Weekly News Summary: March 1st

The Mexico Institute’s “Weekly News Summary,” released every Friday afternoon summarizes the week’s most prominent Mexico headlines published in the English-language press, as well as the most engaging opinion pieces by Mexican columnists.

What the English-language press had to say…

This week, Elba Esther Gordillo, the powerful leader of the SNTE, Mexico’s teachers’ union was arrested for allegedly embezzling over $150 million in union funds to support her lavish lifestyle. The arrest shocked the nation and came only a day after President Enrique Peña Nieto signed into law a new education reform package. Many interpreted the move as an attempt by the Peña Nieto administration to reassert state authority over special interests, and as a warning to other industries (e.g. telecommunications and energy) that reform is on the way. NYT columnist Thomas Friedman gave much to talk about following two very optimistic pieces. He suggested Mexico will become a dominant economic power in the 21^st century, and praised Mexico’s young ‘just do it’ generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya mirrored Mr. Friedman’s optimism by suggesting a reinvigorated energy sector will transform Mexico into the world’s “new Middle East.” Meanwhile, north of the border, looming automatic budget cuts prompted ICE to release several hundred low-risk immigrants from deportation centers across the country.

Detained immigrants released; officials cite sequester cuts

Los Angeles Times, 2/26/2013

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have released “several hundred” immigrants from deportation centers across the country, saying the move is an effort to cut costs ahead of budget cuts due to hit later this week. Announcing the news Tuesday, ICE officials said that the immigrants were released under supervision and continue to face deportation. After reviewing hundreds of cases, those released were considered low-risk and “noncriminal,” officials said.

The releases took place over the last week and were an effort “to ensure detention levels stay within ICE’s current budget,” said ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christiansen, citing uncertainty caused by a budget standoff in Washington. “All of these individuals remain in removal proceedings. Priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety,” she said.

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US, Mexico complete two-month trial to fly deportees deep into Mexico; future efforts unclear

The Washington Post, 12/5/2012

The U.S. and Mexican governments have completed a two-month program to fly deportees deep into Mexico, and the U.S. is looking to the new administration of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on whether to continue the effort aimed at relieving overwhelmed Mexican border cities.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said 2,364 Mexican nationals flew on 18 flights during the trial period, all but three of them men. Nearly 2,000 had criminal convictions in the U.S.

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Program Tracks Arrests in Group of Immigrants

The New York Times, 7/31/12

Immigrants who were identified under a federal fingerprinting program as possibly being here illegally but who were not detained by immigration authorities were arrested again on more than 1,800 serious offenses, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. The charges included 19 murders, 3 attempted murders and 142 sex crimes.

The report, released Tuesday by the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, analyzed arrests of immigrants whose fingerprints generated matches with federal databases under an Obama administration program called Secure Communities. The researchers focused on 159,286 immigrants who were arrested by state or local police, were not taken into custody by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcementagents and then were arrested again by the police.

Among those immigrants, the report identified 7,283 who were likely to have been in the country illegally at the time of the first arrest. They were arrested again on a total of 16,226 charges. While the majority were not for serious crimes, there were 1,105 charges for violent or major crimes, including the murder and sex charges, as well as 682 crimes described as burglary or theft and 48 firearms charges, according to the report. There were also 1,420 suspected drug violations.

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Obama Policy on Immigrants Is Challenged by Chicago

The New York Times,07/10/2012

Just weeks after the Supreme Court largely reaffirmed the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement powers in its legal battle with Arizona, federal officials are facing a new, politically tricky clash with local authorities over immigration, this time in Chicago.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he would propose an ordinance that would bar police officers from turning over illegal immigrants to federal agents if the immigrants do not have serious criminal convictions or outstanding criminal warrants.

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Obama Policy on Immigrants Is Challenged by Chicago

The New York Times, 7/10/12

Just weeks after the Supreme Court largely reaffirmed the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement powers in its legal battle with Arizona, federal officials are facing a new, politically tricky clash with local authorities over immigration, this time in Chicago.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he would propose an ordinance that would bar police officers from turning over illegal immigrants to federal agents if the immigrants do not have serious criminal convictions or outstanding criminal warrants.

Read More…

Ruling on Arizona’s immigration law leaves many questions unanswered

The Los Angeles Times, 06/27/2012

Across the state, the law’s “show me your papers” provision upheld by the Supreme Court has created confusion and anxiety, and moved Latinos — both legal and illegal residents — to ask an overriding question: How can you promise we won’t be singled out because of how we look?

If I’m traveling with other Latinos in a carpool will I be stopped?

Will you accept my Mexican-issued ID?

If I witness a crime, should I call the police?

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Easier Route to Green Card to Be Proposed for Some

The New York Times, 1/06/2012

Obama administration officials announced on Friday that they will propose a fix to a notorious snag in immigration law that will spare hundreds of thousands of American citizens from prolonged separations from immigrant spouses and children.

The change that immigration officials are offering would benefit United States citizens who are married to or have children who are illegal immigrants. It would correct a bureaucratic Catch-22 that those Americans now confront when their spouses or children apply to become legal permanent residents.

Although the tweak that officials of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services are proposing appears small, immigration lawyers and advocates for immigrants say it will make a great difference for countless Americans. Thousands will no longer be separated from loved ones, they said, and the change could encourage Americans to come forward to apply to bring illegal immigrant family members into the legal system.

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Q&A: An ICE veteran’s look at drug war

The Houston Chronicle, 12/19/2010

South Texas native Alonzo R. Pena leaves the deputy director job at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a rare perspective. Starting as a highway patrolman along the Texas-Mexico border in 1982, Pena’s nearly three decade law enforcement career has included assignments representing the Department of Homeland Security in Mexico City, stopping arms shipments to Iran, dismantling Mexican drug cartel operations and human trafficking rings, and interrupting the illicit trade in endangered birds and animals from Mexico. Below are some excerpts from a recent conversation with Chronicle reporter James Pinkerton.

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Customs pushed envelope to hit goal

Washington Post, 12/6/2010

For much of this year, the Obama administration touted its tougher-than-ever approach to immigration enforcement, culminating in a record number of deportations.

But in reaching 392,862 deportations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement included more than 19,000 immigrants who had exited the previous fiscal year, according to agency statistics. ICE also ran a Mexican repatriation program five weeks longer than ever before, allowing the agency to count at least 6,500 exits that, without the program, would normally have been tallied by the U.S. Border Patrol.

When ICE officials realized in the final weeks of the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, that the agency still was in jeopardy of falling short of last year’s mark, it scrambled to reach the goal. Officials quietly directed immigration officers to bypass backlogged immigration courts and time-consuming deportation hearings whenever possible, internal e-mails and interviews show.

Instead, officials told immigration officers to encourage eligible foreign nationals to accept a quick pass to their countries without a negative mark on their immigration record, ICE employees said.

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