As the Obama administration begins to assert control of the immigration issue illegal aliens swept up on minor charges won't face federal detention. Instead, they'll be released on their own recognizance. Read about how the administration is basically forcing state and local governments to let illegal aliens apprehended just go free. Click here for the full story.

In the past nine months, the Border Patrol has discovered 16 new tunnels dug by smugglers in Nogales to move drugs, migrants, cash and weapons between Mexico and the United States. In response the Border Patrol has set up four-member teams of agents who monitor these elaborate underground warren of dark and dangerous storm drains that crisscross these twin downtowns along the border. Check out the full story from the Washington Post.

USA Today has a positive story about the E-Verify system today. Numerous employers told the paper that the system works as it should and keeps them from inadvertently hiring illegal workers. More than 1,000 employers a week are signing up for the program, and roughly 5 and a half million employment verifications have been run through the system this year. Read more here.

The University of Utah PBS affiliate reported on Utah's new immigration enforcement law. In this latest segment, they cover Oklahoma's experience with a similar law, which is very similar to the one enacted in Utah. Read more here.

In the 2009 State of the Nation's Housing Report, Harvard economists say that the U.S. must continue to let in ever more immigrants to boost housing demand. The researchers said that immigration would be an important part of future demand even though America already has the largest generation in history in echo boomers who are expected to boost household formation for decades. Of course the researchers never address the long-term desirability of lower cost housing, or the additional social, congestive and infrastructure costs of continuing to add so many people. Read more here.