GAO report: Border Patrol’s hands tied by Interior, Agriculture rules

The Hill reports that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Interior Department and Agriculture Department are enforcing environmental laws that are hampering the Border Patrol’s ability to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border.  Under federal law, Border Patrol agents are required to receive permission from land managing agents before building roads or establishing surveillance posts, a process that can sometimes take months.  In Arizona, for example, Border Patrol agents waited four months to receive permission to move a mobile surveillance system, during which time 7 miles of border were left unwatched.  According to the report, however, only 15% of agents reported this problem. The majority of agents claimed that  ‘the overall security status of their jurisdiction is not affected by land management law.’  The GAO report is available at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1138.pdf

The Hill
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Flight school students arrested

The Boston Globe reports that federal officials arrested 34 Brazilian nationals connected to TJ Aviation Flight Academy at Minute Man Air Field in Stow, MA.  Despite increased security measures put in place after the September 11^th, 2001 terrorist attacks that banned illegally present immigrants from taking flight lessons, many of the school’s students received government clearance to train as pilots.  The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is reviewing the circumstances by which these individuals were issued licenses.

Among those arrested by ICE is Thiago DeJesus, the school’s owner who holds a pilot’s license and was charged with being in the country illegally in July.  DeJesus claims that all of his foreign students were approved by the TSA before taking classes and that he was unaware they were in the country illegally.

The Boston Globe
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Iowa planning board vote against ICE holding site

The Des Moines Register reports that the Planning and Zoning Committee of Urbandale, Iowa has voted against plans to construct a federal immigration enforcement facility near a residential area.  ICE requested to convert a warehouse to an office that would include holding cells for alleged illegally present immigrants.  ICE claims that the facility would only be used to process and interview people rather than detain them over night.  The committee voted unanimously to recommend against the ICE facility and the City Council will consider the matter on November 30^th. 

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20101109/NEWS/11090366/-1/ENT06/Urbandale-board-votes-tonix-ICE-holding-site

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One out of three deportation requests denied

Hispanically Speaking News reports that one out of every three deportation requests made by ICE was rejected during the last three months of the 2010 fiscal year.  According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, the turndown rate was one in four for fiscal year 2009.  Some major immigration courts, however, reported higher rejection rates, including New York City, which denied 70 percent of requests, and Los Angeles, which rejected 63 percent.  ICE has refused to release its own records, making it difficult to reach any conclusions about the cause of the increased rejection rate. 

http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/notitas-de-noticias/details/one-out-ofthree-deportation-requests-denied1/2898/