At what point will the weight of the scandals and bad decisions sink the Obama ship?
Jim Bridenstine
@RepJBridenstineThe Obama administration and DHS should be held accountable for this reckless decision. goo.gl/CuL8g #tcot pic.twitter.com/qnjLwVsM89
8:24 PM – 9 May 2013
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Judicial Watch today released documents detailing how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working with the Mexican government to promote participation by illegal aliens in the U.S. food stamp program.
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The promotion of the food stamp program, now known as “SNAP” (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), includes a Spanish-language flyer provided to the Mexican Embassy by the USDA with a statement advising Mexicans in the U.S. that they do not need to declare their immigration status in order to receive financial assistance. Emphasized in bold and underlined, the statement reads, “You need not divulge information regarding your immigration status in seeking this benefit for your children.”
The documents came in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made to USDA on July 20, 2012. The FOIA request sought: “Any and all records of communication relating to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to Mexican Americans, Mexican nationals, and migrant communities, including but not limited to, communications with the Mexican government.”
The documents obtained by Judicial Watch show that USDA officials are working closely with their counterparts at the Mexican Embassy to widely broaden the SNAP program in the Mexican immigrant community, with no effort to restrict aid to, identify, or apprehend illegal immigrants who may be on the food stamp rolls. In an email to Borjon Lopez-Coterilla and Jose Vincente of the Mexican Embassy, dated January 26, 2012, Yibo Wood of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) sympathized with the plight of illegal aliens applying for food stamps, saying, “FNS understands that mixed status households may be particularly vulnerable. Many of these households contain a non-citizen parent and a citizen child.”
The email from Wood to Lopez-Coterilla and Vincente came in response to a request from the Mexican Embassy that the USDA FNS step in to prevent the state of Kansas from changing its food stamp policy to restrict the amount of financial assistance provided to illegal aliens. In a January 22, 2012, article, the Kansas City Star had revealed that the state would no longer include illegal aliens in its calculations of the amount of assistance to be provided low-income Hispanic families in order to prevent discrimination against legal recipients.
The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch in August 2012, include the following:
* March 30, 2012 – The USDA seeks approval of the Mexican Embassy in drafting a letter addressed to consulates throughout the United States designed to encourage Mexican embassy staffers to enroll in a webinar learn how to promote increased enrollment among “the needy families that the consulates serve.”
* August 1, 2011 – The USDA FNS initiates contact with the Mexican Embassy in New York to implement programs already underway in DC and Philadelphia for maximizing participation among Mexican citizens. The Mexican Embassy responds that the Consul General is eager to strengthen his ties to the USDA, with specific interest in promoting the food stamp program.
* February 25, 2011 – The USDA and the Mexican Consulate exchange ideas about getting the First Ladies of Mexico and United States to visit a school for purposes of creating a photo opportunity that would promote free school lunches for low-income students in a predominantly Hispanic school. Though a notation in the margin of the email claims that the photo op never took place, UPI reported that it actually did.
* March 3, 2010 – A flyer advertises a webinar to teach Hispanic-focused nonprofits how to get reimbursed by the USDA for serving free lunch over the summer. The course, funded by American taxpayers, is advertised as being “free for all participants.”
* February 9 , 2010 – USDA informs the Mexican Embassy that, based on an agreement reached between the State Department and the Immigration & Naturalization Service (now ICE), the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) food voucher program does not violate immigration laws prohibiting immigrants from becoming a “public charge.”
As far back as 2006, in its Corruption Chronicles blog, Judicial Watch revealed that the USDA was spending taxpayer money to run Spanish-language television ads encouraging illegal immigrants to apply for government-financed food stamps. The Mexican Consul in Santa Ana, CA, at the time even starred in some of the U.S. Government-financed television commercials, which explained the program and provided a phone number to apply. In the widely viewed commercial the Consul assured that receiving food stamps “won’t affect your immigration status.”
In 2012, Judicial Watch reported that in a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions questioned the Obama administration’s partnership with Mexican consulates to encourage foreign nationals, migrant workers and non-citizen immigrants to apply for food stamps and other USDA administered welfare benefits. Sessions wrote, “It defies rational thinking,” Sessions wrote, “for the United States – now dangerously $16 trillion in debt – to partner with foreign governments to help us place more foreign nationals on American welfare and it is contrary to good immigration policy in the United States.”
“The revelation that the USDA is actively working with the Mexican government to promote food stamps for illegal aliens should have a direct impact on the fate of the immigration bill now being debated in Congress,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These disclosures further confirm the fact that the Obama administration cannot be trusted to protect our borders or enforce our immigration laws. And the coordination with a foreign government to attack the policies of an American state is contemptible.”
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Judge To Janet Napolitano: You have To Deport Illegal Immigrants – Washington Examiner
Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano does not have the authority to refuse to enforce laws that require illegal immigrants to face deportation, according to the federal judge hearing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement union’s lawsuit against DHS.
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“The court finds that DHS does not have discretion to refuse to initiate removal proceedings [when the law requires it],” U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor said today, per Business Week. O’Connor asked DHS and the ICE union to offer additional arguments before he makes a final ruling on the legality of President Obama’s “deferred action on childhood arrivals” (DACA) program, which invoked prosecutorial discretion as a means of allowing people to stay in the country if they would have qualified for amnesty under the DREAM Act, which never passed through Congress.
The judge’s comments come one day after Napolitano scolded the union, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill, for challenging the policy she and Obama have implemented.
“There are tensions with union leadership, unfortunately,” Napolitano told Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., yesterday. “Here’s what I expect as a former prosecutor and attorney general: that is that law enforcement agents will enforce the law in accordance with the guidance they are given [by] their superiors.”
Sessions faulted Napolitano for refusing to meet with the ICE officers’ union. “I have never heard of a situation in which a group of law officers sued their supervisor, and you, for blocking them from following the law,” he said. “They weren’t complaining about pay, benefits, working conditions – they were saying their very oath they took to enforce the law is being blocked by rules and regulations and policies established from on high, and that this is undermining their ability to do what they are sworn to do.”
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The administration has approved 99.5 percent of applications of those who have applied for legal status under President Obama’s nondeportation policy for young adults, granting legal status to more than 250,000 formerly illegal immigrants.
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Officials said they expect the approval rate to drop as more cases make their way through the system, as it takes longer to deny an application than to approve it. Indeed, the approval rate already has dropped from 99.8 percent just a month ago.
But the high rate leaves others wondering whether the administration is doing all it can to weed out fraud or potentially dangerous illegal immigrants in DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, as it’s formally known.
“You really have to wonder who they’re giving deferred action to, and what kind of risk they represent to us,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. “The screening process is much less for DACA than it would be for a green card, and so it’s all that much more susceptible to fraud.”
DACA is seen by many as a test-run should Congress pass a broad legalization for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
That means the pressure is on Homeland Security to get it right, and officials say they are taking steps to combat fraud, including warning that bogus applicants will be prosecuted and deported.
Mr. Obama created the program last summer to try to help illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children by their parents.
His policy allows them to remain and work in the U.S. on tentative legal status with no fear of deportation, though they do not have a direct path to citizenship. That path could come, though, under the immigration bill senators are beginning to debate, which would give DACA-approved immigrants a speedier chance at citizenship.
On Monday, one of those legalized under DACA pleaded with Congress to give her that chance.
“Legalizing people like me, the 11 million of us, will make the United States stronger and will bring about significant economic gains,” said Gabriel Pacheco, who was brought to the U.S. from Ecuador at age 8 by her parents. “Doing nothing is no longer acceptable.”
Her situation captures the complexities of American immigration: One of her sisters is about to earn citizenship as the wife of a U.S. citizen, with two citizen children; another sister is here illegally and didn’t qualify for DACA because she was too old; and her younger brother, 27, who owns a carwashing business, did qualify. Ms. Pacheco’s husband, meanwhile, is a Venezuelan who has lived in the U.S. for 26 years and earned his green card last year after an 18-year wait.
Mr. Obama announced the DACA policy in June, and the government began taking applications in August.
It was a galvanizing moment for immigrant rights advocates, and Hispanic voters in particular rewarded the president by voting for his re-election in overwhelming numbers.
The policy applies to illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. before age 16 and who were not yet 31 when the program was announced.
Illegal immigrants with serious criminal records aren’t supposed to qualify. To be eligible, applicants must have graduated from high school or earned an equivalency degree or served in the military.
Through the first 7 months of the program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved 268,316 illegal immigrants for tentative legal status, while denying just 1,377 applications.
A Homeland Security official said the denials will tick up as time passes. Those whom the department plans to reject are given time to submit more evidence or appeal their denial, while approvals go through immediately.
For example, while USCIS approved 29,793 applications in the first six weeks of the program, it denied just six applications, or one out of every 5,000. But in March, the agency approved about 98.2 percent, meaning it denied nine out of every 500 applications.
“USCIS has issued some denials but expects denial rates to increase once requests for evidence and notice of intent to deny responses are received and reviewed by USCIS,” a Homeland Security official said.
Louis “Don” Crocetti Jr., who retired in 2011 after serving as the head of the USCIS fraud branch, also predicted his old agency’s denial rate will rise because of how it handles cases.
“It’s not uncommon, in fact it is more common than not, that the questionable cases are put on the back end in order to [make sure] the more deserving candidates get the benefit,” said Mr. Crocetti, who now runs the Immigration Integrity Group, a consultancy.
Cesar Vargas, one of those who has gained legal status under DACA and is executive political director of DRM Action Coalition, said the high approval rate makes sense given who is in this pool of immigrants.
“I am not surprised, just as most Americans and senators should not be not surprised, since many of the DACA applicants who applied were youth and students who were committed to their school and work,” Mr. Vargas said. “Dreamers have been in the U.S. for most of our lives such that it was not as difficult to put the paperwork proving our presence and moral character.”
Through the end of March, the department had received 472,004 completed applications and had settled nearly 270,000 of them.
Mr. Crocetti said DACA is a chance for the administration to test its screening process as it prepares for the possibility of a broad legalization for all 11 million illegal immigrants now in the U.S.
“We are in a post-9/11 world, as most recently evinced by the events in Boston,” he said. “This is a pivotal time that we have to get this right. We have to screen these people accurately, and we really have to know what are the key indicators to look for when these people file.”
Unlike the 1986 amnesty, when every applicant was interviewed in person and there still was double-digit fraud Mr. Crocetti said that’s not likely to be an option this time around. But he said technology has become so advanced that the agency can come up with analytical tools that can predict applications most likely to be fraudulent.
Ms. Vaughan, the policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors a crackdown on immigration, said that in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings that should be a priority for any legalization program, including the ongoing DACA system.
“That’s very concerning in light of the most recent reminder namely this terror attack in Boston, near where I live,” she said, “that we simply are not taking enough care in screening the people we admit for legal status whether it’s this kind of deferred action or a green card or an asylum application.”
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California Dreaming.
More than 20,000 California illegal aliens are seeking state financial aid for the first time under the state’s new Dream Act.
Contra Costa Times reported:
More than 20,000 college-bound students are seeking state financial aid for the first time under California’s new Dream Act laws that allow them to get the help despite their immigration status.
While far from a complete picture, that number is the best indicator yet of how many students hope to benefit from a pair of laws that could radically change the college experience for a generation of students whose parents brought them to the U.S. illegally when they were young – the same group that has taken center stage in the national immigration reform debate.
“For many of them, it’s a game-changer,” said Meng So, who coordinates UC Berkeley’s months-old Undocumented Student Program.
As college-bound high school graduates await word of their state financial aid – Cal Grants – other kinds of help have begun to flow for students already enrolled in public colleges and universities.
For the record… California has more debt than Greece.
California’s Berkeley To Give College Scholarships To Illegal Immigrants – Yahoo News
The University of California’s Berkeley campus announced on Tuesday that a private foundation has given $1 million to fund scholarships for illegal immigrants.
The scholarships will go to nearly 200 students who are not eligible for federal grants, government-backed loans or work-study positions, the school said.
The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, a private family foundation, provided the scholarship grant. It is the largest scholarship for undocumented immigrants ever given to a U.S. university, the foundation said.
“These motivated, hardworking and inspiring students are an asset to our state and our country,” the fund’s president, Ira Hirschfield, said in a statement. “Now that it’s legal to do so in California, we encourage other foundations and private donors to consider providing funding to help undocumented students achieve their potential.”
Higher education has become a battleground in the nation’s immigration wars that have seen the Obama administration grant leniency to young people brought into the country illegally as children even as a number of states have sought to crack down on illegal immigrants within their borders.
Last year, California signed into a law a bill dubbed the California Dream Act that allows illegal immigrants to receive privately funded scholarships to attend the state’s public colleges and universities after attending at least three years of high school in the state.
The California law is named after national legislation in Congress to give young, undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least five years a pathway to citizenship through college or military service.
The federal bill failed to win passage in December 2010, and its chances have dimmed since a Republican majority took control of the House of Representatives.
Critics say the California Dream Act gives illegal immigrants a false promise because their status will not change after graduating from college and they will remain unable to find legal employment.
But that reality may well be shifting. President Barack Obama will push for comprehensive immigration reform during his second presidential term, his spokesman said in November.
And the Obama administration already relaxed deportation rules earlier this year by allowing for some illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children to be given temporary legal status.
Illinois Moves To Grant Licenses To Illegal Immigrants – Washington Times
Top Illinois state officials said Tuesday they’ll push to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants – a move backed also by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who for years stood as Democrats’ key impediment to pushing immigration in Congress.
State Senate President John Cullerton said he’ll try to pass a bill in the legislature’s veto session next week to remove restrictions on illegal immigrants getting licenses there, and Gov. Pat Quinn said he’ll sign it, if it reaches his desk. Both men are Democrats.
The move represents pushback after a decade in which states went the other direction, putting tighter restrictions on driver’s licenses after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The commission that investigated those attacks recommended stricter driver’s license requirements.
Illinois would become the third state to allow illegal immigrants to get licenses, joining Washington and New Mexico.
“I strongly support state legislation that will allow every Chicagoan, regardless of legal status, to enjoy the rights and responsibilities that come with a driver’s license,” Mr. Emanuel, President Obama’s first White House chief of staff, said in a statement.
Massachusetts Mayor Bans The Word ‘Illegal’ For Illegal Immigrants – CNS
The mayor of Somerville, Mass., has banned the use of the term “illegals” when referring to illegal aliens.
Mayor and Alderman Joe Curtatone announced the new policy at a local board meeting last week, according to the Somerville Journal.
The decision was made after a “team of youths” urged the city to stop using the “hurtful” term. “I hadn’t given it a thought until they brought to my attention how hurtful that term is,” Board President Tom Taylor said. “Some of their testimony is pretty heart wrenching.”
One testimony came from Elis Melara, a 14-year-old whose cousin was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last year. “The way he said those words made me angry,” she said, referencing the word illegal.
“The officer made him seem like a criminal. He was talking about my cousin like he didn’t matter. He matters to me,” Melara said. “The word ‘illegal’ is a wrong way to describe a human being. A better word is ‘undocumented.’ I am thankful that I am an American and can do something about it.”
Curtatone, who is serving his fifth term as mayor since being elected in 2003, said his community has “always been a city of hope for immigrants around the world.”
“We made it clear here that whatever your status is, wherever you’re from, we are your mayor, we’re your aldermen, this is your city and we’re here to service you,” he said. “Anyone who wants to be a part of this city is welcome here.”
Somerville, which is just north of Cambridge, has a population of 76,519 people. According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Massachusetts has an estimated illegal immigrant population of 190,000 as of 2010.
Via Judicial Watch:
Los Angeles could soon be the latest of several cities across the nation to make life easier for illegal immigrants by offering them official photo identification cards to help them access taxpayer-funded services and open bank accounts.
It’s a necessary measure to help illegal aliens incorporate into civic life, according to lawmakers in the city of about 4 million. Nearly half of L.A. residents are of Hispanic or Latino origin, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and a chunk are in the U.S. illegally. One L.A. councilman told a local newspaper that the ID cards will allow illegal aliens “who have been living in the shadows to be out in the day of light.”
So this week a council committee unanimously approved a measure that allows the city to solicit proposals from potential vendors who would implement the ID card program. This, of course, means it’s going to cost taxpayer a chunk of change. The full council must now approve it, but that will be a breeze in the City of Angels. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a renowned open borders advocate, is ready to sign the law. In fact, the idea came from him.
A self-described Chicano mayor, Villaraigosa is a longtime member of an extremist Mexican group (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan – Mecha) that claims seven states in the southwestern U.S. were stolen from Mexico and must be re conquered and reclaimed for Mexico. He played a key role in his city’s huge and disruptive pro illegal immigration marches a few years ago and encouraged massive student walkouts that cost the area’s beleaguered public school system nearly $1 million.
Brown OK’s Bill Giving Illegal Immigrants Licenses – NewsMax
Some illegal immigrants could get California drivers licenses under a bill that Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law late Sunday.
AB2189 by Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, will let the Department of Motor Vehicles issue licenses to illegal immigrants eligible for work permits under a new Obama administration policy. The bill requires the department to accept as proof of legal residence whatever document the federal government provides to participants in its deferred action program.
Cedillo said his bill will make roads safer while letting young immigrants drive to school and to work. His reasoning drew support from several Republican lawmakers, while other Republicans argued the state should leave immigration issues to the federal government.
“It is a victory for those who were brought here through no choice of their own, played by the rules, and are only asking to be included in and contribute to American society,” Cedillo said in a statement.
He said California is the first state to grant drivers’ licenses to the group singled out under the Obama administration’s policy. Cedillo praised Brown for choosing “public safety over politics” by signing the bill.
“President Obama has recognized the unique status of these students, and making them eligible to apply for driver’s licenses is an obvious next step,” Brown spokesman Gil Duran said.
Meanwhile, Brown vetoed AB1081, which could have protected illegal immigrants from deportation if they committed minor infractions. The bill has been dubbed “anti-Arizona” legislation, a reference to that state’s immigrant identification law.
The so-called Trust Act would have let California opt out of some parts of a federal program that requires local law enforcement officers to check the fingerprints of people they arrest against a federal immigration database and hold those who are in the country illegally.
It would have barred local law enforcement officers from detaining suspects for possible deportation unless they are charged with serious or violent felonies.
Brown backed comprehensive federal immigration reform, and said in a veto message that federal agents “shouldn’t try to coerce local law enforcement officials into detaining people who’ve been picked up for minor offenses and pose no reasonable threat to their community.”
However, he said the list of serious or violent felonies in the bill is “fatally flawed because it omits many serious crimes.” He said those include child abuse, drug trafficking, and weapons violations, among others. He promised to work with lawmakers to fix the bill’s wording.
California law enforcement officials have turned over about 80,000 illegal immigrants for deportation since 2009, though fewer than half had committed a serious or violent felony. The majority of those deported by the federal government under the Secure Communities program have come from California.
Supporters say the program targets otherwise law-abiding immigrants who commit minor traffic infractions, sell food without a permit or are arrested on misdemeanors charges but never convicted. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, said the program wastes local resources and causes mistrust between immigrants and law enforcement agencies.
Several Republican legislators objected that Ammiano’s bill would have removed a valuable tool for ridding California of lawbreakers.
Report: Illegals Released By Feds Committed 19 Murders, 142 Sex Crimes – Washington Times
The Obama administration released illegal immigrants who went on to commit more crimes, including charges of 19 murders, 3 attempted murders and 142 sex crimes, the House Judiciary Committee said in a report Tuesday.
All told, the nearly 47,000 illegal immigrants the administration was notified of but declined to deport between 2008 and 2011 under its Secure Communities program had a recidivism rate of 16 percent, the committee said.
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They were just part of the nearly 160,000 immigrants – most of them here legally – who were flagged by Secure Communities during the three year period but who were either not eligible to be deported or who the administration decided to release. Those immigrants went on to be charged in nearly 60,000 more crimes, according to the committee and the Congressional Research Service, which issued a report on the matter.
The findings stem from the Obama administration’s Secure Communities program, which was designed to identify immigrants who run afoul of the law and who the administration decides it wants to deport.
While hundreds of thousands have been sent back home under the program, 159,286 were not put in deportation proceedings during the period under review, CRS said.
About three quarters of those weren’t eligible for deportation because they were legal immigrants and their criminal records didn’t rise to the level of deportation, though nearly a quarter could have been deported, CRS said.
Those who could have been deported but were released later went on to commit the 19 murders, 3 attempted murders and 142 sex crimes, the Judiciary Committee said.
“The Obama administration could have prevented these senseless crimes by enforcing our immigration laws,” committee Chairman Lamar Smith said. “But President Obama continues to further his anti-enforcement agenda while innocent Americans suffer the consequences. His unwillingness to enforce immigration laws puts our communities at risk and costs American lives.”
Mr. Smith requested the CRS report, which used data he had subpoenaed from the Homeland Security Department.
Secure Communities was designed to let federal officials check the immigration records of those booked into local prisons and jails to see if they can be deported.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for deportations, said many of those identified by Secure Communities and detailed in the report either weren’t eligible to be deported or were released by local officials before ICE could respond.
Spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said that given limited resources, they have to pick and choose which aliens they go after.
“Because ICE is congressionally funded to remove a limited number of individuals each year, the agency prioritizes our enforcement efforts on individuals whose removal has the biggest impact on public safety, including immigrants convicted of crimes, violent criminals, felons, and repeat immigration law offenders,” she said.
The Obama administration has set records for deportations, removing about 400,000 aliens a year. But it has dramatically altered the composition of those being deported, shifting attention away from rank-and-file illegal immigrants and towards those who already have criminal records or who have repeatedly broken immigration laws.
In June President Obama announced yet another policy that shields most illegal immigrants age 30 and under from deportation. That policy won’t fully take effect until the middle of August, but it has already had an effect on those being deported.
Between Oct. 1 and June 16, a day after the new policy was announced, 51 percent of those ICE deported had criminal records. But in the month after the policy was announced, the percentage of criminals being deported jumped to 57 percent – a record high rate.
Secure Communities has come under fire from both sides of the aisle.
Many Democrats say it casts its net too wide, which means illegal immigrants who have committed relatively minor offenses could be deported. But Republicans, led by Mr. Smith, say the administration is actually being too picky in those it chooses to deport, which results in criminals being released back onto the streets to commit more crimes.
In one of the cases, the committee said, an illegal immigrant named Evin Adonis Ortiz was identified by Secure Communities but released, and later went on to be charged in the killing of California man. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, police said Ortiz and two others robbed a 68-year-old grandfather and then killed his grandson when he tried to chase the bandits down.
Illegal Aliens Getting Bigger Tax Refunds – WBIW
Millions of illegal immigrants are getting a bigger tax refund than you.
Bob Segall, of WTHI reports finding a massive tax loophole that provides billions of dollars in tax credits to undocumented workers and, in many cases, people who have never stepped foot in the United States. And you are paying for it.
Inside his central Indiana office, a longtime tax consultant sits at his desk, shaking his head in disbelief.
“There is not a doubt in my mind there’s huge fraud taking place here,” he said, slowly flipping through the pages of a tax return.
The tax preparer does not want you to know his name for fear of reprisal, but he does want you to know about a nationwide problem with a huge price tag.
He came to 13 Investigates to blow the whistle.
“We’re talking about a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme here that’s taking place and no one is talking about it,” he said.
The scheme involves illegal immigrants – illegal immigrants who are filing tax returns.
How it works
The Internal Revenue Service says everyone who is employed in the United States – even those who are working here illegally – must report income and pay taxes. Of course, undocumented workers are not supposed to have a social security number. So for them to pay taxes, the IRS created what’s called an ITIN, an individual taxpayer identification number. A 9-digit ITIN number issued by the IRS provides both resident and nonresident aliens with a unique identification number that allows them to file tax returns.
While that may have seemed like a good idea, it’s now backfiring in a big way.
Each spring, at tax preparation offices all across the nation, many illegal immigrants are now eagerly filing tax returns to take advantage of a tax loophole, using their ITIN numbers to get huge refunds from the IRS.
The loophole is called the Additional Child Tax Credit. It’s a fully-refundable credit of up to $1000 per child, and it’s meant to help working families who have children living at home.
But many undocumented workers are claiming the tax credit for kids who live in Mexico – lots of kids in Mexico.
“We’ve seen sometimes 10 or 12 dependents, most times nieces and nephews, on these tax forms,” the whistleblower said. “The more you put on there, the more you get back.”
The whistleblower has thousands of examples, and he brought some of them to 13 Investigates. While identifying information such as names and addresses on the tax returns was redacted, it was still clear that the tax filers had received large tax refunds after claiming additional child tax credits for many dependents.
“Here’s a return right here: we’ve got a $10,3000 refund for nine nieces and nephews,” he said, pointing to the words “niece” and “nephew” listed on the tax forms nine separate times.
“We’re getting an $11,000 refund on this tax return. There’s seven nieces and nephews,” he said, pointing to another set of documents. “I can bring out stacks and stacks. It’s just so easy it’s ridiculous.”
20 kids = $30,000
Several undocumented workers who confirmed it is easy.
They all agreed to talk with WTHR investigative reporter Bob Segall and a translator as long as WTHR agreed not to reveal their identity.
One of the workers, who was interviewed at his home in southern Indiana, admitted his address was used this year to file tax returns by four other undocumented workers who don’t even live there. Those four workers claimed 20 children live inside the one residence and, as a result, the IRS sent the illegal immigrants tax refunds totaling $29,608.
13 Investigates saw only one little girl who lives at that address (a small mobile home). We wondered about the 20 kids claimed as tax deductions?
“They don’t live here,” said the undocumented worker. “The other kids are in their country of origin, which is Mexico.”
He later explained none of the 20 children have ever visited the United States – let alone lived here.
So why should undocumented workers receive tax credits for children living in a foreign country, which is a violation of IRS tax rules?
“If the opportunity is there and they can give it to me, why not take advantage of it?” the worker said.
Other undocumented workers in Indiana told 13 Investigates the same thing. Their families are collecting tax refunds for children who do not live in this country. Several of the workers says they were told it was legal for them to claim the tax credit for a child who does not live in the United States.
IRS was repeatedly warned.
“The magnitude of the problem has grown exponentially,” said Russell George, the United States Department of Treasury’s Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
And he says the IRS has known about the problem for years.
George has repeatedly warned the IRS that additional child tax credits are being abused by undocumented workers. In 2009, his office released an audit report that showed ITIN tax filers received about $1 billion in additional child tax credits. Last year, the inspector general released a new report showing the problem now costs American tax payers more than $4.2 billion.
“Keep in mind, we’re talking $4 billion per year,” he said. “It’s very troubling.”
What George finds even more troubling is the IRS has not taken action despite multiple warnings from the inspector general.
“Millions of people are seeking this tax credit who, we believe, are not entitled to it,” said the inspector general. “We have made recommendations to [IRS] as to how they could address this, and they have not taken sufficient action in our view to solve the problem.”
Other information obtained from the TIGTA audits include:
* Claims for additional child tax credits by ITIN filers have skyrocketed during the past decade, from $161 million in 2001 to $4.2 billion in tax year 2010.
* Undocumented workers filed 3.02 million tax returns in 2010. 72% of those returns (2.18 million) claimed the additional child tax credit.
* In 2010, the IRS owed undocumented workers more in claimed additional child tax credits than it collected from those workers in taxes.
Agency responds – sort of
What does the IRS have to say about all this?
The agency sent a statement, defending its policy of paying tax credits to illegal immigrants.
“The law has been clear for over a decade that eligibility for these credits does not depend on work authorization status or the type of taxpayer identification number used. Any suggestion that the IRS shouldn’t be paying out these credits under current law to ITIN holders is simply incorrect. The IRS administers the law impartially and applies it as it is written,” the statement said.
George disagrees with that position and believes the IRS should be doing more to prevent undocumented workers from getting billions in US tax dollars.
“The IRS is not doing something as simple as requesting sufficient documentation from people seeking this credit,” he said. “Once the money goes out the door, it’s nearly impossible for the IRS to get it back.”
Over the past month, WTHR has tried to ask the IRS more questions about its efforts to prevent abuse involving additional child tax credits.
Despite repeated phone calls, e-mails and a visit to IRS headquarters in Washington, the agency said none of its 100,000 employees had time to meet with 13 Investigates for an interview. An IRS spokeswoman said all staff were too busy because of the tax filing deadline in mid-April.
Apparently, the IRS doesn’t have time to respond to some tax preparers, either.
Last year, whistleblowers noticed dozens of undocumented workers had used phony documents and false income to claim tax credits. He reported all of it to the IRS.
“These were fraudulent, 100% fraudulent tax returns, but I got no response; absolutely none. We never heard a thing,” he said. “To me, it’s clear the IRS is letting this happen.”
The IRS says it can do nothing to change the current system unless it gets permission from Congress. In other words, according to the IRS, closing the loophole would require lawmakers to pass a new law specifically excluding illegal immigrants from claiming additional child tax credits.
The big questions now: Is Congress willing to do that?
Full statement to WTHR from the Internal Revenue Service:
The law has been clear for over a decade that eligibility for these credits does not depend on work authorization status or the type of taxpayer identification number used. Any suggestion that the IRS shouldn’t be paying out these credits under current law to ITIN holders is simply incorrect. The IRS administers the law impartially and applies it as it is written. If the law were changed, the IRS would change its programs accordingly. The IRS disagrees with TIGTA’s recommendation on requiring additional documentation to verify child credit claims. As TIGTA acknowledges in this report, the IRS does not currently have the legal authority to verify and disallow the Child Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit during return processing simply because of the lack of documentation. The IRS has procedures in place specifically for the evaluation of questionable credit claims early in the processing stream and prior to issuance of a refund. The IRS continues to work to refine and improve our processes.
ICE Fast-Tracks Amnesty For Illegal Aliens To Clear Immigration-Court Backlog – Daily Caller
With only 254 immigration judges available to hear 300,000 cases currently somewhere in the immigration judicial system, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has begun a review of its to determine who may be eligible for a type of ICE amnesty known as “administrative closure.”
Speaking during a March hearing before the Homeland Subcommittee in the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, ICE Director John Morton said his agency has already reviewed the cases of 142,212 illegal aliens who are not currently in custody. ICE concluded that 13,175 of them should start the process toward administrative closure, Morton said.
Those who enter that process will have to pass a background check and clear other administrative hurdles before they have their cases put into “closure.”
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Ben Winograd, a staff attorney at the left-leaning American Immigration Council, approvingly told The Daily Caller that the ICE review is little more than an effort to clear its backlog. The latest data from the Department of Justice indicates that just 254 immigration court judges have about 300,000 cases on their dockets at any given time.
“The numbers don’t add up,” Winograd said, suggesting that the problem is merely one of statistics. “The real answer is to reduce the pool of people that can be put into proceedings.”
While most immigration analysts agree that the U.S. lacks a sufficient number of immigration judges, not everyone wants to release illegal aliens through a virtual safety valve.
Jessica Vaughan, an analyst with the right-leaning Center for Immigration Studies, told theDC that ICE’s unilateral action is hijacking the judicial system’s authority.
“These folks were already in the immigration system,” Vaughan said. “They had cases in front of immigration judges. Now, ICE will step in and subvert that process and simply find them all innocent and let them free.”
Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama, who chairs the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, was equally scathing.
“Last year we provided funding for 34,000 detention beds, the highest level in history,” Aderholt said in a statement, “but despite the expansion of Secure Communities into new jurisdictions as well as a large known illegal population, ICE has failed to fill those beds.”
The review is part of ICE’s policy, as laid out in a controversial June 2011 memo from ICE director John Morton.
In an email to the subcommittee that accompanied his written testimony, Morton said the case review’s goal “has been to speed the removal of criminal aliens from the United States. Low priority cases of individuals with no criminal records and who pose no public safety concerns are being administratively closed.”
Last month, TheDC reported exclusively that ICE only has enough beds to hold one out of every ten suspected illegal aliens that its officers detain.
Both Winograd and Vaughan agree that some ICE immigration cases have been fast-tracked, taking less than a month. But Vaughan added that those cases are limited to suspected illegal aliens who are already in custody. ICE has just 34,000 beds at its disposal, while roughly 300,000 people have currently pending cases in immigration court.
For the rest, said Winograd, cases can take years. He said his group has seen some suspects spend as long as five years in immigration courts.
With hiring freezes at all federal agencies, Winograd said, increasing the number of judges isn’t an option.
“The hardliners on immigration want to have it both ways,” he said. Advocates of tough immigration enforcement policies, he observed, are also typically the first to demand budget cuts at all levels.
While Vaughan said hiring more judges would be a good option, there are also other ways to reduce the number of people in immigration courts. Rep. Aderholt has suggested broader use of videoconferencing to speed court appearances.
Vaughn insisted that ICE has been far too conservative in using a process called expedited removal, which allows the agency to quickly deport some suspected illegal aliens without a judicial order.
Governor Moonbeam Signs California Dream Act Into Law For Illegal Aliens – The Blaze
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the state’s Dream Act into law Saturday, clearing the way for illegal immigrants to receive state financial aid to attend California universities and community colleges.
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The law gives illegal immigrants in California more education benefits than in any other state.
According to a statement from the governor’s office, Brown said he signed the California Dream Act because it makes sense to allow high-achieving students access to college financial aid, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking,” Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement. “The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us.”
Under the law, illegals who are accepted into state universities can receive, beginning in in 2013, Cal-Grant assistance, which last year provided grants averaging $4,500 apiece to more than 370,000 low-income students, according to the Times.
It also allows students without citizenship papers to get institutional grants while attending the University of California and California State University systems, and to get fee waivers in the California community college system. To qualify under the law, students must have arrived in the country before the age of 16 and graduated from a California high school after having attended school in-state for at least three years. They also must show financial need and meet academic standards.
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed several similar bills in the past.
AB 131 is a companion bill to AB 130, which Brown signed in July, that gave illegals access to privately-funded scholarships and grants.
Brown said that California Department of Finance estimates that 2,500 students will qualify for Cal Grants as a result of AB 131, at a cost of $14.5 million.
“The overall Cal Grant program is funded at $1.4 billion, meaning that 1% of all Cal Grant funds will be potentially impacted by AB 131 when the law goes into effect,” Brown’s statement said.
That differs from other reports about the program’s cost. According to the Sacramento Bee, it is expected to cost the state between $23 million and $40 million annually.
Illegal Aliens Ghosts In Eyes Of Democrats – Howie Carr
The only thing that surprises me is that the town of Framingham reports that Uncle Omar is not registered to vote.
So what if the president’s half-uncle is an illegal alien? You think that stops the, ahem, undocumented workers? You know what they say: They’re only here to vote for the Democrats that Americans won’t vote for anymore.
Illegal aliens are the problem that dares not speak its name – at least not in the Beautiful People precincts. Could the Globe have possibly given this story a bigger leaving-alone? We weren’t the first to ID him as the president’s uncle, but I did mention the drunken-driving arrest of a guy named Obama in my Sunday Herald column. I’d heard about it Friday night on my radio show.
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TAKING IT EASY: President Obama’s aunt, Zeituni Onyango, sits in her South Boston apartment in 2009. She was on welfare as an illegal alien.
Liberals can’t even bear to hear the phrase “illegal alien.” I’ll give you an example. Yesterday, his family buried Matthew Denice, the 23-year-old American who was killed 10 days ago when a drunken illegal alien roofer from Ecuador allegedly ran him down and then backed over him in a pickup truck.
Milford’s state senator is Richard Moore, a moderate Democrat. At least moderate enough to write a letter after Denice’s death to Gov. Deval Patrick, asking him “to reconsider his position against a federal program that would prioritize the deportation of illegal immigrants with criminal pasts.”
That’s from a newspaper story posted on Sen. Moore’s Web site.
On Monday, Moore makes a motion to adjourn the Senate in memory of Matthew Denice, who – I’m quoting from Moore’s citation – “was hit by a pickup truck driven by an unlicensed driver who has subsequently been charged with numerous violations of law including operating under the influence, failing to yield at a stop sign, and leaving the scene after a fatality.”
Sen. Moore, what happened to the “illegal immigrants” and “deportation”?
Will Uncle Omar ever be deported? Of course not. Look what happened to his sister, Auntie Zeituni. Hell, she was on welfare when she was an illegal alien, before she even was granted asylum.
After he wins “asylum,” maybe Hollywood can give Uncle Omar his own reality show. They could call it “Everybody Loves Omar,” or “Curb Your Immigration.” Or “CSI: The Chicken Bone.”
Barack, I think it’s time for another beer summit. At the Chicken Bone.
New DHS Rules Cancel Deportations – Washington Times
The Homeland Security Department said Thursday it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria such as attending school, having family in the military or are primarily responsible for other family members’ care.
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The move, announced in letters to Congress, won immediate praise from Hispanic activists and Democrats who had chided President Obama for months for the pace of deportations and had argued he had authority to exempt broad swaths of illegal immigrants from deportation.
“Today’s announcement shows that this president is willing to put muscle behind his words and to use his power to intervene when the lives of good people are being ruined by bad laws,” said Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, Illinois Democrat.
In the letters to Congress, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said her department and the Justice Department will review all ongoing cases and see who meets the new criteria on a case-by-case basis.
“This case-by-case approach will enhance public safety,” she said. “Immigration judges will be able to more swiftly adjudicate high priority cases, such as those involving convicted felons.”
The new rules apply to those who have been apprehended and are in deportation proceedings, but have not been officially ordered out of the country by a judge. Miss Napolitano said a working group will try to come up with “guidance on how to provide for appropriate discretionary consideration” for “compelling cases” in those instances where someone has already been ordered deported.
It was unclear how many people might be affected by the new rules, though in fiscal year 2010 the government deported nearly 200,000 illegal immigrants who it said did not have criminal records.
The Obama administration has argued for months that it did not have authority to grant blanket absolution, and Miss Napolitano stressed that these cases will be treated individually, though the new guidance applies across the board.
In June, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that handles interior immigration law enforcement, issued new guidance expanding authority to decline to prosecute illegal immigrants. The goal, ICE leaders said, was to focus on their priority of catching illegal immigrants who have also committed other crimes or are part of gangs.
The chief beneficiaries of the new guidance are likely to be illegal immigrant students who would have been eligible for legal status under the Dream Act, which stalled in Congress last year.
“Today is a victory not just for immigrants but for the American people as a whole because it makes no sense to deport Dream Act students and others who can make great contributions to America and pose no threat,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “It is not in our national interest to send away young people who were raised in the U.S. and have been educated here and want only to contribute to this country’s success. “
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who earlier this year wrote asking Homeland Security to exempt illegal immigrant students from deportation, said the move will free up immigration courts to handle cases involving serious criminals.
Both men said, though, that they will continue to push for legislation that would grant a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants and expands new pathways for more immigrants to come legally in the future.
But groups pushing for a crackdown on illegal immigration said the administration’s move abused the Constitution by usurping a power Congress should have.
“Supporters of comprehensive and targeted amnesties for illegal aliens have consistently failed to win approval by Congress or gain support from the American public,” said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “Having failed in the legislative process, the Obama administration has simply decided to usurp Congress’s constitutional authority and implement an amnesty program for millions of illegal aliens.”
Federal Judge Blocks Utah Law Targeting Illegal Aliens – Salt Lake Tribune
Utah’s enforcement-only immigration law was on the books for less than 15 hours before a federal judge blocked it from being enforced Tuesday afternoon during a hearing that took less than an hour.
U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups issued the temporary restraining order after the lawyer for the state couldn’t argue that there wouldn’t be “irreparable harm” to people if the law remained in effect.
Attorneys for the state and the civil-rights groups that brought the lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction will argue the case for a preliminary injunction before the judge July 14.
The law, HB497, was sponsored by Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, and took effect midnight Tuesday. It was modeled after Arizona’s enforcement-only law signed more than a year ago by Gov. Jan Brewer. Jerrold Jensen, Utah assistant attorney general, argued in court, however, that lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center were arguing the wrong state’s law.
“What they want to do is argue the Arizona case all over again,” Jensen said.
But Darcy Goddard, an attorney for the ACLU of Utah, said Utah’s law only made “cosmetic” changes to what existed in Arizona. She said the Utah law violates the federal supremacy clause, the constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure and the right of people to travel freely.
When Waddoups asked Jensen if the ACLU had made sufficient arguments to show that by having the law in effect it would cause irreparable harm to people in Utah, Jensen didn’t put up much of a fight.
“I guess,” he said.
“I’ll take that,” Waddoups replied.
Jensen said he was confident the law would hold up when it goes to trial in July.
“I think it’s absolutely constitutional, and we will defend it vigorously,” he said.
He said the Utah law is different than Arizona’s in several instances, namely that Arizona’s version required local police to arrest and detain those who couldn’t prove legal status in the United States. Jensen said HB497 has no such provision to detain those suspected of being in the country illegally.
Arizona’s law also required local police to check the legal status of a group of people – even if only one was suspected of committing a crime. But Sandstrom’s bill was written to allow a check of legal status of a group only if a police officer suspects the individuals are victims of human trafficking.
Goddard said, however, that portion of the law, as written, could be broadly interpreted by any police officer to require checking status on any crime and that groups of people could be targeted by using racial profiling. Both of those parts of SB1070 were struck down by a federal judge in lawsuits filed against Arizona by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department is not a participant in the lawsuits against Utah. Jensen argued the federal government was the only party that had legal standing to file a lawsuit to try to stop HB497.
The ACLU also took issue with the law’s allowable forms of identification, saying the provision that only accepts driver licenses issued after January 2010 puts everyone at risk.
“Like Arizona’s SB1070, the Utah law violates the Constitution and is even worse in requiring all Utahns to carry their ‘papers’ at all times to prove they are lawfully present,” Goddard said. “Wherever civil liberties are threatened, be it in Utah, Arizona or elsewhere, we will continue to challenge unconstitutional laws like these.”
Gov. Gary Herbert, who is named in the lawsuit, issued a statement after the ruling.
“Utah’s attorney general and state Legislature worked hard to craft a bill that would withstand constitutional scrutiny,” he said. “Utah will have ample opportunity in court to demonstrate this bill is on solid footing.”
Sandstrom, who underwent surgery to put stents in his left coronary artery Tuesday and missed the hearing, said from the hospital that he found the ACLU’s argument – that HB497 was worse than Arizona’s law – “silly” after many changes were made.
“I’m disappointed but not surprised that the court would issue a temporary restraining order,” Sandstrom said. “But I believe it will hold up at the hearing in July.”
Daniel Argueta of the Brown Berets, a Latino-rights activist group, called the ruling “a victory, for now… Hopefully, with this result, people will calm down and realize that we still have a long way to go.”
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Lame-Duck Dems Shove Illegal Alien Amnesty Bill Through House – Washington Times
Riding a late White House push and driven by impassioned pleas by children of illegal immigrants, House Democrats on Wednesday night forced through a bill that would legalize hundreds of thousands of children and young adults brought here illegally by their parents.
Wednesday’s victory is likely to be short-lived, since Republicans have vowed to filibuster the bill in the Senate, which would end immigrant rights advocates’ last, best chance for legalization for the foreseeable future.
Still, for scores of Hispanic students watching from the House’s public viewing gallery, the 216-198 vote was cause for celebration, and they hugged and high-fived each other before spilling out into the hallways of the House, laughing and crying.
The bill is known as the Dream Act and would grant temporary legal status to most illegal immigrants under age 30. It would further grant a path to citizenship to those who go on to college or join the U.S. military.
“Have a little compassion,” said Rep. Eliot L. Engel, New York Democrat. “These children came here – they didn’t decide to come here. They know no other country.”
“Our compassion should be reserved for American workers,” retorted Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas Republican, who is going to be the chairman of the HouseJudiciary Committee next year.
Republicans said the bill invites massive fraud and amounts to an “amnesty” for all illegal immigrants up to age 30.
It’s the first House vote on a major immigration bill in years, and immigrant rights advocates spent the previous weeks calling or visiting members’ offices to lobby for their votes. On Wednesday, some advocates rallied outside the Capitol, while others across the country held debate-watching parties to observe the congressional action play out on television.
And President Obama, who has taken fire from Hispanic rights groups in particular for what they see as not doing enough to advance their immigration priorities, also had stepped up his efforts over the past week. He deployed Cabinet secretaries to host press conference calls and issued statements in support of both the House and Senate bills.
Both sides agree that the children covered by the bill are the most sympathetic group of illegal immigrants, and the most likely group to earn legalization.
But if the bill doesn’t pass this year, it and all other legalization bills are likely to be dead for the foreseeable future because Republicans are slated to take control of the House in January and are adamantly opposed.
Facing that deadline, Democrats used parliamentary moves to jam the bill through the House with little notice, without holding hearings, and by blocking the chance for members to offer any amendments on the House floor.
The move appeared to be designed to keep Republicans from offering border security or other amendments that Democrats would have had little choice but to vote for – a tactic the GOP has repeatedly used on other bills over the past four years.
And the harsh tactics angered Republicans who said that, under other circumstances, they would have been inclined to try to work with Democrats.
“This is politics, in the 11th hour in a lame-duck Congress,” said Rep. Jack Kingston, Georgia Republican, who noted that he’s sympathetic to illegal-immigrant children but that pushing the bill this way proved Democrats were looking for a political issue rather than a solution.
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Euro Under Siege As Now Portugal Hits Panic Button – Montreal Gazette
The euro is facing an unprecedented crisis after another country indicated on Monday night that it was at a “high risk” of requiring an international bail-out.
Portugal became the latest European nation to admit it was on the brink of seeking help from Brussels after Ireland confirmed it had begun preliminary talks over its debt problems.
Greece also disclosed that its economic problems are even worse than previously thought.
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, raised the spectre of the euro collapsing as she warned: “If the euro fails, then Europe fails.”
European finance ministers will meet in Brussels on Tuesday to begin discussions over a new European stability plan that is expected to result in billions of pounds being offered to Ireland, Portugal and possibly even Spain.
David Cameron said he was thankful that Britain had not joined the euro, but indicated his displeasure that taxpayers in this country face a pounds 7?billion liability in any bail-out package.
The veteran Conservative MP Peter Tapsell warned that the “potential knock-on effect” of the Irish crisis “could pose as great a threat to the world economy as did Lehman Brothers, AIG and Goldman Sachs in September 2008″.
Ireland has resisted growing international pressure to accept EU financial assistance amid concerns that this would lead to a surrender of political and economic sovereignty.
However, the German government is expected to signal that Ireland may have to accept a pounds 77?billion bail-out, along with a loss of economic and political independence, as the price of preserving the euro.
Mrs Merkel said that the single currency was “the glue that holds Europe together”.
Her words came as fellow eurozone members Portugal and Spain rounded on Ireland. They fear that international concerns over the euro will lead to so-called market contagion spreading to them.
Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, the Portuguese finance minister, said: “There is a risk of contagion. The risk is high because we are not facing only a national problem. It is the problems of Greece, Portugal and Ireland. This has to do with the eurozone and the stability of the eurozone, and that is why contagion in this framework is more likely.”
Mr Teixeira dos Santos added: “I would not want to lecture the Irish government on that. I want to believe they will decide to do what is most appropriate together for Ireland and the euro. I want to believe they have the vision to take the right decision.”
He later sought to clarify his comments, insisting that Portugal was not preparing to seek assistance.
Greece had earlier added to the growing uncertainty when it said it would breach the conditions for the bail-out it was granted by the EU earlier in the year. The Greek government said its debt problem was far worse than previous dire forecasts.
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California Supreme Court Upholds In-State Tuition For Illegals – Reuters
The California Supreme Court upheld a state law on Monday allowing illegal immigrants who attend high school in California for three years and graduate to pay lower in-state tuition rates at state colleges.
The ruling reverses a lower-court decision siding with opponents of the law who said it unfairly favors illegal aliens over U.S. citizens who live outside California and are charged much higher tuition rates.
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Ethics Panel Accepts Case Against Rangel – Financial Times
Charles Rangel, the New York Democratic congressman accused of violating ethics rules, looked likely to face a guilty verdict after a House panel accepted a prosecutor’s case against him on Monday.
The panel retired to deliberate on Mr Rangel’s fate, but analysts said the fact that it had accepted all the evidence presented by the ethics committee’s lawyers meant a guilty finding looked very likely.
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Open-Borders Group ‘One America Votes’ Operated Illegal Political Committee – Michelle Malkin
Before the midterm election, the open-borders group (funded by Soros, SEIU, and the usual progressive suspects) sent out illegal alien canvassers to drum up Democrat votes in Washington state.
The story isn’t over. My friend and Washington state blogger/watchdog Stefan Sharkansky scoured campaign finance records and found that OAV apparently failed to file as a registered political committee.
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Doctors Brace For Possible 23% Cut In Medicare Payments – USA Today
Breast cancer surgeon Kathryn Wagner has posted a warning in her waiting room about a different sort of risk to patients’ health: She’ll stop taking new Medicare cases if the U.S. Congress allows looming cuts in doctors’ pay to go through.
The potential cuts have raised alarms that real damage to Medicare could result if the lame-duck Congress fails to act by Dec. 1.
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Scores Killed, Injured In Building Collapse In New Delhi – VOA
At least 64 people were killed, and nearly 80 injured, as a five-story building collapsed in New Delhi, India. Relatives crowded around the building as workers raced to rescue those trapped in its debris.
The building caved in Monday night. But rescue efforts were slow because ambulances and heavy equipment needed to clear the rubble could not easily navigate the narrow alleys in the congested neighborhood.
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N.J. Lawmakers Pushing To Stop Airport Security Scans – APP
State lawmakers on Monday sharply criticized new fullbody scanning devices and pat-downs now in place at airports as they introduced resolutions urging federal officials to reverse the changes.
The opposition is part of a growing chorus of criticism that the tactics, which the TSA says can help prevent terrorist attacks that use nonmetallic explosives, are intrusive and potentially dangerous.
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8 More Arrested In Prince George’s County – Washington Post
Nine people, including three Prince George’s County cops, were arrested Monday on charges involving drugs, guns, and black-market alcohol and cigarettes as authorities ratcheted up a corruption probe.
The nine suspects were arrested three days after County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) and his wife were led from their home in handcuffs, accused of evidence-tampering in a probe of sweetheart land deals.
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Burglar Caught After Sending Penis Photos To Contacts On Phones He Stole – Stuff
A serial burglar was in a “drug-induced stupor” when he photographed his penis with mobile phones he stole and sent the images to the owners’ contacts, a court has been told.
Shane Anthony Willis, 33, has been jailed for a minimum four-and-a-half years for a string of burglaries in inner Melbourne and regional Victoria between January and April this year.
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Man Burns Down Own Home Because His Wife Didn’t Clean – WTSP
Bay County Sheriff’s deputies report that a fire that broke out Wednesday night in Callaway Heights was set by one of the residents who was mad that his wife hadn’t cleaned up.
Deputies allege that Rachel Dorch claims her husband, Michael Dorch, became irate that she hadn’t cleaned the house, and threw a match onto the couple’s bed, saying “There’s your house,” before leaving the premises.
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Heart Attack Cafe Offers Free Food To Fat People – Herald Sun
A restaurant in the US has been criticized for offering free food to customers weighing over 159kg. The Heart Attack Grill in Arizona has launched a new offer where anyone who weighs over 159kg can dine for free at the famous eatery.
The restaurant employs waitresses dressed as nurses, with food such as the Quadruple Bypass Burger and Flatline Fries on the menu.
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Man Forced To Eat His Own Beard – Orange News
A man has told how two ‘friends’ cut off his beard and forced him to eat it in a fight over a lawnmower. Harvey Westmoreland told police that James Hill and Troy Holt had invited him and his brother to their house.
“They called and wanted me to come around there and when I got there, I realized they were already drunk,” he said. Holt apparently offered to buy Westmoreland’s lawnmower for $250.
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Illegal Aliens Canvass For Votes In Washington State – Fox News
When Maria Gianni is knocking on voters’ doors, she’s not bashful about telling people she is in the country illegally. She knows it’s a risk to advertise to strangers that she’s here illegally – but one worth taking in what she sees as a crucial election.
The 42-year-old is one of dozens of volunteers – many of them illegal aliens – canvassing neighborhoods in the Seattle area trying to get naturalized citizens to cast a ballot for candidates like Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who is in a neck-to-neck race with Republican Dino Rossi.
Pramila Jayapal, head of OneAmerica Votes, says the campaign is about empowering immigrants who may not feel like they can contribute to a campaign because they can’t vote.
“Immigrants really do matter,” Jayapal said. “If we can’t vote ourselves, we’re gonna knock on doors, or get family members to vote.”
So far the illegal aliens going door-to-door aren’t meeting opposition. Craig Keller, an organizer for Respect WA, a group pushing for stricter immigration law in the Washington, said he doesn’t mind illegal immigrants volunteering for vote drives, he just wants to make sure mistakes on the voter rolls don’t allow them to vote.
“Anybody can go out and wave a sign, but when it comes to who’s making the choices, there’s no question they need to be citizens,” Keller said.
In close elections across the country, the immigrant and minority vote is considered key for candidates, especially Democrats.
Earlier this week in Nevada, a television ad urging Latinos not to vote sparked outcry from Democrats, who called it a dirty trick meant to keep Hispanics home and boost Republican candidates. Univision and Telemundo – the nation’s two largest Spanish-language networks – canceled the ad, which the Republican group Latinos for Reform had planned to eventually run in Nevada, Florida, California, Texas and Colorado through the Nov. 2 election.
Seattle is home to a wide array of immigrant communities, from Latinos to east Africans and Asians.
Congress declined this year to consider overhauling the country’s immigration law, much to the chagrin of immigrant advocates who had expected Democrats to do so by now.
Still, OneAmerica Votes launched one of the largest get-out-the-vote campaigns in the state on behalf of Democratic candidates. The organization is an offshoot of OneAmerica, one of the state’s largest and the most influential immigrant-rights advocacy group.
Through home visits, phone banks and mailings the organization is aiming to reach about 40,000 registered voters in the Seattle area in an attempt to help Democrats gain ground in key races. Volunteers include other types of people who can’t vote, such as legal permanent residents.
About 150 volunteers rolled out in nine cities across Washington this past week, knocking on 3,000 doors.
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Man Fired For Wearing Bush Sweatshirt At Obama Rally – KTLA
Don’t try wearing a Bush hat or sweatshirt at an Obama rally. Duane Hammond says it’s what got him fired. He’s a union stagehand who was part of the crew that built the platform for the Obama event.
He came to work early this morning wearing clothing that says “George H. W. Bush”. Mr. Hammond’s son is in the U.S. Navy, currently serving on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. George H. W. Bush.
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French Senate Passes Sarkozy Bill To Raise Retirement Age To 62 – Bloomberg
France’s Senate approved President Nicolas Sarkozy’s bill to raise the retirement age by two years as labor unions promised to maintain their protests for an eighth week against the measure.
Lawmakers in the Sarkozy-controlled upper house of Parliament voted 177-153, clearing the way for final passage. A comparable version of the legislation was approved by the National Assembly on Sept. 15.
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Virgin Spaceship To Pass New Milestone – Yahoo News
The world’s first private passenger spaceship will pass another milestone toward its commercial lift-off Friday, at a remote spaceport in the New Mexico desert.
Flamboyant British multi-millionaire Richard Branson will commemorate the completion of the main runway at Spaceport America, near the town of Las Cruces where the Virgin Galactic project is based.
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Arizona Group Accused Of Massive Voter Fraud Is Offshoot Of SEIU – Gateway Pundit
The Yuma Sun reported that two organizations Mi Familia Vota and One Vote Arizona submitted more than 3,000 voter registrations in Yuma County (20,000 statewide) right before the registration deadline.
What the Yuma Sun did not tell you is that over 65% of these last minute registrations were invalid due to the registrant not being a citizen, a wrong/invalid address, or a false signature.
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Barney Frank Rakes In $40,000 From Bailed Out Banks – Boston Herald
Barney Frank, in an intensifying clash with Sean Bielat, has pledged not to take campaign cash from lenders that got federal bailouts.
Yet he has raked in more than $40,000 from bank execs and special interests connected to the staggering government loans. Frank vowed in 2009 that he wouldn’t accept campaign donations from banks that received money under the $700B Troubled Asset Relief Program.
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Germany’s Chancellor Puts Muslims On Notice: You’re Not Welcome Here – The Tennessean
That’s the assessment of Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, in a recent speech before the youth wing of her conservative political party, the Christian Democratic Union.
The idea that disparate peoples can “simply live side by side and live happily with each other” has failed, she said. “Utterly failed.” Merkel insisted that Germany still welcomes immigrants.
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Massive Make-A-Wish Phone Scam Stealing Millions From American Elderly – ABC News
A massive phone scam exploiting the good name of the Make-A-Wish Foundation has siphoned more than $20 million from unsuspecting Americans and has been escalating in recent months.
Swindlers pretending to be calling from such government agencies as the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Trade Commission have put a new twist on an old con. They are hiding offshore.
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Cops: Woman Drove Around With Body For Months – CBS News
A California woman who befriended a homeless woman and let her sleep in her car told police she didn’t know where to turn when the woman unexpectedly died – so she drove the body around for months along with a box of baking soda to hide the smell.
Officers with the Costa Mesa police found the unidentified body Monday after getting a call about a car partially blocking a driveway.
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Dog Prefers To Walk On Two Legs – Orange News
A pet dog has become a local celebrity in China because he prefers to walk upright on his back legs. Zhou Guanshun, the 18-month-old dog’s owner taught his pet to walk on two legs by holding one of its front paws.
“Lu Lu was given to us by a friend and we loved him instantly,” he said. “He learnt to walk upright when he was just four months old, and hasn’t stopped ever since then.”
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Mother, Grandmother Bring Toddler Along For Burglary – Weekly Vice
Nicole Bugajski, 26, and her mother, 51-year-old Kimberly Mahnke were jailed Saturday after they attempted a home invasion with their two-year-old daughter/granddaughter in tow.
According to Muskegon Township police, Bugajski broke into a Western Michigan home around 4:30 p.m. while her mother kept watch outside in the car. The homeowners returned while she was still inside the house.
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Bomb Squad Called Over Box Of Kittens – WKMG
A suspicious package that forced officials to close a roadway near a federal office building in Brevard County contained kittens, according to authorities.
Brevard County sheriff’s deputies were called before 8 a.m. to the Social Security Office complex at 310 Canaveral Groves Boulevard in Cocoa after a guard found a box in the doorway. The bomb squad was called to the scene.
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