Phoenix News Blog

​

Here's one from the rumor mill:

Russell Pearce (above), the state senator from Mesa who's led the charge against illegal immigration in Arizona, could be appointed head of the state Department of Public Safety.

The Phoenix Business Journal and KTAR (92.3 FM) quote anonymous insiders at the state Capitol who are supposedly talking about this explosive idea. But if you support turning trooopers into migrant-hunting shock troops, don't get too excited. Governor Jan Brewer couldn't appoint Pearce sooner than 2011, Brewer's press secretary told the news outlets. There's the little matter of an election between now and then, and Brewer hasn't officially stated she'll run.

But maybe the law can be bent. If so, it would be a stunning change of the guard. 

​

A Border Patrol agent is suing the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, claiming he was traumatized after being stopped by ICE agents on a dark, rural road in southern Arizona and held at gunpoint.

Jess Cabe, who works out of the Border Patrol's Nogales Station, filed the lawsuit on September 4 in the U.S. District Court of Arizona against "three unknown named agents" of ICE.

A corresponding summons was sent to ICE in Tucson, says Cabe's Tucson attorney, David Monroe Quantz. It may sound odd to serve a summons to unknown agents, but a similar claim led to a 1971 Supreme Court decision that citizens can force the feds to pay cold cash when their Fourth Amendment rights are violated.

He claims he was driving to work on a rural road near Arivaca at about 10:45 p.m. on September 6, 2007, dressed in his Border Patrol uniform, when he was jumped by the ICE agents.

​

President Obama popped into a meeting today between government officials and immigrant advocates, saying he wants local 287(g)-authorized agencies "held accountable," a pro-immigrant group said today.

Reform Immigration for America stated in a news release that the president wasn't expected at the meeting in Washington D.C. on immigration reform, which was attended by representatives of immigrant-rights groups, "leaders from faith, business, law enforcement, and labor," senior White House officials and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. According to the group:

The President is clear that he wants immigration reform to move forward this year so that we can pass a bill early next year. To do that, we need to see more motion from Congress and more push from Secretary Napolitano. We hope to see detailed congressional proposals shortly after recess.

The President said specifically that when it comes to the local police charged with enforcing federal immigration law under 287(g) agreements that he wants these local law enforcement agencies held accountable. We continue to oppose expanding 287(g) agreements and other expansions of state and local involvement in federal enforcement issues, but we intend to make sure the President follows through on holding these police forces accountable. For example, it will be hard to feel that this administration is serious about taking a new approach to enforcement when bad actors like Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona continue to conduct sweeps through Latino neighborhoods under the authority of 287(g).

Image: Wikimedia Commons

​
When we read the headline to the latest news release from the Department of Public Safety, "Officer makes a traffic stop and discovers 97 undocumented aliens inside of a refrigerated commercial trailer," our first thought was -- good thing it was refrigerated, cause it's dang hot out.

Reading further though, it turns out the DPS meant really refrigerated. As in, a teeth-chattering 34 degrees. The smuggling load caught near Nogales contained a number of children aged 9 to 12. The DPS release quotes Matthew Allen, special agent in charge for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau's Phoenix investigation office:

These people were treated like cargo. They were crammed inside this truck and subjected to near freezing temperatures. Fortunately, due to the swift action of the law enforcement agencies involved in this case, none of these people came to any harm.

​

Deputies with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office busted two undocumented workers today after a cafe owner let the employees' secret slip.

The owner of Peppersauce Cafe, Denise Kimball, "blurted out" to a table full of lawmen -- including a deputy -- that "her cooks and dishwashers working in the back were all illegal aliens," a sheriff's office news release says.

The revelation prompted an employer sanctions investigation that resulted in the arrests of two people this morning at the cafe at 3937 East Anne Street in Phoenix.

www.tutor2u.net

With the current state of the United States economy being, well, horrifying, Mexican immigrants here are running for the border. 

A study released Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that the number of Mexican's entering the United States illegally has dropped nearly 40 percent in 2009, and found that nearly 500,000 immigrants already in the country have opted to go back to Mexico rather than try and brave the U.S. economic storm.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is conducting some kind of operation in the east Valley today, though exactly what it is we're not sure.

A source we trust called us this morning to say Sheriff Joe Arpaio's forces were engaged in another immigration/crime sweep in Chandler this morning. When we called Chandler police for confirmation, Sergeant Joe Favazzo tells us the Sheriff's Office advised his department it would be conducting "saturation patrols" in the east Valley cities of Chandler, Gilbert, and Mesa.

We imagine this is another blatant roundup of illegal immigrants, like the ones he's done in Guadalupe (where we took the above picture last year), Mesa, and other Hispanic-rich environments. If so, it would be an in-yer-face move to Homeland Security Secretary and ex-Governor Janet Napolitano, not to mention a hearty kick out the door for Mesa Police Chief (for one more day) George Gascon. Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lisa Allen couldn't be reached.

Guess we'll find out what Arpaio's plan is by the number of Mexicans he catches today.

New Times writer Paul Rubin's detailed analysis earlier this month of the 2008 bust at Waterworld Safari (now Wet & Wild) demonstrates just how tough it'll be to get a conviction against one of the company's managers.

To make this employer-sanctions case stick, prosecutors working for Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas will have to prove manager Lessie Serrano had knowingly hired illegal immigrants like herself. Whether Thomas can do that, thus sealing in the state's first prosecution of anyone for hiring an illegal worker, remains to be seen.

However, last week, Thomas was handed his first victory in the case. As his office announced yesterday, Superior Court Judge Paul McMurdie decided to reject Serrano's motions to dismiss. You can read the judge's decision, which contains a summary of the case, by clicking here.

Yesterday, as court records show, Serrano also lost a motion to remand the charges back to the grand jury for review.

So... The trial will go on as planned. It's currently scheduled for August 11.

An agent with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a Customs officer were arrested this morning after being indicted on suspicion of stealing government money.
Agent Michael J. Kittson, 34, and U.S. Customs Patrol Officer Douglas R. Bothof are named in a 47-count indictment that accuses them of buying more than $55,000 worth of personal goods with Border Patrol credit cards.
The agent and officer conspired with a former Customs officer and two employees of a Tucson-area auto shop to pimp out their rides, says a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona (scroll down for full text of release).
The men lived large with your tax money in numerous ways, the government alleges, buying expensive sunglasses, mini-bikes for their kids, "thousands of dollars in gift cards" and other stuff.
Maybe this isn't such a big deal, though -- just an unauthorized, miniature version of a federal economic stimulus program.

Plenty of noise has been made today about the arrest of Raphael Libardi, owner of a granite-importing business busted on suspicion of identity theft.

A news release by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas calls it a "historic first." An Associated Press article calls Libardi the "first business owner in Arizona to be criminally charged in an investigation of suspected employer sanctions violations."

But this bust, while interesting, isn't exactly groundbreaking. Libardi's an illegal immigrant who happens to own a business. Get back to us when you've got a real employer-sanctions case.

A private eye hired by the Recording Industry Association of America called the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for help with pirated movies, leading to the arrests of two illegal immigrants.

Two women in their 20s, Karina Romero-Figueroa, 24 and Judith Romero-Figueroa, [both pictured below], were busted at "the Mercado" near U.S. 60, according to a news release put out by the sheriff's office.
Another suspect fled the scene when deputies arrived, leaving teenagers behind who were handed over to Child Protective Services.

The women, who are being held without bond in jail, admitted they've been selling pirated movies for five bucks each for the past year.

Janet Napolitano, U.S. Homeland Security Security, announced today that federal contractors must use the E-Verify program to help weed out illegal immigrants.

Arizona law already requires use of the federal program for any business making a new hire and in state government contract work. About a third of businesses reportedly use the program in Arizona these days.

Immigrant-rights groups aren't happy with the decision, despite the scrapping of another program designed to stop undocumented foreigners from getting a job. And here's why: The E-Verify program may represent one of the greatest threats to the livelihoods of illegal immigrants.

It sounds like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has really turned up the heat on illegal immigrants. We did a double-take this morning after reading the following stat online. But then we saw the statement that Arpaio handed out yesterday at a news conference, which had the same figure:

The sheriff's office has arrested more than 4,000 illegal immigrants since March 10.

Most of these immigrants were turned over to the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a quick trip back to Mexico, where many of them -- no doubt -- high-tailed it straight back to the USA. County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced in April that his agency had prosecuted 1,000 illegal immigrants in three years on self-smuggling charges, so obviously just a few of the 4,000 spent much time in jail.

So-called "Border Czar" Alan Bersin and other Homeland Security officials met with state Attorney General Terry Goddard today to discuss how to get different agencies working better together.

During the meeting, Bersin (pictured above) reportedly called Arizona, "the most lawless corridor on the Southwest border."

We have no idea what that means, but it sounds bad.

President Obama seemed to express support for major immigration reform during a speech at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. this morning, promising better border security and a form of amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Obama says, "we're taking steps to strengthen border security, and we must build on those efforts. We must also clarify the status of millions who are here illegally, many who have put down roots."

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass makes this point today with quotes from a former immigration agent from Scottsdale, Neville Cramer (pictured). As we mentioned in our 2006 article about the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Cramer has been pushing a computerized employment system for years, and Kass' article notes that Cramer helped develop an early system. (Cramer claims we misunderstood something he said for the ICE article, but we still like him).

How times change.

Four years ago, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano sent the feds a bill for $118 million, the amount she said the state had paid to incarcerate illegal immigrant prisoners.

Now, as an A-list fed herself, Napolitano expects residents of her former home to be happy with $12.8 million in extra border security funds. The money is part of a $60 million package given nationwide, (to be fair, Arizona is getting the second biggest slice of the pie).

Napolitano is supposedly still pushing to get the feds to reiumburse states for the cost of imprisoning foreigners who commit crimes in the United States. But we're not hearing the same "frustration" that led to comments like these on CNN:

The Arizona Republic's immigration reporter, Daniel Gonzalez, came across some interesting stats today from the Phoenix Police Department's Professional Standards Bureau that show cops aren't asking arrestees about immigration status, like they're supposed to.

Police put the rule into effect in May of 2008 after months of controversial debate (which we covered in our September 30, 2008 article, "Police State.") But cops put immigration holds on only 81 people last year. By comparison, more than 7,200 people arrested by Phoenix police and booked into the Maricopa County jail were later found by jail staff to be illegal immigrants.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

So-called human traffickers were apparently trying to set up shop in Arizona before authorities caught up to them.

According a May indictment of 12 people, including eight from Uzbekistan, the alleged traffickers had already brought several immigrants to Missouri for construction projects, intentionally allowing them to overstay their work visas. Court records show the immigrants were sleeping in lightly furnished apartments and threatened with deportation by their bosses if they questioned the arrangments.

One of the suspects lived in Arizona and was the nearly subject of an investigation by local agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, says ICE spokesman Vincent Picard.

In a memo to the Flagstaff City Council,  City Manager Kevin Burke says he's decided against offering free office space at the police building to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office: