Subject: Border Control and Customs

• Dems, activists at state convention demand Gov. Janet Napolitano veto HB 2807. (w/UPDATE: GUV COMPLIES, VETOES BILL.)

  April 27, 2008

• Paul Newman, Corporation Commission Candidate, Reportedly Toked Up in '04

  October 13, 2008

• LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY

  THE FEDS DESPERATELY WANTED THE CROATION IMMIRANT TO BE AN ILLEGAL GUNRUNNER. WHEN HE REFUSED, THEY BUSTED HIM ANYWAY.

  August 18, 1993

• THE MISSING PIECE

  A hotheaded Border Patrol agent is the only suspect in a double slaying. One of his guns has vanished, and he's still got his job.

  October 19, 1995

• Inspectors Can Do Little to Stem Tide of Smuggling

  March 20, 1997

• Border Censors

  Scott Stanley wants to publish photos of illegal immigrants who died in the desert; Pima County said no, then sued him

  May 13, 1999

• Rivera's Edge

  After a year on the job, U.S. Attorney Jose de Jesus Rivera looks to be in the right place at the right time

  June 24, 1999

• Alien Autopsy

  Publisher wins right to print photos of immigrants who died after entering U.S.

  September 16, 1999

• Three-Question Especiál

  If there were a wall, we'd just get it dirty

  February 22, 2007

• The Mexican on la migra, Germany, and cousin Jeff

  July 17, 2008

• "TheEroticReview.com" Founder David Elms Arrested in California; Was On Run from Maricopa Charges

  The founder of the call-girl-finding Web site, www.theeroticreview.com, David Elms, has been arrested in California after two months on the lam from Maricopa County criminal charges. Phoenix police say Elms: ...was arrested today south of San Diego while trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States. It is believed Elms fled the United States and possibly went to Dubai, then tried to return to the United States through Mexico today when the Border Patrol arrested him. I am tol

  June 4, 2009

• Customs Programs' "Trust Betrayed" by Participants; Security Breaches Possible

  Go figure.The U.S. Customs and Border Protection grants some foreign companies the right to less frequent random inspections at the border, and some of those companies seem to be abusing the privilege in a big way.Yesterday, a vehicle tied to one of the companies enrolled in a CBP program known by the clumsy acronym C-TPAT was caught at the Nogales port of entry with nearly 3,000 of marijuana.A week ago, border inspectors found another 3,000 pounds of pot hidden among some squash. The vehicle b

  January 13, 2009

• Border Patrol Agents Who Blew Whistle on Suspicionless Stops Reinstated to Jobs

  Two whistle-blowing Tucson sector Border Patrol agents got their jobs back last week thanks to efforts by the American Civil Liberties Union.After Juan Curbelo and William Leafstone revealed the practice of "shotgunning" in the Border Patrol, in which vehicles were pulled over despite the lack of any legitimate reason to do so, they were stripped of their badges and given menial assignments.Now, it does appear that Curbelo had personal reasons for loosening his lips: He and Leafstone testified

  January 27, 2009

• Anti-287(g) Chorus Grows with Justice Strategies' Democracy on ICE

  Are the days of DHS' ICE numbered? We can only hope... Hopefully, 2009 A.D. will be the year Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, starts to melt. You may recall a little essay I posted to this blog in December entitled, "A Modest Proposal: A World Without ICE," in which I suggested "a total moratorium on all ICE activities, as preparation for the agency's ultimate demise." An employee of ICE called me after the fact to chuckle about the scope of my proposal. Heh. The

  February 26, 2009

• Janet Napolitano’s Sorry Service in Arizona Makes Her a Terrible Choice for Homeland Security Secretary

  November 27, 2008

• Feedback from the Issue of Thursday, October 16, 2008

  October 16, 2008

• Police State: How the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency Turned All Local Authorities Into La Migra

  October 2, 2008

• Letters from the issue of Thursday, March 27, 2008

  March 27, 2008

• Letters from the issue of Thursday, March 20, 2008

  March 20, 2008

• Border Patrol checkpoints near Yuma nab hordes of pot users headed back from the beach

  March 13, 2008

• Burn, Baby, Burn!

  Butch-lesbian nativist Laine Lawless loves incinerating Mexico's flag. Is she a dangerous wacko or a proud patriot?

  February 15, 2007

• Letters From the Issue of Thursday, November 30, 2006

  November 30, 2006

• Meltdown

  The Phoenix branch of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau is Exhibit A of this country's failed border policies

  November 16, 2006

• Minuteman of the Hour

  One nation, under Simcox

  April 14, 2005

• Pressure Point

  WHILE THE BORDER PATROL IS ATTACKING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IN CALIFORNIA AND TEXAS, THE AGENCY IS LITERALLY RETREATING IN ARIZONA. THE RESULTS ARE COSTLY AND DANGEROUS.

  March 16, 1994

• Pastor Claims Abuse at Border Patrol Checkpoint on Interstate 8

    A local Baptist pastor who was left bloodied and indignant Tuesday night after a stop at the Border Patrol's checkpoint on eastbound Interstate 8 wonders in a recent video, "Why is this happening in the United States of America?" New Times readers who remember our February 2008 article on the infamous checkpoint know the answer: Because of a disputed -- but still potent -- U.S. Supreme Court ruling. As the article states, the Border Patrol was grant

  April 16, 2009

• The Crossing Guard

  A self-loathing Mexican-American gains enlightenment as The Gatekeeper

  May 8, 2003

• Molotov

  Dance and Dense Denso (Surco/Universal)

  February 20, 2003

• Big Bong Theory

  Arizona's pro-pot advocates cast first stone in latest national effort to legalize marijuana

  September 13, 2001

• Care Tactics

  U.S. Border Patrol shoots down an agent's request to be near his ailing mother

  May 24, 2001

• Phoenix or Busted

  The Valley is now the prime way station for ruthless smugglers engaged in the lucrative trafficking of human cargo -- illegal immigrants

  April 6, 2000

• La Vida Roca

  Some would-be illegals get turned back, then turn to crack

  March 23, 2000

• No, No, Janet

  October 29, 1998

• Pastor Tased and "Beaten" at Checkpoint Plans to Sue; Admits He's Been Resisting at Checkpoints for Months

  Criminal charges have been filed against Steven Anderson, a local pastor we wrote about yesterday who claims he was brutalized at an Interstate 8 checkpoint. Anderson, however, says he's the victim and that he plans to sue the authorities involved in the incident. His family's personal Web site now includes a box for the collection of legal fees in addition to updates about Anderson's situation. (It says he's pulled in $680 as of 3 p.m.) We checked in with Anderson this morning by phon

  April 17, 2009

• "Liquid Meth" Seized Near Border; California Man Arrested

  A California man tried to drive through the international border at Naco last week with about 13 pounds of liquid meth in his pickup's windshield washer reservoir. The find is part of an ongoing trend in the world of illegal drugs to package methamphetamine in ways that make smuggling easier and gives users alternate ingestion methods. A search for "liquid meth" pulled up stories from Alabama to Idaho. The shipment was found after a customs agent at the border had a hunch about the 55-year-old

  May 26, 2009

• Pastor Tased at Checkpoint for 20 Seconds, Says Wife; Typical Taser Burst is Five Seconds

  Anderson's blog siteSteven Anderson, while in custody in a Border Patrol trailer A Valley pastor who was left bloody after an encounter with authorities at an Interstate 8 Border Patrol checkpoint suffered through 20 seconds of tasering, the man's wife says. Zsuzsanna Anderson tells Valley Fever the couple recently received the Taser report from the state Department of Public Safety and intends to post it on their blog site. Tasers are designed to give a five-second burst of electric

  June 9, 2009

• Obama: Country Needs to Boost Border Security and "Clarify" Status of Millions of Illegal Immigrants

  President Obama seemed to express support for major immigration reform during a speech at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. this morning, promising better border security and a form of amnesty for illegal immigrants. Obama says, "we're taking steps to strengthen border security, and we must build on those efforts. We must also clarify the status of millions who are here illegally, many who have put down roots."

  June 19, 2009

• "Border Czar" Alan Bersin Meets with State AG, Calls Arizona "Most Lawless Corridor" on Border

  So-called "Border Czar" Alan Bersin and other Homeland Security officials met with state Attorney General Terry Goddard today to discuss how to get different agencies working better together. During the meeting, Bersin (pictured above) reportedly called Arizona, "the most lawless corridor on the Southwest border." We have no idea what that means, but it sounds bad.

  June 19, 2009

• Claude Lemieux, NHL Hockey Player, to Become U.S. Citizen in Phoenix Ceremony

  NHL Player Claude Lemieux, originally from Canada, will become a U.S. citizen in a ceremony this Friday in Phoenix with 99 other immigrants. Lemieux, 43, a Valley resident, is a comeback kid who now plays with the San Jose Sharks after a stint with a People's Republic of China team, the China Sharks. He was formerly the president of the Phoenix Roadrunners and has won the Stanley Cup with three different teams. Scroll down for the news release from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:

  June 24, 2009

• Fiesta of Independence Naturalization Ceremony

  July 2, 2009

• ACLU to Host Forum on "Constitution-Free" Zone Near Border That Allows Checkpoints

  Border Patrol checkpoints and their impact on civil rights will be discussed at a forum next week in Green Valley hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union. The topic is a hot one in the southern Arizona community, where some residents have fought plans to install a permanent checkpoint on Interstate 19 near Tubac. But the checkpoints and the "Constitution-free" zone -- as the ACLU puts it -- that allows them received notoriety in the Valley after a local man was Tased at a checkpoint on In

  July 6, 2009

• How a Teen Prostitute and Beautician Morphed Into a Minuteman American Defense Leader and Alleged Killer

  July 16, 2009

• ICE Agent and Customs Officer Charged With Fraud in Alleged Government Credit Card Scam

  An agent with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a Customs officer were arrested this morning after being indicted on suspicion of stealing government money. Agent Michael J. Kittson, 34, and U.S. Customs Patrol Officer Douglas R. Bothof are named in a 47-count indictment that accuses them of buying more than $55,000 worth of personal goods with Border Patrol credit cards. The agent and officer conspired with a former Customs officer and two employees of a Tucson-area au

  July 17, 2009

• The Tao of Sheriff Joe

  August 13, 2009

• Arizona Pot Seizures at All Time High

  ​Pot is one hot commodity this year -- at least, judging by the insanely large loads the U.S. Border Patrol have seized this summer. During the month of July alone, Tucson seized more than 100,000 pounds of pot -- bringing the total poundage to 1,065,325 this year. That's well above the 722,000 poounds the Border Patrol had seized by the end of last July. Why the dramatic increase? Tucson sector spokesperson Mario Escalante believes it's because the Border Patrol is getting so damn good

  August 14, 2009

• Steven Anderson's Yuma City Warrant for "Disorderly Conduct," and RP4409's Moronic Misuse of the Word "Nazi" (w/Update)

    Watch this, and tell me truthfully, who do you feel for, these two guys, or the nudnik operating the camera? Look, I'm no fan of the U.S. Border Patrol. Or of checkpoints. Or of police power in general. I think anyone familiar with this blog knows that. But it's a tribute to both Obama-hating pastor Steven Anderson and to his Ron Paul-y supporters at the RP4409 YouTube site that they actually make me feel a sort of  reluctant sympathy for the U.S. Border Patrol and Yu

  September 3, 2009

• "Secret Squirrel Operation" by ICE Nets Border Patrol Agent, Says Lawsuit; Agent Claims He was Traumatized by Arrest

  ​ A Border Patrol agent is suing the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, claiming he was traumatized after being stopped by ICE agents on a dark, rural road in southern Arizona and held at gunpoint. Jess Cabe, who works out of the Border Patrol's Nogales Station, filed the lawsuit on September 4 in the U.S. District Court of Arizona against "three unknown named agents" of ICE. A corresponding summons was sent to ICE in Tucson, says C

  September 8, 2009

• Alleged Drug Runner Recently Released From Prison Leads Police on Chase Through High School

  ​A man who was recently released from prison led police and border agents on a high-speed chase that went right through a Southern Arizona high school last week. Patagonia Police say Border Patrol agents alerted them that 37-year-old Donald Jones, who they had been chasing down State Route 82, was on his way to Patagonia. 

  October 13, 2009

• Border Patrol Seizes 971 Pounds of Marijuana Being Carried on Horseback

  U.S. Border PatrolOne of several horses border agents say were used to bring more than 900 pounds of pot over the border​U.S. Border Patrol Agents made two substantial drug busts this week resulting in the seizure of about 2,400 pounds of weed, 971 of which were being moved on horseback.On Sunday and Monday, agents from the Tucson and Sonoita stations made two separate busts along the border snagging about $2 million worth of marijuana on its way into Arizona.

  October 14, 2009

• Minuteman Chris Simcox's 2007 Female Trouble

  from Simcox for SenateDespite his good looks, the "Little Prince" has not always had luck with women...In doing research on Chris Simcox -- the minuteman posterboy currently waging a quixotic campaign for the 2010 GOP U.S. Senate primary nod against the ancient, lizard-skinned Senator John McCain -- I came across an odd exchange of legal paperwork between Simcox's current wife Alena, and Alena's mother Barbara Lang-Lyras Auffret. Seems in 2007, Auffret filed a claim in Maricopa County Superior C

  October 28, 2009