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Illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border has continued to fall under President Trump, dropping 67 percent through the end of March, the former border commissioner told Congress on Tuesday.

Thats even bigger than the drop reported for February, when the number of illegal immigrants caught a yardstick for the overall flow dropped by 40 percent.

Its actually up to 67 percent drop compared to last year, David V. Aguilar, a former chief of the Border Patrol and former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the numbers Mr. Aguilar cited.

The agency has been releasing its monthly figures each month, though the March figures have not been released.

But a drop anywhere close to the 67 percent figure Mr. Aguilar cited would be stunning, and suggests the early steps the president has taken to free up agents to enforce immigration laws at the interior and the border, and his plans to build a border wall, have deterred tens of thousands of would-be crossers.

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Mr. Aguilar said these kinds of drops have occurred before, during the Reagan administration, after Congress passed a broad amnesty granting legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, and promised to get tough on enforcement.

The legalization followed, but the tough enforcement didnt come and illegal immigration soared in the ensuing 20 years.

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Illegal immigration down 67 percent under Trump: Former commissioner - Washington Times

BOSTON The state of Massachusetts on Tuesday asked its top court to find that state authorities lack the authority to detain illegal immigrants who come in contact with the legal system to buy time for federal authorities to take them into custody.

The hearing amounted to a challenge to requests by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency for courts and law enforcement agencies to keep illegal immigrants facing civil deportation orders in custody for up to 48 hours after their cases are resolved, a practice expected to step up under the administration of President Donald Trump.

The state argued that keeping someone in custody after his or her case is resolved amounted to a fresh arrest of the person without sufficient legal justification.

"Probable cause for civil removability is simply not a basis for arrest under Massachusetts law," Jessica Barnett, an assistant state attorney general told the court. She noted that state law does not specifically give law enforcement agencies the power to arrest people facing civil deportation proceedings.

The U.S. Justice Department argued the detainer requests reflect basic practices of cooperation between various law enforcement agencies.

"From our perspective, all states have an inherent authority to police their sovereignty," said Joshua Press, the lawyer representing the Justice Department.

The case was sparked by the arrest last year of Sreynuon Lunn, a man who Press said entered the United States as a refugee in 1985 and was ordered deported to Cambodia in 2008 after a series of criminal convictions.

Cambodia had declined to accept him and he was released. He was arrested in Boston on an unarmed robbery charge and ordered released in February after prosecutors failed to present a case. While he was waiting to be let out from his court holding cell, federal ICE officials took him into custody.

As a practical matter, his arrest by ICE makes the case moot but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court agreed to take the case on premise that cooperation between law enforcement in the state and ICE would come up again.

Trump has made immigration enforcement a centerpiece of his presidency, vowing to wall off the Mexican border, deport an estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the country and cut off Justice Department grants to cities that fail to help U.S. immigration authorities.

Attorneys for Lunn and the state largely agreed on the matter, with both sides contending that state agencies lacked authority to comply with the ICE detainer requests. But Lunn's attorneys went further, arguing that the detainer process violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantees of due process because judges are not involved in issuing them.

"There is no fixing the constitutional problems here," said Emma Winger, a public defense attorney representing Lunn.

Lunn's attorneys have declined to answer questions about the status of the deportation case. The court did not immediately rule on the matter.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Marguerita Choy)

CLEVELAND One of two men suspected of opening fire in a crowded Cincinnati nightclub, killing one person and injuring 16 others, died on Tuesday as a result of gunshot wounds suffered in the shootout, police said.

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. A Pennsylvania survivalist accused of killing a state trooper in a 2014 sniper attack goes on trial on Tuesday, in a case that had put the state's Pocono Mountain region on edge when the suspect evaded capture for weeks by hiding deep in the woods.

A New Jersey teen has pleaded guilty to participating in a plot to try to kill Pope Francis in 2015 during a public Mass in Philadelphia, according to a statement by federal prosecutors.

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Massachusetts challenges immigration detention in state court - Reuters

Under President Obama, the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration helped illegal aliens to steal Social Security numbers and engage in identity theft. That practice hurt adults,children, and even the unborn, who sometimes receive identities that have already been stolen.

As President Trump mulls how best to construct a wall in years ahead, he should realize that he could make an immediate difference by ending this failed policy of his predecessor.

Since roughly 50 percent of SSNs have been issued by the Social Security Administration (about453 millionto date), there is a 50-50 chance that a made up SSN belongs to an American citizen or legal resident. In some cases, dealers use the stolen SSNs of American citizens and legal residents.

Illegal aliens generally prefer SSNs that have not yet been legally issued or, failing that, the SSNs that belong to American children since these numbers can be used for years without anyone knowing it except the IRS and the Social Security Administration.

However, the Social Security Administration does not remove unassigned SSNs used by illegal immigrants from its database. That means the numbers are eventually assigned to newborn, American infants. Neither theSocial Security Administrationnor theIRSnotifies American citizens when their or their childrens SSNs are used by others. In other words, the federal government has facilitated identity theft and protected the identity thieves.

This protection has extended to state and local law enforcement officials as well, including former Salt Lake Police ChiefChris Burbankwho wascaughtjustifying and laughing about the theft, despite the fact that their victims, including an estimated80,000Utah children, suffer serious harm.

According toa press releaseissued by the Utah Attorney Generals Office concerning a crime spree involving illegal aliens and identities stolen from victims under the age of 12, Identity thieves are no respecters of age. They will steal your children's ID, ruin their credit and hurt them in ways never thought possible before they can graduate from grade school. Children are vulnerable even if parents do everything right."

At the federal level, IRS Commissioner John Koskinentold Congressthat the use of stolen SSNs for employment purposes and to pay taxes is not the normal identity theft situation.

Some government agencies even create fraudulent SSNs for illegal aliens so they can obtain government benefits that they are not eligible to receive. For example, a Utah Medicaid officialdefended the practiceof state authorized workers creating fake SSNs so illegal aliens could enroll in the"Baby Your Baby"program, even though many of the randomly created SSNs could and did match the Social Security numbers of people in Maine and New Hampshireincluding the SSN of a deputy Police Chief.

Despite what the advocates of illegal aliens say and the stance taken by government officials, illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. When an illegal alien uses another persons SSN, the victims credit rating can be destroyed. The illegal aliens criminal records will attach to the victims SSN which creates serious problems whenever an entity runs a background check on the victim. The illegal aliens wages will be attributed to the victims SSN as will unpaid tax liabilities on those earnings. The IRS may then go after the victim for the payment of back taxes on income that the victim didnt receive.

Victims may also be denied means-tested benefits such as Medicaid or student financial aid because of the illegal aliens earnings, which are credited to the SSN. In addition, the victims medical records may be compromised with life threatening consequences. It is a long, drawn-out process to clear ones name.

President Trump should demand that the SSA and the IRS stop facilitating identity theft, and he should demand that Koskinen resign from the IRS if he is unwilling to do so. Those actions would contribute immediately towards "draining the swamp" in Washington.

Ronald Mortensen is a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies(@wwwCISorg), a nonprofit group that advocates for legal immigration. He holds a Ph.D from the University of Utah and previously worked as a Foreign Service Officer.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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President Trump: Tell the feds to stop helping illegal aliens commit ... - The Hill (blog)

Questions and answers of general interest and consumer topics.

Q: How much does it cost North Carolina taxpayers annually to support illegal immigration? Please include judicial system, education, medical, etc. E.B., Fayetteville

A: Theres a few answers to this, depending on who you ask. The nonprofit organization Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates illegal immigration costs taxpayers roughly $2 billion a year.

The figure equates to $578 for every household headed by a native-born or naturalized American citizen, according to a 2014 report from the organization advocating for immigration reform for future generations.

The report also breaks down the economic impact of illegal immigration in different areas: $1.3 million on education for grades K-12, $232 million for health care, $216 million for justice and law enforcement, $212 million for general government services and $79 million for public assistance.

This concentration of illegal aliens 4.3 percent of the overall population is higher than the national average of 3.9 percent, and ranks North Carolina as the 11th most impacted state in the country.

But other experts and some organizations say the results are flawed. A report from WBTV said The Latin American Coalition questions the study, noting there are benefits illegal immigrants bring to the country for which the study doesnt account.

Alicia Banks

Q: My apartment complex sends out a newsletter. It said remember Tax Day is April 15, but thats a Saturday. Is that correct? M.R., Fayetteville

A: An honest, easy mistake to make, M.R. It stays within the workweek, and this year the deadline date is Tuesday, April 18.

So why April 18?

Washington, D.C., celebrates Emancipation Day on April 16, or the nearest weekday. The 16th is a Sunday this year, so the holiday is observed on a Monday. Per tax law, legal holidays in the District of Columbia affect the filing deadlines across the nation.

That puts all the states filing on the same day this year; Maine and Massachusetts celebrate Patriots Day on the third Monday of April each year and last year that meant those two filed on April 19 a Tuesday while everyone else filed on that Monday.

Emancipation Day celebrates the anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln signing the Compensated Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862. Patriots Day commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775.

Alan Wooten

Live Wire seeks to answer questions of general interest and consumer topics. Initials are used to identify questioners when names are given. Contact Live Wire at livewire@fayobserver.com or at 486-3516.

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Live Wire: Cost of illegal immigrants depends on source - Fayetteville Observer

A California law that allows undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses reduced the number of hit-and-run accidents statewide by about 7 percent in its first year of implementation, according to a Stanford University study released Monday.

The study is the first to explore the initial effects of Assembly Bill 60 since it took effect in January 2015. Hit-and-run accidents in California decreased by an estimated 4,000 in 2015 alone, saving drivers who were not at fault in crashes an estimated $3.5 million in out-of-pocket repair costs, according to the report. It also noted that because hit-and-runs can often result in injured people being left at the scene of accidents without getting immediate medical attention, AB 60 has no doubt improved public safety and saved lives.

The study was done by Stanfords Immigration Policy Lab, a social science research lab that evaluates immigration and assimilation policy in the U.S. and Europe. Ithighlights a controversial topic that has sparked widespread debate for years.

Immigration advocates have argued that many undocumented immigrants, like most Californians, rely heavily on their cars to go to work. So losing their vehicles to impoundment, which resulted because they werent licensed or insured, cost hundreds of dollars and jeopardized their employment which gave them an incentive to flee accidents, the advocates say.

Twelve states and the District of Columbia have adopted laws that allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses if they can provide proof of state residency and pass standard written exams and road tests.

Gina Gates and her ex-husband lead free local workshops that prepare immigrants to apply for drivers licenses under AB 60. As many as 100 people attend the workshop at times, and an estimated 2,000 undocumented immigrants have completed the program since it started two years ago, according to the 58-year-old San Jose resident.

Gates, who is Mexican-American, said the reports findings arent surprising to her because they reflect the freewheeling discussions among undocumented immigrants in class.

Before, it was like they had to sneak around while driving, she said. This gives them legitimacy. They get that license and to them its gold.

Critics of the law, however, contend that it grants undocumented immigrants a privilege they dont deserve and makes it easier for them to skirt federal laws aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from being gainfully employed. Before AB 60 was passed, critics warned that it also could increase the number of traffic accidents because undocumented immigrants who tend to drive older cars and may not understand road signs in English would drive more frequently and for longer distances.

But the Stanford study concluded that the overall number of accidents and traffic fatalities were unaffected during the first year.

More than 600,000 undocumented immigrants in California obtained drivers licenses under AB 60 in its first year of implementation. The Department of Motor Vehicles has since issued an additional 250,000 licenses, according to spokesman Artemio Armenta.

AB 60 licenses are marked with the term federal limits apply, meaning that they cannot be used by immigrants as federal identification for example, getting through airport security.

The authors of the report Stanford political scientists Jens Hainmueller and Hans Lueders, along with Duncan Lawrence, executive director of the Immigration Policy Lab say they wanted to provide concrete research on the effects of the law.

When individuals are able to drive to work and take their kids to school and are able to drive legally, the community as a whole benefits, Lawrence said. Not only are people safer, but there are cost savings associated with that.

The three researchers studied the number of active drivers licenses in California between January 2006 and December 2015. With the DMV data, they estimated the number of AB 60 licenses in each county by comparing the total number of drivers licenses before and after implementation of the law.

Monthly data on accidents reported by the California Highway Patrols statewide traffic record system was used to measure the effects of AB 60 on traffic safety.

The report found that hit-and-runs decreased about 10 percent in counties that have a large number of AB 60 drivers, among them Santa Cruz, Monterey, Napa and Fresno counties. In general, the higher the share of AB 60 drivers in a particular county, the more hit-and-runs decreased, Hainmueller said.

Joe Guzzardi, spokesman for the grass-roots group Californians for Population Stabilization, said hes still not convinced the law was a good idea.

If hit-and-run driving crimes are down because licensed illegal immigrants are more willing to report their accidents, California is better for it, he said. But when AB 60 was working its way through the Legislature, Californians for Population Stabilization opposed it because, among other reasons, it would make it easier for illegal immigrants to get jobs that should go to unemployed or underemployed citizens and legal immigrants.

The law is another entitlement for people that are in California illegally, Guzzardi said Its an incentive for more illegal immigration.

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California law granting driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants reduces hit-and-runs, Stanford report says - The Mercury News