ICE News Briefing for Monday, April 07, 2014

ICE NEWS BRIEFING

DATE: MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2014 8:00 AM EDT

TODAY'S TABLE OF CONTENTS

LEADING THE NEWS:
+ Drug Tunnels Found Near San Diego.

OPERATIONAL NEWS:
+ ICE Rounds Up Foreign Convicts, Deportees In Texas.
+ Over A Dozen Detained From Panga Boat In California.
+ After Rape Acquittal, Romanian Faces Deportation From New York.
+ ICE Arrests Two Men In Ohio.
+ Fugitive Caught In Florida.
+ Florida Couple Sentenced For Selling Rifles To Smugglers.
+ Authorities Continue Search For Missing Teen, Suspect.
+ Major Counterfeit Airbag Bust In Phoenix Area.
+ Man Sentenced In Bank Fraud, Extortion Case.
+ Task Force Coordinates Arrest Of 13 On Drug, Money Laundering Charges In Utah.
+ Illinois Man Sentenced For Money Laundering.
+ Men Arrested In Arizona For Possessing Marijuana.
+ Connecticut Man Sentenced For Distributing Heroin.
+ Coverage Continues Of Puerto Rico Cocaine Seizure.
+ Two Men Appeared In Court For Distributing Cocaine In Washington State.
+ Iowa Man Sentenced For Distributing Methamphetamine.
+ Eight Arrested In Ulster County On Drug Charges.
+ Louisiana Couple Pleads Guilty To Racketeering.
+ Florida Woman Arrested For Underage Prostitution Ring At Her Home.
+ Man Arrested In Mexico On Child Pornography Charges.
+ Investigation Into Philippine Child Sex Abuse Ring Recounted.
+ Texas Man Pleads Guilty To Straw Purchase.
+ Ohio Boy Scout Leader Charged With Child Pornography Possession, Distribution.

POLICY AND ISSUES NEWS:
+ Immigration Activists Hold #Not1More Demonstrations.
+ Trust Act Results In Far Fewer ICE Referrals.
+ ICE Among 14 Agencies Using New Chesapeake Bay Camera And Radar System.
+ Adult Club Owners Lead Anti-Sex Trafficking Effort.
+ Hunger Strikers Released From Solitary Confinement.
+ Heroin Surge In US Traces Back To Mexico.
+ ICE Among 14 Agencies Using New Chesapeake Bay Camera And Radar System.
+ House Armed Services Chairman Rejects Immigration Amendment To Defense Bill.
+ Immigration Reform Service Shows Faith’s Growing Role In Debate.
+ Super PAC Ad Targets Vulnerable Colorado Representative.
+ Bush: Many Illegal Immigrants Come “Out Of Love.”
+ Tech Firms Pressure GOP On Immigration Reform.
+ ACLU Files Claim Against Tucson Police.
+ Illegal Immigrant Remains Hopeful For Legal Status Despite Conviction.
+ Deferred Action Program Helping Immigrants Move Up In Society.
+ Coverage Continues of iGuardian.
+ Former Immigration Judge Supports Detention Of Suspected Immigrant Felons.
+ Immigration Enforcement In Minnesota County Discussed.
+ ICE Deportation Programs Face Criticism.
+ Illegal Immigrant Allowed To Stay Year Longer, Graduate High School.
+ HSI Says Public Education Crucial In Human Trafficking Fight.
+ ICE Agent Found Guilty Of Violating Rights, Two Other Agents Cleared.
+ Virus Directs Victims To Fake Government Websites.
+ Tennessee Supreme Court Ruling Could Be Blow To Immigrants.
+ Federal Judge Urges Review Of Kentucky Immigrant’s Residency Application.
+ Immigration Law Allows Abused Minor Immigrants To Stay With US Relatives.

IN BRIEF:
+ California School District Causes Teacher To Lose Work Visa.
+ Two Illegal Aliens Arrested With 41 Pounds Of Marijuana In Arizona.
+ Border Patrol Seizes Crystal Meth In Texas.
+ New York Woman Surrenders For Possession And Sale Of Controlled Substance.

TOP DHS NEWS:
+ DHS Secretary, FEMA Administrator Visit Washington Mudslide Site.
+ President, First Lady To Attend Memorial Service At Ft. Hood Wednesday.
+ Flight 370 Searchers Focus On Signals That Could Be Coming Form The Plane’s Black Box.
+ Buffalo’s Peace Bridge To Receive Additional CBP Agents.
+ Flight Attendants Support Bill To Prevent TSA From Reversing Knife Ban.
+ NYTimes: Behavior-Detection Program Funding A Waste Of Resources.
+ Fugate Visits Alaska, Meets With Local Communities.
+ Coast Guard Part Of Effort To Rescue Family At Sea.
+ Immigration Enforcement Debate To “Play Out” In 2015 Spending Bill.
+ Hersh: CIA Was Shipping Weapons From Benghazi To Jihadists In Syria.
+ NORAD Jets Intercept Plane Over DC.
+ NYTimes Opposes New WTC Construction Deal For Silverstein.
+ Federal Judge Balks At Permitting TV Testimony At NYC Terror Trial.
+ Witness’ Illness Prevents Him From Testifying At Florida Terrorism Trial.
+ Colorado Terror Defendant Challenges Constitutionality Of NSA Warrantless Wiretaps.
+ Cybersecurity Improvements Continue At All Levels Of Government.
+ In Effort To Assuage Chinese Concerns, Pentagon Briefs Chinese Officials On Cyberattacks.

NETWORK TV NEWS COVERAGE:
+ NBC: Malaysian Flight Search.
+ NBC: Malaysian Flight-Families.
+ NBC: Malaysian Flight Pings.
+ NBC: Santa Barbara-Riot.
+ NBC: Detroit-Motorist Attack.
+ NBC: Fort Hood Shooting.
+ NBC: Climate Change Documentary.
+ NBC: NCAA-Final Two.
+ CBS: Malaysian Flight Search.
+ CBS: Air Travel-Security.
+ CBS: University Of California Riot.
+ CBS: Royal Family-Travel.
+ CBS: Severe Weather.
+ CBS: General Motors Repairs.
+ CBS: Government-Texting While Driving Ads.
+ CBS: Job Market Recovery.
+ CBS: NASA-Flare Video.
+ CBS: Children Of War Foundation-Afghan Child.
+ ABC: Malaysian Flight Search.
+ ABC: Malaysian Flight-Sounds.
+ ABC: Fort Hood Shooting.
+ ABC: Severe Weather.

Leading the News:

DRUG TUNNELS FOUND NEAR SAN DIEGO. Multiple national media publications reported the discovery of two tunnels under the US-Mexico border between Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, California last week. Publications noted that the tunnels were the sixth and seventh major tunnels found in the area over the course of the last four years, and also reported the sophisticated construction of the tunnels, highlighting the ventilation and electric rail system found in the second tunnel.

The NBC News (4/7, Blankstein, 7.5M) website reports that the first tunnel, found Tuesday, was “70 feet underground and stretched 600 yards from Mexico to” an address in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of San Diego. Investigators with the San Diego Tunnel Task Force arrested a Chula Vista, California woman for “allegedly overseeing the logistics of the” tunnel. The Wednesday discovery of the second tunnel, “longer and more sophisticated,” was credited to Mexican authorities working with HSI agents. Derek Banner, special agent in charge of HSI San Diego, is quoted as saying, “while technology certainly plays a part in our ongoing efforts, ultimately these investigations often owe more to the powers of observation and old fashioned detective work – and that was exactly what happened here.” No contraband was seized from either tunnel.

ABC News (4/7, Date, 3.58M) reports on its website that both tunnels were “connected to warehouses on both sides of the border.” The warehouse on the US side was filed with merchandise in order to “mask the smuggling enterprise with the appearance of legitimate business operations.” According to this article, the first tunnel was uncovered “after months of investigation and surveillance by” HSI agents. A statement by US Attorney Laura Duffy is quoted as saying, “here we are again, foiling cartel plans to sneak millions of dollars of illegal drugs through secret passageways that cost millions of dollars to build...Going underground is not a good business plan.”

FOX News (4/5, 74.23M) identifies the woman arrested for allegedly overseeing the construction of the first tunnel as Glennys “Gladys” Rodriguez.

The CBS Evening News (4/4, story 8, 0:25, Pelley) identified Rodriguez as the manager of the warehouses in which the tunnels were found.

The Los Angeles Times (4/6, Serna, 3.46M) reports that ICE agents described the tunnels discovered as “sophisticated and elaborate.” Drug Enforcement Administration’s San Diego special agent in charge William Sherman said that the discovery of the tunnels “eliminated a multi-million dollar drug smuggling venture and have reduced it to nothing more than a colossal waste of money on the part of the drug cartels,” although the quantity of the drugs channeled through the tunnels is unknown.

On its website, KFMB-TV San Diego (4/7, Kang, Johnson, 15K) cites ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack as saying that Rodriguez’ “exact connection” to the warehouse where the first tunnel was found was “unclear.”

Another FOX News (4/4, La Jeunesse, 74.23M) article reports that rental records for the warehouse where the first tunnel was found show that the warehouse was rented by an Ignacio Ituarte, but a complaint by the US Attorney’s Office filed Thursday claims that “the money was provided by his girlfriend, Rodriguez.” The article quotes Benner as saying “the discovery of these tunnels reaffirms yet again the vigilance and tenacity of our multi-agency task force.”

The International Business Times (4/7, Lynch, 697K) reports that friends of Rodriguez “were in disbelief” regarding her possible connection to the tunnels. Rodriguez reportedly runs a company named G&R Services that provides immigration and tax services.

The U-T San Diego (4/4, 648K) cites Benner as saying that smugglers no longer stockpile large amounts of drugs, preferring to smuggle smaller amounts at a time and then wait “several days” to transport it, in order to avoid detection. Benner is quoted as saying, “they’re being much more cautious in the way they operate.”

The Latin Post (4/6) quotes Sherman as saying that “our goal is to not only shut these tunnels down before they become operational, but to ensure that the cartels backing these elaborate smuggling operations are investigated and prosecuted.”

Also reporting this story were the AP (4/7), Reuters (4/7, Whitcomb), USA Today (4/7, Winter, 5.82M), FOX News Latino (4/4, 140K), the Daily Caller (4/7, May, 408K), the Scoop San Diego (4/7), the KTLA-TV Los Angeles (4/4, 81K) website, the KOLD-TV Tucson, AZ (4/7, 19K) website, and the KSWB-TV San Diego (4/4, 25K) website.

“Incomplete” Drug Tunnel Found In Nogales, Arizona. The Arizona Republic (4/4, 1.45M) reports that an “incomplete” drug tunnel was found in Nogales, Arizona, according to an ICE statement which said that “Mexican authorities were alerted that the tunnel was being constructed” in a residence south of the border fence near the Mariposa Port of Entry. The tunnel did not have an exit on the US side, and no arrests have been made so far.

The KNXV-TV Phoenix (4/7, 155K) website cites Amber Cargile of ICE Public Affairs as saying that the Nogales Tunnel Task Force informed Mexican authorities about the possible tunnel after receiving information.

Also reporting this story were the Arizona Daily Star (4/7, Duarte, 389K) “Police Beat” blog, Homeland Security Today (4/7), and Yuma (AZ) News Now (4/7). The following stations broadcast this story: KTLA (4/6), KESQ-TV Palm Springs, CA (4/5, 8:09 p.m. PDT, 5K), KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo, CA (4/4, 6:37 p.m. PDT, 26K), KOLD-TV Tucson, AZ (4/4, 6:07 p.m. MST, 26K), KYMA-TV Yuma, AZ (4/4, 6:03 p.m. MST, 11K), KAVU-TV Victoria, TX (4/4, 5:10 p.m. CDT, 5K), WPMT-TV Harrisburg, PA (4/4, 5:38 p.m. EDT, 10K), WSVN-TV Miami-Dade, FL (4/4, 4:37 p.m. EDT, 29K), WINK-TV Fort Myers, FL (4/4, 4:34 p.m. EDT, 17K), and KDFX-TV Palm Springs, CA (4/6, 5:12 a.m. PDT).

Operational News:

ICE ROUNDS UP FOREIGN CONVICTS, DEPORTEES IN TEXAS. The San Antonio Express-News (4/4, Buch, 718K) reported that ICE arrested 25 people in San Antonio, Texas during a three-day roundup of past deportees, individuals with deportation orders, and foreign convicts. Additional arrests occurred in Austin and Waco, 18 and 7 respectively. In all, 30 had past convictions, while nine had been previously deported, and four had outstanding deportation orders.

KSAT-TV San Antonio (4/4, Ibanez, 91K) reported on its website that Enrique M. Lucero, field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in San Antonio, said, “The results of this operation underscore ICE’s ongoing focus to arrest convicted criminal aliens who prey upon our communities and who chose to ignore our nation’s immigration laws.” The immigrants were convicted on charges including sex offenses, rape, larceny, drug possession, domestic violence, aggravated assault, and driving under the influence.

WOAI-TV San Antonio (4/5, Forsyth, 11K) reported on its website that the immigrants came from countries including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Canada, and Ukraine.

OVER A DOZEN DETAINED FROM PANGA BOAT IN CALIFORNIA. The Los Angeles Times (4/4, Mather, 3.46M) reported that authorities detained 17 people Friday after a panga boat was spotted off the coast of the Palos Verdes Peninsula in California. According to ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice, four of the people were taken to area hospitals for treatment and the remaining 13 were taken to the San Clemente Border Patrol station for processing. She said that pangas are “very, very dangerous” and ICE hopes the incident “serves as a warning to anyone considering attempting to come to the US in this way.” The Times says that while pangas are commonly used by drug smugglers, no drugs were found onboard this vessel.

The AP (4/4) reported that authorities believe the people, who are being held on suspicion of trying to sneak into the US, are from Mexico.

The Los Angeles Daily Breeze (4/4, Valenzuela, 220K) reported the story as well.

AFTER RAPE ACQUITTAL, ROMANIAN FACES DEPORTATION FROM NEW YORK. USA Today (4/7, Higgins, 5.82M) reports that ICE took custody of Alexandru Hossu on Friday after he was acquitted of child rape charges in Putnam County, New York pending deportation proceedings. Hossu overstayed a work visa. The case has drawn “significant media attention” because Hossu is the former live-in personal trainer of Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy, who is “Judge Judy” Sheindlin’s son. Levy reportedly attempted to influence the defense in the trial and disclosed gran jury information to one of Hossu’s previous attorneys. According to the source, Hossu faces an “uphill battle” to avoid deportation given past allegations of violence and embezzlement.

ICE ARRESTS TWO MEN IN OHIO. The Bowling Green (OH) Sentinel-Tribune (4/4, 31K) reported that ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls confirmed the arrest of two Hispanic Bowling Green, Ohio men. The first is an aggravated felon who re-entered the country illegally after deportation. The second was arrested for administrative immigration violations. The ICE operation was not reported to local police in advance. On Thursday, local officials sought clarification from ICE in this regard, but no further information has been provided. A witness reported the arrest to local police.

FUGITIVE CAUGHT IN FLORIDA. WINK-TV Fort Myers, FL (4/4, 4K) reported on its website that Idelfonso Santana-Grajales was arrested Friday in Fort Myers, Florida by the Fort Myers Police Department, with the assistance of ICE, the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities had been searching for the suspect since the previous night when he fled police who were trying to arrest him. Santana-Grajales will be charged with sexual battery, two local warrants, and additional charges from ICE.

WINK-TV Fort Myers, FL (4/6, 7:04 a.m. EDT, 7K) also broadcast the story.

FLORIDA COUPLE SENTENCED FOR SELLING RIFLES TO SMUGGLERS. The Tampa (FL) Tribune (4/6, Silvestrini, 583K) reports that a Polk County, Florida pastor and his wife, Luis Antonio Cruz-Diaz and Katie Jean Cruz, were sentenced to a year of house arrest and five years probation on Friday by US District Judge Richard Lazzara after they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make false statements to obtain and smuggle firearms in January. When filling out purchase documents, the couple claimed to be the “actual buyer” but he sold them to Carlos Duarte who took them to Atlanta before proceeding on to Mexico. Of the 47 assault-style rifles they purchased, nine were confiscated in Mexico, sometimes after battles with drug cartels. Shane Folden, acting agent in charge of the Tampa office of Homeland Security Investigations said that cases like this are not uncommon in the area, but are a bigger problem in the border states.

AUTHORITIES CONTINUE SEARCH FOR MISSING TEEN, SUSPECT. KOAT-TV Albuquerque, NM (4/6, 55K) reports on its website that Lacey Dewent, a 14 year old girl form Albuquerque, New Mexico, ran away last week with 26 year old Robert Butler, a man who she met online. Kevin Abar, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for HSI, said the agency is “seeing more and more children exploited, both online and in person, by various people” and warned parents that any child could fall victim in the same manner, saying “The people out there trying to exploit our children... [are] very good at what they do.” Abar added that predators often pretend to be young adults to gain the trust of children. HSI, the FBI, and the Albuquerque police are all involved in the search for Dewent and Butler.

KOAT-TV Albuquerque, NM (4/6, 10:30 p.m. MDT, 37K) also broadcast the story.

MAJOR COUNTERFEIT AIRBAG BUST IN PHOENIX AREA. The Arizona Republic (4/6, Naquin, 1.45M) reports a “major bust of counterfeit airbags” in the Phoenix area last week as Dwight Smith of Maricopa was arrested for selling these items to individuals and businesses for $39-89 each. The bust was part of Operation Airbag, a joint investigation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations. Further arrests are expected as the investigation continues.

MAN SENTENCED IN BANK FRAUD, EXTORTION CASE. The Bonney Lake & Sumner (WA) Courier-Herald (4/6, 57K) reports Son Pham was sentenced to six years in prison by a US District Court for his role in a bank fraud scheme and for attempting to collect debts from people with the use of a firearm. Prosecutors had alleged that Pham and others were defrauding banks by using the identities of others to access credit cards and run up “debts that they never intended to repay.” They also said the defendant “loaned money to people in his community and then used threats of violence to try to collect the debts.” The case was investigated by ICE’s HSI.

TASK FORCE COORDINATES ARREST OF 13 ON DRUG, MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES IN UTAH. KSTU-TV Salt Lake City (4/4, Green, 42K) reported on its website that 13 people were arrested Wednesday in Utah on drug and money laundering charges as part of a Federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force that is targeting the La Raza gang and their associates. Investigators seized 10 pounds of methamphetamine and heroin, seven firearms, eight vehicles and about $175,000 in cash. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations assisted in executing arrest and search warrants related to the investigation.

ILLINOIS MAN SENTENCED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING. The Houston Community Newspapers (4/7, 8K) reports that Senior US District Judge Hayden Head sentenced Kin Fu Chow, 47, of Chicago to 15 months in Federal prison and three years of supervised release for money laundering that was accomplished through other illegal activity including alien smuggling and drug trafficking. Chow fled to China in 2010 but was arrested after he flew to Seattle, Washington in 2013. He pleaded guilty in January. HSI led the investigation which was part of a multi-agency Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force operation called “Sky’s the Limit.”

MEN ARRESTED IN ARIZONA FOR POSSESSING MARIJUANA. KRGV-TV Harlingen, TX (4/5, 8:57 a.m. CDT, 4K) reported that two men from the Dallas, Texas area were arrested in Arizona after authorities found they possessed garbage bags full of marijuana. The Mojave County Sheriff’s Office alleged both suspects are in the country illegally and were carrying fake passports. ICE has placed holds on both the men. The suspects were arrested as they were driving back from California when they were stopped.

CONNECTICUT MAN SENTENCED FOR DISTRIBUTING HEROIN. The New London (CT) Patch (4/3, Jeanfaivre, 741) reported that US District Judge Janet Bond Arterton sentenced Eddie Rodriguez, also known as “Joel,” to 77 months in jail with four years of supervised release for distributing heroin in New London County, Connecticut. In 2012, an HSI investigation found that Luis Ariel Capellan Maldonado was importing heroin to the county from the Dominican Republic. An associate of his sold heroin to Rodriguez, who was arrested on April 3, 2013 and pleaded guilty on January 2, 2014. HSI continues to investigate after more than 100 people have been charged. HSI Assistant Attaché, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and HSI Arecibo, Puerto Rico Resident Office have provided “valuable assistance” to this investigation.

COVERAGE CONTINUES OF PUERTO RICO COCAINE SEIZURE. Caribbean News Now! (4/7) continues coverage of the seizure of over 1,500 kilograms of cocaine found inside a wooden vessel of Puerto Rico’s southern coast. The cocaine was seized by HSI and CBP and was estimated at $42.8 million. HSI agents took custody of the vessel and the drugs for further investigation. Two Venezuelan men were arrested and charged for smuggling.

TWO MEN APPEARED IN COURT FOR DISTRIBUTING COCAINE IN WASHINGTON STATE. The Northwest Asian Weekly (4/4) reported that Harminder Singh Rai, 35, of Surrey, British Columbia and Tuan Van Dang, 38, of San Diego, California were arrested on March 26 and appeared in Seattle Federal court on March 27 on charges that they conspired to distribute over 60 pounds of cocaine. Rai picked up a bag of cocaine left by Dang at a Marysville, Washington motel. Rai was arrested at the Canadian border with cocaine hidden in his vehicle. Dang was arrested in Bellingham, Washington. The suspects face a minimum of 10 years in prison.

IOWA MAN SENTENCED FOR DISTRIBUTING METHAMPHETAMINE. The Waterloo and Cedar Falls (IA) Courier (4/7, 143K) reports that US District Court Judge Linda Reade sentenced Martin Villalobos to nine years in prison after he pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine from his Waterloo, Iowa taco stand in 2012. Homeland Security Investigations and officers with the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force found more methamphetamine in his home and taco stand after working with informants. Villalobos pleaded guilty in January.

EIGHT ARRESTED IN ULSTER COUNTY ON DRUG CHARGES. WRGB-TV Albany, NY (4/7, 5K) reports on its website that eight people were arrested on drug charges in the ongoing “Operation Spring Cleaning” initiative in Ulster County New York according to the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team. HSI assisted as all of the defendants were arraigned in local courts on charges related to possession and sale of heroin, oxycodone, and marijuana.

LOUISIANA COUPLE PLEADS GUILTY TO RACKETEERING. The Monroe (LA) News Star (4/5, Johnson, 107K) reports that James and Jennifer Panos pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy before US Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna at Desperado’s Cabaret, a gentleman’s club they owned in Carencro, Louisiana. The conditional plea must be accepted by US District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote. The married couple faces 20 years in prison. They were charged on May 15, 2013. HSI, FBI, DEA, and state and local police investigated the case.

FLORIDA WOMAN ARRESTED FOR UNDERAGE PROSTITUTION RING AT HER HOME. The Orlando (FL) Sentinel (4/4, Walden, Curtis, 850K) reported that Devin Rachelle Miller was arrested Thursday on a dozen felony charges following an investigation of an underage prostitution ring at her Deltona, Florida home by DHS and ICE’s Brevard-Volusia Child Exploitation Task Force. Investigators are still looking for members of an unidentified street gang that threatened and robbed clients at gunpoint. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided the initial tip before a client also reported the wrongdoing on March 28.

The Daytona Beach (FL) News-Journal (4/4, Balona, 182K) reported that prostitution had occurred at the home for at least four months. Miller was previously arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and burglary. The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests by ICE are expected.

MAN ARRESTED IN MEXICO ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES. The Homeland Security Today (4/7) reported that Michael David Wilson, who was indicted in 2013 for receiving an distributing child pornography, was arrested in Mexicali, Mexico on Wednesday night after a Mexican provided a tip that was relayed to HSI’s attache in Tijuana and Mexico’s National Institute of Migration. Wilson previously resided in Delano, California but fled after his indictment. His mugshot and information were then posted to ICE’s Operation Predator Smartphone App. Clark Settles, special agent in charge of HSI San Francisco said, “Once again, a tip from the public has proven to be a turning point in a challenging case.” He also credited cooperation with Mexican officials. Operation Predator has been downloaded over 89,000 times since its September 2013 launch.

KERO-TV Bakersfield, CA (4/7, Stegen, 4K) reported on its website that Wilson is being held at the Imperial County Jail.

INVESTIGATION INTO PHILIPPINE CHILD SEX ABUSE RING RECOUNTED. The Independent (UK) (4/5, Peachey, 701K) reports on the child pornography investigation into Timothy Ford of the United Kingdom, which led to a June 2011 search of Ford’s computer that, in turn, “led to a dogged hunt which spanned continents, and delved into the darkest recesses of the Internet.” UK police determined that he planned to establish an “internet café” in Angeles City, the Philippines. Eventually, investigators found an entire network in Angeles City in which live webcam operators catered to foreign customers. Eric McLoughlin, deputy attaché in Manila for HSI, is quoted as saying, “it doesn’t take a lot of money. If you’re going to exploit these children, you need access to children, a laptop with a webcam, a way of receiving money and you’re in business...Even when you take down one group, there might be one across the street.”

TEXAS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO STRAW PURCHASE. KVEO-TV Harlingen, TX (4/7, 227) reports on its website that Martin Lopez-Villela, a legal permanent resident of Dallas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, smuggling goods from the United States and making a false statement during the purchase of firearms according to US Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Lopez-Villela lied to a border officer in February 2014 when he attempted to conceal two .22 caliber semi-automatic firearms and 300 rounds of handgun ammunition that he planned to sell in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. US District Judge Diana Saldana will set a sentencing date for the straw purchase soon. HSI assisted in the investigation.

OHIO BOY SCOUT LEADER CHARGED WITH CHILD PORNOGRAPHY POSSESSION, DISTRIBUTION. The AP (4/5) reports that Alan Johnson, a “Boy Scouts leader near Dayton,” Ohio, was arrested Thursday at his West Carrollton, Ohio home and charged with child pornography possession and distribution. According to court documents, Johnson said that “he had made contact with Scouts’ genitals between two and five times.”

The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (4/5, Gokavi, 610K) reports that Johnson was arrested after an Operation Predator investigation conducted by HSI, the West Carrollton Police Department, and the Greater Cincinnati Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The Dayton (OH) Daily News (4/7, 142K) quotes Miami Valley Council Boy Scouts executive Doug Nelson as saying that “we’ve removed him from our ranks of leadership as of (Thursday) when we were made aware of this by Homeland Security...We’ve been working with the unit leadership to make sure all of the families are aware.”

Also reporting this story were the WEWS-TV Cleveland (4/4, Shaw, 129K) website, the WDTN-TV Dayton, OH (4/4, 27K) website, the WLW-AM Cincinnati (4/6) website, and the WLWT-TV Cincinnati (4/4, 76K) website. WFMJ-TV Youngstown, OH (4/5, 6:01 p.m. EDT, 38K) and WTVG-TV Toledo, OH (4/6, 9:05 a.m. EDT, 23K) broadcast this story as well.

Policy and Issues News:

IMMIGRATION ACTIVISTS HOLD #NOT1MORE DEMONSTRATIONS. The Huffington Post (4/7, Foley, 11.54M) reports on the “about 80 events” planned for the #Not1More campaign on Saturday, a “major day of action” directed at President Obama to demand that he halt deportations. Tania Unzueta of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network is quoted as saying, “we want to keep our families together...We want to dismantle the deportation machine...We want to move the president to be the champion that he was elected to be and not the deporter-in-chief that he has become.” Along with the vents, other activists plan to “maintain a daily presence for an indefinite period outside the White House” with a banner asking President Obama to “Stop Deportation,” according to this article. Arturo Carmona, co-founder of Presente, indicated that “politically-focused campaigns” are expected to continue, but that activists “are increasingly concentrated on Obama.”

The Hill (4/5, Huggins, 237K) reported in its “Briefing Room” blog that immigration advocates across the country held marches, vigils, and demonstrations in over 40 cities. The Hill notes that President Obama called on DHS Secretary Johnson to review deportation policies in March and directed DHS “to find a way to enforce deportation laws more humanely.”

NBC News (4/5, Gamboa, 7.5M) added on its website that the national turnout “did not match the turnout seen in 2006, when millions marched in major cities and communities around the country.”

The Wall Street Journal (4/7, Jordan, Subscription Publication, 5.51M) reports that the Saturday demonstrations coincide with the date that the Administration is believed to have deported more than two million people. When asked to comment on Saturday’s events, the Administration reportedly referred to an earlier statement by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney which asserted that only Congress has the authority to enact comprehensive immigration reform.

Newsday (4/7, Deutsch, 1.5M) reports on demonstrations which took place in Hempstead, New York, on Saturday. Activists marched “about half a mile” and carried signs saying “Education Not Deportation” and “Obama, Deporter-in-Chief.”

The AP (4/7, Tang) reports that over 100 immigration reform supporters met in front of an ICE detention center in Eloy, Arizona. The demonstration was “relatively peaceful with no arrests,” according to local law enforcement. ICE spokeswoman Amber Cargile is quoted as saying, “while we continue to work with Congress to enact commonsense immigration reform, ICE remains committed to sensible, effective immigration enforcement that focuses on its priorities, including convicted criminals and those apprehended at the border while attempting to unlawfully enter the United States.”

Another AP (4/7) article reports that 12 peaceful protesters in San Jose, California were cited for “failure to disperse and released after they sat down in the intersection of” two roads Saturday.

The Summit (CO) Daily News (4/7, Langley, 37K) reports on a demonstration in Frisco, Colorado, one of five held in the state. The article also reported the release from a detention facility in Aurora, Colorado of Leon Rivas, who was “handcuffed” by ICE officials at a scheduled supervision meeting March 4.

KPIX-TV San Francisco (4/4, 51K) reports on its website that 23 people were arrested at a demonstration in downtown San Francisco on Friday. Those arrested were cited for blocking an intersection, failing to obey a traffic officer, and refusing to disperse.

NY1-TV New York (4/7, Clarke, 41K) reports on its website that “hundreds” rallied in front of ICE’s Manhattan offices. Members of a human rights group representing the Nepali-speaking community, along with those of Pakistani and other nationalities, participated in the rally.

The Durango (CO) Herald (4/5, Rodebaugh, 28K) reports on a demonstration in Durango, Colorado.

The Voice of OC (CA) (4/7, Gerda, 698) reports that demonstrators in Orange County, California “held signs from bridges above” local freeways and chanted slogans.

KTAR-FM Glendale, AZ (4/7, 17K) reported on its website that members of the Puente Human Rights Movement ended their “The Trail to end Deportation” march Friday. The 60 mile march to ICE’s Eloy, Arizona Detention Center began at the agency’s headquarters in Phoenix on Wednesday and was organized to call for an end to deportations, which supporters say separate families.

Time Warner Cable News (4/5, 11:13 p.m. CDT) and NY1-TV New York (4/6, 11:35 a.m. EDT, 25K) broadcast stories about demonstrations in Austin, Texas, and New York City.

Obama Administration “Has Exceeded 2 Million Deportations.” The Arizona Republic (4/5, Gonzalez, 1.45M) reports that “the US has exceeded 2 million deportations” under President Obama. Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, is quoted as saying that the “milestone” “speaks to the unwillingness or inability of Obama ‘to turn things around administratively’ and Republicans to ‘do what the majority of the country wants legislatively.’” The article noted criticisms that the Administration has been “inflating” deportation numbers, though Marc Rosenblum, a deputy director at the Migration Policy Institute, claims that “stepped-up enforcement programs that pursue criminal charges...instead of merely sending [undocumented immigrants] back across the border” mean that the higher deportation numbers are accurate. ICE spokeswoman Amber Cargile was quoted as saying, “nearly 60 percent of ICE’s total removals had been previously convicted of a criminal offense, and that number rises to 82 percent for individuals removed from the interior of the US.”

Mother Jones (4/7, Vicens, 756K) notes that since the mid-1990s, removals have “gone way up while the number of returns has dropped,” a trend that “accelerated in a dramatic way” since the mid-2000s. The shift to increased removals has led to an increase in felony charges for those caught illegally re-entering the US after an order of removal; a Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project report noted that immigration offenses as a percentage of total Federal convictions increased from 5 percent in 1992 to 30 percent in 2012, “most of which were convictions for illegal reentry.”

According to the Christian Science Monitor (4/7, Kiefer, 566K), “if you judge enforcement by deportations and spending, what you find is a mixed picture on deportations and historic highs on spending.” Researchers with otherwise different opinions regarding deportation numbers agree that immigration enforcement “under Obama has shifted to the border and away from the interior – the vast rest of the country beyond 100 miles of the border.”

The New York Times (4/6, Thompson, Cohen, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) reports that, based on the publication’s analysis of “internal government records,” “two-thirds of the nearly two million deportation cases involve people who had committed minor infractions...or had no criminal record at all,” while twenty percent of deportation cases involved “serious crimes,” including drug-related convictions. Former and current Administration officials indicated that President Obama has tried “to keep his supporters in line” while also demonstrating “to show political opponents that he would be tough on” undocumented immigrants, but “five years into his presidency, neither side is satisfied.” former DHS deputy general counsel David Martin is quoted saying that the Administration “lost credibility on enforcement, despite all the deportations, while letting activists think they could always get another concession if they just blamed Obama.”

Hispanic Caucus Asks Administration To Stop Deportations In “Strong” Memo. Politico (4/4, Kim, 73K) was among media outlets that obtained a six-page memo Friday from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to the Obama Administration that formally recommends protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation if they “would qualify for legalization under the Senate’s comprehensive reform bill.” The memo to DHS Secretary Johnson urges the use of “all legal means available” to stop the deportations, to expand a “parole in place” program, and to grant “humanitarian parole” for some parents and siblings of undocumented immigrants. Politico says Johnson and DHS deputy secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are scheduled to meet with the caucus on Wednesday.

Roll Call (4/4, Dumain, 76K) reported the caucus described the memo as “very strong” and “broad” with both new and previously outlined initiatives. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), meanwhile, predicted that President Obama will “pick up his pen” on deportation “If GOP leaders do not move on immigration overhaul legislation before the July 4 recess.”

The Huffington Post (4/4, Foley, 11.54M) reported that the memo was “part of a growing effort from the group of Democrats to pressure the Administration not just to reform immigration law, but to stop the impact of current enforcement policies.”

NYTimes: President’s “Enforcement Blitz” Unsustainable. The New York Times (4/6, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) editorializes that President Obama should understand that his “enforcement blitz” of deportations, which was intended to win Republican support for broad immigration reform, “is unsustainable.” The Times argues that while it “would be nice” if Johnson could find a way to conduct immigration enforcement more humanely, the Obama Administration must find a way “to turn off the deportation machinery when it gets abused,” end programs that enlist local police as immigration enforcers, and take other steps “to push a failing system toward sanity and justice.”

TRUST ACT RESULTS IN FAR FEWER ICE REFERRALS. The AP (4/7) reports that since the Trust Act came into effect in California in January, “far fewer immigrants...are being turned over to federal authorities for deportation.” California reportedly accounted for a third of all deportations committed under the Secure Communities program until the law took effect. Of the 15 county-level sheriff’s departments that provided data for the first two months of 2014, “there was a 44 percent drop, from 2,984 people to 1,660,” in the numbers of people held for deportation. ICE executive associate director for ERO Thomas Homan is quoted testifying before a Congressional committee in March that the Trust Act and similar laws “takes that leverage away from us.” Homan added that he would prefer to have agents “arrest these people in a safe setting than be on the street looking for them, especially for the ones that have a significant public safety threat conviction.”

Another AP (4/7) article provides a further breakdown of the 15 sheriff’s departments whose data was surveyed.

ICE AMONG 14 AGENCIES USING NEW CHESAPEAKE BAY CAMERA AND RADAR SYSTEM. The AP (4/7, Holland) reports that the Maryland Natural Resources Police, which is the lead agency for Homeland Security on the Chesapeake Bay, is enjoying the benefits a “sophisticated radar and camera system” called the Maritime Law Enforcement Information Network (MLEIN) that became operational on October 1. In addition to catching oyster and crab poachers, 14 state and Federal agencies including ICE, the Coast Guard, and the Maryland Transportation Authority use the system according to MLEIN program manager, Tim Bowman. The source notes the value of the system given that there are many potential targets for terrorists in the area including a nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs, the bay bridge, the Port of Baltimore and Washington.

ADULT CLUB OWNERS LEAD ANTI-SEX TRAFFICKING EFFORT. WLS-TV Chicago (4/3, 6K) reports on local adult entertainment club owners’ efforts to recognize and stop sex trafficking through Club Owners Against Sex Trafficking, founded by Michael Ocello, an owner of establishments in Illinois. Ocello is quoted as saying, “if someone brings a victim into one of our clubs, we want to be there and know what to do about it, and we will turn it over to Homeland Security.” Mary Buduris of ICE is quoted as saying that victims’ “finances are being controlled by others, so they work and make all this money and it’s taken away from them. They’re given very little to live on and they are restricted in their movement. They can’t go anywhere without the trafficker’s say so.” HSI special agent Annabell Marques is quoted as saying, “every victim is vulnerable, they all need support and services and we make sure we link them to various amount of services.”

WLS-TV Chicago (4/7, 6K) also provides a video version of this story, while Univision (4/3, 1.24M) provides Spanish-language coverage.

HUNGER STRIKERS RELEASED FROM SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. The Nation (4/4, Hsieh, 585K) reports that ICE officials have removed three hunger strikers from solitary confinement at the Northwest Detention Center after the American Civil Liberties Union Washington and Columbia Legal Services filed a lawsuit claiming that “ICE officials placed the detainees in isolation cells in retaliation against their protest activities.” Officials denied the retaliatory intent of their actions, saying that the detainees had intimidated others into joining the strike. An agency email is quoted as saying, “while ICE fully respects the rights of all people to express their opinion without interference, when these expressions infringe on the civil rights of others, ICE has an obligation to act.”

The Tacoma (WA) News Tribune (4/6, Krell, 338K) quotes ICE spokesman Andrew Munoz as saying that the inmates were placed in solitary confinement “after the agency received multiple complaints from detainees and immigration attorneys that some individuals were intimidating other detainees into participating in protests.”

The AP (4/7) also reports this story.

HEROIN SURGE IN US TRACES BACK TO MEXICO. The Washington Post (4/7, A1, Miroff, 4.22M) reports on its front page that the spread of inexpensive heroin in the US “can be traced back to the remote valleys of the northern Sierra Madre.” The Post notes that because the wholesale price of marijuana is falling, due in part to “decriminalization in sections of the United States,” Mexican “drug farmers are turning away from cannabis and filling their fields with opium poppies.” The heroin is making its way north as US authorities are “trying to contain an epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse have tightened controls on synthetic opiates such as hydrocodone and Oxycontin.” Because the pills have become “more costly and difficult to obtain, Mexican trafficking organizations have found new markets for heroin in places such as Winchester, Va., and Brattleboro, Vt., where, until recently, needle use for narcotics was rare or unknown.”

ICE AMONG 14 AGENCIES USING NEW CHESAPEAKE BAY CAMERA AND RADAR SYSTEM. The AP (4/7, Holland) reports that the Maryland Natural Resources Police, which is the lead agency for Homeland Security on the Chesapeake Bay, is enjoying the benefits a “sophisticated radar and camera system” called the Maritime Law Enforcement Information Network (MLEIN) that became operational on October 1. In addition to catching oyster and crab poachers, 14 state and Federal agencies including ICE, the Coast Guard, and the Maryland Transportation Authority use the system according to MLEIN program manager, Tim Bowman. The source notes the value of the system given that there are many potential targets for terrorists in the area including a nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs, the bay bridge, the Port of Baltimore and Washington.

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES CHAIRMAN REJECTS IMMIGRATION AMENDMENT TO DEFENSE BILL. The Washington Post (4/4, O'Keefe, Nakamura, 4.22M) reported that House Armed Services Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon blocked a GOP proposal Friday to allow some undocumented immigrants to become legal US residents. The move bodes poorly for immigration reform, the Post says, adding that it could “cause political trouble for a half dozen House Republicans who represent districts with growing immigrant communities.” Those Republicans, primarily from western states, pushed to include the proposal in the National Defense Authorization Act. McKeon, however, said the defense bill was the wrong vehicle for the issue, after what the Post says were “several days of loud objections from conservative Republicans.”

The AP (4/7, Cassata) reported McKeon, who is retiring at the end of this term, “would prefer to avoid any controversial issue that could undermine speedy passage of his last defense bill,” according to Congressional aides. The proposal, US Rep. Jeff Denham’s (R – California) ENLIST Act, could also be voted on as a free-standing bill. However, Denham is working with several Republicans on the issue including Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colorado), who is on the Committee and could force a vote on the bill.

The New York Times (4/4, Weisman, Parker, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) reported that the proposal “is roiling the immigration debate in the House, dividing Republicans and reviving some movement toward substantive immigration legislation this year.”

CNN (4/7, Walsh, 77.95M) reported the proposal’s denial shows “how hard it is an election year for the GOP-led chamber to make even small changes to the nation’s immigration laws,” even if the proposal comes from a fellow Republican.

Roll Call (4/7, Dumain, 76K) reported the story in its “218” blog as well.

IMMIGRATION REFORM SERVICE SHOWS FAITH’S GROWING ROLE IN DEBATE. The Los Angeles Times (4/7, Streeter, 3.46M) reported “Several of Southern California’s most prominent religious leaders held a vigil for immigration reform” on Friday in Los Angeles, California. The service, put on by representatives from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths, was attended by a few dozen and repeatedly called on the President to act on reform. The Times says the vigil underscores “a growing interfaith effort to change the nation’s laws.”

Bishops’ Position Said To Be At Odds With Political Reality. In an opinion column for the Los Angeles Times (4/7, Mcgough, 3.46M), Michael McGough writes that at a recent Mass celebrated US Roman Catholic Bishops at the border fence on the US-Arizona border, Cardinal Sean O’Malley stated Jesus would likely welcome all immigrants to the US unconditionally. McGough asserts that while such a move “might well be consonant with Jesus’ teaching... it’s not a workable national policy.” The piece likens the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ stance on immigration reform to something like an “open borders” and says that “Bishops can afford to be prophets, but members of Congress... must legislate in the here and now.” McGough says lawmakers aren’t likely to open the borders to everyone “because of a biblical injunction about hospitality.”

SUPER PAC AD TARGETS VULNERABLE COLORADO REPRESENTATIVE. The Hill (4/4, Jaffe, 237K) reported in its “Ballot Box” blog that the House Majority PAC, a super PAC working to elect Democrats, is targeting US Rep. Mike Coffman (R – Colorado) by spotlighting his stance on immigration reform. The ad, which hopes to appeal to Hispanics, “highlights the fact that Coffman has not yet signed a discharge petition aimed at forcing a vote” on immigration reform and directs viewers to a website where they can sign a petition instructing the representative to support the issue. Coffman’s district is about 20 percent Hispanic and Democrats reportedly see reform as a vulnerable issue for him.

BUSH: MANY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS COME “OUT OF LOVE.” The Washington Post (4/7, O'Keefe, 4.22M) reports in its “Post Politics” blog that Jeb Bush, speaking at an event yesterday, said many illegal immigrants come to the US “out of an ‘act of love’ for their families” and should legally “be treated differently than people who illegally cross US borders or overstay visas.” He said authorities ought to “politely ask” those who have overstayed their visas to leave, saying doing so “‘would restore people’s confidence’ in the nation’s immigration system.” He also called the Senate’s immigration reform bill passed last year is “a good effort” toward achieving that goal. The Post says Bush’s position sets him apart from other Republicans, particularly those with Presidential ambitions, and that the former Governor seemed to acknowledge his position could cause him political trouble.

CNN (4/7, Davidsen, 77.95M) reports “Bush said the debate over immigration reform needs to move past derisive rhetoric describing illegal immigrants.”

Reuters (4/7, Cooney) and Bloomberg News (4/7, Giroux, 2.76M) reports the story as well.

TECH FIRMS PRESSURE GOP ON IMMIGRATION REFORM. The Hill (4/7, Hattem, 237K) reports in its “Hillicon Valley” blog that tech companies are trying to convince the House GOP that immigration reform is not a “political liability... pointing to recent primary elections where Republicans who went out on a limb in favor of reform were rewarded.” FWD.us, a group linked to a number of major Silicon Valley executives, plans to run ads through the summer pressuring lawmakers to move on reform. Supporters of action say that the issue could become more complicated if lawmakers wait, citing the uncertainty of control over the Senate and the looming Presidential election.

ACLU FILES CLAIM AGAINST TUCSON POLICE. The AP (4/7) reported the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona filed a legal claim against the Tucson Police Department regarding the detention of two immigrants during a traffic stop last October. The claim demands each man receive $250,000, alleging the action “violated their constitution rights, including protections against unreasonable seizures.” Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor defended the department’s actions, explaining that when immigrants aren’t able to produce a legal ID, officers must contact the Border Patrol. The ACLU’s claim could lead to a possible lawsuit, according to AP.

The Washington Times (4/7, Dinan, 455K) reports that the move is a “coordinated blitz” against Arizona’s tough immigration laws that alleges police “conducted an illegal stop of two men sitting in a van just because they were Hispanic.” The claim is the second charge lodged by the ACLU, “which is trying to build a case that the state’s immigration law, known as SB 1070 and upheld in principle by the US Supreme Court in 2012, is being applied in an unconstitutional manner.”

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT REMAINS HOPEFUL FOR LEGAL STATUS DESPITE CONVICTION. The Arizona Republic (4/7, González, 1.45M) profiles Noemi Romero, a 22 year old Mexican woman living in Arizona illegally who had planned to apply to the President’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Romero was working to save the money needed to do apply, but was arrested by Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies for using her mother’s Social Security number to gain her employment. She pleaded guilty to reduced charges at the Class six felony level, leaving her unable to take part in the program. She was then turned over to the custody of ICE until a judge dismissed her deportation case. Romero still hopes to someday legally work and live in the US.

DEFERRED ACTION PROGRAM HELPING IMMIGRANTS MOVE UP IN SOCIETY. The Washington Post (4/7, Constable, 4.22M) runs a report on the positive impact of the Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows “about 522,000 young illegal immigrants” to enjoy a two-year amnesty. DACA, the Post says, “is a legal ticket to self-respect” for immigrants, adding that a Harvard/USC survey of 1,000 DACA participants “found that most were taking concrete steps to move up in US society.” While many are “able to leave day-labor pools for steadier jobs in stores or trades and take part-time classes at community colleges,” they remain “keenly aware that the clock is ticking.”

COVERAGE CONTINUES OF IGUARDIAN. The Michigan Catholic (4/3, Wong) continues coverage of the Project iGuardian campaign. The article reports that St. Regis Catholic School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan hosted the campaign’s “official Michigan springboard” on March 26. HSI special agent explained at the event that “the iGuardians program … is to put a face on some of the different things that you might encounter, some of the problems that kind of focus on you as kids.” Ball added, “this program is focused on keeping you safe, but it’s a two-way street...It’s an educational program for you … and it’s information we’re giving you, your parents, your teachers at school.”

FORMER IMMIGRATION JUDGE SUPPORTS DETENTION OF SUSPECTED IMMIGRANT FELONS. In an op-ed for the Washington Times (4/7, Metcalf, 455K) Mark H. Metcalf, a former immigration court judge, writes in favor of Arizona’s policy of detaining accused felons who are in the country illegally as the ACLU is challenging the constitutionality of this practice in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Metcalf claims that this policy is necessary because more than three quarters of all immigrants who are allowed to be free pending trial failed to report to court. Furthermore, ICE typically arrests less than six percent of these fugitives. Metcalf states that “The government’s failure to enforce the most elevating and redemptive cornerstone of federal law — the Immigration and Nationality Act — leaves a vacuum that invites more than porous borders, feeble courts and frail enforcement.”

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT IN MINNESOTA COUNTY DISCUSSED. The Worthington (MN) Daily Globe (4/4, Trester, 26K) reports on immigration enforcement in Nobles County, Minnesota. The article cites a report by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse which found that 48 people were held in Nobles County on ICE detainers from January to August of 2013. ICE public affairs officer Shawn Neudauer explains that detainer requests arise “from federal regulations, which arises from the Secretary’s power under the Immigration and Nationality Act...It is ICE’s general authority to detain individuals who are subject to removal or removal proceedings.” Nobles County District Attorney Kathleen Kusz indicated that undocumented immigrants who are victims of crime are not reported to ICE, though “if someone is arrested and it shows that they have an ICE hold on them, then yes — they’re going to find out.”

ICE DEPORTATION PROGRAMS FACE CRITICISM. The Las Vegas Review-Journal (4/5, Amaro, 437K) reported 3,004 people have been deported from Clark County, Nevada since ICE’s Secure Communities program began in 2010. ICE’s Western Region spokeswoman Virginia Kice said that the program is a useful tool in removing convicted criminals from the country. Another ICE program, 287 (g), works to pick up cases that may not have been flagged by Secure Communities or require further investigation. Critics charge that ICE’s programs rip families apart and that resources should shift towards those who commit violent and serious crimes, not minor ones. Kice, though, asserted that the number of deportations for misdemeanors is high because those convictions are more common than aggravated felonies.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLOWED TO STAY YEAR LONGER, GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL. The AP (4/4) reported that Jaime Leon Rivas was released from an ICE detention center in Aurora, Colorado Wednesday after a stay of a Federal-removal order was issued, allowing him to remain in the US for at least another year and graduate high school. Leon Rivas had been in ICE custody since March 4, when he was arrested at a scheduled supervision hearing. The former detainee and his brother illegally immigrated from El Salvador to the US in 2005 and were detained shortly after crossing the border in Texas. ICE officials persuaded the two suspects to sign voluntary departure forms, but they fled to Colorado instead of leaving.

KCNC-TV Denver (4/6, 26K) reports on its website that Leon Rivas “is still at risk of being deported if he doesn’t get that removal order overturned within one year.”

HSI SAYS PUBLIC EDUCATION CRUCIAL IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING FIGHT. The El Paso (TX) Times (4/6, Martinez, 251K) reports that increased awareness about human trafficking is helping the public combat the illicit industry, according to Edward Owens, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for HSI El Paso. Owens said an increased amount of tips from the public is helping authorities at all levels investigate more cases. Through HSI’s Blue Campaign, “officials visit schools and community meetings to explain human trafficking and how to spot victims.” Gus Correa, supervisor of HSI’s Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team, said the campaign also helps put pressure on lawmakers to pass legislation that helps combat sex-trafficking.

ICE AGENT FOUND GUILTY OF VIOLATING RIGHTS, TWO OTHER AGENTS CLEARED. The Aspen (CO) Daily News (4/4, Harvey, 36K) reported a US District Court in Denver, Colorado found ICE agent Steve Turza guilty Thursday of violating the constitutional rights of Sugey Guerrero-Parada during a search in 2009. Guerrero-Parada had alleged that Turza and two other ICE agents entered her home without permission from anyone inside. While Guerrero-Parada was seeking $75,000 in damages from Turza, she only received $1 in “nominal damages,” an outcome Turza’s attorney said his client found “very good.” The other agents in the case, Chris Carter and Vanessa Hipps, were cleared of all charges.

KMGH-TV Denver (4/4, 30K) reported the story on its website as well.

VIRUS DIRECTS VICTIMS TO FAKE GOVERNMENT WEBSITES. In continuing coverage, WATE-TV Knoxville, TN (4/6, 6:42 p.m. EDT, 27K) reported that a computer virus is directing individuals to a fake ICE website and threatening to prosecute them before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom them on pornography charges unless they pay $300 within two days. The site instructs the people to buy a pre-paid money card and send the ID numbers to an unknown perpetrator over the phone. WATE says the virus scam, which varies in which fake agency website it takes victims to, has been around for over a year and there are a number of free and paid ways in which it can be removed from a computer.

TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT RULING COULD BE BLOW TO IMMIGRANTS. The AP (4/7, Burkje) reports from Nashville, TN that the Tennessee Supreme Court “issued a decision Friday that could be a blow to immigrants who were never told that they can still be deported for a crime that has been wiped off their criminal record.” The case “exposes a rift between the federal law and state law when it comes to criminal records that have been expunged, immigrant advocates said.” The unanimous ruling “resulted in the court’s refusal to re-open up a case involving an immigrant who pleaded guilty to patronizing a prostitute in exchange for getting his conviction for the misdemeanor expunged,” and it “closes an avenue for immigrants to be able to correct bad legal advice they’ve gotten in the past, said Tricia Herzfeld, an attorney with the Ozment Law firm, which filed a brief in the case on behalf of the National Immigration Project.”

FEDERAL JUDGE URGES REVIEW OF KENTUCKY IMMIGRANT’S RESIDENCY APPLICATION. The AP (4/7) reports from Louisville, KY that US District Judge Joseph Hood in Lexington, KY “is compelling immigration officials to make a decision about an application for permanent residency brought by an Iranian immigrant who distributed leaflets for a violent organization in his home country 30 years ago.” Judge Hood “ruled Thursday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and it’s immigration arm ‘unreasonably delayed’ an application brought by Mehrdad Hosseini of Lexington for 12 years. Immigration officials now have two months to make a decision on his application. ‘Even accounting for complexity, courts have found delays of four years or less to be reasonable, but that delays of six years or more are unreasonable,’ Hood wrote.”

IMMIGRATION LAW ALLOWS ABUSED MINOR IMMIGRANTS TO STAY WITH US RELATIVES. The Frederick (MD) News-Post (4/7, Gaines, 102K) reports on the “thousands of children who immigrate each year alone to the United States without a parent or legal guardian.” The News-Post continues that in 2013, “more than 23,000 unaccompanied minors were apprehended and placed in deportation proceedings, according to Kids in Need of Defense, or KIND, an organization that aims to protect children in the U.S. immigration system by organizing free legal representation.” That is an increase from 8,000 two years ago “and could reach 54,000 by the end of 2014, according to KIND.” The News-Post notes that some of the children “are eligible for relief through the federal immigration system in the form of ‘special immigrant juvenile status,’” a designation that “is available for children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents.”

In Brief:

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT CAUSES TEACHER TO LOSE WORK VISA. The Sacramento (CA) Bee (4/5, Lambert, 687K) reported that Lilian Velazquez Acosta lost her job as a teacher and a chance at becoming an American citizen because California’s Twin Rivers Unified School District failed to report to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services she worked for them. As a result, her H-1B visa expired in September 2012. The School District also reportedly withdrew approval of a work visa extension for another employee in 2012, forcing her to leave the country with little notice. The source notes that “immigration officers aren’t likely to come knocking anytime soon” because ICE has been ordered to focus on convicted criminals and other high-priority deportation cases.

TWO ILLEGAL ALIENS ARRESTED WITH 41 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA IN ARIZONA. The AP (4/7) reported that Dallas residents, Jose Luis Lozano and Juan Antonio [Aguilero], were arrested on Thursday after Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies pulled them over on Interstate 40 in Arizona and determined that their passports had been forged. In the trunk of their vehicle, 41 pounds of marijuana worth $205,000 was found in three garbage bags. ICE has placed holds on both of the illegal aliens.

KPHO-TV Phoenix (4/7, Bierman, 74K) also reported the arrests on its website.

BORDER PATROL SEIZES CRYSTAL METH IN TEXAS. KRGV-TV Harlingen, TX (4/7, 11K) reported on its website that Border Patrol agents seized about 37 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, estimated to be worth more than a million dollars, at the Falfurrias checkpoint in Texas Wednesday. The drug was discovered in a hidden compartment in the rear seat of a vehicle and the driver was arrested and referred to HSI.

KFXVLD-TV (4/4, 9:08 p.m. CDT) broadcast the story as well.

NEW YORK WOMAN SURRENDERS FOR POSSESSION AND SALE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE. The Batavia (NY) Daily News (4/7, Beagle, 44K) reports that Laura L. Fletcher of Batavia, New York turned herself in to Mount Morris Police on March 17. She had been charged with third degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and third degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. The Livingston County Drug Task Force arrested 13 people in late February as they targeted low and mid level dealers. Fletcher was the 14th person to be charged in relation to that roundup. ICE is a member of the Task Force.

Top DHS News:

DHS SECRETARY, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR VISIT WASHINGTON MUDSLIDE SITE. The Seattle Times (4/7, Doughton, 1.22M) reports that DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, in a visit to the Snohomish County, Washington mudslide site, said, “It is clear there is more work to do...I am here to tell the community and the state that the federal government is with you.” Johnson reportedly met with first responders and emergency personnel in the company of FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, as well as with members of air crews. Fugate is quoted as saying, “we’re not going anywhere until this is done.” Johnson added, “the community has come together in a profound way,” and encouraged those affected to register for FEMA assistance by saying, “the sooner you register with FEMA the faster we can get help to you.”

The AP (4/6) reports that, according to FEMA, 190 people have applied for assistance so far. Johnson and Fugate were reportedly accompanied by Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Rep. Suzan DelBene, and the mayors of nearby Arlington and Darrington, Washington. Johnson is quoted as saying, “we were here shortly after the disaster occurred, we are here now, and we will continue to be here as the recovery goes on.”

NPR (4/7, Chappell, 519K) reports in its “The Two-Way” blog that Johnson and Fugate “say they want to meet some of the locals from” nearby towns who have been affected by the landslide, as well as responders.

On its website, KING-TV Seattle (4/7, 136K) quotes Johnson as saying of the landslide, “it’s human tragedy.”

The KIRO-TV Seattle (4/7, Guerrero, 62K) website quotes Johnson as saying, “the mudslide is an enormous tragedy. The response to it is an inspirational American story.” When asked whether he is looking into “a 1999 federal report warning of a catastrophic failure in the area,” Johnson reportedly replied that “I’m not here today to assess that question.” Governor Inslee indicated that FEMA will help with the restoration of a local highway, saying that “it’s important for the people of Darrington to know that highway is going to be restored.”

The CNN (4/7, Ford, 77.95M) website reports that warmer temperatures and drier weather conditions in Washington “are expected to give a boost to search efforts.”

The Seattle Times (4/7, Doughton, Long, 1.22M) and the Everett (WA) Herald (4/6, Salyer, Stevick, 152K) also report this story.

Volunteer Response To Mudslide Profiled. The New York Times (4/6, Johnson, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) reports that loggers and foresters in the North Cascades who served as volunteer disaster responders “changed the nature of the response to the landslide,” as the effort helped families bond and friendships to form. Some volunteers spokes of “tensions” with Federal disaster officials that gradually changed to a “growing respect for the different areas of expertise.” Local volunteer Bob DeYoung is quoted saying, “FEMA has done a great job on directing us where their experts say the remains will be...But these logging guys in this valley are the reasons why anything is happening, why any of these recoveries are happening.” FEMA urban search and rescue team specialist John Bentley is quoted as saying, “this tragedy is more personal...This is their mountain, their community, and they know it better than anyone else.”

PRESIDENT, FIRST LADY TO ATTEND MEMORIAL SERVICE AT FT. HOOD WEDNESDAY. ABC World News (4/6, story 3, 1:50, Muir) reported that the President and First Lady “will attend a memorial for victims of the Ft. Hood shooting this week.” NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 6, 2:00, Potter, 7.86M) also noted that the President on Wednesday “will return to Fort Hood for a memorial service.”

The AP (4/7) reported that a spokesman for Ft. hood “confirms there will be a remembrance ceremony that day, and presidential adviser Dan Pfeiffer tells CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ that Obama will be there.”

USA Today (4/7, Madhani, 5.82M) reports that on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Pfeiffer said, “It’s a terrible tragedy what happened at Fort Hood.” Pfeiffer said on CBS’ Face The Nation (4/6, Schieffer, 2.64M), “It’s clear from what happened at Fort Hood we have to do more to ensure that our men and women feel safe when they come home. It is a tragedy what happened at Fort Hood. The President and the First Lady send their thoughts and prayers to the people on the base.”

Lawmakers Call For Reevaluation Of Military’s Mental Health Treatment. The New York Times (4/7, Blinder, Fernandez, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) reports that on the Sunday political talk shows, members of Congress “emphasized the need to re-evaluate mental health treatment in the military.” Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) said on CNN, “We have this crazy standard in the United States that says unless a person is on the verge of holding a knife to their own throat or someone else, we’re not going to step in. ... We need to understand the dynamics of mental illness for in the military and outside the military.”

Murphy said on CNN’s State Of The Union (4/6, Crowley), “It could have happened anywhere. There are special concerns on a military base but really all throughout the nation the concern is how do we handle mental illness. Quite frankly, we’re not doing a very good job of it. The military has beefed up a lot of their support but there is a lot of questions involved with how this happens or how any family deals with this.”

Rep. John Carter (R-TX) said on ABC’s This Week (4/6, Raddatz, 2.73M), “The issue of the mental health among service members is critical. … We have to provide more resources both at the DOD level and at the VA level, and that transition needs to be smooth, because these folks, and…you can have posttraumatic stress in an ordinary job. It depends on the level of stress you can carry. Some can carry tons, others can carry none.”

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) said on CNN’s State Of The Union (4/6, Crowley), “You’re dealing with a conversation about dramatic troop cutbacks and what effect that is having on people, wondering if they are going to have an ability to provide for their families. … It is important to make sure that people don’t automatically assume that because someone is seeking help that that is an automatic correlation to violence and taking action in that way. We’ve got to take away that stigma.”

Mullen Says Number Of Veterans Confronting Mental Health Issues Is Likely To Grow. The Washington Times (4/7, Wolfgang, 455K) reports that former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said Sunday that “the nation must prepare for growth in the number of veterans dealing with mental health issues and other challenges as they return from Iraq and Afghanistan.” Mullen said that “it will be critical in the coming years for the U.S. to do all it can to help the nation’s fighting men and women transition back into society,” telling NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “I think our force, because it has been away so much, has not had to deal with those [mental health and other issues] as directly as they may have in the past and now that we’re going to be home more, I think we’re going to actually see an increased number of challenges associated with that. ... We all need to wrap our arms around the force to help us deal with those.”

Mullen said on NBC’s Meet The Press (4/6, Gregory, 3.08M), “I think we need to certainly take a look at securing our bases for our people. Right now, in our 13th year of war, it’s a time of great stress for our military. We’ve been through a lot. And as we come out of these wars and come back home, I think just what I’ve seen in this particular example indicates the mix of characteristics and issues that are associated with that stress.”

General Says Most Returning Vets Do Not Suffer From Mental Disorders. Gen. Peter Chiarelli said on ABC’s This Week (4/6, Raddatz, 2.73M), “It’s a horrible, horrible tragedy. I think even a bigger tragedy would be if the public at large came to the conclusion that everyone who returns from Iraq or Afghanistan, who served in the military, has these issues. We’ve got to understand that the vast majority of our servicemen and women have been on multiple deployments, multiple deployments, and returned home unscathed.”

McCaul Supports Allowing Military Members To Carry Concealed Weapons On Base. Politico (4/6, Parti, 73K) reported in its “Politico Live” blog that during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” House Homeland Security Committee chairman Mike McCaul “continued to push for legislation to allow members of the military to carry concealed weapons on base.” McCaul said, “We should be looking at the idea of senior leadership at these bases, give them the ability to carry a weapon. ... They defend us overseas and defend our freedom abroad, so the idea that they are defenseless when they come on our home bases, I think, Congress should be looking at that and having a discussion with the bases about what would be the best policy.” McCaul added that he is “also pushing for Congress to take action to require a mental health evaluation in addition to a physical for when soldiers enlist.”

McCaul said on CBS’ Face The Nation (4/6, Schieffer, 2.64M), “Our hearts go out to the families and the victims. … We do know that Mr. Lopez applied for leave of absence. He appeared to be a disgruntled employee. But at the end of the day you are dealing with a mental health illness issue, not unlike what we saw at the Navy Yard shooting. I’m disturbed about the uptick in shootings and violence at our military installations across the nation.”

McCaul said on Fox News Sunday (4/6, Wallace), “Can we stop this in the future? I don’t think you can ever 100% secure a military base from something like this happening. But I do think it requires a review, re-analysis of the force protection policies that we have at our military installations to see how can we better secure them? We also need to look at the possibility of whether we can hire more military police at these installations.”

Kaine: Military Leaders Should Decide Whether Guns Are Allowed On Base. The Washington Times (4/7, Wolfgang, 455K) reports that Sen. Tim Kaine argued on “Fox News Sunday” that military leaders should decide whether military personnel can carry weapons on bases. Kaine said, “I trust the military leadership on this. I don’t live on a military base, and I don’t serve in the military. ... For those of us in Congress to say ‘here’s what they should do,’ I worry that it would be a little political rather than really about safety or security.” Kaine said that “if the military reviews the issue and determines more personnel should be armed, he would support that decision.”

Kaine said on Fox News Sunday (4/6, Wallace), “Some of the recent shootings, there is always an element from the outside world coming on to the base. The two Fort Hood shootings were guns purchased out in the community and brought on in this instance, this week, against regulation, the gun that was used. … Perimeter security is probably a place that we definitely should look. Mental health we should look. … We do need to acknowledge that our military after 13 years of war, that’s a stress.”

Mental Health Experts, Soldiers Take Issue With PTSD Label For Ft. Hood Shooter. The Christian Science Monitor (4/7, Knickerbocker, 566K) reported that in the wake of last week’s shooting, “many were quick to label the shooter as a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).” But to soldiers and mental health experts, “this snap judgment stigmatizes combat veterans diagnosed with this signature ailment of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it’s a simplified and short-hand reading of a far more complicated issue.” US Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer, “who struggled with post-traumatic stress after returning from Afghanistan and who once contemplated suicide,” said, “PTSD does not put you in the mind set to go out and kill innocent people. ... The media label this shooting PTSD, but if what that man did is PTSD, then I don’t have it.”

General Who Recently Returned From War Zone Finds Himself Comforting Victims Of Ft. Hood Shooting. The Washington Post (4/7, A1, Jaffe, 4.22M) reports in a front page story on Lt. Gen Mark A Milley, who spent more than a decade visiting hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan “to check in on his wounded troops and offer words of encouragement.” Milley had just returned to Ft. hood after a one-year tour in Afghanistan and eleven days later, the Ft. Hood shootings occurred. As a result, Milley found himself visiting the victims of the shooting and their families. The Post notes that Milley’s staff called the day “battlefield circulation,” which is “the same phrase that Army commanders, including Milley, routinely used in Afghanistan and Iraq to describe a day spent moving around those war zones.” For Milley, “the time spent with the wounded was almost exactly the same: The same words of encouragement. The same simple gestures intended to show kindness, compassion and care.”

FLIGHT 370 SEARCHERS FOCUS ON SIGNALS THAT COULD BE COMING FORM THE PLANE’S BLACK BOX. On Sunday, all the three network newscasts all led with reports on the Malaysian airlines flight that has been missing for a month, and the three combined devoted more than 13 minute of air time to the story. On the CBS Evening News (4/6, lead story, 2:10, Glor), Jeff Glor reported that “searchers may have their best lead yet” after “three pulse signals...were detected underwater this weekend.” According to Glor, “Chinese searchers discovered two of them a thousand miles northwest of Perth,” and then, “about 300 miles away, an Australian ship found another signal.”

On NBC Nightly News (4/6, lead story, 3:00, Holt, 7.86M), Lester Holt reported that “Australian search coordinators say they are taking seriously what may be underwater signals now picked up by two ships hunting for the black boxes from Malaysian airlines flight 370,” but, “at the same time, officials are...saying it’s ‘way too early’ to tell if they are indeed coming from the plane’s wreckage, especially because the sounds have been heard in different parts of the Indian ocean.” Correspondent Clayton Sandell, in a report for ABC World News (4/6, lead story, 2:25, Muir), said “a Chinese state media reporter on board the ship says even the crew is skeptical.”

Chinese Passengers’ Families Return Home Without Answers. On NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 2, 1:05, Holt, 7.86M), Holt reported that “the majority of the passengers on the plane were Chinese and many of their families...traveled to Malaysia to be closer to the investigation.” However, according to Holt, “Most of them went home today as much in the dark about what has happened as they were a month ago.”

Missing Malaysian Flight Spurs CBP Screening Change. The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 2, 1:55, Glor) reported that the missing Malaysia Airline flight “exposed one major gap in air security” that has CBP now screening all passengers departing the county through Interpol’s stolen and lost travel document database. The practice, previously done for incoming travelers only, began after the flight went missing, according to CBP’s John Wagner. Andrew Farrelly, a former border protection director, says the agency had debated making the change for years but didn’t due to resource issues and different priorities. CBP told CBS News that the process takes place behind the scenes and shouldn’t delay outbound international flights.

Lawmaker Drafting Bill Asking Allies For More Screening. USA Today (4/7, Jansen, 5.82M) reported that US Rep. Candice Miller (R-Michigan), head of the Homeland Security subcommittee on border security, is drafting legislation that would encourage US allies to check all their travelers for lost or stolen passports. Miller said the bill is needed to address “a vulnerability in aviation systems abroad,” adding “If you make it hard for terrorists to cross our borders without being detected, future acts of terrorism hopefully can be prevented.” Wagner said many countries don’t use the database because technology and resource issues.

DHS Official Expresses Doubt About Bill To Increase Passport Security. Congressional Quarterly (4/7, Scholtes, Subscription Publication, 967) reports that Alan Bersin, DHS assistant secretary of international affairs and chief diplomatic officer, advised in a House Homeland Security Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee hearing that it is unclear whether requiring nations in the Visa Waiver Program to more frequently check travel document databases is the best way to proceed. Subcommittee chairwoman Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) indicated that she would introduce legislation compelling such countries to make routine database checks “for all flights” rather than just those heading for the US. Bersin is quoted as saying, “the question you raise — which is whether, as a condition of participating in the Visa Waiver Program, they ought to be compelled to screen against the database with regard to all flights, regardless of whether they’re coming toward us or going elsewhere — poses an interesting political question...It’s an important question, but I don’t think the answer is a straightforward ‘Yes.’”

BUFFALO’S PEACE BRIDGE TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL CBP AGENTS. The Buffalo (NY) News (4/7, 474K) runs an opinion piece lauding CBP’s plans to increase its number of agents at the Peace Bridge border crossing in Buffalo, New York. The piece says the good news will “mean fewer headaches and hassles for those trying to cross the bridge, due to an increase in efficiency,” potentially growing both tourism and the economy. Credit for the move is largely given to US Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York), who “helped secure an additional $165 million in the fiscal 2014 federal budget to fund an additional 2,000 agents nationwide.” The efforts of US Reps. Brian Higgins (D) and Chris Collins (R), both of New York, are also acknowledged.

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS SUPPORT BILL TO PREVENT TSA FROM REVERSING KNIFE BAN. The Los Angeles Times (4/7, Martin, 3.46M) reports that the Association of Flight Attendants supports a bill that would prevent the TSA from rescinding a ban on knives on commercial aircraft. The agency “backed off” on a plan to allow knives after pressure from legislators and flight attendants in 2013. TSA spokesman David Castelveter is quoted saying, “the administration reversed its earlier decision and nothing has changed.”

NYTIMES: BEHAVIOR-DETECTION PROGRAM FUNDING A WASTE OF RESOURCES. A New York Times (4/7, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) editorial says that expenditures on behavior detection are “only worsening” the TSA’s “reputation for wastefulness.” The article noted the Government Accountability Office’s finding that only 4 percent of cases in which passengers were referred to law enforcement by behavior-detection officers resulted in arrests, “none for suspected terrorism.” The TSA officers union, in support of the program, said that an “imperfect deterrent to terrorist attacks is better than no deterrent at all,” but the article agrees with the GAO’s recommendation that future funding for the program be limited.

FUGATE VISITS ALASKA, MEETS WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES. KTVA-TV Anchorage, AK (4/7, Maxwell, 1K) reported on its website that FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate visited Alaska Friday, on the invitation of US Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) to attend a Senate field hearing on responding to disasters in the state. Fugate said the agency is better able to respond than in years past because Congress has funded it “for disasters we have every day in this country” including no-notice earthquakes. The Administrator spoke about the need for cooperation between Federal and state authorities on disaster responses, noting FEMA’s primary role is to support the decisions of a state and governor.

The Anchorage (AK) Daily News (4/4, Hollander, 251K) reported Fugate toured the Matanuska riverfront properties in the Mat-Su Borough because Begich thought “recent flooding and erosion problems show the trouble with a ‘one size fits all’ FEMA approach in Alaska.” When hearing about local difficulties getting individual assistance grants approved by FEMA, Fugate said he’s “had the unfortunate pleasure of having to discuss this with governors” that the agency’s assistance isn’t meant to pay to replace a flood-damaged home and that determinations about individual assistance are based on the population of a state and its financial ability to pay for recovery.

The Mat-Su Valley (AK) Frontiersman (4/7, Wellner, 21K) reported Fugate said FEMA’s programs don’t build homes and make people whole after disasters, but other agencies do and FEMA will help people connect with those entities. Responding to concerns about outdated and flawed flood maps, he said that while authorities can work to rectify these concerns, people should be aware that altering maps can bring properties into floodplains who weren’t there before. The Administrator also highlighted “changes to FEMA programs that allow funding for rebuilding projects based on estimates of projects rather than their actual costs.”

COAST GUARD PART OF EFFORT TO RESCUE FAMILY AT SEA. The AP (4/7) reports that the US Navy and California Air National Guard rescued Eric Kaufman, a Coast Guard-licensed captain, his wife Charlotte, and their one and three-year-old children from their 36-foot sailboat after the one-year-old became ill during an around-the-world voyage. The couple called the US Coast Guard via satellite on Thursday night after their boat lost steering and communications 900 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. On Sunday, the USS Vandegrift reached the boat, which will be sunk, and is expected in San Diego by midweek according to Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Barry Bena. The infant developed a fever and rash covering most of her body and wasn’t’ responding to medication after setting out across the Pacific in March. The cause of the illness was not known, but the infant previously suffered salmonella poisoning and is improving.

The Los Angeles Times (4/7, Perry, 3.46M) reports that four para-rescuemen from the California Air National Guard dove into the water from a fixed wing aircraft, swam to the boat, and stabilized the infant on Thursday.

The CNN (4/7, Capelouto, 77.95M) reports that the family, who set out from Mexico about two weeks ago, defended their actions and thanked those who came to their aid.

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT DEBATE TO “PLAY OUT” IN 2015 SPENDING BILL. Congressional Quarterly (4/7, Scholtes, Subscription Publication, 967) reports that the immigration enforcement debate will again “play out this year in the fiscal 2015 Homeland Security spending bill.” Republican legislators are “committed to pumping up” ICE accounts, though it is unlikely that they “will stray too far from the administration’s proposed” spending level for CBP, which is higher than fiscal 2014 levels. The article notes the bipartisan support for maintaining the current structure of FEMA grants “rather than consolidating them into one program” as requested by the Administration. The article also says that “appropriators likely will skim again from the coffers of [DHS] management offices” to arrive at a top-line 2015 spending level close to the Administration’s request.

HERSH: CIA WAS SHIPPING WEAPONS FROM BENGHAZI TO JIHADISTS IN SYRIA. Seymour Hersh, in a long essay for the London Review of Books (UK) (4/7, Hersh), says, “The Obama administration has never publicly admitted to its role in creating what the CIA calls a ‘rat line’, a back channel highway into Syria,” which was “used to funnel weapons...from Libya via southern Turkey” to “jihadists” in Syria, “some of them affiliated with al-Qaida.” Hersh says a “highly classified annex” to the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the terrorist attacks in Benghazi “describe[s] a secret agreement reached in early 2012,” under which the CIA, “with the support of MI6, was responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi’s arsenals into Syria.” Hersh says former CIA director David Petraeus oversaw the operation. An anonymous “former intelligence official” told Hersh that the Benghazi consulate’s “only mission was to provide cover for the moving of arms.” Hersh says the CIA’s “role in the transfer of arms” was “abruptly ended” following the attacks that killed four Americans.

Mukasey: Obama And Clinton Misled Benghazi Victims’ Families About The Nature Of The Attacks. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (4/7, Mukasey, Subscription Publication, 5.51M) titled, “More Obfuscation On Benghazi,” draws attention to last week’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee by former acting CIA director Michael Morell. Mukasey notes that Morell acknowledged altering intelligence “talking points” following the September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi to eliminate references to al Qaeda, as well as the CIA’s warning to the State Department that the US facilities in Benghazi were vulnerable to an attack. However, Mukasey adds that Morell said he never blamed an anti-Islam Internet video, which was the narrative President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton endorsed shortly after the attack when they spoke to the families of the four Americans killed. Mukasey says it may take the creation of a select committee to determine who first created the false story that the attacks were the aftermath of protests over a video.

Former CIA/NSA director Michael Hayden said on Fox News Sunday (4/6, Wallace) that Morell “mentioned something very important in his testimony, that he let the White House and the State Department know that Saturday morning that the chief of station had a dissenting view.” According to Hayden, “that gave a certain confidence level to the White House and to the State Department” that “there were a range of views here.”

NORAD JETS INTERCEPT PLANE OVER DC. The Washington Times (4/7, Chasmar, 455K) reports that around noon on Sunday, “two NORAD fighter jets intercepted a general aviation aircraft that was out of communications in the Special Flight Rules Area over the District.”

NYTIMES OPPOSES NEW WTC CONSTRUCTION DEAL FOR SILVERSTEIN. In an editorial, the New York Times (4/7, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) decries a package devised by developer Larry Silverstein and his allies at the Port Authority to double the level of Port Authority support Silverstein receives to build a second skyscraper at the World Trade Center site, arguing that the “rush to subsidize the next tower makes little sense at this time.” Such a move “could easily create a glut of office space” when the “104-story 1 World Trade Center — is about half-leased.” The Times notes that Port Authority commissioners “are divided over whether to give Mr. Silverstein a new deal,” and argues that the “wisest course, for now, is to stick with the present one.”

FEDERAL JUDGE BALKS AT PERMITTING TV TESTIMONY AT NYC TERROR TRIAL. The New York Times (4/7, Mckinley, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) reports that the testimony of “key prosecution witness” Saajid Badat in the terrorism trial of “radical Islamic cleric” Mostefa Kamel Mostafa “has been thrown into doubt” because a Federal judge in Manhattan “is balking at allowing him to testify from Britain via closed-circuit television.” Badat “has already testified through a trans-Atlantic television hookup in two other terrorism trials in the United States,” but he “has refused to appear in person because he is still under indictment in the United States for a plot in 2001 to blow up airliners with bombs hidden in shoes, a crime for which he was convicted in Britain,” but US District Judge Katherine B. Forrest “made it plain during a hearing on Friday that she believed” Badat “should appear in person” at the trial of Mostafa, who is “accused of conspiring to kidnap tourists in Yemen, aiding Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and planning a training camp in Oregon.”

The AP (4/5, Neumeister) reports that Badat spoke to JUdge Forrest “via a video link from the United Kingdom several days after the judge told lawyers she thought Badat might surprise them and agree to testify in the United States if she asked him a series of direct questions,” but his answers “mirrored what he said when his recorded testimony was shown in 2012 at a Brooklyn terrorism trial and again last month when he appeared through a live video feed from London at” Abu Ghaith’s trial.

The New York Post (4/7, 2.77M) reports that Judge Forrest “asked Badat if he’d consider coming to America to testify if the government asked him directly – or if he was told he’d be arrested, but released on bail, and then allowed to return to Great Britain,” but she “repeatedly said she couldn’t guarantee whether he’d be taken into custody and denied bail if he entered America.” Badat “responded by saying he needs to ‘seek legal advice’ and it’s his ‘understanding that if I travel to the US,’ he ‘would be arrested.’”

Reuters (4/7, Vaughan) also reports this story.

Badat’s Testimony Also Sought In Connecticut Terror Case. The Hartford (CT) Courant (4/4, 599K) reports that Badat, “the partner of convicted shoe-bomber Richard Reid,” is “expected to testify that he was recruited to al Qaeda by” Babar Ahmad, “a British engineer who is facing sentencing in federal court in New Haven for developing the ground-breaking Internet presence the terror network uses to raise money, recruits and equipment.” Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys “could travel to London as early as Saturday to arrange some form of video testimony from” Badat, who “trained in al Qaeda terror camps in Afghanistan from 1999 to 2001, where he claims to have met personally with Osama bin Laden and 911 terror plotters.” Badat and Reid, “both British nationals, were trained to detonate shoe bombs simultaneously while on separate trans Atlantic flights from Europe to the U.S. in December 2001.”

Reuters (4/7, Weizel) also reports this story.

WITNESS’ ILLNESS PREVENTS HIM FROM TESTIFYING AT FLORIDA TERRORISM TRIAL. The Tampa (FL) Tribune (4/4, Silvestrini, 583K) reports that Federal prosecutors said on Friday that an informant “who helped investigate Sami Osmakac cannot testify at Osmakac’s terrorism trial because the informant is being treated in Israel for leukemia.” The witness “owned a store and notified the FBI in September 2011 that Osmakac had come in looking for flags representing al-Qaida, according to a criminal complaint.” The witness then hired Osmakac “and became a paid FBI informant, introducing Osmakac to an undercover agent.” Federal prosecutors say Osmakac, “a naturalized citizen from Kosovo, planned to launch a car bomb attack in Tampa and then take hostages and demand the release of Muslim prisoners.” He was arrested in January 2012 “after an FBI sting operation in which he tried to buy explosives, at least 10 grenades, Uzis and an AK-47, authorities said.”

COLORADO TERROR DEFENDANT CHALLENGES CONSTITUTIONALITY OF NSA WARRANTLESS WIRETAPS. The Los Angeles Times (4/7, Dilanian, 3.46M) reports that when Federal prosecutors “charged Colorado resident Jamshid Muhtorov in 2012 with providing support to a terrorist organization in his native Uzbekistan, court records suggested the FBI had secretly tapped his phones and read his emails,” but, the Times reports, the Justice Department “acknowledged in October that the National Security Agency had gathered evidence against Muhtorov under a 2008 law that authorizes foreign intelligence surveillance without warrants, much of it on the Internet.” Muhtorov in January “became the first defendant to challenge the constitutionality of that law, which allows the NSA to vacuum up phone and email conversations involving Americans as long as one end of the communication is abroad.” The Times notes that civil liberties advocates “hope the case, and other court challenges in Illinois, Oregon and New York, will focus judicial scrutiny on whether the government can use the results of foreign intelligence gathering in domestic criminal prosecutions.”

CYBERSECURITY IMPROVEMENTS CONTINUE AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT. The Washington Post (4/7, Johnson, 4.22M) reports that a “nationwide push to seriously address cybersecurity deficiencies” in local, state, and Federal IT infrastructures followed a hacking incident in August 2012 in which more than 40 million personal and financial records were stolen form the South Carolina Department of Revenue. The source attributes this growing threat to “evolving technologies, the rise of state-sponsored corporate espionage and a talent drain of valuable public-sector IT personnel.” The National Association of State Chief Information Officers considers cybersecurity to be the number one priority for 2014 as governments transition to the cloud. To address these needs, local and state governments are commonly procuring network penetration testing, virtual private networks and firewalls, identity theft and tax fraud software, IT security audits and strategic planning.

IN EFFORT TO ASSUAGE CHINESE CONCERNS, PENTAGON BRIEFS CHINESE OFFICIALS ON CYBERATTACKS. The New York Times (4/6, Sanger, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) reports that in the months ahead of Defense Secretary Hagel’s arrival in Beijing on Monday the Obama Administration “held an extraordinary briefing for the Chinese military leadership” on “the Pentagon’s emerging doctrine for defending against cyberattacks against the United States — and for using its cybertechnology against adversaries, including the Chinese.” The briefing was intended “to allay Chinese concerns about plans to more than triple the number of American cyberwarriors to 6,000 by the end of 2016.” But “the hope was to prompt the Chinese to give Washington a similar briefing.” The Chinese “have not reciprocated so far.” Pentagon officials say that the effort is “to head off what Mr. Hagel and his advisers fear is the growing possibility of a fast-escalating series of cyberattacks and counterattacks between the United States and China.”

Network TV News Coverage:

NBC: MALAYSIAN FLIGHT SEARCH. NBC Nightly News (4/6, lead story, 3:00, Holt, 7.86M) reported, “Good evening. Australian search coordinators say they are taking seriously what may be under water signals now picked up by two ships hunting for the black boxes from Malaysian airlines flight 370. At the same time officials are advising caution saying it’s ‘way too early’ to tell if they are indeed coming from the plane’s wreckage especially because the sounds have been heard in different parts of the Indian ocean. Two so-called pulses were reported by the crew of a Chinese ship in recent days. A third sound was recorded by an Australian ship operating more than 300 miles away. In now a month old search it’s seen more than its share of false leads. Officials in charge are holding their breath hoping one of those sounds will finally lead them to the ill fated plane. Our team is in place with full coverage and analysis. We start with Ian Williams in Perth, Australia. Ian.” NBC (Williams) added, “Good evening. It’s dawn now here in Perth and the search is getting under way again with renewed intensity and those important new leads but time is running out for finding the black boxes. In the remote Indian ocean searchers are chasing two leads in a race to find flight-370’s black boxes while there’s still life in their batteries. A Chinese ship scanning waters a 1,000 miles north Perth and up to 15,000 feet deep reported it’s twice detected a pulse like signal with the same frequency as the black boxes. One of the signals lasted for 90 seconds.” Angus Houston, search coordinator: “This is an important and encouraging lead. But one which I urge you to continue to treat carefully.” Williams: “Experts have questioned the effectiveness of a hand-held sonar device they reportedly used.” Greg Feith, formerly NTSB: “We know the pinger itself you have to be on top of it. If it’s at depth of 10,000, 12,000 feet you won’t hear that signal on the surface.” Williams: “Tonight a British ship has reached the area carrying its own sophisticated sound located equipment.” Feith: “The ship is going in to see if they can verify the information.” Williams: “Separately today the US Navy picked up sounds in another area 300 miles from the China. The search coordinator vows to chase every lead but describes the sounds so far detected as acoustic events rather than the continuous pulse like transmissions of a black box.” Simon Boxall, oceanographer: “There are plenty of other things out there transmitting at the same frequency. It’s an industry standard frequency for under water transmission. There’s about three this is one of them.” Williams: “With numerous false visual sightings of wreckage now fold by false acoustic leads it’s become a race against time even if the batteries last longer. We should receive some information from that British ship within the next 24 hours. But the beginning of what is a critical week for this search, Lester.”

NBC: MALAYSIAN FLIGHT-FAMILIES. NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 2, 1:05, Holt, 7.86M) reported, “The majority of the passengers on the plane were Chinese and many of their families have traveled to Malaysia to be closer to the investigation. Most of them went home today as much in the dark about what has happened as they were a month ago. Katie?” NBC (Tur) added, “They flew here to Kuala Lumpur about a week ago waving giant banners and demanding to know where their family members were. Today they have flown back home to Beijing saying they aren’t getting the answers out of Kuala Lumpur that they hoped for. They rather be at home to be with the rest of their families and present a united front. As to the latest on the acoustic signals just like the search, they are cautious, not getting their hopes up until they know exactly what those noises are. They have been fooled too many times in the past by false leads and false satellite images. These families say they are frustrated and sad. More than anything they say they feel helpless.”

NBC: MALAYSIAN FLIGHT PINGS. NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 3, 1:15, Holt, 7.86M) reported, “For more on the sounds that have been picked up from the search area and the black boxes we’re joined by a former investigator with the NTSB. Greg, we heard the report a few moments ago at one point the Chinese vessel heard this sound for about 90 seconds. Is that consistent what you’re listening for from a black box?” Greg Feith, former NTSB investigator: “Not really. That’s a continuous ping it’s not intermittent and when the battery dies it stops pinging. The pinger is either working or it isn’t. You wouldn’t have an intermittent signal. The only thing I can think of is if the signal is ricocheting off of something off the bottom of the ocean. That’s far fetched and you wouldn’t hear it at the surface.” Holt: “Let’s assume they find the blacks boxes. We understand the flight recorder has a short memory wouldn’t tell us what happened in the first part of the flight but the data recorder, would that at least tell us whether there was human intervention to the point of crash?” Feith: “Absolutely, Lester, because the recorded parameters could give investigators an understanding on whether the auto pilot was manipulating the flight controls and causing the airplane to move or if there was some human intervention through either the first officer or captain’s control yoke. You can differentiate that. That’s an element on the flight data recorder and investigators could use that information.”

NBC: SANTA BARBARA-RIOT. NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 4, 2:25, Holt, 7.86M) reported, “Authorities in southern California found themselves with a dangerous emergency on their hands when a spring break party involving 15,000 people disintegrated into chaos and violence. It happened in Santa Barbara. We get more tonight from John Yang.” NBC (Yang) added, “Overnight police said they used flash grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets to sub did you crowds throwing rocks, bricks and bottles in the beach side community near the University of California, Santa Barbara.” Unidentified speaker: “There were so many calls every where. Things on fire. Everyone is screaming.” Yang: “Videos were quickly posted on social media. It took until this morning to restore order. Authorities said the trouble escalated around 9:30 Saturday night when a police officer trying to break up a fight was hit in the head with a backpack filled with bottles. There were more than 100 arrests and at least 44 people were taken to the hospital. Among the injured, at least six officers including one hit in the face with a brick. Earlier authorities responded to reports of a stabbing and people carrying weapons. Many hospitalized were drunk. A nationwide student survey last year ranked UC Santa Barbara as the number two top party school. The unsanctioned annual spring break party had its own Facebook page and draws large crowds of young people from around the region. Today on Facebook many blamed visitors for the problem. ‘Thank you out of towners for making a mess that we as IV residents have to deal with. What happened tonight is an embarrassment. Thanks tourists.’ Others said it wasn’t so simple. ‘If anybody actually believe out of towners caused 100 percent of the damage yesterday, come on, really?’ As tonight a seaside community cleans up after an unwelcomed right of spring. John Yang, NBC news.”

NBC: DETROIT-MOTORIST ATTACK. NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 5, 2:05, Holt, 7.86M) reported, “In Detroit tonight two teenagers are under arrest in connection with a brutal beating of a motorist who stopped to check on a boy after running into the child with his pickup truck. The beating sparked outrage in that city and beyond. We get more on that tonight from Ron Allen.” NBC (Allen) added, “Fifty four-year-old Steve Utash clings to life in a medically induced coma since last Wednesday. This picture shows his two daughters holding his hand.” Felicia Utash, victim’s daughter: “It’s hard to see him laying in bed not knowing who we are, where he is or what’s going on.” Allen: “A gas station security camera captured what happened. A 10-year-old boy with other pedestrians steps into the street. Steve driving home hits the boy with his pickup truck, the impact too graphic to show. People respond. What you can’t see is that he stops. Gets out of his truck to help. And police say about a dozen by standers attack and severely beat him. This is where he got beat up.” Mandi Emerick, victim’s daughter: “I don’t understand they were so angry at him. If you’re that concerned about the kid. Why are you jumping on my dad?” Allen: “Detroit’s mayor urged anyone with information to step forward so justice can be served. Investigators have said it appears he was not violating any traffic laws.” Michael Woody, Detroit Police Department: “The child was the one that stepped out in front of his vehicle. This particular gentleman did stop, did try to render aid.” Allen: “The 10-year-old is home, treated and released from a hospital while the family maintains a bedside vigil.” Max Mohr, victim’s brother in law: “I pray to God he better make it. They are saying that they don’t know for sure yet.” Allen: “An appeal for justice has raised more than 90,000 dollars. Two teenagers have been arrested with ten more suspects still at large. While the family hopes their father survives. Ron Allen, NBC news.”

NBC: FORT HOOD SHOOTING. NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 6, 2:00, Potter, 7.86M) reported, “We’re learning more tonight about the events leading to that shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas in which three people were killed before the suspect took his own life. Our report tonight from NBC’s Mark Potter.” NBC (Potter) added, “At Sunday services near Fort Hood the shooting victims and their families were in everyone’s prayers. Among those feeling very grateful today is Theotos Westbrook who feared he lost his only son in the shooting spree. His son sergeant Jonathan Westbrook survived after being wounded in the chest and arm by a gunman identified as specialist Ivan Lopez. Westbrook said he was told the shooting began in his son’s human resource officers after Lopez got in an argument with others and told to come back later after requesting a leave of absence form. He returned with a handgun and shot three people.” Theotos Westbrook, victim’s father: “He was like okay buddy you’re next without actually saying that and my son, you know, is reading all this from the shooter’s eyes. Then he pulled the trigger and shot my son.” Potter: “A new aerial diagram released by the US Army showed the shooting spree covered a two block area. Westbrook was shot inside the 49th transportation battalion headquarters. The first 911 call came in at 4:16 P.M. Wednesday, April second. Lopez then got in his car and fired at others as he drove. After being confronted by a military police officer in a parking lot, he then shot and killed himself leaving behind three dead and 16 wounded. On Wednesday President Obama will return to Fort Hood for a memorial service. He was also here in 2009 after the shooting massacre then left 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded. Lester?”

NBC: CLIMATE CHANGE DOCUMENTARY. NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 7, 2:20, Holt, 7.86M) reported, “We’re back now with an intriguing look at some of the extremes we’ve been seeing in weather and climate around the world. For the last year, Ann curry and NBC news has been tracking these changes from one end of the earth to the other for a documentary airing tonight on NBC.” NBC (Curry) added, “Jim Houston leads Laguna’s Hot Shots, an elite group on front lines of fires. How have fires changed since you started fighting them?” Jim Houston, Laguna Hot Shots: “When I started in ‘89 to now the fire seasons have gone much longer. When I first started it was within a six month period basically June to November.” Curry: “That has changed dramatically.” Houston: “We joke about it being a year round fire season.” Tom Wagner, NASA: “We can say some general things we expect to happen as the planet warms and one of those things is that the southwest will get drier.” Curry: “We have what seems to be at least for now a very abnormal situation.” Wagner: “Well, not abnormal as this is ‘the new normal.’” Curry: “That new normal has sparked a new theory about wildfires. A theory that led us to the top of the world. American glaciologist Jason Box has been studying arctic ice for 20 years. He said the ice is melting on a scale and speed scientists never imagined possible. He has a surprising new theory about what may be speeding up the warming.” Jason Box, glaciologist: “You can see it’s wanting to pull.” Curry: “The pristine ice looked dirty gray in places.” Box: “That’s from wildfire soot.” Curry: “It was hard to imagine that he was saying soot from wildfires in north America had traveled all the way here, coating the ice with carbon particles, transforming it into what he calls dark snow.” Box: “Light absorbing impurities trap more sunlight and that can hasten the melting process.” Curry: “Soot potentially adding to the cycle’ of melting climate scientists say we all need to know more about. Ann Curry, NBC news the arctic.”

NBC: NCAA-FINAL TWO. NBC Nightly News (4/6, story 8, 0:25, Holt, 7.86M) reported, “In case you missed it last night college basketball at its best as the final four became the final two. First game University of Connecticut Huskies knocked out Florida while in the second game Kentucky, with it’s all freshman starting lineup, overcame Wisconsin in a thrilling finish, 74-73. So it’s UConn against Kentucky in the national championship game tomorrow night.”

CBS: MALAYSIAN FLIGHT SEARCH. The CBS Evening News (4/6, lead story, 2:10, Glor) reported, “Flight 370 has now been missing for 30 days. But searchers may have their best lead yet tonight. Three pulse signals are what they call acoustic events were detected underwater this weekend. Chinese searchers discovered two of them a thousand miles northwest of Perth. About 300 miles away an Australian ship found another signal. The hope, they may be from the black boxes. We begin with Seth Doane in Beijing.” CBS (Doane) added, “The HMS Echo will use sophisticated listening equipment to try to verify whether those electronic pulses were coming from the missing jetliner’s black boxes. The Chinese vessel that reported detecting those pulses on Friday and Saturday is working in water nearly 15,000 feet deep. Angus Houston who is coordinating the search warned that there are lots of noises in the ocean.” Angus Houston, Australian search leader: “We’re dealing with very deep water. We’re dealing with an environment where sometimes you can get false indications.” Doane: “The separate signals picked up today were 300 nautical miles away. Detected by a pinger locater on board this Australian ship, the ocean shield.” Houston: “Ocean Shield is probably the best equipped of all the ships out there to investigate this sort of acoustic occurrence. She obviously has the towed pinger but she also has a remotely operated vehicle which is highly capable.” Doane: “Officials also revealed today that a correction to existing satellite data has teams focusing on the southernmost part of the search area. In Malaysia families prayed. With no wreckage identified, some prayed for a miracle. And for 370s safe return home, without concrete evidence they’re clinging to hope. Now this search is taking on new urgency. The batteries on those locator beacons on those black boxes are only supposed to last for about a month after they’re submerged. Today, Jeff, was the 30th day of the search.”

CBS: AIR TRAVEL-SECURITY. The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 2, 1:55, Glor) reported, “Flight 370 exposed one major gap in air security. The widespread lack of passport screening by most countries. Two passengers on board were traveling on stolen passports. That’s now prompted the US to add screening for all passengers leaving the country. Here’s Mark Albert.” CBS (Albert) added, “The US screens air travelers through many databases looking for terrorists be wanted criminals and more. Their passports are also screened through Interpol’s stolen and lost travel document database. But until now only for incoming passengers, not those leaving. Now the documents of all departing passengers will be checked to make sure they’re not fraudulent. The change came to light Friday during a congressional hearing. John Wagner from customs and border protection told Texas congressman Sheila Jackson-Lee his agency started screening passports of departing flyers after flight 370 disappeared. Andrew Farrelly say former director of tracking programs at Dumas border protection. Will adding this database make passengers safer?” Andrew Farrelly, former Dumas border protection director: “I think that up coupled with this information and the new abilities to act on that information definitely makes air travel a lot safer.” Albert: “Farrelly says CBP debated making the change for years but did not have enough staff or resources to track down all the passports that might be flagged.” Farrelly: “There were other priorities that required attention particularly on outbound. This event, you know, this tragic event of the Malaysia flight really does offer some highlights to things that you can do better.” Albert: “Customs and border protection tells CBS News the new passport screening happens behind the scenes, and shouldn’t delay outgoing international flights. Jeff?”

CBS: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIOT. CBS Evening News (4/6, story 3, 0:20, Glor) reported, “A huge party became a riot last night near the University of California, Santa Barbara. Much of the mayhem was posted in videos online. It was a crowd of 15,000 people. And at one point police responded to a reports of a stabbing. The crowd started pelting them with beer bottles and more. 44 people wound up in the hospital, over 100 were arrested.”

CBS: ROYAL FAMILY-TRAVEL. The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 4, 1:30, Glor) reported, “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are just arriving Monday morning local time for a three week trip to New Zealand and Australia. It is their first overseas trip with Prince George, here’s Kelly Cobiella.” CBS (Cobiella) added, “Prince George May be the heir to the British throne but his parents want to be the picture of a modern family. So Will and Kate have taken their eight month old son on a business trip. When Prince Charles and Princess Diana took nine month old William down under in 1983 it was revolutionary. Royal babies always stayed home with the nanny. But Charles and Di took the nanny on the road along with a team of 20, including a chef just for William. The young prince was a hit. Will and Kate have a team of a dozen. There is a hairdresser for the Duchess, a nanny for George. Their every move will be tracked on Twitter #royalvisitnz. But this is a working trip. To win over the people without don’t see the need for a royal family. Royal commentator Roya Nikkhah.” Roya Nikkhah, royal commentator: “They are the megawatt rock star quality about them when you see them abroad.” Cobiella: “Add an eight month old baby is that the secret weapon?” Nikkah: “Add an eight month old baby to the mix, I suspect this trip will buy the monarchy another 100 years in Australia and New Zealand.” Cobiella: “The public may not see much of George. He has no official schedule and could spend the bulk of his first overseas tour safely tucked away with his nanny. Kelly Cobiella, CBS News, London.”

CBS: SEVERE WEATHER. The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 5, 0:25, Glor) reported, “Severe thunderstorms are pounding the Southeast today. And they won’t let up soon. The heavy rain is already creating heavy flooding in parts of east Texas. Overwhelming roads and parking lots and washing up against homes. Up to four inches of rain is expected across a wide stretch of the area and more flooding could follow. No tornado warnings yet but people are advised to prepare for the worst.”

CBS: GENERAL MOTORS REPAIRS. The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 6, 0:15, Glor) reported, “General Motors starts making repairs on more than two million recalled cars this week over those faulty ignition switches. The bad switches can disable safety systems including power steering and air bags. The repairs could take months to finish.”

CBS: GOVERNMENT-TEXTING WHILE DRIVING ADS. The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 7, 2:05, Glor) reported, “The government is releasing a series of ads this week that use violent imagery in the fight against texting or talking while driving. Will the ads make a difference? Here’s Anne-Marie Green.” CBS (Green) added, “This multimillion dollar ad is meant to shock and scare drivers into changing their behavior. It’s a tactic to works, accord together National Highway Traffic Safety Administration studies in California, New York and Delaware showed ad campaigned combined with increased enforcement caused handheld phone use to drop by a third. The reductions were smaller in communities without the ad campaign. This drunken driving ad combines the threat of punishment with humiliation. American University professor Leonard Steinhorn says the most effective campaigns use shame, embarrassment or humor rather than just fear and threats.” Leonard Steinhorn, American University: “Do you legitimize the behavior or make it seem like by doing that people look at you and wonder, you know, where are you coming from?” Green: “In Australia the pinkie campaign poked fun at men who speed by embarrassing them with the physical gesture that in Australia means a man is overcompensating for what he lacks. The tag line, speeding, no one thinks big of you. It is now a case study professor Steinhorn uses in his class.” Steinhorn: “A far better approach is to make it seem embarrassing or unintelligent or something that people do that you don’t want to be associated with. That it’s sort of a stupid behavior.” Green: “After this dramatic CDC anti-smoking campaign ran the number of nonsmokers urging smokers to quit nearly doubled. Whether this new graphic distracted driving campaign can have that level of success will depend on how many get the message, not to send one.”

CBS: JOB MARKET RECOVERY. The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 8, 1:50, Glor) reported, “The jobs market hit a milestone in March. Businesses added 192,000 new jobs, finally regaining all the jobs lost in the great recession. As a result, private sector jobs are now at a record high 116 million. CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger is here with us. Reason to celebrate?” CBS (Schlesinger) added, “I love a milestone, I think is great news but we lost a lot of government jobs. So in order to get back to total payroll employment where we were before the recession we have to add over 400,000 more position, so we still do have a ways to go. I also want to remind you, of course we have 10.5 million people still out of work. So the job market is not completely healed but it’s great news.” Glor: “Economists blame this bitter winter for slowing the job market down, what is the future?” Schlesinger: “I think the things are looking good. I speak to a lot of different economists who see some green shoots in the data. So a few things to think about. Gallop saw its employment index rise to the best level since 2008 which is fantastic news. We know that small businesses are actually complaining that they can’t find people, well, they weren’t hiring. So looking for people is a really good sign. I think we’re going to see a pickup in employment.” Glor: “Worth pointing out. Many of these jobs are low wage positions, these new ones. Where and when do the high paying positions emerge?” Schlesinger: “Well, I think it’s sector by sector and it’s also geographic. We have seen fantastic wage growth in the bay area in San Francisco area. We’ve certainly seen great wage growth in Texas. We’ve seen terrific news in North Dakota. There are certain sectors like high-tech and energy producing jobs, even real estate has come back. So I’m feeling kind of bullish about this. I feel like the spring is here so everyone’s mood should improve on the job market, as well as the weather.”

CBS: NASA-FLARE VIDEO. The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 9, 0:20, Glor) reported, “Talk about a flare for the dramatics. NASA today released this video wow, a flare had erupted on the sun this past Wednesday. Big as it looks NASA says it’s only mid-sized flare We’re told its radiation cannot harm us on earth but it could affect GPS or communications signals.”

CBS: CHILDREN OF WAR FOUNDATION-AFGHAN CHILD. The CBS Evening News (4/6, story 10, 2:15, Glor) reported, “Finally tonight on this milestone weekend when elections attracted a record turnouts a young Afghan girl severely injured by war is heading back to her homeland with hope for a new country and for a new life. Teri Okita has her story.” CBS (Okita) added, “Seven-year-old Shah Bibi came to the US as another victim of violence in Afghanistan. Losing an arm and an eye to an exploding grenade. She was brought here by the Children of War Foundation. Executive director Amel Najjar.” Amel Najjar, executive program director: “When I first saw her she was famished, almost lifeless. She wouldn’t look at me in the eyes. She didn’t smile.” Okita: “In three months doctors from Shriners Hospital has fit her with a prosthetic arm, pulled shrapnel from her wounds and performed extensive dental surgery.” Najjar: “She wanted more than anything in the world to look normal.” Okita: “What kind of a difference do you see in her now?” Najjar: “She has transformed into a completely different person. She smiles. She sings. She dances.” Okita: “And she has learned to paint. Along with reading and writing, all forbidden by the Taliban which now controls her family’s village. On Tuesday Shah Bibi will return to Afghanistan and to an uncertain future.” Najjar: “She’s been exposed to American culture. That could ultimately put her in danger. That is in the back of my mind every day. We know she’s going into the middle of a war zone right now. Especially with the elections, the suicide bombers and everything that’s happened in the past few days.” Okita: “But for now all the “what ifs” are less important than what Shah Bibi has become. This summer she will return for even more extensive reconstructive surgery. Dr. Mark Urata.” Mark Urata, doctor: “The more she begins to look like other children of her age, the more she, in fact, will feel like other children of her age let it go can’t hold me back any more.” Okita: “What is your prognosis now?” Urata: “I think her prognosis is great. I think she has a real good chance of having a normal life.”

ABC: MALAYSIAN FLIGHT SEARCH. ABC World News (4/6, lead story, 2:25, Muir) reported, “Good evening. Great to have you with us on a Sunday night. We do begin with new clues in that investigation. Sounds heard in the Indian ocean and the obvious question tonight, are they coming from the black boxes or are they something else? We are all familiar with that possible flight path and you’ll remember last night here we told you about the first two sounds heard by a Chinese ship. Tonight, the newest signal heard by a crew on an Australian ship several hundred miles away. This evening, a British ship equipped with sonar equipment is listening for those pings. But they are being very careful before saying this is a solid lead. Let’s begin with ABC’s Clayton Sandell in Australia for us. Clayton?” ABC (Sandell) added, “Good evening, David. Tonight, that British ship, the Echo, is trying to confirm what the Chinese say they heard in those signals and now the Australians are chasing their own new lead. They are promising but cautious clues. Mysterious underwater sounds picked up three times now. The first two, detected Friday and Saturday, about a mile apart, by a Chinese navy ship. The third sound, heard overnight by Australia’s Ocean Shield, about 350 miles away. But officials warn, they do not know yet if these signals are coming from Malaysia 370’s black box recorders.” Angus Houston, former Australian Air Chief Marshal: “This is an important and encouraging lead. But one which I urge you to continue to treat carefully. We are working in a very big ocean and within a very large search area.” Sandell: “They have reason to be cautious. The Chinese are reportedly using this simple hand-held device to hear those pings, Gear, the manufacturer says would likely not be able to hear the black box beacons in such deep water.” Houston: “We’re dealing with an environment where sometimes you can get false indications.” Sandell: “A Chinese state media reporter on board the ship says even the crew is skeptical. Also today, teams on the air in the water shifted their focus further south, because a new analysis of satellite data reveals the Boeing 777 may have been flying faster than thought. It is a true race against time, as critical hours are passing before those black box pinger batteries run out. David?”

ABC: MALAYSIAN FLIGHT-SOUNDS. ABC World News (4/6, story 2, 1:15, Muir) reported, “As you mentioned there, with time running out, let’s bring back in John Nance, a pilot himself. And John, as you said last night here, a lot of caution with this. These hydrophones can pick up a lot of different sounds under water. With those pulses picked up by two different ships now, are they likely hearing two different things here?” John Nance, consultant: “Absolutely, David. They’ve got to be, because the pingers on the black boxes simply can’t travel more than a few miles.” Muir: “We know the HMS Echo now on site. What capabilities are we talking about and are they going to be able to confirm or rule out the pulses quickly?” Nance: “This is a very sophisticated ship. They will be able to absolutely listen if they hear anything, they’ll be able to send on a drone for instance. We’re showing you now. And with hydrophones and those things, they will be able to get to the source. If it is coming from the black boxes, they’ll find it quickly.” Muir: “How quickly do they get to the black box?” Nance: “Probably three or four hours to get it over the side and stabilized down there, three miles, almost two and a half miles below. That’s not very long, considering the stakes here.”

ABC: FORT HOOD SHOOTING. ABC World News (4/6, story 3, 1:50, Muir) reported, “We’re going to turn now to Fort Hood, Texas, where this Sunday was a day of prayer for the victims of that shooting. This week, President Obama and the First Lady will be there for a memorial. Tonight here, authorities revealing the timeline, just how long the horror lasted, and when it was those wounded soldiers bravely reached for their cell phones to call 911. ABC’s Alex Perez is in Texas again for us tonight.” ABC (Perez) added, “Sunday’s services in Killeen, Texas, today, a tribute to the three soldiers killed and 16 injured. And tonight, new details show a community that has witnessed horror before and was prepared to act fast. At 4:16 P.M., that 911 call, shots fired. Lopez gets in his car, drives down the street, firing as he drives, traveling more than two blocks before he is confronted by a female military police officer and turns the gun on himself. First responders on the scene within four minutes. The entire base placed on lockdown. It would be another almost four hours before that lockdown was finally lifted. Sergeant Jonathan Westbrook was shot twice in the arm and twice in the chest. He’s finally reunited with his family this weekend. But private second class Dion Josephs is still fighting for his life. He actually knew Lopez.” Unidentified speaker: “He was friends with him. The shooter was from his same unit.” Perez: “Josephs, now in critical condition with a bullet lodged in the back of his neck. His family by his bedside.” Darren Jospehs, victim’s brother: “That’s all I hope for, that he’s able to walk again and he can stay in had army. That’s his dream, to be in the army.” Perez: “And tonight, six shooting victims remain in the hospital. Thousands now prepare for that memorial mere later this week. David?”

ABC: SEVERE WEATHER. ABC World News (4/6, story 4, 1:00, Muir) reported, “And to the weather this evening, and the violent storms battering the southeast this Sunday. The radar late today showing the system on the move. Up see it right there, bringing drenching rains and fierce winds that could kick up tornadoes overnight and right into tomorrow. We want to bring in Jeff Smith from WABC who is tracking this. Jeff, you told me, there are watches up right now.” ABC (Smith) added, “We have a tornado watch for southwestern Louisiana. This will extend east, this severe weather threat, into tonight, over parts of Mississippi and Alabama. Strong winds, small hail, maybe an isolated tornado in that area. Rainfall, little over four inches of rain in that red area.” Muir: “Going be a tough 24 hours ahead. For viewers out west watching us, they’re feeling the heat.” Smith: “Near record warmth out there. Los Angeles, 88 during the day tomorrow. Even hotter on Tuesday. Ninety in LA, 94 in phoenix. This is bad news for California, too. Ninety five percent of the state, still in a severe drought.”


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