Holder Denies Guilt Over "Fast And Furious"

By Adrianna McGinley

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today condemned federal officials for authorizing controversial “gun-walking” tactics under Operation Fast and Furious, but told lawmakers he is committed to investigating and holding accountable those responsible.

“I think that I acted in a responsible way by ordering the Inspector General investigation,” Holder said to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “On the basis of that report and any other information that is brought to my attention, those people who did make mistakes will be held accountable.”

Holder called the Operation “flawed in its concept and flawed in its execution.” He said that its impacts will be felt for years to come since many guns that ATF agents allowed to be purchased and carried across the U.S. border into Mexico are still unaccounted for and some continue to appear at cartel crime scenes.

“This should never have happened, and it must never happen again,” Holder said.

While admitting that there were grave mistakes made during Fast and Furious, Holder said it was in fact “a flawed response to, not the cause of” illegal gun flow into Mexico and the violence that results.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked Holder if he has or would like to apologize to the family of deceased Border Patrol Agent Brian Terr, who was murdered last December. Weapons discovered at the crime scene were traced back to Fast and Furious.

“I certainly regret what happened,” Holder replied. “It is not fair, however, to assume that the mistakes that happened in Fast and Furious directly led to the death of Agent Terry.”

Holder pledged that the Department of Justice is committed to punishing Mexican drug cartel members who have murdered American citizens. He also said that his agency is working with the Mexican government to curtail the violence caused by the cartels. To that point, Holder expressed concern that Republicans in Congress have proposed cutting DOJ’s budget for the coming fiscal year.

“Those proposed cuts are simply unacceptable and place this nation at risk…We are enjoying historically low crime rates…[DOJ cuts] put at risk the possibility that these historically low rates will not remain there forever.”

Holder suggested Congress take into consideration testimony from whistleblower agents who have called on Congress to support the fight against illegal weapons being trafficked into Mexico.

Experts Find Little Evidence Connecting Drug, Human Smugglers

By Adrianna McGinley

Distinguished professors and researchers from Mexico, Arizona and California agreed Friday at a panel discussion hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars that there is virtually no evidence linking the drug cartels with human smuggling from Mexico. 

Dr. Gabriella Sanchez, Senior Researcher at the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, said that in a case study involving 66 known human smugglers in Arizona, she found no evidence connecting violent organized crime to human smuggling.

“There’s no indication or evidence of collaboration among criminal groups and smuggling activities,” Sanchez said. “Among the smugglers, there’s really no true interest in participating in other activities that while more profitable, will actually increase the risk of prosecution. This is especially the case of families with children.”

Sanchez also said she found no indication of ties to drug smuggling in her sample group. 

Erik Lee, Associate Director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies, emphasized that the panel was discussing human smuggling, which involves some degree of consent, not human trafficking, which involves force or coercion and where ties to violence and other organized crime may be more prominent.

Report Reveals Decreasing Number Of New Unauthorized Immigrants

A recent report released by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, revealed that the number of unauthorized immigrants entering the country has sharply decreased since 2005. 

Jeffrey Passel, Senior Demographer and co-author of the report, said that although the current population of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. is “substantially larger” than it was in 2000, but is 8% lower than it was during its peak in 2007. Since 2007, Passel said there are nearly 1 million less new unauthorized immigrants entering the country. 

“We found the most marked drop was among immigrants from Latin America, other than Mexico,” Passel said. “Mexico remains, by far, the largest source of unauthorized immigrants.”

According to the report, Mexicans represent about 60% of the nearly 12 million unauthorized immigrants currently living in the country. 

Passel acknowledged that the general trend for the inflow of new unauthorized immigrants has sharply decreased over the past 2 years, he admitted that the report does not provide insight as to why. 

Passel said that a southern border that has greatly increased its security, along with a struggling economy may have played a role in the decreasing trend.

“We’ve seen in the past that flows have varied with the state of the U.S. economy,” he said. “We know that it’s harder and more dangerous for undocumented immigrants to sneak into the country.” 

Senate Democrats Look To Beef Up Border Security

Senate Democrats introduced new legislation Thursday that is aimed at beefing up security along the country’s Southwest border.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), alongside Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), unveiled a $600 million emergency measure in an effort to fully secure the U.S.-Mexican border.  The proposal would deploy 1,500 new enforcement agents and fund unmanned aerial vehicles to boost border surveillance.

“This package shows a serious commitment to securing the border, even though we know it will take comprehensive immigration reform to fully address the problem,” Schumer said. “We plan to push this measure immediately in the Senate, and it will send the personnel and equipment we need along the border.”

Sens. Schumer and McCaskill touted the new bill by distinguishing it from a similar bill introduced by Senate Republicans. Under the GOP’s version, funding would originate from surplus Recovery Act funding, a measure Democrats said would eliminate jobs.

Democrats plan to fuel this measure without increasing the nation’s debt while simultaneously creating jobs.

“[The bill] would avoid adding to the deficit by raising fees on a handful of foreign corporations that exploit U.S. visa programs to import workers from India,” the Sens. said in a statement. “The Senate Democrats’ proposal is paid for by raising fees on companies that take jobs away from U.S. workers.”

The Senate duo are hopeful this measure hits the floor running and comes up before the Senate breaks for recess.

Federal Judge Stalls Controversial AZ Immigration Law

By Brandon Kosters - Talk Radio News Service

U.S District Judge Susan Bolton has blocked the controversial provisions of the Arizona immigration law, S.B. 1070. Bolton filed a preliminary injunction against the sections of the law which allowed Arizona police officers to check citizens’ immigration status and required immigrants to carry proof of citizenship with them at all times.

She said that the law could easily lead to wrongful imprisonment of legal residents and that it called for police to perform tasks and exercise authority reserved for the federal government.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is expected to appeal Bolton’s ruling and the case is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Proponents of the law claim that action must be taken to mitigate the incredibly large number of illegal immigrants in Arizona and that the state is simply taking action that the federal government has declined to take.

Opponents of the bill have said the law leads to racial profiling and hurts tourism to the area, particularly from Mexico.

Outspoken critics of the law include President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, a prospective Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Arizona.