Daily news updates from CIS

October 8, 2009

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[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. DHS to seek new contracts for northern SBI work
2. USCG: economy, enforcement reducing Cuban intercepts
3. Feds unveil plans to revamp detention system
4. UT senator presses Census for exclusion of illegals (2 stories)
5. Congress drops provision to expedite fence build
6. Federal court to hear RI 'profiling' case
7. Report ties assimilation to status
8. MA governor promotes in-state tuition for illegals
9. CNMI to recruit Filipino health workers
10. Hawkish VA county joins Secure Communities
11. AZ county board accepts new ICE deal (story, 3 links)
12. Las Vegas police nab 2,000 illegals over ten months
13. CA city day labor center sparks controversy
14. CA city urges universal Census participation
15. TX school screening nets few illegal students
16. Indian trade group confident H-1B reform delayed until 2010
17. Chicago amnesty activists to lobby in DC
18. MA community rallies against Mexican's deportation
19. Mexicans expected to cross border for flu vaccine
20. Sex traffickers hide amongst NC city's illegal population
21. No charges for amnesty activists arrested during prayer vigil
22. Illegal jailed in AL for rape of ten year old
23. NC soldiers admit marriage fraud (link)
24. TX man facing smuggling charges (link)
25. Man accused in TX of smuggling, ransom (link)
26. Border Patrol nabs three with child-offense convictions (link)

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
DHS to Seek New Contracts for Northern Border Security Projects
By Mickey McCarter
HS Today, October 7, 2009
http://www.hstoday.us/content/view/10544/149/

Although CBP will pass over current SBInet contract for northern border, SBI chief anticipates exercising additional years on it When establishing its next major border security projects along the US northern border, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not intend to use its virtual fence contract with the Boeing Co., confirmed the head of the program in an interview with Homeland Security Today.

DHS contracted Boeing to place cameras along the US northern border in areas near Detroit, Mich., and Buffalo, NY, in 2009 using its contract for the Secure Border Initiative-Network (SBInet), but the department would not do so for follow-on activities scheduled to begin as early as 2010, SBI Executive Director Mark Borkowski said.

Borkowski, who faulted the structure of the SBInet contract in a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee Sept. 17, praised the contract for its indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity feature, which permits US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to buy as much or as little from the contract as it likes.

'Having it available doesn't necessarily mean I have to ask for any work from Boeing. It's not a bad idea to have this contract available and then make independent decisions each time I want to do new work. I have the option of using this contract for the new work but I also have the option of going somewhere else,' Borkowski commented.

Although the work along the US northern border is still in the planning phases, Borkowski anticipated that CBP would hold competitions for contracts to handle those projects.

Boeing received the work to place cameras near the Saint Clair River in Michigan and the Niagra River in New York because it had the capability to pull those projects together efficiently and effectively, thereby saving DHS money, Borkowski commented.

But DHS plans to build a facility called an operational integration center near Detroit. The center would house local, state, and federal agencies along with Canadian agencies to work together on border security using data and feeds from the various sensors along the US northern border, Borkowski described.

Those sensors would include air and marine sensors and Coast Guard sensors as well as the cameras on the rivers, he added.

'Agencies could then start to experiment with working together as a team. We are still fleshing out the details of that but we expect a good deal of the work to support that will be competitive,' Borkowski revealed.

'We are already starting the construction activity. The follow-on activity will include the work to actually figure out what sensors we put in and whether we buy new sensors and from whom do we buy them,' he added. 'So you'll see that in 2010 and into 2011 a little bit.'

Borkowski also anticipated exercising the two remaining option years on the Boeing contract in the future, assuming no major problems develop, despite the fact that he believes it could have a better structure.

The SBInet contract is difficult to manage because it presumes that DHS has the program management capacity to serve as a lead systems integrator (LSI), which it does not, Borkowski said.

'In our case, the problem with that is here at the Department of Homeland Security, we are still building our program management competency. In order for an LSI construct to work, the government program team has to be very strong and it has to be very complete. I still have significant vacancies in my program office. I still have significant skills and gaps in the competencies and the types of people that I need to manage it. The fact of the matter is that we are simply not in a position yet to manage an LSI contract,' Borkowski explained.

'But, that's hindsight. Certainly, if we were in a position to do that, this would be a whole different story,' he said.

No surprises

Stewart Baker, former DHS assistant secretary for policy, was not surprised that DHS would use a different contract for northern border security efforts than it has for the southern border.

'It is a different set of problems, so I wouldn't necessarily expect exactly the same solution or the same contractor necessarily,' Baker told Homeland Security Today. 'When you are working in such a different environment, so far from the other deployment, it's entirely reasonable for the government to take a different contract vehicle for that kind of deployment.'

Greg Rothwell, formerly the top DHS procurement official, agreed that using contracts other than the current SBInet contract held by Boeing would be a prerogative of the federal government. Doing so does not reflect poorly on DHS, Boeing or SBInet, Rothwell told Homeland Security Today.

Rothwell did not believe, however, that the contract structure of SBInet would impede the long-term success of the project.

'You should be able to make a contract structure work successfully to meet your goals,' Rothwell stated. 'Regardless of the contract, you will always face challenges involved with changing technology or incompatible designs. A federal contract vehicle, regardless of its structure, serves as the means to meet the goals and outcomes as stated by the program management office.'

With SBInet, for example, the Project-28 surveillance and communications prototype did not work as well as officials had hoped. Although DHS and Boeing had to go back to the drawing board to develop a new system, such developments should not come as a surprise to anyone working on a large-scale technology program with a lot of interconnecting pieces, Rothwell noted.

The structure of a federal contract wouldn't have an effect on those requirements, remarked Rothwell, now head of the consulting firm The Evermay Consulting Group Inc. In addition, federal procurement offices could change the structure of a contract at any time through a modification to it.

Ultimately, Rothwell said, it's up to a federal agency to decide how to structure contracts to meet the goals of its program-whether using one large contract or several smaller ones.

But he agreed with the assessment that DHS lacks the program management capacity to serve as a lead systems integrator on large projects such as SBInet.

'The department has a long way to go before it's mature enough to field the competencies required to serve as a lead systems integrator on a large-scale acquisition of that nature,' Rothwell said. 'But then, few civilian agencies do have that capability. The Department of Defense has the most experience in all of government running those kinds of programs and they still run into trouble managing them from time to time.'

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2.
US recession, enforcement cut Cuban boat migrants
Reuters, October 8, 2009
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-42993320091008?sp=true

Miami (Reuters) -- Improved enforcement and the economic downturn have sharply cut the number of Cuban migrants trying to reach the United States this year by sea across the Florida Straits, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday.

Coast Guard figures for the 2009 fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30 showed that 799 Cubans were intercepted, compared to 2,199 for 2008 and 2,868 for 2007. The 90-mile-wide (140 km) Florida Straits are a major transit route for migrants from communist-ruled Cuba trying to reach the United States.

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman told Reuters the sharp drop was being attributed to improved U.S. measures against illegal migration and the economic recession in the United States and Cuba, which had acted as a damper on migrant smuggling.

Lieutenant Commander Matt Moorlag said the Coast Guard and other U.S. agencies had improved their cooperation in fighting the illegal sea traffic of Cuban migrants heading for Florida.

U.S. courts were prosecuting more alien migrant smugglers and handing out tougher sentences to those convicted, Moorlag said.

'We believe that enforcement aspect is a major contributor to the decline,' Moorlag said.

Moorlag said the economic downturn that gripped both the United States and Cuba also depressed the migrant-smuggling business, in which traffickers had been demanding rates of $10,000 per person and more.

'Smugglers are interested in profit, it's not a community service, they're doing this for the money,' said Moorlag, adding that would-be Cuban migrants, or their relatives in Florida, might not now have the money to pay for the trip.

In addition, the economic downturn may have dimmed the attraction of the United States as a migrant destination.

In July, U.S. and Cuban officials held their first talks since 2003 on Cuban migration to the United States, in a sign of efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration to improve relations with the Caribbean island that have been hostile for half a century.

Last held in 2003 and suspended by Washington in 2004, the talks covered mid-1990s migration accords that aimed to prevent an exodus of Cuban refugees to the United States such as the 1980 Mariel boatlift and another wave of boat people in 1994.

The accords established the repatriation by U.S authorities of Cuban migrants intercepted at sea, while Havana also pledged to clamp down on illegal migration.

The United States wants Cuba to free up legal travel by Cubans granted U.S. visas. Cuba wants the United States to change laws and policies it says encourages illegal migration bids by its citizens.

Obama has slightly eased the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, but has called on the island's leaders to respond by allowing more political freedom and releasing detained dissidents. Cuban President Raul Castro has ruled out any shift to capitalism.

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3.
Napolitano May Move Captured Illegal Aliens from Jail to ‘Converted Hotels, Nursing Homes’
By Penny Starr
The CNS News, October 7, 2009
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/55140

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday that she is pursuing plans to remove some captured illegal aliens from 'prison-like or jail-like circumstances' and put them in converted hotels and nursing homes.

'To better manage detention operations, ICE will develop a risk assessment and custody classification, which will enable detainees to be placed in an appropriate facility,' DHS said in a statement. 'ICE will pursue detention strategies based on assessed risk and reduce costs by exploring the use of converted hotels, nursing homes and other residential facilities.'

Napolitano explained her department’s thinking at a press conference at Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, D.C.

'Our detention system has some who have committed crimes, others whose crimes under federal law is a misdemeanor, others who have as I said before not committed a crime at all,' Napolitano said.

DHS detained about 378,000 aliens last year, who at any given time 'occupy 32,000 to 34,000 beds across the country,' Napolitano said at her press conference. She said DHS would likely end its contractual relationships with at least some detention facilities currently holding illegal immigrants.

The department, Napolitano said, intended 'to review all contracts for detention facilities to identify not only opportunities for improvement but also for renegotiation and indeed termination where warranted.'

Napolitano noted that DHS will develop detention strategies based on assessed risk that will reduce costs and put illegal aliens 'near immigration service providers.' These strategies will include pursuing the use of non-prison-like housing.

'As was said, this is a system that encompasses many different types of detainees, not all of whom need to be held in prison-like circumstances or jail-like circumstances, which not only may be unnecessary but more expensive than necessary,' said Napolitano.

'We will begin to house nonviolent non-criminals, such as newly arrived asylum seekers, at facilities commensurate with the risks that they present,' said Napolitano. 'And we will also begin efforts to house these populations near immigration service providers and pursue different options like converted hotels or residential facilities for their detentions.'

Napolitano said DHS and ICE would provide a plan to Congress on that she called 'alternatives to detention.'

'We will develop an assessment tool to identify those aliens suitable for alternatives to detention,' she said. 'And we will submit a plan to Congress this fall to implement such a nationwide system.'

When CNSNews.com asked to clarify Wednesday what DHS means by 'Alternatives to Detention' (ATD) that it is considering using in dealing with captured illegal aliens who are awaiting deportation or potential deportation, Gillian Brigham, a spokeswoman with ICE, said 'a range of alternatives' were being considered, including releasing and supervising, rather than detaining, some illegal aliens who have been arrested.

'‘Alternatives to Detention’ is kind of a range of things, and that includes stuff like electronic monitoring or intensive supervision, where people come and report into an office three times a week to a certain deportation officer there. Or have some sort of electronic monitoring,' Brigham said.

As many as 15,000 illegal aliens are already in ATD program, Brigham said.

Brigham said it would be up to ICE officers and case workers to decide whether a non-criminal illegal alien is placed in the 'less restrictive' detention in a converted hotel, nursing home or other residential facilities, released and monitored electronically, or required to report to an ICE office a specific number of times per week.

CNSNews.com asked Napolitano if the 'alternatives to detention' program would be modeled on the catch-and-release system previously used in federal immigration enforcement. This involved releasing captured illegal aliens into the general population pending a court date. Many did not show up for the court proceeding.

The catch-and-release policy was ended during the Bush administration.

'No, you’re right,' said Napolitano. 'And catch-and-release was problematic, and I can say that. I was governor of Arizona, and before that I was the attorney general of Arizona. So, we see what worked and what didn’t work.

'And so one of—two of the issues that we need to make sure are covered as we look at alternatives to detention are, A, that those who are given ATD are not going to use that to escape, basically, or get into the general population in a way that we can’t quickly find them and get them back,' Napolitano added.

She said that another problem with alternatives to detention in the past is that it often actually prolonged adjudication of illegal aliens’ immigration case.

'A second is as follows,' said Napolitano. 'One of the things that was happening over time because we were detaining so many, and will continue that as we do immigration enforcement, was that if somebody was given an alternative to detention, then they were kind of put at the back of the line in regards to actually having their status adjudicated.

'And so they were actually kind of in detention longer than they would have been if they’d simply been held and gone to an immigration court, had their status adjudicated and the removal completed,' she said.

Janice Kephart, national security policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies, believes that 'alternatives to detention' is just another name for the failed 'catch and release' model.

'‘Alternatives to Detention’ is just another way to say ‘Catch and Release,’ which was the thorn in the side of the prior administration until they stopped it and put rule of law in place,' said Kephart.

'Although managing detention facilities and their populations well is a good goal, simply doing it by reducing the illegal population and dispersing them back into American communities does not help enforce immigration law or make our communities more secure,' Kephart said.

Kephart pointed out that Mir Aimal Kansi, who murdered two CIA employees outside the agency's Langley, Va., headquarters; Ramzi Yousef, who masterminded the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center; and Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, who inspired the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, had all been asylum applicants who were left free in the United States.

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4.
Bennett still pushing for citizenship question
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City), October 7, 2009
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13508338

Washington, DC -- Utah Sen. Bob Bennett has switched strategies in his bid to get the Census to exclude undocumented immigrants when assigning congressional seats to each state.

In recent weeks, the Utah Republican has pushed legislation that would require the Census Bureau to collect citizenship data in its once-a-decade count, but in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday he said his proposal would 'obviously' not pass in time to impact the 2010 count.

So he teamed with Louisiana GOP Sen. David Vitter to offer an amendment to a budget bill that he thinks could result in a quick policy change. The amendment would cut off funding for the Census unless this citizenship question was asked on all future counts.

'This is an attempt to find out how many illegal aliens we have in this country and where they live as a statistical information,' Bennett said.

The proposal would not impact funding formulas for federal programs, and the information collected could not be legally accessed by law enforcement.

Bennett said the only purpose in collecting the data is to make sure the Census doesn't count non-citizens when it assigns seats in the House of Representatives. He said the current system benefits states with high numbers of undocumented immigrants, which would mainly be border states.

'A state with a large number of illegal immigrants will see to it that its voters have greater representation than voters where the illegal immigrants are not,' he said.

Census leaders have argued that it is too late to make a change to the 10-question Census form. The Bureau must print millions of copies before they are mailed out in March. The printing process is already under way.

Bennett, who faces a tough re-election fight, dismissed this by saying: 'I wonder if they ever thought of printing an extra sheet.'

The Senate is expected to take up this amendment and others impacting the Commerce Department, which includes the Census, in the next few days.

+++

Sen. Vitter seeks to prevent counting of illegal aliens in 2010 Census
The Alexandria Town Talk (LA), October 7, 2009
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20091007/NEWS01/91007019

U.S. Sen. David Vitter has offered an amendment to prevent states from counting illegal aliens for the purposes of determining population levels and other data associated with the 2010 Census.
Advertisement

Vitter, R-Metairie, introduced the amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill. The amendment would also require questions in the census regarding citizenship and immigration status.

'Illegal immigration is a very real and significant concern for our country,' Vitter said in a news release.

'In the past, some states have included illegal immigrants during the census, resulting in the allocation of additional congressional seats. We shouldn’t let these states be rewarded for skirting our federal laws, and this amendment will help stop this practice.'

Vitter’s amendment would prevent funding from being used to collect census data that does not include questions regarding United States citizenship and immigration status.

'This is a very simple and direct amendment that can help us bring about a very positive change,' Vitter said. 'It obviously won’t help us identify all illegal aliens, but it’s a step in the right direction. Illegal aliens should not be included for the purposes of determining representation in Congress, and that’s the bottom line here.'

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5.
Appropriators deal blow to border fence
By Walter Alarkon
The Hill (Washington, DC), October 7, 2009
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/62109-appropriators-deal-border-fence-another-blow

Appropriators dropped a requirement in the 2010 Homeland Security spending bill to rush the construction of a fence at the Mexican border, disappointing conservatives who pushed the project as a way to slow illegal immigration.

The conference report for the $42.8 billion appropriations bill left out language in the Senate's version that required the installation of 700 miles of the border fence by the end of next year. The fence requirement was inserted in July as an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). It was adopted with the support of most GOP senators and 21 Democrats.

But the conference report went with the House's position, which didn't include any requirements on the fence's construction.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (Calif.), the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, and other GOP members of the panel assented to dropping the DeMint amendment partly because the conference report increased money for Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol, a GOP aide said. The conference report calls for $10.1 billion for Customs and Border Protection, which is a 3 percent boost over funding for the agency in the 2009 Homeland Security spending bill.

Fence supporters faced several obstacles to funding the project.

The Obama administration had opposed a rapid expansion of the fence, requesting far less money for the project than President George W. Bush had asked for. The White House called for $779 million for the fence in 2010, less than the $1.9 billion spent by the Bush administration in 2008 and the $926 million appropriated to the fence in 2009. The Homeland Security conference report calls for $800 million for the fence.

Initial plans called for the fence to cover 670 miles of the nearly 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexico border. But a General Accountability Office (GAO) report in February found that less than three dozen miles of it had been built.

The project was dealt another blow last month when the GAO found that it would cost $6.5 billion over 20 years. The report also said that it couldn't assess its effectiveness at stopping illegal immigration until its technological features were installed. Boeing, the firm building the fence, plans to install sensors to help Border Patrol agents deter people trying to cross it.

DeMint blamed Democrats for 'gutting the best tool' for securing the U.S. border.

'Virtual fencing won't solve the problem and we need a real fence to deter the real problems of illegal immigration, terrorism, drug trafficking and human trafficking,' he said. 'A strong bipartisan Senate majority voted to finish the fence by the end of 2010 and its very disappointing that Democrat leaders are thwarting the will of the American people behind closed doors.'

The Homeland Security conference report weakens another provision pushed by immigration hard-liners. The Senate had called for a permanent extension of the E-Verify program, an electronic system used by employees to check whether workers are in the country legally, but the conference report would extend it by three years, the same proposal in the House bill. The conference report does require federal contractors to use the system to check employees' statuses, which is what the Senate had proposed.

Appropriators did include in the legislation $800 million for the border fence program and a 3-year extension of a visa program for international medical graduates working in rural parts of the country.

Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), the sponsor of the House version of the spending bill, said the measures were 'short-term solutions until comprehensive immigration reform can be considered by Congress.'

President Obama in August called on lawmakers to produce a draft immigration reform bill by the end of the year. But lawmakers, dealing with major bills on healthcare, financial regulation and climate change, will be hard pressed to find time for another contentious legislative item.

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6.
Appeals court sets arguments in RI van stop case
By Eric Tucker
The Associated Press, October 7, 2009
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20091007/APN/910071358

Providence (AP) -- A Rhode Island state trooper three years ago pulled over a van carrying undocumented Guatemalan immigrants to work, asked everyone inside for identification and then escorted the vehicle to a federal immigration office after the passengers could not present proof of citizenship.

Now that highway traffic stop, which civil liberties group and immigrant advocates have labeled racial profiling, is about to be argued before a federal appeals court.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled arguments for Thursday morning, 10 months after a federal judge in Rhode Island dismissed a lawsuit from 12 immigrants that called the July 2006 stop unconstitutional.

The van was pulled over on Interstate 95 after the driver switched lanes without signaling. The driver presented his license and registration to the trooper, but most of the passengers didn't respond when the officer then asked for identification. They also did not have green cards or other documents establishing their citizenship.

The trooper, who has since been cleared of wrongdoing by an internal investigation, contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the van was escorted to an agency office in Providence. The group was detained at the office and the driver was issued a ticket for changing lanes without signaling.

U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi ruled in December that there was no 'evidence of intentional race-based discrimination' and said the trooper was justified in requesting immigration paperwork and also had the right to pat down the driver for weapons.

The Rhode Island branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued on behalf of the immigrants, wants the appeals court to reverse Lisi's decision and send the case back for a jury trial.

'The trooper's job was done as soon as he checked and found valid the driver's license and registration,' Brown said. 'It wasn't from our perspective, only because there were a number of Latinos in the van.'

'There's no business for troopers to begin asking citizenship status of passengers in a car when there's absolutely no evidence of illegal activity,' he added said.

Michael Healey, a spokesman for the Rhode Island attorney general's office, which is defending the state police, said 'making a traffic stop is one of the fundamental actions that law enforcement officers do.'

He said Lisi's decision affirmed that the 'traffic stop was a proper law enforcement action by a well-trained state trooper.'

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7.
Report ties immigrant assimilation to legal status
By Elaine Ayala
The San Antonio Express-News (TX), October 8, 2009
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/63726482.html

The biggest obstacle to immigrant assimilation is legal status, or the lack thereof.

So says a new report from the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute, 'Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in the United States,' which found legal barriers to citizenship — nonexistent in the early 1900s during Italian and Irish immigrant waves — are keeping newer immigrants from assimilating.

This happens despite proportionately more of the recent immigrants having better English skills and similar desires to be naturalized, the report states.

The report by Jacob L. Vigdor of Duke University also found Mexicans assimilate slower than other immigrants and become citizens at lower rates.

Political refugees assimilate more quickly because their status guarantees a pathway to citizenship.

More than 90 percent of Vietnamese entering the U.S. became citizens, Vigdor said, while the lowest naturalization rates are among unauthorized immigrants, a majority of them Mexican.

Learning English is an indicator, he said, adding: 'If you are uncertain about the length of your stay in the United States, because you're concerned about being deported, you're less likely to learn English.'

In the early 20th century, 'there was no such thing as an illegal immigrant, among whites at least,' Vigdor said.

Texas state demographer Karl Eschbach called the new report sound, its conclusions validated by a broad array of studies.

'The comparisons to early immigrants is telling,' Eschbach added. 'It reminds us that immigration is nothing new in the United States. We go through waves of high and low immigration.'

He attributed the slower assimilation of Mexican immigrants, in part, to their 'circular' migration.

'People are intending to go back. They're migrating and staying for several years and returning when they have enough to make a business investment.'

Like other recent studies, the Manhattan Institute report found the recession has driven immigrants from the country and kept new ones from coming.

'There are two important policy messages,' Vigdor said. 'First, modern immigration has at least as many success stories as failures. Overall, today's immigrants are meeting or exceeding the progress exhibited by their predecessors of a century ago.'

Proposed reform of U.S. immigration laws, often described as an overhaul, 'should start from the standpoint that there are successes to be preserved, not that the entire system is an unmitigated disaster,' he said.

Vigdor cautioned that concerns about Mexican immigrants and their allegiance to the U.S. are unwarranted.

'There has been no decline in immigrants' propensity to naturalize once they are eligible,' he said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Manhattan Institute report is available online at: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_59.htm

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8.
Patrick: No consensus on immigration tuition bill
The Burlington Union (MA), October 7, 2009
http://www.wickedlocal.com/burlington/news/x366045286/Patrick-No-consensus-on-immigration-tuition-bill

Boston -- Gov. Deval Patrick said Tuesday that he has raised the issue of in-state tuition rates for certain immigrants, including for those here illegally, with legislative leaders but that they 'do not have consensus yet on moving it.'

Patrick, speaking to an audience of reporters from ethnic news outlets, said he hopes to raise the issue this fall but had been delayed by legislative focus on legislation to name an interim U.S. senator.

'In some ways, that took up all the focus, much of the focus, for much of the month of September,' he said. 'I am on record with the leaders, as I am publicly, that I think this is important for us to do as a matter of fairness and a matter of economics as well.'

Patrick touted his support for the so-called in-state bill while running for governor in 2005 but the legislation has failed to gain momentum since he took office.

The bill would allow certain immigrants to pay lower tuition levels paid by state residents rather than higher rates assessed upon out-of-state residents attending public higher education in Massachusetts.

To be eligible for the lower rates, immigrants must have attended high school in Massachusetts for three or more years and graduated or achieved graduation equivalency.

Anyone seeking in-state tuition who is not a permanent resident of the United States must submit an affidavit to his or her prospective schools stating that 'the individual has filed an application to become a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, or shall file an application at the earliest opportunity to do so.'

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9.
CNMI plans to hire doctors from RP
By Haidee V. Eugenio
The GMA News (Philippines), October 8, 2009
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/174043/cnmi-plans-to-hire-doctors-from-rp

Garapan, Saipan -- The US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is planning to hire doctors from the Philippines and other countries to help solve the shortage of physicians at the government-run Commonwealth Health Center (CHC).

On Sunday, Governor Benigno R. Fitial said he will put the CNMI Department of Public Health under a state of emergency to allow the hiring of doctors from outside the US mainland and Canada.

The state of emergency declaration is expected to be issued this week.

Cardiologists and nephrologists will be among the specialists to be hired directly from the Philippines and other foreign countries.

“We will hire based on necessity,' said Fitial, who flew to Manila two weeks ago.

Currently, CHC is relying on a US-based headhunters firm for $25,000 per doctor hired from the US and Canada to recruit physicians.

But the number of physician hires is still short of meeting the demands of the CNMI.

CHC is one of the components of DPH, which also include the Community Guidance Center and the Division of Public Health.

Most of the nurses working at DPH are from the Philippines.

Doctors at DPH are hired only from the US mainland and Canada based on the policy of the CNMI Medical Profession Licensing Board and due to US Medicaid and Medicare requirements.

But the governor said the hiring outside the US and Canada will be a “temporary fix' to the doctor shortage at the only hospital in the CNMI.

Fitial said it is interesting to note that DPH can't hire specialists from the Philippines but it regularly sends CNMI patients to Manila for treatment and other medical care.

Acting Health Secretary Pete Untalan also said CHC's choice is limited when it comes to hiring physicians.

Although CHC regularly refers some patients to the Philippines for treatment, the CNMI cannot hire doctors from that country due to the standards and requirements mandated by the US federal government, he said.

CHC, which receives Medicare and Medicaid funding, is required to hire US-trained doctors.

The CNMI, a US territory, also relies on doctors hired from the US mainland and Canada because it only has a handful of local physicians and many of them work at private clinics.

Most of the 32 doctors that CHC currently employs, including part-time and visiting physicians, are from the US and Canada.

While DPH recruits doctors all year round, prospective physicians are discouraged by the uncompetitive salary offered by the CNMI government as a result of declining revenues and resources.

The lack of doctors at DPH is being augmented by services from private clinics and physicians.

With the US federal takeover of CNMI immigration set for Nov. 28, DPH said it has been receiving inquiries from off-island doctors willing to work in the CNMI.

These potential physicians may come to the CNMI through the J1 visa waiver category, which will allow them to work in underserved areas in the US with their families.

At present, foreign doctors who go to US medical schools and are trained in US-accredited facilities have to go back to their countries and serve there for a number of years.

Without the visa waiver program, physicians must wait for three to four years before they could work elsewhere.

The CNMI, which is home to some 10,000 overseas Filipino workers and Filipino-Americans, is only about three hours away from Manila.

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10.
Jail Steps Up Screening For Illegal Immigrants
By Jennifer Buske
The Washington Post, October 8, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/06/AR2009100604168.html

Prince William regional jail officials have joined a federal system to tighten their screening of inmates' immigration status and potentially deport those in the United States illegally.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Secure Communities initiative provides jurisdictions across the nation access to more comprehensive federal records, ICE officials said.

'Secure Communities is a Department of Homeland Security initiative to more broadly manage and modernize the processes used to identify and ultimately remove dangerous criminal aliens from our communities,' said Marc Rapp, acting executive director of Secure Communities. 'Our goal with this effort is to use information sharing to prevent criminal aliens from being released back into the community, with little or no additional burden on our local law enforcement partners.'

Under Secure Communities, the Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center can access Homeland Security's biometrics-based immigration records. Previously, the jail accessed only the FBI's criminal records during booking as part of what is known as the 287(g) program.

Col. Peter A. Meletis, the jail's superintendent, said that officials launched the program locally last week and that it does not cost the 12 state and local law enforcement agencies that use the jail anything. Booking officials at the jail simply run the fingerprints of an arrestee simultaneously through the FBI and Homeland Security systems; one largely identifies a person's criminal activity, and the other better identifies immigration status.

If fingerprints match a set found in the Homeland Security system, ICE will be immediately notified. ICE officials said they will then evaluate each case and take 'appropriate action' after offenders complete their sentence.

'With the 287(g) program, we have most of our bases covered, but this will give us an additional tool,' Meletis said. 'This system will help us catch anyone who gets by the first system.'

From when the jail began its agreement with ICE in July 2007 through this August, it issued 1,964 detainers and transferred 1,870 people to ICE, Meletis said. Detainers allow jails to hold people suspected of immigration violations until ICE can pick them up. The jail typically processes 1,000 to 1,100 arrests a month.

Meletis said Secure Communities will allow the jail to catch an additional 'handful' of illegal immigrants, especially since jail officials can now access visa information.

ICE officials said the agency launched the first Secure Communities program in Houston last October and has expanded it to 80 jurisdictions, with Fairfax and Prince William counties the only two in Virginia.

ICE officials said they first are deploying the program to areas with the highest concentrations of what they deem the most dangerous illegal immigrants, then expanding to nearly 30,000 local jails and booking facilities by 2013. Congress has appropriated $1.4 billion to ICE for enforcement efforts against illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

Fairfax, which doesn't participate in the 287 (g) program, joined Secure Communities in March. The Fairfax County Adult Detention Center has 237 ICE detainers, Fairfax sheriff's office spokesman Basilio 'Sonny' Cachuela said, noting that doesn't necessarily mean the detainees are illegal. Eight people without charges are also waiting to be picked up by ICE.

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11.
Controversial Sheriff Dismisses Federal Probe
By Valeria Fernández
The Inter Press Service, October 8, 2009
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48772

Phoenix (IPS) -- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, nationally known for his crackdown on undocumented migrants in Arizona, could have all of his immigration enforcement powers taken away by the federal government.

A new proposed 287(g) agreement will limit his ability to conduct immigration sweeps, and confine his role to identifying undocumented migrants that enter his jails.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees enforcement of federal immigration laws, has not signed the new contract yet and has not confirmed whether or not it will continue working with Arpaio in any fashion.

But the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in the country promised to continue his controversial immigration raids even if stripped of the federal powers to do it.

'I'm going to continue doing everything that I've been doing, now I'm free of the federal government,' he said during a press conference Tuesday.

The sheriff said that he will drive undocumented immigrants to the U.S.-Mexico border if immigration authorities refuse to take custody of them.

Arpaio's agency has the largest number of deputies in the nation trained to enforce immigration laws. This has been possible through a 287(g) agreement signed in 2007 with DHS.

The use of the programme by Arpaio's office has drawn national criticism by civil rights and pro-immigrant organisations that argue the sheriff's deputies engage in racial profiling. Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting an investigation into those allegations and possible rights violations within the sheriff's jails.

In one prominent case, Alejandra Alvarez, an immigrant woman, was detained in a landscaping company raid by sheriff's deputies for working with fake documents. Her jaw was allegedly broken during the arrest. After three months in jail, she complained that she didn't receive proper medical care for her injury.

In addition to charges of verbal and physical abuse, activists have also raised possible violations of Title 6 within the jails. That refers to an aspect of federal law that requires information and materials to be provided in English and other languages, such as Spanish, as a condition to receive government funding.

In July, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced changes to the 287(g) agreements nationally, saying they will focus on the detection and apprehension of immigrants with a criminal record.

DHS gave all 66 participating agencies a 90-day-period to review the new contracts and sign them. The period is up on Oct. 14.

DHS would not comment on any pending agreements.

Pro-immigrant groups, locally and nationally, argue that the 287(g) programme doesn't need to be mended, it needs to be terminated.

'With the problems Arpaio has within his jails, how can DHS allow him to continue to have these powers?' asked Salvador Reza, an activist from Puente, a pro-immigrant group in Arizona.

'Napolitano and President [Barack] Obama need to think it through and realise that the 287(g) agreements are going to bring more legal problems - and also lose them the Latino vote,' he added.

Reza said that pro-immigrant activists are planning a series of protests should the federal government sign a new agreement with Arpaio.

Local activists in Arizona are also alarmed at the implications of the continuance of the programme within the jails.

'The problem is that any police officer - regardless of the jurisdiction - who has anti-immigrant beliefs is going to find excuses to arrest Mexicans, Guatemalans and even Native Americans to bring them to the jails,' said Reza. 'This is a problem that is happening already.'

Reverend Lianna Rowe of the United Church of Christ has been observing the situation in Maricopa County.

'It's been proven that this is a very dysfunctional way to conduct law enforcement,' said Rowe. 'It is really an unfortunate message that the federal government is willing to sacrifice members of our community.'

Rowe pointed out Arpaio has been going after immigrants who commit minor traffic infractions in order to deport them, when he could be focusing resources on capturing dangerous criminals.

Last year, the East Valley Tribune, a local newspaper in Arizona, published a report showing that Arpaio's crackdown on illegal immigration was impacting the response times of his agency to emergency calls and the investigation of serious crimes. The report went on to win a Pulitzer Prize.

The outcome in Maricopa is being monitored very closely by national groups, because it could offer a glimpse of the role localities will play in immigration enforcement under the Obama administration.

'If DHS continues its relationship with Joe Arpaio, it is making a historic mistake by lending the full force and legitimacy of the federal government to a rogue cop certain to go down in history as a serial violator of civil rights and an enemy of the Latino community,' said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a pro-immigrant organisation in Washington, in a press release Tuesday.

On Sep. 28, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) sent a letter to President Obama calling for the termination of all 287(g) programmes across the country.

'The misuse of the 287(g) programme by its current participants has rendered it ineffective and dangerous to community safety,' read the letter.

It was signed by CHC chair Rep. Nydia Velázquez, a New York Democrat, and Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez, a Democrat of Illinois.

'Although its stated purpose is to provide law enforcement a tool to pursue criminals, it is our experience that state and local law enforcement officials actually use their expanded and often unchecked powers under the program to target immigrants and persons of color,' the letter said.

Secretary Napolitano has been a longtime supporter of the use of 287(g) programmes in jails and prisons. While she was governor of Arizona, the state prisons signed an agreement with the federal government. The memorandum allowed jailers to determine the immigration status of prisoners before their release and turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, a department of DHS.

Regardless of what the federal government decides, Arpaio can still use state laws to arrest undocumented immigrants.

For the past two years, he has been conducting raids at workplaces thought the use of the state employer sanctions law. A state human smuggling law - known as the anti-coyote law - has allowed him to incarcerate migrants who hire smugglers to cross the border.

The sheriff and his supporters also argue he doesn't need 'permission' from the federal government to detain undocumented immigrants citing the 1996 immigration control legislation.

'If you're not going to enforce 287(g), just take it away and let Arpaio enforce the state laws he has available,' said Gary Rose, a Phoenix resident and longtime supporter of Arpaio. Rose believes local law enforcement needs to help deport all undocumented immigrants because he feels they abuse public benefits.

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County allows immigration enforcement to continue in jails
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), October 7, 2009
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/10/07/20091007sheriffONLINE.html

County OKs Arpaio immigration checks in jails
By Gary Grado
The East Valley Tribune (Phoenix), October 7, 2009
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/145504

County accepts new ICE-Arpaio jail deal
By Mike Sunnucks
The Phoenix Business Journal, October 7, 2009
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/10/05/daily56.html

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12.
Las Vegas police submitted nearly 2,000 inmate names to immigration officials
By Antonio Planas and Lynnette Curtis
The Las Vegas Review Journal, October 7, 2009
http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/Las-Vegas-police-submitted-nearly-2000-inmate-names-to-immigration-officials-63716827.html

The Metropolitan Police Department forwarded the names of nearly 2,000 inmates to federal officials during the first 10 months of a partnership that allows specially trained corrections officers to start deportation proceedings against immigration violators.

The agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officially began Nov. 15 and is limited to the Clark County Detention Center.

Nearly 10,000 county jail inmates through Sept. 19 were identified as being born outside the country or their identities were in question, said officer Jacinto Rivera, a Las Vegas police spokesman.

Police sent the names of 1,849 inmates who were determined to be in the country illegally to ICE for possible deportation.

It’s unknown how many of those inmates were deported. ICE officials said today the agency doesn’t track removals that way. Illegal immigrants referred to the agency by local law enforcement officials become part of ICE’s larger caseload.

Those cases can drag on for months or even years.

The Police Department’s partnership with immigration officials is narrower in scope than that of Maricopa County in Arizona and does not allow officers to arrest people for immigration violations. Only when an individual has been arrested on unrelated charges can they be screened for possible deportation.

Sheriff Doug Gillespie has repeatedly insisted the partnership is meant to target violent criminals.

Police did not forward to immigration officials the names of an additional 1,808 inmates who also were identified as being in the country illegally, because those inmates had no violent criminal history, Rivera said.

Overall, 62,803 people were booked into the county jail between Nov. 15, 2008, and Sept. 19, 2009.

Hispanic and civil rights groups have criticized Section 287(g) partnerships, named for the corresponding section of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act. They say the partnerships target Hispanics and could lead to racial profiling and make people afraid to report crimes.

'Evidence is mounting across the country that 287(g) programs are being run in problematic ways,' said Maggie McLetchie, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.

'We understand federal immigration laws need to be enforced, but that’s the job of federal immigration officers, not the job of' Las Vegas police, she said.

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13.
'Opportunity centers' open in San Rafael, Novato for temporary workers
By Richard Halstead
The Marin Independent Journal (CA), October 7, 2009
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_13508100

The opening of 'opportunity centers' in San Rafael and Novato for immigrant and non-immigrant temporary workers has once again sparked debate about the hiring of undocumented workers.

The centers constitute the second major component of an initiative that includes a 'virtual' hiring hall, a Web site launched in August that matches people seeking temporary workers with appropriate workers looking for jobs. So far, more than 300 temporary workers have signed up to participate in the matchmaking service. The program is coordinated by Legal Aid of Marin, the Canal Alliance and Ritter Center.

The new opportunity centers will provide workers with access to bathrooms, running water, computers, Internet service and phones. They will serve as multicultural, multiservice centers providing temporary workers with classes to improve their job skills and resources to address a variety of other needs.

'One of the things we're focusing on at first is a vocational English as a second language program that is targeted at people who want to learn how to take better instruction from employers and ask questions about the instructions they've been given,' said Paul Cohen, executive director of Legal Aid of Marin.

But some who have fought three past efforts to establish a 'bricks and mortar' hiring hall in San Rafael are skeptical.

'It looks like the virtual hiring hall isn't going to be virtual after all, no shock there,' said Rick Oltman of Novato, national media director for Californians for Population Stabilization and a member of the Novato-based Citizens for Legal Employment and Contracting. 'I knew when this concept was floated a few months ago that there would be physical locations to follow.'

Cohen said, however, that if anyone tries to hire a worker at one of the opportunity centers they will be referred to the virtual hiring hall Web site: www.marinhelpers.com.

'There is a whole protocol around this,' Cohen said. 'They're absolutely not hiring halls.'

Cohen said the San Rafael center, which opened a week ago, is in the Marin Square Shopping Center. Currently, prospective day workers frequent the street corners near there. The Novato center, which has been open for several weeks, is on Hamilton Parkway. Cohen declined to provide the precise address of either office. He said he feared the centers might be overrun by workers seeking access to the services.

The cost of the project for the first year is $313,910. Funding is being provided by the Marin Community Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Fund and the county of Marin. County supervisors voted 4-1 to approve a $30,000 allocation last week.

Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who recommended the expenditure, said that several years ago when he was looking for ways to reduce the amount of on-street job solicitation in portions of his district, he came across a similar program in Oakland.

'I'm supportive of it because I think it can contribute to making the street environment safer and friendlier for people in the communities where people are looking for work and it can increase the economic self-sufficiency for those who are out of work by giving them another means to hook up with residential employers and improve their job skills through training programs,' Kinsey said.

Supervisor Susan Adams, the lone dissenter, made a point of pulling the item from a long list of allocations on a 'consent calendar' that are typically voted on together. Adams did not say why she opposed the allocation and later declined to explain her vote.

'Taxpayers should not be subsidizing illegal aliens in any way,' Oltman said. 'Assisting illegal aliens to find jobs, or anything, is in fact against the law.'

Cohen said, 'We did the research, and he's absolutely wrong.'

He said the Internal Revenue Service allows employers to pay each temporary employee up to $1,700 per year tax-free without asking for documentation. He said state law allows employers to pay each temporary employee up to $3,000 per year with a maximum of $750 per quarter.

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14.
San Pablo residents urged to make census count for them
By Tom Lochner
The Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA), October 7, 2009
http://www.contracostatimes.com/san-pablo/ci_13507328?source=rss&nclick_check=1

With the start of Census 2010 just months away, officials of the federal population-tallying agency urged residents in San Pablo this week to stand up and be counted, regardless of their immigration status, so that the city and the region get their fair share of federal dollars and representation in Congress.

San Pablo is Contra Costa's only Hispanic-majority city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2005-07 American Community Survey. It is a so-called 'hard-to-count' community, with a sizable component of illegal immigrants, some of whom may fear the Census is a ruse to entice them to come forward and enable immigration authorities to deport them more easily. Dianne Smith, partnership specialist for the Oakland Local Census Office, took pains to debunk that notion, noting that the census is confidential and that officials who breach confidentiality face -- at least theoretically -- five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Smith's presentation to the City Council was part of an ongoing U.S. Census Bureau outreach effort that will include setting up local and regional Complete Count Committees and, in communities such as San Pablo, Questionnaire Assistance Centers manned by residents. The U.S. Census Bureau also will recruit volunteer 'Trusted Messengers' among faith and community groups who can convince skeptics that the Census is something to embrace, not fear.

'This is not a count of citizens,' Smith said. 'It's a count of residents.'

Anything funded through federal dollars -- for example the distribution of the vaccine against the swine flu virus -- is based on a head count, she said. Distribution of more than $400 billion a year of federal tax funds will be affected by results of the 2010 Census, Smith said.

Census officials earlier this year attended community celebrations such as the state and county fairs, Smith said, although she conceded that the agency missed out on Cinco de Mayo, a premier forum to reach out to Latinos. There was no U.S. Census presence this year at Cinco de Mayo celebrations in San Pablo and Richmond, where numerous organizations seized the opportunity, among them the Oakland Athletics, which promoted their Sept. 19 A's Hispanic Heritage Day at its booth at Richmond's Cinco de Mayo bash on 23rd Street.

With dozens of Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the Bay Area, there just weren't enough census workers to dispatch to all of them, Smith said.

The San Pablo Council did some of its own community outreach this week, taking its meeting on the road to Downer Elementary School as part of a new policy of civic engagement that arose from a council goal-setting retreat earlier this year. Magdalena Brown, a West Contra Costa Unified School District interpreter, stood by with radio receivers in case anyone needed her to provide a simultaneous translation of the proceedings into Spanish or Portuguese, even Guarani, an indigenous language of Paraguay.

Officials sent about 1,300 e-mails to Downer families and neighborhood residents announcing Tuesday's council meeting, said Deputy City Clerk Lehny Corbin. About two dozen members of the public showed up Tuesday; meetings at City Hall rarely draw more than a handful. Corbin said there could be future council meetings at other San Pablo schools.

Among other innovations of Census 2010, forms will be available in six languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian, Smith said; promotional materials will be in 19 languages.

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15.
No students removed after crackdown
By Jennifer Killin
The Del Rio News-Herald (TX), October 7, 2009
http://www.delrionewsherald.com/story.lasso?ewcd=6bde228bef322b9c

No children were removed from public school classes following a crackdown on students caught crossing the border during the morning of Sept. 9.

When immigration inspectors at the port between Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mex. reported that more than 500 school age children had crossed the bridge on a Monday prior, San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Kelt Cooper decided to take action.

Cooper says under state law students are required to live within the district where they attend school with few exceptions, but the information provided by immigration officials seemed to indicate many were not abiding by the rules.

So, on Sept. 9, Cooper sent district staff to the bridge to intercept students and direct them, through a letter handed to parents, to the district's pupil services office to verify residency under threat of removal from school.

Of the 195 student identified by district personnel that morning, Cooper said roughly 150 immediately proved residency.

'Ninety five percent of our students were easily found in compliance,' said Cooper.

He said a handful simply never returned to school and the remaining students who did not report to pupil services Sept. 9 have been identified and the district is working to verify their residency.

Though news of Cooper's actions circulated nationwide, and became a discussion of race and immigration status, he says that has no bearing on his decisions.

'It comes down to residency. Our system operates on tax dollars and it would be disingenuous for us to continue billing the taxpayer for educating students in our district illegally,' said Cooper.

'We don't have the latitude to apply a moral standard on this and bill the taxpayer.'

Children crossing the Rio Grande to attend school is nothing new and is something Cooper, who was born, raised and spent most of his career in border communities, has seen before.

In 2002 Cooper, then the superintendent of the Nogales school district in Arizona, was among a charge in that state to weed Mexico residents out of its school systems.

'This has been going on for decades,' said Cooper in September.

'It's a game of cat and mouse and it's not specific to Del Rio.'

In fact, Cooper says residency requirements present problems for school districts across the state, not just along the Mexico border.

In bigger central Texas cities like Austin and San Antonio, parents will circumvent residency requirements to get their children into top notch schools, said Cooper, which can lead to overcrowded classrooms and a drain on resources.

Even in Del Rio, many parents send their children to Comstock Independent School District in western Val Verde County for an education.

Cooper said there is nothing wrong with that, so long as the receiving school district has space and accepts the student.

'Because they are within the state, the money follows the child,' said Cooper.

It's when students reside outside the state that it becomes a problem.

'I spoke with a superintendent along the Texas-Louisiana border and he's having similar problems,' said Cooper.

Keeping up with where a child lives is essential to the district for many reasons. Even if a student moves from one area of town to another, it is important to know that information as it helps the district determine where more teachers are needed or where new school should be built, explained Cooper.

But tracking that information from year-to-year is a challenge, and something that hasn't been done adequately in Del Rio for some time, said Cooper.

Some districts require students to register for school every year and provide residency information at that time, but Cooper said that would be cost prohibitive in a district with more than 10,000 students such as San Felipe Del Rio, which only requires students to register once and asks parents to keep information updated as it changes.

Cooper said often the district doesn't learn that a child's information has changed until an emergency arises.

'We might have a child that falls and breaks an arm and we can't locate the parent or guardian,' said Cooper. 'It's usually during those types of situations that we learn of living arrangement changes, when a district official tries to locate that parent and discovers they don't live where they said.'

Clearing up the residency issue is one that will be difficult, but Cooper said his administration is brainstorming ways to make it easier and more efficient, and hopes to present ideas to the school board in the near future.

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16.
H-1B bill unlikely to come up in Congress, says Nasscom
The issues raised in the bill proposed by Durbin and Grassley will now be incorporated into the comprehensive immigration reform bill
By Lison Joseph
Livemint.com, October 8, 2009
http://www.livemint.com/2009/10/08005635/H1B-bill-unlikely-to-come-up.html

Mumbai, India -- A National Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said on its return from the US on Tuesday that a so-called Durbin-Grassley bill is unlikely to be presented for Congressional hearing in its current form

'We met with the senators and other stake holders and we can confidently say that the bill will not go for Congressional hearing in its current form,' said Ameet Nivsarkar, vice president at Nasscom, who was part of the team

'The issues raised in the bill proposed by Durbin and Grassley will now be incorporated into the comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced by another Senator Charles E Schumer, which is expected to come up for hearing in January or February of 2010,' he said. Senator Schumer represents New York state and is chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee.

The ‘H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act’, co-sponsored by Senators Richard J. Durbin (Illinois) and Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) earlier this year aimed to 'overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to give priority to American workers and crack down on unscrupulous employers who deprive qualified Americans of high-skill jobs.'

Among other things, the bill proposed that companies with at least 50% foreign workforce in the US be prevented from seeking more work visas, besides mandatory requirement to advertise jobs in government-specified publications before seeking a visa for a foreign worker. Indian engineers on temporary work visas constitute at least 80% of the workforce at most of the leading Indian information technology services firms operating in the US. However, following rising protectionist rhetoric in the US due to the recession there, Indian companies have started increasing local hiring.

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17.
Angry Chicago immigration reform activists heading to DC to lobby
By Jessica Binsch
The Medill Reports (Northwestern University, Chicago), October 7, 2009
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=141347

Immigration reform activists will travel to Washington next week to make their case to lawmakers.

Emma Lozano, founder of Sin Fronteras and one of the trip’s organizers, said the Latino community feels frustrated with a Democratic administration that hasn’t made good on campaign promises to Hispanic voters.

'Instead of the comprehensive immigration reform that we were promised,' Lozano said, 'the deportations, raids and separation of families have increased under the Obama administration and a Democratic majority. Therefore, the Latino community is angry.'

Lozano estimated about 300 people will be joining the trip that starts Monday evening. Participants will meet with lawmakers and lobby for immigration reform. In addition to Sin Fronteras, a number of groups within the Reform Immigration for America National Coalition are taking part.

'This is our final notice,' Lozano said.

Illinois U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago) is expected to announce details of a new immigration reform bill on Tuesday. His office declined to give further information on Wednesday, preferring to wait until next week's announcement.

Illinois has long been a destination for immigrants to the U.S.

A 2008 report by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press estimated that 11.9 million unauthorized immigrants live in the U.S., around 450,000 of them in Illinois.

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18.
Meeting to be held for man facing deportation
The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, MA), October 7, 2009
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_13506454

Great Barrington, MA -- Community members supporting the Albaro Francisco, a Great Barrington restaurateur facing deportation to his home country of Mexico, will meet on Saturday to support the man's case.

Francisco, the co-owner of Taqueria Azteca restaurant on Main Street, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents just over a week ago. Francisco is charged with being in the country illegally, and is reportedly being held in Springfield, pending a disposition of his case, according to a source.

According to a press release sent out through the Berkshire Immigrant Center on Wednesday, people interested in supporting Albaro's case are encouraged to attend a community meeting at The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington this Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Francisco, who is Mexican, has been in the United States for more than 20 years. In addition to running the restaurant, he's known as disc jockey 'DJ Albaro' in Berkshire County. Francisco is also a well-known community activist who has donated his cooking and musical skills to a host of charitable causes in the region over the years.

According to the press release, the Berkshire Immigrant Center and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) calls for the community to 'turn outrage into action' in terms of supporting Francisco and overall immigration law reform.

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19.
Immigration should not affect H1N1 vaccine supply
The KVOA News (Tucson, AZ), October 8, 2009
http://www.kvoa.com/news/immigration-should-not-affect-h1n1-vaccine-supply

This week the H1N1 vaccine is starting to trickle into clinics in Arizona. In border communities some are concerned that the supply will be diminished by Mexican nationals crossing the border for a shot.

Every day Mexicans cross the border both legally and illegally. They come here to work, to shop, and sometimes to seek medical care.

'They come over if they feel the treatment is better than Mexico,' says Kevin Irvine Santa Cruz County Emergency Services

As H1N1 vaccines start to trickle into clinics across the US, some wonder if Mexican nationals will come across to get a shot too.

'We're not promoting that. We're promoting the flu shot in Mexico,' says Sonora's Secretary of Health Bernardo Campillo Garcia. He says H1N1 vaccines should be available in Mexico by the end of the month.

The country is expecting 30 million doses.

And the Mexican government is spreading the same message we're hearing in the US: stay home if you're sick and practice good hygiene.

'It's not much different between Arizona and Sonora we have very close numbers,' Campillo Garcia says.

Santa Cruz County says H1N1 vaccines should start coming into the county this week. The county isn't expecting those who give the shot to check immigration status before they roll up they're sleeve.

'They're pretty much there to provide medical service and assistance to people coming into their facilities. So what they chose to do is what they chose in a situation,' Irvine says.

The health department says more and more doses of the vaccine will arrive week by week. And there will be plenty to go around for those who want the vaccine.

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20.
Sex Slavery Thrives In Shadows Created by Immigration Policy
The South Carolina News, October 7, 2009
http://news.sc/2009/10/07/sex-slavery-thrives-in-shadows-created-by-immigration-policy/

In his east Charlotte apartment less than a mile from Windsor Park Elementary, Jorge Flores Rojas created a religious shrine to a mystical figure known as the patron saint of death, who is said to protect pimps and other criminals.

Each day, Flores prayed to Santa Muerte, or 'Saint Death,' joined by the teenage girls whom he forced to have sex with as many as 20 men a day.

Flores, 45, was a notorious operator in a city that has become a center for sex trafficking along the East Coast.
Local and federal authorities are not sure how extensive the Charlotte sex rings have become. They say Flores’ ring brought in hundreds of young women each year to work as prostitutes.

Flores was convicted of trafficking in April. But authorities say other pimps in Charlotte continue to prey on young girls from poor countries.

The growth is so extensive that this month ICE stationed a team of agents in Charlotte to focus on human trafficking, smuggling and exploitation. Across the Carolinas, immigrant sex rings have been broken up in Monroe, Durham and Columbia.

Jennifer Stuart, a staff attorney for Legal Aid of North Carolina, says her office has seen a 'sharp increase' in trafficking case referrals the last few months.

Federal agents say Flores, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, picked up vans full of eight to 10 young women each week outside the McDonald’s on West Sugar Creek Road near Interstate 85, where other traffickers had brought them. Others, he smuggled in directly from Latin America.

Two pairs of children’s sneakers, pink and green, now sit outside Flores’ old apartment off Sharon Amity Road near Eastland Mall. It was one of two apartments where, just a year ago, he hid his teenage victims.
Authorities say he brought customers there, but mostly took the girls to hotels and brothels set up around the city.

He favored teenagers because he could charge more. Clients paid $25 to $30 for 15 minutes with one of the girls. One teenage victim testified in court that, on many occasions, Flores would drive her to a house or an apartment where men would be waiting.

An undercover agent says the teenagers would be made to have sex with up to 100 men a week.

To keep a fresh cycle of women in Charlotte, Flores traded with traffickers, including relatives, in Washington, D.C., and New York.

In November 2007, court documents say, he 'sold' at least two teenagers from Mexico to Yaneth Martinez, a D.C. madam, who advertised her services with cards offering 'Hair Cuts for Men Only.'

Martinez worked the girls in the capital city and gave Flores a cut of the profits. A month later, she returned them to him.

Their business relationship worked like this for more than a year, federal authorities said. Then, Flores took a liking to Martinez’s teenage daughter.

He asked her if she’d work with him. She refused. Flores didn’t give up.

He later called the girl’s cell phone and asked her to meet him. He threatened to hurt her mother if she didn’t.

She agreed to meet him. She hoped he only wanted to talk, but Flores threw her in his car, authorities said.

Martinez tipped off a women’s center in Washington that her daughter had been kidnapped. The center contacted authorities.

On Feb. 7, 2008, ICE agents stormed Flores’ apartment in Charlotte. He wasn’t there, but authorities arrested him a day later in Myrtle Beach. He had brought some of his victims to South Carolina because they had become 'overused' in Charlotte, according to court records.

Martinez’s daughter spent about three weeks as Flores’ captive. Authorities say he raped her repeatedly. He forced her to have sex with dozens of men.

He stuffed her underwear in a small glass vase on his shrine. They prayed together to Santa Muerte.
If you run away, the saint will punish you, he told her.

Charlotte is particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. It’s the largest city between Atlanta and Washington, D.C., at the junction of two interstate highways.

In addition, the size of the city’s illegal immigrant community allows pimps like Flores to conceal their activities.
As with past waves of immigrants, many of the Latinos are men who left their families to find work. Many victims were lured here with promises of other jobs.

The women are often in the country illegally and dependent on their captors for food and shelter. They’re easy to coerce.

Thousands of victims

The FBI estimates that some 18,000 people are trafficked into the United States for sex or forced labor. About a fourth end up in the Southeast; thousands come to the Carolinas.

Most victims of the sex rings are from Latin America, others from Asia and Eastern Europe.

One girl forced into prostitution thought she was coming to North Carolina to be a nanny, says Stuart of Legal Aid, which gives free legal services to low-income people.

Another 14-year-old from Mexico, who thought she was to work at a restaurant, was forced to have sex with men in Greenville, S.C., Columbia and Charlotte.

Martinez’s daughter is like any other teenager, said her attorney Christopher Nugent of Washington. She enjoys her iPod and loves to shop. She often draws the dresses she’d like to wear.

In court, she asked if she could answer questions without looking at Flores.

His Charlotte attorney, Lucky Osho, said his client admits arranging women to have sex with men. But he said no one was kidnapped or forced to have sex against her will. Osho said Martinez’s daughter was working for Flores in return for some of his women working for Martinez.

Flores told authorities that Martinez ran the sex ring.

Martinez’s attorney, Lane Williamson, said his client did help Flores’ girls find work, but that she did not coerce them. Williamson said Martinez was herself a victim, forced into prostitution earlier in life.

ICE is bringing in more agents and another supervisor to work on its new trafficking team. Victims will not be targeted for arrest or deportation, Special Agent Richburg said. Instead they will be offered special visas in exchange for their help prosecuting traffickers.

In April, Flores pleaded guilty to sex trafficking involving a minor and was sentenced to 24 years, after which he will be deported. He is currently in a federal prison in South Carolina. In July, Martinez pleaded guilty to transporting individuals for prostitution and was sentenced to time served. She will be deported to Honduras.

Martinez’s daughter is doing much better, Nugent said. She’s living with a foster family. She is getting a special green card for abused or abandoned children.

She wants to go to college and be a lawyer.

Two other girls found with Flores at the time of his arrest were also placed with foster families through a Charlotte women’s center, authorities said.

The center arranged medical care and new clothes. ICE agents arranged work permits.

Before the permits arrived, the girls disappeared.

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21.
Charges dropped against 2 men in prayer vigil
The Associated Press, October 7, 2009
http://www.kswt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11274177

Green Valley, AZ (AP) -- Charges have been dropped against two men arrested for conducting a prayer vigil at the U.S.-Mexico border in August.

Quaker peace activist, 54-year-old John Heid and 72-year-old Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Jerome Zawada, were headed for trial Wednesday in Green Valley.

The Tucson men were cited Aug. 6 for refusing to leave a communications tower along the virtual fence west of Arivaca where they were praying about deaths of migrants in the desert.

Heid said he was 'disappointed' the charges were dropped and hoped to ask in court why the government wasn't investigating the deaths of illegal immigrants crossing the desert.

The Border Patrol reported at least 207 deaths of people presumed to be illegal immigrants in the 2009 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

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22.
Man sentenced for raping child
Illegal immigrant sentenced to two 22-year sentences
By Tom Smith
The Times Daily (Florence, AL), October 6, 2009
http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20091006/ARTICLES/910065008

Russellville, AL -- A Franklin County man accused of raping and abusing a 10-year-old girl has been sentenced to two 22-year sentences, authorities said.

Gilberto R. Avarado, 34, 980 Franklin 60, Russellville, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree rape, according to Franklin Courthouse officials.

Avarado was arrested on the charges June 5, 2008.

Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said the plea agreement was reached after discussing the case with the victim's family. He said the girl's mother approved the agreement based on the child's age. 'As well as not wanting to put her through the difficulty of her having to testify at trial,' Rushing said.

Avarado was accused of abusing the child, who was an acquaintance.

Authorities said Avarado was sexually abusing the child for at least two years. The abuse was reported to the Franklin County Department of Human Resources, which contacted the sheriff's office.

'DHR and the (Cramer) Children's Center played a big part in this case,' Rushing said. 'Both agencies did an excellent job in interviewing the victim.'

Courthouse officials said Avarado was charged with rape and sexual abuse charges at the time of his arrest. Additional charges were added by a grand jury in September 2008.

The other charges were dismissed upon his pleading guilty to the two first-degree rape charges, authorities said. First-degree rape is a Class A felony and carries a penalty of 10 years to life.

Rushing said Avarado's sentences will run concurrently.

Investigators said Avarado has been in jail without bail since his arrest because he was deemed a possible flight risk - he had been in Franklin County illegally for at least 10 years.

Courthouse officials said because of his residential status, a hold has been placed on him by the U.S. Department of Immigration since he is an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. Rushing said it is his understanding that Avarado is scheduled to be deported once he completes his prison sentence.

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23.
N.C. soldiers plead guilty to marriage fraud
Scam to wed immigrant brides was hatched at Fort Bragg; prison terms could be up to 5 years.
By Mandy Locke
The Charlotte Observer (NC), October 7, 2009

Greenville, NC -- Fort Bragg soldiers and Central Asian immigrants staged courtships and marriages to reap the benefits America gives those who get hitched, according to federal investigators.

The scheme has landed several young soldiers and three foreign brides in federal court. This week, two of the soldiers and one of the brides pleaded guilty to marriage fraud - a crime that could land each in prison for as long as five years.

By marrying an American, the women, immigrants from Russia and nearby countries, could stay in the United States indefinitely. The soldiers would rack up extra pay afforded to married military members so they might live off base.
. . .
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/988685.html

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24.
Kingsville man faces immigrant smuggling charges
By Susan McFarland
The Caller Times (Corpus Christi, TX), October 7, 2009

Corpus Christi, TX -- A Kingsville man faces federal charges after authorities said he tried to smuggle four Mexican nationals across the border.
. . .
http://www.caller.com/news/2009/oct/07/kingsville-man-faces-immigrant-smuggling-charges/

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25.
Man accused of holding immigrant for ransom
By Erin Mulvaney
The Austin American Statesman, October 7, 2009

A man was charged with smuggling a juvenile from Mexico into the United States with the intent to hold him for ransom Tuesday, Austin police said in an arrest affidavit.
. . .
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2009/10/07/man_accused_of_holding_immigra.html

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26.
Offenses against kids get three arrested by agents
The Sierra Vista Herald (AZ), October 7, 2009

Border Patrol agents from the Douglas station on Monday arrested three illegal alien males from Mexico; all with criminal records for various offenses against children, authorities said. The arrests occurred in three separate incidents.

All three discoveries resulted from record checks using a fingerprint registry.
. . .
http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2009/10/07/offenses-against-kids-get-three-arrested-agents

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International News

1. Canada: Province’s labour entity to probe mistreatment claims
2. Cayman Islands: Work permit fees to bolster gov't budget
3. Ireland: Activists call for immigrant suffrage
4. Spain: Boatful of illegal aliens rescued (link)
5. Netherlands: Gov't to face European Court over student grants
6. Netherlands: Immigrant students to meet standard exam requirements
7. Italy: Governing coalition members seek ban on burqas
8. Italy: Groups praise acquittal of immigrant activists
9. Iraq: 20 families displaced by Saddam repatriate
10. Sri Lanka: NGO to open Korean language school
11. S. Korea: Bill would require fingerprinting of foreigners
12. Thailand: Effort to register foreign kids hailed by advocates
13. Indonesia: Authorities bust visa fraud racket
14. Philippines: Helpline established for ex-pats violating visas abroad
15. Australia: Imm. Min. to visit offshore detention facility
16. Australia: Opposition attacks gov't over asylum policies

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

-- Mark Krikorian]

1.
Foreign-worker mistreatment triggers probe
The CBC News (Canada), October 7, 2009
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/10/07/071009-labour-mistreatment-investigation.html

Manitoba's Department of Labour has opened an investigation into the case of four Filipino workers who say they faced intimidation and broken promises after being recruited to work in Canada.

A CBC News investigation revealed this week that Glenn Syping, Imelda Campecino, Mercedes Comia and Alan Acar each paid a Niagara Falls, Ont., employment recruiter $3,000 to get to Canada, plus nearly $1,700 each in airfare in July.

They were told their employer — a family that owns Wendy's fast-food restaurants in Regina and Brandon, Man. — would reimburse their travel and health-care insurance costs, but they are still out the fee paid to the recruiting agency.

The workers also had to have the Labour Department recover other money for them, including unpaid labour, holiday pay and overtime.

Under a Manitoba law governing the treatment of temporary foreign workers passed earlier this year, the recruitment fee would be illegal.

But the workers were originally recruited to Saskatchewan, which does not have a law prohibiting such fees. The Ontario recruiter passed them to a Saskatchewan immigration consultant, who set them up with the Wendy's franchisee. The employees were then moved to the Brandon location not long after they started work.

Another of the workers' grievances was that their paycheques were docked to rent a home owned by the franchisee, Jordan Trotter.

When they complained about how they were being treated, they were threatened with the cancellation of their work permits and deportation, they said.

Trotter told CBC News the workers were only brought to Brandon temporarily for training. But the workers said they were asked to sign a lease agreement in Brandon and provide a year's worth of post-dated rent cheques.

Trotter also said he paid the Saskatchewan immigration consultant, Walter Garchinski, a substantial sum of money for his services.

Garchinski, a former employee of the Saskatchewan government's immigration branch, refused to discuss the case, citing confidentiality reasons.

Manitoba Labour Minister Nancy Allan said it's not uncommon for workers to get trapped in schemes concocted by unscrupulous recruiters to bend Manitoba's immigration rules.

'They're trying to get around the rules in Manitoba. So if you're unscrupulous enough, you're going to go to another jurisdiction,' Allan said.

Allan said Monday she's spoken with Saskatchewan Labour Minister Rob Norris.

She said Norris is working with Manitoba officials to implement foreign-worker treatment legislation there.

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2.
Immigration fees hit across board
By Brent Fuller
The Cay Compass (Cayman Islands), October 7, 2009
http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=10386094

Increases in work permit fees alone are expected to raise an additional $7.7 million in the Cayman Islands government’s current budget proposal.

But those work permit charges do not even make up the majority of the $15 million the government projects it will earn from permit fees on non–Caymanian residents over the next eight months.

According to budget documents examined by the Caymanian Compass, revenues from work permit fees were expected to go from an estimated $38 million in the last budget to $45.8 million in the current plan – an increase of more than 20 per cent.

That would mean work permit fees make up roughly eight per cent of central government’s total revenue in the 2009/10 budget.

A specific fee schedule that shows how much the cost of each permit would go up has not been released by the government, but that schedule was expected to be ratified by Cabinet as part of changes to regulations in the Immigration Law.

The work permit fee hikes are being augmented by a slew of other immigration–related charges, some of which have not appeared in the government’s annual budget previously.

These charges include the following:

*A $50,000 revenue increase in Caymanian status fees.

*Some $1.75 million in new issuance fees for Residency and Employment Rights Certificates. These are generally obtained by spouses of Caymanians who want to work in Cayman.

*$143,000 in new fees for Residency and Employment Rights Certificates for dependants of Caymanians; those are children, parents, etc.

*$600,000 in revenues from fees charged to spouses of Caymanians who apply for residency and employment rights.

*$300,000 is anticipated from those who are allowed to live here under the law as 'persons of independent means' – retirees who do not have the right to work. These fees have been charged before but were abandoned by the previous administration.

*Another $100,000 is expected to be raised for temporary work permit fees charged to entertainers who come to Cayman for a short period of time for concerts, entertainment acts, etc.

*Permanent residents, foreigners who have been granted the right to live in Cayman for the rest of their lives, are also charged an annual fee to continue working in the Islands. Those fees are expected to increase revenues in the newly proposed budget by $2 million over the last spending plan.

Money collected from permanent residents’ yearly work permit fees has more than doubled in the last two years, according to budget documents.

Financial Secretary Ken Jefferson told the Legislative Assembly last week that all categories of work permits would see fees increased, except for those for domestic helpers.

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3.
Call for voting rights for established immigrants
By Ruadhan Mac Cormaic
The Irish Times, October 8, 2009
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1008/1224256168896.html

The right to vote in national elections should be extended to established immigrants who have been granted long-term residence status, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

Fidèle Mutwarasibo of the Immigrant Council of Ireland said almost 15 per cent of the State's workforce were immigrants who had 'no voice or say' in Irish affairs at national level.

'This situation does not just give rise to the moral questions related to representation but also to practical ones. Exclusion and denial of a voice can have negative consequences in terms of self-enclosed and marginalised groups emerging,' he said.

This 'democratic deficit' could be overcome by extending the franchise in national elections to those who had secured long-term residence status, which is available to immigrants from outside the European Economic Area who have been legally resident in the State for five years or more. Similarly, EU nationals and their family members are eligible for permanent residence status after a five-year period of uninterrupted residence in the State.

Addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, Denise Charlton, chief executive of the council, suggested that shortcomings in the citizenship application process were hindering efforts to increase minority ethnic participation in national politics. Candidates for election to the Dáil must be Irish citizens.

She argued that the high refusal rate for naturalisation applications, which was 47 per cent in 2008, was partly due to the absence of 'clear rules and clear access' for applicants.

Cllr Rotimi Adebari suggested that one of the 11 Senators nominated by the Taoiseach should be an immigrant and that the voting age should be lowered to 17 years.

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4.
Andalucía : Costa de Almería
Typically Spanish, October 8, 2009

A boatload of illegal immigrants were rescued early on Thursday as they were sailing adrift and in danger of sinking six miles off the south western shore of Punta de la Polacra in Cabo de Gata. There were 12 male adults on board the five metre boat, which was in such a bad condition after the trip by sea that it could not be towed by the Civil Guard vessel which found them after the migrants were spotted by the SIVE electronic surveillance system.
. . .
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_23391.shtml

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5.
Holland in EU dock over student grants
The Dutch News, October 8, 2009
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2009/10/holland_in_eu_dock_over_studen.php

The European Commission is to take the Netherlands to court over its insistence students spend at least three of the past six years in the Netherlands to qualify for financial help with studying abroad.

The commission says this residency rule goes against European rules on the free movement of goods and people. 'Migrant workers and their families should enjoy the same social advantages as nationals,' the commission said on Thursday. 'Study financing awarded to students for maintenance is a social advantage which should be granted without discrimination.'

The Netherlands has refused to change the regulations because it says it wants to stop the student grant system being abused.

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6.
No more privileges for immigrant students
Expatica, October 8, 2009
http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/dutch-news/No-more-privileges-for-immigrant-students_57061.html

Immigrant children sitting for their secondary school exams will no longer be granted free points and be allowed to make more mistakes.

Immigrant children taking secondary school exams will no longer receive preferential treatment of being allowed to make more mistakes, said Deputy Education Minister Marja van Bijsterveldt in a report published by AD.

The deputy minister’s decision comes after questions in parliament were raised following a report in AD.

The newspaper pointed out children of immigrants who have lived in the Netherlands for no longer than six years and whose native language is not Dutch, are allowed to make more mistakes in their tests.

Under the old system that was introduced in 1987, immigrant students in secondary schools were allowed to make more mistakes than native Dutch students before points were deducted.

The new change means that there will be consistent grading between immigrant and Dutch students. Immigrant students can continue to use a dictionary, and will be granted more time to finish their test. These are the same rules which apply to Dutch students suffering from dyslexia.

The measure will only affect between 200 and 300 students in secondary education, said van Bijsterveldt.

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7.
Berlusconi allies seek to ban burqas in Italy
By Antonella Ciancio
Reuters, October 8, 2009
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43022220091008?sp=true

Milan (Reuters) -- Italy's anti-immigration Northern League party is pushing for legislation to prosecute women who cover their faces with burqas and veils, prompting a new debate on Muslims' religious freedom in the Catholic country.

The Northern League, allies of conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, want to amend a 1975 law, introduced amid worries over homegrown guerrilla groups, which punishes with hefty fines and up to two years in jail people covering their faces with anything preventing their identification by police.

Roberto Cota, head of the Northern League deputies who signed the proposal, said it was motivated by security concerns.

It would extend an existing partial ban on face-covering clothing to include 'garments worn for reasons of religious affiliation', and removes the expression 'justified cause' which has prompted some courts to allow them on religious grounds.

The League's proposal is creating more controversy surrounding the ruling coalition which is under pressure after a high court lifted Berlusconi's immunity from trials and a spate of sex scandals surrounding the prime minister's life.

Mario Scialoja, a retired Italian diplomat who sits on the board of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Italy, warned against passing a law that would stigmatise Muslims.

'A ban (on the burqa) would be xenophobic and discriminatory. The existing law should be enforced,' Scialoja told Reuters, urging Italian authorities to treat women with respect. 'We say no to a new law'.

Religious Freedom

The draft legislation is hotly opposed by the centre-left opposition as well as among Italy's roughly 1.2 million Muslims, almost two percent of the mainly Catholic population.

Donatella Ferranti, a member of the opposition Democratic Party, criticised the plan as 'unconstitutional because it infringes on religious freedom'.

Barbara Pollastrini, former centre-left minister for equal opportunities, said the current legislation was sufficient, but needed to be more effectively enforced because the burqa 'conveys a message of violation of women's human rights'.

The burqa, a garment which covers women from head to foot, is not prescribed by the Koran, Scialoja explained.

Barbara Saltamartini, responsible for equal opportunities in Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, said 'Muslim women have the right to their own identity and the burqa is not part of the Muslim tradition'.

Berlusconi's centre-right coalition has clashed with the Muslim community in the past over its opposition to the construction of new mosques.

France, whose five million Muslims make up Europe's largest Islamic minority, banned Muslim headscarves in state schools in 2004 and a recent proposal for a burqa ban has sparked outcry in the Muslim world.

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8.
Rights groups cheer Italian migrant decision
Euronews, October 8, 2009
http://www.euronews.net/2009/10/08/rights-groups-cheer-italian-migrant-decision/

Human rights groups have welcomed the acquittal in Italy of German charity workers charged with helping illegal immigrants in the Mediterranean. Three members of the Cap Anamur relief organisation were cleared in what’s being seen as a vindication of human rights. They were arrested in 2004 after picking up 37 people drifting helplessly at sea, and taking them to Sicily.

'It appears that such trials are aimed at sending out a signal to ships that they should not rescue people,' said Elias Bierdel from the Cap Anamur Aid Society. 'That is a terrible perversion of justice, a terrible reversal of European values.'

Italy initially turned the ship away, but relented and let her dock when her captain issued an emergency signal. Cap Anamur said the boat people were mainly from war-torn Sudan, but Italy rejected appeals for asylum and deported them.

This summer, new Italian laws made it a crime to be an illegal immigrant, or to offer help. Campaigners say tough anti-immigration laws in Europe put lives at risk.

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9.
Families exiled by Saddam return to Iraq
The Associated Press, October 8, 2009

Baghdad (AP) -- An Iraqi immigration official says 20 families who were sent into exile in Iran by Saddam Hussein following a failed uprising have returned to Iraq.

The head of immigration and displaced persons in Basra says the families crossed the border Thursday into southern Iraq.

Atheer Kamil says the families, about 250 people, are mostly from Basra. They are the first of two groups that will arrive this week, he added.

The families were exiled following their involvement in a failed uprising against Saddam in 1991. The families settled into refugee caps on the Iranian border.
. . .
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD9B706UO1

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10.
Sri Lanka Opens First Korean Language School
The Korea Times, October 8, 2009
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/117_53166.html

A civic group based in Seoul said Thursday it will operate a Korean language school in cooperation with the government of Sri Lanka.

The Global Sharing of Love, an NGO which has been initiating a movement to build schools in underdeveloped countries, will meet with Sri Lankan officials in November to further discuss the ``Korea Wish School Project.''

The initiative includes the construction of a primary school, a Korean language school, a computer training institute and a hospital. There are many people in Sri Lanka who wish to work in Korea and they are eager to learn Korean, according to the NGO.

The organization has been actively involved with promoting the rights of migrant workers from Southeast Asian countries.

``For the last 26 years, Sri Lanka has suffered a civil war and foreign NGOs have been unwelcome. However, the central government of Sri Lanka is fully behind our project,'' an official with the organization said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised various administrative incentives such as free land lease to the NGO.

Asia is increasingly showing an interest in learning Korean. Recently, a small Indonesian tribe decided to adopt Korean letters as their official means of written communication.

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11.
Fingerprinting for foreigners
Agence France Press, October 8, 2009
http://travel.iafrica.com/bulletinboard/1944120.htm

South Korea will demand fingerprints from all adult foreign visitors by 2012 to tighten immigration controls and prevent criminals entering the country, officials said this week.

The justice ministry said a bill to be submitted to parliament next month requires foreigners aged over 17 to provide prints of their index fingers and an identity photograph upon entry.

Those intending to stay more than three months must provide full fingerprints in addition to the photo.

South Korea previously took fingerprints of foreigners intending to stay for more than a year. The requirement was abolished in 2004.

'A database of physical information on foreigners is urgently needed to stop illegal immigrants, criminals and terrorists from entering the country,' said Lee Bok-Nam, an immigration official at the justice ministry.

Crimes by foreigners rose nearly fivefold over the past eight years from 4328 in 2001 to 20 624 last year, JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported Tuesday, quoting national police data.

But tourism officials expressed concern about a negative impact on their industry.

'It will undoubtedly dent our efforts to attract even one more single foreign tourist here and to boost our tourism industry,' an official of the Korea National Tourism Organisation told AFP, declining to be named.

Seoul has declared 2010-2012 'Visit Korea' years, seeking to attract 10 million foreign tourists a year and earn 10 billion dollars in foreign currency in the first year.

The fingerprinting of foreign visitors has been in place in the United States and Japan following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Last year Britain started fingerprinting visitors from non-European Union countries.

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12.
Thailand’s proposal to register migrant children welcomed
By Usa Pichai
Mizzima (India), October 8, 2009
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/2878-thailands-proposal-to-register-migrant-children-welcomed-.html

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has welcomed Thailand’s proposal to register children of migrant workers from Burma, Laos and Cambodia pointing out it is a positive sign in terms of rights of children.

'The registration will provide opportunities for them [the children] to access more public services such as medical service and education. However, we have to wait for the details of the regulation,' Adisorn Kerdmongkol, Advocacy and Research Officer of IRC said on Thursday.

Sompong Srakaew, Director of Labour Promotion Network, Samut Sakorn-based organization, who works closely with migrant workers in the area, said they have urged the government of Thailand to proceed with the plan for a while and admitted that there has been some progress in management of migrant workers.

The views came after a meeting of Foreign Workers Administration Committee, led by the Ministry of Labour agreed to propose to the cabinet to start migrant children’s registration.

Phaitoon Kaewthong, Thailand’s Minister of Labour, said the committee had a meeting on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by Maj. Gen Sanan Kajornprasat, Deputy Prime Minister.

The group agreed to start registration of children of migrant workers in the country under the age of 15. However, it needs approval from the Thailand government’s cabinet. The committee has decided to submit a proposal in the weekly cabinet meeting in the coming week.

'However, the committee proposes that the registration should be completed within a week to prevent the possibility of bringing children from outside the country for registration,' Phaitoon was quoted as saying in a report in the Thailand National News Bureau website on Wednesday.

He also added that registered children, living with their parents, will have to leave Thailand when the working documents of the parents expire.

The minister said the policy is ‘according to humanitarian principle’ and would allow registered migrant children to access basic education and medical services, adding that the main responsibility of implementing the plan will be taken up by the Minister of Interior.

In 2004, the Thai government had taken up registration for family members of migrants, but later it withdrew the policy, causing about 200,000 migrant children to live in Thailand illegally. According to the registration since 2004, it is believed that the number is on the rise.

Despite of the government’s earlier announcement to provide education to all stateless and migrant children, so far the children are still unable to access public services and continue to hide from officials because they lack any kind of status to live in the country.

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13.
NGO foils trafficking of illegal workers to India
The Jakarta Post, October 8, 2009
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/08/ngo-foils-trafficking-illegal-workers-india.html

Mataram -- An attempt to illegally send 48 Indonesians for jobs in India was foiled by an NGO in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

The Alliance Concerned for Indonesian Migrant Workers (ALIBI) said Wednesday the 48 men, from Sumbawa and Lombok, were required by their brokers to each pay Rp 5 million.

'We found the visas they held were not for work overseas, but for tourism,' NTB's ALIBI leader Andy Irwansah Saputra said.

He was suspicious that the prospective migrant workers were to be trafficked to India by a man identified only as BB, who reportedly managed to evade police arrest.

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14.
Helpline formed to help TNT Pinoys abroad
By Kimberly Jane T. Tan
The GMA News (Philippines), October 8, 2009
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/174098/helpline-formed-to-help-tnt-pinoys-abroad

Overstaying Filipinos abroad or the so-called Tago nang Tago (TNT) will hopefully be able to return to the country and thereafter legalize their stay in a specific foreign country with the help of an organization’s helpline aptly named 'Dial Hope.'

Fred Dizon, chairman and chief operating officer of the Unison League of Organizations Inc. (ULO), said they established 'Dial Hope' to be able to help Filipinos who, despite their best intentions to earn for their families, have been on the run from immigration authorities abroad.

Dizon said TNTs or overstaying Filipinos can call their hotline at (612) 863-8992 and 639205144186 or e-mail them at dialhope1@yahoo.com to tell them about their situation.

'They have to explain to us what happened to them pero walang bayad yun (but they don’t have to pay for that), it’s just a matter of trusting us,' he said.

After evaluating the case, he said they will draft a time table for the whole process – from the negotiation with immigration officials, processing of exit visa, return to the country, and the processing of their return visa as official migrants or immigrants.

The ULO chairman said their lawyer colleagues in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Canberra), Canada (Vancouver and Montreal), and the US (San Francisco and Las Vegas) will then help the TNT 'bargain' with immigration authorities.

'Pag may prison term, hindi namin sila isusurrender, di rin makukuha ng immigration sa amin yung address nila (If there is a prison term, we won’t surrender them, we also won’t give their address to the authorities),' he said.

But if they are successful, Dizon said the Filipino will only be asked to pay a fine for overstaying and will be asked to exit the country and enter again through the legal channels.

He did, however, clarify that the clients have to pay the fine themselves, plus the processing of their documents. They will only provide the assistance and service, he said.

Dizon said they have only been able to help about 13 people since they have only been informing people about their existence through word of mouth.

'Hindi naman marami ang natutulungan naming pero para sa akin, makatulong lang ng isa o dalawa, ok na yun (We haven’t been able to help a lot of people but for me, it’s enough to be able to help one or two of them, that’s enough),' he said.

The ULO is a migration consultancy firm that has been existence for more than 10 years. 'Dial Hope,' on the other hand, has only been operating for a little over a year.

In 2007, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas placed the number of Filipinos abroad at 8.7 million – 900,023 of whom are said to be 'irregular,' meaning those who are not properly documented or who have been overstaying in a foreign country.

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15.
Minister Evans to visit Christmas Island
The Australian Associated Press, October 8, 2009
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/minister-evans-to-visit-christmas-island-20091008-go5k.html

Federal Immigration Minister Chris Evans is to visit Christmas Island to inspect detention facilities and meet community leaders.

Senator Evans will arrive on the island on Thursday amid expectations more asylum seekers will try to make their way to Australia.

Of the more than 1,500 people who have arrived on the island by sea so far this year, 971 remain in detention.

'With the worsening situation in Afghanistan and ongoing problems in Sri Lanka, Australia, like other western countries, will continue to see asylum seekers coming to our shores seeking safety and protection,' Senator Evans said on Thursday.

The opposition says the recent surge in arrivals is because the Rudd government has gone soft on border protection.

However, the government maintains the problem is due to push factors stemming from conflicts and unrest.

Senator Evans said the Rudd government had no plans to alter its border protection policy.

'The Labor Party went to the last election with a commitment to maintain a system of mandatory detention and excision,' he said.

'The government has made it clear that all irregular maritime arrivals will be detained and processed at Christmas Island while health, identity and security checks are undertaken.'

Senator Evans said departmental and other agency staff on Christmas Island had coped exceptionally well with the boat arrivals.

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16.
Asylum-seeker processing 'compromised'
The Australian, October 9, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26185078-5013871,00.html

The arrest of two brothers on people-smuggling charges after they were forcibly returned to Sri Lanka shows asylum-seeker processing has been compromised, according to the federal opposition.

The brothers, who arrived illegally by boat with 10 other Sri Lankans in December, were charged by authorities when they arrived in Colombo on Sunday after being deported from Australia.

Opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone said their arrest cast serious doubt over the effectiveness of security checks and procedures carried out by immigration department officials.

Dr Stone said either security and identity checks on the men were so poor their criminal activities were not detected, or they were, in fact, legitimate asylum-seekers who had been arrested under false pretences.

'And of course, overarching both those possibilities is a lack of co-operation, it would seem, between the Sri Lankan government and the Australian officials,' he said.

'Whatever the truth, it comes back to the point of Australian official processing being significantly compromised.'

The immigration department said the claims for asylum by the men, who were held on Christmas Island, had been thoroughly investigated.

There have also been claims that some Sri Lankan boatpeople detained on Christmas Island are former Tamil Tiger rebels who could pose a security risk.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans, who visited Christmas Island yesterday, said more asylum-seekers would undoubtedly try to make their way to Australia.

Of the more than 1500 people who have arrived on the island by sea so far this year, 971 remain in detention.

'With the worsening situation in Afghanistan and ongoing problems in Sri Lanka, Australia, like other Western countries, will continue to see asylum-seekers coming to our shores seeking safety and protection,' Senator Evans said.

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