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Nogales Border patrol agents last Tuesday were reportedly "rocked" by Mexican culprits, and witnesses said gunfire was exchanged. The incident was reported to have taken place along the international border in the area of East and Short Streets. Witnesses said there were actually two incidents, first around 11 a.m. and then again after 1:30 p.m. "Two agents were assaulted (and) there were firearms discharged," said Jim Hawkins, U.S. Border Patrol spokesman in Nogales. Chief John Kissinger of the Nogales Police Department, said his officers were called to assist after it was reported that a border patrol agent was being rocked...

JANUARY 30, 2005 - The music was from Mexico; the food was from Mexico; but the location was definitely not Mexico. “We need to take steps to ensure the safety of our legislators,” says State Senator Eddie Lucio. The dinner in Brownsville was arranged in less than 24 hours, after a delegation of state legislators scrapped plans to cross into Matamoros. The reason? Organizers say it was a warning from the FBI that members of the Gulf Cartel were out to kidnap two of its agents. “If you go to a bad place, bad things will happen to you. We...

TUCSON - No, without thanks. That's the message the head of the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector wants to tell a group of people who say they intend to help the federal agency monitor the international boundary in Cochise County. "I don't need them." Sector Chief Patrol Agent Michael Nicley said Thursday. He was talking about a planned monthlong air and ground patrol of the border by those who support the Minuteman Project. He and National Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said they are aware the county's 83 miles of the international line with Mexico are the busiest for apprehending...

TOMBSTONE - The U.S. government has failed in controlling the border with Mexico and in April a group of volunteers will highlight the federal fiasco by doing the job through aerial and ground surveillance, said an organizer of the monthlong event. Jim Gilchrist, who heads the Minuteman Project, and about 20 supporters met Friday night to talk about plans. He's currently recruiting volunteers for the operation through a Web site. During the meeting, Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said that while he believes in keeping the laxness of the federal government's border and immigration policies in the spotlight, whatever the...

Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- An average of 1,000 Mexicans without documents cross the U.S.-Mexico border every day, a Mexican institution said Monday. National Council of Population, or Conapo, predicted in a new report that during 2005, migration will continue constantly with a total of a little under 400,000 people.

DOUGLAS - The U.S. Border Patrol wants to construct up to 18 miles of new secondary fencing, with most of it being placed about 60 feet north of the existing border wall here and at Naco. The secondary fencing is included in a wish list of improvements and enhancements the Border Patrol is proposing in the Revised Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for its Tucson and Yuma sectors. The report, initially released in October, is now under review. The additional fencing is just "another enforcement tool that will allow the Border Patrol to patrol both sides of the fence. It...

(CBS) The only thing hotter than the peppers being picked along the U.S.-Mexico border these days is the reaction to Arizona's voter approved Proposition 200 aimed at weeding out illegal immigrants, cutting off their public benefits and sending them back home. "These people just flood across and they're ruining our health care system and they're ruining our schools," says Walter Kolbe. "The people are just fed up with it." As CBS News Correspondent Jerry Bowen reports, From Kolbe's backyard one can see Mexico and the backpacks and water bottles abandoned by the nightly wave of illegals crossing over. "We are...

Buenos nachos, muchachos. The periodic political silly season is over, so I’m off the campaign trails and back on the Illegal Alien Trails again. I seem to meet a more honest class of people out there – a lot of them honestly hate me. To be honest on my part, I get a nice warm fuzzy feeling from all that emotion. The situation here has not changed in the last couple of months. We still have thousands crossing daily through Cochise County. The US Border Patrol is swamped; at any given moment there are several times as many illegal aliens...

PHOENIX - Two men involved in the Oct. 16 vehicle wreck in Sierra Vista that caused the deaths of two local residents and three illegal immigrants could face the death penalty, federal authorities said Thursday. Jimir Valle Martinez, 21, of Honduras, and Carlos Cortez, 29, of Mexico, were two of four illegal immigrants indicted by a federal grand jury in Tucson on Wednesday, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona. Valle is accused of driving the stolen Ford F-350 in which 17 illegal immigrants were crammed. Cortez is accused of being the...

PHOENIX - A federal judge has given the OK for Gov. Janet Napolitano to officially proclaim approval of Proposition 200. Judge David Bury, in an order released Wednesday, said Napolitano is free to declare that voters approved sections of the initiative which require proof of citizenship to register to vote and mandate that those seeking to cast a ballot must first present identification. That, in turn, permits the state to submit the change to the U.S. Department of Justice for its required review of whether the measure illegally impairs the voting rights of minorities. But Bury left intact part of...

PHOENIX - Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has asked a federal judge for permission to sign a voter-passed immigration initiative, despite the issuance of a temporary restraining order blocking its implementation. The governor's office filed a motion Friday in U.S. District Court in Tucson asking Judge David C. Bury to allow her to issue a proclamation making Proposition 200 law. The Arizona Constitution requires her to declare as law the measure, which would mandate proof of citizenship for voter registration and proof of residency status for some government services. Napolitano had planned to sign the proclamation last week, but she said...

Your staff opinion on the situation raised by throngs of illegal alien men standing on streets is far off the mark. It is not, as the opinion piece puts forth, a solution that arises out of fear or intolerance. It is not rooted in race, color, creed or gender. The reaction is a product of law or, rather, the lack of consideration for our laws. Illegal immigration is a federal crime. While some say that illegal immigration is a civil crime, it is penalized with imprisonment on those detained a second time. Employment of illegal aliens is also a crime...

TUCSON — A federal judge blocked the state Tuesday from implementing Proposition 200, at least for the next three weeks. Judge David Bury granted a temporary restraining order after lawyers hired by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund argued that people will be harmed if the voter-approved initiative is allowed to take effect. Attorney Hector Villagra said individuals are likely to be denied benefits to which they are legally entitled. Villagra said those arguments are not undermined by the fact that state Attorney General Terry Goddard concluded the effects of Proposition 200 are limited. He said Goddard's legal...

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau will continue a hiring freeze and restrict nonessential spending for the foreseeable future, a spokesman said Friday. ICE employees say the hiring freeze, which has been in effect since March, and spending restrictions are negatively affecting their work and morale. "We are not making new hires and we continue to not make non-mission-critical expenditures," said ICE spokesman Russ Knocke. "Certainly the hope would be that we would get to the point where hires could be made...but it's premature for me to speculate with respect to a timetable for fiscal 2005." ICE initiated the hiring...

The Tucson sector is the only area in the Southwestern United States where Border Patrol agents are not allowed to set up permanent checkpoints. Instead, agents rotate to various locations in the sector. "That takes time. That means we're gonna be down for certain periods of time," says agent Andy Adame. The idea behind these temporary checkpoints is to catch smugglers by surprise, but critics say this doesn't work because smugglers usually have someone driving a few miles in front of them, to radio back the location of the checkpoint. The sector's new chief, Mike Nicley, says the solution is...

A referendum approved in Arizona designed to clamp down on undocumented immigrants has sparked similar efforts across the country and drew protests from the Mexican government. Despite strong opposition from the state's governor and congressional delegation, voters approved Proposition 200, placed on the ballot by a grassroots effort led by Arizona activists and funded by national immigration-restriction groups. It tightens Arizona laws to keep undocumented immigrants from voting and from getting welfare and other government help. The Mexican government lamented passage of the measure, saying it "will lead to discrimination based on racial profiling while limiting access to basic health...

Charlotte, North Carolina, Oct 29 (EFE).- A round-up by authorities of undocumented immigrants has transformed a North Carolina municipality into a ghost town, its streets deserted and its factories begging for workers. The Hispanic areas of Lincolnton, a town of almost 10,000 people located west of Charlotte, have been empty since Wednesday, when local police and Lincoln County sheriff's deputies arrested 24 undocumented immigrants working in three plants of RSI, a firm that manufactures and distributes household items. "There's a lot of fear," Jorge Chavez, who runs an agency that sends goods to Costa Rica, told EFE. The undocumented immigrants...

U.S. Attorney's Office Asks For Change In Federal Guidelines SAN DIEGO -- In an exclusive 10News report, investigative reporter Thom Jensen learned that the San Diego Office of the U.S. Attorney has advised the Border Patrol they want to change the way the Department of Justice does business. In a letter written by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Peak to Paul Blocker, Jr., acting chief patrol agent, he said, "We believe it appropriate to revise our prosecution guidelines in criminal alien cases." Peak said the local U.S. Attorney's Office resources are limited and they have other "enforcement priorities." He told the...

PHOENIX (October 17, 3:36 pm ADT) - Police on Sunday were still trying to determine who was driving a stolen truck loaded with illegal immigrants that smashed into other vehicles and rolled over, killing six people and injuring 15, some critically. --snip-- The impact tore the roofs from some cars and trapped several motorists in their vehicles, Redmond said. James Lee, 74, and Emilia Lee, 71, of Huachuca City, were killed when the pickup hit their vehicle.

[Update of yesterday's post by Hijinx.] SIERRA VISTA - Six people are dead and 22 were injured after a truck crashed into a line of vehicles at the intersection of the Highway 90 Bypass and Buffalo Soldier Trail Saturday afternoon. The pickup truck, which is suspected of carrying illegal immigrants, initially was pursued by Cochise County Sheriff's deputies, who backed off after the pickup reached excessive speeds, Sheriff Larry Dever said. After the vehicle was later seen heading north on Highway 90, a set of tire spikes was put on the road by a Sierra Vista Police Department officer near...