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BORDER AND DEPORTATION NEWS
The rules governing the entry of Mexican nationals are being slightly amended.  Until now, Mexican nationals have been able to enter for a period of up to 72 hours, and up to 25 miles into the US without obtaining an I-94 Arrival – Departure Record.  The new rule, which will apply only to Arizona, will allow Mexican nationals to travel up to 75 miles into Arizona.  The reasons for this change are twofold:  first the increase in cross-border trade created by the North American Free Trade Agreement, and second, the fact that Tucson, the most southerly major city in Arizona, is 55 miles from the Mexican border.   
Two Pennsylvania men are facing up to 120 years in prison and fines of .75 million dollars for their role in an immigration document fraud ring.  According to a recently unsealed federal indictment, the men sold about 50 fraudulent documents, including green cards, employment authorization documents, and Social Security cards, over a two-year period for a profit of about ,000.  Authorities say an as yet unidentified New Jersey company provided the counterfeit documents, but have not revealed whether there is an investigation into this.   
A 65 year-old grandmother was released from Krome Detention Center after spending five days there.  According to the INS Virticia Gonzalez should have been deported over 20 years ago, and it could still happen.  Gonzalez was ordered deported in 1975 after overstaying a tourist visa.  She voluntarily departed the US, obtained a green card, and returned to the US in 1977.  According to the INS she is now deportable because she lied on her green card application when she said she had never been deported.  Her family says she thought that because she left voluntarily, she was not deported.  The INS has emphasized that it did not release Gonzalez out of sympathy, but to make room in the overcrowded facility for criminal aliens awaiting removal.  
A smuggling operation was discovered when one of the immigrants went to police in Colorado to report that the smuggler had kidnapped the immigrant’s son because the immigrant could not pay the smuggling fee.  Local sheriff’s deputies found the smuggler and the boy unharmed in a hotel room outside of Denver.  The father has agreed to return to Mexico voluntarily, but may stay longer if needed for a trial.  
A Korean immigrant has been sentenced to 22 months for his role in a smuggling ring that brought Chinese immigrants from South American to the Bahamas and the US.  Nam Jick Cho was arrested in 1997 when 23 undocumented Chinese men were found on the New Jersey shore.  He has been in custody since then, which means he should be released shortly.  His sentence was about have the maximum possible, a reflection of his cooperation with authorities during the investigation.  Cho also faces possible deportation.    
The Hispanic liaison for the Green Bay, Wisconsin police department has resigned amid questions about his work authorization.  After a complaint was made questioning whether his employment card was valid, the department questioned him, and he chose to resign.  A Mexican national, he had apparently obtained work authorization by submitting documents showing he was from El Salvador.  Under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, Salvadorans who arrived in the US before 1990 were given work authorization.    
Charges have been dropped in the second trial of an Arizona man accused of shooting at a group of migrants crossing his property and wounding one.  According to the District Attorney the charges were dropped because the four primary witnesses, including the man who was injured, could not be located.    
A Honduran woman has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to renting her seven-month old baby to migrants to aid them in crossing the border.  Because the INS lacks the resources to care for families with infants, couples that cross the border without documentation but with a child are not taken into custody, but are released pending a hearing date.    
An Italian national sentenced to two years in jail last year for shoplifting has been ordered deported to Italy, where she has not lived since her family came to the US when she was five years old.  She was convicted on three misdemeanor counts, but because she was sentenced to more than one year in prison, she is considered an aggravated felon.  She stole  worth of goods from a local store. 
Construction is about to begin on the last segment of a new fence between California and Mexico.  The 3 ½ mile segment will start at the Pacific Ocean and stretch into nearby mountains.  Officials say it will give the Border Patrol the capability of stopping almost 100% of people who attempt to cross the border on foot.  This segment will cost  million and will take until 2002 to finish.    
Officials have arrested eight men suspected of being alien smugglers in connection with the rapes of two Mexican women they were smuggling.  They are also said to have beaten the man who was with them.  According to this man, as many as 20 people were involved in the rapes, which occurred while the Mexicans were being held until they could pay the smugglers’ 00 per person fee.  The suspects are thought to be part of a family of smugglers who are known for their rough treatment of people who cannot pay the fee.