THE BORDER REPORT

This story first appeared on KJZZ’s Fronteras Desk. Visit our website for stories from all across the border.

Immigration judges are letting more illegal migrants stay in the country. Government records show that the Obama Administration is focusing its deportation efforts on those who have been convicted of crimes.

Most people who show up in front of an immigration judge still face deportation, but the Department of Homeland Security, and judges in Arizona, have doubled the number of cases where deportation orders are dropped compared to five years ago.

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THE BORDER REPORT

This is a story I produced for the Fronteras Project that aired this morning on Arizona Public Media.

Please bookmark and visit our web site, FronterasDesk.org, for stories from all along the border region, from San Diego to San Antonio.

I interviewed Linda Thomas, a former program manager working within Dept. of Homeland Security’s Strategic Border Initiative, or SBInet. It’s the first time someone with an insider’s understanding of the project has emerged to discuss their experiences.

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THE BORDER REPORT

When I used to write about illegal migrant deaths on a daily basis, there was a macabre joke that nobody cared about the people who actually died, merely the number. It was meant as black humor but it carried a certain truth: You could have 200 migrants dying in the desert but the only one who garnered notoriety was the record-breaker; if you had 200 this year and 200 last, the one who got the public’s attention was the 201st.

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THE BORDER REPORT

I was hoping this week would be a good opportunity to take a closer look at the Obama Administration’s movement of 1,200 National Guard units to the Mexico border. According to this Arizona Republic article, it’s gonna be a few weeks.* The first question I have is, why.

While I continue to believe that the National Guard movement is for Americans’ peace of mind (those not living in border states, anyway) and not to stop illegal immigration or drug trafficking, I’d like to point out the astuteness of the story; the administration said Aug. 1. Apparently they meant they were going to start addressing the movement of troops on that day.

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THE BORDER REPORT

I honestly thought she would go the other way, but U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton struck down four of the key provisions of Senate Bill 1070 this morning, marginalizing what’s been construed as the toughest state enforcement of federal immigration law in the country. The four key elements she blocked are:

1. Arizona will not be able to require cops to check the immigration status of someone they stop or arrest.

2. The segment of the law making it a crime to fail to carry immigration papers.

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