WASHINGTON — The Labor Department on Friday suspended a regulation adopted shortly before President George W. Bush left office that would have made it easier for farmers to bring in foreign workers.
Many immigration and labor advocacy groups had opposed the new rule for lowering wages and eliminating some protections for temporary farm workers. But farm owners supported the Bush administration changes, saying they eliminated red tape that made it harder to bring in foreign workers to help harvest crops.
The rule affects the H-2A guest worker program, which lets employers hire foreign workers if they can’t first find American workers. The new regulation took effect on Jan. 17, just days before President Barack Obama was sworn into office.
As many as 1 million people work in the nation’s farms each year, and the Labor Department estimates that more than half are in the country illegally.
Army investigates nude photos of female soldiers
The Army says it’s investigating allegations that eight male soldiers took pictures and video of as many as 21 female soldiers in their unit showering at Fort Dix. The photos were allegedly taken last fall, before the 266th Military Police Company of the Virginia Army National Guard shipped out to Iraq in December.
Pennsylvania: Bail set for suspect in kidnap hoax
A woman accused of staging an abduction hoax was returned to Pennsylvania in police custody Friday and was held on $1 million bail. Bonnie Sweeten was arraigned on misdemeanor identity theft and false-reporting charges. Sweeten phoned 911 on Tuesday from downtown Philadelphia and told dispatchers that she and her 9-year-old daughter had been carjacked and stuffed in the trunk of a Cadillac near their suburban home. The call touched off a frantic search that ended 30 hours later at a Disney World hotel in Florida.
Texas: Man guilty of trying to sell 5-year-old for sex
A federal jury has convicted a San Antonio man of trying to sell his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter to child pornographers in exchange for a used car and an apartment. Michael Block, 40, could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison following Friday’s verdict. Girlfriend Jennifer Richards testified Block threatened her into complying with his plan to sell her daughter. Richards previously pleaded guilty to similar charges in return for a 20-year federal prison sentence. Investigators say the couple were in contact with a purported buyer who turned out to be an FBI informant.
Sentence in HIV assault
A jury sentenced a McKinney man to 45 years in prison Friday for knowingly infecting six women with the AIDS virus. Philippe Padieu, 53, was convicted Wednesday on six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Since HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, prosecutors contended Padieu’s bodily fluids were a deadly weapon. Padieu is a former martial arts instructor who continued to have unprotected sex after he tested positive for HIV in 2005.
Russia: Facility dedicated to destroying chemical weapons
Russia and the United States on Friday opened a plant in Siberia to destroy a huge stockpile of artillery shells filled with deadly nerve agents, more than a decade after alarmed U.S. officials first pledged to help secure and dispose of the weapons. The 250-acre facility, built with $1 billion in U.S. aid, is said to be the largest in the world dedicated to destroying chemical munitions.
China: U.S. students released from swine flu quarantine
A group of 21 students and three teachers from a Silver Spring, Md., private school has been released from quarantine in Kaili after being held by the Chinese government over fears about swine flu. The students from the Barrie School have just one day left to wrap up their tour of Guizhou province before they return home Sunday. They arrived a week ago and were quarantined in their hotel for five days, beginning Monday. Chinese officials feared the group was exposed to swine flu on their flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong.
Canada: Bush defends Clinton, calls him ‘brother’
Former President George W. Bush has defended former President Bill Clinton and called him his “brother” in their first ever appearance together on stage. Bush said in their Friday appearance at a Toronto forum that he never liked it when previous administration officials criticized his government but says Clinton was respectful and never did. Bush said his mother, Barbara Bush, “said President Clinton and Father (former President George W. Bush) share the stage so much, he’s like a son to her.” He said, “So, brother, it’s good to see you.”
From Herald news services
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