Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Illegal Immigration News

Today's Illegal Immigration News
Tuesday, April 17, 2012

KRIS KOBACH: IMMIGRATION NOT JUST A FEDERAL MATTER

Reuters’ Terry Baynes recently interviewed Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach about the issue of state versus federal authority in immigration matters given the battle in the U.S. Supreme Court next week, when the court will hear arguments for and against new Arizona laws against illegal immigration.

As Kobach points out in the interview, the federal government has primary authority over immigration but “the Supreme Court has ruled multiple times that states have spheres of activity where they can operate to discourage illegal immigration. It’s an area of shared authority.” Kobach then went on to explain that the Obama administration’s argument that federal immigration law is “not designed to ferret out every person unlawfully present in the United States” is false and that the law as written by Congress is very clear and uncompromising. Kobach says, “It calls for enforcement across the board” and that the Obama administration is choosing not to enforce the laws with which it disagrees.

TEXAS MINOR CHARGED WITH 9 COUNTS OF MURDER IN CRASH OF SMUGGLING VAN

A 15-year-old South Texas boy has been charged with nine counts of murder after nine illegal immigrants being smuggled into the United States were killed when he crashed a minivan. The boy was also charged with 17 counts of smuggling a person causing serious bodily injury or death, and one count of evading following last week’s fatal encounter with Border Patrol officers.

The accident only occurred when the boy, who was driving the van, sped off after being pulled over by Border Patrol agents and crashed just a few blocks away. The boy fled on foot, but was arrested two days later at his home. Six people suspected of involvement in the smuggling operation have been arrested on charges related to harboring illegal immigrants and at least four of the six crash survivors were detained as material witnesses, after which they will likely be given a special visa to remain legally in the United States.

A judge will eventually decide whether the boy will be tried as an adult as is hoped by Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra.

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