Daily news updates from CIS

October 2, 2009

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[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. USCIS prepares for flood of amnesty applications
2. Gov't says halt on raids not an option for Census
3. Senate rejects five year wait on health care
4. TX Sen: Terror case demands immigration enforcement
5. Analysis: Congress gearing up for H-1B debate
6. RI candidates address issue at forum
7. Two MA police agencies end 287(g) programs
8. NJ county ends detainee housing
9. Section of TX border gets new Border Patrol chief
10. Activists campaign for Census participation (story, 2 links)
11. CA activists teleconference over issue
12. Haitians unite in rally for TPS
13. Advocates fret ramifications of TN infant's abduction (story, link)
14. Forum addresses theology and immigration
15. Union files suit over exploited Filipino teachers (story, link)
16. NJ activists urge Census boycott
17. Lawyers discourage use of E-Verify
18. Idaho resort to hire fewer foreign workers
19. African trade assoc. seeks remittance bank
20. Afghani terror case prompts Muslims to reflect
21. Iraqi collaborators forge new lives in U.S.
22. Immigrants preserve heritage through language courses
23. Immigration workers to receive back-pay
24. Controversial CA clothier lays off 1,800 illegal workers
25. Feds deal blow to Chicago gang
26. Smuggler on trial for rape of Salvadoran girl
27. Illegal admits role in KS smuggling case
28. AZ traffic stop detains 26, cop injured (link)
29. Judge rejects gag order in FL cop's trial (link)
30. Deported sex offender found in NY (link)

Subscribe to CIS e-mail services here: http://cis.org/immigrationnews.html

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
Agency Plans for Visa Push by Residents Made Legal
By Julia Preston
The New York Times, October 2, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/us/politics/02immig.html

Although President Obama has put off an immigration overhaul until next year, the federal agency in charge of approving visas is planning ahead for the possibility of giving legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, the agency’s director said Thursday.

'We are under way to prepare for that,' Alejandro Mayorkas, the director of the agency, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in an interview. Mr. Obama has told immigration officials that a legalization program would be part of legislation the White House would propose, said Mr. Mayorkas, who became director in August. The agency’s goal, he said, is to be ready to expand rapidly to handle the gigantic increase in visa applications it would face if the legislation, known as comprehensive immigration reform, passed Congress.

The citizenship agency faces a difficult balancing act, preparing for a potential workload bigger than any it has faced, based on legislation in early stages of discussion that is fiercely opposed by many lawmakers in Congress. Also, the agency must work to reduce backlogs and delays that have hampered its performance.

There are no official estimates of the number of illegal immigrants who would apply for legal documents. The Pew Hispanic Center and the Center for Immigration Studies, two research groups in Washington, estimate that at least 10.8 million illegal immigrants live in this country. But a large number of those would not be eligible for legal status for many reasons, including past immigration violations.

Currently, the citizenship agency can handle applications from about six million immigrants a year, Mr. Mayorkas said, including the time-consuming collection of fingerprints and other biometric identity information. Under some plans for legalization, the agency might receive that many applications in a few weeks.

An example of the planning, Mr. Mayorkas said, is an effort to improve the agency’s ability to receive applications via postal mail at secure reception points known as lockboxes. The agency currently receives about 65 percent of applications through lockboxes, which is more efficient than receiving them through local offices. The agency is trying to move quickly to receive all applications through lockboxes.

One idea calls for illegal immigrants to start the legalization process by verifying their presence in the United States through a simple registration form mailed to a lockbox, according to officials familiar with the planning.

As part of the planning, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Mr. Mayorkas and other officials have held meetings around the country in recent weeks to gather suggestions from the public for the overhaul.

The Obama administration’s planning contrasts with that of the Bush administration, which also supported a legalization program. Some opponents of President Bush’s proposal, which was defeated in Congress in 2007, cited the immigration agencies’ lack of preparation.

Some lawmakers who oppose the overhaul have questioned whether the planning was a good use of limited resources. 'There is a risk to national security that they will take their eyes off background checks of immigrants,' said Representative Steve King of Iowa, the senior Republican on the House immigration subcommittee, 'while they are busy setting up for legislation that has not been introduced in any way, shape or form.'

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2.
Halt to gov't raids not an option to boost census
By Hope Yen
The Associated Press, October 1, 2009
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13463508

Washington, DC (AP) -- With the 2010 census six months away, the Commerce Department said Thursday it won't seek a halt to immigration raids as it did in the previous census in hopes of improving participation in hard-to-count communities.

In a statement, the department said it is committed to an accurate count of U.S. residents, including both legal and illegal immigrants. Spokesman Nick Kimball said officials will not ask the Homeland Security Department to stop large-scale immigration raids during the high stakes count that begins April 1.

That position is a departure from the one taken in the 2000 census, when immigration officials at the request of the Census Bureau informally agreed not to conduct raids. The bureau two years ago asked DHS to hold off again in 2010, but that was rejected by the Bush administration, which said it would continue to enforce federal laws.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department echoed that position and said it would not be revisiting the matter.

'Our job is to count every resident once, and in the right place, and that's what we do,' Kimball said. 'All the information the Census Bureau collects is protected by law and will not be shared with any other agency. Neither the Commerce Department nor the Census Bureau will ask DHS to refrain from exercising their lawful authority.'

It remained unclear what Commerce's stance might have on the likelihood of immigration raids next year. In recent months, the government has said it was seeking to shift enforcement efforts more toward criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants as well as cases in which an illegal immigrant may pose a safety threat to the community.

The Commerce statement comes as the Census Bureau enters the final stretch of preparations for the decennial count, which is used to apportion House seats and distribute nearly $450 billion in federal aid. With an effort to overhaul U.S. immigration laws expected to take place sometime next year, Census Director Robert Groves has said he's particularly worried that tensions over immigration will deter people from participating in the count.

Rev. Miguel Rivera, chairman of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, has been urging Hispanics to boycott the census until there is action on an immigration overhaul.

On Thursday, a coalition of Latino groups, including Univision and the National Coalition, announced a grass-roots campaign to boost participation in their communities and to resist calls to boycott the census. The groups said that getting an accurate count of the fast-growing Latino community is the best way to push change.

'Ensuring our nation's second largest population group is fully counted is critical to recognizing our nation's diversity and to building future political strength,' said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund.

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3.
Senators reject five-year wait for immigrant healthcare
By Jeffrey Young
The Hill (Washington, DC), October 1, 2009
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/61295--senators-reject-five-year-wait-for-immigrant-healthcare

Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee defeated a Republican amendment to a healthcare bill that would require legal immigrants to wait five years before accessing federal health benefits.

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) proposed the amendment, arguing that instituting such a limit would discourage people from coming to the United States to access government programs.

But Democrats argued that a five-year waiting period would be unfair to immigrants legally residing in the United States and paying taxes. Moreover, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) argued, it would run counter to the bill's requirement that nearly everyone obtain health insurance or face a financial penalty. 'This amendment sets up a Catch 22 for legal immigrants,' Menendez said.

Under current law, legal immigrants must wait five years before they can receive Medicaid benefits. Earlier this year, Congress passed legislation lifting that restriction for the Children's Health Insurance Program.

The Baucus bill would prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving tax credits for health insurance and from buying plans on the health insurance exchange.

On Wednesday, the Finance Committee voted down an amendment sponsored by ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that would have required photo identification for health benefits applicants. The bill already requires people to verify their names, places of birth and Social Security numbers.

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4.
Smadi case well-executed, highlights immigration issues, Sen. John Cornyn says
By Todd J. Gillman
The Dallas Morning News, October 1, 2009
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/10/smadi-case-well-executed-highl.html

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says the Smadi case -- the Jordanian arrested last week for trying to blow up a Dallas office tower -- underscores the need to beef up immigration enforcement.

And, like other officials we've talked with, he hasn't heard of any connection between the investigation of this suspect, Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, and near-simultaneous busts involving suspects hoping to do bad things in New York, Illinois and Virginia.

'I don't have any knowledge of any connection, so I couldn't comment on that,' Cornyn said on his weekly call with reporters. But he added that, in talking with federal immigration officials, 'they pointed out that even though this individual [Smadi] overstayed his temporary visa, he was married to an American citizen, although they apparently were no longer living together. It just emphasizes that, in addition to all of the anti-terrorism tools that we need under the Patriot Act, that it continues to be important that we know who comes into our country, why they're here, and protect our country and keep it safe.'

Cornyn, for one, has no qualms about all the effort -- time and scarce Arabic-speaking undercover agents -- devoted to the Smadi case. The FBI says the suspect had been spewing jihadist threats online but nothing in the federal complaint or any public statements by investigators indicates that this 19-year-old, working at a BBQ joint in Italy, Texas, had the training or wherewithal to build a bomb. (The FBI supplied the simulated explosives and detonator.)

'We don't know everything that the FBI knows or law enforcement officials know, so there may be more to the story,' Cornyn said. '... My impression is that they took somebody who was predisposed to attack and injure or kill Americans -- innocent Americans - and basically worked undercover to help him carry out what fortunately proved an unsuccessful terrorist attack. As far as other training he had, what other associates he had, I'm just not aware of that.'

EDITOR’S NOTE: CIS literature on immigration and national security is available online at: http://www.cis.org/NationalSecurity

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5.
Anger up, visas down: Top 10 H-1B stories of last 12 months
Active year could lead to final H-1B showdown during 2010 immigration reform debate
By Patrick Thibodeau
Computerworld, October 1, 2009
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9138777/Anger_up_visas_down_Top_10_H_1B_stories_of_last_12_months_

Even though demand for H-1B visas fell sharply this year, the debate over the program that lets employers temporarily hire foreign technology and other specialty workers has continued to intensify, especially in Congress.

The federal government's fiscal year began today with some 66,700 H-1B visas set to be issued, and nearly 20,000 still available under the cap of 85,000. A year ago, the available issues were reserved long before the start of fiscal 2009 after the government received 163,000 visa petitions within days of April 1, 2008, the first day applications were accepted. Thus the fiscal 2009 visa winners were selected via a lottery.

Despite the waning interest in applying for visas as the economy declined, Congress is gearing up for what may be the final showdown over H-1B, arguably the most heated technology issue today. The status of the visa could be resolved for the long term during the debate expected during fiscal 2010 over comprehensive immigration reform.

A list of fiscal 2009's 10 top H-1B stories, as compiled by Computerworld, follows:

Number One: Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) filed the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2009. The bill, which has not yet faced a Congressional hearing, has already become the rallying point for H-1B opponents and a top concern for the technology industry as a whole. The sweeping measure would require companies to post all help wanted ads on the Internet, and first complete 'good-faith' efforts to fill the posted jobs with U.S. workers. The bill also includes new wage requirements which would raise the salaries of the lowest paid visa holders.

Indian offshore firms appear most concerned about the bill because it would limit the number of visa holders they could employ to 50% of their U.S. workforce. Durbin and Grassley are both members of the Senate subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security and positioned to influence any comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

Number Two: The continuing debate over a comprehensive immigration reform prior to the filing of a bill in Congress. Leading the debate is Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who heads the subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security and is an ardent supporter of the H-1B visa program. Schumer offered a tip about what he wants in a reform bill by inviting former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to a committee hearing on immigration reform earlier this year. Greenspan called for an end to visa restrictions and said the H-1B cap protects tech workers from global competition. In fact, Greenspan called the U.S. tech workers a 'privileged elite.'

Number Three: The indication that Congress would be willing to set restrictions on the H-1B visa program when it approved the $700 billion Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) in February. An amendment to the bailout bill by Sens. Grassley and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) imposed H-1B restrictions on banks that receive bailout funds. The restriction requires that the banks make a good faith effort to hire U.S. workers, though it didn't limit their use of offshore outsourcing firms. The measure was driven by public anger over the bailout and fears of job losses.

Number Four: The decision by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to step up enforcement of the H-1B visa petition process, demanding more evidence from companies to support the need for foreign workers. The paper chase was launched following a USCIS report last fall that found nearly 20% of H-1B visa applications had problems, which included fraud.

Number Five: A study by researchers at the New York University's Stern School of Business and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania found evidence that H-1B use is reducing tech wages by as much as 6%.

Number Six: Demand for H-1B visas declined, at least temporarily, in recent months. Randall Sidlosca, an immigration attorney at Miami-based Fowler White Burnett PA, said the main reason for the decline is the economic downturn, though the TARP restrictions also played a role. The lack of H-1B jobs has prompted many foreign national students in U.S. universities to seek additional degrees, according to Sarah Hawk, who heads the immigration practice at Fisher & Phillips LLP in Atlanta.

Number Seven: The U.S. Department of Justice filed H-1B fraud charges against a dozen people and companies, alleging that they were 'displacing qualified American workers,' by avoiding prevailing wage laws, undercutting tech worker salaries and treating H-1B workers as itinerant laborers. Some say it was the largest H-1B enforcement action ever taken by the federal government on the H-1B program.

Number Eight: President Barack Obama appointed strong supporters of H-1B visas to positions in his administration. The Obama administration has yet to outline its approach to the H-1B visa issue, but the views of his appointees, or at least the companies they have worked for, are well known. For example, Diana Farrell, deputy director of the National Economic Council, is a former executive at McKinsey & Co., a consulting firm that has produced research that concludes offshore outsourcing is a means to improving the U.S. economy. Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona and now secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the USCIS, is another H-1B advocate. Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt, who has also argued against cap restrictions, was appointed to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), along with Microsoft's Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has been a leading proponent of ending the visa restrictions.

Number Nine: The Programmers Guild's legal challenged a decision by President George W. Bush's administration to increase the term of student visas from one year to 29 months. But the case forced tech workers into a Catch-22 situation after the government argued that the guild and its co-filers didn't have standing to bring a case, which raised the question of who should file the suit.

Number Ten: The shrinking IT job market brings the H-1B debate into clearer focus. For the technology industry and tech workers, the H-1B visa is at the heart of the globalization issue. Unless the tech employment picture improves before the immigration reform debate reaches its apex, The H-1B issue will draw ever sharper focus. It is a fight between those who believe H-1B visas are needed to foster economic growth, and those who see the visa as a means for displacing U.S. workers.

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6.
Democrats vying for District 10 House seat attend forum
By Philip Marcelo
The Providence Journal, October 1, 2009
http://www.projo.com/news/content/HOUSE_DEBATE_10-01-09_7UFTBMG_v16.3a68698.html

Providence -- Seven Democrats vying for state representative in District 10 took questions on public education, the criminal justice system, taxation, gay marriage and immigration at a forum Wednesday night at the Met School s Peace Street campus.

Speaking to a crowd of some 70 people, the candidates also made the case for why they re the most qualified to represent the West End, South Elmwood and Reservoir neighborhoods and assume the seat of the late Thomas Slater, who died of cancer this year.

Generally, the candidates said they were campaigning for better public schools and more affordable housing. They agreed on the need to establish a school-funding formula for the state, lower taxes for low-income families, and lessen harsh sentences for first-time offenders.

But they differed in what they said made them more qualified than the others.

Ramon A. Perez said he was running because he didn’t feel like state lawmakers were making good on any of their promises. There is a lot of crime out there, and nobody is doing anything about it, he said.

Ana B. Quezada said she was a mother, grandmother and wife who raised her family in the district and would fight for family issues such as better public schools, more affordable housing, and greater access to daycare for working parents.

John M. Kelly, the CEO of Meeting Street School, said that quality public education is the path to the American Dream and would be among his top priorities. He said the legislature needs new blood to end its legacy of failure.

Raymond A. Tomasso said he came with the experience of having served on the City Council and in the State House as a legislative aide. He said that by not accepting campaign contributions from organizations that deal with the state, he comes with no strings attached.

Jenny L. Jourdain said she represented an uncompromised voice who would take on health care and immigration issues that state lawmakers have shied away from.

Scott A. Slater said he would continue to be a strong advocate for social justice issues like his father, the late Representative Slater. It would honor me greatly and honor my family to serve as representative, he said.

Rafael A. Colon Jr. said he would fight for the issues most pressing to his constituents.

When an audience member asked the candidates how they would address the state s high rate of incarceration, Perez said the answer was more police on the street. Slater suggested more drug-counseling programs.

Kelly said that many young people with criminal records from minor offenses struggle to find jobs. We can t be incarcerating everyone for every little thing, he said. We are setting [them] up to continue to fail.

On whether they would support gay marriage, only one candidate, Perez, said he would not vote for a change in the state law. It s a human-rights issue and it s long overdue, said Slater. Everyone should be able to live the life that they want to lead, said Tomasso.

Dave Talan, the city Republican Party chairman, asked the candidates whether they would promise not to raise taxes.

Tomasso and Kelly both said it was impossible to guarantee no further tax increases given the state s dire financial situation. Jourdain said that low-income families and the wealthy need to pay in proportion to what they earn.

The candidates, many of whom identified themselves as immigrants or the children of immigrants, were sympathetic to an audience member s call for immigration reform.

Slater criticized Governor Carcieri for making immigration a divisive issue. It s more of a federal issue and should not be used to create an atmosphere of fear in Rhode Island.

Jourdain said she supported family-oriented immigration policies, though she didn’t elaborate. These people are not criminals, said Quezada. They are looking for a better life.

The hourlong debate, sponsored by the Genesis Center, the Providence Youth Student Movement and the Met School, was the second of three scheduled before the Oct. 6 primary.

On Friday, they are scheduled to debate at the West End Community Center on Bucklin Street from 6 to 8 p.m.

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7.
Agencies halt their immigrant scrutiny
Barnstable sheriff, Framingham police say no
By Maria Sacchetti
The Boston Globe, October 2, 2009
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/02/agencies_halt_their_immigrant_scrutiny/

Two Massachusetts law enforcement agencies have halted a controversial program that authorized them to enforce federal immigration laws, thrilling advocates for immigrants but drawing criticism from those seeking tougher restrictions.

The Framingham Police Department pulled out this week because the federal government had urged the force to detain and deport immigrants more aggressively, and the chief feared that would erode trust in the community. The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office said federal officials suspended their involvement a few months ago, leaving the state’s Department of Correction as the only participating unit in Massachusetts.

'It doesn’t benefit the Police Department to engage in deportation and immigration enforcement,’’ Framingham’s chief, Steven Carl, said yesterday. 'We’re done. I told them to come get the computers.’’

The program, known formally as 287(g), grants state and local law enforcement agencies the power to enforce federal immigration laws after they sign an agreement with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and undergo training. The program underwent a sweeping nationwide overhaul in July following criticism that it led to racial pro filing, intimidation, and the deportation of immigrants for such minor crimes as speeding.

The Government Accountability Office had criticized the program, which is supposed to focus on hardcore crimes such as murder and drug smuggling. Other complaints led to a federal investigation of an Arizona sheriff’s office that had used the program to launch an unusually aggressive crackdown.

Nationwide, 66 law enforcement agencies are enrolled in the program, and 13 more have been approved to sign an agreement with the federal agency, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Massachusetts did not report abuses connected to the program, and Framingham and Barnstable rarely used their federal authority. But its existence was a powerful symbol, especially in Framingham, where more than 1 in 4 residents is foreign-born.

Carl said he signed up two years ago for the sole purpose of accessing federal computer databases to aid in criminal investigations. He assigned two officers to the program, and said the databases helped, but only two or three people were arrested as a result.

He said he decided to withdraw over the summer after federal officials asked him to expand the officers’ duties to detaining immigrants for deportation, transporting detainees, and having police testify in immigration cases. He sent a letter Wednesday to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement formally withdrawing.

Carl said he would still work with federal immigration officials on criminal investigations, as many police departments continue to do statewide regardless of the program.

In Barnstable County, Sheriff James M. Cummings said federal officials suspended their involvement in the program a few months ago, before it ever got started. He had enrolled in 2007 and sent 12 deputy sheriffs for training.

'They told us that they were going in a different direction,’’ Cummings said of federal officials. 'They said they weren’t going to operate the program [here] any longer. They may be back sometime in the future.’’

The state Department of Correction has no plans to withdraw from the program, said Diane Wiffin, spokeswoman. Governor Deval Patrick enrolled the department in 2007, after overturning a decision by his predecessor, Mitt Romney, to authorize State Police to join.

Immigrant advocates hailed the news yesterday that the federal program would be less of a presence in the state.

Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, yesterday called the end of the programs 'a great victory’’ and praised Framingham in particular.

Immigrants who fear deportation are less likely to report crimes, she said, forcing victims of domestic violence and others to suffer in silence.

'We’re thrilled,’’ she said. 'All the residents of Massachusetts need to feel that law enforcement will work with them to make their city safer.’’

Fausto da Rocha, a Brazilian immigrant leader and critic of the programs, especially in Framingham, praised the police chief for bowing out of the program and for keeping his word to focus only on criminals.

'He did the right thing,’’ da Rocha said of the chief. 'He’s going to make the community more comfortable and to trust more in the police in Framingham. He’s doing really good work for the community there.’’

Others criticized the decision, saying it would encourage more illegal immigrants to come to Massachusetts.

'They should be putting more of an effort to go after them,’’ said Jim Rizoli, spokesman for a Framingham group called Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration Law Enforcement. 'They could be pulling them in every minute of the day.’’

Matt Chandler, a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed that Framingham police and the Barnstable County Sheriff’s office are out of the program, but declined to comment on their involvement.

'The 287(g) program is a voluntary program which enables local law enforcement agencies to identify criminal aliens who pose a public safety threat in their communities,’’ he said. 'Should any community feel that their law enforcement needs are better met through other means, ICE will assist them as best they can.’’

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8.
Freeholders vote to end housing immigrant detainees in Middlesex County jail
By Tom Haydon
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), October 1, 2009
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/freeholders_votes_to_end_housi.html

Middlesex County -- Middlesex County freeholders will end a lucrative contract to house federal immigrant detainees in the county jail to avoid having corrections officers turned into immigration agents.

Freeholders voted unanimously for a recommendation by Freehold Mildred Scott, who called for the county to end its more than six-year-long agreement with the U.S. Marshal Service to house detainees in the corrections facility in North Brunswick.

Scott said the Marshal Service was insisting the county enter the federal 287 (g) program, which allows municipal and county law enforcement officers to simultaneously work as immigration agents, giving them authority to initiate deportation proceedings against illegal aliens linked to serious crimes.

Joining the program, Scott said, would force the county to incur the costs of paying the officers while they went through out-of-state training.

Also, the county would assume greater liability for the immigration work.

'By taking on the additional responsibility for no additional compensation, as well as the increased liability as called for under the federal government’s 287 (g) program, the county would not be acting in the best interest of the Middlesex County residents,' Scott said in a statement.

Members of the grassroots Middlesex County Coalition for Immigrant Rights supported the freeholders decision.

Karina Wilkinson, co-founder of the coalition, said entering the 287(g) program 'would have led to civil rights violations.'

Wilkinson said the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) now has the capacity to detain for more than 33,000 immigrants nationwide,

'There’s too many detention facilities for ICE to know what is going on,' Wilkinson said.

Activists became concerned about the housing of detainees at the jail after one detainee, 72-year-old Arturo Suarez-Almeres died on March 2, 2008.

Suarez-Almeres, of Cuba, had been in the county facility in North Brunswick, awaiting deportation after several drug-dealing convictions.

His death sparked allegations of neglect. However, freeholders maintained that Suarez-Almeres had received proper medical care during his detention and died of natural causes.

They said Suarez-Almeres had received treatment for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and emphysema at the county corrections facility. On Feb. 28, an electrocardiogram administered to Suarez-Almeres showed abnormalities that led officials to take him to St. Peter’s Medical Center in New Brunswick. He died at the hospital.

In 2008 the county jail held an average 250 to 280 detainees a day. The county’s contract with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement generated more than $6 million in revenue in 2007, officials said.

However, the number of detainees dropped to about 160 daily this year, county officials said. County Administrator John Pulomena said there are about 45 detainees currently the jail, and those people should be moved by next week.

Only two government agencies in New Jersey -- Monmouth County and Morristown -- have federal approval to start 287 (g) programs, but neither of those programs has been implemented, federal officials said.

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9.
New Chief named for Laredo Sector Border Patrol
By Ray Gomez
Pro 8 News (Laredo, TX), October 1, 2009
http://www.pro8news.com/news/local/63169742.html

A new chief has been named for the Laredo Sector Border Patrol.

Robert L. Harris comes to Laredo from the Spokane sector where he served as the chief patrol agent since April 2005.

He has more than 25 years of federal service and has held a variety of positions in the border patrol, including national deputy chief.

Harris is a native Texan and in a press release says he looks forward to working with law enforcement on both sides of the border.

Harris will assume command on October 25th and will command more than 19-hundred agents.

Chief Harris holds a masters degree in national security strategy from the national war college and is a second-generation Border Patrol agent.

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10.
LA wants Latinos to make the count
By Rick Orlov
The Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA), October 1, 2009
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_13465930

Activists and Los Angeles city officials launched a six-month campaign Thursday to get Latinos and the poor to participate in next year's federal census.

'These are the people who need the most help,' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a City Hall news conference with other officials and civic activists.

Villaraigosa was part of a group led by the National Association of Latino Elected Officials who are joining with community groups and Latino media to push for greater participation in the census, which will be held April 1, 2010.

'Latinos and immigrants have been reluctant to participate because they fear the information will be used against them,' Cardinal Roger Mahony said. 'What they need to know is that this information is confidential and cannot be given to any other government agency.'

Villaraigosa also termed as 'ridiculous' proposals to boycott the census until the federal government approves immigration reform.

'The idea to boycott the census boggles the mind,' Villaraigosa said. 'There is no point to boycotting the census.'

The mayor estimated the last census resulted in an undercount of 76,000 people in Los Angeles, resulting in the loss of more than $200 million under state and federal funding formulas.

Nationwide, officials estimated 3 million people were not counted in the 2000 census, resulting in the loss of billions of dollars for public programs such as schools, hospitals and transportation.

Villaraigosa said the count also has political ramifications in how seats in the House of Representatives and state legislatures are allocated and how the districts are drawn.

One problem facing local jurisdictions that want to develop programs to encourage participation in the census is a lack of funding.

Norma Vega, executive director of the city's Office of the Census 2010, said the state allocated $24 million 10 years ago for such programs. According to the state Department of Finance, Sacramento allocated just $2 million this year due to budget cuts.

Vega said the city has had to rely on donations from foundations to help fund outreach efforts.

Part of the Latino outreach effort, called Ya Es Hora (now is the time), will be a major campaign by Spanish-language media.

La Opinion Publisher Monica Lozano said her newspaper will begin publishing articles on the importance of the census and coordinating efforts with Univision, KMEX and other Spanish-language outlets.

Univision anchor Gabriela Teissier said the broadcast outlets plan to run a series of public service announcements to encourage participation.

+++

Census Gets Some Latino Help and Needs It
By Carol Morello
The Washington Post, October 2, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/01/AR2009100103206.html?hpid=moreheadlines

City College Helps Census Count Undocumented
By Rosa Ramirez
Mission Local (San Francisco), October 1, 2009
http://missionlocal.org/2009/10/city-college-helps-census-count-undocumented/

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11.
State law enforcement officials to discuss need for immigration reform
By Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA), October 1, 2009
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20091001/NEWS01/91001016/1263/update

Immigration reform advocates are holding a teleconference today to discuss community trust, public safety and overhauling the system.

Immigration reform is an important issue to many in the valley who have annually protested enforcement-only, including school walkouts three years ago following a bill co-sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, that would have authorized local law enforcement to investigate and detain undocumented immigrants.

Legal experts and members of law enforcement — such as Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel, Kevin R. Johnson, dean of UC Davis Law School, and Arturo Venegas, retired Sacramento Police Chief — are expected to discuss the 'urgent need for immigration reform,' according to the news release.

Law enforcement officials and advocates alike have expressed concern that blurring the lines between state and federal agencies threatens to undermine public safety because Latino crime victims and witnesses may fear coming forward if police call Border Patrol.

The Border Patrol, however, initiated a new program in September called BP Alert, in which federal agents act as law enforcement backup for local agencies, confirming what immigration advocates have feared: a coordinated effort to crack down on the undocumented.

Border Patrol agents in Indio have arrested more than 600 undocumented immigrants in the first three months of the program. Most of those did not have a criminal record, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

In December, Comité Latino held a march in Indio to protest racial profiling and the coordinated effort between Border Patrol and local law enforcement.

President Barack Obama, who pledged as a candidate to tackle immigration reform, said at the North American summit with Mexico and Canada in August that he intends to overhaul U.S. immigration policies next year.

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12.
Haitians United in Crusade for Temporary Protected Status
By Elizabeth Roberts
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), October 1, 2009
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/deerfield/sfl-fldffhaitiside1001dffoct01,0,1389152.story

Abner Clerveaux spent 48 hours on a bus for a five-hour rally in front of the White House and he didn't even need what he was asking for: extension of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in the United States.

The naturalized citizen said he did it because it is right to treat Haitian immigrants like their pilgrim predecessors. If nothing comes of it, he's prepared to return.

'This is a country of immigrants. The Pilgrims when they came here had no documentation. The Italians didn't have visas at the turn of the century. People forget their fathers and grandfathers came here on a boat,' he said.

When Clerveaux boarded a bus in Pompano Beach for the 48-hour round trip to Washington, D.C., the Deerfield Beach resident was in good company. About 55 people born in Haiti and living in America felt strongly enough about the U.S. position toward immigration status for Haitians that they took the time to make their voices heard in person.

'There were people who left work, who left businesses. People felt the cause was worthy of living two or three days with no employment,' he said. 'A lot are unemployed because they cannot work because of other barriers imposed by immigration. They refuse to give them a work permit. They are not allowed to drive.'

Clerveaux was not one of those. A Realtor by trade, he has been a naturalized citizen for more than 20 years but said he felt compelled to join a march that drew busloads of protesters from Orlando, Pompano Beach, Fort Myers and Pompano Beach, as well as Deerfield Beach and Miami. The protesters had a permit to march in front of the White house for five hours, and they made the most of their time.

'We screamed. We yelled. We protested,' he said. 'There was a sign for every single person there.'

Clerveaux's sign said, 'Obama Yes You can,' referring to the president's pledge to reverse Bush administration policies toward Haiti, granting about 20 million Haitians in America Temporary Protected Status or TPS.

When the rally ended at 3 p.m., Clerveaux said he got back on the bus for a return trip longer than the rally itself.

'We were very tired, but people were very excited,' he said. 'Living here without documentation is like living like an animal. In Haiti, you do not have any bills - you own your home or live with families, but you don't absolutely have to have electricity, or running water. People have wells. They have charcoal. They have alternatives. All you have to do is find food to eat. Here, you have to pay bills. It is much worse to live here without work than to live in Haiti.'

'If nothing comes from this rally,' he said, 'we will go back 10 times that number.'

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13.
Tenn. baby abduction worries immigrant advocates
By Kristin M. Hall
The Associated Press, October 1, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gkK5oh8WPdl_GJTDNDG4DRWvrmlQD9B2JPMO0

Nashville (AP) -- Tips and evidence were being analyzed that police hope lead to a newborn whose wounded mother said was snatched from their home in a crime that had some worried Thursday about the vulnerability of Nashville's immigrant communities.

Maria Gurrolla's baby boy has been missing since Tuesday. She said a heavyset white woman with blonde hair came to her home south of Nashville posing as an immigration agent, attacked her with a kitchen knife, then took Yair Anthony Carillo, who will be a week old on Friday. Her 3-year-old daughter was left in the home unharmed. Gurrolla, who suffered severe stab wounds, was released from the hospital Thursday.

The 30-year-old Gurrolla is a Latina and talked to reporters through an interpreter this week. Police said they do not know why her family was targeted, and advocates were worried that the city's Hispanic population can be preyed upon by those claiming to be authorities.

New leads were coming in every hour, and the home has been searched for evidence that could lead to the suspect, police spokesman Don Aaron said. Officers were also looking for witnesses in the neighborhood of single-family brick homes and have a sketch of the kidnapper based on Gurrolla's description but aren't ready to release it to the public.

Police said they think the mom has been in Nashville about 10 years, but it isn't clear if she is an immigrant or a citizen. Her family has declined to talk about the issue, and police spokesman Don Aaron said her citizenship was not significant to the investigation.

Gurrolla's plea for the return of her son has touched the entire community, not just immigrants, said Terry Horgan, who runs Catholic Charities' Hispanic services program in Nashville.

'The community is wounded when somebody steals a child,' he said. 'It's not simply the Latino community. Everybody is wounded.'

Immigrants must be taught to trust U.S. law enforcement and criminals can take advantage of their fears of deportation or police, said Yuri Cunza, president of Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and publisher of La Noticia, a Spanish language newspaper in Nashville.

'I am really concerned about the possibility of newborn babies and Hispanic women can be targeted because of a level of vulnerability,' Cunza said.

A similar case targeted a Latino family in Nashville in 2005. Christina Delarosa Sanchez pleaded guilty to the murder of Hilda Griselda Gutierrez and her 3-year-old daughter in a foiled plot to steal the woman's infant son.

According to court records, Sanchez visited food stamp offices looking for Hispanic women who had recently given birth. She approached Gutierrez and offered to help her get legal documents that would allow her to travel out of the country.

Later, she showed up at Gutierrez's home with a man and they stabbed and strangled Gutierrez and her daughter. The attempted kidnapping was foiled when the infant's father arrived at the home just after the killings.

Sanchez was sentenced to terms of life in prison.

Cunza said that the suspect posing as an immigration officer will create a chilling effect for Hispanics who regularly interact with immigration authorities. 'It is misrepresenting how the government works or behaves in this country,' he said.

A blue yard sign outside Gurrolla's home announces, 'IT'S A BOY!' Police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said she doesn't know whether Gurrolla was targeted because of the sign.

Cunza applauded the effort by local and federal authorities, noting billboards and interstate signs all over Nashville publicizing the case and asking for tips.

'So far the efforts I see are totally color-blind,' he said. 'We all take an important key role in fighting crime because it's our community. What may happen to one person, whether she is Hispanic or not, it can happen to anyone.'

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Concern grows as search for Tenn. infant continues
By Kristin M. Hall
The Associated Press, October 2, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gkK5oh8WPdl_GJTDNDG4DRWvrmlQD9B2U5KO0

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14.
Social-justice program looks at immigration issue
By Jennifer Burke
The Catholic Courier (Rochester, NY), October 1, 2009
http://www.catholiccourier.com/tmp1.cfm?nid=78&articleid=109456

Immigration is a hot topic in Wayne County, where hundreds of farmworkers migrate to the area each year for the autumn harvest. As such, the county has been the site of recent clashes between the U.S. Border Patrol and the farmworkers and their advocates.

This made Wayne County an ideal place to offer Crossing Borders: Migration, Theology and the Human Journey, which is an immigration-themed module of the JustFaith social-justice program, said Ruth Putnam Marchetti, justice-and-peace coordinator for Catholic Charities in Wayne and the Finger Lakes counties.

The Crossing Borders module also is timely because the Diocesan Public Policy Committee recently identified immigration and justice for farmworkers as its advocacy issue for the upcoming year, meaning it will be the subject of a diocesanwide petition on Public Policy Weekend in February 2010. The committee sent a packet of educational materials about the immigration issue to diocesan parishes in late August, Putnam Marchetti said.

'That gives parishes a free resource for starting conversations,' she said. 'The JustFaith module provides much greater depth.'

The 15 Crossing Borders participants in Wayne County will meet once a week for eight weeks to learn about and discuss various elements of the immigration debate, said Putnam Marchetti, who is facilitating the group with Deacon Jim Nail, pastoral minister at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Ontario, Sodus and Sodus Point. Participants also will read three books and one booklet on the issue, and view five related videos.

'We're mostly coming from different levels of education on the issue,' Putnam Marchetti said.

Education is not the only focus of Crossing Borders. The program also is designed to encourage civil dialogue and discussion about the issue, and to build bridges between neighbors

'My goal is simply to bring people together,' Putnam Marchetti said. 'All JustFaith programs are based on building community, making sure there's time for discussion and getting to know each other.'

Most of the Crossing Borders participants are Catholics from the various parishes in Wayne County, but they are coming at the immigration issue from a variety of perspectives and backgrounds, she said.

'We have people who have ministered to the farmworkers, we have a farmer and we have some JustFaith graduates,' she said.

Each person brings something unique and valuable to the group, she said. The farmer, for example, brings firsthand knowledge of how things work for farmers and farmworkers. Another participant, Dr. John 'Lory' Ghertner of Sodus, has been an advocate for farmworkers for many years and brings a detailed knowledge of the problems farmworkers face.

Despite their different backgrounds, Crossing Borders participants are connected by their shared concern for immigrants as human beings, Putnam Marchetti remarked. Because of that, the participants seem very willing to discuss the issue at hand and engage in civil and respectful dialogue.

'Overall the group is very much in support of a solution, a humane solution, to the immigration problem, and has great concern for the problems of the farmers and the farmworkers in Wayne County. We're not going to have issues of people speaking to each other inappropriately or harshly,' she said.

After the initial meeting, which was held Sept. 21, Putnam Marchetti said Crossing Borders participants seem eager to delve in to learn more about immigration and broaden their understandings of the issue's complexity.

'The one thing that kept coming up was that it's very complex. There aren't any simple solutions, and it's not just one solution that's going to solve the whole (immigration) problem,' she said.

Ghertner said he's optimistic about the dialogue Crossing Borders is sure to encourage, and he's glad to be a part of such a dynamic group of people with a broad range of experiences.

'All of them have a sensitivity toward the issue, which is a wonderful thing to see. I think it's going to be a very positive experience for the people involved,' he said.

Ghertner said he's already familiar with a lot of the course material, but discussing it with others and voicing his opinions out loud has been helpful.

Carol May, a member of St. Maximilian Kolbe, also said she's optimistic about the program and its potential influence. An orchard owner, May has gotten to know individual farmworkers and likened their situation to that of slaves before the Civil War.

'I think that this Crossing Borders course will help to enlighten the participants, perhaps inspire more action and eventually see just and humane immigration reform,' May said.

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15.
Complaint filed against recruiter of teachers
By Kevin McGill
The Associated Press, October 2, 2009
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13462616

New Orleans (AP) -- A teacher union has filed complaints with state authorities alleging a company that recruits Filipino teachers for Louisiana schools is operating illegally in the state, and charging the teachers exorbitant, illegal fees.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers said the teachers were cheated out of thousands of dollars. The LFT filed complaints with the state Attorney General's Office and the Louisiana Workforce Commission against Universal Placement Services of Los Angeles.

'This is about human rights,' LFT President Steve Monaghan said during a Thursday news conference in Baton Rouge. 'It's disgusting, it's un-American and it's unacceptable.'

The complaints were filed on behalf of Filipino teachers working in Caddo, East Baton Rouge and Jefferson parishes and in state-run schools in New Orleans. The company did not respond to a telephone request for comment from its director.

The union said the teachers should be relieved from their contracts binding them to Universal and that Universal should refund approximately $15,000 in fees that each teacher allegedly paid to be hired.

According to the complaint to the Workforce Commission, there are more than 200 Filipino school teachers working in at least five school systems in Louisiana, including the four mentioned in the complaint, plus Avoyelles Parish. The union alleges teacher recruits in the Philippines were initially charged $6,600 in fees covering costs including training, travel, medical exams, legal fees and visas.

'After the Filipino teachers received job offers, Universal then required the teachers to pay an additional placement fee of 20 percent of their first year's annual gross income, which averaged between $8,000 to $10,000 per teacher depending on their projected salary,' the complaint alleges.

It also alleges that Universal referred the teachers to predatory lending agencies to cover the fees agencies that charged interest rates of 3-5 percent per month.

More fees and expensive legal entanglements followed once the teachers arrived in the United States, the complaint alleges. Those included contracts in which the teachers agreed to pay 10 percent of their monthly income to Universal for 24 months, and fees for annual visa renewals.

The complaint also alleges the company holds the immigration documents of the teachers to coerce payments.

The complaint alleges various violations of state law by Universal, including failing to maintain an office and file a bond in Louisiana, failure to obtain a required state license and, in New Orleans, illegally collecting fees from both the teachers and from the state-run Recovery School District, which the union says paid Universal for recruiting services.

Paul Vallas, superintendent of the RSD, acknowledged Thursday that the district used Universal's services and other recruiting agencies in the summer of 2007 when it was suffering a severe teacher shortage.

'We used them to a limited degree,' Vallas said. 'There were a number of recruiting agencies that had been recommended. This was one of them. They recommended 60 teacher candidates, 19 of which we hired and all were eminently qualified.

'We only compensated them for the number of teachers that were recruited and we are now sponsoring those teachers, helping them in securing or renewing their visas and their compensation is covered within our system.'

Vallas said the RSD ended its contract with Universal, preferring to work with not-for-profit groups like Teach for America.

'We felt they were a bit too aggressive,' Vallas said of Universal. 'We just are not comfortable dealing with for-profit recruiting companies. When for-profit companies are too eager to offer us things, that always makes us a bit suspicious.'

Vallas said the district had not received any complaints about Universal, which was vetted by the state as part of its procurement process.

'I'm not suggesting that the people were not exploited, but the district's human resources department is interviewing the teachers individually to see if there are any concerns.'

Daniel McNeil, an attorney with the American Federation of Teachers, said additional complaints will be filed with the U.S. Departments of Labor, Justice and Department of Homeland Security, citing possible violations of federal criminal and immigration laws.

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Company that brought Filipino teachers to Caddo being investigated
By Icess Fernandez
The Times (Shreveport, LA), October 2, 2009
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20091002/NEWS04/910020333

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16.
Hispanic group urges Census boycott for immigration change
By Robert Stern
The Times (Trenton), October 2, 2009
http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1254462330212230.xml&coll=5

Princeton Borough -- A potential boycott of the 2010 U.S. Census as a tool to change immigration policy was a topic of impassioned discussion at a forum on Hispanics and the population count at Princeton University this week.

The immigrant advocate spearheading the boycott push, the Rev. Miguel Angel Rivera, founder of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, said the effort isn't meant to sabotage the Census, but rather to compel Congress to take serious steps toward comprehensive immigration change that would grant legal status to the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.

Rivera's group is the nation's largest Latino Christian advocacy organization, with more than 20,000 churches across the country, including 402 in New Jersey, and 2.5 million undocumented congregants among its membership. The group began urging the boycott this spring.

'We have no quarrel against the Census and we have no intent to undermine the Census,' said Rivera, who spoke at Princeton on Wednesday. But drastic action like a boycott of the Census by millions of undocumented immigrants could lead to Congressional redistricting by undercounting the Latino population in border and other immigration-heavy states -- a move that would gain the attention of politicians in Congress, Rivera said.

Meanwhile, a national coalition of nonprofits, faith leaders and Spanish-language media is joining the federal government to encourage Hispanics to be counted in the 2010 Census. U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves yesterday helped launch the new campaign called 'It's Time, Make Yourself Count,' which will air public-service announcements promoting the Census in Spanish-language media.

The effort is intended to counter fears that being counted may lead to deportation. The coalition also is stressing that the nationwide headcount helps to ensure communities are properly funded.

Rivera's group is pushing ahead with its boycott drive.

'There are many reasons why as ministers of the Gospel we have decided to become more radical,' he said. The boycott movement has adopted the slogan 'legalization before numeration,' to emphasize its point.

But immigration scholars and others at Wednesday's Princeton forum cast doubt on the benefits of trying to use a boycott of the Census to compel Congress to undertake immigration change.

Princeton University sociologist and demographic studies professor Marta Tienda said 'social action can produce unintended consequences,' such as diminished grant funding for Latino immigrant causes if there is an undercount of the Latino population due to a boycott.

'I really believe in civil disobedience (but only) when we can link the causes with the consequence,' Tienda said. Such a link simply doesn't exist between a boycott of the Census and immigration reform, she contends.

Princeton University sociologist Alejandro Portes said the boycott is a radical step that people should be wary of if they are immigrant advocates.

'The counting of this population has increased its clout just by the measure of the numbers,' Portes said, adding that undercounting would undermine the clout that the Latino population has gained politically.

'Is this something that we would want to do then and shoot ourselves in the foot by reducing the number,' he said. 'It's quite a radical measure and it has its downsides that should be considered.'

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17.
Vetting E-Verify
QSR Magazine, October 2, 2009
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/operations/133/everify-1.phtml

Like most small-business owners, Rolf Wilkin wants to do right by the law. He wants to make sure his Arkansas-based pizza chain is in compliance, and this means making sure people who apply for jobs at any of his nine locations are legally permitted to work in the U.S.

But when it comes to employee eligibility, compliance is not as easy as it sounds.

'Like many businesses, you sometimes get a letter from the IRS that says they have several employee records from you that don’t match any Social Security numbers,' says Wilkin, who has owned and operated Eureka Pizza since it opened in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1992.

'At first you assume it’s a clerical problem, but when you look deeper it turns out these [employees] were not providing accurate information. It’s a very uncomfortable situation. You get this letter and you don’t know what to do with it.'

Potential hires providing forged or stolen Social Security numbers when applying for a job is a more widespread problem than many realize, especially in the quick-service industry. Individuals looking to work illegally in the U.S. will often present fabricated Social Security cards that either contain invented numbers or the numbers of legal U.S. workers, and employers are often unaware that they are being duped—that is, of course, until they get a letter from the IRS.

In an effort to combat this problem, Wilkin recently began using E-Verify, an Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. In short, E-Verify checks a provided Social Security number against an Internet database. If there is a match between the number and the identification, an employee is eligible for work. If not, the employee receives a tentative 'nonconfirmation' notice and can appeal to the SSA, which is often a lengthy and arduous process.

So far, Wilkin says he is pleased with the results. 'When you read about big immigration raids at chicken plants or factories across the country, that scares the hellfire out of a small pizza proprietor,' he says.

'So a tool from the federal government that shields you from that is what the foodservice community has been asking for. It took a while, but I think the federal government is finally listening to us.'

On the surface, E-Verify seems like a godsend for the quick-service industry. It’s free, fairly simple to use, and growing in popularity, so much so that 12 states have already passed laws that make some uses of the system mandatory. Moreover, in September President Obama implemented an executive order from the Bush administration making E-Verify mandatory for millions of federally contracted employees. Mandating its use in other industries—including quick-service—could be right around the corner.

There’s just one problem: E-Verify isn’t perfect.

'My sense is that E-Verify is an extremely flawed alternative, or even supplement, to the system we have now,' says Eric Bord, a Washington, D.C.–based immigration lawyer who counsels employers across the country.

'Yes, E-Verify will identify completely fictional work-eligibility documents, and it will flag those, and that person will be presumably denied employment. What it will not do, what it can’t do, is identify somebody who is pretending to be another person who is a lawful worker, and that’s a problem.'

To be sure, most employers agree that the employee verification system is not working as well as it should either. Industry experts say the I-9 employee-verification process, which requires all potential employees to provide documents that prove identity and employment eligibility in the U.S., is porous and easily manipulated (either by false applicants or shady employers looking to hire illegal workers). The critical flaw of the system, experts say, is that it relies solely on documents the new employee is presenting. Whether or not E-Verify is the solution to this problem is a matter of hotly contested debate.

On the positive side, E-Verify received the endorsement of federal officials like Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who said in May that recent surveys showed 96.1 percent of cases queried through the system authorized the employees for work, and that 3.9 percent showed a tentative nonconfirmation. Also, she said the survey showed 0.4 percent of applicants successfully contested a negative initial decision.

But not everyone is convinced that E-Verify is ready for primetime. Jim Reidy, a labor and employment lawyer who has represented several national restaurant chains, resorts, and foodservice providers throughout his 20-plus-year career, says the most troubling aspect of E-Verify is the threat it poses to exposing employers to undeserved discrimination lawsuits.

'I know E-Verify is being used in the foodservice industry, but I don’t recommend folks use it until they’re required to,' Reidy says. 'My greatest concern is the missteps employers might make and therefore get into problems with discrimination and failure-to-hire claims.'

Reidy says employers are not protected against potential discrimination suits that may result from an employee being denied work based on a flagged E-Verify notification, and he says the potential for human error, especially with such a new system, is too great to ignore.

'There are certainly potential discrimination issues to consider,' says Becki Young, a U.S. immigration attorney whose practice focuses on the hospitality industry. 'It’s already a dilemma when you fill out the I-9 because you are always walking a delicate path between collecting the proper documents while also making sure you’re not being perceived as discriminating. E-Verify only makes that path more confusing.'

Employers are often unaware that they are being duped—that is, of course, until they get a letter from the IRS.'

Also of concern for quick-service analysts are the added time, cost, and security liabilities E-Verify might bring. Elizabeth Murray is vice president of human resources and chief legal officer for professional employer organization Modern Business Associates. Several of her clients are quick-service owners seeking help in setting up E-Verify for their businesses.

Murray says making E-Verify mandatory could place a technological and financial burden on many quick-service businesses that they are not prepared to handle.

'A quick-service restaurant that does not have the needed equipment and space, or that does not have back-office support, could find compliance with E-Verify to be difficult and potentially costly,' Murray says.

'Another challenge for a quick-service employer using E-Verify is how to safeguard the private information that is collected during the process. The inadvertent release of an employee’s private information can result in liability under various laws.'

Bord says he shares these concerns and says the potential costs associated with E-Verify need to be more carefully considered. 'I think the government is a bit disingenuous when it trumpets that E-Verify is free,' he says.

'There are considerable costs to an employer in implementing E-Verify. Administrative costs, overhead costs, time and energy that personnel had been using in one capacity that now must be redirected for compliance.'

Charles Foster was an immigration policy adviser to several recent presidential campaigns—including those of George W. Bush in 2000 and President Obama in 2008—and is the chairman of Americans for Immigration Reform. He says the E-Verify debate is nothing more than a distraction from the larger discussion that should be taking place regarding comprehensive immigration reform.

In other words, he says E-Verify is still forcing employers to act as policemen, when the focus should be on the problem of a growing illegal workforce.

'I think E-Verify is a red herring,' Foster says. 'First of all, the Social Security database was never meant to be a secure database. And besides, E-Verify only tells you a limited piece of information: Does that number match your name? But a significant portion of undocumented workers that are working here are using someone else’s name and Social Security number, so the computer will be very happy because it sees a perfect match.' His advice to quick-service owners is the same as Reidy’s: Don’t use E-Verify until you have to.

In the end, most experts believe a mandatory use of the E-Verify system will eventually be implemented, which is why Bord says he is counseling quick-service employers to get ready.

'I think all employers, for better or worse, need to assume E-Verify is in their future,' Bord says. 'Just how soon it will be a reality remains to be seen, but they should be positioning themselves for this to become mandatory.'

EDITOR’S NOTE; CIS analysis of the E-Verify system found it to be over 99% effective and, in event of an error, easily rectified through a few simple procedures. Read more online at: http://www.cis.org/Everify

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18.
Resort to hire fewer foreign workers
More U.S. citizens willing to fill service jobs
By Trevon Milliard
The Idaho Mountain Express (Ketchum, ID), October 2, 2009
http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005128109

With Americans clamoring for work, Sun Valley Co. will hire fewer foreign workers this winter.

Matt Parke, Sun Valley Co. personnel manager, said that in past winters the resort has hired 220 foreign workers under the H-2B visa program. He said that this winter he expects only 70 or so, with about 50 more student-visa workers.

Under the H-2B visa program, established in 1990, employers are only allowed to hire visa-carrying foreign workers for non-agricultural, temporary jobs. Many resorts have relied on these visa workers during winter seasons, but they must show that U.S. workers aren't available for the labor.

Parke said Sun Valley Co. has always followed the Americans-come-first mandate, but citizen interest never was much of an issue.

This year, U.S. citizens are willing to work in the kitchens, restaurants and hotels where foreigners—mostly from South America—filled the positions in previous years, he said.

'People who haven't waited tables for years have applied,' Parke said.

Parke said he's reading applications from Americans of all ages who've been laid off, seen their business fail or just need the cash.

'The skill set of applicants is high,' he said, and added that he has a large pool to choose from.

Sun Valley Co. employs about 1,700 people in the peak of the winter season.

Many resorts and other employers are cutting back on their H-2B hires, evidenced by the fact that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has seen far fewer H-2B visa requests this winter. The federal government has a 66,000 cap on H-2B visas issued every fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. Half those must be issued to foreigners starting work in the first six months of the fiscal year—before March 31.

Ski resort workers usually start during that time, and in past years have piled up visa requests to the 33,000 limit long before the deadline. Last year, all 33,000 visas were taken by July 29, the earliest the quota has been met since the H-2B program began in 1990.

That's not the case this year. Citizen and Immigration Services reported only 16,550 H-2B visas approved by Sept. 25, when the numbers were last tabulated.

The State Department also said it received far fewer requests than expected for the previous six-month period that visa recipients would have to begin working, which ended Sept. 30. In January, Citizenship and Immigration Services reported that it had already approved enough H-2B petitions to meet the annual cap of 66,000 for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. However, in August, CIS retracted that claim and said it was more than 25,000 visas short. Visa filing was then reopened.

It's difficult to tell if the nationwide reduction in H-2B visas has to do with unemployed American workers in need of temporary jobs, but other resorts are cutting back on their foreign employees to hire domestically.

Aspen Skiing Co. planned on cutting the number of foreign ski and snowboard instructors hired this winter to 57 from 109 last season as a response to the recession, according to company spokesman Jeff Hanle. The company wanted to hire more American instructors in the wake of high unemployment, Hanle said.

He said the company later decided to not hire a single H-2B visa worker after the U.S. Department of Labor ruled that employers must reimburse them for travel costs.

Parke said the new rule hasn't affected Sun Valley Co., which has often covered foreign workers' travel expenses and visa processing fees. But the company has hired fewer workers altogether because it's doing less business, he said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For the latest CIS analysis of the labor market, visit: http://www.cis.org/Wages

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19.
A Call to Set Up an African Immigrant Bank
By James Butty
The Voice of America News, October 2, 2009
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-10-02-voa4.cfm

It is estimated that remittances to and within Africa total $40 billion dollars a year. But only a few money transfer operators have a monopoly in processing these remittances.

So how can remittance senders in the African Diaspora get more value for their money?

Senegal-born Ogo Sow, communications advisor on Diaspora Affairs for the US-based Africa Travel Association said the solution lies in the setting up of an African immigrant bank.

'The role of the African Immigrant Bank is we're going to use that as a way people sending money like transfer agencies like Western Union or Citi Bank. Why not launch an African Immigrant Bank owned by Africans?' he said.

Sow said the bank would give a big advantage to African immigrants.

'The money you're sending to your country when the dollar gets there, the people you're sending it they don't get one dollar. They get less than a dollar, and we can help to keep that money in the bank to help create health facilities in the rural areas and small jobs for the youth,' Sow said.

He said the idea of an African immigrant bank is the brainchild of the US-based Africa Travel Association (ATA).

'The mission of ATA is to promote tourism from America to Africa, and ATA come up with this idea you know the African Diaspora is there, but we don't talk about African immigrant contribution. And now we're using ATA to say we're going to work with the AU (African Union) to give this proposal to African heads of state and African bankers and also Americans who are interested to help to build that bank,' he said.

Sow said Africans in the Diaspora are equally concerned about the lack of a favorable business climate in Africa.

'If Africa wants its sons and daughters to go back to invest like just what Chinese and Jews are doing in Israel, we have a security problem there because I am not going to save my money here $10,000 or $1 million and going back put in some African country's bank and when there is a conflict I lost my money without having a guarantee,' Sow said.

He said the Diaspora will be discussing with the African Union its concerns about security and visa requirements.

'Part of the problem we're going to discuss is about security and visas. They have to do exactly like here. American people they don't need visa to go and establish in Atlanta or in Chicago or in Los Angeles,' he said.

Sow said the African Union has moved to bring about understanding between continental Africans and African Americans.

'African Americans they say the Diaspora is those Africans who were forced to leave the continent by force. And we said we are part of the Diaspora because when you leave outside of your country if it is voluntary or involuntary you become somebody who is abroad,' he said.

He said the African Union has resolved this issue by defining African Diaspora as people of African origin living outside the continent who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent.

Sow said now is the time for Africans born on the continent to bridge the divide between them and African Americans, especially with the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States.

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20.
Zazi terror case has Colorado Muslims refocusing on vigilance
Skepticism about Zazi case gives way to hard questions
By Bruce Finley
The Denver Post, October 1, 2009
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13457681

The evolving case of terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi - the Afghan immigrant jailed in an alleged bombing plot - initially struck some in Colorado's Islamic community as another example of FBI overenthusiasm.

But as details trickled out, skepticism morphed into surprise and embarrassment, prompting leaders to ask searching questions about themselves, the community and how U.S. actions abroad could imperil Americans at home.

Afghanistan-born landscaping company owner Mohammad Noorzai, who sees the case as evidence of America's alarming vulnerability to covert extremists, this week proposed an initiative to prevent future plots.

'We need to step up as a Muslim community ... to start putting more focus on this. Enough is enough. Our community is fed up,' said Noorzai, a part-time imam and past president of the Colorado Muslim Society.

'We need to start getting aggressive and directly fighting against terrorism through education and speeches ... mostly to our own community and our youth,' Noorzai said.

Colorado residents with ties abroad 'could be in denial about ourselves. ... We need to take a look, see what we need to do,' Noorzai said.

Mosques could be a focal point for prevention efforts, he said, 'because those who carry out attacks generally do it in the name of Islam. They call it a jihad. That's how the young are recruited, told they are going to do a jihad, a noble thing.'

Others within Colorado's diverse population of at least 2,200 immigrants born in Afghanistan and Pakistan - and more than 25,000 immigrants from across the Muslim world - wrestled with mixed feelings in the wake of Zazi's arrest. Some said they fear that just the accusation casts suspicion on all Muslims.

On Tuesday, after Zazi, 24, pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court, Denver FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis visited Denver's Abu Bakr mosque, the largest of 13 around the state.

'After 9/11 ... we want to get this over with, get this behind us. It's very sad that we have this happening again,' said Ziyad Sarsour, president of the Colorado Muslim Society, ahead of the meeting.

'If he's guilty, he deserves what he gets,' Sarsour said. 'Our view is: Let's give him a fair trial first. We don't want to hang him first and then give him a trial.'

FBI officials said the visit is part of enhanced community outreach. Many immigrants already are vigilant.

'If the FBI has a person they are looking at who has done bad, of course, I will cooperate,' Sarsour said. 'But I don't want to be anybody's spy.'

At first, Noorzai, Sarsour and others cringed as the FBI closed in on Zazi.

They remember too well the case of Pakistan-born Denver immigrant Haroon Rashid, deported in 2006 after a post-9/11 probe. Attorney General John Ashcroft cited the case as an example of home-front terrorism. But the government's four-year case against Rashid fizzled, despite prosecutors' claims they had secret evidence. Now Rashid's wife and children remain in Colorado, separated from their father.

'That case makes me very cautious' about the charges against Zazi, said Djilali Kacem, imam at the Denver-North Islamic Center mosque in Northglenn.

Rashid's deportation 'was baseless,' and the track record of the U.S. government in terrorism prosecutions is questionable, Kacem said.

Yet after the 2004 Madrid train bombings, the 2005 London subway bombings and the FBI's latest allegations, Kacem said he'd support any initiative 'that will bring positive results - peace here and abroad.'

Any new initiative 'should concentrate on why would people act in such a way,' said former Afghan army soldier Emamudin Ghiasi, one of the founders of the Colorado Muslim Society.

'If this guy is guilty - God knows, the court will decide - we should question our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why are we creating more enemies for ourselves? ... We need to reach out to people, build something. We need to show them we are not there to occupy their country and subdue them. That's why people are rebelling.'

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21.
Iraqi and Afghan refugees who assisted U.S. forces pursue a fresh start
By Stephen Magagnini
The Sacramento Bee, October 1, 2009
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/2222087.html

Farhad Kareem Faraj and his wife eat mahshi, stuffed vegetables Iraqi-style, in their sparse one-bedroom apartment on Watt Avenue, and try to map a future in the country of their dreams.

Jwana Mohammed Shalih Hussein, Faraj's wife, was a physical therapist in Iraq. To help her find work here, she's taking English classes at Sacramento's Winterstein Adult Center with about 50 other Iraqi refugees.

Faraj, 35, doesn't need English classes -- he spent four years as a translator for U.S. troops in Iraq, going door-to-door in search of Iraqi resisters trying to expel the Americans.

He's getting restless applying for low-end jobs and itching for new action. 'It's dangerous, but I miss the fun of going after terrorists,' he said. 'Maybe I'll go to Afghanistan.'

The couple's experience reflects the challenges facing a new wave of elite Iraqi and Afghan refugees who have fled to Sacramento from their war-ravaged nations. Many had received death threats or watched friends kidnapped for ransom or killed.

Some say they were walking targets for Iraqi insurgents and terrorists, while others have long dreamed of starting a new life in America. But making their dreams come true in tough economic times has proved far more difficult than they imagined.

In recent years, more than 150 Iraqi and Afghan refugees have been resettled in Sacramento. They include doctors and engineers, security experts and scientists. They've been joined by Faraj and several dozen others who earned Special Immigrant Visas based on their service as interpreters, advisers and military instructors on the front lines -- jobs that put a price on their heads.

Even in Sacramento's tight job market, their resumes stand out.

'They speak amazing English, they're highly educated, and they don't want to take a job at Taco Bell or Holiday Inn,' said Michelle O'Camb, director of Sacramento County's refugee services unit.

The newcomers get eight months of refugee cash assistance, MediCal and food stamps. But they're worried about how they'll pay their dental and vision care bills -- no longer covered by MediCal -- and how they'll support their families when the benefits run out.

Mohammad Anwar, an internist from Afghanistan with a wife and four children, says he's getting $1,104 in cash assistance and $913 in food stamps. But his rent is $950 a month and he spent most of his cash -- $2,100 -- on a Mazda van that was leaking oil three days later.

'Only four months remain, and I don't know what I can do,' said Anwar.

As they struggle to build new lives here, their academic degrees, experience in democracy-building and references from two-star generals seem to mean little.

'There I was a hero,' said Anwar, who spent seven years serving U.S. Special Forces as a translator, medic and cultural adviser.

'Here, I don't know what I am. I am alone.'

In recent years, thousands of Afghans and Iraqis have aided U.S. forces as translators. Nearly 300 have been killed serving with coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the State Department.

Congress created the Special Immigrant Visa program in 2006 to reward translators with permanent U.S. residency if they'd worked with U.S. forces for at least a year. In the three years since, about 2,250 SIV holders and their dependents have arrived in the United States.

All carry commendations from their commanding officers praising their loyal service. And all say they believe in what the United States is trying to do to bring democracy to their countries.

Faraj, a Kurd, said his blood boils when he thinks of the 5,000 Kurds that Saddam Hussein gassed 'in less than (an) hour.'

Faraj dropped out of school in ninth grade to support his family by working in construction. Coming to the United States, he said, 'was my life's dream. My first hobby was Hollywood movies.' He learned English by watching 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' and other action flicks, aided by his Webster's and Oxford dictionaries and 'Google translate.'

In July 2005, he converted from Islam to Christianity. His older brother, also a translator for U.S. forces, had an ear blown off in Fallujah in 2005, but that didn't keep Faraj -- who speaks Kurdish, Farsi, Arabic and English -- from serving with coalition forces in Mosul, 250 miles northwest of Baghdad.

'I believed I was doing the right thing and serving God by fighting terrorism,' he said.

Faraj said he spent 'a year of chaos' getting shot at, interrogating prisoners and training Iraqi security forces. He said he thinks the Iraqi army has improved dramatically since 2005 and that, as pay increases, al-Qaida no longer will be able to siphon off poor, unemployed villagers.

His references include a letter from a lieutenant colonel calling him 'a consummate professional' whose 'unwavering courage in the face of danger' helped the new Iraqi army 'to begin assuming a greater security role for the people of Iraq.'

So far, all that's gotten him is a job at a Pakistani restaurant. He says he would be better paid and feel more productive serving U.S. forces in Afghanistan, 'but my wife wants to have a baby before I go.'

War has isolated Faraj and others with SIVs from fellow Iraqi refugees, many of whom view the war in Iraq as a war of imperialism, not liberation.

Faraj said one Iraqi in his apartment complex called him a traitor.

But he also has kindred spirits. In a nearby apartment, Saif 'Tiger' Al Mosuli and Saad 'George' Kassim also have Special Immigrant Visas for their service in Iraq. They sat eating sunflower seeds and debating whether getting a GED diploma in Sacramento would be better than going back to the war zone.

Like Faraj, Mosuli, 22, learned his English through pop culture: 'Movies like 'Titanic,' and Green Day, Metallica, Nirvana, Celine Dion,' he said. 'Avril Lavigne's 'So Much For My Happy Ending' is my favorite song.'

At age 17, after his dad lost his Baghdad fruit market in the war, Mosuli talked his way into a job as a translator with the Titan Corp., a U.S. government contractor. Soon he was making $1,050 a month.

He helped pull three U.S. soldiers out of a Bradley fighting vehicle that had run into a roadside bomb. He said he still has shrapnel in his right ankle and left wrist.

When Mosuli served with a cavalry squadron, a surge unit trying to take back a rural area of southern Baghdad, 'Improvised explosive devices were blowing up Humvees, causing traumatic brain injuries all over the place, and he never backed down at all,' said his commander, Capt. Chris O'Brien, in a phone interview from Washington.

'He was my lead interpreter when we were moving and attacking. We were engaged every day by snipers, and we ended up taking back ground from al-Qaida.'

Mosuli also helped set up local militias and a provincial government, O'Brien said.

'Saif was my right-hand man. He was able to not just interpret for me, he could use his skills to figure out when people were lying.'

Mosuli and other key interpreters 'have more than earned their citizenship here,' O'Brien said. 'What they went through for their country and our soldiers is incredible.'

The U.S. government has been letting in several hundred SIV holders a year. Hani Kargoly, another Iraqi newcomer, said by the time he'd qualified, he was already in the United States as a refugee. The benefits are almost the same, but those with SIVs can become citizens faster.

Kargoly said he worked as a bodyguard, translator and driver of armored vehicles for DynCorp and the Sandy Group, two U.S. contractors.

'Now I'm sitting here for three months without a job; they won't even hire me as a security guard,' said a frustrated Kargoly, 33.

Anwar, the Afghan doctor, wanted a peaceful new start for his family after years helping reconstruction teams build roads, clinics and schools.

'I've been through two ambushes,' he said. 'One of my close friends, a doctor, was killed. Because I worked for the Americans, I was the first target they say, 'You are their eyes.' '

But Anwar, 44, feels like a non-person in Sacramento, where he, his wife and five children live in a spare apartment with a table, a few chairs and a couple of plastic trucks for his kids to play with.

Anwar, too, comes highly recommended. 'A true Afghan patriot, Anwar will assuredly be a critical bridge between Western society and the emerging nation of Afghanistan,' wrote his commander, Major Andrew Mazerk.

He could get a medical license in California in nine months if he completes his application and passes a test, said California Medical Board spokeswoman Candice Cohen.

Anwar said he is ready to work his way up in the medical field, 'even if it's at a lower level.'

'Here, we're free from threats,' he said. 'But I don't know where I can start.'

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22.
Language class part of keeping heritage
By Debra Lemoine
The Advocate (Baton Rouge), October 1, 2009
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/livingston_tangipahoa/62986952.html

Livingston, LA -- As a first-generation American, Ruby Petho, of Pumpkin Center, learned Hungarian from her parents growing up in Albany.

'We understand it much better than we speak it because our parents spoke it to us and we answered in English,' Petho said.

For four years, Petho and four other children of the Hungarian immigrants who settled in Livingston Parish around the turn of the 20th century have been taking Hungarian language classes every Tuesday at the Livingston branch of the Livingston Parish library.

Their goal is to learn to speak the language well enough to hold conversations and read it to preserve their heritage, they said.

Like many immigrants, their parents encouraged them to learn English at the expense of Hungarian. They, in turn, did not teach the language to their children.

Ethel and Nick Erdey, who live in Livingston, said that they spoke Hungarian to each other but not their children.

When their parents died, the couple said that they began forgetting the Hungarian language because they no longer spoke it regularly.

'He and I talk together once in a while,' Ethel Erdey said about her husband. 'More so when we come here.'

Attila Lodey, the class instructor, is also a part of the Livingston Parish Hungarian community even though he was educated in the 'old country.' He left Hungary as a young man when the Soviets took over the country in 1956.

Other Hungarian immigrants sponsored his immigration to the United States and he eventually came to Albany. Lodey now lives in Baton Rouge.

In May 2005, the class started out with about 20 people. After Hurricane Katrina, it dwindled to the five or six regulars who still meet each week.

Keeping the tradition alive is not easy. Hungarian is complex language that can be difficult to learn, the class members said.

Hungarian is unlike English and most other European languages, Lodey said. Its closest relative is Finnish because the Hungarians and Fins have similar ancestors, he said.

There are four ways to pronounce the letter 'o' and the letter 'u,' Petho said. There are 102 words for variations of the word 'run,' Petho said.

Hungarian is almost two languages, Lodey added. There is the way to speak to close friends and a more differential way to speak to strangers, he said.

'That is why we say it is not easy,' Petho said.

Besides the language classes, the Hungarian Settlement Society also holds an annual Hungarian Harvest Dance in October that offers native food, costumes and music.

'We have it every year to keep up the tradition,' Petho said.

This year's Hungarian Harvest Dance will be from 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Saturday at the American Legion Hall on La. 43 between Albany and Springfield.

After the Hungarian dancers perform, everyone is invited to dance to the music of Ernie Breaux and his Poo-Yai Band.

Advance tickets for adults are $10, and they are $12 at the door. Children ages 8-12 pay $5 and children 7 and under get in free.

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23.
Immigration workers to get $1.5M in back pay
By Dan McLean
The Burlington Free Press (VT), October 1, 2009
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/Story_not_found

Nearly 300 Vermont-based immigration workers will receive $1.5 million in back pay by the end of next month, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced Wednesday, trumpeting a Labor Department ruling.

The 272 federal contract workers in St. Albans and Essex Junction worked for SI International Inc. at the Vermont Service Center of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The bulk of the employees work in St. Albans.

'Today's settlement is a victory for the Vermont Service Center workers who will finally begin to receive the back pay and other benefits that they are legally entitled to receive,' Sanders said.

Following an investigation, the Labor Department Wage and Hour Division cited SI International for misclassifying employees and failing to pay them the proper prevailing wages for the type of work they were actually performing, Sanders' office said. The company agreed to pay more than $1.5 million in back wages by Oct. 31.

Serco Inc. of Reston, Va., which acquired SI International last year, could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

SI International operated the immigration processing facilities from late 2005 until the end of 2007. Since then, the center's contracted work force has been run by Arlington, Va.-based Stanley Inc. Not including the 400 people employed by Stanley and its subcontractors, the federal government employs about 450 immigration workers in St. Albans and about 150 in Essex, Citizenship Immigration Services spokesman Shawn Saucier said last year.

Labor issues have continued to arise under Stanley's watch.

During early 2008, unionization efforts were launched to organize the work force at the immigration center. Employees at two of Stanley's subcontractors voted to unionize, citing reduced wages and poor treatment.

'As important as today's victory is, this matter is still not over. I remain convinced that other contractors have illegally underpaid workers at the Vermont Service Center,' Sanders said.

The Labor Department ruling announced Wednesday is one of three such investigations into illegal job misclassifications at the Vermont immigration centers, including an ongoing inquiry into some of the behavior of Stanley and its subcontractors, according to Sanders' office. Stanley could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Federal wage-and-hour laws require contractors and subcontractors that work on major federal service contracts to pay service employees no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality for the type of work they perform. Sanders first raised concern about the underpayments in 2007, when he asked the Labor Department to investigate potential violations at the Vermont Service Center.

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24.
American Apparel Forced to Lay Off 1,800 Immigrant Workers
By Mariela Rosario
Latina, October 2, 2009
http://www.latina.com/fashion/news/american-apparel-forced-lay-1800-immigrant-workers

After a lengthy investigation by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, American Apparel owner Dov Charney has been forced to fire 1,800 employees (about a quarter of the company's workforce) because of their immigration status.

The firings at the well-regarded Los Angeles based company provide a clear example of how the Obama administration is trying to move from workplace raids to forced termination in the fight against illegal immigration. But the firings are not without controversy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the terminations were 'devastating' and his office publicly called on the federal government to focus on employers that exploit and abuse their workers. American Apparel has historically been very good to their workers, providing all of their garment producers with health and life insurance and paying them well above the standard going rate for garment workers.

But politicians like Representative Brian P. Bilbray, a Republican from San Diego, say that the firings are fair for employers like American Apparel, whom he says have 'become addicted to illegal labor.'

'Of course it’s a good idea,' Mr. Bilbray said of the crackdown. 'They seem to think that somehow the law doesn’t matter, that crossing the line from legal to illegal is not a big deal.'

In efforts to raise awareness of a campaign to grant legal status to illegal immigrants (a move President Obama has supported in the past), American Apparel began producing t-shirts that say 'Legalize LA.'

'No matter how we choose to define or label them,' Dov Charney said, illegal immigrants 'are hard-working, taxpaying workers.'

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25.
Feds say Latin Kings boss nabbed, gang weaker
By Natasha Korecki
The Chicago Sun Times, October 2, 2009
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1801405,gang-little-village-latin-kings-100109.article

In a continued offensive aimed at dismantling one of the most powerful and violent street gangs in Chicago, federal authorities said Thursday they decapitated the 'Corona' of the Latin Kings.

Authorities charged Augustin Zambrano, who they say is the highest-ranking leader of the Latin Kings outside of prison, in a wide-ranging racketeering conspiracy.

Zambrano is accused of overseeing everything from drug trafficking to murder. They also charged 14 other alleged leaders of the 26th Street Region of the Latin Kings.

Zambrano, 49, also known as 'Big Tino,' 'Old Man' and 'Viejo,' was arrested Monday night and is scheduled to be in court this morning.

He and 17 others were charged in a 48-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury Wednesday. Twelve of the 17 had been previously charged.

'Organizations are more dangerous than the individuals that make up the organization,' First Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro said of a continued effort by the feds to topple gangs.

'We're hoping to disrupt the organization. We're also hoping to take the leaders, who have the authority and the influence, and take that out of circulation.'

The new charges accuse the gang leaders of extorting a 'street tax' from those who sold bogus immigration documents in Little Village.

The gang members allegedly would threaten 'miqueros' -- people who sold the illegal immigration documents -- with violence or actually rough them up if they wouldn't hand over a cut of their earnings from the illegal ring.

The ATF, FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement merged their ongoing investigations against the Latin Kings to bring the latest charges; 80 alleged gang members have been charged in the last three years.

In 2006, an ATF investigation brought charges against 38 Latin Kings members and associates. Last year, the FBI led a probe that brought charges against another 40 individuals.

About 50 of the 60 gang members who were charged federally have been convicted, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

A conviction on racketeering alone could mean 20 years in prison.

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26.
Witnesses testify suspect admitted to touching girl, 12
By James Tinley
The New Haven Register, October 1, 2009
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/10/01/news/milford/a3-micoyotetrial.txt

Milford -- A man accused of raping a Salvadoran immigrant he was transporting across the country confessed to police that he inappropriately touched the girl at a city hotel, a now-retired police detective testified Wednesday.

The trial for Francisco Pascual, 26, began Wednesday with State's Attorney Kevin D. Lawlor calling a series of Milford police officers and detectives to recount the events that led to Pascual's 2007 arrest on rape, kidnapping and other charges.

When Pascual was being interrogated, retired Detective Nicholas Ricci said he put his hand on Pascual's shoulder and asked him: 'Would you be able to go before Jesus Christ and say you did nothing wrong?'

Pascual replied by indicating with words and gestures that he touched the 12-year-old girl on her chest and groin area, Ricci said.

But Pascual is charged with much more misconduct than he admitted to.

A Maryland resident who is believed to be an illegal immigrant, Pascual is accused of transporting 11 people from California to the East Coast. The 12-year-old girl, found alone at a Boston Post Road gas station on Dec. 27, 2007, was the last person to be dropped off.

She originally told police that she was with relatives on her way to Virginia, but later changed her story, Ricci and other police officers said Wednesday. She eventually told police that she was being taken to her family in Boston and was sexually assaulted by Pascual at a city hotel.

The girl had two cell phones with her, and when she was with police got a call that was traced back to the Hampton Inn on Plains Road, Ricci and Lt. John Alexopoulos said.

When police arrived they were able to use the set of car keys the girl had in her possession to locate the van Pascual had been driving. Police found him still inside the motel room, Ricci and Alexopoulos testified.

The girl was then able to identify Pascual at the scene.

Defense attorney Mark S. Solak attacked the validity of the confession, and claimed that his client wasn't properly advised of his rights. He also questioned the identification of the suspect by the alleged victim because she was in a police car, he was in handcuffs and she never got closer than 50 feet from him.

The proceedings were translated into Spanish for Pascual by an interpreter.

The start of the trial was delayed Wednesday morning to give Pascual time to reconsider his not guilty plea after Superior Court Judge William Holden ruled in favor of the state on several key motions.

Solak unsuccessfully sought to suppress -- on grounds that Pascual did not understand his Miranda rights -- the alleged confession. The defense attorney also lost on his attempt to keep out questions about how the girl told police she heard someone say she would be taken to the desert and killed if her parents didn't pay the thousands of dollars for her transport.

She is expected to take the witness stand before the state rests its case.

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27.
Immigrant pleads guilty in Kan. smuggling case
By Roxana Hegeman
The Associated Press, October 2, 2009
http://www.kansas.com/localnews/story/994126.html

Wichita, KS (AP) -- Jorge Elizalde-Juarez raced through central Kansas with 12 illegal immigrants wedged into his Ford Expedition until a Chase County sheriff's deputy pulled him over for speeding.

He had already been deported seven times before that July traffic stop, including three times just since April. But procedural and technological changes in the way the U.S. tracks repeat immigration offenders meant Elizalde-Juarez would likely land in prison for the latest instance.

Elizalde-Juarez, 23, pleaded guilty Thursday to illegal re-entry after deportation and transporting illegal immigrants. If a judge accepts his plea agreement, the Mexican citizen will be sentenced to 14 months in prison.

'He has never been convicted of any crime in the United States, until today,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson said after the hearing. 'Fourteen months. It is, in our judgment, going to catch his attention. He is going to ask himself, 'if this is worth doing?''

His attorney, Syovata Edari, declined to comment.

If Elizalde-Juarez is caught again in the United States, he could be prosecuted for aggravated re-entry and sentenced to four years in prison, Anderson said.

The prosecution credited tougher sentences to a government effort that began in 2003 to stop sending illegal immigrants back without first making a record that identified them. That, coupled with technology advancements that link criminal and immigration databases, are giving prosecutors and judges powerful new tools.

'It is a huge change,' Anderson said, adding prosecutors are just beginning to reap its benefits.

The database maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation can now communicate with the computers kept by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That means that there is a centralized database that brings up a person's criminal history, plus his deportation past.

The Chase County traffic stop caught immigration agents' attention because the human cargo included a woman with a 2-year-old child, Anderson said. Smuggling cases in which humanitarian issues are involved take precedence for swamped immigration officials.

Elizalde-Juarez's plea came just days after federal prosecutors in Kansas filed a criminal complaint in a separate case against Hugo Alvarez-Gonzalez after he was found in Hodgeman County ferrying more than a dozen illegal immigrants. He had been previously deported five times.

The documented deportation history gets the attention of federal judges at sentencing.

In July 2008, Santos Orellana-Aleman pleaded guilty to one count of illegal re-entry after deportation without entering a plea agreement with the government. The advisory sentencing guidelines called for one to seven months in prison.

But U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown sentenced him to 24 months in prison, citing his history of illegal entry to the United States. The judge said the sentence was warranted to promote respect for the law and deter criminal conduct.

Orellana-Aleman had been deported 12 prior times. That case is now under appeal.

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28.
Packed pickup injures DPS officer; 26 held
By Tara Alatorre
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), October 2, 2009

Authorities said at least 26 suspected illegal immigrants were taken into custody Thursday morning after the truck in which they were riding struck and injured a state Department of Public Safety motorcycle officer.

DPS officers were trying to stop a Chevrolet pickup truck with expired plates on Interstate 10 in east Phoenix.

A DPS motorcycle officer assisting with the stop parked his motorcycle in front of the suspect vehicle near the U.S. 60 transition.

The driver attempted to drive off, striking the motorcycle and knocking the officer down, causing minor injuries.
. . .
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/10/02/20091002cophit1002.html

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29.
Judge rejects request to limit victim information
8 undocumented immigrants fear retaliation, deportation if their names are revealed in Bleiweiss case
By Robert Nolin Staff Writer
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), October 2, 2009

Eight undocumented immigrants whom a Broward sheriff's deputy is accused of sexually assaulting are embarrassed, afraid of retaliation by other officers and equally afraid of being deported should their names and personal information become public, a prosecutor said Thursday.

So Assistant State Attorney Dennis Siegel requested that all such information regarding the men be excluded at trial and that a limited gag order be imposed restricting what lawyers in the case can say about the victims.

Circuit Judge Matthew Destry, however, rejected the request. 'I don't see any reason for imposing any special restrictions or closings in this case,' he said.

The eight men are expected to testify in the trial of suspended Deputy Jonathan Bleiweiss, who faces 58 counts, including sexual battery and imprisonment, stemming from early morning encounters with immigrants he had pulled over from August 2008 through June.
. . .
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/sfl-bleiweiss-gag-order-b100109,0,7982915.story

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30.
Deported sex offender is back, arrested in Peekskill
By Terence Corcoran
The Journal News (White Plains, NY), October 2, 2009

Peekskill, NY -- A registered sex offender who was deported to his native Guatemala after serving 2 1/2 years in state prison for sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl has been arrested after police learned that he had returned to Peekskill.

Alfredo Vasquez, 31, was taken into custody Thursday at a Lincoln Terrace address after Officer Elizabeth Folch and Detective Ralph D'Aliso learned that he had been living there and went to check on him.

Lt. Eric Johansen said that Vasquez tried to flee through a basement window when the officers went to check on him.

Vasquez, a Level 2 sex offender, gave the officers a fake name, but the officers recognized him from his mug shot and a fingerprint analysis proved his identity, Johansen said.
. . .
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091002/NEWS02/910020378/-1/newsfront/Deported%20sex%20offender%20is%20back+%20arrested%20in%20Peekskill

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Overseas News Below.....

1. Canada: Filipino typhoon victims offered visas (story, 3 links)
2. Canada: Province recruits foreign business people (story, link)
3. Cayman Islands: Gov't cracking down on illegal aliens
4. France: Imm. Min. calls razing of illegal camp a success
5. Finland: Research shows immigrants congregating in capital
6. Finland: Court blocks expulsion of Angolan child-soldier (link)
7. Malta: Nationalist Party prods Labour Party for E.U. action
8. Malta: Group presses E.U. members for more help
9. Malta: More refugees leave for United States (link)
10. Libya: Over 1,200 Nigerians deported in two months
11. India: Bill would streamline emigration processes
12. Malaysia: Human rights group demands reform of detention centers (story, link)
13. Australia: Gov't forced to address issue of wrongful detention (story, link)
14. Australia: Opposition MP accuses UNHCR of corruption (story, link)
15. Australia: Last-minute appeal seeks reprieve for Sri Lankans
16. Australia: 70 Indonesians deported after failed asylum bid

Subscribe to CIS e-mail services here: http://cis.org/immigrationnews.html

-- Mark Krikorian]

1.
Feds fast-tracking Philippines' immigration
The CBC News (Canada), October 1, 2009
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/10/01/kenney-typhoon-philippines001.html

A man transports his child in a basin through floodwaters brought on by Typhoon Ketsana in San Pedro Laguna, south of Manila, on Thursday. A man transports his child in a basin through floodwaters brought on by Typhoon Ketsana in San Pedro Laguna, south of Manila, on Thursday. (John Javellana/Reuters)

The federal government is fast-tracking immigration for residents in the Philippines who were significantly affected by Typhoon Ketsana, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says.

'I would like to express my deepest sympathy and support for the people of the Philippines affected by this terrible disaster,' Kenney said in a statement Thursday.

'This government is moving quickly to reunite Canadians and permanent residents with their families by extending a welcome to those who wish to come to Canada.'

Temporary residence applicants will be given priority processing by the visa office in Manila provided they demonstrate they have been significantly affected by the typhoon, Kenney said.

People who have adversely been affected by the typhoon and whose applications are already being processed should notify the Citizenship and Immigration Canada call centre at 1-888-242-2100.

This includes applicants already in Canada or those who have sponsored family members in the Philippines. New sponsorship applications should have 'Philippines' prominently written on the mailing envelope.

These new measures are on top of up to $5 million in humanitarian assistance for victims of Typhoon Ketsana announced by International Co-operation Minister Beverley Oda earlier this week.

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Philippines typhoon victims offered Canadian visas
By Liam Clifford
Global Visas, October 2, 2009
http://www.globalvisas.com/news/philippines_typhoon_victims_offered_canadian_visas1688.html

Kenney: feds to fast-track Philippines' immigration
By Elizabeth Thompson
The Edmonton Sun (Canada), October 1, 2009
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2009/10/01/11239001.html

Canada offers to take in Philippine victims of Ketsana
Agence France Presse, October 1, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jUd8FyyfvIDqxTeOctBu2uU-cQhA

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2.
Saskatchewan government streamlines immigrant program for businesspeople
The Canadian Press, October 2, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iBnPr8Oj6lFN_dw4HuHxvJIi1ZTw

Regina (CP) -- The Saskatchewan government has announced it wants more foreign businesspeople and their families to live in the province.

It has delivered streamlined rules for the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program, which should result in more investment and jobs. Immigration Minister Rob Norris says the program is focused on large scale businesses willing to invest $10 million.

Other categories include science and technology and experienced farmers under the age of 40.

Luring foreign entrepreneurs has been tried before, but Norris says this process favours applicants more likely to stay here.

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Gov't Unveils Changes To Immigrant Nominee Program
By Benson McCulloch
The CKOM News (Canada), October 1, 2009
http://www.newstalk650.com/story/20091001/23265

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3.
Immigration violators face clamp down
The Cayman News Service, October 2, 2009
http://www.caymannewsservice.com/local-news/2009/10/01/immigration-violators-face-clamp-down

The Department of Immigration said that it is currently investigating a number of cases of immigration crime in the wake of an arrest this week in East End of an individual who has been here illegally for over three years. So far this year, 76 people have been arrested for immigration offences, 38 of whom were over-stayers, with fines amounting to $50,651 imposed in 74 of the cases. The new Chief Immigration Officer (CIO) Linda Evans said that the department would continue its active pursuit of immigration offenders.

Thanking members of the public who have reported illegal activity in the past, she encouraged their continued civic participation. 'We are actively pursuing Immigration Law violators and intend to remove persons who have no legality within our borders,' she added. 'This issue is a serious one for several reasons: It can impact the ability of the legal permit holders as well as Caymanians to find work, and it also raises the question of how the over-stayers are supporting themselves.'

The department is in the process of investigating a number of other cases including illegally entries to the jurisdiction; people overstaying their authorization to remain in the Islands; and cases of making false representations on work permits applications and failing to answer truthfully to questions asked by immigration officers.

In the most recent case, officers attached to the Immigration Department’s Enforcements Division detected a foreign national in East End on Tuesday, 29 September, and after what was described as 'a brief foot-pursuit', arrested a man who has been illegally residing in the Islands for over three years. The matter is currently being investigated.

Speaking at a public meeting on Tuesday evening, Leader of Government Business Mckeeva Bush gave his backing to a clamp down on work permit abuse. He warned employers that are holding work permits with no work for those people that the permits must be cancelled.

'This will take effect in two weeks to give those persons who have no work time to get ready to go back home,' he said. 'When the economy is back up and running at a much better level, they can be rehired if the employer needs them. Those employers who have people on work permits with no work should see that it is cancelled. If not they will be prosecuted according to the full extent of the law and any future prospects of securing a work permit will be jeopardized.'

Senior Immigration Officer Jeremy Scott, who has responsibility for enforcement operations within the Enforcements and Intelligence Division, warned offenders of immigration legislation that officers will continue intelligence-lead operations and that persons arrested face prosecution and possible deportation. Over-stayers found guilty can face fines of up to $20,000, and/or imprisonment up to five years.

The CIO also applauded the action of the officers in this week’s arrest and reiterated the emphasis on addressing the problem of over-stayers.

The CIO said the public may call 949 8344 or visit the offices of the Department of Immigration for more information, or to report any suspicious activity. In addition, the Enforcements Division may be contacted directly at 244 2028 or 244 2051.

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4.
'Jungle' demolition a success
Agence France Presse, October 2, 2009
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_437328.html

Calais (AFP) -- France's immigration minister flew back to Calais on Friday to say the high-profile bulldozing of a squalid Afghan migrant camp was a success, despite claims its occupants are flocking back.

'We went from between 1,000 and 1,500 people in early June to less than 500 today and without doubt probably close to 300,' Eric Besson told journalists invited onto his trip to the Channel ferry port.

Riot police rounded up scores of mostly Afghan migrants early last week, many of them children, and bulldozed the makeshift camp called the 'jungle' that was used as a base to sneak across the Channel to Britain. Besson was in Calais for that operation.

But since then, judges in the various French towns where the migrants were sent to detention centres have ordered around 100 of them released, and rights groups say many have returned to Calais.

The migrants have often had lengthy and perilous journeys to get as far as Calais, but believe that Britain offers better opportunities for work than France and try to sneak onto trucks or boats heading across the Channel.

Besson made his comments Friday as he watched another camp, populated mostly by Sudanese who had earlier vacated their shacks after being alerted about the minister's visit, being pulled down by workers in protective white suits.

Earlier in the day, a crane demolished two houses squatted by Eritrean migrants, who had been evacuated on Wednesday.

'I don't see the humanity in these camps,' Besson said. 'This is not a case of mass round-ups but the destruction of the tools of people smugglers. The president of the republic (Nicolas Sarkozy) has asked me to increase pressure on these illegal networks.'

Britain, which last year stopped 28,000 migrants trying to cross the 35 kilometres (22 miles) of water that separates it from France, praised the French crackdown last week. But activists denounced it as a media stunt that would drive migrants further underground.

'Anyone with a drop of common sense could predict that this dismantling would do nothing to solve the problem, and that inevitably the migrants would be back,' said Jack Lang, the Socialist lawmaker for the Pas-de-Calais region.

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5.
Immigrants concentrated in certain parts of the capital region
The Helsinki Times, October 1, 2009
http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/finnish-papers/8167-immigrants-concentrated-in-certain-parts-of-the-capital-region.html

'Concentrations of immigrants have begun to form gradually in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. For example, people from Muslim-majority countries are mostly concentrated in eastern Helsinki, three districts in Espoo and two or three places in Vantaa.

At the same time in some residential areas of East Helsinki Finnish families are moving away, exchanging their rented flats for owner-occupied ones or moving closer to their jobs. As rented flats become available, immigrants often move into them.

Helsingin Sanomat has collected data on population concentration from researchers and population statistics.

The current trend worries Professor of Urban and Regional Planning Kimmo Lapin-
tie of Aalto University, who thinks that the Metropolitan Area will experience great changes as the number of immigrants rises.

Could similar immigrant neighbourhoods such as Stockholm’s Rinkeby and Tensta, where 80 per cent of inhabitants have a foreign background, form in Helsinki, Espoo or Vantaa? ‘The subject is taboo even though a large proportion of immigrants live in the Metropolitan Area and more of them arrive all the time. A major change is ahead,’ Lapintie says.

According to Lapintie, immigrant concentration in the same areas could be prevented if problems and solutions were discussed openly. Muslims would like to have their own mosque in the neighbourhood, for example, and large families need bigger homes.

For many immigrants, concentrating in the same area means that they never learn Finnish, which in turn makes it more difficult for them to get work. Immigrant concentrations are also a concern for the immigrants themselves, says researcher Hanna Dhalmann of the Department of Geography at the University of Helsinki. For her doctoral dissertation, Dhalmann has interviewed over 20 Somalis, among other things. According to the researcher, Somali families said they hoped that their children would learn Finnish. They expressed concern that in some daycare centres there can be so many immigrant children that they are separated into their own group.'

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6.
Court blocks expulsion of Angolan asylum seeker
Man claims he was tortured and forced to serve as child soldier at home
The Helsingin Sanomat, October 2, 2009

The Helsinki Administrative Court blocked the expulsion of an Angolan man approximately 25 years of age. Under the court’s decision, the expulsion must not be implemented before the court has processed the man’s appeal against being sent back.

Processing such an appeal usually takes about a year.

The man says that at the age of 14 he was forced to serve as a child soldier in Angola. He also says that he had been tortured.
. . .
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Court+blocks+expulsion+of+Angolan+asylum+seeker/1135249668688

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7.
PN calls on PL to take position on immigration in the EP
The Times of Malta, October 1, 2009
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091001/local/pn-calls-on-pl-to-take-position-on-immigration-in-the-ep

The Nationalist Party has called on the Labour Party to take a committed position to help Malta on immigration within the socialist group of the European Parliament.

The party noted that the vice president of the European socialists, Veronique de Keyser, had been critical of talks which the EU is currently having with Libya, which could lead to better control on the departure of migrants from Libyan shores.

The PN said Joseph Muscat and the Labour Party should use their influence in the socialist group so that Malta would be aided, rather than hindered over the issue of illegal immigration.

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8.
Appeal for more European countries to help out in Malta’s refugee problems
The Malta Independent, September 30, 2009

The Emigrants Commission yesterday thanked the nations of France, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Luxembourg and Lithuania, who have recently helped out and opted to accept the appeal of the European Commission’s vice-president in accepting refugees from Malta.

Nevertheless, the Emigrants Commission said that the European Union is made up of 21 other countries, and each one of them can play a part in helping Malta’s refugee problems.

It is not fair, that in a country with a density of 3,300 person per square mile, Malta has to pay the price of not only protecting the refugees but to provide them with care and shelter, when a number of the refugees have relatives or friends in other countries in Europe which are willing to help them out, said the Commission.

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9.
More refugees depart for the United States
The Malta Independent, September 30, 2009

On Tuesday morning, a group of seventeen refugees from Eritrea and Somalia left Malta to begin a new life in the United States. This brings the total number of refugees who have been resettled to the US this month to 37, and the total resettled since the resettlement program began to 340.
. . .
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=94841

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10.
734 Nigerians deported from Nigeria in four days
Nigeria Exchange, October 2, 2009
http://www.ngex.com/news/public/newsinfo.php?nid=8579

Over 734 Nigerians were deported from Libya over four days, sources say. Some deportees had been sentenced to life imprisonment but received pardons from the Libyan President, Muammar Ghaddafi, while others had offences ranging from illegal immigration to criminal activities.

1,214 Nigerians have now been deported from Libya in the last two months. In August, about 330 Nigerians were deported and 150 were deported in September.

The Libyan government is said to be focused on reducing illegal immigrants in Libya and ensuring that it is not used as a crossing point by those who plant to enter Europe illegally.

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has condemned the action of Nigerians who expose themselves to untimely death while trying to run away from their fatherland.

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11.
New bill to make immigration process simpler
The Press Trust of India, October 2, 2009
http://www.ptinews.com/news/310759_New-bill-to-make-immigration-process-simpler

New Delhi (PTI) -- It is good news for those wanting to go abroad for greener pastures as the proposed immigration bill, which is likely to be tabled in the next session of Parliament, seeks to transform the process into a simple and hassle-free exercise.

Although the proposed law, which will replace the existing one, will make immigration transparent, it also aims to tighten noose against those unscrupulous agents who often dupe people seeking to go abroad.

'The objective of the proposed new law is to transform immigration into a simple, transparent process while it will have stricter penal provision against unscrupulous agents,' a top official of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs told PTI.

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12.
Malaysian human rights group urge action on custody deaths
Agence France Presse, October 2, 2009
http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20091002-171363.html

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) -- Malaysia's government-linked human rights commission Friday called for better health conditions in immigration detention centres nationwide as 18 detainees die each month from disease.

'Deaths in custody are a very serious problem,' Suhakam commissioner N. Sivasubramaniam told AFP.

'According to figures released in parliament which we compiled, 1,300 immigration detainees have died from disease in custody over the last six years which works out to 18 detainees dying every month,' he said.

'These detention facilities must be improved as these detainees from Myanmar and other Asian countries come here, some have contagious diseases and some get sick from the poor conditions of the centres.'

Sivasubramaniam said there was an urgent need to upgrade the 22 immigration detention centres nationwide where 'many detainees die from tuberculosis, chikungunya and leptospirosis'.

His comments follow the death in custody last week of six Myanmar immigration detainees who are believed to have died from leptospirosis, a water-borne bacterial disease caused by rat urine.

'What is also surprising is that immigration officers who are working with these detainees also do not get immunisation jabs and there is a lack of medical inspections in general,' Sivasubramanian said.

'We are urging the government to ensure that all officers in these centres get these jabs, that they implement more health checks and those detainees found to have contagious diseases be isolated, treated and processed quickly.'

Sivasubramaniam said Suhakam will forward their recommendations to the government. Home ministry officials could not be reached for comment.

+++

18 detainees die each month
The Star (Malaysia), October 2, 2009
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/2/nation/4824880&sec=nation

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13.
Reform call on custody bungle
By Nick McKenzie
The Age (Melbourne), October 3, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/reform-call-on-custody-bungle-20091002-ggnh.html

The locking up of an Australian resident for more than three years in the nation's ''worst'' case of wrongful detention has prompted demands by the Commonwealth Ombudsman for an overhaul of federal laws.

Revelations that Vietnamese-born Sydney man Van Phuc Nguyen spent 1173 days behind bars at Villawood detention centre because of bungles and indifference by public servants have also sparked calls for an apology from the Government.

While Cornelia Rau was given $2.6 million after being wrongly detained for 10 months, the Government has offered Mr Nguyen $57,900 - less than $50 for each day he was detained- an offer his barrister has described as ''inadequate and inappropriate'' for a ''bureaucratic bungle of enormous proportions''.

Last month, the ACT Supreme Court awarded $55,000 to a man wrongfully detained for just 29 days.

Mr Nguyen says he was routinely threatened by other detainees and left severely traumatised by his three years, two months and 16 days at Villawood between November 2002 and February 2006.

He said he witnessed suicide attempts, stabbings and widespread drug use while in Villawood's notorious Stage One wing, which the human rights commission said in 2008 was so bad it should be demolished.

''I was so scared all of the time of the other inmates,'' he said. ''After a while, my mind started to shut down. I just sat there and stared at the wall.''

Mr Nguyen fled Vietnam by boat as a 14-year-old, spent four years in a Philippines refugee camp and was given permanent residency in 1989.

Commonwealth Ombudsman John McMillan told The Age that the Immigration Department repeatedly failed to act on information that could have avoided Mr Nguyen's ''alarming and serious'' predicament in the ''worst'' case he has seen.

The catalyst for the wrongful detention occurred in 1995 when an immigration official unlawfully and mistakenly issued Mr Nguyen a one-month border visa - which led to the cancelling of his residency - upon his return from a trip to Vietnam.

The 37-year-old's barrister, Robert Sutherland, SC, said Mr Nguyen had been subject to ''high-handed, humiliating and unnecessarily long detention''.

Mr McMillan has said Mr Nguyen's case should lead to a legislative reform to provide a safety net for people adversely affected by government decisions and laws, ranging from improper detention to unfairly missing out on benefits.

''It is a foundation principle of civilised society that people should not be unlawfully detained and deprived of their liberty,'' he said.

In its compensation offer, the Government denies that bungling and indifference led to Mr Nguyen's detention.

The offer, made in a letter in August, concedes he was wrongfully detained for 108 days but that, during the rest of his detention, departmental officials had ''no reason to suspect'' that an unlawful mistake may have caused his predicament.

An Immigration Department spokesman said it had considered the Ombudsman's findings, sought legal advice and was awaiting a response from Mr Nguyen's lawyers on its offer. Under new policies, he said, it was ''highly unlikely'' such a case could recur.

+++

Trapped in the system
By Nick McKenzie
The Age (Melbourne), October 3, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/trapped-in-the-system-20091002-ggl3.html

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14.
Liberal accuses UN refugee agency of taking bribes
By Michelle Grattan
The Age (Melbourne), October 3, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/liberal-accuses-un-refugee-agency-of-taking-bribes-20091002-ggla.html

Federal Opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone has accused some officers of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of taking bribes.

Dr Stone said it was ''a well-known fact'' that in some UNHCR offices there was ''bribery and corruption''.

''There needs to be a very serious look at the UNHCR and how it functions across the region,'' she told the ABC.

''I am told by a number of my constituents that it in fact costs you more to bribe the UNHCR to look at your case and assess you for your asylum-seeking status than to pay a people smuggler.''

Asked about her evidence, she said: ''This was stated on television. I have people in my electorate who have experienced this problem, who bring it to me as constituents, as Hazara constituents.''

But one of Dr Stone's Liberal colleagues, Russell Broadbent, said he did not think there was corruption in the UNHCR.

Mr Broadbent, who has a long-standing interest in refugee issues, said: ''In all my dealings with them I have found them most straightforward and above board.''

Ben Farrell, Canberra spokesman for the UNHCR, said the UNHCR had a ''zero tolerance'' policy to fraud and corruption. Staff were forbidden to take any payment for services and any allegation of misconduct was considered seriously, and specific allegations should be reported to the UNHCR's independent Inspector General.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans accused Dr Stone of ''hysterical and factually incorrect'' remarks.

''The UNHCR's recommendations for the resettlement of refugees are recognised and accepted internationally, including by Australia. Indeed, many thousands of refugees were resettled in Australia under the Howard government based on the UNHCR's advice,'' Senator Evans said.

Mr Broadbent also disagreed with Dr Stone over what should be done on asylum seeker policy. She said the Government was unravelling the strong deterrence and detention policies of the former government. Asylum seekers had been reported as saying they were ''coming down now because there's been a change of government''.

Mr Broadbent said he thought the Government's policy was tough enough.

''To my view they are doing equal if not more than the Howard government was doing in regard to people smugglers. I don't think the Government should change the processes,'' he said.

A group of 62 Indonesians (including four crew) who arrived on Christmas Island last month has been returned to Indonesia, Senator Evans announced yesterday. They had not sought asylum. Four of nine Sri Lankans due to be forcibly removed have now agreed to go voluntarily.

+++

Stone calls for asylum inquiry
The ABC News (Australia), October 2, 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/02/2702919.htm?section=justin

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15.
Last-minute appeal for Christmas Is detainees
By David Weber
The ABC News (Australia), October 3, 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/02/2703808.htm?section=justin

Refugee advocates are trying to use a last minute Federal Court appeal to stop a group of asylum seekers being sent back to Sri Lanka.

The five men would be the first forced to be deported from Christmas Island since Labor came to power.

They were part of a group who arrived in a boat at Western Australia's Shark Bay in November.

Several of them actually swam ashore before returning to their boat.

Because they made it into Australia's migration zone they have greater rights of appeal than those who did not make it that far.

One of the men says he served time with the Sri Lankan intelligence services and says he will be killed if he is sent back.

The spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul, says this group is distinctive from other asylum seekers in the past.

'They've refused to sign any papers voluntarily agreeing to go back to Sri Lanka and that's what I think makes this particular group very distinctive,' he said.

'There have been people who have signed papers previously... the others have said they won't sign. It's too dangerous for them to go back to Sri Lanka and they won't go voluntarily.'

There were nine Sri Lankans opposing deportation. In the past 24 hours four of them have agreed to go. The others want to appeal to the Federal Court.

Mr Rintoul claims the Sri Lankans were not told they had this option.

'They've got access to Australian law in a way in which the people who are picked up at sea do not have,' he said.

'So we've got a situation where the Government has not only kept them for 11 months, it's denied them knowledge about their actual rights under Australian law and is now attempting to remove them.

'We could easily have the absurd situation where this afternoon or tomorrow the Federal Court will intervene and say these people cannot be removed. Their appeal will be heard by the Federal Court.

'The Government will have wasted a huge amount of money, inflicted even more misery for no end result.'

But the Immigration Minister says the men have been turned down by the department, the Refugee Review Tribunal and by him.

Senator Chris Evans says no new information has been put forward to help their cases.

'They'd be the first group of people in recent times who have been removed from Australia who were unauthorised boat arrivals,' he said.

'We of course remove people regularly who may have arrived by air or breached their visa conditions.'

The Refugee Action Coalition says that they were not told of their right to appeal to the Federal Court but Senator Evans says that is not true.

They say they will die if they are sent back but Senator Evans says their claims have already been assessed.

'What I have said to you clearly is that the department made an initial assessment of their refugee claims,' he said.

'The Refugee Review Tribunal then assessed their claims and then they filed ministerial interventions with me which were also rejected.

'They have had the full processes available to them under Australian law and they have been found not to be refugees, not to be owed Australia's protection.'

Opposition spokeswoman Sharman Stone has renewed her call for an independent inquiry into the border protection policy.

'Certainly those who are processed onshore who went through the migration or Refugee Review Tribunal then on to the courts, they had their day in court and they weren't found to be refugees but rather they were seeking a better life,' she said.

'We can understand why they would have given that a try. Those who are coming through the people smugglers to date I don't believe any have been found not to be refugees.

'The point we make though as a Coalition in Opposition is that the government of the day should be choosing who comes into Australia as refugees or humanitarian settlers.'

Ms Stone says the Government's policies have unravelled strong deterrents that had previously been in place.

'We have opposed every single measure, we've voted against it in Parliament, that has led to the unravelling of what we had which were strong deterrents, strong immigration border control and asylum seeker management,' she said.

But she would not specify the Opposition's current border protection policies.

'We're not in government. The problem right now is what this Government is doing. They are busy unravelling what we had which was strong detention, detection, deterrent measures,' she said.

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16.
Asylum seekers sent home: govt
The Brisbane Times, October 2, 2009
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/asylum-seekers-sent-home-govt-20091002-gfem.html

More than 60 Indonesians who arrived by boat in Australian waters have been returned home after failing to meet criteria for refugee status.

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Chris Evans said preparations were also being made to fly nine Sri Lankans home after they failed in their applications for protection visas.

The men swam ashore last November after arriving in Shark Bay, about 800km north of Perth, on a boat carrying 12 people, Fairfax newspapers reported.

Senator Evans said the Department of Immigration, the Refugee Review Tribunal and the minister had rejected their bids.

'They'd be the first group of people in recent times who've been removed from Australia from unauthorised boat arrivals,' he told ABC Radio on Friday.

'They were found not to be refugees, not to be owed Australia's protection.'

Meanwhile, a group of 62 Indonesian men whose boat was intercepted north of Broome on September 15 have been flown home after processing at the Christmas Island detention centre, off Australia's northwest coast.

The 58 passengers and four crew, who claimed to be from Java, were told they had not raised any issues 'which might engage Australia's protection obligations', Senator Evans said in a statement.

The group had 'requested removal' when told they did not meet any criteria for refugee status under the Refugees Convention, he said.

'Someone who is seeking better economic opportunities does not meet the criteria for a protection visa,' Senator Evans said.

'The government has made its position clear. People who are owed Australia's protection under our international obligations will be granted that protection.

'All irregular maritime arrivals found not to be owed protection and with no other basis to remain in Australia will be removed.'

Senator Evans said 21 asylum seekers who arrived by boat since the beginning of the year had returned home voluntarily.

He said removal arrangements were being finalised for another six people who had asked to return home.

The minister's spokesman said the nine Sri Lankans who failed in their applications for protection visas had been flown from Christmas Island to Perth and were in the process of being sent home.

Almost 1,500 people have arrived on 30 unauthorised vessels so far this year.

Opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone said the rejected asylum seekers from Sri Lanka had had their day in court.

'They weren't found to be refugees but those seeking a better life. You can understand why they would have given that a try,' Ms Stone told ABC Radio on Friday.

Ms Stone said Labor's softening of border protection laws, including the end of temporary protection visas, had dismantled the tougher policies of the previous Howard government.

'They are busy unravelling what we had, which was strong detention, detection, deterrent measures.'

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said the asylum seekers about to be deported had refused to sign any paper agreeing to return to Sri Lanka.

'It's too dangerous for them to go back to Sri Lanka and they won't go voluntarily,' he told ABC Radio, adding they had not been informed about their access to a Federal Court appeal.

Senator Evans denied this had happened.

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Center for Immigration Studies
1522 K St. NW, Suite 820
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076
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