Immigration and Customs Enforcement Frees Detainees As Sequester Looms
Posted: 02/25/2013 7:33 pm EST | Updated: 02/25/2013 8:44 pm EST

WASHINGTON — Immigration and Customs Enforcement released some people from immigrant detention facilities across the country on Monday in response to looming federal budget cuts.

“In order to make the best use of our limited detention resources in the current fiscal climate and to manage our detention population under current congressionally mandated levels, ICE has directed field offices to review the detained population to ensure it is in line with available funding,” agency spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in a statement.

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are analyzing spending as congressional inaction increases the likelihood of so-called budget sequestration — across-the-board spending cuts that begin on March 1. Detaining immigrants is an expensive business, with an average daily cost of $122 to $164 per person, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Alternatives, including ankle bracelets and parole, are far cheaper.

Christensen declined to say how many undocumented immigrants were freed on Monday or to give their locations. She said they have been “placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release.” ICE did not drop the cases against the individuals and will still deport them if ordered by an immigration judge, she said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano foreshadowed the announcement earlier in the day at a press briefing. She said ICE “will be forced” under sequestration to reduce detention and removal of undocumented immigrants.

“All I can say is, look, we’re doing our very best to minimize the impacts of sequester,” Napolitano told reporters at the White House. “But there’s only so much I can do. I’m supposed to have 34,000 detention beds for immigration. How do I pay for those?”

Immigrant rights groups began buzzing Monday with reports from detention centers, where they said low-priority detainees had been released in large numbers. Activists have long called for ICE to release some detainees, either to allow them to stay in the United States or to keep them out of prison-like detention centers until they are deported. The rights groups have argued that the Obama administration has violated its stated principle of focusing on the most dangerous undocumented immigrants in favor of padding numbers by going after low-level offenders instead, as reported by USA Today earlier this month.

The Obama administration has repeatedly said it will apply more prosecutorial discretion to immigration, releasing immigrants deemed low-priority so it can focus resources on those who are potentially dangerous or otherwise a high priority. The administration also implemented the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that has so far allowed more than 150,000 undocumented young people — often called Dreamers — to stay in the United States, work legally and drive.

According to ICE, the administration has increased the proportion of criminal immigrants it has expelled, while setting a record for deportations overall.

Advocacy groups said they were pleased that ICE released some detained undocumented immigrants.

“The people being released today are people ICE could have released months — or in some cases, years — ago,” Mohammad Abdollahi, a member of the Dreamer-led National Immigrant Youth Alliance, said in a statement. “If ICE adhered to its own policies, they would have. As the president continues to push for immigration reform, his record on deportations will only stand in greater contrast with the policies he has proposed.”

A man who punched a teenage girl and a female student, leaving them unconscious on the ground, has been jailed for four years.
Michael Ayoade, 35, was caught on CCTV staging the random attacks in Plaistow, east London.
In the second attack on November 13 last year, he jogged up behind a 16-year-old girl in the High Street and punched her in the head. The teenager fell to the ground, breaking three of her teeth.
A year earlier, Ayoade punched a university student in the side of the head at Plaistow tube station. His victim, Daniella Montieth, was taken to hospital with a broken tooth.
Passing sentence at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Roger Chapple said Ayoade, of Greengate Street, Plaistow, had launched “vicious, unprovoked attacks on young, lone females”.
He said: “These images are indeed worth many thousands of words. The footage captures graphically the shocking violence of these attacks.
“In both cases there was but one blow. In the case of (the 16-year-old) it can plainly be seen from the CCTV footage that the force behind the blow was massive.
“The ferocity of the blow that you struck to her after running up behind her with full force was truly shocking.
“In both cases the force of the blow was such as to render the victims unconscious albeit mercifully not for long.”
Ayoade, who is originally from Nigeria, followed the teenager for 800m before attacking her.
Prosecutor Joel Smith told the court Ayoade said she had “looked at him in a rude way” and that he could not go through the rest of the day having taken “an insult from a little person like that”.
Ayoade, who was arrested shortly after the attack, admitted two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and one of possessing cannabis after a bag of the drug was found at his home.
Defending, Gillian Frost said Ayoade, who had smoked three or four cannabis joints and drunk a cup of vodka before attacking the teenager, had not wanted to cause more serious harm to either woman.
He was jailed for four years for the attack on the teenager and 19 months for punching the student, although the two sentences will run concurrently.
There was no separate penalty for the cannabis charge.
Michael Ayoade was caught on CCTV staging …
Press Association

Members of Vybz Kartel’s camp are touting to draft a petition in a bid to acquire bail for the incarcerated deejay.

Since last Monday, several tweets from the deejay’s official account have been fuelling his supporters to be a part of a petition in a bid to get bail for the artiste.

“We can now confirm that there is no doubt that the system in Jamaica is determined to deny a fair trial for Addi. Gaza army, we have to stop dem,” one of the tweets said on Monday.

Another of the tweets read, “recruit followers cuz we nah stay quiet no more. Fair trial includes the right to bail. Petition starting this week.”

denied bail

Two Fridays ago the dancehall artiste, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, was again denied bail in connection with the killing of Clive ‘Lizard’ Campbell.

Kartel and his co-accused are to return to the Home Circuit Court on May 27, when it is expected that the trial will begin. He was opposed bail on the basis that the prosecution has maintained that the case against the deejay is strong.

The deejay is charged jointly with Andre St John, Cairo Jones, Shane Williams, Calvin Haye and fellow entertainer Shawn Campbell, more popularly known as ‘Shawn Storm’. Kartel has been in custody since September 2011.

He has been granted bail in relation to the murder of Barrington ‘Bossy’ Burton in another case, but cannot take up the offer because of the Williams matter. It is alleged that Williams was killed at Kartel’s home in Havendale, St Andrew, on August 16, 2011.

Williams and another man were reportedly taken to the entertainer’s house to account for a lost firearm. Williams’ body has not been found.

Meanwhile, attorney-at-law Christian Tavares-Finson, one of the lawyers representing Kartel, said that in the deejay’s circumstance, a petition may not help him.

The attorney said that it would not be difficult to garner thousands of signatures for the deejay, but the Crown is saying the case against Kartel is strong and he has more than one case.

“It’s always good to garner support, but the system is very straight forward and a petition is not a strong ground for bail in this circumstance. An application for bail has been denied in the Supreme Court and a decision is yet to be made about whether or not we should appeal the court’s decision,” Tavares-Finson said.

– Drama unraveled at Keroka open air market after a 41 year old hand-cart pusher was forcefully bathed by members of the public as traders and passers- by watched.

The man who is said to have gone months without a shower was washed in the full glare of the public as his wife and two sons watched helplessly.

Residents stripped him naked and bathed him vigorously using powder soap and floor scrubbing brushes while shouting. They termed the man as a disgrace to other Juakali traders.

They also washed his clothes and inner wear which were extremely dirty due to the nature of his work.

The man who sells charcoal at the Keroka market tried to defend himself shifting the blame to his wife claiming that she does not wash his clothes but his allegations fell on deaf ears.

What does the Bible say about the Crowns that will be given to Christians?

While fear can be a strong motivator, God’s primary method of motivation is love. Therefore, God describes ways in which He will reward Christians who go “above and beyond.” Every student is familiar with the concept of “extra credit.” It is usually a question at the end of an assignment or an exam that is not required but provides the student an opportunity to receive bonus points, usually to make up for other questions that the student might have gotten wrong. Teachers, as well as parents and employers, understand that the promise of reward can be a strong incentive to a better effort. In a sense, God has laid out an “extra credit” program for Christians. God’s extra incentives are referred to in the Bible (Scripture) as “crowns.” Although the exact nature of these five biblical crowns and what they entail is not specifically stated, and the behaviors for which they are credited are elsewhere recommended for all believers, a brief discussion of them is relevant.

The five crowns are:

1. The incorruptible crown: given for exercising self-control and striving to be the best you can be for the Lord (1 Cor. 9:25 KJV).
2. The crown of rejoicing: given for winning others to Christ (1 Thess. 2:19 KJV).
3. The crown of righteousness: given for loving his appearing (2 Tim. 4:8 KJV).
4. The crown of life: given for enduring under trial (James 1:12).
5. The crown of glory: given for eagerly, faithfully, shepherding the flock (1 Pet. 5:4).

The incorruptible crown is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9:25 in the context of athletes who go into “strict training.” The NIV says that it is a “crown that will last forever.” The Amplified Bible reads: “Every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things.” Athletes train hard to be the best they can be. Good athletes do not settle for “good enough.” They endeavor to constantly improve. God wants Christians to have that kind of attitude and behavior. The goal of the Christian should not be only to avoid sin, but to excel in righteousness—to “hit a home run,” so to speak. While it is wonderful to live a godly life, it is more wonderful to aggressively seek personal improvement and advance the purposes of God. God has an incorruptible crown for those who endeavor to excel.

The crown of rejoicing is for those who win others to Christ. The NIV calls it “the crown in which we will glory.” Reaching others with the Word and bringing them to the point of salvation is something that every Christian should want to do. It is an act of compassion because death in the lake of fire is the fate of those who reject God and His Son. If people are going to believe and receive salvation, someone needs to speak:

Romans 10:13 and 14
(13) for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
(14) How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

How will they hear and believe unless someone speaks? Men and women who, without hesitation, would risk their own lives by running into a burning house to save someone are often so intimidated by the fear of rejection, or the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing exactly what to say, that they will not talk to people about Jesus. Yet the end of someone who is not saved is exactly the same as a person trapped in a burning house—death by fire. Although not everyone is called to be an evangelist, everyone is called to “tell the Good News.” Witnessing to others can be challenging, intimidating, and occasionally risky because the hearer is not always appreciative. God knows this and rewards those who make the effort to win others to Christ by giving them the crown of rejoicing.

The crown of righteousness is given to those who “love his appearing” (KJV). There are Christians who are so well adjusted to this world that it really does not make much of a difference to them when Christ comes back. They are usually healthy and have comfortable lives, and they do not see how the Lord coming back would really help them. There are also Christians who do not have a strong desire to live a godly and obedient lifestyle, perhaps because doing so will bring them persecution (“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”—2 Tim. 3:12). Many of these Christians do not want Christ to return because they do not want to quit their sin or face the Judgment. Christians who “long for” (NIV) Christ to return from heaven are not primarily vested in this world and usually have a lifestyle that is godly.

The crown of life is given to Christians who endure and stay faithful through trials and temptations. The Bible and history both teach that it is very difficult to remain faithful to a Christian commitment all through one’s life. Too frequently, people “on fire” for the Lord “cool off” and abandon their commitment. Unfortunately, the cooling off is often a result of what they see around them in Christianity and the way they are treated by other Christians. It is no secret that many Christians are hypocrites, and this can be very discouraging to those who are sincere in their efforts to live for God. Since the beginning of Christianity some 2,000 years ago, it would not be an exaggeration to say that millions of Christians have backed off from their Christian commitment because of what they have seen in the Church and/or because they were treated badly by fellow Christians. Others have cooled off when faced with trials and temptations. Trials and temptations come in many forms but fall into two broad categories: pressure (persecution) or pleasure (the “pleasures of sin”—Heb. 11:25). One reward for Christians who stay faithful throughout their lives is the crown of life.

The crown of glory is given to those who willingly shepherd God’s people, not because they are paid for it or because they are “lords” over a group of people, but because they are eager to serve and help people maximize their spiritual potential. Christians can be quite ungrateful and dissatisfied. Almost every leader has at one time or another been at his wit’s end as to how to keep people godly and blessed. More than one pastor, elder, or overseer has resigned, not because he or she did not love God, but because it just seemed too difficult to work with people in the Church. There are even Old Testament records of God Himself being disgusted with His people’s attitudes and behaviors. At points He was on the verge of abandoning them altogether. God recognizes that it is hard and often thankless work to shepherd people, so He offers a crown to those who will carry out the task in a godly manner.

Glacia said she was very touched by all of your responses and wants to answer your questions individually because they are all diverse…….those were her words..She gave me three songs to upload for you guys here and I will be promoting her album..I will have a banner ready later tonight