From J-Walk Blog:

Keene Valley resident Jerilea Zempel was detained at the U.S. border this summer because she had a drawing of a sport-utility vehicle in her sketchbook.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told Zempel they suspected her of copyright infringement.

She was released after more than an hour in custody at the Houlton, Maine, port of entry from New Brunswick, Canada.

Her release came only after she persuaded border guards she was an artist doing a project that involved a crocheted SUV as a statement against America’s dependence on oil and love for big vehicles.

(Lohr McKinstry, “Keene artist had hard time getting back into US”, Plattsburgh (N.Y.) Press-Republican, Oct. 4).

Fowzi Badavi Nejad, the only survivor among six terrorists who seized the Iranian Embassy and 26 hostages in London 28 years ago, “has reportedly been assured he will not be deported back to his native Iran because of human rights laws, and will instead stay in Britain at taxpayers’ expense.” (Chris Irvine, “Iranian Embassy terrorist to be freed this month can claim benefits”, Daily Telegraph, Oct. 9).

One way that can happen to you is to be traveling the Canadian side of the Niagara River on your Sea-Doo jet ski, get caught in the rapids and swept over to the U.S. side. Jason Haist of Toronto was knocked unconscious and nearly drowned in the process, but his legal troubles were only beginning, as U.S. Border Patrol agents filed charges against him. They also arrested his cousin Edward, who tried to help him, for not reporting immediately on entry. After a press outcry, the two were released from their jail cell and returned to Canada. (Toronto Star, Aug. 25; Inside Toronto, Aug. 26).

P.S. Commenter “Buffalo” says the facts are more complicated than would appear from the Canadian press coverage and that “before the accident/injury, there was reportedly evidence that they landed on the US side without reporting in”.

Last year (Jun. 25, 2007) a furor broke out when a YouTube video revealed lawyers from the firm speaking frankly about skirting provisions of immigration law that require that a qualified domestic applicant be sought before hiring certain foreign workers. Now the U.S. Department of Labor has “announced that it has begun placing pending permanent labor certification applications filed by [the Pittsburgh-based law firm] into department-supervised recruitment. Supervised recruitment requires the employer to receive advance approval from the labor department for all recruitment efforts to ensure that U.S. workers are fully considered for available positions.” The move will undoubtedly make it harder for the law firm to compete for employer business in the immigration field. (”Recruitment filings by Pittsburgh law firm under U.S. Labor scrutiny”, Pittsburgh Business Times, Jul. 8; ABA Journal links to DoL press release).

In Miami, immigration lawyer Javier Lopera was sentenced to eight years in prison and faces deportation afterward for his role in operating a visa mill which may have provided as many as 3,500 persons with false papers qualifying them to enter the country as religious ministers or business executives. In another major fraud case, “Virginia lawyer Samuel Kooritzky was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison for crimes involving 2,700 applications submitted in 18 months.” (Catherine Wilson, “Probe of immigration lawyer balloons into massive visa fraud case”, AP/Atlanta Journal Constitution, Aug. 29). Last year Harvard Law-educated Robert Porges, who once ran the country’s largest political asylum practice, and his wife pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering, conspiracy and tax fraud and were sentenced to about eight years in prison for their role in filing 6,000 or more false asylum applications as well as false affidavits (see Sept. 22, 2000; Matt Hayes, “Corrupt Lawyers Aid Immigration Woes”, Fox News, Apr. 29, 2002; “Lawyer, wife admit Chinese smuggling scheme”, AP/Court TV, 2002; Elizabeth Amon, “The Snakehead Lawyers”, National Law Journal, Jul. 17, 2002).