In the news today: July 16, 2007

• A New York appeals court has ruled that spouses of Chinese women affected by stringent population controls in their country do not necessarily qualify for asylum in the U.S.
• A Tulsa couple could be deported back to Mexico even though they are the parents of four American citizens.
• The Des Moines Register has a handy compilation of where GOP presidential candidates stand on immigration.
• The Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote a great news-feature on how Texas ranchers near the border feel about the border fence.
  
• John McCain's campaign staff dwindles even more.
  
• Earlier: McCain's stances on immigration, Iraq blamed for lagging campaign

Border fence mishaps, cont.: Build it through the University of Texas

We're only supposed to post twice a day this week to help out our tech-team as they move everything from this hosting site to to the new website, but we felt we absolutely had to make this one-half of our posts today.

Remember how we posted a few weeks ago that part of the border fence in Arizona had been built into Mexico? And that it would cost up to $3.5 million to fix?

Well, here's something that passed under our radar last month: the Department of Homeland Security planned to build the fence through the University of Texas at Brownville's campus, leaving its International Technology, Education and Commerce campus south of the border.

"What about traffic between classes, [the president of the university] wondered. 'Would the students need to show a passport?'"

Earlier: Daily features: July 11, 2007, 'Virtual' AZ border fence to stay quite virtual for now, In the news today: July 9, 2007, U.S. built border fence into Mexican territory; it'll cost up to $3.5M to fix

In the news today: July 9, 2007

• The Boston Globe published a really well-written news-feature in Saturday's paper about a five-year-old girl who faces a deportation hearing that could potentially separate her from her family in the U.S. The article will surely pull heart-strings as well as fan some people's flames.
• The Austin American-Statesman reports that border fence construction in southern Texas may significantly damage the Rio Grande eco-system.
• USA Today published a news-feature today on illegal immigrants who seek refuge from the immigration authorities in places of worship.
• The Hartford Courant reports that 26 of 32 illegal immigrants arrested in raids in New Haven, CT last week are back home after their families posted bail.
• The Ashland City Times (Tennessee) published a profile of the Maury County sheriff who is either revered or abhorred for his illegal immigration crackdown.
  

Daily video: El Cenizo, the TX border town where Spanish is the official language

Make sure to watch the discussion at the end of the news-clip—many different, very interesting opinions there.

(Aired on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" on June 26, 2007.)