Tennessee inmates subject to immigration checks

TENNESSEE

Inmates subject to immigration checks

Tennessee's governor has signed into law a measure that would require the state's jailers to determine whether inmates are in the country illegally and report them if they are.

Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) said that the measure would require a verification process similar to what some Tennessee cities are already doing.

Sponsors said the measure is necessary because not all jurisdictions share information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they arrest someone they suspect is in the country illegally.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee urged Bredesen to veto the legislation because it said the measure would encourage racial profiling.

-- Associated Press

MASSACHUSETTS

Great white shark caught and released

State officials and shark experts moved quickly to reassure beachgoers Monday after a tuna boat snagged a great white shark, the first confirmed sighting in Massachusetts waters this summer of one of the sea's most feared creatures.

The juvenile shark -- six to seven feet long and weighing an estimated 150 pounds -- was pulled up by the Gloucester-based Sweet Dream III on Saturday about 20 miles off the coast. "Something kind of crested up out of the water . . . and we pretty quickly realized it wasn't a tuna," said Bruce Sweet, the vessel's skipper.The crew put a tag on the shark and released it back into the ocean.