, where they will take the oath and become an
American citizen.

HR 4987, aka Fence by Date Certain Act, introduced by Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC), would require construction of a double-layered fence along the U.S. - Mexico border by June 30, 2009.  This bill would largely reinstate language included in the Secure Fence Act which became law in Oct. 2006.  The law was passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, before it was gutted by the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill.

HR 5630, also known as the “Innovation Employment Act,” would increase the cap in H-1B visas from 65,000 a year currently to 130,000 a year.  There also would be included no limit on the number of H-1B visas for foreigners who came as graduate students in technical fields to U.S. colleges.  If one year prior the 130,000 cap is reached, this legislation would also allow for an additional increase to the H-1B cap to 180,000 from 2010 to 2015.

AB 2420, introduced by Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar), is designed to put a stop to local government establishing themselves as sanctuaries for illegal aliens from immigration enforcement.

The bill would prohibit cities and countries from adopting a ordinance or rule that prohibits “law enforcement officers from initiating action to discover a person’s alien status or that prohibits a law enforcement officer from arresting or booking a person for entering the United States of America illegally.”

http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/ashburn_2903___article.html/term_legislators.html

BARSTOW - Barstow’s state senator is hoping changes to term limits that failed at the ballot box will be approved at the state house.

State Senator Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, is proposing an amendment to the state constituion to abolish term limits for state legislators starting in 2016, which would allow future lawmakers to run for re-election without restriction. Legislators currently serving would still be restricted but would be eligible to run again in 2016.
Ashburn said that current term limits allow special interests and committee staff members to build up too much power. Incumbents can build up experience that benefits the electorate, he said.

“Term limits are an artificial barrier to the right of the citizens to choose their representatives,” Ashburn said. “Voters should be given the choice to elect who they want for as many terms as they want.”

Under present rules, Assembly members are restricted to serving three two-year terms. Senators can serve two four-year terms.

Ashburn said that he thinks voters will approve of his proposal, although they rejected Proposition 93 in the Feb. 6 election. The proposition would have reduced the maximum term that legislators could serve in the Assembly or the Senate from 14 to 12 years but would have allowed all 12 years to be spent in one house. More than 56 percent of San Bernardino County voters rejected the measure. Ashburn said the proposition failed because voters viewed it as self-serving for incumbent legislators, part of the reason he proposed the amendment to take effect in 2016, he said.

In addition to abolishing term limits, Ashburn’s proposal would create a 11-member citizens’ panel to determine the boundaries of legislator’s districts. The panel would appointed by a panel of retired judges. Currently, legislators vote on redistricting, something Ashburn said has contributed to the state budget crisis and fiscal mismanagement.

“Clearly California government is broken and is not functioning well,” he said. “I’m offering a series of reforms to do what we are supposed to do: return power to the people.”

The amendment would have to pass the Senate and Assembly by a two-thirds majority in order to take effect. A similar amendment passed the Senate last year but was not taken up by the Assembly.

Christina Lokke, spokeswoman for California Common Cause, which advocates election reform, said her group has not taken a position on Ashburn’s proposal but will study it. She said the group favors fewer restrictions on term limits. Lokke said redistricting is a bigger cause for concern for voters because it allows legislators to influence which voters are in which districts, giving additional power to special interests, she said.

“It’s a huge conflict of interest having legislators choose their representatives,” she said.

She said her group would rather see redistricting managed by an independent body which sets boundaries along city, county and community lines.

http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-28/1205851816198890.xml&coll=7

March 18, 2008

KALAMAZOO — More than 50 people, many of them Hispanic, lined the walls of the Kalamazoo City Commission chambers Monday as a coalition of social action groups urged city leaders to support more rights for undocumented aliens.

Advocates claimed denying driver’s licenses to people without proper paperwork forces immigrants to drive illegally and risk deportation if they are stopped by police. The advocates also criticized the Kalamazoo County Clerk’s office for denying marriage licenses to couples without documentation.

The push before the City Commission comes at a time when immigration is a hotly debated topic at the state and national levels.

Proponents for tighter border restrictions say undocumented immigrants should not be entitled to official recognitions like driver’s licenses because they entered the United States illegally. They say illegal immigration creates national security risks and is unfair to people who have entered the country through legal channels.

At Monday’s commission meeting, speakers said the county clerk’s denial of marriage licenses to people who lack proper documentation undercuts families.

Monsignor Michael Hazard, pastor of Kalamazoo’s St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, said a couple with a young child has been unable to get married because they could not produce Social Security cards.

“From my point of view, this couple found themselves unable to get a marriage license and carry out the responsibilities of a father and a mother, only because they met in a country where they are considered aliens,“ Hazard told commissioners.

County Clerk Tim Snow said this morning that he has no choice in the matter.

“That’s state law,'’ Snow said. “If they don’t have (a Social Security card) that’s not an excuse.'’

State law changed in January 2007, requiring some form of identification stating why someone seeking a marriage license doesn’t have a social security number, Snow said.

Representatives from the Michigan Organizing Project and the Kalamazoo Homeless Action Network on Monday cited “four challenges'’ facing undocumented immigrants and asked city commissioners to support their effort.

In addition to the issues related to driver’s and marriage licenses, the advocates also criticized what they called “raids on immigrant homes'’ and said they opposed federal rules requiring employers to verify workers’ immigration status.

Commissioners received a copy of the coalition’s statement but set no date for deciding if they will endorse the measure.

Commissioners Don Cooney and Stephanie Moore said they will sign their own statements supporting the position.

“The problem is the lack of federal adoption of an immigration policy that is more than just an iron fist,'’ Cooney said.

SOURCE (Dallas Morning News) 

WASHINGTON – Texas corralled $2.2 billion in special projects from the federal government this year, everything from $294,000 for a Houston zoo program to $22 million for an Army gymnasium near El Paso. Only California was given more goodies, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis.Here are some conclusions from the analysis:

•Big-ticket defense and water items, such as a $17 million Corps of Engineers project for the Houston Ship Channel, made up the biggest chunk of the earmarks.

•Earmarks are bipartisan. Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison was the state’s most successful at earmarks in 2007, bringing home $254 million in projects. Every Texas lawmaker except one, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, sought them.

•Military and water projects accounted for nearly 85 percent of the funding of Texas’ earmarks. The military projects included the construction of barracks and other facilities designed to improve the lives of the troops. The water projects included flood control and dredging programs, including work on the Trinity River.

•Nearly half of earmark spending, or about $1 billion, went to El Paso and San Antonio, sites of major military installations. The Houston area ran a distant third, taking in $270 million in earmark projects, about 12 percent of the state’s earmark dollars. Dallas was not included in the analysis.

The Associated Press