Some good news. The Obama Administration has decided, at least temporarily, to grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians illegally in the U.S.

The protection is only available to Haitians already in the country as of last Tuesday, and allows them to stay and work for 18 months.

[Homeland Security Director Janet]Napolitano told reporters that the temporary legal status is an act of compassion....Temporary protected status is granted to foreigners who may not be able to return safely to their country because of a natural disaster, armed conflict or other reasons.

The ruling could affect 100,000 to 200,000 Haitians in the U.S.

Homeland Security Secret Janet Napolitano announced today the U.S. will temporarily halt deportations to Haiti.

Those with deportation orders will be allowed to remain in the U.S. Those held in detention centers will remain jailed, Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said.

The Haitians who are here should receive TPS (Temporary Protected Status.) Homeland Security can designate a country for TPS based, among other things, on internal armed conflict, overwhelming natural disaster, or extraordinary temporary conditions preventing safe return of its nationals.

Several members of Congress who represent Haitian communities have been pressuring the Obama administration to give temporary protected status, or TPS, to Haitians illegally in the U.S. The designation would allow Haitians to remain and work legally in the U.S. The latest disaster gave new urgency to the lawmakers' demand.

According to Homeland security, 30,000 Haitians in the U.S. have orders to leave and about 160 are in detention.

A federal court in San Francisco today will hear gay marriage arguments in a first of a kind non-jury trial today:

The nation's first trial on same-sex couples' right to marry - and the voters' power to forbid those marriages - begins today in a San Francisco federal courtroom that will serve as a forum for two diametrically opposed worldviews.

The main issue:

whether Prop. 8 violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection by discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender, or whether it validly reserves marital status for those who can naturally conceive children.

The Judge is Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, a 1989 appointee of President George H.W. Bush. Barring a last minute intervention, you can watch the proceedings on a delayed basis on You Tube here.

Who's keeping tabs on you? The Forensic Scientist Blog has a list of the top six files the government keeps on you, how to obtain them, and why you should have them.

Cateories: The FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, Earnings Records, Criminal Records and Court Records. According to the blog, if your FBI record is under 50 pages, it's free.

The same sex marriage bill was defeated in the New York Senate today.

The bill was defeated by a decisive margin of 38 to 24. The Democrats, who have a bare, one-seat majority, did not have enough votes to pass the bill without some Republican support, but not a single Republican senator voted for the measure. Still, several key Democrats who were considered swing votes also opposed the bill.

The bill is effectively dead for the year. Newsweek: Is it time for federal action?

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday said the Obama Administration is ready to move forward with plans to create a path to citizenship for the undocumented.

Under the administration’s plan, illegal immigrants who hope to gain legal status would have to register, pay fines and all taxes they owe, pass a criminal background check and learn English.

.... “Let me emphasize this: we will never have fully effective law enforcement or national security as long as so many millions remain in the shadows,” she said, adding that the recovering economy would be strengthened “as these immigrants become full-paying taxpayers.”

Unfortunately, Napolitano continued to express support for local enforcement of federal laws and other stricter enforcement procedures. More on her speech is available at the Center for American Progress, including a video of her remarks.

I'm not sure why the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York chose to amend the Government's forfeiture complaint after 11 months to include four mosques around the country. (Press release here.)

The complaint was filed in December, 2008, seeking to forfeit assets of the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp., including a NY office building at 650 5th Avenue (which houses Piaget) which the Government alleges are fronts for Iran and tied to money laundering. The Government says the non-profit foundation sent money to the Iran's Bank Melli. The Treasury Dept. in March said Bank Melli is a fundraiser for Iran's nuclear program.

Today, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara issued a press release and made a big deal out of the amended complaint, which added four mosques as assets it is seeking to forfeit. More on that here. [More...]

It's one thing to take DNA samples of those convicted of a felony. It's another to take it of all persons arrested, according to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU in federal court in California today.

The ACLU says DNA sampling is different from the compulsory fingerprinting upon arrest that has been standard practice in the U.S. for decades. A fingerprint, for example, reveals nothing more than a person’s identity. But much can be learned from a DNA sample, which codes a person’s family ties, some health risks, and, according to some, can predict a propensity for violence.

What’s more, in California the authorities are allowed to conduct so-called “familial searching.” That is when a genetic sample does not directly match another, so authorities start investigating people with closely matched DNA in hopes of finding leads to the perpetrator.

The complaint is here (pdf). A summary of the law being challenged, Prop 69, is here (pdf). Here's a congressional study saying the courts haven't fully addressed the issue and discussing 4th Amendment implications.

Hospitals around the country are beginning to restrict visitors due to concerns they may bring swine flu with them.

Many people, even those who get flu shots for other forms of flu, seem resistant to the idea of taking the swine flu vaccine.

Yesterday, stuck on a plane that sat on the runway for over an hour, I couldn't help but wonder if I was being subjected to someone else's flu germs. I wondered what measures airlines would take during the next few months to protect passengers from each other. Will we all be flying with facemasks? Or will airlines require certification that passengers are free of flu symptoms before allowing them to board?

I pretty much stopped flying in early 2008, due to the time and hassle involved with security. I'm just not willing to arrive at an airport two hours before departure, stand in line and then sit cramped among strangers for hours, unless there's a really good reason.

I have more concerns about catching something on an airplane than I do visitng a jail. I've already gotten a flu shot and will also get the swine flu shot. But what about those who resist? Is it fair to put restrictions on their public movements? Or is it necessary for the greater good?

While President Obama said this week that immigration reform will have to wait until next year, his Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, has been racheting up former Bush policies of punitive enforcement.

Janet Napolitano, defended the administration’s assertive strategy against illegal immigrants and companies that employ them, relying largely on programs started under President George W. Bush.

....Ms. Napolitano said security problems on the border were inextricably linked not only to the drug trade, but also to the problem of illegal workers in far-flung cities across the country. The government needs to address illegal immigration at the same time it attacks the Mexican mafias, she said.

[More...]

Every year, there are 400,000 immigrants held in U.S. detention centers. President Obama will announce a re-organization today, which includes no longer sending children and families to the notoriuous T. Don Hutto Residential Center outside Austin, TX. Hutto is a former state prison currently being operated by Corrections Corp. of America through a federal contract. It is also the subject of a lawsuit by the ACLU.

While the Obama administration will stress the new program will be more humane, there is unlikely to be a decrease in the number of detained immigrants. [More...]

The 911 caller who reported two men possibly breaking into the home of black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. did not describe their race, acknowledged they might just be having a hard time with the door and said she saw two suitcases on the porch. . . . The officer who arrested Gates, Sgt. James Crowley, said in his police report that he talked to Whalen soon after he arrived at Gates' home. "She went on to tell me that she observed what appeared to be two black males with backpacks on the porch," Crowley, who's white, wrote in his report.

Whalen's attorney, Wendy Murphy, said her client never mentioned the men's race to Crowley and is upset by news reports she believes have unfairly depicted her as a racist.

Perhaps someone can ask Officer Crowley about that.

Speaking for me only