| Federal Courts in Texas Dismissing Hundreds of Deportation Cases  The Houston Chronicle this week reported that federal courts in Texas were dismissing hundreds of deportation cases. Dismissals of such cases were up 700 percent between July and August of this year, according to The Chronicle, and were the result of unsolicited motions by federal prosecutors, not the defendants.
Read the full article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Illegal Aliens Campaign in Washington Senate Race  OneAmerica Votes, an organization that aims to increase immigrant voter turnout, is actively recruiting illegal aliens to campaign for Democratic incumbent Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). The organization’s director, Pramila Jayapal, says the campaign is about empowering those who may not feel like they can contribute to a campaign because they can't vote. "Immigrants really do matter," Jayapal said. (Id.) One of the illegal aliens knocking on doors, Maria Gianni, is open about her illegal status. “There’s always a risk,” she said. “But if there’s a change, I would feel like I contributed, even in a small part . . . .”
Read the full article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Governor Paterson to Pardon Criminal Aliens in order to Stop Deportations  At the direction of Governor Paterson, the State of New York is currently reviewing hundreds of pardon applications from criminal aliens who want to avoid deportations based on their criminal acts. Governor Paterson announced in May of this year that he intended to pardon certain criminal aliens in order to prevent the U.S. government from deporting them. To that end, he ordered the creation of a Special Immigration Pardoning Board to review applications.
Read the full article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Record 134 Tons of Marijuana Seized in Tijuana  Police in the Mexican border city of Tijuana seized 134 tons of marijuana last Sunday in what was a record marijuana bust in Mexico. The seizure occurred after local police came across a convoy and were fired upon. (Id.) A shootout between the convoy members and police ensued, leading to the arrest of 11 convoy members. The arrestees then led authorities to an industrial neighborhood where over 15,000 giant bricks of marijuana, wrapped in plastic and aluminum foil, were recovered in three tractor-trailers and a small truck. Officials believe that the marijuana belonged to the Sinaloa cartel, and had an estimated street value in Mexico of $340 million.
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