1. Among latest illegal immigrants: Iraqi Christians
Saturday, as immigration advocates around the country prepared for Monday's rallies, U.S. Border Patrol agents near Brownsville, Texas, arrested three men who had illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. But these aren't Mexicans: They are Iraqis. What's more, they are Chaldean Christians, who told the immigration officials that they're seeking religious asylum after death threats were made against them.

"The first words out of their mouth were, 'Iraqi Christian, Iraqi Christian, Iraqi Christian,'" their lawyer, Humberto Yzaguirre, told The Brownsville Herald. "They said Baghdad was a mess. … They told me that they have seen some of the terrorists kill Christians within their sight." One of the men owned a liquor store, which was burned down by Iraqi Muslims.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in October reported that such religious asylum seekers from Iraq "may not be receiving the protection to which they are entitled under the Refugee Convention." Assistant Secretary of State Richard Greene responded to the commission, saying that the government would work with the UN refugee agency "to ensure that vulnerable Iraqis receive appropriate protection and assistance until durable solutions can be found."

The Iraqis, who pled guilty to illegal entry, will be sentenced on Friday.

2. Appeals court backs ban on social worker's evangelism Daniel Berry, an employee at the Tehama County (Calif.) Department of Social Services, kept a Spanish Bible on his desk and, in December 2001, put a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" sign in his cubicle. Not acceptable, said his employers. Citing a 1997 memo, they told him, "the Bible and other religious non-verbal ...