Nextgov reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will implement a pattern-matching tool in order to spot schools trafficking fake student visas and potentially posing a terrorist threat. Senators questioned customs officials about the existence of phony educational institutions selling immigration papers, particularly in California. According to The International Herald Tribune, student visas have increasingly become a security concern, especially when foreign students are bound for aviation schools. A new U.S. Government and Accountability Office (GAO) report stated 167 of the 434 flight schools in the United States that cater to foreigners are not certified by the Federal Aviation Administration which raises concerns that the schools are illegally sponsoring student visas although they have no intention of teaching students to fly. Auditors from the office also identified 30 of48 randomly selected ICE-certified schools that were missing required credentials, such as proof of school officials' citizenship or permanent residency.

Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Charles Schumer (D- N.Y.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) called for the GAO review. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials responded by stating that they are attempting to discern which educational establishments are violating immigration rules by combining data reported by the schools with intelligence on cyber and infrastructure threats supplied by DHS analysts. Schools that have committed obvious violations are identified as high risk and will be referred for possible criminal investigation.

http://www.nextgov.com/big-data/2012/07/dhs-taps-big-data-to-ferret-out-phony-schools-peddling-student-visas/56984/

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/chinese-lining-up-in-record-numbers-to-visit-the-u-s/

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IrishCentral reports that the Immigration Appeals Court has suspended the deportation of 50 year old Paul Wilson Dorman, a gay undocumented Irishman living in New Jersey. Dorman had his case "administratively closed" by the Obama administration, which is taking steps to halt the deportation of gays who have married. Dorman, who has been in a long-term relationship with John Paul Frederick, Jr., 48, since 1997, was flagged for deportation when he was waiting to meet his son, who is a minor, at the airport. A member of ground staff became suspicious of Dorman's immigration status and reported him to the authorities.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Gay-married-illegal-Irishman-has-his-deportation-suspended--163155386.html

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The Sun Sentinel reports that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer pled guilty on Tuesday to three civil rights charges for sexually groping three women in his custody. During the court proceedings, Paulo Morales, 47, admitted that on several occasions in January 2011, he groped the breasts of three separate women in the custody of Customs and Border Protection without their consent, while working as an officer at Miami International Airport.

Morales is looking at up to three years in prison and a maximum $300,000 fine at his scheduled sentencing on Oct. 26, in Ft. Lauderdale.

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/state/paulo-morales-us-customs-and-border-protection-officer-pleads-guilty-of-groping-breasts

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The Associated Press reports that government apprehensions of people for federal immigration violations have dropped to a 40-year low. A report released by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics said the number of immigration-related apprehensions has steadily declined, peaking at 1.8 in 2000 but dropping to 516,992 in 2010 - the lowest level since 1972. At the same time, the number of suspects booked by the U.S. Marshals Service for criminal immigration offenses has gone up dramatically. Suspects arrested by the Marshals Service for federal criminal immigration offenses increased from 8,777 in 1994 to 82,438 in 2010. "Arrests by federal authorities for immigration offenses is rising partly due to greater enforcement efforts," says Nestor P. Rodríguez, a University of Texas sociology professor who has spend decades studying Latino migration and the impact of U.S. immigration policies on immigrant communities. According to the statistics report, the number of border patrol officers nearly doubled from 10,819 to 20,558 over a seven year period.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/07/18/arrests-for-immigration-violations-plummet-to-lowest-level-in-40-years/

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The Associated Press reports that Homeland Security officials reiterated Friday that a foreigner's longstanding same-sex relationship with a U.S. citizen could help defer the threat of deportation. Binational gay couples are eligible for consideration under a federal program designed to focus resources away from low-priority deportation cases and let officials spend more time tracking down convicted criminals. However, the Obama administration will not automatically defer deportation cases or process green card applications involving foreign citizens married to same-sex American partners. Marsha Catron, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said that DHS will continue to comply with a 1996 law that prohibits the government from recognizing same-sex relationships, even as it takes these relationships into consideration when evaluating possible deportation. However, the Obama administration last year said that it considers the Defense of Marriage law unconstitutional and would no longer defend it in court. Immigrant advocates welcome the news but said a formal policy is still needed.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNcb4-nmIrtYYGetrYe3H6aYu9IA?docId=895d5fd36bf743c98c0be964b979d968

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The Denver Post reports that court filings for deportations of illegal immigrants have fallen this year but Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) asserts that the number of true removals is much higher than the court records show. Court filings, compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, found that filings for deportations dropped to 142,117 cases nationally. Based on that rate, it is predicted that the total number of cases for this year will be 212,749, a 10 percent drop from 2011. However, since ICE can bypass the Immigration Courts and deport illegal immigrants without court authorization, ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said the exact number of removals for the first nine months of this year was 302,478.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21193875/immigration-officials-say-report-wrong-showing-lower-deportations

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WSMV News Nashville reports that Davidson County will not renew a controversial program involving the detainment of illegal immigrants. The 287(g) Delegation of Authority Program, implemented in 2007, gave deputies the right to process and detain criminal undocumented immigrants encountered in the jail booking process. The immigration enforcement agreement, under which more than 10, 000 undocumented immigrants have been processed for removal from Davidson County, expires October 8th. While Sheriff Daron Hall called the program an "overwhelming success," the sheriff's office is facing lawsuits on how the program has been handled.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/19327458/immigration-detainment-program-287g

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