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.

John Moore / Getty Images

U.S. Border Patrol agent Sal De Leon stands near a section of the U.S.- Mexico border fence while stopping on patrol on April 10, 2013 in La Joya, Texas. According to the Border Patrol, undocumented immigrant crossings have increased more than 50 percent in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley sector in the last year.

John Moore / Getty Images

A U.S. Border Patrol agent detains undocumented immigrants who had crossed from Mexico into the United States on April 11, 2013 in Mission, Texas. In the last month the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector has seen a spike in the number of immigrants crossing the river from Mexico into Texas. With more apprehensions, they have struggled to deal with overcrowding while undocumented immigrants are processed for deportation.

In the small town of San Juan, Texas, a few miles north of the Mexican border, Police Chief Juan Gonzalez toured some of the human stash houses his officers recently uncovered. They had been used to hide immigrants from all over the world who were smuggled across the border into the United States.

Gonzalez says his department has never dealt with as many undocumented immigrants as it encounters now.

“In the past three years we’ve seen an increase.  And it’s not a steady increase, it’s a massive increase,” he said.  “Too many people are getting through.  We’ve got too many holes in the border and we don’t have enough manpower to make sure we secure the border.”

John Moore / Getty Images

U.S. Office of Air and Marine agent Jake Dreher stands over a drug smuggler on the bank of the Rio Grande River at the U.S.- Mexico Border on April 11, 2013 in Mission, Texas. Agents with helicopter support from the U.S. Office of Air and Marine broke up a marijuana smuggling operation from Mexico into Texas.

John Moore / Getty Images

A U.S. Border Patrol canine team works with an U.S. Air and Marine agent to detain an undocumented immigrant after chasing him down near the U.S.- Mexico border on April 11, 2013 near Mission, Texas. A group of 16 immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador said they crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into Texas during the morning hours before they were caught.

John Moore / Getty Images

A U.S. Border Patrol agent looks for drug smugglers on the bank of the Rio Grande River at the U.S.- Mexico Border on April 11, 2013 in Mission, Texas.

About 75 miles north of the border, in Falfurrias, Texas, Benny Martinez, the chief deputy of the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office, says his area is also deeply affected by a recent rise in illegal immigration. 

“The trending is going up,” he said.  “It hasn’t gone down at all, not here.”

John Moore / Getty Images

Undocumented immigrants from El Salvador sit handcuffed after being detained by the U.S. Border Patrol near the U.S.- Mexico border on April 11, 2013 near Mission, Texas.

John Moore / Getty Images

Suspected drug smugglers flee across the Rio Grande River into Mexico on April 11, 2013 in Mission, Texas. Their marijuana smuggling mission was broken up by U.S. Border Patrol agents with helicopter support from the Office of Air and Marine.

John Moore / Getty Images

A Honduran mother holds her toddler son at the U.S. Border Patrol detainee processing center on April 11, 2013 in McAllen, Texas. They had been caught by the Border Patrol while crossing illegally from Mexico into Texas.

Last year, officials and ranchers there found the bodies of 129 immigrants who died in the harsh terrain, presumably after crossing the border illegally.  Dozens are still unidentified and are buried in a local cemetery.  Some of the metal markers on the graves read, “Unknown Female” and “Unknown Remains.”  One says, simply, “Bones.”

Martinez does not believe the U.S.-Mexican border is at all secure in South Texas, given the rise in illegal immigration in Brooks County. 

“It’s steady and I don’t think it’s going to go down, it’s not going to happen anytime soon,” he said.

John Moore / Getty Images

A U.S. Border Patrol Agent inspects a load of marijuana seized from drug smugglers near the U.S.- Mexico border on April 10, 2013 in Hidalgo, Texas.

John Moore / Getty Images

The arrest of father-in-law of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman delivers a personal blow to the most wanted man in Mexico.

Mexican federal police have arrested the father-in-law of alleged drug lord Joaquin Guzman in a northern border city without any shots fired, authorities said.

Ines Coronel Barreras, 45, was detained in Agua Prieta, across the border from Douglas, Arizona, along with a 25-year-old son and three other men, Interior Deputy Secretary Eduardo Sanchez said on Tuesday.

Coronel is the father of Guzman’s third wife, Ema Coronel Aispuro, who married the purported gang boss in 2007 in a mountainous town in Durango state.

The US agency said at the time that Coronel “plays a key role” in the Sinaloa drug cartel led by Guzman, who is also known as “El Chapo”.

Al Jazeera’s Adam Raney, reporting from McAllen, Texas, near the Mexican border, said that Guzman is a “very big fish indeed” within the drug cartels.

“Chapo Guzman is Mexico’s most-wanted man, and this man, Ines Coronel, is his father-in-law, and, according to the US goverment, one of the key operators in the Sinaloa cartel,” said Raney.

Sanchez said officers arrested Coronel and the others at a warehouse and seized four automatic rifles, a handgun and more than 250kg of marijuana.

Coronel was in charge of smuggling marijuana for the Sinaloa drug cartel across the Mexico-Arizona border, Sanchez said.

He said Mexican authorities began gathering intelligence on Coronel in January, the month when the US Treasury Department levied financial sanctions against him.

Coronel’s listing under the US Kingpin Act bars US citizens from having business transactions with him and allows authorities to freeze any assets he has in the United States.

Credit: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Three people trapped in the trunk of a burning vehicle were rescued by Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents rescued three people trapped in the trunk of a burning car Saturday night. 

A Casa Grande Station agent working near Federal Route 15 observed a suspicious vehicle traveling northbound, according to officials with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. As the agent initiated a traffic stop, the vehicle suddenly stopped and burst into flames.

Four people jumped out of the vehicle and attempted to evade arrest. Agents quickly apprehended two of them. A third person returned to the scene and told agents that there were people locked in the trunk.

Agents rescued one adult and two juveniles who were trapped inside. The juveniles were suffering from symptoms of smoke inhalation and were transported to a hospital for treatment.

A short time later, agents apprehended the fourth person who fled.

The Tohono O’odham Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire that had also spread into nearby brush.

All seven individuals were determined to be Mexican nationals illegally present in the United States.

The driver of the vehicle faces possible prosecution.