This Game Is Not 'It'

-- Matthew C. Wright

Human Trafficking, or the Car Kind?

An investigation by two Illinois immigrants rights groups resulted in the filing of a federal class-action lawsuit in Arizona on Thursday, charging Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard with unlawfully seizing $12 million in wire transfers from immigrants nationwide to recipients in Arizona and the neighboring Mexican state of Sonora over the past two years.

The funds were among $17 million seized by the office as part of an operation against human and drug smuggling, obtained under a broad warrant that permitted authorities to seize transfers of $500 or more that were sent from 29 states.

Javier Torres, a Burbank, Ill., truck driver who is one of the three named plaintiffs, said the attorney general seized $1,000, which he had sent to a friend in Arizona to buy a car from her. After being contacted by police, Torres said he was unable to recoup his money because he didn't have a title for the car.

"They think the reason I sent the money is for illegal drugs or a coyote," he said. "I never even sent money before, so I don't know why they think that."

A lawyer for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which identified about 400 people who had transfers seized, said that Goddard's office violated the Fourth Amendment and that people were never advised of their right to challenge the seizures.

In a statement, Goddard said: "Every effort has been made to prevent the seizure of any funds from people not involved in human trafficking." He said the program will continue.

-- Kari Lydersen

Right Back at You, Governor

The banter has gotten hot and heavy between California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and a female state legislator, both of whom are known for making impolitic wisecracks in front of rolling cameras.

Schwarzenegger found himself apologizing for racially charged remarks he made about Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R), who is Hispanic. The governor said she had a "very hot" temperament and speculated on her heritage.

When his remarks became public, Garcia leaped to defend him. She offered to accompany him around the state to show she had no hard feelings. "I know the governor. I know his heart. I know how compassionate he is," she said.

This week, on a visit to a high school, Garcia was the one commenting on Schwarzenegger. She told students she "wouldn't kick him out of my bed." Garcia later apologized and called the remark a "joking answer" to a "silly question."

The governor -- who has been married for 20 years to Maria Shriver and has four children -- brushed off the flippant flirtatiousness. "Bonnie Garcia," said Julie Soderlund, spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger's campaign, "like the governor, has a great sense of humor."

-- Sonya Geis