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Daily news updates from CIS
September 23, 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. White House nominates USCBP commissioner
2. Census chief concerned about foreigner participation
3. Gov't struggles with policy on Iraqi militants
4. USCBP to expand areas under 'effective control'
5. Census figures reflect lower immigration rates (story, 4 links)
6. Checkpoint closes as agents fire upon smugglers (story, 5 links)
7. USCIS opens new web portal (story, 2 links)
8. IL Rep. Gutierrez promising amnesty bill
9. Bill would clear soldier's widow for residency
10. CNMI gov't releases transition plan
11. OH state senator pushes for expanded enforcement
12. GA city joins verification program
13. Michigan city police reach out to Latinos
14. Security company plans detention center in CA
15. Gingrich aims for Hispanic voting bloc
16. Wife of slain Houston cop seeks policy change
17. Students to march for DREAM Act (story, link)
18. SC seminar offers info on immigration law
19. Former CO governor aided education funding for illegal
20. FL Haitian community grapples with domestic violence
21. Illegal woman granted stay of deportation
22. Mexican man accused of raping Salvadoran girl
23. Illegal woman admits killing newborn child
24. FL man convicted of selling tribal membership
25. CA activist fights voter fraud charges (link)
26. VA woman jailed for scamming applicants (link)
27. Mexican jailed for holding illegals hostage (link)
28. Illegal charged with assault of federal agent (link)
29. Border Patrol agent accused of sex assault appears in court (link)
Subscribe to CIS e-mail services here: http://cis.org/immigrationnews.html
-- Mark Krikorian]
1.
Obama names Customs and Border Protection commissioner
Former California Education Secretary Alan Bersin has experience in law and border enforcement as well as education. If confirmed by the Senate, he'll take charge of about 57,000 employees.
By Sebastian Rotella
The Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-border-czar23-2009sep23,0,5167158.story
Washington, DC -- President Obama has nominated the administration's point man on Southwest border strategy to be the new commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the nation's largest law enforcement agency, the White House announced Tuesday.
Alan Bersin, a veteran of federal border enforcement and a former San Diego schools superintendent, has served since April as assistant secretary for international affairs at the Homeland Security Department. Bersin, 62, is the department's special representative for border affairs, working with Mexican leaders and U.S. border-area agencies on challenges such as drugs and immigration.
If approved as commissioner by the Senate, Bersin will take charge of about 57,000 employees who police the nation's borders while struggling with a massive workload, grappling with the threat of corruption and trying to speed travel and commerce.
Customs and Border Protection encompasses the U.S. Border Patrol agents who guard the Mexican and Canadian boundaries, a far-flung army of inspectors working at ports of entry, and an air and sea interdiction fleet.
The agency faces a persistent terrorist menace as well as powerful drug mafias that have responded violently to a crackdown by the U.S. and Mexican governments.
Bersin will continue to advise Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on issues related to Mexico and the border, although he will relinquish the title of special representative, officials said.
'Under Alan's leadership over the past several months, we have forged new international and domestic partnerships along our borders to strengthen security,' Napolitano said in a statement. 'I look forward to continuing to work with Alan in his new position.'
Known for a cerebral yet hard-charging style, Bersin has alternated between law enforcement and education.
In the Clinton administration, he spent five years as U.S. attorney in San Diego. He led campaigns against illegal immigration and drug mafias at a time when turmoil at the border surged to the center of the political debate in California and the nation.
Appointed to the additional role of so-called border czar by Atty. Gen. Janet Reno in 1995, he worked to coordinate an array of often overwhelmed and fractious federal agencies at the U.S.-Mexico boundary.
In 1998, Bersin turned away from the border when he became superintendent of schools in San Diego, the nation's eighth-largest school district. He gained a reputation as an energetic innovator but clashed during a seven-year tenure with teachers unions that resisted his efforts for dramatic change.
A Democrat, Bersin also has held posts under Republican bosses. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him state secretary of education in July 2005. He served until December 2006, and then was named by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to chair San Diego's regional aviation authority.
As an undergraduate at Harvard, Bersin met future Vice President Al Gore and starred in football. He knew former President Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as a law student at Yale and as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford.
Before going into government, Bersin was a senior partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson and a law professor.
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2.
Groves urges public campaign to boost 2010 census
By Hope Yen
The Associated Press, September 22, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jhV8xbFisPzv8An_L4pTsBveyLAwD9ASHD8G0
Washington, DC (AP) -- The head of the Census Bureau says he's worried the poor economy and tensions over immigration will deter people from participating in next year's high-stakes count.
Robert Groves appeared before Congress on Tuesday for the first time since he was confirmed in July. He told a House panel it may be hard to find residents because of growing homelessness, foreclosures and people 'doubling up' in single-family homes.
Groves said response rates to census surveys have been declining, and that public debate over immigration is creating added uncertainty.
The population figures, gathered every 10 years, are used to apportion House seats and distribute nearly $450 billion in federal aid.
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3.
U.S. closes door on a onetime Iraq ally
A former commander with the Sunni militia that aided the U.S. military 'surge' in Baghdad has been turned down for immigration to America as a refugee. His case poses a policy challenge for the U.S.
By Ned Parker
The Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-visa23-2009sep23,0,3011349.story
Amman, Jordan -- The man who had fought Al Qaeda in Iraq sat in the waiting room of the immigration office. He watched others go up before him. After several hours, they called his name: Saad Oraibi Ghafoori.
In a way, the waiting burned him. He had once led more than 600 men in Baghdad; Iraqi officials and U.S. commanders came to him for help. Now he lived in a nondescript home in Jordan's capital with an upset wife and two restless children -- a 9-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl -- who had been hoping for more than a year to get the call to go to America.
He had sat in classes given by the International Organization for Migration, learning about U.S. apartment rental prices and how to apply for food stamps. He was ready to do whatever the Americans wanted: If they wished him to train U.S. forces heading to Iraq, he would do it; if they wanted him to fight in Afghanistan, he would go.
He missed being a soldier. He hadn't gone to a shooting range in more than a year. When he heard fireworks, he confessed, it made his blood pump. The 36-year-old ex-paramilitary commander, who once patrolled west Baghdad in camouflage, had developed a slight pot belly in a year of sitting at home.
In the office that day in July, Ghafoori was finally summoned to a table. The case officer was blunt: He had been rejected and there was no point in appealing the case.
The letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services read: 'As a matter of discretion, your application for refugee resettlement . . . has been denied.'
He looked at the other Iraqis around him. He squirmed a bit. They had already recognized him and knew him by his nom de guerre, Abu Abed, the man who had ignited Baghdad's Sunni Arab revolt against the militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq.
'I broke that day,' he said. 'I saw myself as the biggest loser in the world.'
Last year, the U.S. government removed hurdles that had made it difficult for its Iraqi employees whose lives were endangered to flee to America. It also cleared similar obstacles for Iraqis working with U.S. companies. The number of Iraqis accepted in America through the State Department's refugee assistance program jumped from 1,600 to nearly 14,000 in 2008 and is expected to reach 18,000 this year.
But Ghafoori's case poses a policy challenge for the U.S. government. How should it handle the pool of 100,000 paramilitary fighters called the Sons of Iraq, many of them former insurgents, who have little in common with the Iraqi translators and civil servants that the refugee assistance program aims to help?
Does the United States have any obligation to men like Ghafoori, whom the U.S. military once funded and fought with against a common enemy?
Until now, accepting a man who may have at one time fought the U.S. military, a man who admits he killed his enemies, has been considered politically untenable in post- 9/11 America, where immigration policies have been guided by the fear of another attack on U.S. soil.
'Abu Abed confounds our sort of virtuous naivete of American foreign policy,' said Kirk Johnson, an advocate for Iraqi civilian employees with the U.S. military and State Department. 'We want to go fight evil and come back victors, and that's the extent of most people's comprehension -- and they don't realize in that process there are all kinds of shifting allegiances and muck and murk.'
Asked about the dilemma posed by fighters such as Ghafoori, the Department of Homeland Security, which screens all those applying for refugee status, said it could not comment on specific cases and referred the matter to the State Department.
The State Department said it has not formulated a policy for the paramilitary leaders, whose history in Iraq's insurgency has largely blocked them from moving to the United States, where the law rejects anyone seeking refugee status who has persecuted others.
'There is no policy specific to the Sons of Iraq or other U.S.-supported militias,' a State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official referred back to the regular refugee process as the primary way for the fighters to come to the United States, although it is a near certainty that most will be rejected because of their controversial pasts.
Commanders such as Ghafoori, who have found themselves targeted by armed Sunni Muslim and Shiite Muslim groups, as well as by elements in Baghdad's government, have few options other than a dangerous existence in Iraq or precarious exile in a neighboring country.
Ghafoori hopes to find a way to reverse the U.S. decision, with support from friends in the American military.
One of the few routes available to him would be Homeland Security's Significant Public Benefit Parole program, which is run in close association with the Pentagon to bring in people who served the war efforts. But the program operates in near secrecy and is the equivalent of winning the lottery: The combination of official backing and luck must align to bring the person inside.
American officers who know Ghafoori and his contribution to the U.S. military buildup in 2007 are worried about his future.
'Abu Abed has no country now. . . . His work saved American and Iraqi lives, and now he is sitting in Jordan with no one,' said one senior U.S. officer, still stationed in Iraq, who is not authorized to speak with reporters. 'The irony is his work is every bit as important as translators or contractors and probably more dangerous . . . and then he gets arbitrarily rejected.'
After forging a partnership with the Americans in summer 2007, Ghafoori reached dizzying heights in Baghdad and became a pioneering figure in the Sons of Iraq movement. But he was also one of the first of the new paramilitary leaders to fall.
Some who know him say his ego swelled and he had become blind to the fact that his rarefied position as the enforcer of his neighborhood, Amiriya, had passed by spring 2008, that the national government was poised to assert its role in the city, and that the Americans would back the move.
His detractors called him brutal, but then Ghafoori never hid the fact that he killed many of those suspected of being in Al Qaeda in Iraq. It was kill or be killed, and he makes it clear that he often was compelled to resort to the former.
Wounded in an assassination attempt, probably carried out by political rivals or Al Qaeda in Iraq, he left the country for treatment in Jordan in April 2008. It marked the beginning of his exile.
In Jordan, he and his wife pinned their hopes on going to the United States through the refugee assistance program. They had commendations and letters of praise from U.S. generals.
In the best circumstances, the immigration process is unpredictable for Iraqis. Even civilians who worked with the U.S. military or State Department have found themselves barred for seemingly arbitrary reasons -- based on service in a military unit during Saddam Hussein's time, or having paid a kidnap ransom to an armed group to free a relative, which the U.S. technically considers support for terrorists.
Ghafoori's history is shrouded in mystery. Some say he was a member of the Islamic Army, a group that battled the Americans, which he denies. He acknowledges close ties with members of armed factions, but insists that he never attacked an American. He also says he worked as a U.S. informer starting in 2004.
'He is a fighter, but you don't defeat insurgents with someone who passes out Girl Scout cookies. He did what was necessary to bring security to that neighborhood,' said Army Col. Dale Kuehl, who worked alongside Ghafoori in Amiriya. 'He was fighting for his country.'
Kuehl believes Ghafoori would thrive in America, and rejects the notion that the onetime fighter poses a security threat.
'To say he can't function in our society is false. I've seen him with his kids and people on the street,' Kuehl said. 'He is a normal person like anyone else. Would I mind him [living] down the street from me? No, I wouldn't mind.'
Kuehl warned that turning away a figure such as Ghafoori sends a bad message as the U.S. engages in counterinsurgency tactics around the world.
'The unintentional message, but a message nonetheless, is if you do something for us, we may not take care of you,' Kuehl said.
After being rejected, Ghafoori was despondent. His wife, Khalida, threatened to leave him and take their children back to Baghdad, even though they would be an easy target for his enemies. Sometimes, Ghafoori drove his car to Amman's hillsides to escape. The landscape reminded him of northern Iraq's mountains, where he spent time with his mother's Kurdish family.
Gazing down at the Jordanian capital, he listened to Mariah Carey songs. One minute he smiled, the next he scowled like a fighter.
'I have a side that thrives on fighting and chaos,' he said, 'and then I have a peaceful side that just wants to be left alone.'
Eventually, he pulled himself together and persuaded his wife to stay.
His wife longed to work again as a schoolteacher and wanted her children to be able to play in the street and to go to school like normal kids.
'She wants to have a life and to teach and to have her children to grow up to be somebody,' Ghafoori said, after listening to his wife vent her frustrations.
He sat on his couch, with the television on, and complained that he felt like a woman. The family had moved at least three times in the last year because of threats.
His enemies, he said, were gloating about what happened to him. 'They call me the tissue paper for the Americans,' he said. 'They used me when I was needed and threw me away in the end.'
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4.
Border Patrol Will Increase Goal for Miles of Border Secured
By Terence Jeffrey
The Patriot Post, September 23, 2009
http://patriotpost.us/opinion/terence-jeffrey/2009/09/23/border-patrol-will-increase-goal-for-miles-of-border-secured.html
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency in the Department of Homeland Security that is responsible for securing the nation's land borders, says it will increase its goal for the number of border miles it will have under 'effective control' in fiscal year 2010, CBP Director of Media Relations Lloyd Easterling told me this week.
The goal will be increased from the previously set mark of 815 to at least 894, the number of miles the Border Patrol says is under 'effective control' as of now.
At the same time, the Border Patrol will carry out a plan to reduce the number of agents deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border by 384.
According to DHS, its measure of 'border miles under effective control' applies to the entire 8,607 miles for which the Border Patrol is responsible. This includes almost 2,000 miles on the U.S.-Mexico border, about 4,000 miles on the U.S.-Canada border (not counting the Alaska-Canada border) and sectors of coastline in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
'Border miles under effective control' is defined by CBP as meaning 'when the appropriate mix of personnel, equipment, technology and tactical infrastructure has been deployed to reasonably ensure that when an attempted illegal entry is detected, the Border Patrol has the ability to identify, classify and respond to bring the attempted illegal entry to a satisfactory law enforcement resolution.'
As reported in this column two weeks ago, DHS's annual performance report as updated on May 7 said that the department's goal was to have 815 miles of border under 'effective control' in fiscal 2009 and to maintain that same number in fiscal 2010, which begins in October.
In other words, DHS did not intend to secure a single additional mile of border in the coming year.
The report attributed this lack of progress in part to 'plans to move several hundred Agents from the Southwest Border to the Northern Border to meet the FY 2010 staffing requirements.'
Despite publishing a goal on May 7 of having 815 miles of border under effective control in both fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010, Acting Deputy Assistant Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Todd Owen told Congress in July that the Border Patrol already had more miles than that under effective control as of May 31.
'As of May 31, 2009, we have determined that 894 miles of border are under effective control,' Owen testified in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. 'This includes 697 miles along the southwest border, 32 along the northern border and 165 in the coastal regions.'
Easterling said this week that as of now the Border Patrol still has the same 894 miles of border under effective control that it had under effective control on May 31. He said the agency will not surrender a single one of these miles in the coming year.
'The intention is to take back the border incrementally and make gains that we can keep,' Easterling told me. 'We do not intend, nor will we give back, miles that we have gained control over.'
Easterling said that when the new fiscal year starts next month, the Border Patrol will review its data and re-evaluate its goal. At a minimum, he said, the agency will set a goal for border miles secured that equals the 894 miles secured now. If possible, it will set a higher goal. But it will not decrease the number of border miles that are secured.
It will maintain at least the current level even while decreasing the number of agents deployed on the Mexico border.
In fiscal year 2009, Easterling said, there have been 17,399 Border Patrol agents deployed on the Mexican border. In fiscal year 2010, he said, the plan is to deploy 17,015, a decline of 384 agents. Meanwhile, the Border Patrol agents assigned to the Canadian border will climb from 1,798 to 2,212, an increase of 414.
Easterling said that even with 384 fewer agents deployed on the Mexican border, the Border Patrol will be able to maintain at least the current number of border miles under effective control because of 'force multipliers.' These include 'tactical infrastructure' such as new roads and fencing that have been built, as well as assistance from local police and sheriffs departments and community watch organizations.
If the 697 miles of U.S.-Mexico border now under effective control is maintained in the coming year, that will leave approximately 1,300 miles of U.S-Mexico border that are not under effective control.
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5.
Recession Hits Immigrants Hard
Survey Shows First Decline in Foreign-Born U.S. Residents in Nearly 40 Years
By Conor Dougherty and Miriam Jordan
The Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125356996157829123.html
The number of foreign-born residents of the U.S. declined for the first time since at least 1970, as a recession and tight labor market dented America's image as the land of opportunity.
A decline in construction jobs lured fewer immigrants from their home countries, especially those from Mexico, according to the Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey.
In multiple ways -- falling homeownership, families moving in with others, couples putting off marriage -- the report illustrated that the recession has upended Americans' lives.
About 38 million foreign-born people lived in the U.S. in 2008, or 100,000 fewer than in the previous year, according to an analysis of Census data by William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution think tank. The decline falls within the margin of error, but it still represents a significant turnaround. Between 2000 and 2006, the U.S. foreign-born population increased by about one million people a year; in 2007, the number dropped in half.
It is impossible to know how many immigrants are entering and leaving the U.S., because millions are here illegally. But the Census data, combined with a recent analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center, a research group, strongly suggest that fewer foreigners are flocking to the U.S. The industries so dependent on them during boom times are also scaling back.
Hiring at Abdo Development, a developer and construction firm in Washington, is running about 70% below its peak three years ago -- affecting both Americans and new arrivals. 'Coming to America thinking that there's going to be significant employment in [construction] with the ability to send money home just really isn't there today,' said Jim Abdo, president and chief executive officer.
The number of Mexicans living in the U.S. fell to 11.4 million last year, a decline of 300,000. Mexico is the leading country of origin of immigrants to the U.S., accounting for one-third of all foreign-born U.S. residents.
Hispanics have long boasted a higher employment rate than American whites and blacks. But that has changed during the recession, as unemployment among Latin American immigrants has climbed more steeply than for other U.S. workers.
In California, at the Hollywood Community Job Center where dozens of Hispanic day laborers congregate at dawn with hopes of securing a day's work, manager Angel Olvera said 'the impact of the crisis is tremendous.'
As the recession deepened in 2008, struggling immigrants were joined by Americans who had lost union jobs in construction, Mr. Olvera said. Now, only 10 out of 80 job seekers are hired by homeowners and labor contractors who drive up to the center, located beside a Home Depot.
'Many workers who got jobs here regularly have returned to their countries,' said Mr. Olvera.
While the lackluster economy mostly drove the slowdown, the data may also reflect stepped-up enforcement during the last year of the Bush administration.
State-to-state migration also slowed last year. About 700,000 fewer people moved from one state to another in 2008 than in 2006, a 9% decline, according to an analysis of Census data by Kenneth Johnson, a senior demographer at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.
The slowdown has been particularly hard on Western and Sunbelt states, where the housing bust hit hardest. Arizona and Nevada have seen much smaller gains in migration, while Florida has seen more people move out than in. States like Massachusetts, which in better times lost residents to the South and West, have seen fewer people move out.
The Census Bureau's American Community Survey also showed how the recession has affected Americans' incomes and living standards. The median annual income fell in 27 states, including many of the same ones that saw slowdowns in migration and immigration. Florida's median annual income fell by $1,860 to $47,800, the steepest decline in the nation.
The share of the population that owned a home fell to 66.6%, the lowest rate since 2002 and down from 67.2% in 2007. Foreclosures have affected everyone, but vary by race. The Asian homeownership rate fell to 59.4% from 60.7% in 2007. The black homeownership rate fell to 45.6% from 46.5%; Latinos dropped to 49.1% from 49.9%, while the homeownership rate for non-Hispanic whites fell 0.4 percentage point to 73.4%.
In an indication that foreclosures and rising joblessness have forced families to move in together, about 1.1% of the population lived in crowded housing last year, up from 0.7% in 2007, according to Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit research group in Washington.
Commuting and marriage patterns also appear to have changed. The share of people driving alone to work fell to 75.5% last year from 76.1% in 2007. The percentage of the population that has never been married rose to 31.2% from 30.7% in 2007; the share of the never-married population has been as low as 27% earlier in this decade.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Census Bureau’s American Community data survey is available online at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/
+++
Lower immigration pace follows economy's drop
By Mike Chalmers
The News Journal (Wilmington, DE), September 22, 2009
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090922/NEWS/909220340
All Work and No Pay for Some Immigrants
By Sara Murray
The Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2009
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/09/22/all-work-and-no-pay-for-some-immigrants/
Immigrant Population Falls in California, Nationwide
By Rob Kuznia
Hispanic Business, September 22, 2009
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/2009/9/22/immigrant_population_falls_in_california_nationwide.htm
Study: Immigrants Leaving Arizona
The KPHO News (Phoenix), September 22, 2009
http://www.kpho.com/news/21075095/detail.html
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6.
U.S. Closes Mexico Border Crossing After Shootout
By Joshua Brustein
The New York Times, September 23, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/us/24border.html
Federal agents opened fire Tuesday on three vans carrying at least 70 people suspected of being illegal immigrants when the drivers of the vehicles tried to crash through a California border crossing that is considered the busiest such crossing in the world, officials said. Four people were injured.
The border was closed for several hours after the incident, which occurred at around 3:25 p.m. local time at the San Ysidro crossing. Federal immigration and customs agents fired their guns during the incident, officials said. Three passengers in the van were injured and taken to local hospitals, and a passenger in a separate vehicle was also injured. No agents were hurt, and none of the injuries were considered life-threatening.
The San Diego Police Department is investigating the shooting. Federal agents are questioning the passengers, who have been detained.
Lauren Mack, a spokesperson for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that smugglers had tried to storm the border in the past but that security improvements in recent years had made it much more difficult.
'It’s not common, but we have had incidents of smuggling vehicles involving both drugs and humans trying to blow through the inspection booth,' said Ms. Mack. 'It’s a very crowded area, there’s a lot of vehicle and pedestrian traffic.'
'It’s very difficult to do,' she said of efforts to crash vehicles through the border crossing. 'Nearly impossible — and extremely dangerous,' she said, adding that her agency was working with Mexican officials to identify the smugglers.
Twelve of the 24 lanes of traffic had been reopened by 8:30 p.m., said Angelica Decima, a spokeswoman for the United States Customs and Border Protection.
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Shootout closes US-Mexico crossing
The BBC News, September 23, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8270471.stm
4 hurt at border crossing after agents fire shots
The Associated Press, September 23, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMdU0pvfCgKW-59h3J-kI-YqR3JgD9ASVPL80
Agents fire at vans running the border
4 people injured during alleged smuggling attempt
By Susan Shroder
The San Diego Union Tribune, September 23, 2009
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/23/agents-fire-vans-running-border/
U.S. Closes Mexico Crossing After Shooting
By Lizbeth Diaz and Robin Emmott
Reuters, September 23, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/09/23/world/international-us-mexico-usa.html
San Ysidro border crossing closes after shooting
By Richard Marosi
The Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-border23-2009sep23,0,1977503.story
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7.
Immigration service revamps Web site to offer more interactive tools
By Jill R. Aitoro
NextGov, September 22, 2009
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090922_1366.php?oref=topnews
Citizen and Immigration Services unveiled its new interactive Web site on Tuesday that includes an application that allows foreigners to track the status of their citizenship applications, keep records up to date, and access forms and other resources.
The Web site, which is available in English and Spanish, 'provides the public with the latest tools to improve responsiveness and access to immigration services,' said Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Homeland Security Department, in an announcement.
Those filing for immigration and citizenship benefits can submit applications online and enter their 13-character application receipt number at the My Case Status Web portal to track the status of the application, from initial acceptance through production of the citizenship document and scheduling of the oath ceremony. They also can register to receive automatic e-mail or text message updates, change their address and find estimated processing times for submitted forms.
The Web site offers a Where to Start feature that visitors can use to find what services are available. The application offers two drop-down menus, one allows a user to choose their citizenship status (U.S. citizen, green card holder, or citizen of a foreign country) and another gives the visitor a choice of what they want to do (find out how to become a permanent U.S. resident, gain a temporary visa, bring family members into the country, for example).
The site also provides access to a variety of resources, including study materials for the naturalization test and information about laws, regulations and interpretations controlling immigration. The search engine also was improved.
'The new USCIS site is clean, well-organized and seems to offer improved navigation with intuitive tools and a better system for case reviews,' said Dave Lewan, director of government markets at ForeSee Results, a research firm that partners with the American Customer Satisfaction Index to issue quarterly reports on public opinion about federal Web sites. 'But what's [most] important is the opinion of the actual site users. Now that USCIS has launched this new site, it will be absolutely critical for them to collect, analyze and act on the voice of visitors to make sure the site meets their needs and expectations.'
President Obama announced in June plans to redesign the CIS Web site to simplify the immigration system. 'The idea is very simple here: We're going to leverage cutting-edge technology to reduce the unnecessary paperwork, backlogs and the lack of transparency that's caused so many people so much heartache,' he said.
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Immigration Services revamps Web site
The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City), September 22, 2009
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13396623
Immigration agency launches new Web site
By Suzanne Gamboa
The Associated Press, September 22, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g_n4fJXphKm1SCpk9O7Y2CW-JWXQD9ASI13O4
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8.
Reform bill in the coming weeks
The Irish Echo Staff, September 23, 2009
http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=19661
Congressman Luis Gutierrez is to introduce an immigration reform bill in the House of Representatives sometime in the next few weeks.
The announcement was immediately welcomed by Sheila Gleeson, executive director of the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers.
'The estimated 50,000 Irish immigrants, who followed in the footsteps of their families, friends and neighbors across the Atlantic, have been living in the shadows for too long' said Boston-based Gleeson.
'It is time to fix our immigration system to allow contributing, taxpaying immigrants an opportunity to contribute fully to the country that they have come to call home,' she said.
The CIIC, in its statement, commended the Illinois Democrat's commitment to taking decisive action to break through the years-long stalemate on Capitol Hill.
'We encourage all of our representatives to step up to the plate in support of immigrants who contribute so much to our communities and our economy. We expect our elected representatives to engage in a vigorous, but civil, discourse and to work to develop a caring and compassionate solution to the crisis of 12 million immigrants living outside of the mainstream of our society, the statement added.
'The acrimony of the healthcare debate and scapegoating of immigrants has underscored the need for a comprehensive immigration solution. There is little disagreement that our system is broken, there is wide acknowledgement that deporting millions of immigrants is neither practical nor cost effective; we need a smart, just and sensible solution from our political leaders,' the statement concluded.
Founded in 1996, the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers is a national umbrella organization of Irish Immigrant advice centers throughout the United States.
Meanwhile, a cautionary note was added over the weekend by President Obama. Speaking on one of the string of Sunday morning political talk shows on which he appeared, Obama warned that it was relatively easy to have a reform bill introduced in Congress but far harder to get one passed.
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9.
Lawmakers step up for widow, son of soldier
By Perla Trevizo
The Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN), September 23, 2009
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/sep/23/lawmakers-step-up-for-widow-son-of-soldier/
A bill moving through Congress is Hotaru Ferschke's only chance of raising her 8-month-old son together with her in-laws in Tennessee.
'If (the bill doesn't pass), I may not get to see my grandson more than maybe two times a year and he will not really ever get to know his daddy,' said Robin Ferschke, Hotaru Ferschke's mother-in-law.
Hotaru and her son, Michael 'Mikey' Ferschke III, are in immigration limbo because of a 1950s law that doesn't recognize her marriage to Sgt. Michael Ferschke. He was killed in Iraq last year, one month after they got married, The Associated Press reported.
She and Sgt. Ferschke married by signing their names on separate continents after he was deployed, according to the AP. Although she was pregnant when he left, their marriage is not considered consummated by U.S. immigration law because they didn't meet in person again after the wedding.
On July 10, U.S. Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., introduced a private bill that would allow Hotaru Ferschke and her baby, who are here on a visitor's visa, to stay.
If the bill doesn't pass, the young mother and her son will have to leave the United States by January.
Their story is featured in one of 10 episodes of 'In Their Boots,' a documentary about the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The national premiere of 'Second Battle' will be Thursday in Sgt. Ferschke's hometown of Maryville, Tenn.
'This episode specifically is getting us to rethink our troubled immigration policy and how it doesn't factor in contributions that families are making,' said Richard Perez, executive producer of the documentary.
'Part of the reason we are telling this story is to raise public awareness about the situation the family is in,' he said. 'It's a sad injustice and the more people know about it, perhaps there will be some political will to change the laws that are forcing her out of this country.'
Rep. Duncan's bill was referred to a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on July 20. So far no vote has been taken.
'I was happy to introduce this bill to bring relief to the Ferschke family in this very tragic and emotional situation,' said Rep. Duncan. 'I have been in contact with members of the Judiciary Committee where the bill is being considered, and I am doing everything possible to move this process forward.'
The office of Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., also has been in regular contact with the family and is working with other members of the Tennessee delegation to help pass the bill, press secretary Jeff Jeffries said.
Getting the bill passed 'is absolutely necessary to address our most immediate concern: keeping Hotaru and Mikey in Maryville,' said Elias Feghali, program director of Welcoming Tennessee, an organization co-sponsoring the premier.
But, 'unless the law is rewritten, other military families will be at risk of going through the same ordeal as the Ferschkes,' he said.
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10.
CNMI federalization transition plan issued
Administration urges DHS to waive travel restrictions
By Haidee V. Eugenio
The Saipan Tribune (Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands), September 24, 2009
http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=93790&cat=1
The Fitial administration has issued a 46-page CNMI protocol addressing key concerns related to the transition to federal immigration on Nov. 28, including the loss of government jobs, foreign labor, and adjudication of labor cases.
Titled 'The Commonwealth's Protocol for Implementation of Public Law 110-229,' the document prepares the CNMI for federalization which will immediately affect displaced government employees and foreigners who currently hold CNMI-granted status.
Press secretary Charles Reyes, when asked for comment yesterday, said the governor has 'approved such a plan to address important transition issues.'
By Nov. 28, for example, CNMI immigration employees will be out of job given that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection has not hired a single U.S. citizen from the CNMI in the 18 months since the federalization law was signed.
Attorney General Ed Buckingham and Howard P. Willens, special counsel to the governor, with instructions from Fitial, undertook the preparation for the protocol.
'The current version of the protocol is intended to collect our policies for reference by all concerned in both the public and private sectors in the Commonwealth and by the responsible federal agencies,' said Willens in a Sept. 15 memorandum for Fitial.
The protocol aims to implement the transition smoothly with as little disruption and uncertainty as possible, keep families together and treat affected persons fairly, and minimize adverse consequences to the recovery of the CNMI economy.
It said the provisions of P.L. 110-229 are imprecise as to the way that the U.S. authorities are to interact with the CNMI authorities and DHS has not yet shared its views on most of the issues discussed in the protocol.
The protocol listed at least 28 CNMI laws about which pre-emption questions could be raised, and these include the organization of the Executive Branch, the Commonwealth Entry and Deportation Act, the Nonresident Worker's Act, the Commonwealth Employment Act of 2007, Excise tax and user fees, and the Commonwealth Minimum Wage and Hour Act.
Outsourcing of services
The Fitial administration has been preparing for discussion with CBP in Washington, D.C. on a proposal to outsource certain port of entry jobs to a private CNMI contractor.
The private contractor would employ current CNMI Division of Immigration employees and provide these employees to supplement CBP personnel assigned to the Commonwealth.
'The contractor personnel would work under the supervision of CBP onsite supervisors,' the protocol said.
Under P.L. 110-229, DHS will control and operate six ports of entry in the CNMI.
In the short term following the Nov. 28 transition, the CNMI intended to use the current Department of Labor workforce in dealing with the problems of employing U.S. citizens to the maximum extent possible.
Travel restrictions
The protocol also urges DHS to waive travel restrictions for foreign workers, foreign investors, and foreign students.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials have announced that nonresidents will be prevented from returning to the CNMI if they lave the islands for medical, family, businesses or other reasons.
'That is unnecessary, highly damaging to the Commonwealth and its citizens, and unacceptable from the Commonwealth's point of view. DHS has authority to waive these restrictions and should do so,' the protocol said.
It added that anyone who holds a CNMI-issued permit or a federally-issued CNMI-only permit is not a threat to U.S. national security and should be allowed to continue employment if they leave the CNMI and return during the term of the permit.
The proposed E-2 CNMI investor status rule, published last week, provides the same travel restrictions to foreign investors.
Under the proposed regulations, the foreign investor must apply for a visa at a consulate or embassy in his home country and obtain a U.S. visa issued by the Department of State to be able to re-enter the CNMI.
PL 110-229 provides specifically that lawful permits issued to persons who wish to remain in the CNMI after Nov. 28, 2009 will be respected for the duration of the permit but not to exceed two years.
Permits
Local government agencies will continue to issue permits and extension until Nov. 27, 2009 for CNMI immigration categories, from 240A to 240Y, and other categories made necessary by the transition to federal immigration law.
For example, the Department of Commerce and the Division of Immigration will continue to issue regular-term business entry permits and extensions in the normal course until Nov. 27, 2009.
CNMI Immigration will issue two-year permits as of Nov. 27, 2009 to every alien who is a government employee and for whom the Office of Personnel Management certified a need for a two-year permit.
The local Immigration will also continue to issue visitor entry permits and extension in the normal course until Nov. 27, 2009.
The government intends to issue public notices and awareness campaign to disseminate information contained in the protocol.
Lynn Knight, a former chair of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands (HANMI), said the CNMI's protocol document is a 'phenomenal undertaking on this incredibly complex issue.'
'Unfortunately, so many gray areas remain even at this late date. This is a pro-active effort to establish what should happen next on the working relationships and necessary details of the immigration takeover. I want to congratulate all those who contributed to the document and I certainly hope the federal officials who will have some role in this going forward will take the protocol very seriously,' said Knight, who used to be a communications liaison on immigration issues. She now lives in the Washington, D.C. area.
The Fitial administration first reported the creation of a public-private task force to ensure operational concerns are addressed related to the federalization transition, right after Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan changed his position by now supporting a delay in federalization.
Sablan said DHS is not ready to implement the law by Nov. 28, but DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the department is prepared to control CNMI borders by the date set by law.
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11.
Ohio immigration bill returns
State Sen. Cates says law could help county officials curtail ‘flood of illegal aliens.’
By Josh Sweigart
The Middletown Journal (OH), September 22, 2009
http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/ohio-immigration-bill-returns-312312.html
A local state senator is taking another stab at a controversial change to Ohio law that would give county sheriffs more leeway to enforce immigration laws.
As immigration reform has languished on the national stage, Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester Twp., said southwest Ohio has seen 'a flood of illegal aliens' that 'has put an undue burden on local law enforcement and impacted the stability of local services.'
The bill introduced by Cates would allow county sheriffs, upon request from federal officials, to investigate and apprehend illegal immigrants for breaking immigration laws.
Current law only allows deputies to arrest immigrants who commit some other crime. Because deportation matters fall under civil law, they are enforced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The bill also would allow county commissioners to direct local sheriffs to hold people being detained for deportation or charged with civil violations of immigration law.
'(This bill) would give sheriffs and county commissioners — the men and women who have seen firsthand the effect illegal immigration has had on public safety and social services — much-needed flexibility to help federal authorities pursue and apprehend illegal aliens,' Cates said.
Cates’ testimony, backed by Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones, came in committee Tuesday, Sept. 22.
The bill mirrors legislation Cates put forth last year, which passed unanimously in the Senate but stalled in the Ohio House.
Last year’s bill drew sharp opposition from minority rights groups, which argued this could distract deputies from other duties and breed mistrust in immigrant communities.
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12.
WR second Houston city to pass SAVE
By Marlon A. Walker
The Macon Telegraph (GA), September 22, 2009
http://www.macon.com/197/story/852400.html
The Warner Robins City Council became the second city council in the area to not argue admission into a program that effectively denies certain city services to undocumented aliens.
City Clerk Stan Martin said under the SAVE program, which stands for Systematic Alien Verification and Entitlements, people seeking city-issued licenses will have their immigration statuses cross-checked against a national registry updated by U.S. Homeland Security.
Perry’s city council voted to begin the program at its Sept. 15 meeting.
We really don t have a choice about doing it, Martin said. It’s really being forced down our throats.
In 2007, the Georgia General Assembly made it a requirement for all local governments in the state to ensure those seeking alcoholic beverage and taxi licenses, among other things, be verified as being in the country legally.
Statistics from the Pew Hispanic Center, based in Washington, D.C., show about 12 million Hispanics currently live in the United States. About 4 percent of those, or about 500,000, are said to live in Georgia.
Law enforcement agencies already are using the Homeland Security database to check a person s documented status through several programs across the country. The program that has been the most publicized is 287(g), which allows law enforcement officials to cross-check the immigration status of anyone pulled over during a traffic stop.
Hispanic advocacy groups have called it divisive and demeaning.
Martin said the program will be handled by his staff in the clerk s office. While the cost for adding the national database checks into the city s procedures was not immediately known, councilman John Havrilla offered an idea for where the money should come from.
They need to send federal money along with the federal mandate, he said.
The city was informed of its expected participation in a letter dated Sept. 2 from the Georgia Municipal Association. Martin said officials have not said what repercussions exist for license applicants who are declared undocumented through the national system.
Mayor Donald Walker said the council didn’t vote on the measure because it was a requirement by the state to join in with the program.
I don t believe it helps us whatsoever, he said Monday afternoon.
But it’s the law. I can see some need for a law like that, but ... it s prohibitive. We’ve managed to get along fine without the federal government sticking their noses in it.
So until the (American Civil Liberties Union) gets it overturned, we’ve got to do it.
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13.
Police work to improve Hispanic relations
By Trace Christenson
The Enquirer (Battle Creek, MI), September 23, 2009
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20090923/NEWS01/909230310/Police-work-to-improve-Hispanic-relations
Felipe Lugo said he hasn't had problems with police in the Battle Creek area.
'There are no problems that I am aware of,' the 37-year-old Battle Creek man said Tuesday.
He was one of the first to arrive for 'Know Your Rights,' a program designed for the Hispanic community, conducted in Spanish and sponsored by the Latino/Hispanic Community Project.
And while Lugo, who said he speaks limited English, said he has not heard about a problem between Hispanics and police officers, he would seem to represent a minority.
A recent Battle Creek area survey shows 64 percent of Hispanics do not believe police treat them with respect and 77 percent believe the police will ask them for immigration papers even during routine traffic stops.
The meeting at Burnham Brook was designed not only to explain rights, but is one effort to educate and improve the relationship between police and the Hispanic community.
While it's not clear if the survey results are accurate, officials hope to remove many of the perceptions.
'The community is scared to make a complaint,' said Kate Kennedy, project director of the Latino/Hispanic Community Project, funded by the Battle Creek Community Foundation. 'That is the perception of the community.'
The survey of 197 Hispanics living in the greater Battle Creek area was conducted between June and December 2008 by The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. The results were released in February.
Kennedy, whose nonprofit organization is designed to assist Hispanics obtain community resources, such as health care, employment, education and law enforcement services, said the results represented perceptions of those surveyed, even though no hard data exists on actual discrimination or inferior treatment by police.
And Deputy Chief Jackie Hampton of the Battle Creek Police Department said his officers don't ask about immigration status unless the person is arrested, 'and then we have no control of it.'
Hampton said the department has tried to respond to the growing number of Hispanics and Latino residents in the city, with is now estimated at about 5 percent of the population, or 3,000 people.
'As the population has increased, we have become more aware of their needs and sensitive to their concerns,' Hampton said. 'We are trying to represent the entire population of Battle Creek.'
Chief David Headings has met several times with Kennedy and members of the Hispanic community, and he plans to discuss some of their concerns next week at a meeting of all area police chiefs.
'The Battle Creek Police Department has had very excellent collaboration and an excellent response, and they are dedicated to improving the relationships,' Kennedy said. 'We are very pleased with their participation and Chief Headings has been good to work with.'
Hampton said some issues are not with Battle Creek officers. He said many residents don't realize the difference between city officers and those of other departments also working in the metropolitan area.
'When they can't distinguish between the officers,' Kennedy agreed, 'they point at Battle Creek police.'
Kennedy said her agency still must collect data, trying to determine any actual incidents of profiling, checks of immigration status, and even an estimate of how many illegal immigrants and bilingual residents are living in the metropolitan area.
'But tonight the main goal is to talk to people and have a comfortable atmosphere,' she said. 'We are educating them about their rights and giving them practical examples about what to do.'
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14.
Company plans prison for illegal immigrants: Adelanto facility hinges on winning contract
By Natasha Lindstrom
The Daily Press (Victorville, CA), September 22, 2009
http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/adelanto-14600-prison-private.html
Adelanto, CA -- A private prison operator has plans to build a 2,200-bed detention center that holds illegal immigrants on 51 acres near two other local prisons.
City Council will decide on Wednesday whether to approve the GEO Group Inc.’s development plan and conditional use permit to construct a new correctional facility on the northeast corner of Raccoon Avenue and Rancho Road.
But the proposed facility also hinges on GEO Group winning a federal contract from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Adelanto City Manager Jim Hart.
Earlier this year the Department of Homeland Security posted a notice saying it would be looking for contractors to construct a possible detention center that can hold up to 2,200 illegal immigrants and others suspected of violating immigration laws. The notice said the center should be located within 120 miles of downtown Los Angeles and privately owned and operated.
However the official request for proposals for the new ICE center has not yet been issued, according to ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice, while the agency undergoes a comprehensive overhaul of its detention system.
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15.
Newt Gingrich Adds Hispanic News/Opinion Website-The Americano
By Michael Scherer
Time Magazine, September 22, 2009
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/09/22/newt-gingrich-adds-an-hispanic-news-service-the-americano/
Add another feather in the veritable bird's nest that is Gingrich Inc. The former Speaker of the House, and all-around conservative idea-smith, has launched a news website for Hispanic Americans, the rapidly growing segment of swing voters. It's called The Americano, and it is the bilingual brainchild of Sylvia Garcia, a longtime employee of Gingrich Communications, the former speaker's consulting business. 'The idea came during the election,' Garcia says. 'There really isn't any media that is covering conservative values for Hispanics. Everything you see is very one-sided.'
And so, conservative-minded Hispanics will find an opinion piece about how voter identification efforts are damaging the GOP brand among Latinos, a 'History of U.S. Elections as Seen By Hispanics,' and a piece about how the embattled non-profit ACORN was caught in a sting that involved a false claim about 14 El Salvadoran prostitutes.
The new website, which will seek to make a profit from advertising, comes at a time when Republican strategists, and conservative activists, are expressing clear concern over Republican popularity among the Latino electorate, a swing vote in recent presidential contests. As former Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., put it late last year on Meet the Press:
The fact of the matter is that Hispanics are going to be a more and more vibrant part of the electorate, and the Republican Party had better figure out how to talk to them. We had a very dramatic shift between what President Bush was able to do with Hispanic voters, where he won 44 percent of them, and what happened to Senator McCain.
Garcia, who previously set up Gingrich's own Spanish-language website (www.newt.org/paralatinos), said that she hopes to attract readers who are looking for conservative views on issues beyond the illegal immigration debate, which tends to alienate Hispanics from the Republican party. 'In recent polls, when Hispanics and Latinos have been asked what is most important to them, immigration comes in fourth or fifth,' Garcia said. She added that Newt's opinion pieces would be published on the site, but that he would not play a major visible role. 'It's not about Newt. It's not about the speaker. It's really a site about conservatism.'
As such, the site will face some stiff competition from other politically-motivated websites seeking to shape public opinion among American Hispanics. America's Voice, a pro-immigration reform non-profit pushing hard to brand the GOP as a party of immigrant-bashers, has stepped up its communications efforts in recent months. The headline of a press release the group sent out today targeted the House Minority Leader John Boehner with this headline: 'Boehner to Immigrants: Work and Go Home; Obama to Immigrants: We Can Get it Done.'
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16.
Widow of slain officer seeks changes in police policy
By Brian Rogers
The Houston Chronicle, September 22, 2009
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6632012.html
A Houston police sergeant, widowed when her police officer husband was shot to death by an illegal immigrant, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Houston and the police department asking that she be allowed to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials regarding the immigration status of suspects she detains.
Joslyn Johnson is suing for a change of policy, not money, as she continues to arrest and detain suspects as a sergeant in the burglary and theft division of HPD, said her attorney, Ben Dominguez.
'It essentially seeks to reverse the policy that prevents HPD officers from communicating with ICE to determine whether a person is criminally here illegally. They're only criminally here illegally once they've been deported and returned without permission,' Dominguez said.
'ICE has a database that no one else has, and the department has a policy that prevents officers from communicating with them.'
Dominguez said the police department has prohibited Johnson from commenting publicly on the policy.
Protocol described
Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel said officers are not prohibited from making contact with ICE. He said HPD allows police to make contact after following protocols that ensure officers are not committing racial profiling.
'There are laws against racial profiling, and if you follow those laws you're not going to be identifying people solely on the basis of how they look. There has to be some crime, some additional activity, some suspicion that goes with that. And when that happens officers make inquiries of ICE,' Michel said.
Rodney Johnson was killed on Sept. 21, 2006, by Juan Leonardo Quintero, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who is now serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Johnson stopped Quintero for speeding and patted him down but missed the gun that Quintero used to shoot him in the back of the head from the rear seat of the patrol car.
Joslyn Johnson says in the lawsuit filed Tuesday, on the third anniversary of the shooting, that Quintero was detained at least three times before the day he shot Johnson.
HPD's failure to discover Quintero's status or report him to ICE enabled him to remain at large, ultimately killing Rodney Johnson, Johnson's widow alleged.
Carter's Country sued
This is the fourth lawsuit Johnson has filed since her husband's death. She sued the city last year, a day after the second anniversary of the shooting, claiming its policy of having one officer per patrol car contributed to her husband's death. That lawsuit is pending, Dominguez said.
That same day she filed suit against Carter's Country in Pasadena, a gun store that sold the weapon used to kill Johnson, according to the lawsuit, which is also pending.
In May 2008, Johnson filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Robert Lane Camp, a landscaper who employed Quintero. That lawsuit was resolved, Dominguez said, but the resolution is confidential.
Federal agents arrested Camp in May 2008 on charges of allegedly harboring Quintero and helping him return to Houston after he was deported. Camp pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial is scheduled for October.
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17.
Students to march for legalization of immigrant youth
By Victor Manuel Ramos
The Orlando Sentinel (FL), September 22, 2009
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-bk-student-immigrants-march-apopka-092209,0,1837440.story
Apopka, FL -- A group of high school students will take part in an unusual after-school activity on Wednesday: They will march for immigration reform as part of a national day of youth activism.
About 200 students are expected to join the one-mile walk, starting at 1:30 p.m. from Apopka High School and going to the Hope Community Center, home of the area's immigrant farmworkers' ministry. The group will also include Wekiva High School students.
The students are calling for passage of The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, a bill known as the 'DREAM Act' that would give high school graduates a shot at legalization.
Many young immigrants were brought to the country as minors and find themselves stuck, unable to go to college or find work.
'What I am excited about is that this is really a youth-led effort,' said Sister Ann Kendrick, a Roman Catholic nun with the Hope CommUnity Center. 'That in itself is worth it, regardless of the outcome, whether it changes minds or not. It is an act of solidarity and empowerment for these kids.'
Similar marches are taking place in Miami, Palm Beach, Sarasota, Lakeland, Tallahassee and Gainesville, as well as cities throughout the country, activists said.
The national campaign is being led by Walter Lara, 23, a Central Florida man saved from the brink of deportation in July. His departure was deferred after activists and members of Congress threw their support behind him. He appeared Tuesday on a nationally televised show on Spanish-language network Univisión, calling on others to join the fight.
'Countless others are waiting,' Lara said, 'for something that would give them hope.'
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Students to back legalization of high school grads
The Associated Press, September 23, 2009
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9AT3GP81.html
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18.
Immigration a hot topic on Johns Island
By Bob Behanian
The WSC News (Charleston, SC), September 22, 2009
http://www.live5news.com/Global/story.asp?S=11178254
Johns Island, SC -- Tuesday's immigration seminar had one goal: to educate those who consistently work with the Hispanic population. 'We hope the end result is a reduction in crime on the Hispanic citizens,' said Josephine Rivera Stacey.
To get that end result, the Hispanic Citizens Academy invited a wide variety of groups, including the Leeds Avenue Detention Center, Family Services and My Sister's house. But many of those in attendance were also from law enforcement.
Academy officials believe police have a major responsibility in dealing with Hispanics when it comes to immigration laws, law enforcement officials agree. 'To educate ourselves in finding what is there, what we are dealing with and how we are going to solve this problem,' said Charleston City Police Crime Analyst Hector Reyna.
Both law enforcement and academy officials say there is one major problem that has to be dealt with first, and that is misinformation. 'We are trying to dispel myths, make sure the truth and the law both get out,' said Reyna.
Reyna is a crime analyst with Charleston City Police. He says many in the Hispanic community don't fully understand the laws about immigration. 'Usually they pass [information] from mouth to mouth. It starts out as an ant, and it's an elephant by the time it gets to you.'
Some say in order for things to improve the Hispanic community needs to know that some people are there to help them.
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19.
Aurora teen in heated battle got help from Owens
By Karen E. Crummy
The Denver Post, September 23, 2009
http://www.denverpost.com/news/frontpage/ci_13398269
Bill Owens asked one of his biggest donors to foot Apodaca's tuition.
A new book written by Helen Thorpe adds a footnote to the story of an Aurora honor student, brought to the U.S. illegally by his parents, who found himself at the center of the political battle over illegal immigration seven years ago.
At the time, Jesus Apodaca, then 18 years old, wanted to attend the University of Colorado at Denver but couldn't qualify for in-state tuition because he was in the United States illegally. Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, who represented the 6th Congressional District at the time, sought to have Apodaca and his family deported but was unsuccessful.
Thorpe, the wife of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, writes in her book 'Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America' that a private benefactor had stepped forward to pay Apodaca's tuition but then decided to withdraw his support.
However, former Gov. Bill Owens, 'a conservative Republican who nevertheless sympathized with Jesus' desire to continue his education, quietly called up one of his biggest donors and asked if this businessman would adopt responsibility' for the tuition, Thorpe writes.
He agreed, and Apodaca pursued an engineering degree at another school.
Owens confirmed the story Tuesday but declined to comment any further or disclose the name of the Republican businessman.
In 2002, Owens' initial response to Tancredo's demands was to say that the immigration law had to be 'respected and enforced.' But two weeks later, he shifted his position, publicly backing a measure sponsored by former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, which would have legalized Apodaca's immigration status. Campbell eventually withdrew it.
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20.
Killings illustrate a violent portrait of Haitian men
By Janine Zeitlin
The News-Press (Fort Myers, FL), September 23, 2009
http://www.news-press.com/article/20090923/NEWS01/909230399/1075
When Gary Avin looks into a mirror, he sees someone not unlike Mesac Damas.
A father. A man of Haitian descent in his 30s.
'He could pass as my brother,' he said.
That's where he similarities end.
Avin and other Haitian-Americans in Southwest Florida are grappling with how to deal with the reflection of a Haitian family that has emerged with the slayings of Damas' wife and their five children.
Records show Mesac had a history of beating his wife, Guerline.
'It bothers me as a husband,' said Avin, of Cape Coral. 'We are used to putting our wives on a pedestal. Haitians aren't portrayed in the news often, so stereotypes can happen.'
But, where some see a stereotype, others view a sobering reality.
Experts said accepting attitudes about domestic violence in often male-dominated homes can be imported from the island.
'The families here are an extension of the system in Haiti so, of course, domestic violence is a grave problem,' said Marleine Bastien, executive director of Haitian Women of Miami, a group that's been doing domestic violence outreach since 1991.
About 60 percent of women and girls in Haiti are domestic violence victims, Bastien said.
Amnesty International's report on Haiti said the country lacked measures such as domestic violence legislation to protect women and noted prejudice as one of the factors.
Still, some Haitian-American women worry all families will be seen through a single lens.
'As a Haitian woman myself, it's almost offensive,' said Lara Chrisphonte, who, like Avin, is active with the local Haitian chamber. 'We're not all domestic violence victims or perpetrators.'
Pierrette Faustin, program director of the Haitian Center of Catholic Charities, said there is some substance to such stereotypes.
'If it's a stereotype, we put ourselves in that position,' she said. 'In order to reverse that, we need to get involved. Expose those guys who are doing that so our children don't grow up and do the same thing.'
Haitian women are often expected to be submissive, Faustin said, noting comments from Mesac's father saying Guerline was not respectful.
UNICEF reported about 30 percent of women ages 15 to 49 in Haiti believed it was OK for a husband to beat his wife for at least one of these reasons: burning the food, arguing with him, leaving without telling him, neglecting the children or refusing sex.
Haitians and other immigrants also may be reluctant to report abuse beyond family. Others fear being deported, and abusers may use that threat to keep control.
Guerline told Department of Children and Families officials in January Mesac had kept all her immigration papers for 12 years and lied about filing them so she could get a green card.
'If you don't have immigration papers, there's a lot of other resources you can't get access to,' said Christine Kobie, community educator at Abuse Counseling and Treatment in Fort Myers.
That could prevent a woman from gaining enough financial security to escape.
Religious beliefs and ideas about men being the ruler of a home in some cultures also can be means to control, she said.
Wilner Alcime sits on ACT's community action team. The 27-year-old Lehigh Acres resident hopes to deliver prevention information through his Creole newsletter.
'It's a growing problem in the Haitian community,' he said. 'We want to tell them, 'Don't be afraid to call authorities.''
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21.
Time For A ‘Dream'
HHS Grad Gets At Least One More Year In U.S.
By Heather Bowser
DNRonline (Harrisonburg, VA), September 23, 2009
http://www.dnronline.com/news_details.php?AID=40987&CHID=1
Harrisonburg, VA -- Thanks to some very 'exciting' news Tuesday, Maria Martinez will probably get to live her dream of going to college and getting a job in America.
At least for the next year.
On Tuesday morning, officials from the Washington, D.C., field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement granted the 19-year-old Harrisonburg resident a one-year deportation deferment.
Martinez, who graduated with an advanced studies diploma from Harrisonburg High School in June, had been told she would have to return to El Salvador, the place of her birth.
Her parents, who have since earned green cards, paid to bring her to the United States illegally when she was 12. Because Martinez's siblings were born here, she would be the only member of her immediate family to be forced to return to the Central American nation.
'It's really exciting,' Martinez said Tuesday. 'Now, I can probably go to Blue Ridge [Community College] next semester and I can get a work permit.'
High-Profile Story
Martinez's plight, which became public in June, began to garner community support after it was learned she would have to wait 10 years before applying to return to the United States if she was voluntarily deported.
After that, teachers, lawmakers and community members backed the young woman's cause.
Martinez and her sophomore reading teacher, Sandy Mercer, collected and hand-delivered more than 60 letters to the offices of Virginia's two U.S. senators, Democrats Mark Warner and Jim Webb, and to U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke.
Another break came when a Harrisonburg woman donated $1,000 toward Martinez's legal expenses. A friend of Mercer's in New Jersey donated another $5,000 to the cause.
'The support has just blown us away,' Mercer said. 'It's brought tears to my eyes again and again.'
A Tough Journey
Finally, on Aug. 17, 10 days before Martinez would have been forced to leave, an immigration judge agreed to reopen her case, allowing her to remain in the country during litigation.
By that time, Martinez already had packed her clothes and 'threw other stuff away.'
'I thought I was moving,' she said. 'One day you're here, and then the next time, nope. You're gone.'
Tuesday's decision is good news because it gives Martinez more time to wait for Congress to pass a bill that could allow her to stay in the country permanently, said Elizabeth Kohler Maya, Martinez's attorney, who works for the Law Offices of Richard S. Bromberg in Washington, D.C.
The DREAM Act, short for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, would provide conditional permanent residency to illegal immigrant students who graduate from high schools and are of good moral character.
'The current law doesn't have much to offer Maria,' Kohler Maya said. 'With this decision, what [ICE] is saying is, ‘We realize there are humanitarian reasons to allow Maria to stay.''
If the legislation passes after Martinez leaves the country, 'she'd be out of luck,' Mercer said.
'I pray for the Dream Act,' Martinez said. 'It won't be only for me. It will benefit a lot of people.'
The Future
For now, she is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at an immigration court in Arlington on Jan. 27.
In the meantime, Martinez will continue to take care of her younger brothers and teach her neighbor to speak English so the woman can obtain her GED. Martinez wants to go to BRCC in January.
Mercer, on the other hand, is learning to speak Spanish. She and her 19-year-old friend have visited each other's churches and go to bookstores together for fun.
'I believe that the [illegal immigrants] who do bad stuff, that don't follow the law, they should be punished and sent back to their country,' Martinez said. 'But the people who are trying to be someone, the people who are good to their community, they should not be treated the same way.'
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22.
Jury selection starts in Milford case of immigrant smuggling, rape
By Frank Juliano
The Connecticut Post Online (Bridgeport, CT), September 22, 2009
http://www.connpost.com/ci_13394609
Milford, CT -- Jury selection began today in the trial of a man accused of raping a Salvadoran girl he was smuggling into the country.
The first four prospective jurors were dismissed for various reasons, including their views on immigration policy, during the morning session in Milford Superior Court.
Court officials said they expect to select a six-member jury by the end of the week. The case is scheduled to begin next Tuesday with arguments on motions, and testimony could start a day later, State's Attorney Kevin Lawlor said.
Francisco Pascual, 26, has rejected a plea deal that could have limited his jail time to 15 years. He could face nearly 80 years in prison if convicted. A Mexican citizen, Pascual has been held since his December 2007 arrest in lieu of $2 million bond on charges of kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and unlawful restraint.
The defendant allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl in a city motel as they were en route to the Boston area, where Pascual was to deliver the girl to her mother. The Salvadoran girl was the last of several illegal immigrants that Pascual allegedly smuggled across the border from Mexico and transported to various cities across the United States, police said.
Defense attorney Mark Solak used one of his preemptory challenges to dismiss a potential juror who disclosed that her daughter was confronted by a man who had broken into her apartment.
Another potential juror was excused after telling Judge William Holden that his stepson is a prosecutor in New Jersey. A third said that she needed to work and would suffer an economic hardship if she was selected.
The final candidate in the morning session said that her husband is an immigrant to the United States, and has been the target of racial profiling.
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23.
Stamford woman pleads guilty in newborn's death
By Monica Potts
The Connecticut Post Online (Bridgeport, CT), September 22, 2009
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_13394939?source=most_viewed
Stamford, CT -- A South End mother who worked for low wages to pay back the transporter who brought her to the United States illegally acted out of desperation last year when she wrapped her newborn son in a plastic bag, later stabbed him and left his body in a trash bin, a judge said in state Superior Court on Tuesday.
'This is a woman who's working at slave wages, sending the proceeds of that effort back to her home country to support her very ill child,' Judge Richard Comerford Jr. said as Angelina Sarmiento, 26, formerly of 207 Henry St., Stamford, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of the her newborn. 'This is a woman who truly loved her children.'
While the prosecutor, Senior Assistant State's Attorney James Bernardi, public defender Howard Ehring and Comerford reiterated several times that the killing was not justified, they pointed to what Bernardi called the twilight status of illegal immigrants as mitigating circumstances that called for reduction of a murder charge. The murder statute requires that the defendant did not act under extreme emotional distress, Comerford said.
In exchange for pleading guilty, Sarmiento is to be sentenced to 17 years in prison Dec. 11. She whispered, 'Culpable,' the Spanish term for guilty, when asked to plea, and she cried through the statements given by the attorneys.
Bernardi said Sarmiento ultimately admitted to police that she had given birth on her toilet Oct. 29. She told police that her husband, Hermando Sarmiento, came here illegally several years before, and she had followed him.
While her husband was able to pay off the transporter relatively quickly, she struggled to meet the demands while cleaning houses through a company in Stamford for 55 hours to 65 hours a week, earning about $350, less than the federal minimum wage.
Additionally, her attorney, Ehring, said Sarmiento struggled to send money home to a daughter, who is about 12 years old and needs dialysis.
Afraid to go to a doctor for birth control because of her immigration status, Sarmiento purchased through the black market birth control she had used successfully in Honduras, Bernardi and Ehring said. She was surprised to learn she was pregnant. When she discovered the pregnancy, she thought she was six months pregnant, but was in her final month, Ehring said.
She was also afraid to seek care once she discovered the pregnancy, he said.
Sarmiento told police she believed her husband would not want the additional financial burden of a new child, Bernardi said.
Police responded Oct. 30 to a report of a dead infant in a garbage bin near the Henry Street apartment, but did not immediately find the child known in court as Baby Boy Sarmiento. They did find and speak to Sarmiento in the apartment she and Hermando Sarmiento shared with another couple. At first she denied that anything had happened, Bernardi said.
A medical examiner determined that the baby was born alive, and 'upon birth had cried and attempted to breathe,' Bernardi said. The cause of death was asphyxiation.
Ehring said in April that the two sides were working on a resolution, but shortly thereafter, Bernardi requested DNA tests to make sure Hermando Sarmiento was the baby's father and rule out other possible motives. The case was delayed while both sides awaited the results of the test. Psychiatrists also have been examining Sarmiento for psychological conditions, including postpartum psychosis, Ehring has said.
Hermando Sarmiento returned to Honduras but has since had an accident, leaving him a paraplegic, Ehring said. The family can no longer afford the dialysis for the 12-year-old daughter, he said.
Comerford praised the attorneys involved in the case, and said they understood 'the great sin of grinding poverty and the desperation of a woman who found herself in the position this woman did.'
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24.
Broward man guilty in immigration fraud scheme
By Jay Weaver
The Miami Herald, September 23, 2009
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1246789.html
A 76-year-old Broward County man made quite a sales pitch to illegal immigrants: Buy a ``membership'' in a Native American tribe to stay legally in the United States.
But the law caught up with Audie Watson of Tamarac on Tuesday when a federal jury in Fort Lauderdale convicted him of conspiracy, fraud, immigration and money laundering. Watson, who faces up to 20 years in prison, was the owner and president of Universal Service Dedicated to God Inc., a Florida nonprofit agency.
Trial evidence showed that Watson conspired with three of his employees to sell documents purporting to provide membership in a Native American tribe called the Pembina Nation Little Shell, prosecutors said. His employees pleaded guilty before trial.
Watson sold the memberships to immigrants across the nation for $1,500 a person and $2,000 a couple, they said. His promise: the memberships would allow illegal immigrants to claim Native American lineage to prevent their removal from the United States.
Court records show that Watson's business received more than $2 million in payments from 2005 to 2008 from illegal immigrants, who paid with cash or money orders.
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25.
Immigrant-rights activist to fight voter fraud charges
No plea deal reached between defense and prosecutors, attorney says.
By Salvador Hernandez
The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA), September 22, 2009
Los Angeles -- A settlement agreement between prosecutors and immigrant-rights activist Nativo Lopez – who faces four felony charges of voter fraud – could not be reached today and the case is expected to go to trial.
. . .
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lopez-charges-county-2576763-orange-prosecutors
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26.
Va. Woman Gets 3 Years for Immigration Fraud
The Associated Press, September 22, 2009
Federal prosecutors say a Falls Church woman has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for defrauding immigration applicants.
Fifty-nine-year-old Shahrzad Eram Soleimanlou, who was sentenced last week, will also be required to pay $1 million in restitution.
. . .
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/22/AR2009092202977.html
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27.
Mexican man sentenced in immigrant hostage case
The Associated Press, September 22, 2009
Phoenix (AP) -- A Mexican man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in connection with holding illegal immigrants hostage last year in a Phoenix drop house.
. . .
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5giPfSnuKgsKLtdszegiCQaSlvIpgD9ASJL400
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28.
Illegal immigrant charged with assault on federal officer
The San Diego Union Tribune, September 22, 2009
Border Patrol agent shoots at driver of oncoming truck
An illegal immigrant accused of trying to run over a Border Patrol agent has been charged with assault on a federal law enforcement officer, according to federal court records.
. . .
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/22/bn22bpshoot-man-charged/?metro&zIndex=170413
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29.
Border Patrol agent accused of sexual assault to appear in court today
The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA), September 23, 2009
A U.S. Border Patrol officer accused of sexually assaulting a Mexican woman traveling on a tourist visa to Cathedral City with two children in her car is scheduled to appear in court today for a preliminary hearing.
. . .
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20090923/NEWS0802/90923002/Border+Patrol+officer+accused+of+sexual+assault+to+appear+in+court+today
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********Center for Immigration Studies
1522 K St. NW, Suite 820
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076
center@cis.org www.cis.org
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