Monica Martinez–THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Activists say they are merely leaving drinking water as an act of mercy.

Illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican border through the Arizona desert are dying, activists say, citing dozens of deaths since Oct. 1 in the four Arizona border counties.

Federal officials say the activists are littering the landscape of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, 38 miles south of Tucson, Ariz., and issued at least 14 citations to the volunteers. The hearing is scheduled for April.

Last summer, 13 volunteers from three groups — No More Deaths, Tucson Samaritans and Humane Borders — decided to protest a prior littering citation by traveling to the refuge and leaving plastic water bottles for immigrants. Refuge officials ticketed the volunteers for littering.

“Those guys weren’t putting out water; they were protesting,” said refuge manager Michael Hawkes. “They didn’t get a permit, and what they did was illegal.”

Current refuge policy states that water jugs cannot be simply left in the refuge, because the act constitutes littering. But the Rev. Jerry Zawada, one of the 13 and a Franciscan, said volunteers also pick up trash as they leave the water jugs.

“We are careful of the environment, and we pick up debris, but when it comes to human survival, we consider that a priority,” he said. “There are some officials who show some compassion, but we do blame the policy, and there are more deaths now because of all the barriers, the cold and the harsh terrain.”

The volunteers will be tried April 6.

Mr. Zawada said they are declaring themselves “not guilty.”

“One of the things that’s affecting us and encouraging us is the increase of deaths that have been reported,” he said.

No More Deaths says there have been 61 deaths in the four-county area that includes the refuge since Oct. 1. They list 213 occurring from Oct. 13, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2009.

However, No More Deaths does not have statistics for just the refuge, and the refuge’s manager says only two deaths occurred within park boundaries in fiscal 2009, and that neither of them was caused by dehydration.

Mr. Hawkes also said refuge officials made several attempts to reach No More Deaths so the organization could can get a permit approved through a compatibility determination. That is a review process that will allow the group to legally leave water bottles in the wildlife area.

In order to get a permit, the organization must complete a special-use permit detailing quantity, exact locations and clean-up dates.

“It’s up to the U.S. attorney,” Mr. Hawkes said. “He’s waiting to see if they make a bona fide effort to get a permit. He might postpone it, or even dismiss [the case]. He wants to see if they are moving forward.”

He also said the refuge already contains water sites — three from the Humane Borders group and four that are rescue stations maintained by the border patrol.

“Humane Borders has a permit, and they maintain their sites,” Mr. Hawkes said. “We’re not against humanitarian efforts.”

Sarah Lanius, a spokeswoman for No More Deaths, wrote in an e-mail that the group is “currently participating in good faith in negotiations with the government, in order to resolve the issues related to the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.”

Mr. Zawada said special-use permits are not easy to get approved, and the size of the water bottles is part of the problem. Refuge officials want five-gallon jugs because the one-gallon jugs create too much litter. But No More Deaths’ position is that bigger jugs are inefficient for border crossers as they want to carry water with them as they get deeper into the United States. He says this is impossible with the larger jugs.

Kathleen Walker, a partner with Brown McCarroll, a legal firm in El Paso, Texas, says the water issue may have to be resolved by Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar.

“Secretary Salazar needs to help out and communicate with Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Interior and see if we can’t get the parties together to make more stations, instead of the hard effort to haul plastic bottles,” she said. “Maybe these efforts can be raising money for funding.”

But Adrian Pantoja, associate professor at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., said the problem between the two groups is about “federal paralysis.”

“The moral of the story here is that, in the absence of federal action, the states are implementing their own laws and policies,” Mr. Pantoja said. “The battle is being played out at local level, even though it’s Congress’ responsibility.”

He would like to see federal law be more responsive to human rights.

“Those should work together. There shouldn’t be a conflict,” Mr. Pantoja said. “Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. And when they are in conflict, human rights should always win. It’s a false dichotomy. Human rights and positive law shouldn’t be in conflict. They need to come together and come up with practical solutions so the environment is protected and human rights protected.”

Ms. Walker calls the citations a “knee-jerk reaction” in a polarized environment on immigration.

“I think this economy and the challenges of the economy have tainted any efforts on immigration, both legal and illegal,” she said. “I think there’s been a lot of talk and no appreciable action. And it’s negative to our security and to our competitiveness.”

By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH– The Dallas Morning News

The number of illegal immigrant college students paying in-state tuition and receiving financial aid at Texas’ public colleges and universities continues to climb, according to state higher education records.

During the fall semester, 12,138 students – about 1 percent of all Texas college students – benefited from the state law granting in-state tuition, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Most of the immigrants among those students are illegal, and some others are not legal permanent residents or U.S. citizens.

Texas awarded about $33.6 million in state and institutional financial aid to those students between fall 2004 and summer 2008.

In 2001, Texas became the first state in the country to pass an in-state tuition law. The law created a national movement. Many private universities also now award aid to illegal immigrant students.

Now some of the students are graduating but unable to work legally as professionals. Julie, 29, who moved from Mexico to Austin at age 12, earned a degree in nursing from the University of Texas. She is unable to work, so instead she volunteers in Dallas.

“You have people here, and they’re trained,” said Julie, who did not want her last name used because of her immigration status. “The state has invested in us, so why not let us be contributing members of society and our community?”

But immigration reform has stalled. Congress has repeatedly failed to pass the Dream Act, a proposal that would put the students on a path to citizenship.

Critics question how much tuition discounts and state financial aid cost the state, especially during tough economic times. A lawsuit has been filed challenging the law.

Even so, Gov. Rick Perry supports the law aiding illegal immigrant students. In a recent debate, he said the students are on the path to citizenship. However, they actually won’t be on that path unless the Dream Act passes.

Illegal immigrants entering Texas’ higher education system are direct beneficiaries of a 1982 Supreme Court decision, Plyler vs. Doe. Parents in Tyler sued after the state began charging tuition for illegal immigrant children. The court ruled that Texas and the rest of the country must educate illegal immigrant children free of charge in public schools.

Some of the most vocal illegal immigration opponents don’t oppose the decision. But they say higher education is different, because it is tuition-based.

A lawsuit was filed in December challenging Texas’ law providing the students in-state tuition and state aid. The students are not eligible for federal aid such as Pell Grants.

Attorneys for the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas sued the University of Houston, Houston Community College and Lone Star College systems in Harris County District Court, but the case was moved to federal court. “It’s not like we’re swimming in budget surpluses,” said attorney David Rogers. “It’s the responsibility of the government of Mexico to educate Mexican citizens.”

Challenges to similar laws are also occurring in California and Nebraska. Arizona bans illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition.

Rogers argued that taxpayers suffer because of the law. It’s unfair, he added, that the state gives benefits that students from Oklahoma or other states can’t receive.

A challenge to a similar law in Kansas failed in 2005 after a federal judge found that out-of-state college students had no standing to challenge the law there, since they had not been harmed by it.

Rogers said states are not supposed to offer benefits to illegal immigrants that are not offered to eligible U.S. citizens.

But University of Houston law professor Michael A. Olivas said federal law clearly allows states to draft their own policies, and he believes the Texas case is similar to the Kansas one.

“It is a matter for states to determine,” he said. “In-state status is a state issue.”

Illegal immigrant students were never barred from enrolling in Texas colleges, but the higher tuition price tag for nonstate residents often meant they couldn’t afford to attend.

The Texas law requires students to attend school in the state for at least three years before graduation from a Texas high school. Students also must file an affidavit saying they plan to apply for permanent residency as soon as possible. State officials have argued that the treatment is not preferential in comparison to residency requirements for other students.

State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, has tried sponsoring a bill denying education benefits to illegal immigrants in the past, but he later realized that went against the Plyler precedent.

“I have concerns about the expense for taxpayers,” Berman said. “We’re not providing enough grant and loan money to our own U.S. citizens.”

Carlos Hernandez, 27, was an illegal immigrant when he graduated from the University of Texas in 2005 with a degree in petroleum engineering. He has since become a U.S. citizen through marriage. He moved from Mexico to Texas when he was 9 years old.

He said many parents and students already pay taxes, and that he hopes immigration reform will create a “return on investment” for the state.

“The main complaint from people who oppose such laws is that students are taking away,” said Hernandez, now a drilling engineer for an oil exploration and production company. “If you allow them to go to school, to work and make a higher wage, they’re able to pay back.”

Such arguments don’t sit well with groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington, D.C.

“Every seat filled by an illegal alien is not being filled by someone else from the state,” said spokesman Ira Mehlman.

But Rick Noriega, the former Texas legislator who sponsored the in-state tuition law, said that educating the students is an economic development issue.

“This is about access to higher education,” said Noriega, now the president of Avance, a nonprofit organization that educates Hispanic parents on preparing children for school. “The alternative is to slam the door on any hopes and dreams. How are they going to perform in high school if they don’t even have a chance at higher education?”

Number of students in North Texas public colleges enrolled in fall 2009 benefiting from HB1403, which includes illegal immigrants and other immigrant students who are not permanent residents or U.S. citizens:

University of Texas-Austin , 569

Texas A&M University, 304

University of North Texas, 304

University of Texas-Arlington, 315

University of Texas-Dallas, 192

Texas Woman’s University, 65

Collin County Community College District , 279

Dallas County Community College District, 1,717

Tarrant County College District, 772

SOURCE: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

The Texas law passed in 2001 providing in-state tuition and aid to illegal immigrant students and other immigrants who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents does not specifically identify illegal immigrant students. It instead defines Texas residency and eligibility for in-state tuition and state financial aid. The bill required students to:

•Reside in Texas with a parent while attending high school in Texas.

•Graduate from a high school or receive a GED in Texas.

•Live in Texas for the three years leading up to graduation or receiving a GED.

•Provide colleges and universities a signed affidavit indicating an intent to apply for permanent resident status as soon as they are able to do so.

The students may qualify for state aid. They also may qualify for institutional aid from specific universities and colleges.

Since 2001, 22,697 students who benefited from the law have attended Texas colleges and universities. State officials were not able to provide data on how many graduated.

During the 2009 fall semester, 8,406 such students were enrolled at community and technical schools and 3,725 at public universities. Seven were enrolled at health-related institutes.

SOURCE: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

Her father donated the statue of Jesus that is placed on the left side of the sanctuary during Easter season.

She and her late husband contributed $1,000 to build the social hall.

But she doesn’t feel part of the church anymore.

As she tries to cope with the changing demographics, Cartwright said she feels out of place in a church where Spanish is now as common as English.

“My church isn’t my church anymore,” said Cartwright, a 72-year-old Fontana resident who attends Blessed John XXIII Parish.

Sounds like a plan Glenn, only, at the end of the day we don’t actually have any lawmakers that aren’t pandering to the illegals for the sake of votes.

On March 21 thousands of arrogant illegal aliens and their advocates will once again march on America’s Sovereignty in Washington D.C. demanding official amnesty. I say official amnesty because they obviously already have amnesty or they wouldn’t openly march screaming demands. However, unlike their past protests awash in a sea of foreign flag waving (Mostly Mexican flags) this year they’ve changed their tactics drastically to elicit sympathy—they will be waving mostly American flags. (Yes, we’ve seen Mexicans waving American flags in past marches, but ALL the flags were desecrated at some point in the protest). Don’t be fooled though. First of all, none of these arrogant criminals even own an American flag, the flags were bought and paid for by anti-US sovereignty/open border groups for the sole purpose of these marches; It’s eye candy to garner sympathy and trick you into believing they are Patriotic people. “They just want the American dream”. If that were true they wouldn’t be lying thieving parasitic illegal aliens, but honest hard working legal immigrants assimilating nicely into the American fabric. These criminals snuck into America’s house. They didn’t and don’t have the courtesy to even knock at her door. And after having snuck into her house uninvited they have the unmitigated gall to demand everything in the house is theirs.

Tax payer funded law UNenforcement will be there, but not to arrest these criminals, but to protect them from law abiding tax paying counter protestors; though law abiding citizens have been asked to stay away because illegal aliens and their advocates have been known to become violent when counter protested.

Here is a list of treasonous bastards sponsoring the illegal alien march on America’s sovereignty. U.S. Government.

Rashida Tlaib

By Jonathan Oosting– MLive

State Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) on Thursday introduced legislation that would extend workers’ compensation rights to illegal immigrants in Michigan.

Under the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act of 1969, Michigan employers are required to pay injured employees roughly 80 percent of their normal wages for a specified period — unless the employee cannot work because of imprisonment or commission of a crime.

Tlaib wants to amend the act to specify that “commission of a crime” does not include “alien’s working without employment authorization or an alien’s use of false documents.”

She’s not alone.

WILX reports Tlaib and a group of like-minded residents — some illegal immigrants — rallied for workers compensation rights at the State Capitol in Lansing on Thursday.

March 11, WILX.com: “We’re only one of two states in the nation that does not allow workers that are undocumented to compensate when they are injured on the job,” said state Rep. Rashida Tlaib from Detroit.

…”Allowing workers’ compensation for all injured workers is a better system than allowing people to be part of a black market of undocumented workers,” Tlaib said at the rally.

Some of her fellow lawmakers, though, say her bill doesn’t stand a chance.

“The only thing we should be giving illegal immigrants is a bus ride home,” said state Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, after hearing about the bill.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates Michigan had an illegal alien population of 125,000 as of 2008. Many aliens pay social security and real-estate taxes, but none are protected if they’re hurt on the job.
 
Nationally, the Center of Immigration Studies estimates that more than 50 percent of illegal immigrants work “on the books,” often providing employers with fraudulent documents.

Tlaib’s legislation — House Bill 5952 – was co-sponsored by Reps. Coleman Young, Vincent Gregory, Lesia Liss, Alma Wheeler Smith, Gabe Leland, Ellen Cogen Lipton and Bert Johnson.  It was referred to the Committee on Labor.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE– Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Thursday assured immigration advocates frustrated by the wait for a promised overhaul of U.S. immigration laws that he remains committed to fixing a system he has said is broken. What remains unclear is whether Congress will send him a bill this year.

Obama also met separately later in the day with Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who gave the president an outline of a bill they are drafting. Obama said afterward in a statement that he “looked forward to reviewing their promising framework.”

Obama said he told the senators and the advocacy groups that “my commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is unwavering, and that I will continue to be their partner in this important effort.”

The immigration issue is an important one for Obama, who has promised to work to solve the problem. Hispanics voted heavily for Obama in the 2008 presidential election, making the difference in key states like Florida, and their votes will be critical in the November midterm elections when Obama and his fellow Democrats will be fighting to maintain control of the House and Senate.

Latino voters who don’t think progress is being made on the issue may not go to the polls.

Graham said he told Obama “in no uncertain terms” that the immigration effort could stall in Congress if the health care bill, which Republicans oppose, moves forward under a special process known as budget reconciliation that would limit the GOP’s ability to derail the bill in the Senate.

“Using reconciliation to push health care through will make it much harder for Congress to come together on a topic as important as immigration,” Graham said.

Schumer said he and Graham asked Obama for help building support in the Senate for an immigration bill, and getting business and labor groups to agree on the future flow of lower-skilled labor.

The South Carolina Republican said Obama also promised to help resolve outstanding issues pertaining to “virtual fencing” along the border with Mexico to detect people trying to enter the U.S. illegally, and creation of a temporary worker program that is satisfactory to business.

Another idea on the table is some type of high-tech Social Security card to keep illegal immigrants from getting jobs.

After meeting for more than an hour with Obama, immigration advocates told reporters they want Schumer and Graham to at least release their blueprint before a planned March 21 demonstration at the Capitol, with a bill introduced in the Senate soon after.

The relatively short timetable for getting major legislation out of Congress in a midterm election year is one obstacle to getting a bill that combines tougher border enforcement with a pathway to legalization for the estimated 12 million people in the U.S. illegally.

“We had a very good discussion about the difficulties,” said Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union. “I think the president is well aware of it. So are we.”

Medina said the groups also want to discuss the issue with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Clarissa Martinez de Castro, director of immigration and national campaigns for the National Council of La Raza, said Obama told the groups he would make a statement with Schumer and Graham when they release the blueprint.

“It is undeniable that presidential leadership, greater presidential leadership is needed, and the president committed to doing that,” she said.

Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said the president agreed to help get a legislative framework out before the rally. She the groups also discussed enforcement.

“We want results,” Salas said. “That’s what we’re going to be expecting in the next couple of weeks.”

Judicial Watch

For the second consecutive year taxpayers in a single U.S. county will dish out more than half a billion dollars just to cover the welfare and food-stamp costs of illegal immigrants.  

Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, may be in the midst of a dire financial crisis but somehow there are plenty of funds for illegal aliens. In January alone, anchor babies born to the county’s illegal immigrants collected more than $50 million in welfare benefits. At that rate the cash-strapped county will pay around $600 million this year to provide illegal aliens’ offspring with food stamps and other welfare perks.

The exorbitant figure, revealed this week by a county supervisor, doesn’t even include the enormous cost of educating, medically treating or incarcerating illegal aliens in the sprawling county of about 10 million residents. Los Angeles County annually spends more than $1 billion for those combined services, including $500 million for healthcare and $350 million for public safety. 

About a quarter of the county’s welfare and food stamp issuances go to parents who reside in the United States illegally and collect benefits for their anchor babies, according to the figures from the county’s Department of Social Services. In 2009 the tab ran $570 million and this year’s figure is expected to increase by several million dollars. 

Illegal immigration continues to have a “catastrophic impact on Los Angeles County taxpayers,” the veteran county supervisor (Michael Antonovich) who revealed the information has said. The former fifth-grade history teacher has repeatedly come under fire from his liberal counterparts for publicizing statistics that confirm the devastation illegal immigration has had on the region. Antonovich, who has served on the board for nearly three decades, represents a portion of the county that is roughly twice the size of Rhode Island and has about 2 million residents.

His district is simply a snippet of a larger crisis. Nationwide, Americans pay around $22 billion annually to provide illegal immigrants with welfare benefits that include food assistance programs such as free school lunches in public schools, food stamps and a nutritional program (known as WIC) for low-income women and their children. Tens of billions more are spent on other social services, medical care, public education and legal costs such as incarceration and public defenders.

BY CRISTINA SILVA

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

[FYI: Earlier reports indicate that Jose Pedro Lopez Jasso is a Mexican illegal alien and previously deported]

SOS

At Saturday’s memorial services for Deputy Kenneth J. Collier in El Cajon, pallbearers carry the flag-draped casket into Shadow Mountain Church.

EL CAJON — More than 2,000 family, friends and colleagues of San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy Ken Collier bade farewell this morning to the officer who died Sunday while trying to intercept a wrong-way driver on state Route 52 near Santee.

Collier, 39, is the first county deputy to die in the line of duty in 13 years.

Most of the attendants were uniformed law enforcement officers who rode in marked vehicles in a 16-mile procession along Interstate 8 that began at Qualcomm Stadium and ended at Shadow Mountain Community Church near El Cajon.

Collier, who grew up in Santee and worked out of the sheriff’s station in that city, was given full honors as a law enforcement officer who died in the line of duty.

“He lived up to the oath,” Sheriff Bill Gore said during the service.

His casket was draped with the American flag and bagpipes played Amazing Grace. Outside the church, a sheriff’s honor guard of seven fired three volleys and three sheriff’s helicopters flew through the cloudy skies as hundreds of mourners looked on.

Collier died of injuries he suffered when his patrol car crashed and overturned during the pursuit of a wrong-way driver at about 3 a.m. Sunday. His car struck a freeway abutment and plunged several hundred feet down a hillside. His passenger, a county dispatcher, was injured but is expected to recover.

Collier was planning to marry his fiancee, Karen Li, on his 40th birthday in June.

Jose Pedro Lopez Jasso, 22, was arrested and pleaded not guilty Wednesday to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence causing death and drunken driving.