Thursday

Do you know about the woman the Department of Homeland Security is attempting to deport in Chicago? In August, instead of reporting for deportation, she holed-up in a church seeking asylum. One reason for this is her seven year old son, who is a US citizen. Outside of Hollywood, there are no provisions for asylum in her case, and asylum doesn't work like that, anyway. DHS is within its legal rights to seize her at any time, church or no. Still, in Chicago she remains, possibly because of the media circus surrounding her. She's trying to ensure her son is allowed to grow up in his native land. Her son, on the other hand, has traveled to México and spoken with an assembly of lawmakers who've passed a resolution vowing to do everything possible to dissuade the US from deporting the illegal single mothers of its citizens.* What can Mexican lawmakers possibly do? Nothing but ask nicely for the US to change its immigration laws. In other news: I mentioned recently that nationwide narco-related death tolls have exceeded two thousand for this year.* These numbers include an editor in Zihuatanejo and police chiefs in Monterrey and Tijuana. Okay, we can guess who's ultimately responsible for these drug war casualties. But here's a stone whodunit: last week, Jose Manuel Nava published a book criticizing businesses, newspapers, and the government; today the newspaper editor was found stabbed to death in his México City apartment.* I suspect we can't accuse the cartels in the ballroom with a rope. Lastly, former president Bill Clinton was in Monterrey today. He whisked in, spoke about México's amazing economic growth potential,* lunched, and then whisked back out again--entirely during business hours. No one I have spoken to was able to go see him talk. [Cavin]