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SANCTUARY CITIES AND STATES
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Businessman accepts plea deal in immigration case AP, May 23, 2008 ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) - A top official of a Roswell aircraft painting company will pay $300,000 in fines in an illegal immigration case. U.S. Attorney Gregory Fouratt says Dean Baldwin Painting Inc.’s vice president of operations, Carl Baldwin, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Albuquerque to three counts of knowingly employing and accepting falsified documents from illegal immigrants. He says Baldwin admitted knowingly employing illegal immigrants at the company from 2002 to 2005. Fouratt says Baldwin and his company have been ordered to pay a combined total of at least $550,000. In August 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities raided the company’s Roswell facility and arrested 15 illegal immigrants. Authorities filed charges last November. Baldwin originally was charged with 10 felonies. Wilson Blasted For Not Voting: She Says Decision On Issue Not Final Albuquerque Journal, April 19, 2008 Apr 19, 2008 (Albuquerque Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- -- Rep. Heather Wilson said Friday she would have voted the same way as her Senate primary election opponent on a controversial "sanctuary cities" measure -- if she had been present for a 210-210 House vote earlier this week. "I would have voted yes, had I been there," said Wilson, who represents New Mexico's 1st Congressional District. Wilson called the vote on the illegal immigration issue procedural, but Rep. Steve Pearce of the 2nd Congressional District blasted her earlier in the week for her absence. While Wilson said she would have voted for the measure, she added that she does not believe local police should be required to report all illegal immigrants they come in contact with -- such as confidential informants -- to the federal government. Meanwhile, she criticized Pearce for voting against a measure last year that increased the budget of the Department of Homeland Security. "He refuses to vote in favor of funding ..." Wilson said. Pearce spokesman Brian Phillips said Friday that Wilson's criticism was her attempt to change the subject. "She's trying to change the issue from why she was not there to represent her constituents and missed 22 votes," Phillips said of Wilson's absence from the House this week. The tussle between the two Republicans hoping to succeed longtime Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., began earlier this week when Pearce criticized Wilson for not being in Washington, D.C., to cast a vote on the "sanctuary cities" measure. The measure was aimed at stripping those cities of their ability to issue federally taxexempt bonds. Law officers in Albuquerque and Santa Fe do not report illegal immigrants to the federal government unless they are arrested, and the mayors of both cities have said the measure would have applied to them. The controversial House vote failed Tuesday night on a rare, 210-210 tie, and Pearce has accused Wilson -- who said she has been in New Mexico on both campaign and official business -- of putting her "political ambitions above her responsibility as a congresswoman." Wilson, in an interview Friday, defended her absence from the House, saying, "I was in New Mexico talking to New Mexicans about the future of this state." She said Tuesday's vote was not scheduled and announced in advance. She said that, had the measure passed, it would have gone back to a House committee before coming back to the full House for a final vote. Wilson said the vote had two components -- one concerning the "sanctuary cities" and another that encouraged federal tax officials to ensure that illegal immigrants were not benefiting from a certain tax credit. She said she backs the component involving the tax credit "100 percent" but has concerns about the one involving sanctuary cities. "My position on sanctuary cities is, the local government should not prohibit local law enforcement from talking to federal law enforcement -- and the federal government should not mandate that local law enforcement report everyone," Wilson said. "The responsibility of immigration enforcement and border enforcement is a federal responsibility," Wilson also said. "It is one the federal government has not done adequately." Emotions Flare Over Illegals Albuquerque Journal , April 18, 2008 WASHINGTON, Apr 18, 2008 (Albuquerque Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- -- Illegal immigration continues to give politicians fits, especially in election season. An otherwise obscure vote in Congress this week prompted Rep. Steve Pearce to question Rep. Heather Wilson's work ethic, triggered tough talk from Albuquerque's mayor and cast renewed focus on New Mexico's "sanctuary cities." Here's an example of the rhetoric: "This is from the mayor of Albuquerque -- Steve Pearce can stuff it," Mayor Martin Chavez said Thursday. "He helped create this (overall U.S. immigration) mess through his inaction, and now he wants to politicize it," Chavez said. But Pearce's challenge appeared to make Wilson uncomfortable: She missed the vote on the immigration issue this week, and a spokesman refused to say how she would have voted. Pearce, who is battling Wilson for the June 3 Republican nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Pete Domenici, kicked up campaign dust when he criticized her for missing a string of House votes. She was back home in New Mexico, while Pearce remained in Washington this week. One of the votes aimed to penalize states, counties and cities -- including Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Rio Arriba County -- that don't report illegal immigrants to federal authorities. Otero County settles immigration suit By Louie Gilot For the Sun-News, April 10, 2008 The Otero County Sheriff's Department agreed in a legal settlement to direct its deputies not to ask immigration questions of people they stop for traffic violations, among other things. The county settled a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, two groups representing five Chaparral, N.M., families who claimed their rights were violated during border security operations last summer. In particular, residents claimed that deputies asked about their immigration status at their houses or during traffic stops and called the Border Patrol on those they suspected of being undocumented immigrants. Under the agreement, the Sheriff's department will revise its procedures book, and the county agreed to pay an undisclosed amount in monetary damages and cover attorney's fees for the families, MALDEF officials said. "The settlement came to a successful conclusion. Everybody is happy with it," Otero County Sheriff John Blansett said. Blansett also said he could not comment further because the county still has to settle a second lawsuit, by El Paso civil rights advocates, next week. The revised sheriff's procedures read, in part, "Otero County Sheriff's deputies shall not stop, investigate, detain or question a person solely for the purpose of determining whether such person is in the United States without authorization and proper documentation. A person's presence in the United States without proper documentation or authority, standing alone, is not a criminal violation." "What it is meant to do is remind them that it is not their job," said MALDEF staff attorney David Urias. "Their job is to protect the community whether people are here legally or not." Albuquerque immigration attorney suspended from law practice The Associated Press, February 20, 2008 ALBUQUERQUE—An Albuquerque immigration lawyer was suspended Wednesday from practicing law in New Mexico for failing to respond to complaints his clients filed with the state Supreme Court's Disciplinary Board. Albuquerque immigration attorney suspended from law practice The Associated Press, February 20, 2008 ALBUQUERQUE—An Albuquerque immigration lawyer was suspended Wednesday from practicing law in New Mexico for failing to respond to complaints his clients filed with the state Supreme Court's Disciplinary Board. Charles R. Marcus, 51, did not show up at Wednesday's hearing on the issue and the court suspended him, effective immediately. Posted at: 08/14/2007 08:12:09 AM KOB.COM TV By: Jeremy Jojola Albuquerque Police Department will no longer report illegal aliens Effective immediately, Albuquerque police officers who find illegal immigrants will no longer contact either federal immigration agents or the border patrol. The new guidelines come six years after the Albuquerque City Council passed a resolution saying that no city resources will be used to go after illegal immigrants. Despite that resolution, two years ago an Albuquerque police officer detained three students at Del Norte High School for being illegal immigrants. The students sued the police department for violating city policy. The new written policy, to be unveiled Tuesday, is drawing both criticism and praise. “If you’re a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, if you’re a witness to a crime, you should come forward to police and report that without being concerned that it will lead to your deportation,” said Rachel LaZar of the Center for Equality and Rights. A spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, termed the policy wrong headed and said it “ignores the safety and liberty of people in Albuquerque.” “When one of the people that the Albu querque police turns a blid eye to goes out and kills somebody, somebody has to be held accountable,” said FAIR’s Ira Mehlman. |
