According to The Washington Post, A collective of labor and immigrant advocates held the first of several planned hearings last week to call public attention the accusation that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has routinely violated constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure during workplace raids.  A 10-person panel accused ICE officials of using arrest warrants for a small number of undocumented immigrants who work at a given company as a pretext to detain the entire workforce, including many U.S. citizens, while agents determine whether there are undocumented immigrants among them.  

"Tens of millions of workers in America go to work every day without an awareness that at their workplaces, without any warning, they could be swept up in a massive raid conducted by heavily armed government agents," said Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and chairman of the national Commission on ICE Misconduct.  "Workers are not aware that they could be detained at gunpoint.  That they could be handcuffed…That they could be denied any contact with family members or legal counsel."  

ICE spokeswoman Pat Reilly, who attended the hearing, later commented on the agency’s procedures, assuring that the behavior by ICE is fair and humane and has been routinely upheld by courts.  "I would imagine that some people may be detained beyond what they feel is reasonable.  But it’s subjective," Reilly said.  "What we’re trying to do is get to the bottom of who has the right to be here and who might be posing as a U.S. citizen."  

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Bush administration officials unveiled a new phase of immigration enforcement, when they announced last week that they would now begin implementing new technology to create a virtual fence along sections of the border with Mexico to complement the already-completed 302 miles of physical fence.  This announcement also included a reminder that the new rules for the E-Verify system are set to be enforced in coming weeks; the first enforcement of the E-Verify program takes effect next week, when civil fines for employers who hire undocumented immigrants will increase by 25%, and will now carry a $10,000 fine for an offender.  

The New York Times reports that the administration is pushing ahead to extend this virtual fencing at the 2,000-mile Mexican border despite criticism from many sides.  Opponents of undocumented immigration argue that the virtual fence technology is flawed and ineffective, while many officials and residents in border states say that real fences are expensive and block access to land and water for ranchers and farmers, but do little to stop undocumented border crossing.  

Regarding the complaints of the effectiveness of the virtual fencing, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that "we’re convinced at this point all of the defects have either been cured or they’re so immaterial we’re prepared to begin."  The $2 billion project, contracted by Boeing, will be completed within the next two years.  

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The trial for a U.S. Border Patrol agent charged with second-degree murder will begin later this month, according to The Associated Press.  Agent Nicholas Corbett is on trial for the Jan. 12, 2007 shooting and death of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera.   

Corbett, an agent since 2003, encountered Dominguez, 22, of Puebla , Mexico , and his two brothers as they tried to return to Mexico to evade capture.  Eyewitnesses told investigators that Corbett cut off their vehicle with his own, struck Dominguez, and during the ensuing melee, the gun discharged.  Prosecutors concluded that autopsy and forensic results supported the witnesses’ testimony, with the bullet fired between 3 inches and 2 ½ feet from Dominguez.   

Corbett’s attorneys leveled accusations of a tainted investigation, contending that Mexican consular officials received premature access to interview witnesses to the shooting before all had been interviewed by case investigators.   

The Border Action Network, a southern Arizona human rights organization, plans a weeklong memorial outside the federal courthouse "to demand policy changes to prevent further death and injustice along the border," according to their press release.  "In terms of the bigger picture, we see this as another example of the fact that the current anti-immigrant climate and focus on stepped-up enforcement inevitably results in these types of abuses," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona.  

Because a gun was used, the state has alleged that due to the dangerous nature of the offense, a conviction would require mandatory prison time.  A second-degree murder conviction would draw a sentence of 10 to 22 years.