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Daily news updates from CIS
September 22, 2009
Support the Center for Immigration Studies by donating on line here: http://cis.org/donate
ATTN Federal employees: The Center's Combined Federal Campaign number is 10298.
[For CISNEWS subscribers --
1. Census figures show decline in foreign born population (story, 6 links)
2. Obama to tap Border Czar for USCBP top spot
3. Gov't discourages illegal Israeli immigration
4. USCIS launches new web portal
5. VA Rep. touts amnesty action at church meeting
6. Issue divides Colorado Democrats
7. VA town seeks injunction against illegal hires
8. UT county denied 287(g) participation
9. TX town cracks down on Mexican students
10. NC comm. college expects little change under new policy (story, 2 links)
11. Vicente Fox addresses issue in NM
12. Hispanic Evangelicals concerned about health care debate
13. Chicano nationalists to rally in AZ
14. Houston cop's widow files suit over enforcement policy
15. NY activists accuse Border Patrol of profiling
16. CA bank catering to foreigners closes
17. Hair salons an entrepreneurial outlet for VA immigrants
18. NY community center offers immigration info
19. WA business owners get probation, fines for illegal hires
20. Salvadoran illegals caught near Pittsburgh
21. CA grocery magnate to face harboring charges (link)
22. DHS employee sentenced on immigration charges (link)
23. NY Atty. General cracks down on scammers (link)
24. Suspect attempts to run down Border Patrol agent (link)
25. Illegals caught in Vermont forest (link)
Subscribe to CIS e-mail services here: http://cis.org/immigrationnews.html
-- Mark Krikorian]
1.
Fewer foreign-born people are in the U.S., census says
By Don Lee
The Chicago Tribune, September 22, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-dc-census,0,398053.story
Washington, DC -- After more than three decades of often-rapid growth, the nation's foreign-born population apparently declined slightly in 2008, according to new Census Bureau data that will intensify debate on the already-explosive issues of illegal immigrants and the economy.
While the census data does not address the reason for the decline, other evidence points to the troubled state of the American economy and the soaring unemployment rate as likely causes.
The data are considered statistically powerful, because they come from the Census Bureau's annual survey of some three million people. The survey puts the number of foreign-born people at 37.97 million, a decline of nearly 99,000 from 2007.
Sampling error in the survey was high enough to make it possible that the actual number of foreign-born people remained unchanged from 2007. Nonetheless, the figure suggests a dramatic break from the wave of increased foreign migration, particularly from Asia and Latin America, which followed a major change in immigration policy in 1965.
Prior to 2008, the foreign-born population in the U.S. grew by an average of almost one million a year over the last two decades, including by nearly 512,000 in 2007.
'This is clearly a consequence of the economy, with the biggest impact on Mexican and low-skilled immigrants,' said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed the new census data. 'It shows that these immigrants respond to the economy.'
Some groups supporting limited immigration seized on the new figures, saying they threw cold water on the argument that illegal immigrants should be given amnesty because they are here to stay, and that little can be done to change that.
'Many of us always thought illegal immigrants were anchored in the U.S.,' said Steve Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that seeks fewer immigrants. 'This new data suggest that's not the case.'
He added that the statistics 'imply very strongly that fewer people are coming and significantly more are going home.'
Other researchers disputed that notion, arguing that there is no evidence that an increased number of foreign-born residents from Mexico, who constitute the majority of illegal immigrants, are returning to their native land.
'What appears is that the number of new immigrants has declined substantially, especially undocumented immigrants,' said D'Vera Cohn, a senior writer at the Pew Research Center.
She and co-author and demographer Jeffrey Passel, reported in a recent study that data from the Mexican government does not indicate that the number of arrivals home had increased annually from 2006 through early 2009.
Last year the biggest drops in the foreign-born population were reported in California, Arizona and Florida – three of the hardest hit states during the recession. Texas, whose economy has outperformed most other states, saw the biggest gain, adding 58,320 new non-native-born residents, followed by Georgia and New York.
Census data shows that the nation's foreign-born population grew by 5.7 million in the course of the 1980s and by 11.3 million during the 1990s.
The most recent data comes from the American Community Survey, an annual poll that began this decade. It has shown wide fluctuations from year to year in the increase in the nation's foreign-born population, with a low of 374,391 in 2001 and a high of 1.86 million in 2006.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Census Bureau’s American Community data survey is available online at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/
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Immigrant population dipped last year, Census says
By Haya El Nasser and Paul Overberg
USA Today, September 22, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2009-09-22-census_N.htm
Immigrant population in California declines
Survey data point to a dramatic shift in the nation and show the recession's effect on foreign-born residents.
By Don Lee and Alana Semuels
The Los Angeles Times, September 22, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-census22-2009sep22,0,7464111.story
Immigrant population declines in California
Number of Mexican-born falls 9 percent in county
By Lori Weisberg and Leslie Berestein
The San Diego Union Tribune, September 22, 2009
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/22/immigrant-population-declines-california/?california&zIndex=169985
Number of Foreign-Born U.S. Residents Drops
Construction, Manufacturing Job Cuts and Enforcement Cited in Loss of Hispanic Immigrants
By Carol Morello and Dan Keating
The Washington Post, September 22, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/21/AR2009092103251.html?hpid=topnews
Foreign-born population dips in South Florida
In both Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the immigrant population dropped slightly between 2007 and 2008, according to new data from the Census Bureau.
By Andres Viglucci
The Miami Herald, September 22, 2009
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/1245215.html
Declining economy may have led to small drop in immigrants living in South Florida
Broward, Miami-Dade show decline, but Palm Beach has a slight increase in foreign-born residents
By Mike Clary and Dana Williams
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), September 21, 2009 Tuesday
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/sfl-census-foreign-born-b092109,0,4425603.story
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2.
Obama to pick border czar for Customs commissioner
By Eileen Sullivan
The Associated Press, September 22, 2009
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9ASGH2O0&show_article=1&catnum=0
Washington, DC (AP) -- The Obama administration has told some members of Congress that it plans to nominate its Southwest border czar to be commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.
Alan Bersin has been serving in a position created by the Obama administration to handle illegal immigration and border issues since April.
As head of Customs and Border Protection, Bersin would continue to oversee border issues.
From 1993 to 1998, Bersin was the federal prosecutor who led the government's crackdown on illegal immigrants at the California-Mexico border. During his final three years, Bersin doubled as the U.S. attorney general's Southwest border representative, or 'border czar.'
Bersin would have to be confirmed by the Senate.
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3.
US Fights Israeli 'Illegals'
By Hana Levi Julian
Arutz Sheva (Israel), September 17, 2009
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133480
The U.S. Embassy in Israel has produced a video in hopes of deterring Israelis from traveling to America on tourist visas and then staying illegally in order to find a job and settle down.
'Over the past few years, some Israelis wanting to work in the U.S. have been saying during visa interviews that they want to go to the U.S. only as tourist travelers,' wrote the embassy in a post that accompanied the video.
'After their arrival at a U.S. airport and questioning by immigration inspectors, the true purpose of their U.S. trip is then discovered. What can follow is detention, possibly a court hearing, and then an immediate return to Israel along with a multi-year ban on future travels to the United States,' the embassy warned.
The footage includes brief clips of interviews that illustrate a number of cases which appear to be described by the Israelis themselves. One was 'S.H.', who according to an English-language subtitle was 'refused entry at Newark Airport in November 2008 because [he] was found to have worked before in the U.S. Not allowed to go back to the U.S. for 5 years. Applied for work (H2B) visa in December 2008 and was refused.'
'This video features Israelis speaking honestly about their negative experience, resulting from an attempt to break the law, go around the system, and act illegally. We hope you'll agree with them that the price of breaking U.S. immigration law is too high! Please stick to the law and have a great trip to the U.S.!!' it concludes.
The U.S. rejected Israel's request in 2007 to join its Visa Waiver Program, which would allow travel to America for touring or business for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa.
The U.S. also refused to exempt Israelis from visa requirements that mandated personal interviews in order to obtain even a tourist visa. Israelis must also be fingerprinted upon application for a visa. The primary reason given was a condition there be a rejection rate of less than three percent of the total number of non-immigrant visas from the applicant country in the 12 months preceding the application to the program. Currently about five percent of all Israeli applications for visas are rejected by the U.S.
At least 35 countries are members of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, including Japan, Singapore, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, Malta, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, South Korea, and the Muslim nation of Brunei, near Indonesia, as well as most Western European nations. Greece and Croatia are both expected to join the program within the next two years.
Israel has already signed agreements with a number of other nations to abolish travel visas, among them Serbia, which joined the list this week. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic signed the agreement between the two nations on Wednesday in Belgrade, saying it would help boost economic and other ties.
Moreover, none of the member nations of the European Union require Israelis to have a tourist visa for visits of up to 90 days.
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4.
USCIS launches interactive Web site
Portal designed to be more user-friendly, increase transparency
By Ben Bain
Federal Computer Week, September 22, 2009
http://fcw.com/articles/2009/09/22/web-new-uscis-site.aspx
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has launched a revamped Web portal that agency officials say is more user-friendly, interactive and informative than its predecessor.
The upgraded site allows applicants for citizenship and related benefits to follow the progress of their cases. They can choose to receive notifications through e-mail messages or text messages when the status of an application changes, the agency said.
The redesigned USCIS.gov has, for the first time, a Spanish language version. It also provides access to national trend data and raw data that can be used in additional applications. USCIS petitions and applications will be accessible through the case status feature, and include applications for naturalization and certificate of citizenship, as well as petitions related to the status of non-immigrant workers and relatives and fiancés from other nations.
'It’s part of a broader effort in this agency and it is in keeping with [Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s] emphasis as well as the administration’s emphasis on transparency,' Alejandro Mayorkas, USCIS’ director, said in an interview Sept. 21. USCIS is an agency under the Homeland Security Department.
Mayorkas, Napolitano, and Jeffrey Zients – the Obama administration’s chief performance officer – are scheduled to announce the revamped USCIS.gov site at a press conference today. Mayorkas said the site is customer-centric and the public's response to new site will be the greatest benchmark of its success.
USCIS developed the site in a hurry after President Barack Obama announced June 25 that the agency would launch the new portal in 90 days.
The government is using new technology 'to reduce the unnecessary paperwork, backlogs, and the lack of transparency that's caused so many people so much heartache,' Obama said.
On the portal, a feature named 'My Case Status' gives applicants or their representatives information about their cases in the context of the adjudication process, including relevant processing times. Users can also be able receive indications regarding whether their case has been transferred to another USCIS office.
Meanwhile, a new feature on the site named the 'National Dashboard' lets users see graphs of processing times to compare different data sets and trends. The portal also gives users a new, improved search engine, according to USCIS.
Tom Parisi, chief of new media for USCIS, said the portal is unique because it gives people the opportunity to get the data in a CSV file format, in line with the administration’s effort to make more raw data available.
The USCIS site has traditionally been one of the most used government portals. According an agency spokesman, about 2.8 million users accessed the case status page on the legacy Web site each month. Parisi said the legacy USCIS.gov site got 230,000 users per day and each month got six million visitors and 25 million page views.
Mayorkas said the agency plans to continue to add features to site. In the coming months, the agency plans to continue to expand information available on the Spanish language Web site, improve access and searchability of forms.
'I think a consumer does receive more information [from the new site] in that they know not only where they are, but what the process is ahead of them and what are the anticipated time frames for each step in that process so they have some predictability to the future of their application,' Mayorkas said.
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5.
Moran Outlines Immigration Reform Plan
By Roby Chavez
The WTTG News (Washington, DC), September 21, 2009
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/092109_moran_outlines_immigration_reform_plan
Three hundred people filled a Northern Virginia town hall meeting on Monday night to discuss pending immigration reform.
Many in the immigrant community vowed to fight even more. Northern Virginia has already been at the center of heated immigration debate.
Both sides are very organized and are prepared for a bitter fight.
One worker shouted from the audience, 'Let's work together!'
The comment came shortly after congressman Jim Moran (D)-VA spoke.
'This is not going to be easy. Its going to be very difficult,' said Moran.
It was a reality check for the immigrant families who gathered to make sure they have a voice when immigration reform takes center stage later this year. It's the next hot topic that Congress will face.
Moran warned the overflowing multi-ethnic crowd.
'If we do not hear from those who want progress from this country we will hear from those who want the status quo and if does not happen. We will not get this legislation,' said Moran
Inside the Northern Virginia church, the preacher tried to set the tone.
'The only person allowed to shout here is the preacher,' he said from the podium.
Many know the tone will soon change as the debate turns national.
Health care reform and immigration reform are now politically tied following Congressman Joe Wilson's 'You lie' outburst to President Obama.
Emotions get heated over divisive issues like the immigration backlog and workplace raids. Organizers estimate there were five such raids last year, detaining 167 people.
'Those raids are causing so much harm to the Latino community. They're dividing us,' said Arturo Munoz of the Tenants and Workers United Union.
'These people paid for a service. In the U.S., when you pay for a service you deserve a to get a service,' said Sid Hammed from The Dar Al HirJrah Islamic Center
Tonight several ethnic groups, non profits and unions joined forces.
'We do fully embrace comprehensive immigration reform,' said John Johnson from the NAACP.
'We hope that it will legalize the undocumented and bring them out of the shadows,' said Genie Nguyenle, Asian Americans of Virginia,
Moran said he will co-sponsor the legislation that will be introduced perhaps as early as October.
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6.
Latinos big players in Senate-seat primaries
Romanoff, Bennet and a crowded GOP race will all be vying for the voters' support.
By Lynn Bartels
The Denver Post, September 21, 2009
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13383366
A year ago during a heated congressional race, former state Sen. Polly Baca said she couldn't support Joan Fitz-Gerald in the Democratic primary because of her role in a special session on illegal immigration.
Fitz-Gerald was the state Senate president during that 2006 session, where lawmakers enacted what were touted as the toughest immigration laws in the nation. Baca said the measures hurt Latinos.
But a year later, Baca showed up in Pueblo to support Andrew Romanoff's kickoff for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate. He is challenging U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.
Romanoff was the House speaker during that same special session, and Baca was asked about what seemed to be a contradiction.
'It was Fitz-Gerald who pushed for it, and Andrew just went along for party unity,' Baca said.
'Polly is dead wrong,' Fitz-Gerald said last week, noting that former Gov. Bill Owens called the session.
Several Hispanic leaders, including Ricardo Martinez, co-director of Padres Unidos, backed Fitz-Gerald's version of events. Martinez said he is supporting Bennet.
'What's not spoken about is Romanoff's record, and how he voted to prohibit in-state tuition to undocumented students,' said Martinez, who stressed he was speaking for himself and not his group.
Romanoff in 2004 voted for a GOP measure sponsored by Senate President John Andrews and Rep. Ted Harvey allowing in-state tuition for foreign nationals but prohibiting it for illegal immigrants. The bill eventually died.
But Romanoff clearly has strong Latino backing, as evidenced by the turnout at his kickoff Wednesday in Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Denver.
'Andrew doesn't always agree with everything we want, but Andrew has always been willing to sit down with us and listen to our concerns,' Baca said. 'Andrew has shown leadership.'
Some Latinos felt snubbed in January when Gov. Bill Ritter appointed Bennet to the Senate seat held by U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, who was set to resign to join President Barack Obama's administration.
'I wanted a Hispanic, but if that wasn't the case, Romanoff was our choice, you better believe it,' said Pueblo County Commissioner Anthony Nunez.
Bennet has plenty of fans in the Latino community, too, primarily from his tenure as Denver's schools superintendent.
One of his biggest fans is 2008 South High School graduate Ricky Escobedo, who also attended Manual High.
Escobedo, now a student at the University of Colorado Denver, credits Bennet with helping him graduate.
'He would call me. He would tell me to stay in school,' Escobedo said. 'I've seen his work and what his intentions are. He's a hardworking guy, and he really cares. That's why I want Michael Bennet to win.'
Bennet or Romanoff will face the winner of a crowded Republican primary.
Republicans are upbeat about their chances with Latino voters, given the party's outreach efforts and what happened in Colorado in 2008.
James Garcia, director of the Colorado Republican Party, said Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush received 30 percent of the Latino vote statewide in 204, while John McCain last year got 38 percent of Latino vote.
Colorado was the only swing state with a significant Latino population to see an increase in Republican Latino votes from 2004, Garcia said.
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7.
Herndon seeks illegal immigrant hiring injunction
By Gregg MacDonald
The Fairfax County Times (VA), September 22, 2009
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/news/2009/sep/22/herndon-seeks-illegal-immigrant-hiring-injunction/
A little more than two years after its anti-solicitation ordinance aimed at keeping day laborers off the streets was ruled unconstitutional by a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge, the Town of Herndon is pursuing another creative legal maneuver in hopes of forcing workers outside its limits.
On Aug. 29, 2007, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Leslie M. Alden ruled that a controversial ordinance — enacted by the Town in 2005 — was not permissible under Virginia law.
The ordinance, which was originally initiated in conjunction with the opening of an official day labor center, prohibited anyone from soliciting work or hiring a laborer on public property elsewhere in the town.
The unconstitutionality of the ordinance was soon followed by the closing of the official labor center. Since then, some ad hoc hiring sites sprung up within the town, much to the dismay of the mayor and the majority of the Town Council.
This month, Mayor Steve DeBenedittis drafted a letter to state Del. Tom Rust (R-Herndon) asking him to seek an opinion from Virginia Attorney General Bill Mims on a new plan to send many of the workers outside town limits.
'The Town of Herndon for the last seven years has been dealing with the issues raised by unregulated day workers gathering in the Herndon community,' wrote DeBenedittis in the Sept. 8 letter to Rust.
In the letter, DeBenedittis cited a controversial one-day, point-in-time Fairfax County study from 2004. The study reflects data gathered by a 2003 day labor survey, which was conducted at four sites in Fairfax County where day laborers gathered to wait for work: Annandale, Culmore, Herndon and Springfield. Sites were identified by the Fairfax County Police Department and staff from the Department of Systems Management for Human Services.
DeBenedittis pointed out that as part of the study, over 85 percent of interviewed laborers cited as 'barriers to permanent employment' their 'lack of documents.' After the study was published, there were some questions raised as to what 'documents' were referred to in the original survey, and as to how the term was interpreted by the workers.
Citing this study along with findings from 'scholars' at the University of Illinois and American University, DeBenedittis wrote, 'the evidence reflects that the vast majority of day workers are illegal aliens.'
He then said that both federal law and Virginia law prohibit the hiring of illegal immigrants but that the state’s ability to enforce its own law is pre-empted by the federal law. Furthermore, DeBenedittis said, 'the United States government has advised the Town of Herndon that the U.S. lacks the resources to enforce this federal law.'
DeBenedittis called the dilemma 'untenable' and wrote, 'This situation results in no government with the ability to enforce the prohibition against the hiring of illegal aliens in Virginia.'
He asks Rust to ask Mims if enacting an injunction prohibiting the hiring of illegal immigrants within the town 'without civil or criminal sanction' would be acceptable and constitutional.
Spokesman David Clementson from Mims’ office said that the Attorney General’s Office 'does not comment on legal opinion requests. … In fact, as our standard protocol, we don’t even confirm or deny receiving them until they’re fully completed and released publicly to the requestor.'
However, Clementson did say that a formal legal opinion issued by the attorney general in October 2007, stated that 'because the federal appellate courts are ambiguous regarding a state's authority to arrest individuals for civil violations of federal immigration law, until the law is clarified, it would not be advisable to enforce such violations outside of the scope of an agreement with federal authorities.'
On its blog, the Alliance for Herndon’s Future, LLC — a political action committee formed in opposition to the town’s current administration — voiced its own opinion. The Alliance has as members two former Herndon mayors, including attorney Michael O’Reilly.
An Alliance blog entry on the site read: 'If the attorney general would answer the question by saying the Town could pursue an injunction (an unlikely answer), how in the world could such an injunction be enforced? If a homeowner was enjoined from hiring a day worker, but did so anyway, that homeowner could not be punished with any ‘civil or criminal sanction,’ because that is prohibited.
'It would be a tremendous waste of time and resources solely to obtain an unenforceable injunction. While it is apparent that the Town Attorney drafted this portion of the letter, it is equally apparent that little, if any, analysis was done to support it,' they wrote.
DeBenedittis did not respond to an invitation to comment in person on the letter and the Alliance’s opinion, but Rust said he would deliver the message to Mims.
'As a constituent request —in this case, the Town of Herndon — I will honor it,' he said. 'Herndon is not the only municipality in which enforcement of this issue is a concern.'
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8.
Davis County draws ICE's cold shoulder
By Arthur Raymond
The Deseret News (Salt Lake City), September 21, 2009
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705331576/ICE-gives-Davis-County-cold-shoulder.html
While some Utah politicos are incensed by a recent denial issued by federal immigration enforcers to cross-train Davis County sheriff's deputies, the Department of Homeland Security says it has a better option for the agency to deal with undocumented criminals.
Davis County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Bob Yeaman said Monday that the Davis County jail processes about 10 prisoners a month who are unable to document their citizenship, and hoped that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement training, which it applied for last October, would streamline the process.
'Right now, we call ICE whenever we have an immigration-related issue,' he said. 'Usually, they show up quickly and it's not a problem … but not always.'
Local law enforcement agencies are allowed to hold a prisoner for 48 hours on federal immigration issues. However, if no federal agent shows up in that time, the prisoner is released. That, Yeaman said, is the problem.
Without the training ICE offers under its 287(g) program, local law enforcement officers have no jurisdiction in immigration matters and cannot take any action. But it isn't the only avenue for local agencies to deal with undocumented criminals, federal officials say.
Homeland Security spokesman Matthew Chandler said cross-training is not the appropriate solution for every agency, and efficient alternatives are in place that address processing undocumented criminals.
'When considering applications for 287(g) authority, ICE evaluates each situation with the best use of both federal and local law enforcement resources in mind,' Chandler said. 'ICE officials determined that Davis County's needs could be met more effectively by other ICE state and local assistance programs such as the Criminal Alien Program or Secure Communities.'
Both programs provide screening that, according to Homeland Security officials, are effective in identifying and tracking criminals who are in the country illegally.
Yeaman said the sheriff's office had not been informed of alternatives when the application was denied about three weeks ago. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he wasn't familiar with either of the programs, and thought the suggestion may be a feint.
'It sounds like they're using these programs as an excuse,' Shurtleff said. 'This is the federal government's responsibility … they knew they were going to need more help … I'm a little surprised, and disappointed, that they denied it.'
New immigration rules mandated by the Legislature's SB81, which went into effect in July, provide for local law enforcement agencies to voluntarily seek federal immigration training, and Shurtleff signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Justice that was supposed to facilitate that process. He said after the Davis County denial, he'd likely take the issue up directly with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
Rep. Brad Dee, R-Ogden was also taken aback by the ICE decision.
'I think it's unfortunate,' he said. 'I've said from the beginning … this training is at its most effective when used in correction facilities.'
Dee said he was concerned that the denial may mark a tide change at the federal level.
'I don't know how many local agencies are getting these denials,' he said. 'But when a new administration takes over … ICE officials are marching to the orders of Washington.'
Yeaman said he wasn't ready to drop the issue, and has sought help from Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch's office in either having the decision overturned, or getting a more substantive explanation of why the application was denied.
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9.
Students warned to prove Texas residence or leave
By Michelle Roberts
The Associated Press, September 21, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iEa3LG4aKcvw1Z2cUwND5PXDY69AD9ART1DG0
Del Rio, TX (AP) -- Students living in northern Mexico have skirted residency requirements to attend U.S. public schools for generations, but when the superintendent in one Texas border town got word that about 400 school-age children were crossing the international bridge each day with backpacks but no student visas, he figured he had to do something.
The community is connected by a bridge to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, and like most border cities, the towns operate in tandem, with U.S. citizens and green cardholders living, working and shopping on both sides. All of it is legal, but public school attendance by children living in Mexico is another issue.
'We had several van loads (with Mexican license plates) pulling up at the schools and kids getting out. It's like 'C'mon, it's obvious what's going on,'' said Kelt Cooper, superintendent of the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District.
He directed district officials to stake out the bridge and warn students they could face expulsion if they don't prove they live in the district a move that's brought complaints from civil rights groups and support from anti-immigrant proponents.
'We have a law. We have a policy. We follow it,' said Cooper, whose spent most of his life near the border and is uncomfortable with attempts to make him a cause celebre for either side of the immigration debate. 'I'm just doing my job.'
Like parents elsewhere who send their children to a better school across town, some parents living in northern Mexico send their children to American public schools believing they are safer and offer better education. Many also hope a U.S. education will provide better access to American colleges and universities.
Immigration status isn't an issue in these cases. A decades-old Supreme Court ruling prevents school officials from even asking about citizenship. Regardless, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, students who use the bridge enter the U.S. legally because they are U.S. citizens, permanent residents with green cards or Mexicans with student visas. Those visas are used by Mexican students who pay tuition, primarily at parochial schools.
But for tuition-free public school attendance, state law requires students to live in the district a rule that many officials don't rigidly enforce. Some are uncomfortable with following the letter of the law because doing so could deny U.S. citizen children access to public schools. Also, turning away students cost the districts money.
Texas schools get funding for each student. Statewide, it works out to about $9,400 per student, primarily from local property taxes and state supplements designed to balance rich and poor school districts. Additional grants from the federal government for low-income and special education students account for about $920 per student. Cooper estimates his district of 10,000 students would lose $2.7 million if 400 students were expelled.
At the start of this school year, Cooper's district asked that Border Patrol agents count students crossing the bridge one weekday. Agency spokesman Rick Pauza said 550 students crossed, about 150 of them had student visas. The rest, Cooper said, are probably attending one of his schools.
School officials staking out the bridge handed out letters that warned parents they would be required to show proof they lived in the district. Within a few days, most parents offered documentation, meaning their children won't be expelled.
Cesar Casillas, who was picking up his 9-year-old nephew at Lamar Elementary School last week, said some parents were scrambling to find apartments in Del Rio, about 130 miles west of San Antonio. He disagrees with what the district is doing.
'These kids have all the rights to an American school,' said Casillas, a 49-year-old who grew up in Del Rio.
It's a common argument, though legally, it has little weight.
'Citizenship doesn't give you the right to attend school. Residency does,' said Elena Castro, assistant superintendent at California's Calexico Unified School District.
Several years ago, her district strictly enforced requirements that every student annually document residency. The district tried posting a photographer to snap students at the crossing but has since stopped that because it was difficult to identify the students, Castro said.
David Hinojosa, an attorney for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said he's concerned about students being singled out because they were on an international bridge before school.
Cooper, who conducted similar port-of-entry checks several years ago when he led the district in Nogales, Ariz., said no Del Rio students have been expelled so far.
Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said Cooper's bridge stakeout prevented parents from taking advantage of a 'duty-free education.'
'It's very obvious the parents are cheating the system. The kids are getting quality education without contributing,' he said.
Texas Education Agency officials know that most border communities have some students surreptitiously commuting from homes in Mexico, but there's been no recent effort to count them, said spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe.
'It does cost us to educate these children, but we also get a benefit because we know they are likely to impact our economy in some way,' said Ratcliffe, noting that many will work in the U.S. as adults.
One of Texas' largest school districts, which is in El Paso, checks residency when students enroll, but spokeswoman Berenice Zubia said officials don't look for students at the international crossings that come from nearby Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Some parents in Del Rio say they're not taking any chances their children could be expelled.
Minerva Garcia, 50, hoped to move to her family's home in Ciudad Acuna to save money.
'If the students are willing to get up early to get across, it shouldn't be held against them,' said Garcia, as she waited to pick up her 5-year-old and 8-year-old from school. 'But I'm not going now.'
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10.
MCC expects little impact from state ruling on illegals
By Chyna Broadnax
The Mooresville Tribune (NC), September 22, 2009
http://www2.mooresvilletribune.com/content/2009/sep/22/mcc-expects-little-impact-state-ruling-illegals/
Mitchell Community College expects a minimal impact, if any, from a new state policy governing the admissions of illegal immigrants into community colleges.
The State Board of Community Colleges voted last week to allow illegal immigrants to enroll in North Carolina's 58 community colleges.
Board members voted 16 to 1 to admit undocumented immigrants provided they:
- Have graduated from a high school in the United States;
- Pay out-of-state tuition of $7,700 per academic year; and
- Do not displace a state or U.S. resident from a class or program.
Under the new policy, undocumented immigrants cannot register for classes until after legal residents have.
'The new policy, I doubt seriously, will have an impact on Mitchell Community College,' President Douglas Eason said.
Students admitted under this policy will not be eligible to receive financial aid so paying out-of-state tuition cost may be a barrier for them.
Eason said the required tuition these students must pay would be a 'pretty steep hill,' for them.
The policy will take six months to a year to go into effect.
It may not be until next fall until community colleges can begin to admit undocumented immigrants.
'If we have any students admitted under this policy it will be a very small number and I doubt that,' Eason said.
Until the new policy is effective, community colleges must continue to operate under the previous rule of denying admission to undocumented immigrants.
'Once the administrative rules process is completed, our community colleges will be able to cease the back-and-forth of the last eight years, and these students, who are striving for a better future, will have access to a seamless educational pathway from K-12 and beyond,' board chair Hilda Pinnix-Ragland Pinnix-Ragland said in a statement.
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State board votes on new policy concerning illegal immigrants
By Morgan Wall
The Mount Airy News (NC), September 22, 2009
http://www.mtairynews.com/pages/full_story/push?article-State+board+votes+on+new+policy+concerning+illegal+immigrants%20&id=3673498-State+board+votes+on+new+policy+concerning+illegal+immigrants&instance=secondary_news_left_column
Eastern NC community colleges anticipate entrance of illegal
By Arthur Mondale
The WNCT News (Greenville, NC), September 21, 2009
http://www2.wnct.com/nct/news/local/article/eastern_nc_community_colleges_anticipate_entrance_of_illegal_immigrants/54204/
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11.
Former Mexican pres. talks immigration at UNM
By Stuart Dyson
The KOB News (Albuquerque, NM), September 21, 2009
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1150432.shtml?cat=516
Former Mexican president Vicente Fox has some new ideas about reducing the flow of immigrants across the border and he shared them with an audience Monday at the University of New Mexico.
Fox says he is not in favor of open borders, but he does believe that higher wages for Mexican workers would keep more of them in Mexico.
Fox was president of Mexico for the first six years of the century. He is advocating a sort of European Union deal for Mexico, the U.S. and Canada where each nation chips in two percent of its gross national product to help out the poorest partner—which is Mexico by a long shot.
Fox says the funds would help keep Mexican workers and their families at home instead of risking everything to cross the border into the U.S.
'They are only coming to look for a job, to look for better income, to make money and better living for their family,' Fox said. 'It is not easy for them to make that decision.'
The former Coca Cola executive also says Mexico is changing its tune win it comes to the role of women in society.
'In Latin America, we lost a lot during the 20th century by relegating women back to the kitchen. This is then the century of women,' Fox said.
Fox's talk was part of UNM's Lobo Reading Experience program.
Student Victor Smith called Fox a realist.
'One thing I got from Vicente Fox, in layman's terms, he just cut to the chase,' Smith said. 'He didn't sugarcoat it. He was like a Ross Perot.'
Fox's visit drew some opposition. An online petition aimed at disown the former Mexican president accused him of making racist statements.
In a 2005 interview, Fox said, 'There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States.'
Fox later apologized for the statement and his office said he didn't mean the comments in a racist sense.
Fox's office said he has an 'enormous respect to minorities whatever their racial, ethnic, or religious origin may be.'
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12.
Hispanic Evangelicals Warn Against 'Xenophobic' Health Care Reform
By Aaron J. Leichman
The Christian Post, September 22, 2009
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090922/hispanic-evangelicals-respond-to-health-care-debate-s-anti-immigrant-rhetoric/index.html
Leaders of the largest Hispanic Christian organization in the nation expressed their concern Monday over the anti-immigrant rhetoric within the current debate on health care reform.
Though lawmakers have yet to find a way for millions of undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens while also strengthening border security, leaders of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) say working families should not be denied the opportunity to purchase affordable health care coverage as it would place millions of homes in a precarious situation.
'[W]e find it to be both morally and politically disadvantageous not to include coverage for all those currently residing in our nation,' commented the Rev. Nick Garza, chief operating officer of the NHCLC, which often refers to itself as the Hispanic NAE (National Association of Evangelicals).
'To require immigrants to prove citizenship in order to purchase Health Care coverage stands as a defacto endorsement of racial profiling and continues to exacerbate the anti-immigrant sentiment currently embedded within the immigration reform debate,' he added.
Currently, Hispanics and Latinos constitute 15.1 percent of the total U.S. population, or 45.4 million people, forming the second largest ethnic group after non–Hispanic White Americans. Of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the nation, almost three-quarters are Latino.
Though Hispanic leaders had hoped for lawmakers to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill some time this year, efforts were put on hold to address the state of the economy and other pressing issues, such as health care and energy.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs had reported earlier that though the president had always planned to begin discussing the matter of immigration this year, the job will not likely be done this year.
Critics of Obama's initial plan to address immigration reform this year had argued that there is no room right now for efforts that help illegal immigrant workers as the current economic crisis has put millions of Americans out of jobs.
The Obama administration was looking to find a way for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States to be legal, while increasing border security, removing incentives to enter the United States illegally, and working with Mexico to reduce illegal immigration.
Despite the hold that has been placed on immigration reform, leaders of the NHCLC are urging lawmakers to find a way provide all U.S. residents with access to affordable health care.
'The Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals believes our nation needs Health Care Reform that reconciles affordability and accessibility with the protection of life, conscience, personal and religious liberties,' said Dr. Gilbert Velez, chairman of the NHCLC and president of the Hispanic Mega Church Association.
'Health Care reform is a matter of Social Justice driven by a moral imperative that is undeniable. The fact that millions of Americans lack health care coverage is unacceptable,' he added.
'We encourage all members of Congress to debate this issue with integrity, humility, and respect.'
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13.
Nationalist Chicanos plan Friday protest here
'Extremist' Brown Berets target Minuteman border watchers
By Tim Steller
The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), September 21, 2009
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/309884
Members of a Chicano nationalist group with little presence in Southern Arizona are planning a protest in Tucson Friday morning.
The Brown Berets de Aztlan plan to demonstrate against the Minuteman border-watch groups at 9 a.m. at Pima County Superior Court. A counterdemonstration is being organized by people sympathetic to the Minuteman cause and disdainful of what they see as racism by the Brown Berets.
Joseph Cremeans, chair of the group's San Diego branch, said in a series of e-mails last week that the group's reason for coming to Arizona is the murders of Raul Flores and his daughter, Brisenia, on May 30 in Arivaca. Authorities have accused a woman who led a small border-watch group, Minutemen American Defense, of being the ringleader in the home-invasion killings.
The woman, Shawna Forde, has been indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and other crimes, as have her two co-defendants, alleged gunman Jason E. Bush and Arivaca resident Albert Gaxiola.
The flier for the protest cites support by politicians and government for Minuteman groups as reasons for the demonstration. Cremeans did not return an e-mail asking for specifics about what government support he is referring to.
The Brown Berets were formed about 40 years ago in Southern California, inspired in part by the Black Panthers, a militant black nationalist group. The Brown Berets were militaristic in their organization, focused on fighting what they considered police brutality against Mexican-Americans and re-establishing 'Aztlan' — a greater Mexico including the southwestern United States as a homeland for people of Mexican descent.
Although the group has shrunk, it has re-emerged in recent years with the rise of the Minuteman movement and its call for strictly secured borders.
Jim Gilchrist, one of the leaders of the original Minuteman border-watch operation in Cochise County in April 2005, said he has run into Brown Berets perhaps two dozen times at demonstrations in Southern California, where he lives.
About six months ago, Brown Berets appeared at a church in Pomona, Calif., Gilchrist said, where he and others were protesting what they considered a pro-amnesty speaker.
'They had about 20 uniformed Brown Berets,' Gilchrist said. 'Men and women. They had the Mexican flag, the flag of Aztlan. They put up a cordon between the church and us so we could not get through.'
He called the group 'very stoic' and 'very well-disciplined.' He also compared them to Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.
'They're all racial extremists and racial supremacists,' said Gilchrist, who heads a group now called Jim Gilchrist's Minuteman Project.
Kat Rodriguez of the Tucson group Derechos Humanos said Brown Beret members had not contacted her group about the demonstration, but they have shown up in Southern Arizona in recent years, appearing one year at a border fiesta in Naco.
Cremeans said in an e-mail: 'We are trying to get more people in Arizona to organize around the issue so that pressure is put on the politicians who support these groups. As for our group, we are not concerned about state lines when there are injustices.'
Tucson police are aware of the protest and have begun planning how to handle it. Tucsonan Roy Warden, a lightning rod in the local immigration debate due in part to his burning of Mexican flags and attending protests armed, is organizing a counterdemonstration.
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14.
Officer's widow files lawsuit against HPD
By Courtney Zubowski
The KHOU News (Houston), September 22, 2009
http://www.khou.com/news/local/crime/stories/khou090921_mp_rodney-johnson-widow-lawsuit.1a34a967f.html
Houston -- On the third anniversary of her husband’s death, the widow of a police officer filed a lawsuit against the Houston Police Department.
Houston Police Sergeant Joslyn Johnson is suing the department to force it to change the way it deals with illegal immigrants.
The lawsuit isn’t about money. It’s about the communication certain officers can have with federal immigration agencies.
Johnson has been calling for change since the death of her husband, Rodney Johnson.
'Someone needs to do something,' said Sgt. Joslyn Johnson in an interview with KHOU in August of 2008. 'I hope this will wake the city’s eyes up.'
Now, she’s putting her demands in fine print in the form of a lawsuit. Officer Johnson’s widow claims HPD’s practices regarding illegal immigrants are in violation of federal law.
HPD policy prohibits any officer other than jail personnel from contacting federal immigration authorities. A police sergeant, like Joslyn Johnson, is not allowed to do so.
'The lawsuit is filed on behalf of a woman who believes that police officers should have the authority to contact federal authorities -- not just the chief, not the mayor, but any police officer,' said 11 News Legal Expert Gerald Treece.
Rodney Johnson was killed during a routine traffic stop in Southeast Houston in September 2006. Juan Quintero, an illegal immigrant, is serving a life sentence for the crime.
In May 1999, Quintero was deported after being convicted of the crime of indecency with a child. He later returned.
According to the lawsuit, officers stopped him three different times before he shot Officer Johnson. All three times, they weren’t able to call federal authorities to inquire about his immigration status. Had they been able to do so, Joslyn Johnson believes her husband could be alive today.
'Sooner or later a state court or a federal court is going to have to struggle with the question of whether the city of Houston and the police chief intentionally had activity that led to the death of a police officer,' said Treece.
As of Monday evening, City Attorney Arturo Michel had not seen the lawsuit. He said he would look into it, but he does not believe HPD policy led to the death of Officer Johnson.
'It something we have been looking into continuously,' said Arturo Michel. 'We have looked into this and his death was not due to HPD policy.'
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15.
Agents accused of racial profiling in Wayne County
By Sean McCracken
The Finger Lakes Times (Geneva, NY), September 22, 2009
http://www.fltimes.com/articles/2009/09/22/news/doc4ab90a85ad310644026296.txt
Sodus, NY -- The Border Patrol is again being accused of racial profiling in Wayne County, this time at the dawn of the annual apple harvest that brings thousands of migrants to the area.
According to Migrant Support Services organizer John Ghertner — who was there taking photos — and Mi Ranchito owner Primitivo Vasquez, Border Patrol agents blocked off the two entrances to Vasquez’s store Aug. 29, demanding identification from customers before allowing them in.
Mi Ranchito is a specialty grocery store that sells Mexican foods, calling cards and other items targeted at migrant workers. Vasquez was born in Mexico but lives in Oswego and has operated his business for about 15 years.
Ghertner and Vasquez alleged that two Border Patrol vehicles pulled into the parking lot, blocking one of the store’s two entrances. Vasquez’s son, Jairo, asked the Border Patrol agents to leave.
Ghertner said one agent moved his car to the other entrance, and the other agent parked on the road, slightly to the west of the parking lot.
A few minutes later, Jairo Vasquez again asked the other agent to leave, and the agent then parked to the east of the parking lot, Ghertner and Vasquez said.
'Basically, it prevented anyone from coming into his business that were Mexican,' Ghertner said.
Vasquez said it was the fifth or sixth time the Border Patrol had interfered with his business in the last few years. Another time, he said, agents entered his store after-hours while he was stocking to see what he was bringing in from his truck.
'We didn’t have a problem until two or three years ago, and now they’re harassing the store more and more,' Vasquez said. 'There is no reason for them to go and park in the entrance of my parking [lot]. I see that they’re profiling because my business is Mexican. They know they’re going to get what they want because most of my customers are Hispanic.'
But Border Patrol spokesman A.J. Price said it’s against policy to set up checkpoints at private businesses. Instead, he said, agents focus on 'critical transit nodes,' such as airports and bus stops, or rely on stops from other law enforcement agencies.
'That’s not even a tactical procedure that we ever use,' Price said. 'That’d be like someone saying that we were taking pot-shots at people as they drove by our station. We just don’t do that. That’s not an approved tactical operation whatsoever.'
But Ghertner sent photographs, including one he said a Mi Ranchito employee took of two Border Patrol cars parked at the store’s entrance. He said it was from June 5, when agents came to the store to take away customers as they were leaving.
Vasquez said Border Patrol interference has accounted for a substantial drop in business — he estimated it at between 30 and 40 percent — at what’s usually his busiest time of the year.
'Right now, we’re in apple season, and we don’t see that many people come in because they all have a fear of coming out of the camps,' Vasquez said.
Many migrant crew leaders now ask him to deliver out of fear of the Border Patrol, he said.
'But even if we deliver, we’ve lost a lot of business. If we don’t deliver, we’re going down,' he said.
Price noted that Vasquez — who said he was a naturalized citizen — hasn’t filed a formal complaint. But Vasquez said that was only because he didn’t know what the proper channels were to file a complaint, which he’s not working on doing.
Ghertner called the Border Patrol’s response a typical tactic to deflect criticism.
'They make two standard statements: That they didn’t do what they’re claiming that they did, and they always claim that there’s never been a complaint,' said Ghertner, who pointed out that he’s made numerous complaints to the federal government and congressional representatives.
'I believe our congressman and senators are a pretty legitimate formal complaint,' he said. 'I’m tired of their racial profiling, but I’m more tired of their dishonesty.'
Brigido Baltizar and Jose Coyt, who were shopping Saturday at Mi Ranchito, said they haven’t had problems at the store but that they have had problems with the Border Patrol.
Baltizar said he was a citizen and that he has been hassled during stops. Agents didn’t accept his driver’s license as a form of identification, he said, and he now carries his passport in his truck at all times as proof of his citizenship.
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16.
Banco Bueventura failed to live up to promises
Business shuts down today
By Scott Hadly
The Ventura County Star (Camarillo, CA), September 21, 2009
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/sep/21/banco-bueventura-failed-to-live-up-to-promises/
When the doors are locked for good today on Banco Buenaventura in downtown Oxnard, all that will remain is a failed promise to provide a financial home for new immigrants and underserved Latinos.
'It feels like we were lied to,' said Armando Lopez, a bank customer and owner of Café on A next door.
Lopez said he believed it when a former bank president told him how the bank could serve business people like him and offer a financial education to people unfamiliar with the basics of saving money and balancing a checkbook.
'They made a big splash with that,' he said.
Lopez, who works with young artists in Oxnard, estimated he directed as many as 250 people to the bank. He's not the only one disappointed with the bank, which opened Nov. 7. Former employees and city officials see it as a lost opportunity.
Thomas Byington, the interim CEO who is overseeing Banco Buenaventura's voluntary liquidation, said the bank will have returned all the depositors' money by the end of business today.
'The bank will close for business at that time,' he said.
The bank then plans to enlist an auction house to sell the furniture and fixtures. Large white and red posters are pasted on the outside of the building advertising the auction, which should be done by the end of the week. After that, work will turn to returning what remains to investors.
At the end of June, the bank had $16 million in total assets and $9.4 million in total deposits, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bank, which operates out of the historic A. Levy bank building, 143 W. Fifth St., and neighboring office building, has about 17 employees.
Dividing the assets is a complicated business that may take weeks or months, Byington said. He doesn't know if the investors will get back what they put into the bank.
'As I've said before, I believe that it was a good plan and a good market, but also believe the bank suffered from bad timing,' Byington said. 'No one expected the economy to go where it went back in the planning stages of the bank. It's not an indictment on Oxnard or the Latino market. Just bad timing and a bad economy.'
Others, including some members of the bank's board of directors and former employees, question this, pointing to poor management.
The bank's initial promise had attracted dozens of bilingual employees and customers.
Former Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez was asked to serve on the board. His wife, Ira, said she loved the idea. She quickly opened an account there, but her husband was more circumspect, looking into the finances.
He ultimately decided against being part of the bank, she said.
In June, bank executives were told by the state Department of Financial Institutions that the bank had to close.
In January, the bank held a ribbon cutting at the prominent downtown landmark that had been lavishly restored and decorated with expensive imported Spanish antique furniture, desks, and handmade wrought iron gates. It's common to hold a grand opening after a business has been open a while to work out the kinks.
One of the bank founders, James F. Montgomery, a former CEO and chairman of Great Western Bank, was at the celebration promoting the idea that Banco BuenaVentura would serve the 'unbanked' community of Latino immigrants.
Some former employees said they signed up to work at the bank because they believed in what it was going to do, including financial planning classes for new immigrants, help in processing immigration paperwork and sorting out identification issues.
That mission attracted a lot of talented employees, said Bob Holguin a former vice president at the bank.
'It's sad,' Holguin said.
Another former employee, who asked that her name not be used, said there was a lot of promise with the idea.
Meanwhile, Oxnard officials - who were so hopeful when the bank opened - are trying to cope with another failed business downtown.
'We were happy when the bank went in there,' said Curtis Cannon, who heads up redevelopment as the director of the Community Development Agency. 'We're sad to see it go.'
It gave a certain heft to downtown. Now, the nearest bank in the core area is Rabobank, 155 S. A St., about three blocks from Banco Buenaventura.
Cannon said the city would, if asked, help find either a new tenant for the building or a buyer for the property. It would be fitting for a bank to occupy the building, but a bookstore or some other business would do.
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17.
For Salon Owner, It's All About Roots
A Virginia Businesswoman Helps Other Hispanic Hairstylists Gain Confidence and Experience
By Dagny Salas
The Washington Post, September 22, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/21/AR2009092103644.html
Corina Cornejo never forgets how she got her start: as a 'shampoo girl' in a beauty salon in Arlington. In the mid-1980s, the owner of the salon put the Salvadoran immigrant in charge of washing hair and sweeping clippings while she studied for her cosmetology license. A few years later, Cornejo and her sister saved enough to open their own salon.
Now Cornejo is a mentor to stylists throughout Northern Virginia's Hispanic community. Her salon in Manassas and her sister's in Arlington, where Cornejo worked before selling her share to her sister, have served as training grounds for several aspiring salon owners to gain entrepreneurial confidence and experience before branching out on their own. 'We have to share what we know,' Cornejo said in Spanish. 'God puts people that help you in your life. Now I can give it others.'
With more than 500 foreign-born, self-reported Hispanic hairdressers in Virginia, mostly concentrated in Northern Virginia, salons are a popular choice in the immigrant-heavy region for newcomers who want to avoid low-paying, day-labor jobs in favor of a career. Hair salons require little overhead, have relatively fewer bureaucratic hurdles than some other businesses and tap into skills that many immigrants cultivated in their home countries.
Cornejo opened the salon, expanded and hired other immigrants who later took off on their own, a path not unlike that followed by Korean and Vietnamese nail salon workers and other new arrivals. Her shops helped train Ignacio Rodriguez, who operates in Alexandria; Yesenia Galdamez, who took over one of Cornejo's salons in Warrenton; and others whose intertwined histories demonstrate how many immigrants settle and prosper.
Cornejo's deep ties in the local community have paid off during the economic downturn. Although her annual revenue dipped from a high of about $200,000 in the late 1990s and early 2000s to $100,000 last year, Cornejo said she has not had to cut hours or employees. Her Manassas shop employs six stylists and an assistant manager.
But the economy has affected how often patrons frequent the shop. 'You can say 'I don't have the money, I'll wait another week,' ' but she expects customers to return as the economy improves. Freddy Ventura, a longtime Manassas business owner, remembers when Cornejo opened her Manassas salon in the early 1990s. There weren't many Spanish-speaking businesses in the area. Corina's Hair Design was a hit.
'That place was packed. I never went because of the long line,' Ventura said. 'But everyone knew the name of the business.'
The Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce counts 400 businesses as members in the D.C. region, said Jacqueline Krick, vice president of the Northern Virginia regional office. The chamber opened its first office in Northern Virginia in January and a second last week in Arlington. Cornejo's client list has been built largely on word of mouth. Many of her future employees found her that way too.
In the early 1990s, Rodriguez walked into a well-known salon in the Culmore area of Fairfax County. The salon where Rodriguez had been working had just closed. He struck up a conversation with a stylist who knew Cornejo and her sister and learned that they had an open chair in their Arlington shop. Once he passed the in-person test, he was hired. When Cornejo opened the second salon in Manassas, Rodriguez followed her there.
During an interview he gave in Spanish, Rodriguez credits his time working for Cornejo as instrumental in opening his own salon.
'A lot of people come here without papers and have to clean bathrooms, but I got to work in my chosen profession,' said Rodriguez, whose father had owned a barbershop in Mexico. Rodriguez picked grapes and strawberries in California when he first emigrated to the United States in the 1980s. 'You open with a vision of what you'll do and you're excited about having your own business.'
Other shop owners say that Cornejo gave them a chance when they didn't have much else. After losing two houses to foreclosure in 2006, Galdamez was in no position to open a business when Cornejo approached her last year about taking over her Warrenton shop where Galdamez worked. She had already tried running a house-cleaning service in Arlington, a lunch-truck serving pupusas along Route 1 in Woodbridge, and a hair salon in Herndon. But Cornejo told Galdamez that she believed in her and would support her.
'I always said to myself 'I just need one more opportunity,' ' Galdamez said in Spanish. 'When I started, I said: 'This is mine; this is what I want to do. I won't leave this.' ' She said she still regularly calls Cornejo with questions about treatments, prices, how to treat a particular client.
After nearly two decades, Cornejo's reputation remains strong. A few weeks ago, Doris Morales burst into Cornejo's Manassas shop. She was on a mission to find the salon a friend had recommended for her granddaughter. Was this the right place? The granddaughter was guided to a stylist's chair as Morales sat to relax.
A ramp agent at Dulles International Airport, Morales sees what Cornejo has done for herself -- and for others -- as setting the kind of example the Hispanic community needs.
'A woman who has her own business has to want to fight to come out ahead,' Morales said. 'She gives opportunities to people who want to learn. That's how the community grows.'
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18.
Latin Links fundraiser kicks off in Pleasantville
By Sean Gorman
The Journal News (White Plains, NY), September 22, 2009
http://www.lohud.com/article/20090922/NEWS02/909220324/-1/newsfront/Latin%20Links%20fundraiser%20kicks%20off%20in%20Pleasantville
Mount Kisco, NY -- A local community center Tuesday kicks off its annual Latin Links educational series on immigration issues with a screening at the Jacob Burns Film Center.
Supporters of Neighbors Link, a Mount Kisco-based center for immigrants, are showing 'La Americana' at the Pleasantville film center. The movie examines the life of an undocumented Bolivian mother's journey to the United States and her return to South America.
The screening opens with a 6:15 p.m. reception at the 364 Manville Road center and is followed by a panel discussion with the film's director, Nicholas Bruckman, and with Carola Otero Bracco, executive director of Neighbors Link.
'I think there is a perception often that the immigrants are primarily the male day laborers,' Bracco said.
But in reality those day workers are a small portion of the local immigrant community, Bracco said. A larger percentage of the immigrant population is comprised of families, Bracco said.
'The issues that women and children face are very significant, so the film gives us an opportunity to focus on that,' Bracco said.
The screening is the first of a monthlong series of events that will help raise money for programs at Neighbors Link, including language classes, computer lessons and work site safety training for immigrants, and increase awareness in the larger community about the immigrant experience.
An Oct. 8 event will feature a discussion with Camilo Jose Vergara, a Chilean-born photographer and writer whose work has examined immigrant groups in urban centers. The 6:30 p.m. event will be held at the Fellowship Hall at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, 382 Cantitoe St., Bedford.
The Rev. Terence Elsberry said he hopes that people come away from the discussion with an understanding of what people face when they come to a whole new culture.
'(Neighbors Link is) helping a lot of people who need help integrating here in our neighborhoods,' Elsberry said. 'We want to support them any way that we can.'
There will also be an Oct.. 23 performing arts event featuring a Latin rhythm concert and wine-tasting at Rippowam Cisqua School, 439 Cantitoe St., Bedford. At the 7 p.m. concert, Argentine-born drummer and percussionist Norberto Goldberg and his band Amazon will perform.
Tickets to each of the Latin Links events are either $50, $100 or $250, depending on how much the ticket buyer wants to donate, and can be purchased online at www.neighborslink.org or by calling the center at 914-666-3410, Ext. 14.
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19.
No prison for business owners in immigration case
Two owners of an engine rebuilding company that was raided in January, raising questions about federal policies on illegal immigrants, were sentenced Monday to a year on probation and their business must pay a $100,000 fine.
By Tim Klass
The Associated Press, September 21, 2009
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009915179_apwaworksiteraid2ndldwritethru.html
Seattle (AP) -- Two owners of a Bellingham engine-rebuilding company that was raided in January, raising questions about federal policies on illegal immigrants, were sentenced Monday to a year on probation and their business must pay a $100,000 fine.
Shafique Amirali Dhanani and Shirin Dhanani Makala, corporate directors, managers and two owners of family-owned Yamato Engine Specialists, were spared prison time, fines and restitution in plea agreements followed to the letter by U.S. District Judge James L. Robart.
A guilty plea was entered earlier Monday for Yamato, which agreed to pay half the fine immediately and the balance by Dec. 31. The company also must take out a half-page advertisement in The Bellingham Herald to describe how it got into hot water for hiring undocumented workers.
'These are not the most serious crimes. They are not the most violent crimes. They don't involve guns or drugs,' Robart said, 'but they are important ... this is a serious matter.'
Dhanani and Makala, a brother and sister from a hardworking family that left Uganda decades ago, pleaded guilty in August. They could have faced at least five years in prison and fines of $250,000, and the company could have been fined $500,000.
Robart said the fine and 'substantial publicity' were significant punishment for the company and the stigma of felony convictions would be sufficient deterrence against future violations by other business owners as well as by Dhanani, the company's production manager, and Makala, manager of human resources.
Both insist they never intended to violate the law.
Yamato was the first company to be raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after President Obama took office calling for more prosecution of businesses that hire undocumented workers.
A review was subsequently ordered by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who said she had not been informed of the raid in advance.
Of the 28 workers who were arrested Feb. 24, one is known to have returned to Mexico and the rest received temporary work permits to remain in the country pending the conclusion of the criminal case.
With the sentencing, the permits have expired and all 27 now face deportation proceedings that could extend for 'upwards of several months,' said Lori Dankers, an ICE spokeswoman.
After the proceedings, Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald M. Reno Jr., shook hands with the defendants and the rest of the Yamato owners and wished them good luck.
'You represent everything that's great about America,' Reno said.
On their lawyers' advice, family members would not comment after the proceedings. Lawrence B. Finegold, a lawyer for Dhanani, said Yamato remains in operation but would not talk about the state of the business.
The case was 'a hybrid' in which the investigation was conducted and initial warrants were issued under Bush administration guidelines while the raid in February and subsequent legal proceedings occurred after Obama took office, Finegold said outside the courtroom.
He explained that under the new rules, warrants for immigration raids must be sought from the criminal side of U.S. attorneys' offices and show probable cause to believe that violations have occurred, but the Bush administration allowed ICE to obtain civil warrants under a less restrictive standard.
At the same time, Reno said the practical effect was 'just a fine line of words, rather than the reality.'
To charge and convict an employer of knowingly hiring undocumented workers, encouraging illegal entry into the United States and other immigration-related offenses still requires the arrest, confinement and questioning of the employees to obtain evidence, he said.
'The most convincing part of that proof comes from illegal aliens,' Reno said.
'It's going to be just as disruptive to the illegal aliens,' he added. 'That's not going to change.'
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20.
Illegals from El Salvador taken into custody after traffic stop in Butler
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review, September 21, 2009
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_644192.html
Immigration officials took a man and a woman from El Salvador into custody after the couple couldn't provide proper identification to state police during a traffic stop in Butler.
Customs and Immigration Enforcement officials took Jose Machuca, age unknown, and Maria Fuentes De Gamez, 39, and a 3-year-old girl and 10-month-old boy, also of El Salvador, into custody after it was determined all four were in the United States illegally.
State police in Butler contacted ICE officials after encountering the couple during a traffic stop made at New Castle and Duffy Road in Butler Township in Butler County at 4 p.m. Saturday.
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21.
Judge tosses all verdicts against SoCal grocer
The Associated Press, September 21, 2009
Los Angeles (AP) -- A grocery store magnate who prosecutors claim ran his business like a criminal enterprise will be retried on fraud charges after a judge tossed out a slew of guilty verdicts because of evidence that may have exonerated the businessman.
U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson on Friday threw out 50 guilty verdicts that included bribery, mail fraud, tax fraud and harboring illegal immigrants against George Torres. The founder of Numero Uno markets will stand trial on the fraud and the alien harboring counts, but a date has not yet been scheduled.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13387683
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22.
Georgia man sentenced in immigration scheme
The Associated Press, September 21, 2009
Atlanta (AP) -- A Georgia man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for an immigration scheme in which he was convicted of taking a $100,000 bribe.
Hasmukh Patel, a former an immigration adjudicator with the Department of Homeland Security, was also convicted of conspiring to encourage immigrants to enter the country illegally.
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http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=11170303
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23.
Cuomo issues subpoenas in immigration services scam
By Sumathi Reddy
Newsday (NY), September 21, 2009
Expanding its investigation into immigration fraud, the office of state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo Monday issued more than 30 subpoenas to New York City groups or individuals accused of posing as legitimate immigration service providers or providing legal services they weren't authorized to provide.
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http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/cuomo-issues-subpoenas-in-immigration-services-scam-1.1465921
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24.
Suspect tried to run over Border Patrol Agent
The KDBC News (Las Cruces, NM), September 22, 2009
State Police, the Border Patrol, EPSD and Santa Teresa Police were involved in a high speed chase this morning after a suspect allegedly tried to run over an agent.
Officials say the chase started around I-10 in Las Cruces near the Border Patrol checkpoint. The spotted a green Tahoe on a dirt road usually used by drug dealers and human smugglers. When they tried to stop the truck - the driver tried to hit the agent then took off.
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http://www.kdbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=11168655
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25.
Undocumented workers found in National Forest
The Bennington Banner (VT), September 20, 2009
Winhall, VT -- The Winhall Police on Saturday received reports from concerned citizens about a group of suspicious males 'cutting trees and camping' on Green Mountain National Forest land off French Hollow Road in Winhall.
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http://www.benningtonbanner.com/local/ci_13383281
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Center for Immigration Studies
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Washington, DC 20005
(202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076
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