An undocumented Harvard University student whose detention by immigration authorities has drawn wide attention is no longer facing deportation to Mexico, officials said.
Eric Balderas, 19, was detained nearly two weeks ago after he tried to use a university ID card to board a plane from San Antonio to Boston. The detention sparked a buzz among student immigrant activists, many of whom thought Balderas's case might help advance the proposed DREAM act -- a federal bill that would allow illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship through college enrollment or military service.
Mario Rodas, a friend of Balderas's, said Balderas was granted deferred action, which can be used to halt deportation based on a case's merits. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that the agency had decided not to pursue the deportation.
-- Associated Press
PENNSYLVANIA
White supremacists picket at Gettysburg
A demonstration by a dozen white supremacists at one of the nation's most famous Civil War battlefields ended without incident Saturday, as police kept them isolated from the slightly larger group of counterprotesters.
The Aryan Nations' northeastern division held its demonstration at Gettysburg National Military Park, just a few hundred yards from the site where the Union Army repulsed Pickett's Charge during the storied 1863 battle. The two sides taunted each other but never got close. There were no arrests.
-- Associated Press
FDA warns against using coffee product as aphrodisiac: The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday urged consumers not to use an instant coffee product that is being marketed as a sexual aphrodisiac, saying it could dangerously lower blood pressure. The FDA said Magic Power Coffee contains a chemical that could interact with some prescription drugs in ways that might lead to dizziness or lightheadedness.
Bear killed after fatal mauling near Yellowstone: Federal wildlife officials on Saturday tracked down and killed a grizzly bear suspected of fatally mauling a man outside Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Shot from a helicopter, the bear died about two miles from where Erwin Frank Evert was killed Thursday near his cabin east of Yellowstone.
Schools official in R.I. vows to change controversial policy: The superintendent of a Rhode Island school district that banned a second-grader's homemade hat because it displayed toy soldiers with tiny guns said Saturday that he will work to change the policy to allow such apparel. Ken Di Pietro said the no-weapons policy shouldn't limit student expression. The 8-year-old student glued plastic Army figures to a baseball cap after choosing a patriotic theme for a school project.