So. Arizona school locked down as migrants pass by
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 10:01
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.svherald.com/associatedpress/245027
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — A school in southern Arizona was put on
lockdown after a group of apparent illegal immigrants was spotted
walking near the campus.
Students at Continental School in Green Valley were ushered into
their classrooms and kept inside while Pima County sheriff's deputies
and the Border Patrol was called.
Sheriff's spokeswoman deputy Dawn Barkman tells the Nogales
International (http://bit.ly/ADMZGj) that the group of men and women
had not stepped inside the school fence and seemed wary once they
realized they were being watched.
Superintendent Virginia Juettner of the one-school district says
students were kept inside for only about 15 minutes after a PE
teacher spotted the migrants at about noon on Wednesday. They were
last seen headed for a neighborhood.
Juettner says she didn't hesitate to use the school's lockdown
procedure.
___
Information from: Nogales International, http://
www.nogalesinternational.com/
Note: So many accomplishments in such a short time, but if he had
been helping ATF run guns to DTO's, would he have gotten less time?
Felon sentenced in AZ for being in US illegally
by Associated Press
(January 20th, 2012 @ 4:47pm)
http://www.ktar.com/6/1490750/Felon-sentenced-in-AZ-for-being-in-US-
illegally
TUCSON, Ariz. -- A convicted felon arrested in southern Arizona for
trying to re-enter the country illegally has been sentenced to more
than three years in prison.
Federal prosecutors announced Friday that 20-year-old Israel Toyayo-
Morales received a 37-month term. Morales is from Iguala, Guerrero,
Mexico. He was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Tucson
last May.
During processing at the Tucson Station, a fingerprint database
showed Toyayo-Morales was convicted in 2010 in Illinois for attempted
first-degree murder and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
He was sentenced to two years in prison on each count. Record checks
also revealed he was removed from the U.S. through Hidalgo, Texas.
Prosecutors say Toyayo-Morales will be deported following his
incarceration and now is banned for life from all legalization
processes.
Note: despite the usual misleading language, it is about illegal
immigrants
Groups: Stop holding migrants in Arizona jail
by Daniel González - Jan. 20, 2012 10:04 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
Several immigrant advocacy groups on Friday called on the Obama
administration to stop detaining immigrants facing deportation at a
jail in Florence run by the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.
The advocacy groups called conditions at the jail "dangerous and
inhumane." But Pinal County Sheriff's Office officials challenged
those allegations, saying the jail's operations received a perfect
score from the National Sheriffs' Association during a review last
year. Federal immigration officials also said they closely monitor
immigration-detention operations at the jail and conduct regular
inspections to make sure the jail meets certain standards.
On Friday, the ACLU of Arizona sent a letter to Immigration and
Customs Enforcement Director John Morton demanding the agency
terminate a contract with PCSO to detain immigrants while their
deportation cases are pending in immigration court. The letter was
signed by more than a dozen immigrant advocacy groups.
ICE has had a contract with the Pinal County Sheriff's Office since
2006 to detain immigrants. The contract calls for holding up to 534
immigrants, but on average the jail has been holding about 410
immigrants a day, ICE officials said.
Victoria Lopez, the program director for the ACLU of Arizona, said
that immigrants detained at the Pinal County jail have been subjected
to abusive treatment by jail officers and inadequate and untimely
medical care.
"We have spoken to and received correspondence from people who have
been detained in dangerous and inhumane conditions," Lopez said,
standing in front of a building on Central Avenue that houses the
Phoenix detention and removal operations of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement. "These violations of civil and human rights must now
come to an end."
Lopez was joined by about 15 representatives from several immigrant
advocacy groups.
As ICE has stepped up deportations, increasing numbers of immigrants
have been held in detention facilities across the country, including
in many jails that contract with ICE to hold immigrant detainees.
Lopez said ICE vowed to stop detaining immigrants in "jail-like"
conditions as part of reforms launched more than two years ago. But
that hasn't happened, she said. The reforms came after the deaths of
more than 100 immigrants held in detention centers nationwide between
2003 and 2009.
A 2011 report by the ACLU of Arizona found inconsistent conditions at
the five immigration-detention facilities in Florence and Eloy. The
report called the conditions at the Pinal County jail the "most
extreme and abusive."
The report said that of the five immigration-detention facilities in
Florence and Eloy, advocates received the most number of complaints
from immigrants who had been detained at the Pinal County jail.
Amber Cargile, a spokeswoman for ICE in Phoenix, did not respond
directly to claims of abuse at the Pinal County jail.
In a written statement, however, she said that ICE officers visit the
Pinal County jail daily to assess living conditions and make sure the
jail is complying with ICE's detention standards.
"Any allegations of abuse or misconduct by those charged with
providing for the health and welfare of ICE detainees are promptly
reported to the appropriate entities for immediate review,
investigation and action," she said.
Since ICE announced plans in August 2009 to reform the detention
system, the agency has also beefed up oversight of detention
facilities nationwide, she said.
"Those measures include announced and unannounced inspections,
regular facility visits by ICE staff, and the hiring of detention-
services managers to ensure appropriate conditions at detention
facilities," she said.
Elias Johnson, a spokesman for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office,
said last year the jail received a perfect 100 score from the
National Sheriffs' Association based on "conditions, cleanliness,
procedure and overall condition of the jail."
He said the Pinal County jail was the only facility in the state to
receive a perfect score.
"While the ACLU claims conditions are deplorable ... we will just
point to our national accreditation that we continue to lead the way
with how we treat our inmates," Johnson said.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/pinal/articles/
2012/01/20/20120120groups-stop-holding-migrants-arizona-
jail.html#ixzz1k6qHJ7Gh
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