Upon Further Review . . .

Sanchez wrote back within days: "After carefully reviewing information on this matter, I feel obligated to continue my support for the 'Criminal Alien Identification Program' in order to ensure the public safety and support our long-term crime-fighting efforts."

Green Party activist Duane Roberts, who lives in Sanchez's district, says that he and other progressives were willing to give Sanchez some initial slack because after taking office, Sanchez immediately came under attack from House Republicans.

"Being a freshman congresswoman, she was being encouraged to vote a certain way by her colleagues to appease the more reactionary elements within her constituency," Roberts said. "She has changed her position on a number of issues and is more progressive than she was back in 1997. The joke then among progressives was that we had gotten rid of B-1 Bob [Dornan] and replaced him with B-2 Loretta."