ICE Refuses to Halt Deportation of Immigrant Who Could Qualify for Relief

TUCSON, Arizona – Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in Arizona on Wednesday denied the request of a Mexican to halt his deportation proceedings, despite the fact that he could be one of those who would benefit from President Barack Obama’s executive action giving relief to millions of undocumented foreigners.

Francisco Perez Cordova, the father of five U.S.-born children and husband of a woman who benefits from Deferred Action, will not be able to leave the church where he has been given refuge for more than 60 days to prevent a deportation order from being carried out against him.

“I feel content because the day is approaching when I’m going to leave, but at the same time I feel sad because the person in authority who must decide my case is not doing so, although it would take him no time at all,” Perez Cordova told Efe on Wednesday.

He added that he has been in the church for 64 days and has not been able to work, and it pains him when his children ask how long they are going to be separated.

Despite the fact that Perez Cordova could be a beneficiary of the immigration relief provided by the president’s order last week, local ICE officials informed his lawyer that they have not received any directive from the Homeland Security Department to grant suspensions of deportations proceedings for possible beneficiaries.

However, Perez Cordova’s attorney Margo Cowan displayed the memorandum sent by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson to ICE directors, the Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Border Patrol in which he instructs ICE and Customs and Border Protection officials to “immediately” begin identifying people in their custody, and newly-encountered people, who meet the requirements and may be eligible for deferred action to prevent future deportations.

“We’re asking for a document, a letter that approves the request to halt the deportation, for them to close the case, something in writing so that Francisco may leave (the church) with proof that his deportation order is no longer in effect,” Cowan told Efe.

She said that this reveals a serious risk for hundreds of immigrants who have not sought sanctuary and have deportation proceedings pending against them because if immigration authorities in Arizona are not following the DHS directives these undocumented foreigners could be detained and deported.

ICE spokesperson Lori Haley told Efe that “as always, decisions on discretionary proceedings must be handled on a case by case basis based on the case itself and an exhaustive review of the specific facts.”

Perez was granted sanctuary at the United Methodist Church in Foothills on Sept. 25 after lived for almost a year in fear of being deported.

His difficult immigration system began in 2009 after his family were the victims of a crime they reported to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

According to Perez, instead of investigating the crime against his family, sheriff’s deputies reported him and his brother-in-law to the Border Patrol. For three years, Perez fought his case in court, but bad advice by his counsel left him on the verge of being deported.

Students and Teachers Block Mexican Highway to Protest Disappearances

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico – A group of students and teachers blocked the Highway of the Sun in Chilpancingo, the capital of the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, to mark the two-month anniversary of the disappearance of 43 education students in the city of Iguala.

The protesters arrived at the Parador del Marques around 11:00 a.m. and blocked the highway, which links Mexico City to the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, in both directions.

The majority of the students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School and the members of the CETEG education union covered their faces and were armed with sticks.

Officials have tightened security in Chilpancingo in the past few hours and more Federal Police officers have arrived amid fears that the protest could turn violent.

On Sept. 26, municipal police opened fire on the young people, presumably following orders of the then-mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, killing six people and wounding another 25.

That night another 43 students were detained by police and handed over to the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel, which allegedly killed and burned them to cover their tracks, according to the statements of three members of the criminal organization after their arrest.

Code Talker Samuel Tsosie Sr. passes on

WINDOW ROCK

Navajo Code Talker Samuel Tsosie Sr. has passed into the spirit world, according to Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, who ordered flags flown at half-staff in his honor.

Tsosie, who served in the 1st Marine Division from 1943 to 1945, was 89.

He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at age 16, forging his mother’s signature on his enlistment papers and gave his age as 19, according to the nonprofit Navajo Code Talkers organization.

In the Marine Corps, Tsosie joined his military brothers as a radioman communicating in every major battle of the Pacific, including Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Okinawa and Peleliu.

The funeral for Tsosie took place today at the VA Chapel in Prescott, Ariz. He will be laid to rest in the National Veterans Cemetery in Phoenix.

In his Nov. 25 proclamation, Shelly stated, “The Navajo Nation unites and offers prayers for his family and friends during this time of grief.”

Shelly has ordered flags flown at half-staff from sunrise on Nov. 25 to sunset on Nov. 28.

Anonymous to Cleveland Police

San Diego - Protesters block freeway over fatal shooting of a Missouri teenager

SAN DIEGO — Hundreds of demonstrators marching in response to a grand jury decision not to indict a police officer in the fatal shooting of a Missouri teenager twice blocked a freeway in City Heights Tuesday night, later moving to nearby streets, where some threw bottles and rocks at San Diego police officers.

Several officers were struck by rocks and full water bottles and suffered minor injuries, and one officer was spit on, San Diego police Acting Capt. Keith Lucas said. In addition, a California Highway Patrol officer was struck with a rock and spit on, he said. Lucas said he did not know the extent of that officer's injuries.

Six protesters were arrested, one for throwing rocks at officers, one for inciting the crowd and leading them onto the freeway, and four for unlawful assembly, Lucas said.

Civil Rights Defense Organizations Request Arizona Governor’s Book Notes

Civil Rights Defense Organizations Request Arizona Governor’s Book Notes

TUCSON, Arizona – Civil rights defense organizations requested that a judge order Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to turn over the notes she used to write her book “Scorpions for Breakfast” to use in their legal battle against Law SB1070, local media reported Monday.

In her controversial book, Brewer discusses her fight against what she called – the book’s subtitle – “special interests, liberal media and cynical politicos” to secure America’s border.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund subpoenaed the notes and any other documents Brewer consulted in writing her book, published in 2011, including emails and interviews.

The attorneys hope to find in the governor’s notes some kind of indication of racial profiling, and they have requested all of her communications including the words “illegal,” Mexican” and “wetback,” among others.

Law SB1070 was approved in 2010 becoming the first state law to criminalize the presence on U.S. territory of undocumented immigrants.

After a long battle in the courts that ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court, several sections of the law were overturned, although a key portion of it, Section 2(b), authorizing police departments to “question” the immigration status of people they suspect might not have the proper papers, was later revived.

Activists say that this provision is being used to discriminate against Hispanic citizens and residents. 

Severed Heads Found in Western Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Two severed human heads were found Monday on the edge of a village in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, authorities said.

The heads belonged to two unidentified males, the state Attorney General’s Office said.

Agents from the AG’s office transported the heads from the village of Tiamba to the Michoacan medical examiner’s office and a criminal investigation is under way.

Mexico’s criminal organizations often dump victims’ bodies or body parts in public spots to send a message, whether to rival gangs, authorities or local populations they are trying to intimidate.

The Mexican federal government dispatched additional police and military personnel to Michoacan in January amid escalating conflict between the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel and local militias who took up armies to defend their communities against the group.

The offensive has led to a number of Templarios leaders’ being killed or captured.