[Forsyth County Sheriff Ted] Paxton said Patrol Deputy Lawrence Tanner spotted a light extended cab pick-up truck making an illegal lane change on Buford Highway at Highway 400.

Tanner noticed the driver was a Mexican national with a Mexican driver’s permit in a locally registered vehicle and in the vehicle were several suitcases in plain view.

When searched, deputies found they held 60-kilo packages of cocaine.

“In our terms it turns out to be 132 pounds, that’s 132 pounds of cocaine, and in and of itself is the largest seizure of cocaine in Forsyth County,” Paxton said.

Deputy Tanner charged 45-year-old Justo Alberto Lazano-Schadtler of Mission San Carlos, Mexico with failure to maintain a lane, but he is in jail without bond for trafficking in cocaine.

Previously:

• February 2007: $89,600 meth delivery seized in Gainesville, GA
• February 2007: 1000 pounds of marijuana seized in Athens, GA
• November 2006: $9 million in cocaine and crystal meth seized in Lilburn and Lawrenceville, GA
• November 2006: $29,600 in cocaine seized in Gainesville, GA
• November 2006: $497,000 in cocaine seized in Gainesville, GA
• October 2006: $27 million in cocaine and crystal methamphetamine seized in Clayton County, GA
• September 2006: $10 million in cocaine seized in Gainesville, GA
• August 2006: $50 million in crystal meth seized in Gainesville, GA
• August 2006: $25 million in crystal meth seized in Buford, GA

Under the plan, undocumented workers could apply for three-year work visas, which the plan dubs “Z'’ visas. They would be renewable indefinitely but renewal would cost $3,500 each time.

The undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but to get a green card, making them legal permanent residents, they’d have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.

Can someone please explain how blocking a path to citizenship, but allowing indefinite work visas to anyone and everyone will either change employer hiring practices or discourage people from flowing in and breaking the laws?

Well anyway, I guess we have some of our first candidates for the “Z” Visa - discovered crammed into a van during a routine traffic stop on I-85 near Buford, GA, 18 suspected illegal aliens arrested in Buford:

A Gwinnett County Police officer discovers 18 suspected illegal immigrants in a van during a routine traffic stop on I-85 in Buford.

The officer initially pulled the van over because it had a paper drive out tag covered in a plastic bag with heavily tinted windows.

Despite a language barrier, the officer was able to determine that including the driver, Cesar Guzman Garciahere, 19, there were 18 occupants inside the van–17 men and one woman.

Inside the van authorities found food wrappers, clothing, and numerous plastic containers filled with human waste. Cpl. Darren Moloney says that leads police to think they were trying to stop as little as possible.

All of the occupants were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Agents say all 18 were illegal aliens from Mexico. Their exact destination and how they entered the country is unknown.

Not sure why it matters: please issue them a Z Visa, a drivers license, and food stamps immediately. Once you get here, we need you. Oh, and by the way, please dispose of the containers of human waste you’ve been sitting with once you get here.

Guidelines issued by U.S. attorneys in Texas showed that most illegal immigrants crossing into the state had to be arrested at least six times before federal authorities would prosecute them, according to an internal Justice Department memo.

The disclosure provides a rare view of how federal authorities attempt to curb illegal immigration. The memo was released this week in response to a congressional investigation of the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys.

The Border Patrol makes more than 1 million arrests a year on the U.S.-Mexico border. T.J. Bonner, head of a union representing Border Patrol agents, said it’s unrealistic to prosecute all violators.

Why do you think there are so many people crossing the border? Could it be that it’s because we keep looking the other way when it comes to violating the immigration law? And then because so many people flaunt our neglect, we then say the problem is too big to solve?

The fact that one million people are actually caught at the border to be a good sign. And if we started by being serious and sending them back - others will undoubtably get the message!

According to WDUN:

Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton announced Tuesday that he has applied to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to begin enforcement of immigration statutes.

That means Forsyth County deputies will soon be trained to perform immigration-related duties of suspected illegal aliens who are arrested and brought into the Forsyth County jail.

“The time has come where the Sheriff’s Office has got to be more proactive in addressing the issue of crimes being committed in our county by illegal aliens,” Sheriff Paxton said. “The Immigration and Nationality Act give us the authority to do just that,” he added.

Paxton added, “While immigration enforcement is primarily a federal issue, when illegal aliens commit crimes in our county then the issue becomes local and calls for swift, local response on our part. That is what is provided for in Section 287(g).”

Selected deputies will be trained by ICE and given the resources to determine if someone brought into the Forsyth County jail is in the country illegally. If the person is in the country illegally, the deputies will initiate the paperwork to start the deportation process. All of this is done under the supervision of an ICE agent. However, arrestees must serve their sentences before deportation occurs.

The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office joins a handful of other agencies across Georgia, and the nation, who are using the Immigration Act on a local basis.

They (the government) unplug black people and plug in Arabs or Muslims. They unplug Arabs and plug in communists. America needs war to maintain its economic status,” [cleric Nadim Ali] said.

Interestingly, the article also says that it not really about integrating with the existing religious community:

Black Americans typically attend mosques separate from Muslims from immigrant backgrounds despite sharing common beliefs, according to Aminah McCloud, religious studies professor at DePaul University in Chicago.

That makes me wonder whether or not this is about the attractiveness of the religion in any way, or simply a banner under which to recruit followers of the particular “clerics”. Of course, there’s no way to really leap to any conclusion, I’m sure that you could study the racial profiles of many Christian churches and make similar statements, much of which goes to reflect the racial makeup of the communities in which they are established.

But the report ended with the money quote:

For young African Americans, there is some attraction to learning about traditions that have been associated with resistance to European imperialism,” said [new convert Mark] King, who has adopted the name Bilal Mansa since his conversion.

Connecting religion with race is a very curious, and disturbing thinking. As Independent Conservative puts it bluntly:

Well unlike how things are done in Christianity, Muslims have no problem playing on race and it appears Blacks who enjoy having their ears and egos tickled and playing on Black versus White or African versus European are eating up the foul meat from the cult of Muhammad.

But please, go read the whole thing.

According to WXIA:

Police in Carrollton said that they’ve broken a forgery ring that has been supplying hundreds of fake IDs to illegal immigrants in the Carroll County area. Residents tipped them to the problem and after months of investigation by Carrollton police and federal immigration operatives they’ve taken three people into custody.

Investigators said 42-year-old Christine Garcia admitted to making the fake IDs, hundreds of them over at least the last year.

Police said they believe her sister-in-law Elisa Garcia and Elisa’s husband Hugo Castillo were the other two involved and that those two mainly drummed up the clients needing false documents.

Captain Daryl Diamond of the Carrollton Police said an undercover buy confirmed what was going on.

“They were able to make a purchase and their purchase was for two separate IDs and for both together it was $130,” Diamond said.

Diamond said Garcia made the IDs in her home in Roopville, Ga., on the southern edge of Carroll County. Police found a computer with evidence of hundreds of IDs on it as well as printers and clippings from the ID operation.

“There’s no telling how many people she made IDs for that are out of this area, throughout the U.S. They could be using these IDs for any kind of illegal acts,” said Diamond.

Investigators said the clientele was made up of illegal immigrants, and that Garcia made all sorts of IDs — state ID cards, social security cards with made-up numbers, resident alien cards. They believe the impact of the operation reaches across the country.

Christine Garcia is charged with six counts of forgery. Elisa Garcia and Hugo Castillo remain in federal custody and are expected to be deported back to Mexico.

Yet another “work-at-home” scheme… and certainly just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine what would happen if the feds and state government actually verified the information supplied on employment records!

WXIA is reporting that Cobb County is now preparing to activate those checks:

Cobb County is about to make history by taking a bite out of crime committed by illegal immigrants. This week, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office became the first law enforcement agency in Georgia to gain unprecedented access to federal resources.

The agreement is called 287(g). It is long and complicated, but it comes down to this: for the first time, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office will have access to a specialized database run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The sheriff said that will help close a gap that lets criminals slip away.

Previously, according to Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren, a system that doesn’t quite work kept his hands tied.

“Some individuals made bond or got out before we could find out if they were legal,” Warren said.

The current system in Georgia is that an inmate suspected of being in the country illegally is run through a specialized immigration database. The information is then routed back to law enforcement. By the time the information gets back, though, the inmate may have already walked.

The new agreement now gives the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office access to that very database, making them one of just seven local law enforcement agencies in the nation with permission to get the information directly.

The sheriff’s office plans on training about a half-dozen deputies how to use the new database in an intense five-week program including interview techniques, civil liberties education, and cultural awareness training. Sheriff Warren hopes to have the training underway by March.

I will be curious to see, however, what actions ultimately result once they have access to the information in the federal database. What they found in Roswell, GA was that even though the police chief made every effort to report illegal immigrants or suspected illegal immigrants to ICE, they were rarely actually deported.

Overwhelmed immigration agents say they only have time to deport the worst of the worst - terrorists, murderers and violent gang members. “It’s a simple question of priorities,” said ICE’s [Kenneth] Smith. “If we’re using resources to respond to somebody charged with a misdemeanor in Roswell, who are we missing?”

Let’s see if they have a better success rate when the program is implemented in Cobb County. We’ll be watching!

Unlike Florida State, the Chief never rode around on horseback shooting flaming arrows. But in the end, since the Illiniwek indians are no more, there were no casino tribes who could speak on their behalf.

So we’re left with college sports vastly improved, now featuring only sensitive mascots like crazy leprechauns, cartoon birds, giant railroad workers, and mean rodents named ‘Bucky’ (can’t rhyme with that one, can ‘ya?).

Congratulations NCAA. And best of luck to the Trustees of the University of Illinois. Let’s see if the anti-Chief alumni contribute significant amounts of money to make up the difference!

Certainly that makes some unhappy:

[Executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, Jerry] Gonzales said [GA State Senator Chip] Rogers’ bill, along with a pair of other driver’s licenses measures moving through the Legislature this session, will effectively make illegal immigrants less willing to cooperate with law enforcement out of fear they could be punished.

I’d just hate if they would be afraid of being punished for breaking the law once before…

Via WDUN:

A two-week investigation by Hall County authorities leads to the seizure of two pounds of Methamphetamine and the arrest of three alleged illegal immigrants.

Fransisco Javier Perez-Campuzano 20, of Atlanta, Javier Palacios-Ortega, 37, of Roswell, and Miguel Hernandez, 24, of Gainesville were arrested during a drug bust in the 12-hundred block of Dawsonville Highway on January 30th.

Agents arrested the three during the delivery of the Methamphetamine.

Perez-Campuzano was in one vehicle while Hernandez and Palacias-Ortega were in another. As agents moved in Perez-Campuzano fled the scene nearly striking one of the agents with his vehicle. He led agents and marked patrol cars on a four mile chase until he wrecked on Dawsonville Highway.

Lt. Scott Ware with the Multi Agency Narcotics Squad says agents found the drugs February 9th in a hidden compartment of a car one of the men was driving, “The drugs had an estimated street value of $89 thousand six hundred.”

The three face charges for trafficking Meth and are being held in the Hall County Detention Center.

Perez-Campuzano also faces charges for Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer.

Previously:

• February 2007: 1000 pounds of marijuana seized in Athens, GA
• November 2006: $9 million in cocaine and crystal meth seized in Lilburn and Lawrenceville, GA
• November 2006: $29,600 in cocaine seized in Gainesville, GA
• November 2006: $497,000 in cocaine seized in Gainesville, GA
• October 2006: $27 million in cocaine and crystal methamphetamine seized in Clayton County, GA
• September 2006: $10 million in cocaine seized in Gainesville, GA
• August 2006: $50 million in crystal meth seized in Gainesville, GA
• August 2006: $25 million in crystal meth seized in Buford, GA