House votes to resume deporting immigrants
WASHINGTON – The Republican-controlled House voted Thursday to resume the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children, the first immigration-related vote in either chamber of Congress this year and a measure of the daunting challenge facing supporters of a sweeping overhaul of existing law on the subject.
The party-line vote of 224-201 was aimed at blocking implementation of President Barack Obama’s 2012 election-year order to stop deportations of many so-called DREAM Act individuals. Democrats on the House floor reacted with boos when the provision was added to a routine spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
The vote was largely symbolic, since the administration has threatened to veto the overall legislation on budgetary grounds. It nevertheless stood as a stark warning from conservatives who dominate the ranks of the Republican House majority about attempts in the Senate to grant a chance at citizenship to an estimated 11 million immigrants residing in the country illegally.
Teacher accused of taping student to chair
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A suburban San Antonio school district said it’s reviewing training guidelines after a teacher allegedly duct taped an 8-year-old student to a chair – a year after another teacher was accused of ordering kindergartners to take turns hitting a classmate.
Judson Independent School District spokesman Steve Linscomb said Thursday that school officials would review training guidelines to make sure “there isn’t something we are missing.” He promised appropriate changes will be made.
Linscomb said a teacher at Woodlake Elementary School taped an 8-year-old boy to a chair in May because the child was too rowdy and couldn’t be controlled. The teacher and a teacher’s aide resigned soon after.
Last year, another teacher in the district was fired and indicted for allegedly encouraging 20 students to hit a 6-year-old student who was accused of being a bully.
“We are talking about human beings and they do make mistakes. Having said that, that behavior is not excusable,” Linscomb said.
He said the district trains teachers “to be effective and as patient as they possibly can be” but that guidelines would be scrutinized to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Idaho family says it received letter from POW
BOISE, Idaho – The family of an American prisoner of war captured nearly four years ago in Afghanistan says it has received a letter it believes was written by him.
U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, disappeared from his base in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.
His mother and father in Idaho issued a statement on Thursday saying they’ve received a letter they are confident was written by their son.
In the statement, Bob and Jani Bergdahl say the letter, delivered through the International Committee of the Red Cross, gives them hope that their son is doing as well as can be expected, under the circumstances.
“Our family is greatly relieved and encouraged by this letter,” they wrote.
They didn’t release excerpts from the letter or detail its content.
They thanked the Red Cross for its help and support – and renewed their plea for his captors to release Bergdahl, who turned 27 on March 28.
“We hope Bowe’s captors will again consider his parents’ plea to release him, but in the meantime, we ask that you please continue to keep him in good health and allow him to keep corresponding with us,” they wrote.
North Florida county OKs atheist monument
STARKE, Fla. – A North Florida county soon will be home to an atheist monument.
Bradford County has reached a deal to allow American Atheists to install a 1,500-pound granite bench near the county courthouse. The bench will feature quotes from Thomas Jefferson and Madalyn Murray O’Hair.
It also will include a list of punishments for violating the Ten Commandments, including stoning.
The placement of the monument in late June ends a lawsuit between American Atheists and the county. The national organization filed its lawsuit after Bradford County allowed a local group to install a monument that lists the Ten Commandments.
Dave Muscato, public relations director for American Atheists, told The Gainesville Sun that if religious groups are allowed to have monuments “it’s only appropriate that we have matching monuments.”
Associated Press
