Tenant Faces 11 Counts Of Possession(CBS 11 News) Grapevine police confirm they arrested a man Tuesday at a Grapevine apartment complex after they found anabolic steroids in his apartment.
Authorities had a search warrant for the apartment in the 2700 block of Grapevine Mills Parkway. Police said they were told of a damaged parcel package that moved through JFK International Airport.
That Immigration and Customs Enforcement division took note of the Grapevine address and called the police there.According to the arrest warrant,"liquid vials and pill bottles were hidden inside the frame of an illuminated picture" in the package.
Grapevine PD spokesperson Sgt. Kim Smith said the department is not aware of this being tied to any bigger investigation or who the intended recipients of the steroids might be.
According to reports, Maen Odeh, 31, was the only resident and occupant of the apartment at the time of the arrest.
Authorities said Odeh was born in Kuwait and is a citizen of Jordan. They say he is in the U.S. on a conditional residence visa, which is usually issued to immigrants who have gotten married to a U.S. citizen within the last two years. Certain foreign investors are also eligible for a conditional residence visa. It's not clear how Odeh received his visa.
A spokesman for Wayland Baptist University in Plainview says Odeh, who is 6'10", played on its basketball team from 2000 to 2003.In addition to the package that came through New York, police also found anabolic steroids in other locations in Odeh's apartment.
Odeh is charged with 11 counts of possession of steroids. He bonded out of the Grapevine Jail Friday afternoon.
Showing posts with label OTM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OTM. Show all posts
September 5, 2008
August 28, 2008
Brennan Denied Bail Again
August 28, 2008
By Jim Dee
JUST weeks after three congressmen called for Maze escapee Pol Brennan to be released on bail from a Texas immigration jail, an appeals court has upheld his earlier bond denial, making it all but certain that the Belfast native will remain imprisoned until his next scheduled court appearance on September 24.
In issuing its ruling on Tuesday, the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Virginia, agreed with the Texas judge who denied Brennan bail in April on the grounds that he was a danger to society.
The court cited Brennan’s 1984 entry into the U.S. using a false name, and his later purchase of a targeting pistol using an alias, as proof that he had criminal tendencies. The court also noted a 2005 misdemeanor assault conviction, which Brennan received after an altercation with San Francisco contractor who’d refused to pay him $1,000 in wages owed.
Although Brennan has always insisted that the contractor assaulted him first, on advice from his lawyer he eventually pleaded guilty and subsequently paid a $1,500 fine and performed 500 hours of community service.
However, unlike Judge Howard Achstsam who has been overseeing Brennan’s case since he was stopped for having a lapsed U.S. work permit at a Texas immigration checkpoint in late January, the Board of Immigration Appeals court didn’t find that Brennan is a flight risk.
Last month, three congressmen – New York Republicans Peter King and Jim Walsh, and Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal – called for Brennan to be granted bail pending the outcome of deportation proceedings against him. They had insisted Brennan is not a flight risk, and cited the fact that he had twice been bailed from U.S. jails without incident when Britain was seeking his extradition in the 1990s.
Speaking to the Irish Voice on Tuesday, Brennan’s lawyer, San Francisco-based Jim Byrne, said that the fact that the appeals board ruled Brennan was not a flight risk was a positive development.
“We were glad that they overturned the judge on the issue that he was a flight risk, “ said Byrne, “But I disagree with the ruling that he is a danger to the community.”
He said he now plans to appeal the bond denial to a higher court.
Brennan was one the U.S. 38 IRA prisoners who escaped Northern Ireland’s Maze in September 1983. He entered the U.S. months later, and was eventually caught by the FBI in Berkeley, California in 1993.
Two years after 1998’s Good Friday peace agreement in the North, Britain abandoned its extradition case against him. U.S. authorities then granted him a work permit that allowed him to work as a carpenter in the San Francisco Bay area.
On January 27, while driving with his American wife of 19 years to visit friends in Texas, Brennan was detained at an immigration checkpoint because his work permit had expired. Although he’d applied to renew his permit, authorities hadn’t yet sent it to him by the time he was stopped.
Department of Homeland Security prosecutors now want to deport him for entering the US using an alias in 1984.
Brennan was held at Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas from January until later July, when the jail was evacuated as Hurricane Dolly approached on July 22. Since then Brennan has had three prison relocations which have taken him across nearly 2,000 miles of Texas and New Mexico in less than two weeks.
He is currently at the Willacy County Processing Center (WCPC) in Raymondville, Texas, a private prison run by Utah-based Management and Training Corporation (MTC).
Speaking to the Irish Voice from WPPC on Tuesday, Brennan said that he is particularly frustrated by the fact that the misdemeanor assault continues to disadvantage him.
“It was self-defense,” he said “The guy got aggressive with me first.”
“I’m disappointed with the ruling, but I’m not surprised,” he added. “I wasn’t expecting anything different. But now we’ll take it to the federal level.”
By Jim Dee
JUST weeks after three congressmen called for Maze escapee Pol Brennan to be released on bail from a Texas immigration jail, an appeals court has upheld his earlier bond denial, making it all but certain that the Belfast native will remain imprisoned until his next scheduled court appearance on September 24.
In issuing its ruling on Tuesday, the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Virginia, agreed with the Texas judge who denied Brennan bail in April on the grounds that he was a danger to society.
The court cited Brennan’s 1984 entry into the U.S. using a false name, and his later purchase of a targeting pistol using an alias, as proof that he had criminal tendencies. The court also noted a 2005 misdemeanor assault conviction, which Brennan received after an altercation with San Francisco contractor who’d refused to pay him $1,000 in wages owed.
Although Brennan has always insisted that the contractor assaulted him first, on advice from his lawyer he eventually pleaded guilty and subsequently paid a $1,500 fine and performed 500 hours of community service.
However, unlike Judge Howard Achstsam who has been overseeing Brennan’s case since he was stopped for having a lapsed U.S. work permit at a Texas immigration checkpoint in late January, the Board of Immigration Appeals court didn’t find that Brennan is a flight risk.
Last month, three congressmen – New York Republicans Peter King and Jim Walsh, and Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal – called for Brennan to be granted bail pending the outcome of deportation proceedings against him. They had insisted Brennan is not a flight risk, and cited the fact that he had twice been bailed from U.S. jails without incident when Britain was seeking his extradition in the 1990s.
Speaking to the Irish Voice on Tuesday, Brennan’s lawyer, San Francisco-based Jim Byrne, said that the fact that the appeals board ruled Brennan was not a flight risk was a positive development.
“We were glad that they overturned the judge on the issue that he was a flight risk, “ said Byrne, “But I disagree with the ruling that he is a danger to the community.”
He said he now plans to appeal the bond denial to a higher court.
Brennan was one the U.S. 38 IRA prisoners who escaped Northern Ireland’s Maze in September 1983. He entered the U.S. months later, and was eventually caught by the FBI in Berkeley, California in 1993.
Two years after 1998’s Good Friday peace agreement in the North, Britain abandoned its extradition case against him. U.S. authorities then granted him a work permit that allowed him to work as a carpenter in the San Francisco Bay area.
On January 27, while driving with his American wife of 19 years to visit friends in Texas, Brennan was detained at an immigration checkpoint because his work permit had expired. Although he’d applied to renew his permit, authorities hadn’t yet sent it to him by the time he was stopped.
Department of Homeland Security prosecutors now want to deport him for entering the US using an alias in 1984.
Brennan was held at Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas from January until later July, when the jail was evacuated as Hurricane Dolly approached on July 22. Since then Brennan has had three prison relocations which have taken him across nearly 2,000 miles of Texas and New Mexico in less than two weeks.
He is currently at the Willacy County Processing Center (WCPC) in Raymondville, Texas, a private prison run by Utah-based Management and Training Corporation (MTC).
Speaking to the Irish Voice from WPPC on Tuesday, Brennan said that he is particularly frustrated by the fact that the misdemeanor assault continues to disadvantage him.
“It was self-defense,” he said “The guy got aggressive with me first.”
“I’m disappointed with the ruling, but I’m not surprised,” he added. “I wasn’t expecting anything different. But now we’ll take it to the federal level.”
August 26, 2008
Agents find 62 illegal immigrants in home
Aug. 26, 2008
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMANAssociated Press Writer
EDINBURG, Texas -- Federal agents found 62 illegal immigrants in a two-bedroom house after receiving a tip about suspicious activity in a quiet neighborhood Tuesday.
Neighbors on both sides of the duplex where Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents found the immigrants were shocked by the news.
"I was just looking around thinking 'where would they all fit,'" said Cris Melaragno, who lives in another duplex next door. "I barely have room for me and my three kids."
Melaragno said she had spoken with her neighbors who shared the duplex with the stash house and they had never heard a sound.
"I can hear it when my neighbors play the radio," Melaragno said.
When she noticed the agents surrounding the house Tuesday morning, she came out but was told to go back inside.
The only thing that seemed suspicious in hindsight was a man who always entered the house after closing the garage door and who drove a variety of pickup trucks and jeeps, Melaragno said.
Mostly young families live in the new brick duplexes lining one side of a residential street.
The Border Patrol received a phone call reporting suspicious activity at the home Tuesday and went to check it out with ICE and the Edinburg Police Department, said Border Patrol spokesman Dan Doty.
Inside they found 62 people who appeared to be in good health. It was unknown how long they had been in the house, Doty said.
The undocumented immigrants hailed from a variety of Central American countries including Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Mexico, said ICE spokeswoman Adelina Pruneda.
"We're working leads to determine how they got into the country," Pruneda said. No arrests have been made.
Border Patrol processed the immigrants and they could be turned over to ICE for deportation, Doty said.
Yesenia Castro, who lives in the duplex on the other side of the stash house, was watching news of the illegal immigrant bust on television Tuesday evening and said she did not know anyone lived next door.
"I can't believe it either," Castro said in Spanish.
Doty said finding stash houses with so many illegal immigrants was more common eight to 10 years ago, but less so now.
"If you saw the house, you'd be shocked," he said. "It was a very nice neighborhood."
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMANAssociated Press Writer
EDINBURG, Texas -- Federal agents found 62 illegal immigrants in a two-bedroom house after receiving a tip about suspicious activity in a quiet neighborhood Tuesday.
Neighbors on both sides of the duplex where Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents found the immigrants were shocked by the news.
"I was just looking around thinking 'where would they all fit,'" said Cris Melaragno, who lives in another duplex next door. "I barely have room for me and my three kids."
Melaragno said she had spoken with her neighbors who shared the duplex with the stash house and they had never heard a sound.
"I can hear it when my neighbors play the radio," Melaragno said.
When she noticed the agents surrounding the house Tuesday morning, she came out but was told to go back inside.
The only thing that seemed suspicious in hindsight was a man who always entered the house after closing the garage door and who drove a variety of pickup trucks and jeeps, Melaragno said.
Mostly young families live in the new brick duplexes lining one side of a residential street.
The Border Patrol received a phone call reporting suspicious activity at the home Tuesday and went to check it out with ICE and the Edinburg Police Department, said Border Patrol spokesman Dan Doty.
Inside they found 62 people who appeared to be in good health. It was unknown how long they had been in the house, Doty said.
The undocumented immigrants hailed from a variety of Central American countries including Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Mexico, said ICE spokeswoman Adelina Pruneda.
"We're working leads to determine how they got into the country," Pruneda said. No arrests have been made.
Border Patrol processed the immigrants and they could be turned over to ICE for deportation, Doty said.
Yesenia Castro, who lives in the duplex on the other side of the stash house, was watching news of the illegal immigrant bust on television Tuesday evening and said she did not know anyone lived next door.
"I can't believe it either," Castro said in Spanish.
Doty said finding stash houses with so many illegal immigrants was more common eight to 10 years ago, but less so now.
"If you saw the house, you'd be shocked," he said. "It was a very nice neighborhood."
August 23, 2008
Border Star: Organizing against organized crime
BY TARA BOZICK - TBOZICK@VICAD.COM
August 23, 2008 - 12:00 a.m.
A constant flow of money, guns and illegal immigrants spill across the Texas border.
A clampdown of major state thoroughfares – U.S. highways 77 and 59, for example – increasingly push smugglers to ranch land and county roads.
In response last year, Texas created Operation Border Star – an intense multi-agency effort that attacks crime in targeted regions affected by the dangerous spillovers.
Sheriff’s coalitions work with the U.S. Border Patrol and border-area police departments – and receive state funding to do so.
Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael O’Connor is a key player in this alliance.
He was the driving force in forming the Coastal Corridor security sector, one of five state sectors that receives special attention and Border Star funding.
O’Connor also played a major role in creating a Joint Operations Intelligence Center in Victoria, said Steve McGraw, director of Texas Homeland Security.
Critics say the operation is failing. Instead of curbing illegal flows, critics say joint efforts simply push the crimes into even more dangerous areas – and force immigrants and smugglers to take desperate measures.
They say joining sheriffs with border agents increases the fears of immigrants, who won’t report crime if it’s likely they’ll be deported.
Everyone agrees these crimes, and the state’s vast, porous border, need more federal attention. As McGraw noted, the state’s border is only as safe as its weakest link.
Texas’ border covers about 65 percent of the country’s land union with Mexico. The state is a transshipment center for organized crime. Steep profits attract organized gangs.
“You’re seeing a militarization of the mafia,” McCraw said. “In a post-Sept 11 environment, we’ve got an obligation to secure our borders from all threats.”
Before Operation Border Star, the governor provided resources to local law enforcement through Operation Linebacker – a 2005 initiative that paid the way for increased patrols in high-threat areas.
Still, though, coyotes earned as much as $2,500 for smuggling a Mexican, and up to $55,000 for smuggling an immigrant from overseas, into the U.S.
“Their motive is money,” McCraw said. “We want to make it unprofitable for them to operate. We can say it’s not fair, it’s a federal responsibility. We can throw rocks or in this instance the governor can say, ‘We’re going to do something about it.’ ”
In 2007, and at Gov. Rick Perry’s prompting, the Texas legislature became the first to allocate funding for border security, authorizing $110 million to the fight.
“By joining together with our local, state and federal partners, we will support the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol, and protect our communities by dominating the border,” Perry said in 2007.
Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for the governor, said no one incident sparked the state funding. Rather, ongoing problems demanded money, she said.
“You can’t have Homeland Security without border security,” Castle said. “We’re not going to wait for the federal government to do what they should have been doing since the beginning.”
Perry appointed O’Connor to the Texas Border Security Council, which oversees border security and allocates funds to Operation Border Star.
Council members refuse to disclose each sector’s funding for fear such numbers would tip crime rings as to which regions to avoid – or which to exploit.
Funding is divvied every six months.
Clara Ramos, founder of Mexican Americans Joined in Community Affairs in Victoria, said state leaders are throwing money in the wrong directions.
“That’s our tax money going toward fighting something that is federal,” Ramos said. “We’ve got a lot of problems within our own city.”
Money isn’t the only painful costs, she said. Often, law enforcement pursuits end with dead illegal immigrants. Since O’Connor took office, she counts five such deaths.
Ira Mehlman, spokesman for Federation for American Immigration Reform, said more focus should be placed on employers.
If illegal immigrants cannot access jobs and services, they won’t risk their lives to come illegally, he said.
Ramos added that if Texas can be on the front line in border security, the state should lead in arranging work visas. In the form of a visa fee, Texas could charge immigrants the money they pay to smugglers.
“They come whichever way they can,” Ramos said. “You can’t control that. Look how long they’ve tried to stop illegal immigration, and it has never succeeded.”
Elizabeth Garcia is a member of the Coalition of Amigos in Solidarity and Action, a group in The Valley that opposes a border wall.
Violence among smugglers is on the rise, and the victims fear turning to U.S. sheriffs, she said. Undocumented workers now know sheriffs have close ties to border agents, a group that can deport immigrants.
And for unified crackdowns on the highways?
“What do you think immigrants will do? Try to go through the less-patrolled, more dangerous areas,” Garcia said.
Most Border Star supporters say efforts are working.
Law enforcement along the traditional trafficking routes report fewer attempts to cross in their areas.
“It’s gone tremendously down ever since Border Star,” Kleberg County Sheriff Ed Mata Sr. said. Instead of traveling on U.S. Highway 77 through urban areas, the traffickers use county roads.
Goliad County Sheriff Robert DeLaGarza agreed. His office records fewer bailouts and pursuits, he said.
Because traffickers see highway patrols, they’re trying northern routes through DeWitt and Karnes counties, he said.
Goliad has the lowest crime rate in the Golden Crescent, according to the Department of Public Safety Uniform Crime Reporting data.
More funding from Operation Border Star increases this success, DeLaGarza added.
It appears these crimes were just pushed elsewhere. DeWitt County Sheriff Jode Zavesky said his deputies see a carload of illegals every other day.
DeWitt County witnessed a spike in activity after sheriffs launched Border Patrol last year.
Still, Zavesky said teaming with Border Star is a must. If not, “smugglers will know they can come through here and have free reign,” he said.
Lavaca County, a new smuggling route north of Victoria, is active, too. Sheriff Micah Harmon said they frequently cross traffickers.
McGraw, the state’s Homeland Security director, said as efforts have increased arrests have dipped.
From 2005 to 2006, this former longtime FBI agent said 66 percent fewer illegal immigrants were arrested in Texas as compared to historical numbers.
Fewer illegals, then, are crossing the Texas border and into traditional areas, he said. Traffickers look for more cost-efficient ways into the country, which is most likely why 200 Border Patrol agents were reassigned to Arizona, he said.
“It’s working,” McCraw said.
O’Connor agreed.
“We’re fooling ourselves if we think we should only concern ourselves on crime in our county. The crime is mobile,” he said. “I do see a reduction in the corridor, but it’s not to the point we know the reason why. Because we’re putting on more pressure? Have we just diminished the flow into Texas?”
While the sheriff learns those answers, he said one thing is certain.
“The only way we’re going to shut it down is to be united in our efforts and aggressive in our nature. If we’re not aggressive – and we think it’s overwhelming now – it’ll definitely be overwhelming in years to come.”
Operation Border Star evolution:
2005: Governor’s office provides $9.8 million to 16 sheriffs’ departments on the border in Operation Linebacker.
February 2006: Operation Rio Grande teams local, state and federal law enforcement to conduct massive surge of operations along border.
January 2007: Operation Wrangler conducts surges statewide in known drug and crime corridors, using 6,000 local, state and federal personnel, 35 maritime patrollers, 45 helicopters and 33 fixed-wing aircraft.
September 2007: Operation Border Star receives $110 million from the Texas legislature and continues surge operations along the border and in high-threat areas. Resources include: DPS troopers, Texas Rangers, Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens, Texas Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Border Patrol and local police and sheriffs’ departments
Source: Office of the GovernorBorder security statistics
since 2005: 65% decrease in index crime in unincorporated areas of the border.
45% decrease in illegal immigrant apprehension.
Since March 2006, 68 1illegal immigrants apprehended from countries with known ties to terrorism.
Source: Office of the Governor
Drugs and money seized
since March 2006:1,515,313 pounds of marijuana
1,478 pounds of methamphetamines
29,320 pounds of cocaine
176 pounds of heroin
$50,678,237 in currency
Source: Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, Texas
August 23, 2008 - 12:00 a.m.
A constant flow of money, guns and illegal immigrants spill across the Texas border.
A clampdown of major state thoroughfares – U.S. highways 77 and 59, for example – increasingly push smugglers to ranch land and county roads.
In response last year, Texas created Operation Border Star – an intense multi-agency effort that attacks crime in targeted regions affected by the dangerous spillovers.
Sheriff’s coalitions work with the U.S. Border Patrol and border-area police departments – and receive state funding to do so.
Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael O’Connor is a key player in this alliance.
He was the driving force in forming the Coastal Corridor security sector, one of five state sectors that receives special attention and Border Star funding.
O’Connor also played a major role in creating a Joint Operations Intelligence Center in Victoria, said Steve McGraw, director of Texas Homeland Security.
Critics say the operation is failing. Instead of curbing illegal flows, critics say joint efforts simply push the crimes into even more dangerous areas – and force immigrants and smugglers to take desperate measures.
They say joining sheriffs with border agents increases the fears of immigrants, who won’t report crime if it’s likely they’ll be deported.
Everyone agrees these crimes, and the state’s vast, porous border, need more federal attention. As McGraw noted, the state’s border is only as safe as its weakest link.
Texas’ border covers about 65 percent of the country’s land union with Mexico. The state is a transshipment center for organized crime. Steep profits attract organized gangs.
“You’re seeing a militarization of the mafia,” McCraw said. “In a post-Sept 11 environment, we’ve got an obligation to secure our borders from all threats.”
Before Operation Border Star, the governor provided resources to local law enforcement through Operation Linebacker – a 2005 initiative that paid the way for increased patrols in high-threat areas.
Still, though, coyotes earned as much as $2,500 for smuggling a Mexican, and up to $55,000 for smuggling an immigrant from overseas, into the U.S.
“Their motive is money,” McCraw said. “We want to make it unprofitable for them to operate. We can say it’s not fair, it’s a federal responsibility. We can throw rocks or in this instance the governor can say, ‘We’re going to do something about it.’ ”
In 2007, and at Gov. Rick Perry’s prompting, the Texas legislature became the first to allocate funding for border security, authorizing $110 million to the fight.
“By joining together with our local, state and federal partners, we will support the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol, and protect our communities by dominating the border,” Perry said in 2007.
Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for the governor, said no one incident sparked the state funding. Rather, ongoing problems demanded money, she said.
“You can’t have Homeland Security without border security,” Castle said. “We’re not going to wait for the federal government to do what they should have been doing since the beginning.”
Perry appointed O’Connor to the Texas Border Security Council, which oversees border security and allocates funds to Operation Border Star.
Council members refuse to disclose each sector’s funding for fear such numbers would tip crime rings as to which regions to avoid – or which to exploit.
Funding is divvied every six months.
Clara Ramos, founder of Mexican Americans Joined in Community Affairs in Victoria, said state leaders are throwing money in the wrong directions.
“That’s our tax money going toward fighting something that is federal,” Ramos said. “We’ve got a lot of problems within our own city.”
Money isn’t the only painful costs, she said. Often, law enforcement pursuits end with dead illegal immigrants. Since O’Connor took office, she counts five such deaths.
Ira Mehlman, spokesman for Federation for American Immigration Reform, said more focus should be placed on employers.
If illegal immigrants cannot access jobs and services, they won’t risk their lives to come illegally, he said.
Ramos added that if Texas can be on the front line in border security, the state should lead in arranging work visas. In the form of a visa fee, Texas could charge immigrants the money they pay to smugglers.
“They come whichever way they can,” Ramos said. “You can’t control that. Look how long they’ve tried to stop illegal immigration, and it has never succeeded.”
Elizabeth Garcia is a member of the Coalition of Amigos in Solidarity and Action, a group in The Valley that opposes a border wall.
Violence among smugglers is on the rise, and the victims fear turning to U.S. sheriffs, she said. Undocumented workers now know sheriffs have close ties to border agents, a group that can deport immigrants.
And for unified crackdowns on the highways?
“What do you think immigrants will do? Try to go through the less-patrolled, more dangerous areas,” Garcia said.
Most Border Star supporters say efforts are working.
Law enforcement along the traditional trafficking routes report fewer attempts to cross in their areas.
“It’s gone tremendously down ever since Border Star,” Kleberg County Sheriff Ed Mata Sr. said. Instead of traveling on U.S. Highway 77 through urban areas, the traffickers use county roads.
Goliad County Sheriff Robert DeLaGarza agreed. His office records fewer bailouts and pursuits, he said.
Because traffickers see highway patrols, they’re trying northern routes through DeWitt and Karnes counties, he said.
Goliad has the lowest crime rate in the Golden Crescent, according to the Department of Public Safety Uniform Crime Reporting data.
More funding from Operation Border Star increases this success, DeLaGarza added.
It appears these crimes were just pushed elsewhere. DeWitt County Sheriff Jode Zavesky said his deputies see a carload of illegals every other day.
DeWitt County witnessed a spike in activity after sheriffs launched Border Patrol last year.
Still, Zavesky said teaming with Border Star is a must. If not, “smugglers will know they can come through here and have free reign,” he said.
Lavaca County, a new smuggling route north of Victoria, is active, too. Sheriff Micah Harmon said they frequently cross traffickers.
McGraw, the state’s Homeland Security director, said as efforts have increased arrests have dipped.
From 2005 to 2006, this former longtime FBI agent said 66 percent fewer illegal immigrants were arrested in Texas as compared to historical numbers.
Fewer illegals, then, are crossing the Texas border and into traditional areas, he said. Traffickers look for more cost-efficient ways into the country, which is most likely why 200 Border Patrol agents were reassigned to Arizona, he said.
“It’s working,” McCraw said.
O’Connor agreed.
“We’re fooling ourselves if we think we should only concern ourselves on crime in our county. The crime is mobile,” he said. “I do see a reduction in the corridor, but it’s not to the point we know the reason why. Because we’re putting on more pressure? Have we just diminished the flow into Texas?”
While the sheriff learns those answers, he said one thing is certain.
“The only way we’re going to shut it down is to be united in our efforts and aggressive in our nature. If we’re not aggressive – and we think it’s overwhelming now – it’ll definitely be overwhelming in years to come.”
Operation Border Star evolution:
2005: Governor’s office provides $9.8 million to 16 sheriffs’ departments on the border in Operation Linebacker.
February 2006: Operation Rio Grande teams local, state and federal law enforcement to conduct massive surge of operations along border.
January 2007: Operation Wrangler conducts surges statewide in known drug and crime corridors, using 6,000 local, state and federal personnel, 35 maritime patrollers, 45 helicopters and 33 fixed-wing aircraft.
September 2007: Operation Border Star receives $110 million from the Texas legislature and continues surge operations along the border and in high-threat areas. Resources include: DPS troopers, Texas Rangers, Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens, Texas Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Border Patrol and local police and sheriffs’ departments
Source: Office of the GovernorBorder security statistics
since 2005: 65% decrease in index crime in unincorporated areas of the border.
45% decrease in illegal immigrant apprehension.
Since March 2006, 68 1illegal immigrants apprehended from countries with known ties to terrorism.
Source: Office of the Governor
Drugs and money seized
since March 2006:1,515,313 pounds of marijuana
1,478 pounds of methamphetamines
29,320 pounds of cocaine
176 pounds of heroin
$50,678,237 in currency
Source: Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, Texas
August 2, 2008
Life, 109 years given
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Life, 109 years given
Jose Epifanio Ayala Nunez
An illegal immigrant from Honduras received a 109-year sentence after he pleaded guilty in 100th District Court in Wellington on Thursday to charges of sexual assault.
Jose Epifanio Ayala Nunez, 42, originally was indicted on 13 felony counts for his involvement in three burglaries in Wellington that resulted in an attempted aggravated sexual assault and two aggravated sexual assaults during a five-week period in March and April.
District Judge Stuart Messer accepted Nunez's guilty plea to two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault of an elderly woman, for which he received a life sentence in the Texas Department of Corrections.
In addition, he received a 10-year stacked sentence on two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, which equals a total of 109 years, 100th District Attorney Luke Inman reported.
"Our first priority in these case was to satisfy the victims and to make certain this man would never be able to do this again," Inman said in a written statement.
"This plea accomplishes this goal and brings closure to many families affected by Nunez's heinous acts towards these women."
-Staff writer Dan Packard
Life, 109 years given
Jose Epifanio Ayala Nunez
An illegal immigrant from Honduras received a 109-year sentence after he pleaded guilty in 100th District Court in Wellington on Thursday to charges of sexual assault.
Jose Epifanio Ayala Nunez, 42, originally was indicted on 13 felony counts for his involvement in three burglaries in Wellington that resulted in an attempted aggravated sexual assault and two aggravated sexual assaults during a five-week period in March and April.
District Judge Stuart Messer accepted Nunez's guilty plea to two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault of an elderly woman, for which he received a life sentence in the Texas Department of Corrections.
In addition, he received a 10-year stacked sentence on two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, which equals a total of 109 years, 100th District Attorney Luke Inman reported.
"Our first priority in these case was to satisfy the victims and to make certain this man would never be able to do this again," Inman said in a written statement.
"This plea accomplishes this goal and brings closure to many families affected by Nunez's heinous acts towards these women."
-Staff writer Dan Packard
July 31, 2008
FBI launches Arkansas jewelry heists investigation
Thu, Jul. 31, 2008
By JON GAMBRELLAssociated Press Writer
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The million-dollar robberies occurred in the parking lots of jewelry stores, hotels and restaurants and took but a few terrifying seconds.
Masked gunmen and knife-wielding attackers ambushed cars and smashed windows to scare jewelry salesmen and couriers into submission before whisking away their merchandise. The thieves, focused enough to frisk their victims, remain at large after heists across the South.
In Arkansas, the FBI is launching an investigation into the robberies, including the latest: a daytime heist Tuesday in Little Rock in which thieves made off with $500,000 in jewelry. Agents say that robbery, matching two others last month in Pine Bluff and Nashville, Tenn., shares similarities with a string of jewelry thefts in Houston worth at least $3.5 million.
"In cases like these, it's standard investigative procedure for the FBI to check other FBI field offices for similar types of crimes," said Steve Frazier, a spokesman for the FBI's Little Rock field office.
In Houston, police have responded to at least six robberies of jewelry salesmen and couriers since April, one netting nearly $1.5 million in diamonds. Officers say the thieves used pepper spray, pistol-whipping and knives to threaten their victims.
"They definitely appear to be preplanned," said Shauna Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Houston field office. "They appear to know where these individuals are going to be at a particular time."
FBI and police suspect the thefts could be part of what the bureau refers to as "South American Theft Groups." Agents say the groups, illegal immigrants from countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, stake out traveling salesmen and jewelry shows and sometimes trek across the country for heists.
Investigators recently arrested three Colombian nationals loitering around Houston-area jewelry stores. Dunlap said the men, held for illegally re-entering the United States, were being questioned about the robberies.
In June, robbers attacked couriers at a hotel in Nashville and a strip mall in Pine Bluff. Both victims told police the attacks happened quickly, with one jeweler even losing the diamonds hidden inside his socks. Each man reported losing about $500,000 in stones during the heists.
Tuesday's lunchtime robbery, along a well-traveled street in Arkansas' capital, targeted a salesman who flew into Little Rock National Airport on a private plane.
Despite keeping their travel plans quiet, jewelry salesmen make tempting targets, often traveling alone and carrying high-priced stones. The Jewelers' Security Alliance said traveling salesmen in the U.S. lost $39.5 million in stones last year in robberies and thefts.
By JON GAMBRELLAssociated Press Writer
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The million-dollar robberies occurred in the parking lots of jewelry stores, hotels and restaurants and took but a few terrifying seconds.
Masked gunmen and knife-wielding attackers ambushed cars and smashed windows to scare jewelry salesmen and couriers into submission before whisking away their merchandise. The thieves, focused enough to frisk their victims, remain at large after heists across the South.
In Arkansas, the FBI is launching an investigation into the robberies, including the latest: a daytime heist Tuesday in Little Rock in which thieves made off with $500,000 in jewelry. Agents say that robbery, matching two others last month in Pine Bluff and Nashville, Tenn., shares similarities with a string of jewelry thefts in Houston worth at least $3.5 million.
"In cases like these, it's standard investigative procedure for the FBI to check other FBI field offices for similar types of crimes," said Steve Frazier, a spokesman for the FBI's Little Rock field office.
In Houston, police have responded to at least six robberies of jewelry salesmen and couriers since April, one netting nearly $1.5 million in diamonds. Officers say the thieves used pepper spray, pistol-whipping and knives to threaten their victims.
"They definitely appear to be preplanned," said Shauna Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Houston field office. "They appear to know where these individuals are going to be at a particular time."
FBI and police suspect the thefts could be part of what the bureau refers to as "South American Theft Groups." Agents say the groups, illegal immigrants from countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, stake out traveling salesmen and jewelry shows and sometimes trek across the country for heists.
Investigators recently arrested three Colombian nationals loitering around Houston-area jewelry stores. Dunlap said the men, held for illegally re-entering the United States, were being questioned about the robberies.
In June, robbers attacked couriers at a hotel in Nashville and a strip mall in Pine Bluff. Both victims told police the attacks happened quickly, with one jeweler even losing the diamonds hidden inside his socks. Each man reported losing about $500,000 in stones during the heists.
Tuesday's lunchtime robbery, along a well-traveled street in Arkansas' capital, targeted a salesman who flew into Little Rock National Airport on a private plane.
Despite keeping their travel plans quiet, jewelry salesmen make tempting targets, often traveling alone and carrying high-priced stones. The Jewelers' Security Alliance said traveling salesmen in the U.S. lost $39.5 million in stones last year in robberies and thefts.
July 8, 2008
African smuggling rings seen as possible threat
Tue, Jul. 08, 2008
By EILEEN SULLIVANThe Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The intercepted e-mail was alarmingly matter-of-fact for anyone worried about a new terror attack: "getting into U.S is no problem at all. thats what i do best."
The Ghanaian man who wrote it is in prison, accused of smuggling East Africans into the United States via Latin America for economic reasons. But the government worries that such operations also could be used to sneak terrorists into the U.S. now that passports and other travel documents have become harder to acquire and more difficult to fake.
Intelligence officials are focusing new attention on these networks that smuggle people from Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan, according to an internal government assessment obtained by The Associated Press.
In the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, U.S. officials caught 372 East Africans trying to get into the country, the assessment said. This is the most from these countries since the Homeland Security Department was formed in 2003. And 159 people from the same countries have been caught trying to enter since Oct. 1 — including 138 from Eritrea, far more than any other country in the Horn of Africa.
"Anytime we shut down a smuggling organization, there’s always somebody there to step in the place," said Scott Hatfield, unit chief of the Human Smuggling division at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "There’s always that potential that a terrorist might use an established network to come to the U.S."
Authorities shut down one major East African pipeline in 2007, according to court documents reviewed by AP.
According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the smugglers had associates in Africa, typically corrupt officials. And they chose their routes based on which transit points employ easily bribed authorities.
Routes have included traveling from East Africa to Johannesburg, South Africa, and from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo, Brazil. East Africans also flew from Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Rome to Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela in 2007, according to the intelligence assessment.
East Africans are mostly coming to the U.S. because job opportunities don’t exist in their home countries.
One senior intelligence official said there’s little evidence yet of East Africans trying to cross into the U.S. to engage in terrorist activity. The official requested anonymity because the information in the assessment is not public.
As computer chips and biometrics are required more often for travel documents, terrorists will have a more difficult time entering the U.S. and could potentially use these smuggling routes as an alternative, said Hatfield, the immigration official who heads the human smuggling division.
By EILEEN SULLIVANThe Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The intercepted e-mail was alarmingly matter-of-fact for anyone worried about a new terror attack: "getting into U.S is no problem at all. thats what i do best."
The Ghanaian man who wrote it is in prison, accused of smuggling East Africans into the United States via Latin America for economic reasons. But the government worries that such operations also could be used to sneak terrorists into the U.S. now that passports and other travel documents have become harder to acquire and more difficult to fake.
Intelligence officials are focusing new attention on these networks that smuggle people from Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan, according to an internal government assessment obtained by The Associated Press.
In the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, U.S. officials caught 372 East Africans trying to get into the country, the assessment said. This is the most from these countries since the Homeland Security Department was formed in 2003. And 159 people from the same countries have been caught trying to enter since Oct. 1 — including 138 from Eritrea, far more than any other country in the Horn of Africa.
"Anytime we shut down a smuggling organization, there’s always somebody there to step in the place," said Scott Hatfield, unit chief of the Human Smuggling division at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "There’s always that potential that a terrorist might use an established network to come to the U.S."
Authorities shut down one major East African pipeline in 2007, according to court documents reviewed by AP.
According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the smugglers had associates in Africa, typically corrupt officials. And they chose their routes based on which transit points employ easily bribed authorities.
Routes have included traveling from East Africa to Johannesburg, South Africa, and from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo, Brazil. East Africans also flew from Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Rome to Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela in 2007, according to the intelligence assessment.
East Africans are mostly coming to the U.S. because job opportunities don’t exist in their home countries.
One senior intelligence official said there’s little evidence yet of East Africans trying to cross into the U.S. to engage in terrorist activity. The official requested anonymity because the information in the assessment is not public.
As computer chips and biometrics are required more often for travel documents, terrorists will have a more difficult time entering the U.S. and could potentially use these smuggling routes as an alternative, said Hatfield, the immigration official who heads the human smuggling division.
July 7, 2008
Agent Shoots At Suspects Near Canadian Border
Jul 7, 2008 10:08 am US/Central
DERBY LINE, Vt. (AP) ― A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot at three suspects early Monday after being assaulted on a residential street near the U.S.-Canada border, the agency said.
An officer on routine patrol spotted the three people -- two male and one female -- walking in Derby Line at about 2:15 a.m., said spokesman Mark Henry. The agent, who was not identified, spoke with the three people briefly before they began assaulting him, he said.
"They knocked him down, there was a struggle," Henry said.
"One subject started punching and hitting him; at that point he became concerned for his life.
"The agent fired two shots. A male and female suspect were taken into custody. The third person fled into Canada.
Neither person in custody was wounded. Agents don't know about the other suspect.
Henry said he couldn't release the names of those in custody and he didn't know their nationalities.
Derby Line is a series of residential streets and buildings that straddle the border.
In October, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested more than 40 people trying to enter Canada illegally through Derby Line.
In August, a Border Patrol agent in Alburgh, Vt., fired his weapon at a car that had illegally entered the country after the driver tried to run him over. There have been no arrests in that case.
At the time, Border Patrol officials said they believed it was the first time one of their agents fired a weapon at the border in the northeastern United States.
DERBY LINE, Vt. (AP) ― A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot at three suspects early Monday after being assaulted on a residential street near the U.S.-Canada border, the agency said.
An officer on routine patrol spotted the three people -- two male and one female -- walking in Derby Line at about 2:15 a.m., said spokesman Mark Henry. The agent, who was not identified, spoke with the three people briefly before they began assaulting him, he said.
"They knocked him down, there was a struggle," Henry said.
"One subject started punching and hitting him; at that point he became concerned for his life.
"The agent fired two shots. A male and female suspect were taken into custody. The third person fled into Canada.
Neither person in custody was wounded. Agents don't know about the other suspect.
Henry said he couldn't release the names of those in custody and he didn't know their nationalities.
Derby Line is a series of residential streets and buildings that straddle the border.
In October, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested more than 40 people trying to enter Canada illegally through Derby Line.
In August, a Border Patrol agent in Alburgh, Vt., fired his weapon at a car that had illegally entered the country after the driver tried to run him over. There have been no arrests in that case.
At the time, Border Patrol officials said they believed it was the first time one of their agents fired a weapon at the border in the northeastern United States.
June 30, 2008
Man accused of killing officer is an illegal immigrant
10:15 PM CDT on Monday, June 30, 2008
By Jeff McShan / 11 News
HOUSTON -- From his hospital bed, Houston police officer Joe Pyland spent much of Monday answering phone calls and welcoming visitors.
The outpouring of support is helping him cope with his injuries and dealing with the overwhelming loss of his friend Officer Gary Gryder.
Pyland and Gryder were working traffic control along a Katy Freeway feeder road on Sunday when a driver smashed through some road barricades and struck the officers. Gryder was killed and Pyland was seriously injured.
“I lost a friend, you lost a friend. We lost a great police officer,” Pyland said in an exclusive interview with 11 News. “I’m guessing another two or three inches and I am probably gone also.”
Investigators said it is unclear if the driver of the car, Hung Truong, even saw the barricades or the flashing lights on the police car before the collision. Police said preliminary toxicology reports show that no alcohol or drugs were found in his system.
Still, he has been charged with manslaughter. Harris County court records also revealed that Truong is an illegal immigrant.
“You know, a car coming 70 miles-per-hour, a couple of barricades are not going to do nothing. Plus my overhead lights on the vehicle were on,” said Pyland. “I was on the ground. I had been struck and Gary had been knocked a distance from the vehicle.
“Just from experience, I know that is not good.”
It wasn’t.
Families for both officers waited anxiously in the emergency room as doctors and nurses worked to save their lives. Pyland’s wife Mary was not far from Gryder’s family when they received the devastating news.
“When we were in the ER trauma room, my husband was in one room. There’s a nurses station and there was the other family saying goodbye,” she said. “I was telling my family it could have been reversed. And we feel so lucky.”
Just a day after the incident, Pyland was vowing to return to the streets. However, not before his broken leg and heavy heart heal first.
“A police officer is conditioned to go back to work. This isn’t the first tragic situation,” said Pyland. “You know you get back on the saddle and get back to it.”
Related
By Jeff McShan / 11 News
HOUSTON -- From his hospital bed, Houston police officer Joe Pyland spent much of Monday answering phone calls and welcoming visitors.
The outpouring of support is helping him cope with his injuries and dealing with the overwhelming loss of his friend Officer Gary Gryder.
Pyland and Gryder were working traffic control along a Katy Freeway feeder road on Sunday when a driver smashed through some road barricades and struck the officers. Gryder was killed and Pyland was seriously injured.
“I lost a friend, you lost a friend. We lost a great police officer,” Pyland said in an exclusive interview with 11 News. “I’m guessing another two or three inches and I am probably gone also.”
Investigators said it is unclear if the driver of the car, Hung Truong, even saw the barricades or the flashing lights on the police car before the collision. Police said preliminary toxicology reports show that no alcohol or drugs were found in his system.
Still, he has been charged with manslaughter. Harris County court records also revealed that Truong is an illegal immigrant.
“You know, a car coming 70 miles-per-hour, a couple of barricades are not going to do nothing. Plus my overhead lights on the vehicle were on,” said Pyland. “I was on the ground. I had been struck and Gary had been knocked a distance from the vehicle.
“Just from experience, I know that is not good.”
It wasn’t.
Families for both officers waited anxiously in the emergency room as doctors and nurses worked to save their lives. Pyland’s wife Mary was not far from Gryder’s family when they received the devastating news.
“When we were in the ER trauma room, my husband was in one room. There’s a nurses station and there was the other family saying goodbye,” she said. “I was telling my family it could have been reversed. And we feel so lucky.”
Just a day after the incident, Pyland was vowing to return to the streets. However, not before his broken leg and heavy heart heal first.
“A police officer is conditioned to go back to work. This isn’t the first tragic situation,” said Pyland. “You know you get back on the saddle and get back to it.”
Related
June 28, 2008
3 plead guilty over immigrant smuggling in Houston
3 plead guilty over immigrant smuggling in Houston
HOUSTON — Three smugglers face maximum 10-year prison terms after more than 20 illegal immigrants were found in two homes in Houston.
The U.S. attorney's office says sentencing is Sept. 19 for Everardo Flores-Castaneda and Arturo Hernandez-Villegas, both of Mexico, and Gelber Cornelio Pereira of Brazil.
The three pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to harbor and transport illegal aliens.
Each could also be fined up to $250,000.
Federal agents in January received calls from families of some illegal immigrants reporting their relatives were held by smugglers demanding up to $15,000 ransom per person.
Surveillance helped lead to one house with 15 illegal immigrants, and another with six immigrants, including a 6-year-old boy.
___
June 27, 2008 - 3:40 p.m. CDT
Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
HOUSTON — Three smugglers face maximum 10-year prison terms after more than 20 illegal immigrants were found in two homes in Houston.
The U.S. attorney's office says sentencing is Sept. 19 for Everardo Flores-Castaneda and Arturo Hernandez-Villegas, both of Mexico, and Gelber Cornelio Pereira of Brazil.
The three pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to harbor and transport illegal aliens.
Each could also be fined up to $250,000.
Federal agents in January received calls from families of some illegal immigrants reporting their relatives were held by smugglers demanding up to $15,000 ransom per person.
Surveillance helped lead to one house with 15 illegal immigrants, and another with six immigrants, including a 6-year-old boy.
___
June 27, 2008 - 3:40 p.m. CDT
Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
June 26, 2008
Texas man charged in NY with holding immigrants hostage
The Associated Press
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- New York prosecutors have filed federal charges against a Texas man accused of holding illegal immigrants hostage in an attic.
John Ernest Guerrero of the Houston suburb of Pearland is charged with kidnapping and unlawfully bringing in and harboring illegal immigrants.
His lawyer has said Guerro - a community college student who worked at his family's Texas landscaping business - was merely visiting his cousin's house in Port Chester, N.Y.
Guerrero was arrested March 29 after two Brazilian men flagged down a police car. They said they'd paid $10,000 to be smuggled from Mexico into Texas. The men said one captor held a wire cutter to a hostage's finger and demanded an extra $2,000.
Guerrero is to appear July 22 in White Plains federal court.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- New York prosecutors have filed federal charges against a Texas man accused of holding illegal immigrants hostage in an attic.
John Ernest Guerrero of the Houston suburb of Pearland is charged with kidnapping and unlawfully bringing in and harboring illegal immigrants.
His lawyer has said Guerro - a community college student who worked at his family's Texas landscaping business - was merely visiting his cousin's house in Port Chester, N.Y.
Guerrero was arrested March 29 after two Brazilian men flagged down a police car. They said they'd paid $10,000 to be smuggled from Mexico into Texas. The men said one captor held a wire cutter to a hostage's finger and demanded an extra $2,000.
Guerrero is to appear July 22 in White Plains federal court.
Employer arrests could follow Houston immigration raid
June 26, 2008, 12:10AM
Employer arrests could follow Houston immigration raid
Immigration agents detain 166 undocumented workers at east side plant
By JAMES PINKERTON and SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
As anxious relatives stood outside, van after van of mostly female undocumented workers were removed from a sweltering rag-sorting factory on Houston's east side and whisked to an immigration processing facility.
The early morning raid Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, while netting 166 undocumented workers, did not include arrests of company officials with Action Rags USA. But those charges may be on the way.
"The office of investigation is looking at allegations of the hiring of illegal aliens, which is a crime," said Special Agent Bob Rutt, of the Houston ICE office. Arresting illegal immigrants was "a collateral part" of the investigation, he said. "Our focus, ICE's overall focus, is targeting the employer."
Rutt, however, referred inquiries about possible criminal charges in Wednesday's raid case, as well as one at Shipley Do-Nuts in Houston, to federal prosecutors. There have been no arrests of Shipley managers or company officials.
"As it pertains to Shipley Do-Nuts, we cannot confirm or deny the existence of a criminal investigation," said Angela Dodge, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston.
"I think everybody recognizes that to get a handle on this, ... you have to go after the employer," said Steven Camarota, director of research with the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates stricter immigration controls.
In fiscal 2007, ICE secured fines and forfeitures of more than $30 million in worksite enforcement cases, according to the agency's annual report. ICE did not provide statistics on the number of employers criminally charged last year.
Employer prosecutions aren't "the biggest bang for the buck, as far as the way ICE is thinking about it," said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration think tank based in Washington, D.C.
"It's much easier and gets more headlines to arrest a lot of people," Papademetriou said. "To make a case against an employer requires time and significant investments of investigative resources. Sometimes it takes half a year, or a year."
ICE began investigating Action Rags USA a year ago after learning about hiring practices from a former employee.
The Wednesday raid, which involved 200 ICE agents, started shortly after work began at 7 a.m. at the sorting facility at 1225 Port Houston.
Late Wednesday, ICE officials said of the 166 workers they detained, 130 were females, including 10 who were pregnant. In all, 66 undocumented workers were released for humanitarian reasons, including pregnancy and child care issues, and were told to report to an immigration judge.
The workers who remain detained could be processed for removal from the U.S. The arrest tally included 135 from Mexico, 12 from Honduras, 10 from Guatemala, eight from El Salvador, and one whose nationality is unknown, ICE officials said.
'We were like a family'
The raid surprised many workers as they began a day of sorting bales of used clothing in the un-airconditioned facility. The clothing is shipped worldwide, according to a company Web site, or processed into rags for industry.
A woman who identified herself as a company supervisor said many of the workers initially didn't believe a raid was under way, noting false reports of raids in the past year.
"But when I came out to look, the agents were at the doors, and they had surrounded the warehouse," said Brenda, who gave only her first name. "They started yelling for us to sit down. They started searching us to see if we had knives or weapons."
Brenda said workers who ran from federal agents or tried to hide were handcuffed "and treated like criminals."
"When I left I was crying, because we all got along well," she said. "We were like a family."
ICE officials said four workers were taken to area hospitals due to anxiety attacks and heat-related illness; one woman fell 20 feet from a stack of pallets in which she was hiding.
Repeated attempts to contact company officials at the facility Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Action Rags lost its corporate status in July 2007 due to a tax forfeiture, according to Texas Secretary of State records. The records listed Mubarik Kahlon as the company's registered agent and director.
Secretary of State spokesman Scott Haywood confirmed that Action Rags is no longer a registered LLC in Texas, but said he could not comment on any potential legal implications.
A woman who answered the door at Kahlon's home in Humble said he was not there.
Critics call raid a waste
As ICE continues its investigation, pro-immigrant activists blasted the raid as a waste of taxpayer money which will have hurt Houston's economy and workers' families.
"Are we safer because they arrested immigrant women who are working?" asked Maria Jimenez, with the Center for Central American Resources in Houston. "I mean, 200 agents went to basically capture women who were contributing to the economy. What have we gained for society by removing mothers, wives and sisters from their family?"
Men were also detained, including the husband of Juana Ramirez, who acknowledged her spouse is not in the country legally.
"All he does is go to work, comes home and takes care of the kids when I go to work," said an angry Ramirez, who works at a fast-food restaurant and is expecting the couple's third child. "He doesn't drink or do drugs. It's not good at all."
Papademetriou called raids like Wednesday's the "low-hanging fruit" of operations.
"They don't require an enormous amount of investment on the part of ICE. They make headlines. The numbers look substantial," he said.
According to ICE statistics for the 2007 fiscal year, ICE made 863 criminal arrests and 4,077 administrative arrests as a result of worksite enforcement efforts nationally.
Camarota said even though the number of arrests is small in relation to the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the raids have a significant impact.
"If you're on a highway and thousands of people were speeding and one person gets pulled over, compliance with the law shoots up dramatically. Any law enforcement action has a much greater effect than just on the individuals who are subject to it," he said.
One former ICE prosecutor, Austin attorney Kevin Lashus, said worksite raids are designed to frighten companies who hire undocumented workers.
"What they're hoping to do is be able to use these stepped-up raids to force employers to reconsider their employment verification policies," said Lashus, who is now a member of the Tindall & Foster immigration law firm in Austin. "They're trying to scare the hell out of them — their intent is to force employers to police themselves."
james.pinkerton@chron.com v
susan.carroll@chron.com
Employer arrests could follow Houston immigration raid
Immigration agents detain 166 undocumented workers at east side plant
By JAMES PINKERTON and SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
As anxious relatives stood outside, van after van of mostly female undocumented workers were removed from a sweltering rag-sorting factory on Houston's east side and whisked to an immigration processing facility.
The early morning raid Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, while netting 166 undocumented workers, did not include arrests of company officials with Action Rags USA. But those charges may be on the way.
"The office of investigation is looking at allegations of the hiring of illegal aliens, which is a crime," said Special Agent Bob Rutt, of the Houston ICE office. Arresting illegal immigrants was "a collateral part" of the investigation, he said. "Our focus, ICE's overall focus, is targeting the employer."
Rutt, however, referred inquiries about possible criminal charges in Wednesday's raid case, as well as one at Shipley Do-Nuts in Houston, to federal prosecutors. There have been no arrests of Shipley managers or company officials.
"As it pertains to Shipley Do-Nuts, we cannot confirm or deny the existence of a criminal investigation," said Angela Dodge, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston.
"I think everybody recognizes that to get a handle on this, ... you have to go after the employer," said Steven Camarota, director of research with the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates stricter immigration controls.
In fiscal 2007, ICE secured fines and forfeitures of more than $30 million in worksite enforcement cases, according to the agency's annual report. ICE did not provide statistics on the number of employers criminally charged last year.
Employer prosecutions aren't "the biggest bang for the buck, as far as the way ICE is thinking about it," said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration think tank based in Washington, D.C.
"It's much easier and gets more headlines to arrest a lot of people," Papademetriou said. "To make a case against an employer requires time and significant investments of investigative resources. Sometimes it takes half a year, or a year."
ICE began investigating Action Rags USA a year ago after learning about hiring practices from a former employee.
The Wednesday raid, which involved 200 ICE agents, started shortly after work began at 7 a.m. at the sorting facility at 1225 Port Houston.
Late Wednesday, ICE officials said of the 166 workers they detained, 130 were females, including 10 who were pregnant. In all, 66 undocumented workers were released for humanitarian reasons, including pregnancy and child care issues, and were told to report to an immigration judge.
The workers who remain detained could be processed for removal from the U.S. The arrest tally included 135 from Mexico, 12 from Honduras, 10 from Guatemala, eight from El Salvador, and one whose nationality is unknown, ICE officials said.
'We were like a family'
The raid surprised many workers as they began a day of sorting bales of used clothing in the un-airconditioned facility. The clothing is shipped worldwide, according to a company Web site, or processed into rags for industry.
A woman who identified herself as a company supervisor said many of the workers initially didn't believe a raid was under way, noting false reports of raids in the past year.
"But when I came out to look, the agents were at the doors, and they had surrounded the warehouse," said Brenda, who gave only her first name. "They started yelling for us to sit down. They started searching us to see if we had knives or weapons."
Brenda said workers who ran from federal agents or tried to hide were handcuffed "and treated like criminals."
"When I left I was crying, because we all got along well," she said. "We were like a family."
ICE officials said four workers were taken to area hospitals due to anxiety attacks and heat-related illness; one woman fell 20 feet from a stack of pallets in which she was hiding.
Repeated attempts to contact company officials at the facility Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Action Rags lost its corporate status in July 2007 due to a tax forfeiture, according to Texas Secretary of State records. The records listed Mubarik Kahlon as the company's registered agent and director.
Secretary of State spokesman Scott Haywood confirmed that Action Rags is no longer a registered LLC in Texas, but said he could not comment on any potential legal implications.
A woman who answered the door at Kahlon's home in Humble said he was not there.
Critics call raid a waste
As ICE continues its investigation, pro-immigrant activists blasted the raid as a waste of taxpayer money which will have hurt Houston's economy and workers' families.
"Are we safer because they arrested immigrant women who are working?" asked Maria Jimenez, with the Center for Central American Resources in Houston. "I mean, 200 agents went to basically capture women who were contributing to the economy. What have we gained for society by removing mothers, wives and sisters from their family?"
Men were also detained, including the husband of Juana Ramirez, who acknowledged her spouse is not in the country legally.
"All he does is go to work, comes home and takes care of the kids when I go to work," said an angry Ramirez, who works at a fast-food restaurant and is expecting the couple's third child. "He doesn't drink or do drugs. It's not good at all."
Papademetriou called raids like Wednesday's the "low-hanging fruit" of operations.
"They don't require an enormous amount of investment on the part of ICE. They make headlines. The numbers look substantial," he said.
According to ICE statistics for the 2007 fiscal year, ICE made 863 criminal arrests and 4,077 administrative arrests as a result of worksite enforcement efforts nationally.
Camarota said even though the number of arrests is small in relation to the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the raids have a significant impact.
"If you're on a highway and thousands of people were speeding and one person gets pulled over, compliance with the law shoots up dramatically. Any law enforcement action has a much greater effect than just on the individuals who are subject to it," he said.
One former ICE prosecutor, Austin attorney Kevin Lashus, said worksite raids are designed to frighten companies who hire undocumented workers.
"What they're hoping to do is be able to use these stepped-up raids to force employers to reconsider their employment verification policies," said Lashus, who is now a member of the Tindall & Foster immigration law firm in Austin. "They're trying to scare the hell out of them — their intent is to force employers to police themselves."
james.pinkerton@chron.com v
susan.carroll@chron.com
June 20, 2008
Brazilian immigrants rescued from smugglers in Mission
Brazilian immigrants rescued from smugglers in Mission
Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 12:18 p.m.
A group of Brazilians has been resuced from five smugglers holding them captive in Mission.
Acting on an anonymous tip, officers responded to the 800 block of Dawson Street Wednesday afternoon.
Mission Police Chief Leo Longoria said 15 Brazilians immigrants had been at the home for 14 days.
The immigrants told authorities that the alleged smugglers demanded more cash for their release.
Longoria said Mission police arrested five men.
They are all facing unlawful restraint charges.
http://www.team4news.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=149186
Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 12:18 p.m.
A group of Brazilians has been resuced from five smugglers holding them captive in Mission.
Acting on an anonymous tip, officers responded to the 800 block of Dawson Street Wednesday afternoon.
Mission Police Chief Leo Longoria said 15 Brazilians immigrants had been at the home for 14 days.
The immigrants told authorities that the alleged smugglers demanded more cash for their release.
Longoria said Mission police arrested five men.
They are all facing unlawful restraint charges.
http://www.team4news.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=149186
June 16, 2008
National: Top court eases rules for foreigners to try to stay in US
Top court eases rules for foreigners to try to stay in US
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court made it easier Monday for some foreigners who overstay their visas to seek to remain in the United States legally.
The court ruled 5-4 Monday that someone who is here illegally may withdraw his voluntarily agreement to depart and continue to try to get approval to remain in the United States.
The decision essentially embraced a proposed Justice Department regulation governing the treatment of similar cases in the future.
Samson Dada, a Nigerian citizen, stayed beyond the expiration of his tourist visa in 1998. He married an American the following year and soon began trying to obtain a visa as an immediate relative of a citizen. But Dada and his wife apparently failed to submit some documents, causing immigration officials to deny the visa.
Dada has been trying again to obtain the visa, but immigration authorities meanwhile have ordered him to leave the country.
He agreed to leave voluntarily, which would allow him to try sooner to re-enter the country legally than if he had been deported.
The court's task was to decide whether he could withdraw his voluntary agreement to leave the country and continue to try to adjust his status while in the United States.
Immigration authorities recently ruled that Dada had entered a "sham" marriage in order to stay in the United States, but that finding was not part of the court's consideration.
Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, joined by his four liberal colleagues. The four conservative justice dissented.
Justice Antonin Scalia said, "The court lacks the authority to impose its chosen remedy."
The case is Dada v. Mukasey, 06-1181.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court made it easier Monday for some foreigners who overstay their visas to seek to remain in the United States legally.
The court ruled 5-4 Monday that someone who is here illegally may withdraw his voluntarily agreement to depart and continue to try to get approval to remain in the United States.
The decision essentially embraced a proposed Justice Department regulation governing the treatment of similar cases in the future.
Samson Dada, a Nigerian citizen, stayed beyond the expiration of his tourist visa in 1998. He married an American the following year and soon began trying to obtain a visa as an immediate relative of a citizen. But Dada and his wife apparently failed to submit some documents, causing immigration officials to deny the visa.
Dada has been trying again to obtain the visa, but immigration authorities meanwhile have ordered him to leave the country.
He agreed to leave voluntarily, which would allow him to try sooner to re-enter the country legally than if he had been deported.
The court's task was to decide whether he could withdraw his voluntary agreement to leave the country and continue to try to adjust his status while in the United States.
Immigration authorities recently ruled that Dada had entered a "sham" marriage in order to stay in the United States, but that finding was not part of the court's consideration.
Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, joined by his four liberal colleagues. The four conservative justice dissented.
Justice Antonin Scalia said, "The court lacks the authority to impose its chosen remedy."
The case is Dada v. Mukasey, 06-1181.
June 15, 2008
Burmese refugees fill meatpacking jobs
June 14, 2008, 12:01AM
Burmese refugees fill meatpacking jobs
By BETSY BLANEY Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press
CACTUS, Texas — Foreign-born workers have been the mainstay at a meatpacking plant in this small Panhandle town for decades.
When the plant opened in 1974, Vietnamese and Laotians filled many of the jobs. Then came workers from Mexico and Guatemala, many of them in the U.S. illegally.
Most left or were arrested after a 2006 immigration raid that took nearly 300 workers from the Swift & Co. plant.
Now a new group of foreign-born workers are employed at the plant, where starting pay begins at $12 an hour.
Since January about 450 Burmese refugees have arrived from places like Houston, Florida, New York and Indianapolis, lured by lower living costs, safe neighborhoods and jobs. More are on the way.
"They found a legal way to get a low-end work force," Moore County Judge Rowdy Rhoades said of the plant, which employs about 3000 workers and now operates as JBS Swift & Co. "These people take pride in their jobs."
A similar-sized group of Somalis answered Swift's ads last year.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids targeted six Swift plants across the U.S. in December 2006 hit Cactus' economy hard. Just a few months later a tornado leveled about half of the town's homes.
Officials at Greeley, Colo.-based JBS Swift said the company feels fortunate to provide the refugees good jobs.
"Our refugee employees are a vital part of our work force, helping us recover from the ICE raids when we were struggling to keep operations running," Jack Shandley, a company spokesman said in an e-mail. "The refugees are legally living and working in the United States."
The adjustment hasn't been easy, for either Moore County residents or the Burmese, whose war-torn Myanmar homeland was hit by a catastrophic cyclone killing thousands in May.
Many who fled settled near the Thai border before gaining refugee status, said Lori Bigham, a supervisor at Catholic Family Service in Amarillo, about 60 miles from Cactus and already home to a Burmese population.
The newest Burmese immigrants live in Cactus and Dumas, about 15 miles south of the plant.
Only a few speak English, and the language barrier has resulted in some confusion over how to obtain driver licenses or otherwise ease into their new lives.
At Moore County Hospital, translators provided by Bigham's agency have helped, as has a telephonic interpreter service, said chief executive officer Jeff Turner.
The staff also has received training in cultural issues; some of the Burmese are Muslim.
"We have found that those issues have not prevented us from giving care," he said.
The Dumas school district hired two Burmese who speak English to help the 107 Burmese students — one of them a 20-year-old woman — who have enrolled in local schools. Swift officials have told the district that more will enroll in the fall, district superintendent Larry Appel said.
The district also purchased software and will conduct an intensive summer program to help students learn English. Appel said many Burmese are learning Spanish as well.
"It's a great tribute to their desire to learn," he said. "They've not been a problem to us. A challenge, yes. A problem no."
There have been differences, though.
"For the most part they've not been accustomed to attending school for a full school day," he said. "It's more an adjustment. It's certainly not a behavioral issue."
There has been both joy and heartache since the Burmese arrived. In mid-May, a man, 41, and a woman, 23, were killed when the van in which they were riding with eight other Burmese rolled several times on U.S. 87 just south of Dumas.
Most were ejected and the language barrier impeded rescue efforts, Moore County Attorney Scott Higginbotham said.
"We can't get past, 'who are you and are you hurt,'" he said. "I'm grateful they're here because we're a nation of immigrants. The problem I have ... is we are ill-equipped to take care of these people."
The two communities are coming together to help. Elected officials from Dumas, Cactus and Moore County, and others from churches and social services agencies meet regularly.
Stan Corbin, international mission pastor at First Baptist Church in Dumas, said he's proud of his town and his county for stepping up to help the group.
"They're anxious to be independent but they're not there yet," he said. "Right now they're dependent on citizens to help them."
Bigham, the Catholic Family Service supervisor, said the number of Burmese moving here from other U.S. cities is greater than many expected.
"It usually doesn't happen with such large number in a short amount of time," she said.
But complaints are few in Cactus. The Burmese walk many places and because men wear dress-like garb, heads turn, Cactus City Manager Steve Schmidt-Witcher said.
"It's rather unusual to see a man walking with a skirt," he said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/5837392.html
Burmese refugees fill meatpacking jobs
By BETSY BLANEY Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press
CACTUS, Texas — Foreign-born workers have been the mainstay at a meatpacking plant in this small Panhandle town for decades.
When the plant opened in 1974, Vietnamese and Laotians filled many of the jobs. Then came workers from Mexico and Guatemala, many of them in the U.S. illegally.
Most left or were arrested after a 2006 immigration raid that took nearly 300 workers from the Swift & Co. plant.
Now a new group of foreign-born workers are employed at the plant, where starting pay begins at $12 an hour.
Since January about 450 Burmese refugees have arrived from places like Houston, Florida, New York and Indianapolis, lured by lower living costs, safe neighborhoods and jobs. More are on the way.
"They found a legal way to get a low-end work force," Moore County Judge Rowdy Rhoades said of the plant, which employs about 3000 workers and now operates as JBS Swift & Co. "These people take pride in their jobs."
A similar-sized group of Somalis answered Swift's ads last year.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids targeted six Swift plants across the U.S. in December 2006 hit Cactus' economy hard. Just a few months later a tornado leveled about half of the town's homes.
Officials at Greeley, Colo.-based JBS Swift said the company feels fortunate to provide the refugees good jobs.
"Our refugee employees are a vital part of our work force, helping us recover from the ICE raids when we were struggling to keep operations running," Jack Shandley, a company spokesman said in an e-mail. "The refugees are legally living and working in the United States."
The adjustment hasn't been easy, for either Moore County residents or the Burmese, whose war-torn Myanmar homeland was hit by a catastrophic cyclone killing thousands in May.
Many who fled settled near the Thai border before gaining refugee status, said Lori Bigham, a supervisor at Catholic Family Service in Amarillo, about 60 miles from Cactus and already home to a Burmese population.
The newest Burmese immigrants live in Cactus and Dumas, about 15 miles south of the plant.
Only a few speak English, and the language barrier has resulted in some confusion over how to obtain driver licenses or otherwise ease into their new lives.
At Moore County Hospital, translators provided by Bigham's agency have helped, as has a telephonic interpreter service, said chief executive officer Jeff Turner.
The staff also has received training in cultural issues; some of the Burmese are Muslim.
"We have found that those issues have not prevented us from giving care," he said.
The Dumas school district hired two Burmese who speak English to help the 107 Burmese students — one of them a 20-year-old woman — who have enrolled in local schools. Swift officials have told the district that more will enroll in the fall, district superintendent Larry Appel said.
The district also purchased software and will conduct an intensive summer program to help students learn English. Appel said many Burmese are learning Spanish as well.
"It's a great tribute to their desire to learn," he said. "They've not been a problem to us. A challenge, yes. A problem no."
There have been differences, though.
"For the most part they've not been accustomed to attending school for a full school day," he said. "It's more an adjustment. It's certainly not a behavioral issue."
There has been both joy and heartache since the Burmese arrived. In mid-May, a man, 41, and a woman, 23, were killed when the van in which they were riding with eight other Burmese rolled several times on U.S. 87 just south of Dumas.
Most were ejected and the language barrier impeded rescue efforts, Moore County Attorney Scott Higginbotham said.
"We can't get past, 'who are you and are you hurt,'" he said. "I'm grateful they're here because we're a nation of immigrants. The problem I have ... is we are ill-equipped to take care of these people."
The two communities are coming together to help. Elected officials from Dumas, Cactus and Moore County, and others from churches and social services agencies meet regularly.
Stan Corbin, international mission pastor at First Baptist Church in Dumas, said he's proud of his town and his county for stepping up to help the group.
"They're anxious to be independent but they're not there yet," he said. "Right now they're dependent on citizens to help them."
Bigham, the Catholic Family Service supervisor, said the number of Burmese moving here from other U.S. cities is greater than many expected.
"It usually doesn't happen with such large number in a short amount of time," she said.
But complaints are few in Cactus. The Burmese walk many places and because men wear dress-like garb, heads turn, Cactus City Manager Steve Schmidt-Witcher said.
"It's rather unusual to see a man walking with a skirt," he said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/5837392.html
June 13, 2008
Former Austin imam released from detention, will leave U.S.
Former Austin imam released from detention, will leave U.S.
Safdar Razi said he served God while he was detained
By Eileen E. Flynn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, June 13, 2008
After spending more than two months in a federal detention center, former Austin imam Safdar Razi was released Tuesday on the condition that he leave the country June 22.
Razi, a former leader of the Islamic Ahlul Bayt Association in Northwest Austin, was arrested at his home in Plano on April 2 on charges that he had overstayed his religious worker visa.
He was held by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency at its Haskell detention facility in West Texas as his lawyers attempted to keep him from being deported. Supporters from across the country have written letters to government officials on his behalf.
Razi, 43, declined to discuss the specifics of his case but shared plans to lead a community in East Africa.
Razi said he is not bitter about the outcome or angry at the government. He even spoke affectionately about his time in the Haskell detention center, where he established a ministry.
He gave nightly lectures and worked to educate Sunni Muslims about his Shiite tradition and non-Muslims about Islam.
"The religion, it was not even an obstacle," Razi said. "We all were friendly. We shared food together. It was such a beautiful and understanding environment. Everybody understood the needs of each other."
Some detainees, he said, had no family in the country, so Razi listened to their struggles and prayed with them.
"I thank God he gave me an excellent opportunity to serve him inside a unique place," Razi said.
During the past eight years, Razi, a native of Pakistan who grew up in Qatar, distinguished himself nationally as a promoter of interfaith education and a Shiite scholar. He led Austin's Shiite mosque for six years before taking a job in Dearborn, Mich., in 2006.
When terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, Razi became the face of Islam to many non-Muslims in Central Texas as he visited churches, synagogues, schools and community centers to explain that his religion did not endorse such attacks.
After his arrest in Plano, where Razi, his wife and three children were staying temporarily, supporters from across the country created the blog www.freesafdarrazi
.wordpress.com to track the imam's legal situation.
Dozens of Razi's friends from Austin's interfaith community wrote letters to elected officials asking them to intervene.
Rabbi Kerry Baker, who leads Congregation Kol Halev in Austin, regularly worked with Razi to improve relations between Jews and Muslims, addressing thorny issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Baker said Thursday that he regretted that Razi had to leave the country. "We need all the support for dialogue in our political life that we can possibly get," Baker said. "And we don't need to send such voices away."
But Razi said he is confident that God is steering the course of his life for good. He said he looks forward to being reunited with his mother, who he says will accompany his family to East Africa. "No matter what happened," he said, "it all turned out to be good."
eflynn@statesman.com; 445-3812
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/13/0613razi.html
Safdar Razi said he served God while he was detained
By Eileen E. Flynn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, June 13, 2008
After spending more than two months in a federal detention center, former Austin imam Safdar Razi was released Tuesday on the condition that he leave the country June 22.
Razi, a former leader of the Islamic Ahlul Bayt Association in Northwest Austin, was arrested at his home in Plano on April 2 on charges that he had overstayed his religious worker visa.
He was held by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency at its Haskell detention facility in West Texas as his lawyers attempted to keep him from being deported. Supporters from across the country have written letters to government officials on his behalf.
Razi, 43, declined to discuss the specifics of his case but shared plans to lead a community in East Africa.
Razi said he is not bitter about the outcome or angry at the government. He even spoke affectionately about his time in the Haskell detention center, where he established a ministry.
He gave nightly lectures and worked to educate Sunni Muslims about his Shiite tradition and non-Muslims about Islam.
"The religion, it was not even an obstacle," Razi said. "We all were friendly. We shared food together. It was such a beautiful and understanding environment. Everybody understood the needs of each other."
Some detainees, he said, had no family in the country, so Razi listened to their struggles and prayed with them.
"I thank God he gave me an excellent opportunity to serve him inside a unique place," Razi said.
During the past eight years, Razi, a native of Pakistan who grew up in Qatar, distinguished himself nationally as a promoter of interfaith education and a Shiite scholar. He led Austin's Shiite mosque for six years before taking a job in Dearborn, Mich., in 2006.
When terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, Razi became the face of Islam to many non-Muslims in Central Texas as he visited churches, synagogues, schools and community centers to explain that his religion did not endorse such attacks.
After his arrest in Plano, where Razi, his wife and three children were staying temporarily, supporters from across the country created the blog www.freesafdarrazi
.wordpress.com to track the imam's legal situation.
Dozens of Razi's friends from Austin's interfaith community wrote letters to elected officials asking them to intervene.
Rabbi Kerry Baker, who leads Congregation Kol Halev in Austin, regularly worked with Razi to improve relations between Jews and Muslims, addressing thorny issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Baker said Thursday that he regretted that Razi had to leave the country. "We need all the support for dialogue in our political life that we can possibly get," Baker said. "And we don't need to send such voices away."
But Razi said he is confident that God is steering the course of his life for good. He said he looks forward to being reunited with his mother, who he says will accompany his family to East Africa. "No matter what happened," he said, "it all turned out to be good."
eflynn@statesman.com; 445-3812
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/13/0613razi.html
June 9, 2008
149 arrested in S.E. Texas crackdown on gangs
June 8, 2008, 11:21PM
149 arrested in S.E. Texas crackdown on gangs
By SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
A multiagency crackdown on Southeast Texas street gangs and other criminal activity led to the arrest of nearly 150 people last week, including 67 suspected gang members or associates, authorities said Sunday.
More than a dozen of those were allegedly members of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha organization, officials said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents teamed with law enforcement agencies in Houston and seven other Texas cities to target gang members wanted on state charges or immigration violations, said Robert P. Rutt, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Houston.
The suspected gang members are associated with 22 organizations, authorities said, including the Mara Salvatrucha, aka MS-13, a violent street gang with roots in Central America and strong ties in Houston.
According to authorities, of the 67 arrested:
•Forty-six were arrested on suspicion of immigration violations.•Twenty were picked up on outstanding state arrest warrants and turned over to local authorities.
•One was arrested on a federal drug arrest warrant.
Rutt said Sunday that 21 of the 67 arrested were U.S. citizens. ICE officials declined to release the names of those arrested in the six-day operation, which ended Saturday, citing "pending charges."
The operation is part of an ICE program called "Operation Community Shield," which involves partnerships with other federal, state and local agencies to target gang members. More than a dozen such agencies participated in the operation, including the sheriffs' offices for Harris and Montgomery counties and the Houston Police Department's Gang Task Force.
Rutt said the enforcement operation allowed ICE to use immigration status as a "force multiplier" for local agencies struggling with gangs.
In addition to those with suspected gang ties, the operation led to the arrests of 82 people for criminal or immigration violations not related to gang activity, authorities said, bringing the total number of people arrested to 149. ICE officials said those detained on immigration violations were from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Colombia and Pakistan.
THE CRACKDOWN
A gang enforcement operation led to the arrest of associates or suspected members tied to 22 Southeast Texas gangs, authorities said:
83 Mob
Brown Pride 13
Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos
Tango Blast Houstone
La Primera
La Quarenta
La Tercera Crips
Latin Kings
Mexican Mafia
Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)
NICA'S
North Side Crips
PVL (Puros Vatos Locos)
Raza Unida
Ruthless Kings
Sacky Crew
Southside Bloods
Southwest Cholos
Sureno 13
Texas Syndicate
VNS (Barrio North Side)
Westside G.
Cities involved
Houston
Conroe
Galveston
Sugar Land
Bryan
Richmond
Beaumont
Corpus Christi
Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5826219.html
149 arrested in S.E. Texas crackdown on gangs
By SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
A multiagency crackdown on Southeast Texas street gangs and other criminal activity led to the arrest of nearly 150 people last week, including 67 suspected gang members or associates, authorities said Sunday.
More than a dozen of those were allegedly members of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha organization, officials said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents teamed with law enforcement agencies in Houston and seven other Texas cities to target gang members wanted on state charges or immigration violations, said Robert P. Rutt, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Houston.
The suspected gang members are associated with 22 organizations, authorities said, including the Mara Salvatrucha, aka MS-13, a violent street gang with roots in Central America and strong ties in Houston.
According to authorities, of the 67 arrested:
•Forty-six were arrested on suspicion of immigration violations.•Twenty were picked up on outstanding state arrest warrants and turned over to local authorities.
•One was arrested on a federal drug arrest warrant.
Rutt said Sunday that 21 of the 67 arrested were U.S. citizens. ICE officials declined to release the names of those arrested in the six-day operation, which ended Saturday, citing "pending charges."
The operation is part of an ICE program called "Operation Community Shield," which involves partnerships with other federal, state and local agencies to target gang members. More than a dozen such agencies participated in the operation, including the sheriffs' offices for Harris and Montgomery counties and the Houston Police Department's Gang Task Force.
Rutt said the enforcement operation allowed ICE to use immigration status as a "force multiplier" for local agencies struggling with gangs.
In addition to those with suspected gang ties, the operation led to the arrests of 82 people for criminal or immigration violations not related to gang activity, authorities said, bringing the total number of people arrested to 149. ICE officials said those detained on immigration violations were from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Colombia and Pakistan.
THE CRACKDOWN
A gang enforcement operation led to the arrest of associates or suspected members tied to 22 Southeast Texas gangs, authorities said:
83 Mob
Brown Pride 13
Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos
Tango Blast Houstone
La Primera
La Quarenta
La Tercera Crips
Latin Kings
Mexican Mafia
Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)
NICA'S
North Side Crips
PVL (Puros Vatos Locos)
Raza Unida
Ruthless Kings
Sacky Crew
Southside Bloods
Southwest Cholos
Sureno 13
Texas Syndicate
VNS (Barrio North Side)
Westside G.
Cities involved
Houston
Conroe
Galveston
Sugar Land
Bryan
Richmond
Beaumont
Corpus Christi
Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5826219.html
June 8, 2008
La Joya - Chinese illegal immigrants discovered in Texas border town
Chinese illegal immigrants discovered in Texas border town
Story Highlights
15 Chinese immigrants unfolded themselves from a SUV near small border town
"They were in bad shape," La Joya Police spokesman said
Chinese illegals pay about $55,000 for trip from China to U.S. destination
New U.S. policy calls for non-Mexican illegals to be detained rather than released
LA JOYA, Texas (AP) -- Local police are accustomed to dealing with illegal border crossings but were astounded by the video of 15 Chinese immigrants unfolding themselves from the back of a sport-utility vehicle near this small border town.
The SUV appeared abandoned when police rolled up early on a recent Saturday morning. But when Border Patrol agents arrived and swung open the double rear doors, the Chinese immigrants tumbled out, squinting in the sunlight.
"They were in bad shape," La Joya Police spokesman Joe Cantu said.
The immigrants were silent, able to communicate only with hand gestures. They did not try to flee. One man wanted to use Cantu's cell phone. When Cantu asked for the number, he was handed one with a New York area code.
Two more Chinese immigrants would be picked up nearby later that day, and another group of nine was caught near the border about 50 miles (80 kilometers) away a few days later.
More than nine out of 10 illegal immigrants detained at the U.S.-Mexico border are Mexican. But for years, this easternmost sector of the border has had more than its share of what the Border Patrol calls "other than Mexicans" or OTMs, most of whom come from Central America.
But overall, the number of Chinese caught along the U.S.-Mexico border has been declining since the U.S. stopped its policy of releasing most illegal immigrants from outside Mexico until they could appear before an immigration judge.
After surpassing 2,100 in 2005 and 2006, the number of Chinese immigrants caught along the southwest border from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas, fell last year to 837, slightly more than 1 percent of all OTM apprehensions, according to Border Patrol data. In the first eight months of this fiscal year, which began October 1, 512 Chinese were caught along the border with Mexico.
The specifics of how this group of Chinese immigrants ended up in South Texas were not known, but the methods and smuggling routes have been evolving for more than a century. Most pay an average of $55,000 to be shuttled from China to a U.S. destination by an elaborate smuggling operation, said Peter Kwong, a sociology professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center.
If they get caught, they request asylum, and lawyers are often hired by the Chinese smugglers, who will not get full payment unless the immigrants arrive at their destination, Kwong said.
Since 1882, when the U.S. began a crackdown on Chinese immigration that would last decades, Chinese have been crossing the Mexican border. Early on, most of the traffic was along the border with California because Chinese rode ships into Mexican ports on the Pacific coast, Kwong said.
"This was a very early route," said Kwong, who wrote "Forbidden Workers: Illegal Chinese Immigrants and American Labor."
Eventually, though, Chinese immigrants began sailing directly into U.S. ports.
The Mexican route regained popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when U.S. ports became less accessible, Kwong said. The Golden Venture incident, when a ship carrying 286 Chinese immigrants beached off the New York borough of Queens in 1993, drew broader attention to the issue of human smuggling and further tightened access.
More Chinese began flying into U.S. airports and requesting asylum, Kwong said.
When tighter restrictions on inbound international flights were introduced after the September 11 attacks, smugglers began looking for less secure airports, Kwong said.
Immigration attorney Hongxin Shi joined the Texas law practice of Paul Esquivel last year, after Esquivel saw a need for Mandarin-speaking attorneys at the Willacy County Processing Center, the largest immigrant detention facility in the U.S.
Shi, who has about 20 pending immigration cases with Chinese immigrants, said he has heard of immigrants flying into Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico to begin the journey north.
In March 2007, Mexican federal police detained 81 Chinese immigrants and 22 Mexican immigration officers at the Cancun airport. They believed that the Chinese were hiding in the airport with the help of the immigration officials until they could begin the next leg of their journey north to the United States.
In Mexico, they meet "coyotes," or smugglers specializing in crossing the U.S. border, who have been arranged by their Chinese smugglers. "It's like a subcontractor," Kwong said.
For years, Chinese and fellow "other than Mexican" illegal immigrants were processed and released with a date to return for a court hearing. The process was known as "catch and release."
Only about one-third of those released showed up in court, according to a 2005 report prepared for Congress.
That began changing in late 2005 and early 2006, with a policy that sought to close that loophole.
Non-Mexicans caught trying to enter the U.S. now are steered into a streamlined process for "expedited removal."
They are detained at centers like Willacy until they can appear before an immigration judge. The Border Patrol credits the end of catch and release with the sharp drop in OTM apprehensions.
Still, "we do encounter people from all over the world," said Daniel Doty, Border Patrol spokesman for the Rio Grande Valley sector.
Just days before the 17 Chinese were picked up in La Joya, 13 Eritreans and five Ethiopians were caught in nearby Hidalgo.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/06/texas.chinese.ap/?iref=hpmostpop
May 24, 2008
Sting nets 84 illegal immigrants
Sting nets 84 illegal immigrants
Arrests for ignoring deportation orders or skipping hearings were in Austin, San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley.
By Juan Castillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Federal officials on Friday announced the arrests of 84 people on immigration violations, including 56 who had failed to appear for hearings or had ignored a judge's final deportation orders.
The arrests in Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley were part of a four-day operation that began Sunday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.
Those arrested are from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya, Guatemala and Honduras. They were arrested by fugitive operations teams based in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The agency said it created its fugitive operations program in 2003 to eliminate a backlog of fugitives and ensure that deportation orders are enforced.
"If you ignore a federal immigration judge's deportation order, ICE will find you, arrest you and return you to your home country," said Marc Moore, field office director of the agency's office of detention and removal operations in San Antonio. Moore oversees an area that includes Austin, San Antonio, Waco, Harlingen, Brownsville and Laredo.
About half of the arrests were in Austin. Among those arrested was Maximo Flores-Avila, 57, a Mexican citizen who was living and working in Austin. The agency said Flores-Avila has a criminal history that includes assault with bodily injury, unlawfully carrying a weapon and forgery. He was ordered deported in 2006 after an immigration appeals board reaffirmed a federal judge's 2005 deportation order, the agency said.
Twenty-eight of those arrested were immigration violators the teams encountered during the operation.
jcastillo@statesman.com; 445-3635
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/05/24/0524icearrests.html
Arrests for ignoring deportation orders or skipping hearings were in Austin, San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley.
By Juan Castillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Federal officials on Friday announced the arrests of 84 people on immigration violations, including 56 who had failed to appear for hearings or had ignored a judge's final deportation orders.
The arrests in Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley were part of a four-day operation that began Sunday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.
Those arrested are from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya, Guatemala and Honduras. They were arrested by fugitive operations teams based in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The agency said it created its fugitive operations program in 2003 to eliminate a backlog of fugitives and ensure that deportation orders are enforced.
"If you ignore a federal immigration judge's deportation order, ICE will find you, arrest you and return you to your home country," said Marc Moore, field office director of the agency's office of detention and removal operations in San Antonio. Moore oversees an area that includes Austin, San Antonio, Waco, Harlingen, Brownsville and Laredo.
About half of the arrests were in Austin. Among those arrested was Maximo Flores-Avila, 57, a Mexican citizen who was living and working in Austin. The agency said Flores-Avila has a criminal history that includes assault with bodily injury, unlawfully carrying a weapon and forgery. He was ordered deported in 2006 after an immigration appeals board reaffirmed a federal judge's 2005 deportation order, the agency said.
Twenty-eight of those arrested were immigration violators the teams encountered during the operation.
jcastillo@statesman.com; 445-3635
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/05/24/0524icearrests.html
May 16, 2008
Houston banker admits to ID theft
May 16, 2008
Houston banker admits to ID theft
HOUSTON - A Houston banker who sold personal account information as part of an identity theft ring must serve three years in federal prison.
Prosecutors on Thursday announced the sentencing of 34-year-old former Amegy Bank senior banker Lamont Wallace.
Wallace pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
A judge in Houston sentenced a 34-year-old co-defendant, Ifeyhewen Badidi, to nearly five years in prison. The illegal immigrant from Liberia pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft and is expected to be deported upon his release from prison. Investigators froze $161,000 of unlawfully transferred funds before the money could be withdrawn.
Houston banker admits to ID theft
HOUSTON - A Houston banker who sold personal account information as part of an identity theft ring must serve three years in federal prison.
Prosecutors on Thursday announced the sentencing of 34-year-old former Amegy Bank senior banker Lamont Wallace.
Wallace pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
A judge in Houston sentenced a 34-year-old co-defendant, Ifeyhewen Badidi, to nearly five years in prison. The illegal immigrant from Liberia pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft and is expected to be deported upon his release from prison. Investigators froze $161,000 of unlawfully transferred funds before the money could be withdrawn.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
