Greg Hamilton's 'perception problem'
The Travis County Sheriff's Office is taking convenience to a new level. In February, Sheriff Greg Hamilton allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to set up shop in the Travis County Jail. While this move saves officers some legwork in their prosecution of illegal aliens, the implications of the deal have angered immigrants' rights groups. Members of the Workers Defense Project have condemned the arrangement, saying the sheriff's office is enabling ICE to more easily, and quietly, enforce its harsh Criminal Alien Program.
Travis County District Attorney candidate and former first assistant DA Rosemary Lehmberg said in an interview with the Texan that Hamilton's decision was a "perception problem" that was not meant to be a political statement nor a comment on illegal immigration. Judges, she explained, prefer not to put non-citizens on probation, which means that illegal aliens sometimes receive more jail time and thus make up a large portion of Travis County's jail population.
So, Hamilton inserted ICE in the Travis County Jail with pragmatic intentions: ICE has to review a great number of cases daily, so why not just let them do their job on site? Whatever the excuse, the sketchy ethics emerging from this case are a result of the leader of our county's law enforcement program's dim logic. Hamilton can begin to redeem himself by outsourcing ICE immediately.
Don't feel like graduating? Join the Border Patrol.
Only 58.2 percent of Austin's high school students earn a diplomaI, according to a study released Tuesday by Editorial Projects in Education Inc., a nonprofit that publishes materials related to pre-college education. And looking at the national average, graduating high school carries about the same odds as a coin toss. These results are disheartening to most, but probably don't mean a thing to the U.S. Border Patrol, which doesn't even require that its employees have a high school education.
The Border Patrol has no educational prerequisites for its employees, despite the fact that other federal agencies, such as the FBI, require recruits to have not only college experience but professional experience, too. And because the Bush administration is putting pressure on the agency to expand its troops from 15,000 agents to more than 18,000 agents by the end of the year, its current standards are lower than ever. Historically, the Border Patrol did not require formal educational backgrounds for its recruits because most employees came from ranches and had the necessary know-how to do the job. Today, if you've completed middle school and are a warm body, you can be a crucial component of Bush's human U.S.-Mexico barrier. And if you can speak a little bit of Spanish, you'll be exempted from 30 days of training.
So, students, why spend any more time in college collecting debt, when you can join the Border Patrol for free?
Not-so-sweet 16
Who knew MTV's cult hit show "My Super Sweet 16" could serve as a whistleblower for corrupt business practices? A February 2007 episode featured Ariel, the daughter of a Kentucky oil tycoon, as she celebrated her birthday with horse-drawn carriages, helicopters, fireworks and a BMW 325i from her father. But apparently, tweens aren't the only ones watching MTV. According to The New York Times, Ariel's father, Gary Milby, came under investigation from the government for fraudulently soliciting investments in oil wells to finance his opulent lifestyle after the show aired. Federal investigators have struck black gold with Milby's case. Over the period of a year and a half, Milby raised $19 million from more than 300 investors to drill new wells, $12 million of which he placed in trust funds and offshore accounts for Ariel, presumably. Milby is currently facing a felony fraud charge, and the case is ongoing.
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