NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) – Federal authorities say a Mexican man is in custody for allegedly trying to smuggle nearly $107,000 in undeclared cash across the southern Arizona border.

They say 54-year-old Gamaliel Gonzales De Dios, of Nayarit, Mexico, was arrested Friday in Nogales near the Dennis DeConcini Port.

Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents conducting outbound inspections selected Gonzales De Dios for a secondary inspection after he declared $1,000 in U.S. currency.

They say he actually was carrying almost $1,900 in cash and 23 packages containing an additional $105,000 was found concealed in a cooler Gonzales De Dios was carrying.

The cash was processed for seizure and Gonzales De Dios was referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Tucson, Arizona- Deaths of undocumented immigrants in the Arizona desert are down 36 percent in the 2013 fiscal year, the U.S. Border Patrol said.

From Oct. 1 through May 1, 64 migrants died while trying to sneak across the border into the United States, down from 101 during the same period of fiscal 2012, according to official figures.

“The deaths have gone down, but as temperatures begin to rise in the desert, the dangers increase,” Andres Adame, spokesman for the Border Patrol Tucson Sector, told Efe.

The most recent fatality was last Saturday.

Border Patrol agents responded to a call about someone’s being lost in the desert near the village of Tres Puntos. When they reached the scene, they found one migrant alive and another, dead.

The survivor told the agents that the other man had fallen ill and been abandoned by the “coyote” they paid to guide them across the desert.

Agents in the Tucson Sector, which includes 90 percent of the Arizona-Mexico border, have carried out 203 successful rescues in the desert so far in fiscal 2013, 27 more than at the same point in fiscal 2012, when the number of rescues reached a record 634.

“That tells us this summer could be terrible for the migrants,” Adame said.

Daytime temperatures in the Arizona desert are already hovering around 100 F.

Heat, however, is not the only danger.

“We have seen an increase in the number of cases of robbery, of women raped,” Adame said, attributing the phenomenon to a takeover of migrant smuggling by organized crime.

Formerly, he said, most “coyotes” were men and women who lived in the border region.

“The dad, the mom and the kids dedicated themselves to the business of bringing immigrants across. Everybody was involved, it was a family business. But later we see a change when the drug cartels got involved,” Adame said.

For the cartels, migrants are merchandise, not human beings, he said.

Instead of men “making a little money for their families,” the coyotes are now “criminals who make a lot of money,” Adame said.

OFFICER SAFETY

Subject: (U//FOUO/LES) Los Zetas Targeting Active and Retired US Law Enforcement Travelers to Mexico.

As of May 2013, the Los Zetas Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), in and around Nuevo Laredo and Tamaulipas Mexico, were conducting roadblocks and downloading cell phone information in order to locate US Law Enforcement members whom the Zetas had targeted for retaliation. While conducting roadblocks, Zetas’ members were running both the vehicle occupants’ identities, as well as downloading the occupants’ cell phone information, cross‐referencing against their computerized list of individuals whom they had targeted for relation.

Source: (U//FOUO) IIR 4 214 2101 133 (FBI)
Date of Publication: (U) 071834Z May 13

Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Ranking Member and Chairman of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, today released the following new information about the February 2013 release of ICE detainees with criminal records:

In February 2013, in a misguided effort to comply with anticipated budget cuts due in part to sequestration, without explanation or warning, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials released from custody 2,226 detainees into communities across the country. In response to requests for information by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after a three month delay and under threat of a possible subpoena, finally disclosed details about those releases. DHS disclosed that, as part of the larger release, it freed 622 detainees with criminal records, including 32 with multiple felony convictions.

Among the 32 detainees, for example, ICE’s Phoenix District Office released a detainee who had a felony second degree robbery prior conviction and countless convictions for prostitution and solicitation for lewd conduct. The Phoenix office releases also included an individual who had been convicted of an extreme case of driving under the influence (DUI) and harassment, as well as having caused criminal damage to property, as well as a detainee who had prior convictions for carrying a loaded firearm, DUI with a controlled substance, felony possession of drugs, second degree burglary, vandalism, and trespassing. The San Francisco Field Office released someone with a prior felony conviction to manufacture fake identifications as well as a man with two DUIs and two stalking convictions, the last one as recent as 2012. The Houston office deemed a person convicted of felony possession of marijuana of up to 2,000 pounds acceptable for release.

When DHS realized the seriousness of the offenses, it re-apprehended 24 of the 32 detainees with felony convictions who had been freed. DHS considered returning the remaining eight to physical custody, but took other actions instead, including using ankle bracelets to track their movements. DHS told the Subcommittee that local ICE officials at regional field offices had the discretion to choose which detainees to release. The Senators recommend that disciplinary action be considered for the ICE officials responsible for releasing detainees with multiple felony convictions into communities. 

Note:  The author of this posting is unknown to us but it has some interesting points with reading.  Gary

I just read the dumbest column I have ever seen. In the Washington Post it said that Marco Rubio, Florida’s junior Senator, needs immigration reform to pass the Senate if he wants a chance at the White House in 2016.

First of all the Rubio (Gang of 8) immigration “reform” should be called the “Iron Dome Border Security Act of 2013″ because it’s going to be largely about a water proof Mexican border and tightening visa stay-over control. The bill is is deeply opposed to any “path to legalization or citizenship.”

That may actually be a good thing because most Americans are not so comfortable with what many call “amnesty for illegals” nor even with the idea of many more immigrants coming to the US and taking American jobs (the great fear), flooding schools and hospitals with illegals (a huge fear of local officials in areas of massive undocumented residents.)

Moreover, the truth is that Hispanics in particular are actually not as interested in immigration reform as they are in job opportunities and a path to education and a better future for their kids.

Immigration reform is down the list because most Hispanics in the United States are AMERICANS! They were born here. Others have become citizens through naturalization. Still another huge chunk of immigrants are are working and studying in the USA with legitimate green cards.

The fact is that a majority of Hispanics do NOT want lots more illegal immigrants coming into the country nor do they want a new law that will allow millions of MORE immigrants to come here – the family members of the 11 million illegals who would become citizens. That’s certainly true of American engineering and STEM trained college students whether Hispanic or not but certainly including Hispanics because people like Bill Gates and the Facebook gang want thousands of foreign students to be allowed to stay and work in the US costing American graduates job opportunities.

As Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio himself, and GOP “guru” consultant Gentry Collins have said, the GOP needs to become an appealing party to young voters, women, Asian Americans, Hispanics, and independent voters. Then they will win elections, “no problema.”

I know for sure that, Rubio is appealing enough for other reasons. He actually does NOT need immigration reform to run for President.

• If the Arizona border is more secure than why has the number of unaccompanied children crossing the border increased? On March 23^rd, only two weeks prior to the secure border claim, U.S. News reported that, “Undocumented Kids Crossing the U.S. Border Alone in Increasing Numbers.” The article elaborated that between January 1^st through March 15^th 6,965 children were apprehended crossing the Arizona border alone (Greene, 2013).
• If the Arizona border is more secure than why are Mexican elementary age kids walking across it to attend an Arizona public elementary school at the American taxpayer’s expense? Rep. Jason Chaffetz from Utah twittered and told fox news that when he was visiting the border on April 3^rd that he happened to be in Naco, Arizona at 2:15 in the afternoon just as the kids were finishing school for the day. He watched approximately 60 elementary kids leave the school and walk two blocks to the border and cross over it to go back home to Mexico. He stressed that there was no adult supervision, not even a crossing guard monitoring the border as these 60 kids, some of which weren’t big enough to ride a Disneyland ride, walked across an international border like they were walking to meet the ice cream man.
• If the Arizona border is more secure than why did Senator Chaffetz describe one portion of the border that actually had steps and a hand rail (Fox News, 2013)?
• If the Arizona border is more secure than why does Jim Chilton, an Arizona rancher whose ranch is located on the Mexico border, state that he has never seen so many people using his ranch to cross over into the U.S. (Kleinpeter, 2013)?
• If the Arizona border is more secure than why does Janet Brewer, Governor of Arizona, claim definitively that the (Arizona) border is not secure (Hendley, 2013)?
• If the Arizona border is more secure than why does one border patrol agent state, “We’ve seen the number of illegal aliens double, maybe even triple since amnesty talk started happening”?

So let me ask you; do you really think the Arizona border is secure?

Gene Guyant, Chief Patrol Agent (Ret) and a Founding Member of NAFBPO (National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers)

These days we hear much about the “Latino vote” and how it can influence elections. That should not be. It’s a shame and a bad omen for our nation when sizable ethnic groups and organizations focus their political ideologies and programs based on a particular race, immigration status and language, rather than on the common national good. The long range result can then only be a nation bitterly divided on ethnic grounds and unable to strive toward the positive goals cited in our Declaration of Independence.

Latin Americans for the most part constitute a hard working, law abiding people. But the promise of an even better life elsewhere, the so-called “American Dream,” has lured and kept uncounted millions of them illegally within our borders. This large influx cannot continue because it cannot help but destabilize and permanently change our own society from the local level on up. In effect, a new, dual society has already emerged. That new one does not assimilate because its members have retained and implanted their own language and mores and currently base their political preferences on the goal of once more bypassing our immigration laws and thus setting a new welcome and invitation for more millions to enter illegally in the future. Ignoring this situation, as National Administrations have done for more than 30 years, will not make the immigration chaos disappear, or even lessen. A “comprehensive immigration reform” (the cover term for amnesty) is definitely not the answer. This situation is only going to grow increasingly dangerous for our nation’s future stability and cultural homogeneity in generations to come.

The United States has championed the side of democracy in this hemisphere and has resisted and opposed un-democratic regimes. We have also given asylum to many thousands of Latin Americans fleeing from natural disasters or political oppression in their countries of origin. However, we must now have the internal fortitude to face this growing cultural tearing apart of our society. By all means, we should maintain a friendship with our Latin American neighbors south of the Rio Grande, but in their own countries and not by allowing them to have a hand in changing the character of our own nation. If they do wish to visit or live here permanently, let’s have them do it legally at the start, by obeying our rules and laws. Then they’ll be welcome to stay. But not by entering illegally and later demanding amnesty by the millions. We cannot, as a nation, keep absorbing millions who would do otherwise.

The comprehensive immigration overhaul being taken up in the Senate this week could cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion if 11 million illegal immigrants are granted legal status, according to a long-awaited estimate by the conservative Heritage Foundation.

The cost would arise from illegal immigrants tapping into the government’s vast network of benefits and services, many of which are currently unavailable to them. This includes everything from standard benefits like Social Security and Medicare to dozens of welfare programs ranging from housing assistance to food stamps.

The report was obtained in advance by Fox News.

“No matter how you slice it, amnesty will add a tremendous amount of pressure on America’s already strained public purse,” Robert Rector, the Heritage scholar who prepared the report, said in a statement.

The study is already coming under criticism from some groups and economists who challenge its assumptions, claiming the legalization would help fuel economic growth. Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint, though, defended the study ahead of its release Monday morning.

“There’s no way you can look at this and say that it’s good for the American taxpayer,” he told Fox News.

The numbers could raise additional concerns for Republicans as a Senate committee prepares to consider the legislation later this week.

The comprehensive study, aside from looking at benefits, also factored in the cost of public education and other services like highways and police. The government is already providing some of those services to illegal immigrants, so the $6.3 trillion figure would not represent all new costs.

But most of that cost would be new spending, according to Heritage, as illegal immigrants gain access to additional government programs. The study acknowledges that, for a 10-year period, illegal immigrants seeking a reprieve would be barred from these benefits. After that window, though, Heritage forecasts the costs skyrocketing.

On an annual basis, the report estimates the cost will be $106 billion after the interim phase is over. In the course of their lifetime, the report estimates that illegal immigrant households would receive an average of $592,000 in government benefits.

The $6.3 trillion figure is based on what illegal immigrants would cost the government over the course of their lifetime. It factors in the expected $3.1 trillion in taxes they’d pay to the government.

Supporters of immigration legislation have been skeptical of efforts to assign a cost to the immigration bill. Proponents argue that the value of bringing millions of illegal immigrants out of the shadows and presumably into the taxpaying workforce is immeasurable.

Economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, said the Heritage study ignores key factors like the possibility of illegal immigrants moving up the economic ladder.

“There’s no upward mobility,” he told FoxNews.com. “They’re frozen” in low-paying jobs.

Holtz-Eakin said the estimate assumes “no American dream” for those who attain legal status.

Stephen Moore, an economist and Wall Street Journal writer, said many economists challenge the notion that immigrants are a net cost to the country. He told Fox News despite the Heritage findings, there are other studies showing the legalization will be an economic boon that could grow the economy — in turn alleviating the country’s deficit problem.

“You’ve got to look at both sides of the equation,” Moore said. “Yes, the immigrants will use benefits, no question about that, but as they become more productive citizens and they come out of the shadows, a lot of economists — myself included — think they’ll become more productive and they’ll pay more taxes.”

He noted many immigrants are entrepreneurial, starting businesses that grow the economy.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a key co-author of the legislation, has also stressed that illegal immigrants applying for legal status would not have access to federal benefits while they are applying.

After obtaining a green card, they would still be ineligible for many federal benefits for five years.

The legislation also might not legalize all 11 million illegal immigrants. Some could be disqualified if they have a felony record or other problems in their background.

Heritage claims its estimate is on the conservative end.

“Those who claim that amnesty will not create a large fiscal burden are simply in a state of denial concerning the underlying redistributional nature of government policy in the 21st century,” the report said.