22/2011 - acipss

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Winter Gains Position Coalition Forces for July Transition
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(DOD) Significant gains during winter fighting have wrested key areas from
the Taliban and set the stage for July’s transition of the first provinces
and district centers to Afghan control, an International Security
Assistance Force official said today.
Australian army Maj. Gen. Michael Krause, ISAF Joint Command’s deputy chief
of staff, briefed reporters at the Pentagon live via digital video
conference from the command’s headquarters in Kabul.
The Joint Command is responsible for operations throughout Afghanistan.
Krause serves as senior plans officer with Army Lt. Gen. David M.
Rodriguez, commander of ISAF Joint Command.
They’re on track for the first group of coalition troops to transition by
about the end of July, Krause said.
“And while there is a bit of work to be done,” he added, “there's also a
bit of actual excitement on behalf of the Afghans, and they're almost
ready. We're confident it's going to work.”
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=64152
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Immigrants Go Under the Knife to Erase Their Fingerprints
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(OSINFO) Knives, acid, fire and even surgery are some of the methods
undocumented immigrants are using to erase their fingerprints and avoid
incarceration. These desperate procedures, according to federal agencies
and humanitarian activists, are increasing in the face of the advanced
technology used to identify undocumented immigrants.
On Feb. 10, Dominican doctor Jose Elias Zaiter-Pou, 62, pleaded guilty to
helping conceal the identity of undocumented immigrants by altering their
fingerprints through surgical procedures. Zaiter-Pou charged $4,500 for the
operation, in which he removed the ends of the fingertips, flipped them and
sewed them back on, creating a new and unrecognizable print. He was
sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by three years
probation.
According to reports by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),
immigrants pay between $4,500 and $7,000 for the operation.
The Secure Communities program requires local police to send fingerprint
data of all arrestees to a federal database that stores fingerprint
information of undocumented immigrants. ICE plans to extend the program
throughout the country by the year 2013.
(a) http://www.opensourcesinfo.org/journal/2011/5/30/undocumentedimmigrants-go-under-the-knife-to-erase-their-fi.html
(b) The original article (Spanish):
http://www.impre.com/laopinion/noticias/primerapagina/2011/5/12/recurren-a-diversos-mecanismos-255554-
1.html#commentsBlock
ACIPSS-Newsletter /2011 - 8 -