This document summarizes and discusses several stories related to illegal immigration that occurred in 2007. It discusses debates around illegal immigration as a political issue, laws passed in some areas to penalize landlords and businesses, efforts to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, and expansion of border fences. It also discusses two border patrol agents being sentenced to prison for shooting an immigrant and ongoing debates around border security policies.

1. 22.. DDEEBBAATTEE OONN
IILLLLEEGGAALL IIMMMMIIGGRRAATTIIOONN
By the end of 2007, illegal
immigration had become one of the
hot-button issues in the 2008
presidential campaign, especially
among Republicans seeking to court
the party’s conservative base. But all
year long, the subject continued to
polarize many Americans.
In Hazleton, Pa., Mayor Lou
Barletta helped get a law passed that
heavily penalized landlords for renting
to illegal immigrants and punished
businesses for hiring them. It was
struck down as unconstitutional by a
federal judge in July.
In New York, Gov. Eliot Spitzer
garnered little support for a
controversial plan to issue special
driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
He abandoned the idea in November.
In Texas, two former Border Patrol
agents were sentenced to prison terms
of 11 years and 12 years for shooting an
illegal immigrant drug-smuggling
suspect in the buttocks as he fled
across the Mexico border. Their case
has become a cause celebre among
conservatives and groups that advocate
tougher border controls, who want
President Bush to pardon the duo.
Along the border, the fence
continues to be a point of contention,
as the United States undertakes a huge
expansion to extend it 700 miles.
Critics call the fence a waste of time
and money because it is woefully
inadequate at keeping out illegal
immigrants. In December, Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
sent a written ultimatum to South
Texas landowners opposed to plans to
extend the fence, foreshadowing the
possible use of eminent domain to buy
land for fence construction.
11.. VVIIRRGGIINNIIAA TTEECCHH SSHHOOOOTTIINNGGSS
On April 16, South Korean immigrant Seung-Hui Cho shot to death 32 people at Virginia Tech, then took his life as police closed in.
It was the worst school shooting in U.S. history.
Cho began by sneaking into a dorm and killing two students with a 9mm handgun. Two hours later, he chained the doors of a
Blacksburg classroom building and unloaded more than 170 rounds. Students — some wounded — cowered, played dead and listened
in horror as 30 of their classmates and teachers died.
In between the attacks, Cho took the time to mail a package of video and writings expressing his anger to NBC News in New York —
with chilling footage of him brandishing a gun in each hand.
Yet perhaps the most memorable image from the massacre was of Kevin Sterne, a senior
from Eighty Four in Washington County, being carried — sprawled and bloody — to safety by
police. Sterne survived, as did Virginia Tech freshman Hilary Strollo of Pine.
The killings renewed the national gun-control debate and spurred law changes in Virginia.
Meanwhile, people in the Virginia Tech community and across the nation continue to ask how
troubled people like Cho — he had a history of mental illness — fall through the cracks.
33.. CCAALLIIFFOORRNNIIAA
WWIILLDDFFIIRREESS
The year 2007 was one of the
worst ever for wildfires in California —
which is especially frightening, since
the most intense blazes didn’t occur
until the end of the year. Nonetheless,
the wildfires quickly caused huge
amounts of damage and left many
homeless.
Mostly affecting San Diego County,
eight October wildfires — which were
so bad they were visible from outer
space — killed nine people, forced
hundreds of thousands to evacuate
and burned down 1,500 homes.
The fires had numerous sources.
Several were triggered by power lines
downed by high winds. One fire
started when a tractor-trailer
overturned. Another was reported as
having been deliberately caused — the
alleged illegal immigrant was shot to
death at the scene by authorities. A
10-year-old boy admitted accidentally
starting one by playing with matches.
In November, a wildfire in Malibu
forced nearly 15,000 residents to flee
and destroyed at least 50 houses.
44.. SSTTEEMM CCEELLLLSS RREESSEEAARRCCHH
Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, a Japanese researcher who pioneered a breakthrough procedure in 2007 that could eliminate the need for embryo-
destroying stem cell research, was motivated by moral concerns over the nature of life and its beginnings.
Yamanaka was an assistant professor doing research involving embryonic stem cells when he made a social call to a clinic a few years ago. At a
friend’s invitation, he looked through a microscope at one of the human embryos stored there. The glimpse changed his scientific career.
When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my daughters,” said Yamanaka, 45, a father of
two and professor at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences at Kyoto University. “I thought, ‘We can’t keep destroying embryos for our
research. There must be another way.’”
The other way turned out to be a cocktail of three genes that spurred adult cells into behaving like embryonic stem cells, or ESCs. The latter
are typically taken from week-old human embryos, a process that destroys the embryos and precipitates a moral culture war in the United States.
Yamanaka’s technique, known as de-differentiation, is still experimental. The ethical debates are far from over, and scientists say that abandoning
ESCs is premature. But research is moving rapidly; in the next few decades we may very well have the benefits of embryonic stem cell therapies,
minus the ethical qualms.
55.. MMIINNNNEESSOOTTAA BBRRIIDDGGEE CCOOLLLLAAPPSSEE
Since 1990, Minnesota officials were warned that the I-35W bridge — the
state’s busiest, carrying 141,000 vehicles a day — was “structurally deficient.”
Yet they relied on patchwork repairs and every-other-year inspections that
unraveled amid a thunderous plunge of concrete and automobiles Aug. 1, when
the bridge collapsed 115 feet into the Mississippi River during rush hour. The
disaster killed 13, injured hundreds and caused Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty
to order an immediate inspection of all similar bridges in the state.
For all the quick responses by rescuers and officials, it took more than three
weeks for a joint team of Navy and FBI divers to recover the bodies of many of
the victims.
Here in Western Pennsylvania, the tragedy led to calls for stepped-up
inspections and repairs on the region’s aging bridges — Pennsylvania leads the
nation in spans that are at least 75 years old.
AP
AP
AP
NATION
· 44 · TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2008 · TRIB TOTAL MEDIA ·
“Tonight, I have the
high privilege and
distinct honor … as
the first president to
begin the State of
the Union message
with these words:
Madam speaker.”
PRESIDENT BUSH
REFERRING TO HOUSE
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI.
“I’m a fairly wide
guy. … I tend to
spread my legs
when I lower my
pants so they won’t
slide.”
LARRY CRAIG
TRYING TO EXPLAIN A BATHROOM STALL
INCIDENT TO POLICE IN JUNE.
“Don’t tase
me, bro!”
ANDREW MEYER
THE 21-YEAR-OLD UNIVERSITY OF
FLORIDA STUDENT MADE THE PLEA TO
UNIVERSITY POLICE AS THEY TRIED TO
REMOVE HIM FROM A FORUM
HEADLINED BY SEN. JOHN KERRY.
“There’s some
nappy-headed hos
there. I’m gonna tell
you that now, man,
that’s some — woo.
And the girls from
Tennessee, they
all look cute,
you know, so like —
kinda like —
I don’t know.”
DON IMUS
THE COMMENTS FROM THE RADIO HOST
ON THE RUTGERS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
TEAM THAT LED TO HIS FIRING.
“Jesus was too
smart to ever run
for office.”
MIKE HUCKABEE
REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE,
UPON BEING ASKED WHETHER JESUS
WOULD SUPPORT THE DEATH PENALTY.
“Unfortunately, we
have too many
mosques in this
country.”
PETER KING
SECURITY ADVISER TO RUDY GIULIANI,
ON THE STATE OF ISLAM IN THE UNITED
STATES. KING LATER SAID HIS WORDS
WERE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT.
“The giant ATM
you’ve been living
in has just shut
down.”
DAVID WYSS
CHIEF ECONOMIST AT S&P ON THE
MORTGAGE CRISIS.
“All of this was
discoverable. It was
not done in a way
that nobody could
see it. But it was a
typical — this
particular case — it
was sort of a debate
day dirty trick.”
RUDY GIULIANI
ON AN ONLINE REPORT THAT SAID
GIULIANI BILLED OBSCURE CITY
AGENCIES THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR
HIS SECURITY DETAIL COVERING TRIPS
FOR AN EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR.
“You know, the
president — it is no
secret — sometimes
makes grammatical
errors.”
DANA PERINO
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, ON
PRESIDENT BUSH’S COMMENT DURING A
SPEECH ABOUT EDUCATION THAT
“CHILDRENS DO LEARN WHEN
STANDARDS ARE HIGH.”
“It’s
unconscionable that
the Department of
Agriculture would
think that a dead
person was actively
engaged in the
business of
farming.”
CHARLES GRASSLEY
IOWA SENATOR, ON LEARNING
THE GOVERNMENT SENT $1.1 BILLION
IN FARM PAYMENTS TO MORE THAN
170,000 DEAD PEOPLE OVER
A SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD.
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