Alan D Bersin

Alan D. Bersin, a University of San Diego law professor, is slated to become the new U.S. attorney for San Diego and Imperial counties, legal and political sources said Thursday. Sen. Barbara Boxer has recommended to President Clinton that he nominate Bersin, 46, a Rhodes scholar with the President in the late 1960s, for the highly coveted position of top federal law enforcement official in the two counties, both of which border Mexico.

The departure of the nation's first "border czar" in many ways marks the end of a clamorous chapter along California's frontier with Mexico. Title it "The Crackdown." The next chapter awaits key new characters on the U.S. side, and it is unclear if the high-profile job of overseeing the country's southern border for the Clinton administration will be based here anymore.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno has appointed U.S. Atty. Alan Bersin to a newly created post of "border czar," which will oversee the far-flung array of law enforcement agencies at the U.S.-Mexico line, Justice Department officials said Friday.

Alan Bersin, who as United States attorney for San Diego and Imperial counties has served as the "border czar" overseeing a crackdown on illegal immigration and drug smuggling, was named Monday as superintendent of the San Diego school system, the eighth-largest in the nation. Bersin, 51, succeeds Bertha Pendleton, who is retiring this summer after 41 years as a teacher and administrator in San Diego schools.

Alan Bersin, who as United States attorney for San Diego and Imperial counties has served as the "border czar" overseeing a crackdown on illegal immigration and drug smuggling, was named Monday as superintendent of the San Diego school system, the eighth-largest in the nation. Bersin, 51, succeeds Bertha Pendleton, who is retiring this summer after 41 years as a teacher and administrator in San Diego schools.

On the eve of sentencing for a prominent attorney and two former Superior Court judges convicted of fraud and racketeering charges, a defense attorney has asked that the convictions be thrown out because of an alleged conflict of interest by the U.S. attorney. Dennis Riordan, the lawyer representing attorney Patrick Frega, the key figure in the judicial bribery scandal that gripped this city for five years, asked for a new trial Tuesday after learning that U.S. Atty.

The departure of the nation's first "border czar" in many ways marks the end of a clamorous chapter along California's frontier with Mexico. Title it "The Crackdown." The next chapter awaits key new characters on the U.S. side, and it is unclear if the high-profile job of overseeing the country's southern border for the Clinton administration will be based here anymore.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today will name San Diego Schools Supt. Alan D. Bersin as California's next education secretary, according to sources familiar with the decision. Bersin, 58, will replace Secretary of Education Richard Riordan, who announced this week that he would resign the post June 30. A tough-talking former U.S.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday called on federal officials to find ways to eliminate long delays for passengers who go through immigration and customs processing at Los Angeles International Airport. In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the California Democrat said she was concerned that a shortage of customs and immigration officers was causing unnecessary problems for travelers and increasing security risks at the nation's third busiest airport.

The U.S. government agreed Wednesday to pay $2.75 million to a business executive who was shot and seriously wounded when federal drug agents stormed his suburban house in a botched pre-dawn raid based on a false tip from an informant. The settlement before a federal judge closes an extraordinary case in which the U.S. attorney's office took the unusual step of admitting liability in the lawsuit by Donald Carlson, 43, a computer company executive from Poway.

On the eve of sentencing for a prominent attorney and two former Superior Court judges convicted of fraud and racketeering charges, a defense attorney has asked that the convictions be thrown out because of an alleged conflict of interest by the U.S. attorney. Dennis Riordan, the lawyer representing attorney Patrick Frega, the key figure in the judicial bribery scandal that gripped this city for five years, asked for a new trial Tuesday after learning that U.S. Atty.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno has appointed U.S. Atty. Alan Bersin to a newly created post of "border czar," which will oversee the far-flung array of law enforcement agencies at the U.S.-Mexico line, Justice Department officials said Friday.

Alan D. Bersin, a University of San Diego law professor, is slated to become the new U.S. attorney for San Diego and Imperial counties, legal and political sources said Thursday. Sen. Barbara Boxer has recommended to President Clinton that he nominate Bersin, 46, a Rhodes scholar with the President in the late 1960s, for the highly coveted position of top federal law enforcement official in the two counties, both of which border Mexico.

With a candor rare in government, federal officials in San Diego have admitted they made a terrible blunder when customs and drug agents broke into Donald Carlson's home in 1992 and shot him three times--twice as he lay wounded. But we remain puzzled why so little has been done to punish the agents who recklessly relied on the dubious informant who fingered Carlson as being part of a drug ring. The case is chilling in its detail.

Shortages of customs and immigration agents at Los Angeles International Airport have been causing significant delays for thousands of travelers, forcing them to wait on their planes or stand in line for up to three hours before being processed, airport officials say. The problem is a long-standing one for the nation's third-busiest airport, but it became so acute this summer that LAX officials formally complained to the head of the federal customs...