A USCIS press release has announced that 22 nationals from Ghana were arrested as part of a three-year operation in the Washington D.C. area.  The defendants were alleged to have conducted arranged marriages between undocumented immigrants and citizens entering into a false marriage with the promise of money.  The aliens who participated in the scheme were paid between $2,500 and $6,000 to those arrested, with the hope of being entered into a sham marriage.

The operation was the result of a joint effort between the USCIS, ICE, and the Arlington County and Fairfax County police departments.  "This is an important example of the effective cooperation among Department of Homeland Security entities and federal, state and local law enforcement partners to maintain the integrity of our national immigration system," said USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez, of the arrests.  

*****  

The Bellingham Herald reports that 26 Mexican nationals, employed at a Bellingham , WA company, have been arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally. U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents entered Northwest Health Care Linen to question employees and arrested the 26 immigrants upon entry.  Of those detained, five were released to care for children.  All face possible deportation.  

The questioning and arrests came after an audit of the company’s employment records, including its I-9 forms.  Jim Hall, owner of Northwest Health Care Linen said that all 90 of his employees pay taxes and had completed I-9 forms.  Hall was allegedly told by an ICE agent that the company would be given a list of employees with questionable documents within 60 days.  Instead, agents raided the business.  

"It was just too bad that it was handled this way," Hall said.  "It sure leaves a lot of questions for Whatcom County with what Homeland Security is doing."  Although ICE declined to comment on Hall’s allegation, ICE spokeswoman supported the operation as "a very important part to restore the integrity to our nation’s immigration system."  

*****  

Mexican president-elect Felipe Calderon says that he is committed to win an immigration policy that allows millions more Mexicans to work in the United States legally.  The Chicago Tribune reports that he aims to complete this reform in the U.S. Congress before President Bush leaves office in January 2009.  "We will work intensely over the next two years to arrive at a concrete agreement," Calderon said of the reform.  

Not ignoring the problems in his own country, Calderon said that Mexico has to create more jobs to slow the amount of Mexicans heading north.  "Every year more than 1.2 million Mexican youths reach working age.  Many, facing a lack of alternatives, go looking for opportunities in the United States .  We have to find ways to improve things.  That is not only in the interest of Mexico , but also a U.S. interest."  

Former Mexican president Vicente Fox spent six years attempting to obtain legal status for millions of Mexican nationals in the United States , and was unable to do so during his duration as president.  Calderon will succeed Fox on Dec. 1, and will hold this position for one six-year term.  The runner-up in Mexico ’s 2006 presidential election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has refused to acknowledge Calderon’s victory and has planned a parallel Mexican federal government.