On April 20, ICE agents arrested 13 Mexican immigrant workers employed at the Eagle Bag Corporation factory in East Oakland, California. Twelve of the workers were arrested at the factory; one was picked up at a residence. The workers were taken to the ICE office in San Francisco to be interviewed, photographed and fingerprinted; they are being held on administrative immigration violations while ICE continues its investigation to determine whether any will face federal prosecution for aggravated identity theft. (ICE news release, April 20; Insidebayarea.com, April 24)

On April 4, ICE agents searched apartments and stopped people on the street in the mid-Hudson community of Valatie, New York, arresting eight out-of-status immigrants. In nearby Chatham, ICE arrested two men on the street. ICE spokesperson Mike Gilhooly verified that there were 42 arrests in the Capital District of New York over the week of April 2 as part of "Operation Return to Sender," a nationwide program targeting immigrants who have failed to comply with deportation orders. However, only 18 of the 42 people arrested had already been ordered removed by an immigration judge; the other 24 were just picked up on suspicion of being out of status. Six of those arrested reportedly had criminal records. ICE received support from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, and state police were also on the scene.

An April 19 pre-dawn raid by the New York State Police and DEA agents on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton led to what law enforcement officials called the "dismantling" of "a major narcotics distribution network" on Long Island. Those arrested include eight residents of the Shinnecock Nation, as well as Awan Gumbs, son of tribal trustee Lance A. Gumbs, state police said. Vehicles, handguns, shotguns and rifles were seized, as well as marijuana, heroin, crack, drug paraphernalia, a computer and almost $2,000 in currency. The raid was the result of an investigation police said was opened at "a request from the Trustees of the Shinnecock Indian Reservation" in a letter to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.

You don't have to support either Michael Bloomberg or gun control to understand why this is sinister. We hope. From AP via amNY, April 18, links added:

NEW YORK -- A magazine cover by the National Rifle Association protesting Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaign against guns is raising questions for its depiction of him as an octopus, which has a history of use as an anti-Semitic symbol.

The massacre of at least 32 students at Virginia Tech university April 16—apparently by a South Korea-born English major, Cho Seung-Hui—is the worst such incident in US history. Many commentators point out, of course, that it came a few days short of the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine massacre. Few are pointing out that Columbine's "Trench-Coat Mafia" chose April 20 as their day to act because it was Hitler's birthday. Even fewer have noted why the days around April 20 have taken on an eerie significance in America in the past generation...

Lawmen are warning that growing violence along the Mexican border poses a threat to national security. Chief Lynne Underdown, retiring Border Patrol chief for the Rio Grande Valley sector, told reporters at a press conference in Edinburg, TX, April 6, that attacks on border agents are fast escalating. She especially cited a December 2005 incident in which assailants on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande shot at agents on boat patrol, where they were at "maximum exposure." Ironically, she admitted the increased violence is a result of more agents with more equipment and firepower—making more drug seizures and raising the stakes for smugglers.

How a Yippie conspiracist changed America, mainstreamed marijuana and was destroyed by his dream...

Two Border Patrol agents examining a load of marijuana exchanged gunfire March 20 with unseen assailants from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, near Donna, TX. Border Patrol spokesman Oscar Saldana said the agents were not hurt, and no one was believed injured on the Mexican side. Four loads of marijuana totaling 305 pounds were found on the river bank. Saldana said the agents came under fire as they approached the bank after spotting an inflatable raft near the US side. The raft, with more marijuana on board, was pulled back to the Mexican side during the exchange of fire. It was the second time this year that Border Patrol agents were fired on along the narrow stretch of the river about 13 miles northeast of McAllen. (AP, March 21)