Fast and Furious weapons were found in Mexico cartel enforcer's home

Guns illegally purchased under the ATF operation were found in April hidden in violence-plagued Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, court records show.

High-powered assault weapons illegally purchased under the ATF's Fast and Furious program in Phoenix ended up in a home belonging to the purported top Sinaloa cartel enforcer in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, whose organization was terrorizing that city with the worst violence in the Mexican drug wars.

In all, 100 assault weapons acquired under Fast and Furious were transported 350 miles from Phoenix to El Paso, making that West Texas city a central hub for gun traffickers. Forty of the weapons made it across the border and into the arsenal of Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo, a feared cartel leader in Ciudad Juarez, according to federal court records and trace documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The smugglers' tactics — quickly moving the weapons far from ATF agents in southern Arizona, where it had been assumed they would circulate — vividly demonstrate that what had been viewed as a local problem was much larger. Six other Fast and Furious guns destined for El Paso were recovered in Columbus, N.M.

"These Fast and Furious guns were going to Sinaloans, and they are killing everyone down there," said one knowledgeable U.S. government source, who asked for anonymity because of the ongoing investigations. "But that's only how many we know came through Texas. Hundreds more had to get through."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-atf-guns-20111009,0,4399155,print.story

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Brown signs California Dream Act

The law grants illegal immigrants access to state aid at public universities and colleges. It is one of 50 education-related bills weighed by the governor.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday granted illegal immigrants access to state financial aid at public universities and community colleges, putting California once again in the center of the nation's immigration debate.

But he vetoed a measure that would have allowed state universities to consider applicants' race, gender and income to ensure diversity in their student populations.

Deciding the fate of 50 education-related bills, the governor also rejected an effort to make it more difficult to establish charter schools. But he accepted a move to improve college life for gays, lesbians and bisexual and transgender people and a measure to restrict the privatization of libraries.

None of the other proposals, however, has drawn the attention — or rancor — surrounding the California Dream Act. Most Republican legislators voted against it, and anti-illegal-immigration groups denounced it as unfair.

Brown's signature on the bill fulfilled a campaign promise to allow high-achieving students who want to become citizens the opportunity to attend college, regardless of their immigration status.

"Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking," Brown said in a statement. "The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-brown-dream-act-20111009,0,4299032,print.story

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Alabama's immigration law prompts alarm

The bulk of the law, the nation's strictest, is now in effect. Some praise it as 'attrition through enforcement'; others see a humanitarian crisis..

Alabama's estimated 130,000 illegal immigrants are worried. They are confused. And in some cases, they have disappeared.

They have disappeared from classrooms and from tomato fields.

Last week, some had disappeared from the Guadalajara Jalisco restaurant, a former diner now serving Tex-Mex fare to a largely American-born clientele in this sleepy town east of Birmingham.

Manager Fredy Vergara had lost three of his 12 employees, and more workers said they planned to leave soon, fleeing in fear of Alabama's new immigration law.

Waiter Ever Salas struck out for Washington state. Elbia Manzilla, for Texas. A hostess named Joana was a legal resident, but her parents were not, Vergara said. They would probably head out soon for Chicago.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-alabama-immigration-20111009,0,3008988,print.story

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North Carolina

C.O.P.S are back in the neighborhood

But they're not just out cruising the streets looking for people who are up to no good. They're walking the sidewalks of three specific Burlington neighborhoods, trying to protect and encourage a sense of community.

The C.O.P. unit is part of Burlington Police Department's Special Operations Division and targets crime in areas of the city with the highest crime statistics. It's Burlington's second time using the specialized unit, following the original C.O.P. unit that began in 1994 and was cancelled due to manpower shortages.

Assistant Chief Chris Verdeck was on that first team, when then-Chief John Glenn put two officers in the Tucker Street community. “There was a big push to get officers out of the cars and into the community,” said Verdeck. He said police conducted a study to pinpoint which area needed the most concentrated coverage, and the Tucker Street area was first on the list.

Verdeck said the original two C.O.P. officers grew to six, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Cops-Hiring grant. The unit also covered the Beverly Hills and Morningside Drive neighborhoods. Even after the grant ran out, the original C.O.P. unit continued into the early 2000's, until manpower shortages cancelled it.

http://www.thetimesnews.com/common/printer/view.php?db=burlington&id=48422

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Oct 8, 2011

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IRAQ: U.S. offers $10-million reward for Al Qaeda in Iraq leader

It has offered a $10-million reward for information that helps authorities capture or kill Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali Badri, also known as Abu Dua, the leader of the group Al Qaeda in Iraq.

If the bounty is any measure, finding Abu Dua is now a top priority. Only the chief of the global Al Qaeda organization, Ayman Zawahiri, merits a larger reward: $25 million. That's also what the State Department offered for Osama bin Laden, who was killed in Pakistan in May.

The department long has offered $10 million for Mullah Omar, the Taliban commander who sheltered Bin Laden in Afghanistan before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The U.S. also has posted a $5-million bounty for Sirajuddin Haqqani, a leader of a network of Pakistan-based militants that U.S. officials say has attacked American forces in Afghanistan.

Three days after Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden, Abu Dua claimed responsibility for an attack in Hillah, Iraq, that killed 24 police officers and wounded 72 others. His group also claimed responsibility for 23 attacks south of Baghdad in March and April, the State Department said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/10/iraq-us-al-qaeda-reward.html

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White House issues executive order in wake of WikiLeaks reports

Those two values -- protecting secrets and distributing them to people who need them across separate agencies -- can sometimes conflict, particularly if the government is reckless. In the aforementioned incident, the State Department put its entire database of secret cables on a classified military network that was available to tens of thousands of people. The military lacked safeguards preventing users from downloading information from the secure network onto DVDs.

That was allegedly how Manning, an intelligence analyst in Iraq, was able to walk off with a huge cache of material, including military reports from Afghanistan and Iraq, a video of a helicopter attack -- and the diplomatic cables, which laid bare many facets of U.S. diplomacy that American officials never wished to be made public.

No guns in church? Gun-rights advocates challenge Georgia law

Some secular types don't like the fact that they are prohibited from buying beer at the grocery store on the Christian Sabbath.

And some gun-rights advocates are peeved that a state law prevents them from packing heat in the pews.

The long-standing "blue law" ban on alcohol, however, could be lifted soon -- at least in some parts of the state. And, if a gun-rights group has its way, so will the ban on bringing guns to church.

GeorgiaCarry.org's challenge of the state guns-in-church ban was before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Thursday, where lawyers for the gun-rights group and another plaintiff, the Baptist Tabernacle of Thomaston, Ga., argued that the law is unconstitutional because it violates religious freedoms, the Associated Press reports.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Gov. Brown should sign cellphone search law

This modest restraint on law enforcement is worthy of support.

Gov. Jerry Brown faces many tough decisions these days. Whether to sign SB 914, which would require police to obtain a warrant before searching a person's cellphone or other portable electronic device, isn't one of them. This is a sound bill, passed with broad bipartisan support and consistent with the U.S. Constitution. He should sign it.

SB 914 is the Legislature's response to a California Supreme Court ruling that allowed officers to search a suspect's cellphone because it was "incident to an arrest." But the Constitution speaks clearly to the protection from police abuse that all Americans enjoy: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." Surely, one's "effects" today include the contents of one's cellphone or laptop, where many store information just as sensitive or private as that which might be found in a desk drawer among one's "papers."

The bill would not prevent police from ever searching a phone or other electronic device; rather, it would require them to seek a warrant before rummaging around in a suspect's effects. It would not put police in danger or risk destruction of evidence; they could seize and hold a phone while seeking a warrant. That's why Republicans and Democrats have jointly backed the bill. Its only real opponents are police organizations, the same ones that once warned that the jails would be empty if police were required to read suspects their rights. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now. The governor should approve this modest restraint on government snooping. Police will learn to live with it.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-cellphone-20111008,0,5709900,print.story

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San Francisco police chief calls on officers to 'find their Chi'

Community policing is all about engaging more with residents and San Francisco Police Department Chief Greg Suhr has implemented a defined community policing policy as part of the department's general order.

Suhr said most officers already are model community policing police officers but others have some work to do.

“There are an ocean of San Francisco officers … that conduct themselves exactly like this. And for them this is not a change on how they will do the day-to-day business,” Suhr said. “There are other officers who may be less engaging, or less gregarious than some other officers and this is going to have to make them try and find their Chi, if you will, to raise the bar.”

Suhr's comments came during Thursday's San Francisco Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee hearing on legislation introduced by Supervisor David Campos that would have required the adoption of a community policing policy. Campos praised Suhr for adoption of the policy even before the legislation was adopted.

Community policing is often a buzz word thrown around, but hard to define. Campos explained that now that community policing has been defined and is a general order it “has to be followed and complied with by all the officers.” The policy includes such things as interaction with youth, communication with the community and walking foot beats.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/blogs/under-dome/2011/10/san-francisco-police-chief-calls-officers-find-their-chi

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Oct 7, 2011

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Gov. Jerry Brown toughens sanctions for cellphones in prison

The new rule will remove up to 90 days of good-behavior credit for inmates caught with devices. The governor also signed a measure eliminating fingerprinting for food stamp recipients.

Reporting from Sacramento -- California prison inmates caught with cellphones will face more time behind bars, and those smuggling the devices in from outside could also be locked up, under a measure signed Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

He also required health insurers to cover maternity services, mandated that state regulations be made more business-friendly and eliminated fingerprinting of food stamp recipients.

The cellphone measure, one of more than 30 bills Brown approved, follows a proliferation of mobile devices found with state prisoners. About 10,700 of the phones were confiscated in state prisons last year; offenders included mass murderer Charles Manson.

The new law will take away up to 90 days of good-behavior credits from convicts caught with the devices. Visitors and prison employees found trying to smuggle them into prison face misdemeanor charges with penalties of up to six months in jail and fines of $5,000 for each one confiscated.

"When criminals in prison get possession of a cellphone, it subverts the very purpose of incarceration," Brown said. "They use these phones to organize gang activity, intimidate witnesses and commit crimes. Today's action will help to break up an expanding criminal network and protect law-abiding Californians."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-brown-legislation-20111007,0,220948,print.story

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MEXICO: News of another U.S. gun-tracking program stirs criticism

Commentators from across the political spectrum expressed criticism after The Times revealed this week that a Fast and Furious-style gun program under President George W. Bush allowed guns to "walk" across the border into Mexico during 2006 and 2007.

Both undercover programs were intended to track guns bought in the United States until they reached top cartel suspects, but instead many weapons were lost.

The leading left-leaning newspaper La Jornada went so far as to ask in an editorial Wednesday whether the U.S. is an "ally or enemy," and a columnist in a right-leaning paper accused the Americans of violating Mexico's sovereignty (link in Spanish).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/10/mexico-wide-receiver-reaction-guns-weapons-left-right.html

Justice for Cory Maples

The Supreme Court hears the case of the convicted murderer from Alabama who missed a deadline for an appeal because a notice sent to his two lawyers was sent back marked 'return to sender.'

When even conservative Supreme Court justices express sympathy for a death row inmate, it's a good bet that a miscarriage of justice has occurred. That's the case with Cory Maples, a convicted murderer from Alabama, who missed a deadline for an appeal because a notice sent to his two lawyers was sent back marked "return to sender." At oral arguments this week, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. asked the lawyer for the state of Alabama: "Mr. Maples has lost his right to appeal through no fault of his own through a series of very unusual and unfortunate circumstances.... Why push this technical argument?"

Maples had been convicted of shooting two friends to death after a night of drinking. After his conviction, he unsuccessfully filed a petition for relief, claiming that his trial lawyer had failed to investigate or offer evidence about his mental health history, his intoxication at the time of his crime and his alcohol and drug history. Maples' new lawyers in New York — and a local counsel — were sent a notice informing them that Maples had 42 days to file a further appeal. None responded (the New York lawyers had left their firm). The state refused to give Maples another chance to file an appeal.

Maples' story is a particularly egregious example of injustice by a state, and perhaps he will finally find relief. But vast numbers of questionable decisions involving convicted murderers never make it to the Supreme Court. That is because the court's primary objective in selecting cases for review is not the redress of individual grievances but the shaping of the law in general. (The justices do typically get involved when an execution is imminent, but that is no consolation for inmates who are kept on death row, ineligible for lighter punishment, because of official errors.)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-death-20111007,0,2262878,print.story

Mandating E-Verify would be a mistake

Rep. Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act would expand the use of E-Verify, an untrustworthy program designed to weed out illegal immigrants from the workforce.

Here we go again. Every year for the last five, immigration hawks in Congress have sought to require all businesses to use an error-plagued federal system known as E-Verify to ensure that all new hires are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants.

This year's proposal, known as the Legal Workforce Act, deserves special attention because it's being disingenuously advertised as a jobs plan. Its author, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), says that expanding E-Verify nationally will exorcise illegal immigrants from the workforce and create new opportunities for unemployed Americans.

That's nice in theory, but there is little evidence to suggest that out-of-work Americans will rush in to pick onions, slaughter cattle, mow lawns or wash dishes if undocumented immigrants are driven away. Consider recent events in Georgia, where lawmakers enacted harsh laws targeting illegal immigrants and requiring employers to use E-Verify. As predicted, undocumented immigrants fled the fields. Few legal workers, however, stepped in to perform backbreaking work for little more than the minimum wage. Now farmers say they face labor shortages and rotting crops. Similar complaints have been heard in Alabama and other states that have adopted laws intended to drive out illegal workers.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-everify-20111007,0,42752,print.story

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Delaware

A new course in crime fight

Wilmington to study Rhode Island's success

An unconventional policing strategy that has squelched violent drug markets in Providence, R.I., and other cities could help Wilmington lower its violent crime rate, city officials acknowledged Thursday.

Mayor James Baker and Police Chief Michael Szczerba said a three-day series in The News Journal this week prompted them to want to learn more about how Providence police used the so-called High Point strategy.

Their statement reverses Szczerba's initial resistance to the strategy because it involves giving a handful of nonviolent drug dealers a second chance to avoid prosecution. Szczerba said last week he had "no interest whatsoever" in trying the strategy.

"I am not enamored with the prospect of coddling criminals who break the law and terrorize neighborhoods," Szczerba said in the emailed statement Thursday, "but I am also not so entrenched in my position that I am opposed to looking closer at this combined model of law enforcement and the application of social services.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20111007/NEWS01/110070325/A-new-course-crime-fight

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Connecticut

Mayor: Major Crime Declining In City

MIDDLETOWN — — Major crime in the city was down 23 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the first quarter of 2010, officials said Thursday.

From January to March this year, aggravated assaults and larcenies were down significantly and the number of burglaries also fell, said Mayor Sebastian Giuliano.

The total crime index fell 23 percent and there were decreases in several categories. The crime index is the total reported murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larcenies, motor vehicle thefts and arsons. Data are compiled by the state police.

There were no murders in the reporting period in 2010 and 2011, and one rape in each of those time periods.

Giuliano said the city's community policing efforts were a major part of the crime reduction.

http://articles.courant.com/2011-10-06/community/hc-middletown-crime-down-1007-20111006_1_motor-vehicle-thefts-larcenies-crime-index

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Department of Justice Awards More Than $243 Million to Hire New Officers Grants to Cincinnati and 237 Additional Agencies Aimed at Creating and Saving Law Enforcement Jobs

WASHINGTON –Attorney General Eric Holder today joined Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory and Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS) Bernard Melekian to announce more than $15 million in grant awards to agencies in Ohio through the 2011 COPS Hiring Program. In total, more than $243 million in grants will be awarded nationwide to 238 law enforcement agencies and municipalities to hire new officers and deputies.

The COPS Hiring Program is a competitive grant program that provides funding directly to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to hire police officers dedicated to addressing specific crime and disorder challenges confronting communities. The grants provide 100 percent funding for the entry-level salaries and benefits of newly-hired, or rehired, full-time officer positions over a three-year period.

“Block by block – city by city, department by department, the administration is determined – absolutely determined – to help build capacity, to enable our law enforcement partners to make the most of precious resources and to encourage their most promising and effective public safety efforts,” said Attorney General Holder.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-ag-1321.html

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Oct 6, 2011

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New Jersey

Timoney offers details on plan for police force

Proposal's cost still to be determined for Camden

CAMDEN — While a plan crafted by Camden County officials with the guidance of a former Philadelphia police chief would increase uniformed staffing levels on the streets of Camden by 83 percent, one detail remains unclear: the cost.

Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney, who was hired as a consultant by Camden County in August, gave no indication Wednesday what it would cost to establish a police department with a projected uniform strength of 473 officers.

“The county and mayor's office are working on that,” Timoney said, in a conference call from his home in Miami. “That's best left up to them.”

Timoney was previously quoted as saying there was no certainty a county police department would save money.

The methodology for Timoney's plan is one that was developed over the course of more than a month as he toured the city and interviewed the mayor, police staff and county officials. Timoney applied many of the principles of policing he utilized in New York City, Miami and Philadelphia.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20111006/NEWS01/310060016/Timoney-offers-details-plan-police-force?odyssey=nav%7Chead

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New Jersey

Crime on the Decline in East Brunswick

Uniform Crime Report shows decreases in both violent and non-violent crimes.

Crime in East Brunswick dropped in 2010 for the third year in a row, according to the state Uniform Crime Report.

The UCR is based on crime statistics submitted to the New Jersey Uniform Crime Reporting System by every state law enforcement agency. According to the report, both violent and non-violent crime dropped slightly from 2009 to 2010.

According to the report, there were 44 incidents of violent crime in 2010, compared with 52 in 2009. The year before that, there were 237 incidents.

In 2010, there were zero murders, four incidents of reported forcible rape, 15 incidents of robbery, and 25 incidents of aggravated assault.

Violent crimes in 2009 included one murder, six rapes, 21 robberies and 24 aggravated assaults. In 2008, the township saw one murder, six rapes, 83 robberies and 147 aggravated assaults.

http://eastbrunswick.patch.com/articles/crime-on-the-decline-in-east-brunswick

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California

Police services board launches policing survey, Input sought from residents to develop priorities for policing

Close a Miranda loophole

Must a prisoner be advised of his rights when interrogated inside prison walls? The Supreme Court should say yes.

A case to be argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday poses the question of whether a prisoner must be advised of his rights when he is interrogated inside prison walls. The court should answer yes and close an unconscionable loophole in the Miranda rule.

Randall Lee Fields was in jail for disorderly conduct when he was taken by a corrections officer to a locked conference room. He was then questioned about his relationship with a man named Travis Bice, whom he had met when Bice was a minor. Fields was not read his Miranda rights, which would have told him of his right to remain silent and his right to a lawyer, and was told he could leave the conference room at any time. Fields confessed to engaging in sexual acts with the minor and was eventually convicted of criminal sexual conduct.

When Fields appealed, a Michigan court held that, while he was clearly in custody — which is when the requirement usually kicks in — Miranda didn't in fact apply in this case. Its reasoning was that there wasn't a connection between Fields' custody and the crime he was being questioned about. That was inconsistent with a 1968 Supreme Court decision in which the court said that a Miranda warning was required regardless of why the suspect was in custody.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-miranda-20111004,0,847555,print.story

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The scapegoating of Amanda Knox

In person, in prison and in the media, the woman convicted by an Italian court of murder — and now exonerated — was subjected to all manner of outlandish, misogynistic behavior.

Amanda Knox is nothing if not a good story. The pretty young American who headed to Italy for her junior year abroad, fell for an Italian boy and then landed in the dock with him, accused, convicted and then exonerated on charges of murdering another young woman in a sex game gone wild.

Knox was never one of the usual suspects. Her roommate, Meredith Kercher, a British exchange student, was found on the night after Halloween 2007, raped, with her throat slit, in the Perugia apartment they shared. According to the European Council, 1 in 5 European females are victims of a sexual assault at some point in their lives. Ninety-eight percent of their aggressors are male.

When I went to Perugia in 2009, as Knox's testimony began, to research a book on the case, I didn't know whether she was guilty as charged, but I was certainly willing to believe it. Either way, it was a textbook example of our never-ending fascination with the supposed femme fatale. Men may batter wives and girlfriends daily, sometimes to death, but their perp walks rarely make it onto Nancy Grace's show, let alone through a second cycle of the local news. "Foxy Knoxy" (as she called herself on her MySpace page), on the other hand, has been a continual headline grabber from the moment of her arrest.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-burleigh-knox-20111004,0,3520685,print.story

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Arizona

National Night Out more important than ever

TUCSON - Public parks around town were overrun by cops Tuesday, but for a very positive reason: National Night Out.

The community policing event started in 1984. Initially it featured "lights-on" vigils but now, many places hold block parties to help bring neighbors together.

Most cities hold it the first Tuesday of August, but warm weather cities use the first Tuesday in October.

National Night Out has been growing in popularity over the years and with the recent budget cuts hurting local police departments many believe the event couldn't be more important.

http://www.kvoa.com/news/national-night-out-more-important-than-ever/

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Pre? – The Next Step In Our Risked-Based Approach To Further Enhance Airport Security

Michigan Community policing is working

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Today, the White House issued a Presidential Proclamation designating October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. On Friday, I will be speaking together with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano at the official kick-off event for the month at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. In the following weeks, the Department of Homeland Security will be hosting events across the nation to bring cybersecurity awareness to your state and your community. Every company, school, and family should use October as an opportunity to focus on cybersecurity – update training, attend or host an event, or talk to your children about responsible use of the Internet.

Cybersecurity is of course not something we can pay attention to for only one-month each year. It is a shared responsibility each and every day. That is why last year we began the National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign -- Stop. Think. Connect. -- an ongoing effort to educate Americans about risks in cyberspace and promotes simple steps that everyone can take to protect themselves online.

I'd also like to highlight the re-launch of OnGuardOnline.gov, the federal government's website to help you be safe, secure and responsible online. The site is a resource for parents, educators, and individuals who want to learn more about cybersecurity. Managed by the Federal Trade Commission, OnGuardOnline.gov is a partner in Stop. Think. Connect. and part of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. I encourage everyone to visit these three sites to learn more about what you can do to be safe online.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/03/national-cybersecurity-awareness-month

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United States, Mexico announce results of repatriation program

TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that 8,893 Mexican citizens agreed to voluntarily return to their hometowns in the interior of Mexico by participating in the Mexican Interior Repatriation Program (MIRP).

MIRP is a bilaterally beneficial voluntary program that ensures the safe and swift return of Mexican nationals found unlawfully in the Sonora Arizona desert region of the United States to their places of origin in the Mexican interior. The program is run by ICE, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mexican Ministry of the Interior.

The last flight for 2011, carrying 139 people, departed Tucson Wednesday for Mexico City.

"MIRP reflects our mutual commitment to strong and effective enforcement of both nations' immigration laws, and this program is proof that we can do so in a humanitarian way," said Katrina S. Kane, field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Arizona. "This program prioritizes the humane treatment of detainees throughout the removal process."

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1109/110929tucson.htm

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ICE arrests more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens, fugitives in enforcement operation
throughout all 50 states

18 weapons seized during operation

WASHINGTON — As part of the Obama administration's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced the results of a seven-day national "Cross Check" enforcement operation-which led to the arrest of more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens.

"The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE's ongoing commitment and focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens and those that game our nation's immigration system," said ICE Director John Morton. "Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers and agents in tracking down at large criminal aliens and fugitives, there are 2,901 fewer criminal aliens in our neighborhoods across the country."

This seven-day operation, the largest of its kind, involved the collaboration of more than 1,900 ICE officers and agents from all of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations' (ERO) 24 field offices, as well as coordination with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners throughout the United States. Arrests occurred in all 50 states and four U.S. territories.

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1109/110928washingtondc.htm

Al-Qaida's Yemen chiefs still menace US

WASHINGTON (AP) — The killing of American-born al-Qaida preacher Anwar al-Awlaki may weaken the Yemen branch's ability to attack the United States, but the only way to eliminate the threat is to take out its Yemen leaders, according to a new report by a top Army counterterrorism center.

Terror chief Nasir al-Wahayshi, who used to work for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, and other key figures are the real secret to the group's survival, and are equally committed to attacks on the U.S. homeland, according to the report released Monday by the U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center.

A year in the making and written before Friday's drone strike that killed al-Awlaki and fellow U.S.-born propagandist Samir Khan, the report also suggests that its leaders' strength is key to the group's end. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula's "reliance on this capable leadership is simultaneously the group's central vulnerability," said study editor Gabriel Koehler-Derrick.

"Removing these leaders from the battlefield ... would rapidly bring about the group's defeat," according to the study, made available exclusively to The Associated Press.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmC1BzG835egHbyRPXHuAQhMfShg?docId=2819668e56b4423e94f263c00f690974

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Anwar Al-Awlaki: Critics Say Killing Breaches Norms, Sets Wrong Precedent

The killing of terrorist mastermind Anwar Al-Awlaki, in Yemen last week, by the United States has raised legal questions, with many international law experts saying that the ideal course of action would have been to bring Awlaki to a U.S. court.

Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico, held citizenship status with both the U.S. and Yemen. He fled the U.S. shortly before the 9/11 terrorist attack. The U.S., recently, issued a kill order against him, soon after the al-Qaeda attack.

He was later also linked to shootings at Fort Hood, Tx., in 2009, that saw the death of 13 people, as well as the attempted Times Square bombing. The U.S. had accused Awlaki of masterminding the operations of the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and trying to launch terrorist attacks on the country.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/223724/20111003/anwar-al-awlaki-critics-say-killing-breaches-norms-sets-wrong-precedent-al-qaida-yemen-drone.htm

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