Mexican authorities have arrested the leader of a far-flung ring that allegedly made and distributed forged immigration and identification documents in the U.S., American officials said Monday. Pedro Castorena, 42, was arrested Saturday in Guadalajara, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. The arrest of Castorena, who allegedly headed a ring that counterfeited and distributed such documents as resident alien cards, Social Security cards and American driver's licenses, "deals a serious blow to one of the largest fraudulent document organizations in the United States," said Julie Myers of the Department of Homeland Security. Castorena, who was indicted in Denver last July on charges of conspiracy, fraud, misuse of visas and money laundering, was located last month in Jalisco by ICE agents with the help of Mexican federal agents and state police. ... http://abcnews.go.com censor News |
Editor - 23:06:00 06-19-06 |
Big cities reluctant to target illegals |
Despite a federal effort to enlist help from local police to catch illegal immigrants, some of the USA's biggest cities are declining to enforce immigration laws. Police chiefs, mayors and city councils are ordering local cops not to get involved as federal agents crack down on people in the country illegally. "Vulnerable people have always needed to see the police as being there to protect and serve, and that can't happen when the first words out of a cop's mouth are, 'I need to see your papers,' " Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been visiting police conventions in an effort to have departments join a voluntary program. ICE has trained officers in seven jurisdictions to identify, process and detain illegal immigrants, said Robert Hines, who heads the program started in 1996. Participants include state police in Alabama and Florida, the Arizona corrections department and sheriff's departments in ... http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-19-immigration-enforcement_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 22:24:00 06-19-06 |
Bush Will Stress United Front on Iran at U.S.-European Summit |
Bush will seek to maintain western unity in the confrontation with Iran and advance his priorities on Iraq and trade during a summit with European Union leaders tomorrow in Vienna. The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran gives both the U.S. and the EU an incentive to close a rift opened by Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 in the face of strong international opposition. The meeting comes as the U.S. has turned to diplomacy in dealing with Iran and European leaders have taken the lead in searching for a settlement. That makes it imperative to preserve a unified approach, says Charles Kupchan, the National Security Council's director of European affairs in the Clinton administration. ``At this critical moment in dealing with Iran's nuclear program, transatlantic solidarity is very important,'' said Kupchan, now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. ``Tehran will be looking for cracks in the coalition and seeking to exploit them.'' ... http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aQtGjh58DhA8&refer=home
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Editor - 21:48:00 06-19-06 |
Towing Begins for Thousands of Cars Flooded by Katrina and Rita in Southern Louisiana |
A forklift raised a muddy and battered car from beneath an interstate overpass Monday morning, marking the start of the cleanup of some 100,000 vehicles flooded by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The cars, trucks and boats are being trucked to staging areas, where owners will have 30 days to reclaim them. Unclaimed vehicles will be sold as scrap. "We will eventually have four staging areas to receive cars from all over southern Louisiana," said Mark Stafford, chief operating officer of DRC Recovery Services. DRC, based in Mobile, Ala., has a $33.8 million government contract to do the work. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2095968
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Editor - 21:46:00 06-19-06 |
Revived Taliban waging 'full-blown insurgency' |
In their biggest show of strength in nearly five years, pro-Taliban fighters are terrorizing southern Afghanistan? ambushing military patrols, assassinating opponents and even enforcing the law in remote villages where they operate with near impunity."We are faced with a full-blown insurgency," says Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil & Fundamentalism in Central Asia. Four and a half years after they overthrew the Islamic militia that had controlled much of Afghanistan, U.S.-led forces have been forced to ramp up the battle to stabilize this impoverished, shattered country. More than 10,000 U.S., Canadian, British and Afghan government troops are scouring southern and eastern Afghanistan in a campaign called Operation Mountain Thrust. ... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-19-taliban-afghanistan-cover_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 20:54:00 06-19-06 |
An intelligence failure. An explosive exclusive. But was it the wrong Khan? • Claims on bomber may be case of mistaken identity • FBI source could have confused two suspects |
It was an explosive allegation which sparked renewed calls for a public inquiry into the July 7 suicide attacks on London. The author of a book to be published next week claimed the ringleader was considered such a dangerous threat that he was banned from the US two years before the attack. The claim was the main story on the front page of yesterday's Times. According to Ron Suskind, author of the book The One Percent Doctrine, a senior FBI official named Mohammad Sidique Khan - the leader of the London suicide bombers - as the man who had planned attacks on US cities. Not surprisingly, the US warned British intelligence officials about how dangerous he was. The allegations provoked angry demands for a public inquiry into the July 7 bombings, something the government has turned down on the grounds that it would divert the resources of the security and intelligence agencies from the fight against terrorism. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said that if true, the claims showed ... http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1801530,00.html
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Editor - 20:46:00 06-19-06 |
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