Fugitive environmental activist Tre Arrow was extradited from Canada Feb. 29 to stand trial in Oregon on conspiracy and arson charges after nearly four years in a Canadian prison. The 14-count indictment charges him with taking part in the destruction of several concrete-mixing trucks at Ross Island Sand and Gravel Co. in Portland in April 2001 and sabotaging logging trucks at Schoppert Logging Co. in Eagle Creek near Mount Hood in June 2001.

The high-tech Project 28 "virtual fence" on a 28-mile stretch of the US-Mexico border near Nogales, AZ, is ready for operation, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced Feb. 22. The $20 million project of sensor towers and advanced mobile communications, built by Boeing Co, was supposed to be completed in mid-2007 but was delayed by software problems, drawing congressional criticism. Homeland Security plans to extend the "virtual fence" elsewhere along the border in Arizona, as well as to sections of Texas.

Former IRA fugitive Pól Brennan will remain in the Homeland Security Department's Port Isabel Processing Center near Los Fresnos, TX, until at least March 11, after he was forced to ask a US immigration judge to postpone a hastily scheduled hearing so that his San Francisco-based lawyer could fly down to represent him. Brennan said he was only notified about the hearing scheduled for 9 AM Feb. 6 the previous night. Upon requesting the postponement, he was told he would have to wait over a month for another opportunity to request release on bail. (Irish Echo, Feb. 13)

An estimated 3,500 people attended a rally on Feb. 6 in Danbury, Connecticut, to protest a partnership between Danbury police and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While the demonstrators voiced their opposition outside City Hall, inside the Common Council voted 19-2 to invite ICE to train and deputize Danbury police as immigration agents. Mayor Mark Boughton, who backs the plan, said it will start with the training of two detectives to carry out investigations of immigrants suspected of human trafficking, drug smuggling or document fraud. (News-Times, Danbury, Feb. 7; Hartford Courant, Feb. 7)

At a press conference on Jan. 28 at the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood, activist Flor Crisóstomo announced she would not comply with her deportation set for that date, and would instead go into sanctuary at the church. "I'm not going. I've asked my pastor and my church for sanctuary and they have granted it." US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement that Crisóstomo had been granted "voluntary departure" by an immigration judge, requiring her to leave the US no later than Jan. 28. Crisóstomo said she is not "defying the laws of this country and I'm not hiding. I am taking the position of civil disobedience to press this government to act, to fix the broken laws and end this inhumane system of cheap undocumented labor and exploitation." Church pastor Walter Coleman noted that "the forces that bring people here are still there. The Free Trade Treaty has destroyed agriculture in Mexico and other countries and until it is renegotiated people will keep coming." (Diario Hoy, Jan. 29)

On the afternoon of Feb. 7, more than 100 ICE agents raided the headquarters of Micro Solutions Enterprises (MSE), a manufacturer of computer toner and inkjet cartridges in Van Nuys, California. ICE executed a federal search warrant at the site and arrested 130 MSE employees on administrative immigration violations. ICE also arrested eight current and former MSE employees on federal criminal charges for providing fraudulent information to gain employment. The search warrant remains under seal because the investigation is ongoing. (ICE news release, Feb. 8; AP, Feb. 7)

On Jan. 14, US Attorney Johnny Sutton filed a lawsuit on behalf of the US Department of Justice against the city of Eagle Pass, Texas, to seek access to land for a planned border fence. It was the first of 102 lawsuits expected to be filed in an escalating battle with local landowners and municipalities as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeks to build 370 miles of new border fencing by the end of the year.

The Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a reported assault on two officers at the disputed Culbertson Land Tract quarry near Deseronto, which is under occupation by Mohawk protesters. Sgt. Kristine Rae, spokesperson for Eastern Region OPP headquarters, said the assault occurred during a visit to the occupied site by members of the OPP's Major Event Liaison Team.