While Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Phoenix gets all the media attention for his crackdown on illegal immigrants, eight deputies in an unremarkable office at the Harris County Jail are posting similar numbers for deportation -- and doing so without controversy.

Working two per shift, the deputies refer roughly 1,000 suspected illegal immigrants to federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities every month, helping to make the Southern District of Texas by far the busiest in the nation for illegal-immigration prosecutions.

Accusing the federal government of hampering local attempts to combat illegal immigration, state Sen. Russell Pearce, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and some of Arizona's most hawkish public figures on border security pledged on Wednesday to redouble their efforts with new legislation and a citizens initiative.

The man who likes to call himself "America's toughest sheriff," Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., is planning a Friday showdown with the feds.

The sheriff has announced he will defy the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by doing a street sweep for illegal immigrants one day after the expiration of the agreement that has permitted him to conduct such operations for the past three years. The sheriff has said he expects the deal not to be extended, though federal officials have remained publicly noncommittal.

Law enforcement agencies in two Northern Virginia suburbs are reviewing sweeping changes to a federal illegal immigration program before deciding whether to remain involved.

Officials with the Prince William County Police Department and the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said they were reviewing planned changes in their immigration enforcement partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security, known as the 287(g) program.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said Thursday he supports changes to federal immigration polices on local police raids.

The changes could impact Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s enforcement efforts, including raids on drop houses and businesses, conducted under a federal pact signed in April 2007.

Arpaio said, however, he will continue to conduct raids and crime sweeps under state immigration laws aimed at businesses that hire undocumented workers and the smuggling of illegal immigrants into the U.S.

Some undocumented immigrants swept up on minor charges such as fishing without a license won’t face federal detention. Instead, they’ll be released on their own recognizance under an Obama administration directive to a Nashville, Tenn., sheriff who charged 6,000 people with immigration crimes over the past 2-1/2 years.

The “release on recognizance” order by Immigration and Customs Enforcement – a branch of the US Department of Homeland Security – could affect at least some of the 66 US law enforcement jurisdictions that are part of a controversial program which, in essence, deputizes local police to act as de facto immigration agents.

A new immigration enforcement program from the federal government effectively could eliminate Prince William County’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, experts say.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to make the program, known as Secure Communities, available to all 1,200 of the country’s state and federal prisons and 3,100 local jails by the end of 2012.

"Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego will become the first counties in California to begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into jail as part of a national effort to identify and deport more illegal immigrants with criminal records.

Law enforcement officials in the three counties will begin running inmates' fingerprints through federal databases this month to see if they have had any contact with the immigration system. Immigration officials will place holds on those believed to be in the country illegally. Once the inmates have finished serving their sentences, they will be transferred to immigration custody for possible deportation...."

"Missouri lawmakers on Wednesday voted to direct the Department of Revenue to not comply with federal driver’s license requirements.

The federal Real ID Act, passed in 2005, requires states to collect and verify certain information about applicants for driver’s licenses and state ID cards. It was passed in response to national security concerns after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

But some Missouri lawmakers argue Real ID is an unwelcome intrusion into privacy and requires several new technologies that could increase the risk of identity theft...."

National attention and heavy political criticism aren't burdens that quiet, rural Frederick County often has to bear.

Yet the county is becoming notorious as Maryland's most aggressive combatant in the widespread struggle over immigration enforcement.

Sixty-one percent of Arizona voters approve of the job that Sheriff Joe Arpaio is doing in Maricopa County. Sixty percent disagreed with the federal governments decision to restrict Arpaio's immigration enforcement efforts.