Free Republic

SAN DIEGO—A transgendered Mexican woman who was granted asylum in the U.S. should be released immediately from the immigration jail while her case is under appeal, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a lawsuit filed Thursday. The ACLU said Oscar "Diana" Santander should be released while the government appeals an immigration judge's ruling in May that granted Santander asylum because she would be at risk of torture if deported to Mexico. Santander, 42, came to California illegally in 1994 but was deported in 2001 to Tijuana, Mexico, across the border from San Diego. Her attorneys claim she was held...

EDCOUCH — The mid-April incident looked like a typical one for the Edcouch Police Department: two men caught and charged with multiple counts of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon while committing a home invasion. But something stood out to Police Chief Jose Perez as one of the suspects was being interviewed by his officers. The male suspect, who said he lived in the Elsa area but was really an undocumented Mexican citizen, said in Spanish to watch out for the Mara Salvatrucha-Treces, also known as the Maras or MS-13. The group has ties to Central America but began forming...