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IMMIGRATION
Action on bill criticized By LISA HAGEN HEARST NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON — Republican House members and senators slammed Senate Democrats Tuesday for refusing to vote on a bill passed by the House to toughen immigration laws. At a Capitol Hill press conference, Sen. Ted Cruz,
R-Texas, and other Texas lawmakers also criticized President Barack Obama for delaying his executive action on immigration until after the November midterm elections. “House representatives are standing up and providing strong, principled leadership to address the (immigration) crisis facing the
nation while (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid and Senate Democrats do nothing,” Cruz said. “We cannot solve the crisis at the border until we end President Obama’s antics.” The House bill, sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., would limit the Obama administration’s Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals program, which temporarily holds up deportation of those who came to the United States illegally before age 16. Cruz said “amnesty” for unauthorized immigrants is not the solution to protecting unaccompanied children crossing the U.S.Mexico border against vic-
timization and sexual assault. “Amnesty is not compassionate,” Cruz said. “It’s lawless, inhumane, and wrong.” Reid should “allow the Senate to do its job and show up and schedule a vote,” Cruz said. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, argued that granting amnesty to unauthor-
ized immigrants is not favored by a majority of Americans and that is the reason Obama is forgoing any action until after Nov. 4. “Delaying administrative amnesty is dodging what the voters feel on Election Day,” said Smith, who rep-
See IMMIGRATION PAGE 10A
CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE/BAYLOR SCOTT AND WHITE HEALTH
SEPT. 11
A MAN’S BEST FRIEND
NYPD: Terror threat the most complex By COLLEEN LONG ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by David Woo/The Dallas Morning News | AP
Brian Boone, a 39-year-old soldier, left, who lost his lower left leg while serving in Afghanistan in 2011, holds the leash to Brindle, his twoyear-old Labrador-golden retriever mix at Home Depot in Irving, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 3.
Pet project soothes those with disabilities By SEEMA YASMIN THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
IRVING, Texas — Brian Boone is practicing his silly voice. The 39-year-old soldier, who lost his lower left leg while serving in Afghan-
istan, looks down at Brindle, a 2-year-old Labrador-golden retriever mix — and highly trained service dog. “Good boy,” says Boone. Sarah Koch, Brindle’s trainer, looks on. “I want you to get a little silly with your
praise,” she says. Boone tries again. “Goooooood booooooooy,” he coos. Brindle looks up with doe eyes at his new master and looks all too pleased with himself. Brindle and Boone are one of four teams united
through a partnership between Canine Companions for Independence and Baylor Scott and White Health in the Dallas suburb of Irving. They believe it’s the
See BEST FRIEND PAGE 10A
NEW YORK — Air strikes in Iraq, ongoing unrest in Syria and the beheadings of two American journalists are casting a long shadow over the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. While there is no specific threat against New York ahead of the Thursday commemoration, the rising power of disparate militant groups around the world presents the most complex terrorism danger since the twin towers were destroyed, New York intelligence officials said this week. “It is layer upon layer upon layer — not all coming from the same place or ideology,” said John Miller, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism. That differs from five years ago, when the risk was chiefly from al-Qaida, Miller said. Now, he said, the threat is also coming
from the well-funded, highly sophisticated “mass marketing of terrorism” — affiliate groups, foreign fighters, uprising militants and the idea of “al-Qaida-ism.” “When you look at the level of sophistication, the amount of slickness applied to their video production, the amount of thought that goes into creating a narrative,” he said, “They’re doing the same kind of thing as we’ve seen in commercial publishing or in the ad industry.” New York remains the top target, and that makes preparing for big events, including the U.S. Open tennis tournament, the United Nations General Assembly and the Sept. 11 commemoration, that much more critical, officials said. Plus, President Barack Obama plans this week to outline an expanded U.S. campaign against militants in Iraq and Syria following the beheadings of American
See THREAT PAGE 10A
DALLAS, TEXAS
Mom found not guilty in strangling of 2 kids ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — A North Texas woman found guilty by reason of insanity of strangling her two children must remain at a state mental hospital for treatment unless a judge
approves her discharge. Saiqa Akhter, 34, killed her two special-needs children because she wanted “normal kids,” the Dallas Morning News reported. The Irving woman’s 5year-old son, Zain, had severe speech problems and
her 2-year-old daughter, Faryaal, was developmentally delayed, according to relatives. Medical experts testified Monday that Akhter was diagnosed as schizophrenic and insane when her children were at-
tacked and died in July 2010. She believed she was saving them, psychologist Kristi Compton said. Akhter “a woman battling a mental illness that she grew up not understanding,” Compton said. Akhter told a 911 oper-
ator that she strangled the children because they were a burden, saying, “I want normal kids.” She had planned to kill her children weeks before she strangled them, special prosecutor Nancy Mulder said. Akhter had
previously searched online how to kill children and what amount of bathroom cleaner is fatal. “They don’t drink it, so there’s a wire there so I just grabbed their neck
See MOM PAGE 10A