Rachel Alexander – Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio are the only law enforcement officials in the country arresting and prosecuting illegal immigrants under an anti-human smuggling (coyote) statute.

An Arizona jury returned a guilty verdict against an illegal immigrant for conspiracy to smuggle himself into the country, a felony under Arizona law. Adolfo Guzman-Garcia will be sentenced for a class 4 felony, punishable by up to 3.75 years in prison, on December 5, 2006. Almost 336 illegal immigrants have been arrested and 161 have already accepted guilty pleas offered by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

Thomas noted that it was the first time in U.S. history that an anti-smuggling law has been used to successfully prosecute illegal immigrants, by plea offers and now a jury verdict, describing the landmark decision, „The glacier of illegal immigration is starting to drip away. In Maricopa County, we will continue to keep the heat on until both smugglers and conspirators get the message.“ (Apparently global warming is occurring in Arizona?)

Since Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio began enforcing the law against illegal immigrants in March of this year, the numbers of illegal immigrants attempting to cross the Mexico-Arizona border has decreased. Arpaio declared, „The word is out, don’t come through Arizona. Instead they are heading for California or Nevada’s border.“

So far, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has achieved a 90% conviction rate of those arrested. Detractors have criticized the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for a legal opinion it provided Arpaio with that confirmed the anti-smuggling law could be applied not just to coyotes, but to illegal immigrants through Arizona’s conspiracy statute. Unless specifically exempted by the legislature, conspiracy laws apply to all felonies.

„So far we have won every substantive battle,“ Thomas said. Although a few left wing defense attorneys, including ones selected by the Mexican government, have challenged application of the law in court, it has withheld judicial scrutiny and has been upheld. Maricopa County Judge Thomas O’Toole presided over the trial of Guzman-Garcia. Both Judge O’Toole and Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David Cole denied motions by defense attorneys to dismiss the complaints, ruling that the application of the smuggling law was not preempted by federal law nor conflict with state law. O’Toole had dismissed one complaint earlier this year against an illegal immigrant when it got to a jury, stating that all of the elements of the crime („corpus delicti“) hadn’t been satisfied, but in this second case, held an evidentiary hearing where he found there was enough of a basis to send it to a jury.

The local Arizona media has mostly ignored the arrests and convictions of illegal immigrants since they began in March of this year, claiming that there have been no „convictions“ under the anti-smuggling statute and that no jury has found any of the arrestees guilty. This is playing with words. Accepting a guilty plea, as 161 illegal immigrants have done, results in a „conviction“ on their record. And there hasn’t been any jury convictions until now because most of the suspects accepted guilty pleas instead of going to trial (a handful of cases were dismissed); they never made it through the process to a jury trial, which can take up to six months. Leaves the mainstream media with egg on its face now.

Thomas had harsh words for I.C.E., the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency, for failing to deport the illegal immigrants after they pled guilty and were convicted. „The reality is we live in a border state and we are awash in illegal immigration,“ Thomas said. „They have a duty to uphold the law and the Constitution.“ When Sheriff Arpaio first started arresting them under the human smuggling law, I.C.E. refused to pick them up after conviction for deportation, instead, Arpaio and his deputies had to drive them themselves to Yuma next to the border. However, Arpaio said that since I.C.E. has changed leadership in Arizona, it has begun picking them up and transferring them for deportation.

Thomas is confident that having to spend several months in Maricopa County jail will send a deterrent message. Having a felony on their record will prohibit an illegal immigrant from being able to obtain U.S. citizenship in the future. Arpaio vowed to continue arresting illegal immigrants, „I’m gonna keep locking them up…we are being proactive, my posse is out there looking for them.“ The Maricopa County jail has a reputation as a miserable place to do time, because of its Tent City facilities located in the desert, its green bologna and water, and other tough restrictions. Inmates who have done time in both the jail and the state’s Department of Corrections have learned to ask the judge to allow them to serve their time in prison instead of jail. Arpaio sent a message to anyone contemplating illegally crossing the border, „You can’t work cutting palm trees if you’re in jail…you have to follow the law.“

Arpaio says his is the only law enforcement agency arresting illegal immigrants under the human smuggling statute. He hopes that this decision will encourage other law enforcement to enforce the law. „I’m tired of city police complaining about the cost of arresting illegal immigrants. That complaint is garbage. It’s a felony. The county picks up the tab for felonies, the city only pays for misdemeanor arrests.“ Thomas has also noted that he is the only county attorney in the nation prosecuting illegal immigrants for human smuggling. Working together, Thomas and Arpaio have become the toughest law enforcement team in the nation fighting illegal immigration. Although illegal immigration still remains a nationwide problem, the duo has done what they can locally, making it less Arizona’s problem.

Rachel Alexander

Ist praktizierende Anwältin für die Regierung in Phönix im U.S. Staat Arizona. Als ehemaliges Redaktionsmitglied und Kolumnistin des Arizona Daily Wildcat, gewann sie für ihre journalistischen Arbeiten drei Auszeichnungen und schreibt Kolumnen für IntellectualConservative.com

KURZ/VERTICKERT – Die „Grande Nation“ ist zu nett zu ihren Touristen. Besonders Pariser Taxifahrer verhielten sich zu ihren Fahrgästen mehr als vorbildlich. Dies ergab eine Studie, die im Auftrag des französischen Innenministeriums erstellt wurde. Sprachprobleme gebe es laut dieser Studie in Frankreich nicht. Kellner und Verkäufer seien die Lieblinge aller Touristen und die Gastfreundschaft sei im ganzen Land nicht zu stoppen.

Robert Parry – The New York Times lead editorial gives false comfort to American citizens by assuring them that they will not be victims of George W. Bush’s new draconian system for prosecuting enemies of the U.S. government in military tribunals outside constitutional protections.

“This law does not apply to American citizens,” the Times editorial stated, “but it does apply to other legal United States residents. And it chips away at the foundations of the judicial system in ways that all Americans should find threatening.”

However, the Times analysis appears to be far too gentle. While it’s true that some parts of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 target non-citizens, other sections clearly apply to U.S. citizens as well, putting citizens inside the same tribunal system with resident aliens and foreigners.

“Any person is punishable as a principal under this chapter who commits an offense punishable by this chapter, or aids, abets, counsels, commands, or procures its commission,” according to the law, passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in September and signed by Bush on Oct. 17. Read more of Robert Parry’s Report

Von Robert Parry erschien das Buch Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq

Harald Haack – Gibt es einen Kampf der Computer-Betriebssysteme? Wer sagt denn, dass Apple-Systeme sicher vor Viren seien?

Windows gilt als anfälligsten für Viren, Trojaner und sonstige böswilligen Viechereien. Apple und „Nesthäkchen“ Linux gelten als sicher. Doch sind sie es wirklich? Hersteller von Anti-Viren-Software vermuteten bisher, das Interesse der Viren-Schreiber gelte dem am meisten verbreiteten Betriebssystem und das ist nun einmal Windows. Windows gab es erst, als Apple seine Computer bereits verkaufte, und so manch einer argwöhnte als Windows auf dem Markt kam, Microsoft habe es von Apple abgekupfert. Schon bald tauchten die ersten Viren für Windows auf. Apple blieb, zumindest für Viren-Schreiber, uninteressant. Ob es besser gesichert ist, darüber wurde bislang kein Beweis geliefert. Aber das Gerücht, demnach es sicherer sei, verfestigte sich als Tatsache.

Nun traf es Apple. Auf seinen Video-iPods befand sich ein Windows-Viurus. Besonders peinlich ist, dass Apple dem mutmaßlich eigenen Gerücht vertraute und die Computer, die für die Produktion genutzt werden, wahrscheinlich nicht sicherte und offenbar auch nicht regelmäßig überprüfte und eine gute Firewall nutzte. Da hilft es wenig, wenn Apple erklärt, der Virus RavMonE.exe sei vergangene Woche über einen einzelnen Windows-Rechner eines iPod-Herstellers auf die Geräte gekommen. Und die Behauptung, man sei verärgert darüber, dass Windows nicht „abgehärteter gegen solche Viren“ sei, vermag den eingetretenen Schaden nicht zu beheben, lässt aber tief gründen. Man könnte argwöhnen, Apple stecke hinter der Virenschwemme für Windows. Zwar gilt der Virus als „nicht besonder aggressiv“, doch etliche Apple-Kunden sollen sich inzwischen beschwert haben.

© 19. Oktober 2006 Copyright by Harald Haack