The right-wing hate circuit is reaping a windfall from the "Swine Flu" (Influenza A/H1N1) scare. Live links for each of these outbursts are provided by Associated Content, May 1:

Take for instance talk radio hosts Michael Savage and Jay Severin. Savage told his audience that people should have "no contact anywhere with an illegal alien."

Our April issue featured stories on the militarization of the Mexican border, the need for a general amnesty for undocumented immigrants, and the opportunity represented by the financial crisis to reboot America for the post-petroleum age. Our multiple-choice April Exit Poll was: "Which of the following is President Obama most likely to do?" We received 24 votes (which we hope does not indicate that we have only 24 readers). The results follow:

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano April 15 appointed former federal prosecutor Alan Bersin as assistant secretary for international affairs and special representative for border affairs. Bersin's duties will include improving relationships with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and international, state, and local communities, as well as leading efforts to lessen violence along the US-Mexican border to "help Mexico target illegal guns, drugs and cash."

The number of immigrants detained by the US has drastically increased over the last decade, according to an AP report issued March 15. A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database, obtain by the AP through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), indicates that on Jan. 25, 32,000 individuals were detained in the US. This is nearly five times the 6,785 that were detained in 1994.

The US Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation of the sheriff's office in Arizona's Maricopa County following months of complaints that deputies are discriminating in their enforcement of federal immigration laws. Officials from the Department's Civil Rights Division notified Sheriff Joe Arpaio March 10 that the investigation will focus on whether deputies are engaging in "discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures." Arpaio replied to the Arizona Republic: "We have nothing to hide." he said.

A federal judge at the US District Court for the District of New Jersey March 5 upheld the guilty verdicts reached by a jury against five men convicted of plotting to kill US soldiers at Fort Dix. The five men, Serdar Tatar, Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, and Shain Duka, were acquitted of attempted murder, but convicted in December 2008 of conspiracy to commit murder and weapons offenses. Lawyers for the five men appeared before the court to argue that the claims against their clients were not supported by the evidence presented, and asked the court to overturn the verdicts. The court denied the request, and upheld the jury verdicts. The defense had argued that there was no plot, but the government paid informants to get the accused to discuss one.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in downtown Phoenix Feb. 28 to protest Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and policies that critics charge violate basic human and civil rights. Organizers estimated the number of marchers at more than 5,000. Soon after the march began, Phoenix police blocked traffic to Central Ave. and allowed demonstrators to fill the street, because of their overwhelming numbers—despite the fact that the march had lacked a permit).

A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco Feb. 27 denied an appeal by the Department of Justice seeking to stop a lawsuit brought by an Islamic charity alleging it was the subject of an illegal wiretap by the National Security Agency (NSA). The denial upholds last month's ruling by US District Judge Vaughn Walker allowing the case brought by the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation to go forward.