Apprehensions up 50 percent, Guilty plea in Terry trial and more

THIS NOT ONLY CONCERNING BUT ALARMING - RUTHIE

Border apprehensions up by 50 percent in South Texas

Brooks County reports record year for immigrant deaths

FALFURRIAS, Texas -
The number of illegal immigrant apprehensions in South Texas has increased by 50 percent, according to Henry Mendiola Jr., spokesman for the Rio Grande Valley sector of U.S. Border Patrol.

Mendiola said preliminary figures through last August show approximately 89,000 people were detained, compared to 59,243 in 2011.

The higher numbers also are reflected in the 150 percent increase in immigrant deaths — from dehydration or heat stroke in remote areas or drownings in the Rio Grande, Mendiola said.

In Brooks County alone, about 85 miles from the border, Sheriff Rey Rodriguez said it has been a “terrible year,” with 112 bodies recovered — the highest yet. He said last year, the remains of 64 people were recovered.

Rodriguez said many immigrants are aware of the risks through Spanish-language media campaigns.

*************************************************
TUCSON, Ariz. – A Mexican man pleaded guilty Tuesday in the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a 2010 firefight near the Arizona-Mexico border.
The first-degree murder plea on Tuesday by Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, of El Fuerte in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, marks the first conviction in the December 2010 death of Agent Brian Terry.
Osorio-Arellanes faces up to life in prison.
Two rifles bought by a gun-smuggling ring that was being monitored by the government’s botched investigation known as “Operation Fast and Furious” were found at the shooting scene.
Authorities have declined to say whether the murder weapon was linked to an Operation Fast and Furious purchase.
*************************************************

CORPUS CHRISTI —State Rep. Raul Torres wants the death penalty for terrorists and
drug traffickers that harm U.S. citizens and to treat cartel activities on American soil as acts of war.
The Republican candidate for state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa’s seat, which includes a chunk of Hidalgo County in the Rio Grande Valley, said in a mass email the federal government has failed to secure the border with Mexico and more is needed to safeguard American lives.
Torres’ spokesman, Christian Anderson, on Thursday said the Corpus Christi Republican believes border law enforcement agencies will benefit from having the death penalty to use as a deterrent on the border.
“(Representative Torres) believes that average law enforcement is outgunned and outmanned by drug cartels and other terror groups,” Anderson said. “Expanding the use of the death penalty for these types of crimes will give law enforcement another much needed tool to secure our border.”

************************************************

Lawmakers want to stop flow of tax refunds to illegal immigrants

Raleigh, N.C. — Members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation say they want to block a nationwide tax fraud scheme among suspected illegal immigrants.
*************************************************

AZ Border Defenders Trail Cameras catch a Drug Smuggler armed with an AK-47

AZ Border Defenders trail cameras continue to catch video of illegal aliens, drug smugglers and now an armed drug smuggler 30 miles North of the border. This video shows two Drug Smugglers walking down an active drug and human smuggling trail. The first Drug Smuggler is carrying an AK-47 with him.
This video is proof the border is not secure and more dangerous than ever. Drug cartels practically own entire sections of the Arizona desert and have spotters on hills and mountains so they can alert their drug and human smugglers to any potential problems.
*************************************************
Lawmaker urges feds to monitor Hezbollah in Mexico

The presidential campaign has featured plenty of talk about terrorism in the Middle East, but one lawmaker is warning that the federal government is ignoring a growing Hezbollah presence in Mexico, with the Lebanese terror group increasingly joining forces with drug cartels.

One report shows hundreds of thousands of Middle Easterners living in Mexico, and a small percentage of them may be radicals using routes established by drug networks to sneak into the U.S.

The ties linking Mexico to Islamic terrorism were underscored earlier this year when an alleged Iranian operative plotted to assassinate a Saudi diplomat in Washington using a hired gun on loan from a Mexican drug cartel. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) says the mounting evidence of a Hezbollah presence in Mexico is being ignored by the Department of Homeland Security.

“I don’t have a lot of faith in the Department of Homeland Security,” said Myrick. “They should be looking at these groups in Mexico much more closely.”

“I don’t have a lot of faith in the Department of Homeland Security. They should be looking at these groups in Mexico much more closely.”

- Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.)

The incidents fueling Myrick’s frustration include the Oct. 17 guilty plea in Manhattan Federal Court of a suspect plotting to pay $1.5 million to a suspected hitman for the Los Zetas Cartel, who was actually a DEA informant, to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S. by bombing a busy Washington, D.C., restaurant the ambassador frequents.