U.N. Report Faults U.S. Immigration Policy

An investigator for the U.N.'s Human Rights Council -- known as a "rapporteur"-- has faulted U.S. immigration policy as violating international law and human rights conventions. Specifically, he pointed to the raids and detention policies. The rapporteur, Jorge Bustamonte of Mexico, used strong language -- on detention, for example, he says, the U.S. "overuses" it and holds people too long, and on raids it creates fear in immigrant communities. He is not without suggesting alternatives -- e.g., on detentions using angle bracelets. U.S. representatives found his report "disappointing" and full of inaccuracies and misstatements. (See NY Times article. Also see LA Times article.)

. . . MEANWHILE IN ARIZONA A HUNG JURY
The border guard accused of shooting an undocumented man as he fled capture ended in a hung jury. (See blog for Feb. 28, 2008 and NY Times article.)