News

"Forced to slash their budgets, some California counties are eliminating nonemergency health services for illegal immigrants -- a move that officials acknowledge could backfire by shifting the financial burden to emergency rooms.

Sacramento County voted in February to bar illegal immigrants from county clinics at an estimated savings of $2.4 million. Contra Costa County followed last month by cutting off undocumented adults, to save approximately $6 million. And Yolo County is voting on a similar change next month, which would reduce costs by $1.2 million."

"U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday displayed great receptivity to the proposals of his Central American counterparts on the question of immigration reform, several of the leaders said after their meeting....

“There was commitment to support comprehensive immigration reform. Details were not discussed, but supporting the process was. The atmosphere was very good, cordial, sincere,” Colom said.

"Arizona officials pleaded this morning with members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to beef up security along the Mexico border to curb drug cartel violence that some fear has already seeped into U.S. cities.

Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Terry Goddard offered testimony and faced questions as part of the first panel of the day, while Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris joined other local law enforcement leaders in explaining the impact of the violence on Arizona communities."

"A Los Angeles federal court judge has issued a preliminary ruling ordering the Department of Homeland Security to reopen the immigration cases of nearly two dozen people who were denied green cards because their U.S. citizen spouses died during the process.

U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder wrote in the 35-page decision that the department must follow a 9th Circuit Court decision from 2006 saying that applicants don't lose their status as spouses because the government didn't rule on their cases before the citizen's death."