rssThe Week in Immigration News
Friday, April 23, 2010 at 2:23 pm
- 11 Comments
A roundup of the top immigration stories of the week:
- If Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) don’t introduce an immigration bill in three weeks, Democrats will bring their own bill forward, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday, according to aides and lobbyists. The Hill also reported Wednesday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is “fine” with the Senate taking up immigration reform before climate change legislation. “If they [the Senate] can do immigration first, that is fine,” a Pelosi aide told The Hill. But Graham, who is also working on the climate bill with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), said Congress is not ready to take up immigration reform yet. “This comes out of left field,” he said. “We haven’t done anything to prepare the body or the country for immigration.”
- The Arizona state Senate passed a controversial immigration bill Monday. Senate bill 1070 (“Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhood Act”), one of the toughest immigration bills in the country, would require law enforcement officers to ask anyone they suspect of being illegal about their legal status, prohibit blocking traffic when seeking work (to target immigrant day laborers) and ban “sanctuary cities.” The legislation was passed by a vote of 17-11 — only one Republican senator joined all voting Democrats in voting against the legislation. Republican Governor Jan Brewer has until Saturday to sign or veto SB 1070. Numerous civil rights groups and lawmakers, including New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), have been adamantly opposed to the legislation and have urged Brewer to veto it. Considering that 70 percent of Arizona voters favor this kind of legislation, many believe Brewer will sign the bill. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who supports the bill, and Democratic Arizona state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema talked about SB 1070 on CNN Wednesday. President Obama referenced the bill today, saying it threatens “to undermine basic notions of fairness.”
- On Monday, Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, both Republicans from Arizona, announced a 10-point border security plan for Arizona they say will fight illegal immigration, drug and immigrant smuggling and violence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Their plan calls for the deployment of 3,000 National Guard troops to the southern Arizona border; the implementation of Operation Streamline, a program that has created a backlog of immigration cases and a rising number of immigrant detainees; and the completion of an unpopular border fence, among other measures.
- An appeals court has refused to reconsider its decision that prohibits Oklahoma from enforcing parts of House bill 1804, the 2007 anti-illegal immigration law intended to crack down on the hiring of illegal immigrants. The court decided that at least two provisions of the bill are unenforceable. The Oklahoman reported earlier this week: “The case now will go back to U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron in Oklahoma City to decide whether she will turn her 2008 preliminary injunction against the law into a permanent injunction. One part of the law upheld by the appeals court requires businesses that contract with government agencies to verify the immigration status of job-seekers by using a federal database known as E-Verify.”
- “Eight law enforcement agencies in Virginia and Maryland have recently joined a sweeping federal program that aims to identify and deport illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes,” reported The Washington Post. The program, called Secure Communities, is part of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) effort that allows local law enforcement officers to check fingerprints against the FBI criminal database and the Department of Homeland Security’s biometric database to detain and remove criminal immigrants. There are now about about 150 jurisdictions in 19 states that participate in the program. ICE expects the program to be a nationwide resource by the end of 2013. On April 27, several civil rights groups and other activists will formally announce a lawsuit demanding records related to the “little-known” Secure Communities program and a national week-long campaign to raise awareness on the program.
- States are starting to get tough on illegal immigrants; Arizona is one example. But yesterday, Steve Chapman of Reason magazine wrote about how states’ and the country’s plans for cracking down on immigration are actually backfiring — the claims of anti-immigrant lawmakers and officers aren’t really accurate, and certain government initiatives, like the border fence, are actually helping keep immigrants, who would have gone back to their home country at some point, in the U.S. From the article: “The state [Arizona] has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants. But contrary to myth, they have not brought an epidemic of murder and mayhem with them. Surprise of surprises, the state has gotten safer. Over the last decade, the violent crime rate has dropped by 19 percent, while property crime is down by 20 percent. Crime has also declined in the rest of the country, but not as fast as in Arizona. [The] claim about police killings [by illegal immigrants] came as news to me. When I called his office to get a list of victims, I learned there has been only one since the beginning of 2008—deeply regrettable, but not exactly a trend. … If there is anything we’ve learned about getting tough on illegal immigration, it’s that it rarely works as intended. Like punching a wall, it may feel good for a moment, but it hurts a lot longer.”
- Rep. Gutierrez, who campaigned for Obama during his election and is one of the most outspoken advocates for immigration reform, is becoming increasingly displeased with the president’s stance on the issue. Gutierrez said Latinos could stay home in November if Congress and the administration fail to act on immigration reform, The Hill reported. He says the Latino community has lost patience with an administration that focuses on enforcement-only policies. Read more here.
- Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) sent a letter asking Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to stop the deportation of young immigrants who would be eligible to participate in the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, a bill that would give a pathway to undocumented students to become permanent residents and possibly citizens and facilitate their access to college, provided they meet a list of criteria. Read more here.
11 Comments
Pingback posted April 23, 2010 @ 2:50 pm
[...] The Week in Immigration News « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted April 23, 2010 @ 3:26 pm
[...] The Week in Immigration News « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted April 23, 2010 @ 3:36 pm
[...] The Week in Immigration News « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted April 23, 2010 @ 7:32 pm
[...] The Week in Immigration News « The Washington Independent [...]
Comment posted April 23, 2010 @ 8:16 pm
When decades of administrations have failed to protect the people, the border, visa expiration, no wonder a financially crippled border state like Arizona must enact its own immigration laws? REASON WE NEED FEDERAL TROOPS TO GUARD THE BORDER. US Border patrol doesn't have the agents, or the local police have enough manpower to stop this onslaught. That's another reason to give Gov. Jan Brewer the bounty of our strength for her to sign the Arizona immigration law, giving police enforcement power at (602) 542-4331 Rasmussen poll say 72 % percent of Arizona residents–SUPPORT–this law being passed. If you are–NOT–an open border extremist, join the organization that is fighting for our rights, freedoms and liberty at NumbersUSA.
Comment posted April 23, 2010 @ 8:16 pm
Its all about gain, one way or the other. Political gain, monetary gain or some other form of power grab. It shows that President Obama and his cohorts of Democrats, mostly the liberal-socialists hidden within the party. These is the open-border leaders, who are promoting that illegal immigrants to get some kind of Amnesty, camouflaged under Comprehensive Immigration reform. Amnesty of any kind will be fiercely fought, specifically when millions of Americans are jobless. The Democrats are well aware that this will bring into their fold, blocks of foreign nationals who they can count on for a vote in future elections. But Republicans cannot stand back from their own party, as many are just as guilty, catering to the big corporate suppliers of campaign money. It seems both parties have lost track that they are just public employees and can be thrown out of office.Congressional brains doesn't seem to understand or intentionally refused to, that millions of more people will try and cross the stressed border, if Obama gets to sign an amnesty. THAT ANOTHER REASON WE NEED FEDERAL TROOPS TO GUARD THE BORDER. US Border patrol doesn't have the agents, or the local police have enough manpower to stop this onslaught. That's another reason to give Gov. Jan Brewer the bounty of our strength for her to sign the Arizona immigration law, giving police enforcement power at (602) 542-4331 Rasmussen poll say 72 % percent of Arizona residents–SUPPORT–this law being passed. If you are–NOT–an open border extremist, join the organization that is fighting for our rights, freedoms and liberty at NumbersUSA.
Comment posted April 23, 2010 @ 8:49 pm
What a bunch of hypocrites in Arizona!!! The “Founding Fathers” were nothing more then SLAVE MASTERS that slaughtered the True Natives of this country for their land and children (that they integrated as slaves) and thennow they have the NERVE to put up walls and tell the rest of HUMANITY (or only the ones they don't want here) that they cannot SIT ON GODS LAND? THIS LAND BELONGS TO NO ONE BUT GOD and was FREE until YOU started CHARGING US FOR IT. They were taking care of the land, you DESTROY IT. You think GOD BLESSES YOU AMERICA. GOD DOES NOT BLESS YOU AMERICA…HE wants NOTHING to do with U.s.ers
and BTW, (to those below) WE ARE ALL ILLEGAL!!! OUR EUROPEAN ANCESTORS SLAUGHTERED THE NATIVES OF THIS COUNTRY FOR THEIR LAND…
YOU KEEP ON PUSHING HUMAN BEINGS OUT OF A COUNTRY YOU SLAUGHTERED INDIANS FOR…AND THE BACKLASH WILL BE SEVERE…oops. it already is…
that CLOUD from Iceland should be heading for the US right about NOW!! wonder why it cost EUROPE so much…how much it's gonna cost U.S.ers. .
GOD bless America? please…more like Satan damns U…
racists….hypocrites…evil-cold-hearted unfeeling-monsters that care nothing about human beings, just their own “national interests”…
I hope to see (one day SOON) another country of GREEDY SELFISH EVIL MONSTERS invade this country, take away what you consider your land and leaves you all with no homes…and then says to you…”GET OUT AND STAY OUT….WE DISCOVERED THIS COUNTRY NOW IT'S OURS…do you have your papers or work permits to be here?”…
If a native American were elected as President, the first thing that this Native American would do would be to hold accountable the government that slaughtered his ancestors for their land. He would break down the entire government structure that represented this greed and burn down these buildings of corruption and power. Not integrate with them. If he did not do so, then he would not be a true representative of Native Americans, who have also suffered greatly because of our lack of compassion, our greed and need for domination, land and power. Do you want to know what the solution is to every problem that humanity faces? Eliminate Money and need to charge each other to live. Make human rights the number one priority and make this existence a free one. Eliminate the need to waste my existence making , spending, chasing after and protecting money so I can live. There would be no reason for wars, murders, crime, etc.
Pingback posted April 24, 2010 @ 11:23 pm
[...] the mid-19th century is back with an a-historic vengeance in the American Southwest. And Arizona is not alone in seeking ways to usurp the federal government’s immigration [...]
Comment posted April 27, 2010 @ 12:15 am
The latest FBI statistics show 83 percent of murder warrants in Phoenix are for illegal aliens; 75 percent of those on their most wanted list are illegal aliens; 40.1 percent of Arizona’s inmates are illegal aliens and 30 percent fill America’s state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually; 63 percent of stopped Arizona drivers have no license, insurance or vehicle registration and 97 percent of those are illegal aliens. In 2005 alone, 380,000 babies were born in the U.S. to illegal alien parents (making them automatic U.S. citizens) with 97 percent of all costs incurred paid by American taxpayers.
Comment posted April 27, 2010 @ 12:15 am
The latest FBI statistics show 83 percent of murder warrants in Phoenix are for illegal aliens; 75 percent of those on their most wanted list are illegal aliens; 40.1 percent of Arizona’s inmates are illegal aliens and 30 percent fill America’s state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually; 63 percent of stopped Arizona drivers have no license, insurance or vehicle registration and 97 percent of those are illegal aliens. In 2005 alone, 380,000 babies were born in the U.S. to illegal alien parents (making them automatic U.S. citizens) with 97 percent of all costs incurred paid by American taxpayers.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
