Daily news updates from CIS

October 13, 2009

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[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. DHS chief asked to sustain Border Patrol strength
2. 2010 Census count becomes latest front of debate
3. Obama’s amnesty agenda faces doubts
4. USBP reports continued trend of Chinese arrests
5. DHS combating foreign terrorists in U.S. (link)
6. IL Rep. Gutierrez to outline amnesty package
7. Congressional efforts press verification measures
8. Hawkish SC senator to seek new term (link)
9. SCOTUS hears arguments over detainees’ counsel
10. U.S. court ‘troubled’ by arrest of Guatemalan illegals
11. Study: 1.5m immigrant kids uninsured
12. CIS expert debates issue in NJ
13. MA governor's imm. panel to report next month
14. MI report to document abuse of temp. labor
15. AZ sheriff vows to continue enforcement
16. PA town police chief leading crackdown
17. LA school district facing suit over Filipino teachers
18. Activists plan for amnesty rallies (story, 3 links)
19. Evangelicals embrace pro-amnesty stance
20. Advocates fret implications of health care bills
21. ACLU accuses GA enforcement program of profiling
22. AILA appoints new director, lifelong activist (link)
23. Fewer Indian students seek U.S. schooling
24. Trial begins following massive IA meatpacking raid
25. Gangs preying on illegals crossing border
26. Marine family fights against father's deportation
27. Kidnap report leads NC police to illegals (link)
28. Bulgarian given two life terms for attempt on cop's life (link)
29. TX terror suspect’s brother granted reprieve (link)

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
Hatch Wants Border Patrol Strengthened
By Andrea Saul
The Main Street Business Journal (St. George, UT), October 12, 2009
http://www.mainstreetbusinessjournal.com/articleview.php?articlesid=4640

Washington, DC -- Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), along with Sens. Grassley, Cornyn, Kyl, Coburn, Sessions, McCain, and Hutchison, are asking Secretary Janet Napolitano 'to confirm that the current strength of 17,415 [Border Patrol] agents will be maintained or increased in fiscal year 2010.'

In an Oct. 6, 2009 letter, Hatch and his fellow co-signers asked Napolitano to provide a written response addressing recent border reports and her plans to tackle the concerns regarding border security.

'We understand the importance of sufficient manpower along both borders and have worked diligently for years to increase the number of Border Patrol agents assigned to both borders,' the senators wrote. 'Unfortunately, the most recent Government Accountability Office report on border issues (Secure Border Initiative, September 2009) acknowledges that both our southern and northern borders are still porous and easily breached.

'Such reports do not inspire confidence that the Obama administration or your Department can do an effective job managing our international borders with fewer agents on the front line. With drug trafficking, human smuggling, and cartel violence at an all-time high, we believe that we should be doing more - not less - to secure our southern border with Mexico.'

Just recently, during consideration of the Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 2892), Senator Hatch voted for two important immigration amendments that will play a significant role in addressing immigration enforcement. The amendments would require that all 700 miles of border fence with double-layer blocking barriers be funded and built. He also supported an amendment to permanently authorize the E-Verify program for verifying the immigration status of those seeking work in the United States.

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2.
Immigration Debate Boils Over to Census
By Stephanie Condon
The CBS News, October 12, 2009
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/12/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5380369.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

President Obama has yet to take on immigration reform, but the status of undocumented immigrants in the United States will become a hot topic again soon enough as a result of the 2010 census count.

Some Latino groups angered by the president's lack of action on immigration reform are calling for a boycott of the census to prove the Hispanic community's growing political leverage. Other organizations are calling for just the opposite, mobilizing to ensure that the growing minority group is accurately counted.

Meanwhile, two Republican senators will try this week to add questions regarding citizenship and immigration status to the census. Senators David Vitter (R-La.) and Robert Bennett (R-Utah) recently introduced an amendment to an appropriations bill that would bar funding for the U.S. Census Bureau unless it adds the questions to the nation's survey of the U.S. population, which takes place every ten years.

The census will have an enormous impact on communities, influencing the number of congressional representatives they get and the amount of federal dollars they receive for public works projects like roads and schools. The challenge of counting all of the nation's residents will be even more difficult next year, now that cities are dealing with depleted budgets and will have to seek out citizens who have become homeless or displaced by their own financial hardship.

The census counts everyone who lives in the country, legally or otherwise. For the first time, bilingual English-Spanish census questionnaires will be sent to about 13 million households next year.

Given that communities are granted power and money based on their population, one Latino leader is arguing that local governments should not receive those benefits unless leaders intend to represent all of their residents, including illegal immigrants.

Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, wants illegal immigrants to boycott the census, the Washington Times reports.

'The truth is that counting undocumented immigrants creates what we call ghost electoral districts, and that is completely immoral,' he told the newspaper.

The San Francisco-based Latin American Alliance for Immigrant Rights is also calling for a boycott of the census unless Congress acts to legalize undocumented immigrants before the census starts in April, according to the Oakland Tribune.

'We have to send a clear message that we don't want to be used,' said Miguel Robles, the group's director. 'If these people decide not to be counted, the cities and counties will lose a lot of money.'

This position aligns these immigrant rights groups with conservatives they are typically at odds with on the issue of immigration reform.

'We shouldn't let these states be rewarded for skirting our federal laws and this amendment would help stop this practice,' Vitter reportedly said when introducing his amendment. '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.'

Detractors of the amendment argue it would delay the census; force the government to spend more money for additional testing, printing and training; and make it less accurate.

'In a country of 308 million people, getting a complete headcount is a gargantuan undertaking even when the number of questions (now ten) is small,' write Audrey Singer and Andrew Reamer, two fellows with the Metropolitan Policy Program. 'Add a bitter politicized environment around immigration and it’s understandable why many immigrants, even those legally present, may not want to stand up to be counted.'

Other Latino and immigrant-rights groups strongly disagree with the boycott idea. In fact, a coalition of Latino groups backed by the Census Bureau are running a campaign aimed at achieving a more accurate count of Latinos in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Called 'Ya Es Hora. Hagase Contar!' (It's Time, Make Yourself Count!), the campaign is being driven by unions, grassroots organizations and Spanish-language media.

'This is the most important census for the Latino community because it's the first census in which Latinos make up the nation's second-largest population group,' Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), told the Washington Times.

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3.
Immigration debate simmers on back burner
As issue of what to do about 12 million illegal immigrants lingers, advocates in Charlotte say Obama lacks lawmakers' support for passage of a reform bill.
By Franco Ordoñez
The Charlotte Observer (NC), October 12, 2009
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/995478.html

The debate over what to do about 12 million illegal U.S. immigrants has stalled, and some reform advocates in Charlotte fear that President Obama lacks the congressional support to pass a bill anytime soon.

With immigration caught up in the debate over health care, advocates' optimism about Obama's pledge of reform has faded.

'There is a lot of fear that the immigration debate is going to be more vicious than the debate of health care,' said Rafael Prieto of Charlotte, a former Spanish-language newspaper editor. 'The president is not going to be as effusive as he has been with health care. And it's going to be so much more poisonous because there is going to be no one to defend the undocumented.'

During his 2008 campaign, Obama promised to tackle the issue during his first year in office. However, the sagging economy, two wars and the health care debate have pushed it down his priority list.

He supports a comprehensive overhaul of laws to grant illegal immigrants in good standing the chance to pay a fine and become citizens, as well as cracking down on illegal employers and tightening security on the porous Mexico border.

But he faces fierce opposition from congressional Republicans and even from many in his own party.

Voters fret about illegal immigration

Immigration is a dicey political issue, particularly for Southern Democrats. While the views of urban Democrats are more in line with the president's, rural Democrats must cater to a more conservative constituency that sees immigrants as competitors for jobs.

UNC Charlotte political scientist Ted Arrington cites turkey plants in Eastern North Carolina that are mostly filled with immigrant workers.

'They used to be black workers,' he said. 'And for Democrats, you've got a double problem. You've got to keep the blacks happy because that's an important part of their constituency now. And you've also got old-fashioned rural whites who also vote Democratic, at least on occasion. And they just don't like immigration in general and all these brown-skinned people coming in. It's a difficult coalition.'

Polls have shown illegal immigration as one of the top concerns among N.C. voters. North Carolina has an estimated 350,000 illegal immigrants and South Carolina has an estimated 70,000 illegal immigrants.

While U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, says he supports working toward a comprehensive bill that puts undocumented immigrants on a path toward legalization, other Carolinas Democrats in Congress hold positions more like Republicans.

Newly elected U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat who says she supports comprehensive reform, 'strongly opposes amnesty' and calls illegal immigration 'a threat to our nation's security and economy.'

For Democrats elected to Congress from conservative districts - U.S. Reps. Heath Shuler and Larry Kissell of North Carolina and South Carolina's John Spratt - advocating immigration reform leaves them vulnerable to Republican attacks.

Shuler represents N.C.'s 11th District, including Asheville. He doesn't 'support comprehensive immigration reform or offering amnesty to people who chose to break our laws and illegally cross the borders.'

Shuler is part of a coalition of conservative Democrats known as Blue Dogs. This summer, he introduced a bill that would require employers to enter a federal program, known as E-Verify, that checks if workers are in the country legally.

Kissell, whose 8th District includes parts of Mecklenburg, Cabarrus and Union counties, joined Shuler when he introduced his E-Verify bill. He says the people he speaks with repeatedly question ''What part of illegal don't we understand?''

'Citizens, who are subjected to our nation's laws, and who face fines or imprisonment for violating them, question why we need to overlook or excuse the unlawful act of illegal immigration,' he said.

Spratt, a Democrat from York County, S.C., favors working toward reform - but not with unemployment so high. First, he said, the government must prove that it can do better to secure the borders. He's voted to double the Border Patrol, and for driver's licenses and Social Security cards that cannot be counterfeited.

UNCC's Arrington says action is unlikely until after the 2010 mid-term elections because the reform debate divides both parties.

Republican U.S. Sen John McCain, R-Arizona, supported reform. But most Southern Republicans oppose any path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, opposes 'amnesty' and said border security and programs like 'E-Verify are critical to ensuring that the legal process for immigration is respected and followed.'

U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, a Charlotte Republican, said the American people don't want reform that gives illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

'Illegal is illegal,' she said.

'Ugly' political battle looms

At an east Charlotte day-labor site, several unemployed immigrants said they chose to ride out the recession and stay here in hopes that Obama could push through reform.

'We see now that he doesn't have the power to do what he says,' said Elias Martinez, 57, an undocumented construction worker.

Ruben Campillo, N.C. coordinator of Reform America, says groups trying to use immigration to block health care changes don't represent mainstream views.

'We realize that there are people out there who want to deport 12 million people, but the majority of the public realize this is not a viable position.'

Pressed by advocates, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, said he will present an outline for reform by Tuesday and introduce a comprehensive bill in Congress soon after

'The longer we wait, the more every single piece of legislation we debate will be obstructed by our failure to pass comprehensive reform,' he said.

But Angeles Ortega-Moore, former director of the Latin American Coalition, wonders if Obama has the political muscle to endure a divisive debate.

'Health care reform is not a dialogue, not even a discussion' she said. 'It's a fight. So anything on immigration reform is going to be ugly.'

Back at the day-labor site, Denis Vargas, 27, of El Salvador and Santiago Gutierrez, 41, of Mexico called on friends to be realistic. Vargas reminds them President George W. Bush, a Republican, failed to gain enough support from his own party to pass reform.

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4.
Chinese migrants nabbed at Arizona border
The Associated Press, October 12, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gbhssi7mK1wHqYXbBMjUJrHMGyXAD9B9Q4BG1

Tucson, AZ (AP) -- Several groups of illegal immigrants from China have been arrested in southern Arizona in recent days, part of an increasing trend that U.S. Border Patrol agents said Monday was being fed by smugglers recruiting tourists to Central and South America.

The arrests included two Chinese found among a large group of migrants who entered the county from Mexico on Friday. Three more Chinese were found Saturday, a group that included four Chinese was captured Sunday and four more were arrested early Monday.

All were discovered close to the border near Nogales, Ariz.

The Border Patrol has seen a small but significant rise in the number of Chinese caught after entering Arizona from Mexico, agent Colleen Agle said. Between Oct. 1, 2008, and the end of August, agents captured 261 illegal immigrants from China in the patrol's Tucson sector in southern Arizona.

Just 30 Chinese were caught in the same area during the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2008.

The numbers are still tiny compared with the number of Mexican migrants caught. In the 12 months ending Sept. 3, Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector arrested more than 241,000 suspected illegal immigrants.

Increases in personnel and technology have helped put pressure on traditional routes for illegal Chinese immigrants, Agle said.

But the Border Patrol believes that isn't driving the current increase. Instead, human smuggling organizations in Mexico have become aware of increasing numbers of Chinese tourists in Central and South America, Agle said. They're targeting them as potential customers, she said, and enticing them to be smuggled into the U.S.

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5.
Napolitano Says Al-Qaeda-Style Terrorists Are in U.S.
By Jonathan D. Salant and Jeff Bliss
Bloomberg News, October 12, 2009

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said law-enforcement authorities are tracking terrorists with al-Qaeda leanings in the U.S.

'It is fair to say there are individuals in the United States who ascribe to al-Qaeda-type beliefs,' Napolitano said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today. 'And so it makes information-sharing, it makes effective law enforcement and it makes the shared responsibility of law enforcement ever so important.'

Information-sharing between federal, state and local law- enforcement agencies is 'much improved' since the Sept. 11 attacks, she said.

In September, U.S. authorities indicted Najibullah Zazi, 24, an Afghan immigrant and former Denver airport shuttle-van driver, on federal terrorism conspiracy charges. They said bomb-making instructions were found on a laptop computer in his rental car.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the case had connections to al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.

The threat of attack 'is always with us,' Napolitano said today. Benchmark stock indexes trimmed gains after her comments.

Napolitano, 51, made her remarks in an interview with Bloomberg reporters. She touched on a variety of areas she oversees.

Better Enforcement

Intelligence tips on terror suspects are more important than a system to track visitors leaving the country, she said. She also said better border enforcement will help make the case for immigration legislation.

The secretary said she met today with financial institutions on threats to computer systems. She said she also was in New York to appear on ABC’s 'The View' and 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' on Viacom Inc.’s Comedy Central, seeking different venues from which to discuss homeland- security issues.

Successes against al-Qaeda have helped keep the main organization holed up in the tribal region of northwestern Pakistan, she said.

'Constant pressure on al-Qaeda through a variety of means, some of which have been through the Department of Defense, has really confined them geographically,' she said.

Tracing Finances

Al-Qaeda leaders have been caught or killed, and the group’s financing has been traced and blocked, Napolitano said. The leaders are adapting to the U.S. efforts by using affiliated groups in northern Africa and other regions to help plan attacks, she said.

'This is not a static target or a static threat environment,' she said. 'We can’t simply say we can check this box and we can move on.'

In the U.S., the government has put money into gathering intelligence about the movements of terrorist suspects, Napolitano said. 'The key thing is intelligence analysts,' she said.

This effort is more of a priority than developing a system that could keep track of visitors, she said. The government can’t track the more than 200,000 people who intentionally have overstayed their visas, the New York Times said today.

'Such a system would be very, very expensive and laborious to have, given the kinds of border we have,' she said. Scientists and engineers aren’t 'even sure they have the technology to make it work.'

Border Patrol

In addition to improving intelligence, the U.S. is getting more control over its borders by adding Border Patrol agents and increasing enforcement, particularly in the Southwest, said Napolitano, who was governor of Arizona until President Barack Obama picked her for his Cabinet.

The stepped-up monitoring and rounding up of illegal border-crossers is quelling opposition to immigration legislation, she said.

'One of the things that has changed is that there has been a lot of enforcement at the Southwest border,' she said. 'It’s just not the same border.'

Republican lawmakers in 2007 helped defeat a comprehensive immigration measure pushed by former President George W. Bush’s administration over concerns about lack of enforcement. The Bush-backed measure included a program that allowed foreigners to temporarily work in the U.S.

Napolitano declined to say when Congress would begin debate on another immigration measure. The Homeland Security department is working with Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, on the legislation, she said.
. . .
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=al87YRCSOi3A

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6.
Gutierrez to speak on immigration reform bill
The Associated Press, October 13, 2009
http://www.bnd.com/326/story/963746.html

Chicago (AP) -- Congressman Luis Gutierrez plans to outline details of an immigration reform bill he's drafting.

The Chicago Democrat says he's been overwhelmed by advocates and organizations urging him to introduce comprehensive immigration legislation. He says there's support for 'compassionate legislation' and there are votes to pass it.

Many activists are disappointed that movement on immigration reform hasn't happened earlier.

Busloads of advocates from around the country, including Chicago, are heading to Washington, D.C., for a Tuesday rally. That's where Gutierrez has promised to talk more about his reform bill.

Gutierrez says the bill should address keeping families together, protecting workers and setting more guidelines on ways to become a citizen.

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7.
Immigration reforms stir worries about national ID card, fingerprinting
By Mike Sunnucks
The Phoenix Business Journal, October 13, 2009
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/10/12/daily24.html

Opposition is rising to federal immigration plans that call for a national ID card or fingerprinting and photographing all workers.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and other federal lawmakers have talked about IDs and electronic systems to verify workers’ legal status as part of immigration reform.

The ideas have raised the ire of Libertarians on the political right and left.

“We urge lawmakers to reject any proposed immigration reform measures that include a biometric national worker ID system or a universal compulsory electronic employment verification system. These systems come at enormous cost to the American public and do little to prevent the hiring of undocumented workers. It is unacceptable to force Americans to be fingerprinted and photographed in order to work,” said Michael Macleod-Ball, director of the American Civil Liberties Union office in Washington.

Congress could consider immigration reforms — including some kind of amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. — this year or in early 2010.

Last week, the Obama administration said it is terminating the so-called federal “no match” rule that would have required employers to fire workers who had invalid or duplicate Social Security numbers.

The rule was never implemented by the Bush administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ordered it scrapped.

The policy was aimed at illegal immigrants and others who might be using fake IDs. It called for federal officials to notifying businesses of Social Security numbers determined to be false or duplicates. The employers would have to rectify the situation or fire the worker.

Labor unions, the ACLU and other opponents welcomed the decision saying E-Verify and Social Security databases used by the federal government are not reliable.

If immigration, amnesty and big government concerns heat up next year, they could impact 2010 races, including U.S. Sen. John McCain’s reelection bid and the contest for Arizona governor and attorney general.

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8.
DeMint will seek another term
By James Rosen
The State (Columbia), October 13, 2009

Washington, DC -- U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, flush with almost $3 million in his campaign coffers, set the audacious task of saving freedom Monday in announcing he will seek a second term in the U.S. Senate.

The Greenville Republican announced his re-election bid in an e-mail to supporters and a five-minute video on his campaign Web site, jimdemint.com.

DeMint's opposition to immigration reforms, strident criticism of government spending and attacks on President Barack Obama have transformed him from a little-known congressman into a national conservative leader.

In his video, DeMint ticks off the battles that have made him a rising figure among Republican activists across the country.

'I led the fight to stop illegal immigration and wasteful, pork-barrel earmarks,' DeMint says in the video. 'I fought against the moratorium on (oil and gas) exploration and led the fight against a government takeover of health care.'

DeMint blocked a massive government-spending bill in December 2006, forcing appropriators to remove almost $1 billion in earmarks.

When President George W. Bush, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. John McCain and other senators from both parties advanced major immigration reforms in May 2007, DeMint labeled the bid 'amnesty' and stoked national opposition that led to its defeat.

DeMint said 'Obama ground troops are already in South Carolina,' organizing the president's supporters to help defeat him.
. . .
http://www.thestate.com/politics/story/981651.html

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9.
Court to decide constitutionality of bad advice
The Associated Press, October 13, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaiFQaseSxLMhvebNqf_vBrP-bOwD9BAA2H00

Washington, DC (AP) -- Supreme Court justices are questioning whether defendants should expect their lawyers to advise them on all the possible consequences of a guilty plea before it is submitted to a court.

Jose Padilla wants his guilty plea to drug charges thrown out. The Honduras-born immigrant says he wouldn't have made the plea if his lawyer hadn't incorrectly told him it would not affect his immigration status. He now faces deportation.

Lawyer Stephen Kinnaird says bad advice on the collateral consequences of a guilty plea is a violation of the constitutional right of 'effective assistance of counsel.'

But prosecutor WM Robert Long Jr. said criminal attorneys' only constitutional duty is to advise defendants on guilt, innocence and sentencing when it comes to pleas.

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10.
Appeal judges question R.I. trooper’s motives in van stop
By Karen Lee Ziner
The Providence Journal, October 9, 2009
http://www.projo.com/news/content/ACLU_IMMIGRANTS_10-09-09_VNG1GH0_v8.3617cf3.html

Boston -- A U.S. Court of Appeals chief judge yesterday called the case “troubling.”

In 2006, a Rhode Island State Police trooper detained 14 Guatemalan nationals and called immigration authorities after he pulled over the driver of the van they were in for failing to use a signal when changing lanes on Route 95.

Chief Judge Sandra L. Lynch commented during oral arguments in an appeal by the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union of the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged the legality of Trooper Thomas Chabot’s actions during that 70-minute, 6:30 a.m. traffic stop in Richmond.

The ACLU suit, filed by attorney V. Edward Formisano on behalf of 11 of the van’s occupants, contended that Chabot engaged in racial profiling and violated the driver’s and the passengers’ constitutional rights to be free from discrimination and unreasonable search and seizure. It argued that Chabot had no basis for demanding identifications from the passengers after the driver, Carlos E. Tamup, provided a valid license and registration. U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi found that Chabot’s conduct was lawful and dismissed the suit last December.

Judge Lynch questioned Special Assistant Attorney General John M. Moreira’s argument that “emerging circumstances” justified Chabot’s actions.

“How many times have you seen a trooper stop someone on a highway for a blinker? He pulls over a van with a Hispanic-looking driver,” which led to a 70-minute traffic stop. “I find the case a little troubling,” said Lynch. “One has the feeling it’s a little bit more than failing to use a blinker … [Perhaps] he’s looking for a van filled with immigrants or the complexion of the driver.”

Formisano told the appellate panel that a major issue “has to do with the Racial Profiling Act.”

“The trooper testified that it was based on a hunch — and nothing more than a hunch — that he contacted ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement],” Formisano said. He said Chabot made a determination “that these individuals were illegal, but he testified that it was a hunch. I suggest that was not enough.”

Formisano also said he believed the District Court judge “did not separate or analyze” two “pat-down” searches that Chabot conducted on the driver. “We’re disputing the determination that there was a reasonable suspicion that Mr. Tamup was in possession of a firearm,” Formisano said of the first search. “… There were no articulated facts that the trooper could point to that he was in fear.”

But Judge Juan R. Torruella said, “After the stop, he opened the door and saw 12 nervous passengers. Why doesn’t that give him enough reason to pat down” the driver?

Moreira said, “The emerging circumstances confronting this trooper justified his actions.” Through routine questions, “reasonably built on what had occurred and what he learned … in a short amount of time, the trooper had probable cause” to call ICE.

When asked to produce IDs, only three passengers produced any — Guatemalan consular cards — and none could provide green cards or working papers. Chabot also reported that they were “nervous,” and that there was a significant language barrier.

When Judge Lynch interrupted to speculate that Trooper Chabot might have been “looking for a van full of immigrants” or at the driver’s complexion, Moreira responded, “He didn’t know how many [people] were in the van, or who was in the van,” until after he opened the passenger side door and saw them. “I think the key is, his suspicions progressed from there,” Moreira said.

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11.
1.5 Million Immigrant Children Lack Health Insurance
Frontera NorteSur (New Mexico State University), October 12, 2009
http://www.newspapertree.com/news/4308-1-5-million-immigrant-children-lack-health-insurance

The offspring of Mexican immigrants are three times more likely to not have health insurance than other children living in the US, according to the study, which also reported that 86 percent of the uninsured children are US citizens.

Nearly one in four children of Mexican immigrants residing in the United States does not have health insurance. That’s the conclusion of a new study presented in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this week. The study, a collaborative effort of Mexico’s National Population Council (Conapo) in conjunction with the University of California and the Health Initiative of the Americas, found that 1.5 million of 6.3 million children of Mexican immigrants in the US lack health insurance coverage.

The offspring of Mexican immigrants are three times more likely to not have health insurance than other children living in the US, according to the study, which also reported that 86 percent of the uninsured children are US citizens.

Although 52 percent of the uninsured minors use public hospitals when they become sick, the study found that Mexican immigrant children are less likely to use such institutions than other US children, including whites. Another key finding of the study was that children of Mexican immigrants under three years of age have the highest obesity rates and are more likely to suffer anemia than children of whites.

Migratory and socio-economic factors were blamed for the disparities.

'There is broad inequity in health services for minors under 18 in the US,' said Mexico’s Interior Ministry, in response to the report.

The Conapo/UC study was among the highlights of the ninth annual Binational Policy Forum on Migration and Health hosted by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in Santa Fe on October 5 and 6 of this year.

The event was attended by Mexican First Lady Margarita Zavala and Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova. Top health officials from several Central and South American nations were also invited participants.

Amalia Garcia, governor of the central Mexican state of Zacatecas, one of the country’s top migrant-sending entities, was among the officials who addressed the gathering. Lauding the inter-hemispheric health initiative, Gov. Garcia exhorted authorities to continue seeking ways to guarantee health care rights for migrants.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Binational Health Week website can be found at: http://binationalhealthweek.org/

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12.
Wind of the Spirit Pres David Caicedo Talks Immigration on NPR Today
By Jamie Duffy
The Star Ledger (Newark, NJ), October 12, 2009
http://www.nj.com/morristown/jamieduffy/index.ssf/2009/10/wind_of_the_spirit_pres_david.html

David Caicedo, board president for Wind of the Spirit, the pro-immigrant rights resource group based in Morristown and a Morristown HIgh School graduate, was a guest on the Brian Lehrer Show this morning on NPR.David Caicedo, board president of Wind of the Spirit, the Morristown-based pro-immigrant rights resource center, discussed immigration and the gubernatorial race today on NPR’s The Brian Lehrer Show.

On the anti-immigrant side was Steven Camarota with the Center for Immigration Studies . He said that one-fourth to one-third of illegal immigrants in the U.S. are tapping into Medicaid and food stamps.

Caicedo stressed the contributions of illegal immigrants who pay sales tax and even payroll taxes, but actually see none of the benefits.

Caicedo and Camarota also spoke on the controversial issue of 287(g), the federal program which deputizes police officers to act as immigration agents. Although Caicedo did not name Morristown’s mayor, Donald Cresitello, he spoke about the program that was introduced to the public in February, 2007, and is still an issue, even with Cresitello leaving office in January.

Morristown was one of two New Jersey entities accepted into the program in July of this year. However, in Morristown, the police union must sign off on it.

The other entity is the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department, led by Sheriff Kim Guadagno, who is Republican candidate Chris Christie’s running mate. Of the three candidates for governor, only Gov. Jon Corzine addresses immigration on his website, Lehrer said. The other independent candidate is Chris Daggett, and his positions on immigration in NJ are not known.

The segment which aired at approximately 11:30 a.m. was part of Lehrer’s series, '30 Issues in 30 Days,' a show that tackles tough issues in the state gubernatorial election.

Caicedo, a Morristown High School graduate, is the assistant to the president for the National Hispanic Health Foundation based at New York University in Manhattan.

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13.
Mass. Immigration Report To Be Made Public In Nov.
The Associated Press, October 12, 2009
http://wbztv.com/wireapnewsma/Mass.immigration.reform.2.1243018.html

Boston (AP) -- A co-chair of Gov. Deval Patrick's panel appointed to gather public comment on immigration reform says the panel's report will be made public Nov. 17.

Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said Monday that the panel's report will include a list of recommendations that the state can immediately implement and others that may require further state legislation.

Patrick sent the Governor's Advisory Council for Refugees and Immigrants around the state last year to come up with suggestions for new immigration policy.

Last week, Patrick told reporters from ethnic media outlets the panel's report contains 131 recommendations but declined to give details on any recommendations he planned to quickly implement.

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14.
Living in the shadows: Investigation of Michigan's migrant worker housing and employment expected to show alarming conditions
By Carol Lundberg
The Michigan Lawyers Weekly, October 12, 2009
http://www.dolanmedia.com/view.cfm?recID=530319

Detroit -- There is a population of Michigan residents so invisible that the rest of Michigan probably can't name any of them. They are migrant farm workers who spend months every year handpicking Michigan produce.

Before the end of the year, the state's Civil Rights Commission will release the findings of an investigation that started in June, into the living and working conditions of those migrant farm workers.

The report is expected to highlight widespread abuses, the most common of which are wage and hour violations.

Other common abuses involve unsafe living and working conditions, and lack of access to services such as health care and education.

'I don't think people will be surprised there are abuses occurring,' said Thomas K. Thornburg, managing attorney for Farmworker Legal Services, a federally funded legal aid program in Bangor, a farming community in west Michigan.

'But people in our profession, lawyers, will be surprised that these abuses are allowed to occur without any mechanism to stop even the most egregious of them.'

They are legal workers -- often with families in tow -- who pay taxes, and number approximately 90,000 annually. They are transitory, moving with the harvest seasons, making their way back and forth between Michigan and warmer states such as Texas, Florida and Georgia.

Yet, very few people understand the conditions in which they live and work.

Mark J. Bernstein of The Bernstein Law Firm in Farmington Hills admits that even though he's served on the Civil Rights Commission for five years, and was even chairman for two, he had no real sense of how bad the conditions would be at migrant worker camps around the state.

'This is our job,' he said of the commission's investigation. 'These are some of the most vulnerable and dispossessed people in our state.'

Change is necessary

He hopes that the results of the investigation will be a catalyst for a change.

'There is a window of opportunity to reorganize the state government. We believe that some of these issues are a result of organizational issues,' Bernstein said.

'The entities responsible for worker camp conditions are scattered across state government. We have the chance to say it should be the responsibility of community health or another organization, or that it shouldn't be the department of agriculture's responsibility.

'The structure we have is not working.'

According to Kelvin W. Scott, the Civil Rights Commission director, licensing for the camps was once the responsibility of the state's Department of Public Health (now the Michigan Department of Community Health). In 1996, that responsibility was shifted to the Department of Agriculture. The housing inspections are conducted by licensed sanitarians working in the Migrant Labor Housing Program.

Migrant workers also face bureaucratic obstacles to legal residents, such as the difficulty many migrant workers have in obtaining Michigan drivers licenses because the Secretary of State has delayed issuing regulations and guidance on which documents satisfy the requirement that residents prove that they are 'legally present' and eligible to obtain licenses, Thornburg said.

What often results from the lack of regulations is a legal quagmire created by the Secretary of State, said Teresa M. Hendricks, director and senior litigator at Grand Rapids-based Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project Inc.

'What happens is, a worker buys a car, but then can't get a driver's license because of the Secretary of State's problems,' she said. 'So, someone else has to go get the insurance. Then we have insurance in a different name as the owner of the car. And God forbid, you get into an accident.

'Then, district court judges are struggling with what to do with these traffic violations.'

Sometimes the barriers to legal residents are even higher and more difficult to clear.

She has one client who has been working in Michigan for 20 seasons.

'He got caught up in the blueberry harvest and was underpaid,' she said. 'When we were able to recover some money for him, he spent it on a used pickup truck.'

But he got picked up by the police. She suspects it was a result of a dispute with the worker's landlord, who called police and said he was undocumented.

While law enforcement agencies were trying to locate the worker's paperwork, the man was detained for a month, without being able to see a lawyer.

'A month later, it was determined that he was here lawfully,' Hendricks said. 'When he got out, his truck had disappeared, and everything in his hotel room where he was staying had disappeared. He had literally lost everything.'

Reorganizing needn't cost more

Though enforcement of the laws we have -- such as wage and hour laws, and health codes -- could address many of the problems migrant workers face, Bernstein is a realist, and recognizes that the state is in the middle of an economic crisis.

'Of course some of the things that would help might cost money that we don't have. But it doesn't have to cost money to make it better. Reorganizing does not have to be more expensive,' Bernstein said.

'But there's also a question of priorities,' he added. 'There are organizational and execution issues. We have a huge migrant worker population that is all but hidden from view, and a substantive number of children are in that population because the harvest season tends to occur during summer.

'Children live in these trailers that are not safe, not sanitary, close to pesticide-drenched fields, some without running water or electricity.'

The inspectors are doing their best, Bernstein said. But they just can't inspect all the camps. Further, they are inspected in the wintertime, when no one is living in them, because they require pre-licensing.

'It's not appropriate for us, for the commission, to second-guess the expertise of the people involved,' he said. 'But it's our job to enforce and educate about the civil rights issues.'

Thornburg said it's clear that migrant worker safety has fallen to a dismally and dangerously low priority level in Michigan.

'There are already only five inspectors to inspect more than 800 licensed camps. There are 22,000 occupants in those camps, and those are just the licensed ones. We don't even know how many unlicensed camps there are. It's widely held that there are a lot more,' he said. 'It's also widely known that occupancy rates are higher than the limits.

'The problem is huge,' Thornburg added. 'At the same time, a mid-year budget cut to the state's Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for the inspections, threatened to eliminate funding for inspections and licensing.'

Migrant worker housing varies dramatically, he said. Some housing is made up of federally subsidized new developments of tidy, safe and clean apartments, then there is substandard housing, consisting of old one-room cabins and rejects from mobile home parks.

'You never even know how bad it is because most people in the state will never see a camp like this; they just sort of sprout in a field 15 miles outside of town. They can be atrocious,' Thornburg said.

They are often overcrowded, especially in recent years as workers have left other employers in construction and landscaping as jobs evaporated in the recession.

At the same time, Michigan had a bumper crop of blueberries this year, so workers returned to Michigan in droves, expecting there to be a shortage of farm workers.

'Those workers came back to farm work, and essentially overwhelmed migrant farm worker housing in the state,' Thornburg said.

'Rampant subminimum pay'

The blueberry harvest shone a light on another common problem for farm workers, the compensation.

When an oversupply of workers came to Michigan to harvest blueberries, the piece rate for blueberries fell to 32 cents per pound, Thornburg said.

That meant it was impossible to make minimum wage.

'If you picked four 5-pound buckets every hour, you would only be making like $6.40 an hour,' he said. 'There was evidence this year of rampant subminimum pay.'

Yet, few workers ever complain. Often, Thornburg said, they don't know where they would even lodge such a complaint -- and, if they did, they rarely speak English and are uncertain of their ability to navigate the process to do so.

'They also know that there is someone standing in line right behind them willing to take their job,' he said.

Even more ominous, recently growers are gravitating to workers who are here on H-2A visas, often as part of a 'single-man-only crew,' Thornburg said.

'The growers get the whole crew in a package, and everyone works all day, every day, and if they don't, the grower can just send the whole crew back. They're coming from places like Guatemala and Thailand. And they're taking the work that these workers with families were getting,' he said.

When the results of the investigation are released, Bernstein hopes the result will be a reorganization of the structures that oversee migrant workers.

'At the very least, there needs to be enforcement of the laws and regulations we do have,' he said.

As a private attorney, he said, the investigation is interesting from a legal perspective.

'Every aspect of it touches some area of the law. There are potential wage and hour cases, even if there are very few claims in Michigan. There are environmental law issues, housing law issues, law enforcement issues, and probate and family law issues,' Bernstein said.

Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project's Hendricks mainly hopes that something practical will come out of the investigation, and she's optimistic that it will. What she needs is something simple: she needs some help.

Her organization takes 400-500 cases per year, and does not receive federal funds from the Legal Service Corp. The project stays afloat due to private donations, grants and some State Bar of Michigan Foundation funding.

She's certain that once her peers understand the scope of the problem, they'll want to be involved.

Her staff of three lawyers, and Farmworker Legal Services' staff of five lawyers, just can't keep up with the bad actors in the industry. Approximately 80 percent of growers are good, abide by the laws, and treat their workers fairly as required by law. But the other 20 percent create more work than they can handle.

'I'm hoping that other attorneys, those in private firms, will at least be able to take some referrals from us,' she said. 'Maybe working as co-counsel, they could take some of this on pro bono, and help us with things like depositions and the cost of travel.'

Hendricks said she's hopeful that the investigation will grab attention in high places.

'I'm hopeful that shedding light on the horror stories will get people with authority to act on sustainable solutions,' she said. 'There are some key people in charge of departments in Lansing who, once they see the gamut of what goes on, once they hear the horror stories, won't be able to stand the status quo.'

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15.
Arizona Sheriff Vows to Continue Immigration Sweeps Despite Federal Downgrade
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is dismissing a revised Department of Homeland Security policy that takes away his federal authority to make immigration arrests.
Fox News, October 12, 2009
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/12/arizona-sheriff-vows-continue-immigration-sweeps-despite-federal-downgrade/

A firebrand Arizona sheriff known for his hard-line immigration enforcement is vowing to press ahead with an illegal immigrant sweep Friday, defying a revised Department of Homeland Security policy that takes away his federal authority to make such arrests.

'I'm not gonna stop,' Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in an interview with FOXNews.com. He said the federal changes amount to a political hit job and that if Immigration and Customs Enforcement won't take illegal immigrants off his hands he'll personally drive them to the U.S.-Mexico border.

'Nothing will change,' he said. 'I'm not going to be deterred by any bully.'

A spokesman with DHS or ICE could not be reached for comment. It's unclear whether the agencies will try to stop or punish the county sheriff should he go forward with the sweep on Friday.

The federal government stripped Arpaio of part of his federal authority to enforce immigration law by changing its rules under a program allowing local police to enforce those laws. Under the changes, Arpaio's jail officers would still be able to check inmates' immigration status but would not be able to make federal immigration arrests on the streets.

More than 1,000 local law enforcement officials nationally have had those special powers, but Arpaio has signed more officers onto the program than any other agency. He has 100 deputies under the program, and his office reports having investigated and arrested 33,000 illegal immigrants -- or 25 percent of total arrests under the program.

Arpaio claims he still has authority to make the arrests under state human smuggling laws and other provisions, regardless of whether he's charging the suspected illegal immigrants of any other crimes. He said that if ICE won't take his suspects, he'll drive them down to U.S. border patrol agents. If they don't take them, he said, 'I assume they won't accept any illegals.'

The idiosyncratic sheriff is one of the most controversial local officials in the country. He's cultivated a tough guy, almost outlaw, image -- occasionally referring to himself as the third-person, 'The Sheriff,' and unabashedly calling his band of volunteers and officials 'the posse.'

'I am the poster boy. Everybody knows that,' he said.

But Arpaio is notorious among immigrant rights groups for his treatment of suspected illegal aliens once in custody. He is known for clothing inmates in pink underwear, making them work on chain gangs and subjecting them to other harsh conditions.

The Justice Department has been investigating his office over claims of discrimination and unlawful practices.

Frank Sharry, director of advocacy group America's Voice, said in a written statement last week that DHS should 'pull the plug on bullies like 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,' he said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, previously the Arizona governor, said in a written statement that the latest changes are meant to 'improve accountability and safety' in the detention facilities as part of the move to employ 'smart and effective' immigration enforcement.

Arpaio remains defiant. He said he's glad to be able to conduct immigration sweeps without having to follow federal guidelines.

'They can't stop this sheriff. I don't report to the feds. I report to the people,' he said. 'They should give me a medal -- shouldn't be the Nobel Peace Prize, but it should be something.'

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16.
Police chief getting attention by stopping illegal immigrants
By Tom Ragan
The Citizens Voice (Wilkes-Barre, PA), October 13, 2009
http://www.citizensvoice.com/news/police_chief_getting_attention_by_stopping_illegal_immigrants?localLinksEnabled=false

Beaver Meadows, PA -- Motorists driving through this tiny community in the shadow of the city of Hazleton be warned: Exceeding the speed limit or violating traffic laws won't be tolerated.

That means everyone, police Chief Michael Morresi says.

Regardless of race, religion, color or ethnic background.

'I try to treat every stop the same. I try to let everyone write their own ticket,' says Morresi, a youthful looking officer who has emerged as a controversial figure because of his reputation for cracking down.

Morresi has been on the job for almost three years after working as a police officer in West Mahanoy Township.

Although no one is keeping an official count, it is estimated that Morresi has stopped anywhere from 25 to 30 illegal immigrants driving through Beaver Meadows.

'I don't want to be called a racist and I don't profile anyone before I make a stop,' Morresi said.

'He has my support, 100 percent,' said Beaver Meadows Mayor William Hines after a recent borough council meeting. 'All you have to do is look at his record. The arrests or citations are justified. I don't want to offend anyone, but if you break our laws he's on top of it.'

Morresi's approach has offended some, however, including an attorney for an illegal immigrant arrested in the borough yet released by federal agents this summer.

'I don't honestly know him enough, but I do believe the way he handled my client's case was inappropriate,' said Tracey Hubbard, an immigration attorney in Scranton who represents Ambrosio Perez-Vasquez. 'I think he is a media hound the way he got television and newspapers involved in the story after telling me there was an arrest warrant for my client. Within 45 minutes he had Scranton police officers in my office and then contacted the media. I've never seen this done before. I think he is a bit overzealous.'

On July 13, Morresi stopped a truck driven by Perez-Vasquez, who had with him a driver's license, a vehicle insurance policy, a Social Security card, and a receipt for a federal tax return. When Perez-Vasquez returned to Beaver Meadows in August, having been released by an immigration judge due to hardship, Morresi filed charges against him. Perez-Vasquez, 41, is free on $5,000 bail and is awaiting a pre-trial hearing Nov. 10 in Carbon County Court.

Borough officials say Morresi has been professional and thorough in his approach to his job, enough so to be appointed chief a year ago.

'He's just doing his job. He's not profiling or picking on any particular group,' said borough council President Jeff Bobish.

Bobish pointed to a state Department of Transportation traffic study a few years ago that revealed on an average day about 7,500 cars pass through this small community en route to a number of destinations. State Route 93 is one of the main highways connecting Hazleton to several other routes that go to Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and beyond.

Bobish and Hines aren't the only people who feel that Morresi is being unfairly singled out just for doing his job. Morresi said a local contractor shook his hand and said 'thank you' for reporting illegal immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and told Morresi that illegal workers take jobs away from American citizens.

Charles Sipple, 63, of Hazleton, recently wrote a letter supporting the actions taken by Morresi, the Beaver Meadows police, the Hazleton police and Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta for efforts to curb illegal immigration in the city.

'You're damn right I do,' Sipple answered. 'God bless them all, including the Hazleton Police Department.'

He made it clear that he has nothing against a particular group of residents, such as the Hispanic population that has moved into the Hazleton area in recent years.

'If they are here to make a new life for themselves and intend to become legal citizens of the USA and find work but if they want to remain here illegally, that's wrong,' Sipple said.

'If you're illegal and you're breaking the law, that's your hard luck. Chief Morresi is upholding our constitutional rights, unlike most politicians, who aren't doing anything to stop the flow of illegals coming into this country,' Sipple said.

Sipple thinks that immigration laws have to be changed - and Hubbard agrees, though for different reasons.

Hubbard isn't an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer but she does refer cases to the ACLU. She said that many of the problems with illegal immigrants today stem from immigration laws that were changed as far back as 1997.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 didn't go into effect until April 1, 1997, and it was promoted as an illegal immigration bill, but it has also had a serious impact on legal immigration as well, Hubbard said.

'Before the law if a visa ran out for a Mexican immigrant they would be allowed to return after six months or one year depending on the circumstances. Since the law was enacted, under those same circumstances, after being deported the law makes them stay in Mexico from three to 10 years,' she said.

The law has forced Mexicans to stay in this country illegally or be deported for possibly three or 10 years because many of them have children in the United States from being married to a legal U.S. spouse and many are seasonal farm workers.

Going back across the border would mean not seeing their children or having a job. The old law allowed them to move back and forth more freely and have legal documents, now they have to resort to buying illegal identities to stay in this country.

Hubbard represents many immigrants that want to be here legally and can't because of this law that she says had a far more reaching impact on green cards and visas. Many have now chosen to stay here illegally because once they are caught it means they are barred from legally entering this country for a minimum of three years.

The effect for which the law was enacted has been just the opposite, forcing many to remain in this country on an illegal but more permanent basis, according to Hubbard who claims many want to be here legally but can't.

'The system needs reform. Immigrants get refunds because they do pay taxes. The Internal Revenue Service knows they do but because the money keeps rolling in they choose to do nothing about it,' Hubbard said.

She said Morresi isn't the only police officer asking about the status of a person considered an immigrant an act she termed 'the inappropriate questioning of illegal immigrants.' Hubbard believes ICE should be asking those type questions rather than local police departments.

'I don't feel it's been handled professionally by many police departments,' Hubbard said.

Morresi has made thousands of stops for speeding, vehicle violations, driving in an erratic manner, and just about any other traffic enforcement code in the Pennsylvania motor vehicle book.

Despite his youthful appearance, Morresi has gone through extensive police training including a class that taught him how to spot motor vehicle code violations after making a traffic stop.

'I look for certain things that may indicate that a person is nervous about something other than just being stopped for speeding,' He said.

'It's a quiet community. There's not much crime, so 95 percent of the citations are traffic related. In fact, it may be higher than 95 percent,' Morresi said.

Morresi recently gave an example of how sometimes a police officer might be inclined to second-guess himself after being accused of racial profiling.

'I actually hesitated from stopping a guy who was over the speed limit but it was only for a moment. Then I realized, I'm not going to allow someone to deter me from doing my job,' Morresi said.

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17.
Caddo schools hiring immigration attorney
The KSLA News (Shreveport, LA), October 12, 2009
http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=11301594

Caddo Parish, LA -- The Caddo Parish schools system is preparing for a possible legal fight over the alleged mistreatment of teachers recruited from the Philippines.

At the beginning of October, a Filipino teacher talked about alleged high fees charged by Universal Placement International, a teacher-recruiting firm hired by Caddo schools.

'I paid $8,000 before I came here,' said the teacher during an interview.

Caddo Schools Superintendent Dr. Gerald Dawkins made public his outrage with U.P.I. concerning possible extortion of these teachers.

Now it has been confirmed that the school system has hired immigration attorney Mark Murov.

The district has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, Oct. 13 to make the hiring official.

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18.
Richmond-area religious leaders, advocates support participants in immigration rally
By Luz Lazo
The Richmond Times Dispatch, October 13, 2009
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/IMMI13_20091012-221405/299005/

A group of Richmond-area religious leaders and immigrant advocates yesterday greeted a Florida caravan with signs that read 'Reform Immigration For America,' then sent them off to a rally in Washington today.

'You carry the message of the oppressed, of those who suffer injustice, of those who don't have a voice,' the Rev. Shay W. Auerbach of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Richmond told the group during a rally at Ramsey Memorial United Methodist Church in Richmond. 'You are their hope.'

Virginia immigrant advocates join the Florida caravan and other groups from across the country in a demonstration seeking an overhaul of the current immigration system.

During today's rally, Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., will unveil the principles of a comprehensive immigration reform bill that he plans to introduce this fall. Other members of Congress also are expected to participate in a vigil at 3 p.m. on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

'We need a bill that says if you come here to hurt our communities, we will not support you; but if you are here to work hard and to make a better life for your family, you will have the opportunity to earn your citizenship,' Gutierrez said in a statement. 'We need a law that says it is un-American for a mother to be torn from her child, and it is unacceptable to undermine our workforce by driving the most vulnerable among us further into the shadows.'

With President Barack Obama's stated commitment to immigration reform, advocates say they expect the issue to become a priority this fall, said Vilma Seymour, president of the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Obama said recently that his administration will pursue immigration reform this year but expects that no action on legislation will happen before 2010.

Mario Ibarra, a Richmond-area resident for 17 years, yesterday went to Ramsey Memorial to support the plea for reform. Along with his daughter, he chanted in Spanish, 'We want immigration reform now!'

He said he hopes for a law that would stop the separation of families because of immigration status. 'It is very sad to see families being split,' he said. 'As a father, I wouldn't like that to happen to me.'

Rev. Norma Aguilar, associate pastor at Ramsey Memorial, said the community has waited too long for action that would bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and would recognize their value to society.

'The immigrant community contributes a lot to this country, not only in labor, but also culture,' Aguilar said. 'As a minister, it is my hope and my prayer that God will touch the hearts of those involved in the process.'

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Immigrant advocates head to D.C. for rally
The Associated Press, October 13, 2009
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/13/immigrant_advocates_head_to_dc_for_rally/

Reno Vigil Underscores Immigration Reform Push
The Public News Service, October 13, 2009
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/10906-1

Immigration Reform Tops in Nation’s Capital
By Parul Joshi
The WNCT News (Washington, NC), October 12, 2009
http://www2.wnct.com/nct/news/local/article/immigration_reform_tops_in_nations_capital/62185/

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19.
Evangelicals endorse immigration reform
By Adelle M. Banks
USA Today, October 13, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-10-13-evangelical-immigrants_N.htm

Washington, DC -- The National Association of Evangelicals on Thursday endorsed comprehensive immigration reform, saying new policies should reflect 'biblical grace to the stranger.'

'We seek fair and human treatment for those who are immigrants,' NAE President Leith Anderson told reporters on Capitol Hill, shortly before testifying with other religious leaders at a Senate subcommittee hearing on faith-based perspectives on immigration reform.

Anderson said the NAE board adopted the resolution as growing numbers of immigrants fill the pews of churches affiliated with his organization, which includes 40 denominations and scores of other evangelical groups.

'Many of the immigrants in America are us,' he said. 'That is, the growing edge of evangelical churches and denominations in the United States is the immigrant community.'

The resolution, approved overwhelmingly by voice vote of the NAE board, calls for the government to safeguard national borders, recognize the importance of family reunification and establish an 'equitable process toward earned legal status for currently undocumented immigrants.'

Asked for specifics of NAE's suggestions about undocumented immigrants, Anderson said the process should be a reasonable one that might require, for example, undocumented immigrants to pay back taxes.

'We are not suggesting that those that are already in the United States without documentation are automatically granted either residency or citizenship status,' he said.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, commended the NAE for passing the resolution. He said it demonstrates that the issue is one that concerns not solely Latinos but a wide range of Americans, and represents a 'Christian' rather than a political agenda.

'At the end of the day, immigration reform is an issue of justice firmly grounded on biblical truth,' he said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Details from a recent CIS panel discussing religion and immigration can be found online at: http://cis.org/Announcements/ReligousPerspectivesOnImmigration

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20.
Illegal Immigrants A Unique Force In Health Debate
By Kafi Drexel
NY1 (NYC), October 12, 2009
http://ny1.com/6-bronx-news-content/ny1_living/107172/illegal-immigrants-a-unique-force-in-health-debate

While President Barack Obama has maintained the argument that illegal immigrants won't be covered under the nation's health reform plans, its affect on the hundreds of thousands of undocumented residents in New York City remains to be seen. NY1's Kafi Drexel filed the following report.

At least twice a year, Claudia, an illegal immigrant from Mexico heads to the MIC Women's Health Center where she's able to get gynecological exams and birth control pills for free. She already has one child she's struggling to provide for. She says if it weren't for the free family planning and care she couldn't otherwise afford, her family would likely be dealing with an insurmountable burden.

'I'd have like four kids. I maybe don't give a good life to my kids because if you have too much kids, you have to take care of them,' said Claudia.

But the whole debate around health reform and immigration is leaving Claudia, and others like her, wondering if services will still be provided for them.

'That's always one of the unfortunate side effects of the whole discourse around immigration. It just makes the whole thing confusing for people. And there's already considerable confusion in immigrant communities about what rights they have access to or rights to healthcare,' said Jenny Rejeske of the New York Immigrant Coalition.

New York is one of a few states with a safety net system in place to provide coverage for immigrants who are here legally and those who are not. The Prenatal Care Assistance Program or PCAP provides coverage for all pregnant women regardless of their status. The State Children's Health Insurance Program does the same for kids. Through a complicated mix of grants, contracts and reimbursement, the MIC women's clinic never turns anyone away, still providing care to those who can't afford or qualify for coverage.

Organizations like Public Health Solutions that run clinics like the one in Astoria say they're worried about changes they might see in terms of services and coverage of immigrants.

'We're in the State of New York that has very progressive policies about these things. But nothing is for certain. We also worry about certain grants that may go away because of health reform. Special grants to see people in various different categories of risk. Because people go 'Well, everybody's covered.' But everybody isn't covered,' said Public Health Solutions President & CEO Ellen Rautenberg.

For now, experts say, there's nothing in federal coverage plans that should change programs that already exist.

'We want everybody when they are really in need of emergency care to get it. That's our fundamental standard as a society and it's also beneficial to each one of us to have that kind of standard,' said United Hospital Fund President Jim Tallon.

With health reform still under way, just what that standard will be remains open to debate.

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21.
ACLU: Report documents racial profiling in Cobb
By Andria Simmons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 12, 2009
http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/aclu-report-documents-racial-160863.html

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia on Monday released a report documenting the stories of 10 people who say they experienced racial profiling by Cobb County law enforcement.

A spokesperson for the organization said the report shows the human impact of the 287(g) program at the Cobb County jail, a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security which allows deputies to check the immigration status of inmates. Inmates who are in the country illegally are turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to begin deportation proceedings.

'Cobb police have abused the power granted to them under 287(g),' Azadeh Shahshahani, an ACLU of Georgia spokesperson, told about 15 people who huddled in the Marietta square during a rain-soaked morning press conference. 'This has led to an atmosphere of terror where immigrants are afraid to contact police.'

Many of the personal accounts involve people who were arrested for driving without a license after being stopped for committing a minor traffic offense. The drivers felt the real reason they had been pulled over was that they appear to be Latino.

According to one account, 'Federico' was stopped for having a malfunctioning brake light on a Saturday afternoon while driving home with his family from a trip to the park. He was arrested for driving without a license and spent 18 days in jail. The report doesn't state which police department made the arrest.

Federico stated he had been stopped many times while driving in Cobb County. He said he was aware of many other Latinos that also had been pulled over 'for no good reason.'

A spokesperson for the Cobb County Sheriff's Office could not immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon. About 70 state and local law enforcement agencies in the United States have formed 287(g) partnerships. Cobb County was the first local law enforcement agency in Georgia to implement the program in July 2007.

Hall and Whitfield counties signed agreements last year, and Gwinnett is soon to follow.

The ACLU of Georgia's report was aimed at convincing the government to halt the controversial program.

On the opposite side of the square, a group on the opposite side of the immigration debate held an informal rally to show support for 287(g). About 10 people were in attendance.

'Illegal immigration is not a race issue,' said Inger Eberhart, who is on the board of the Dustin Inman Society, an anti-illegal immigration organization. 'It is an issue of enforcing immigration law.'

Eberhart, who is black, said the ACLU of Georgia was 'race baiting' and hijacking the civil rights struggle of the recent past to further its goal of ending 287(g).

The release of the report this week coincides with an Oct. 15 deadline for the public to submit to the Department of Homeland Security comments about existing 287(g) agreements. The DHS is in the process of updating its agreements with participating law enforcement agencies.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The ACLU report is available online at: http://www.acluga.org/racial%20profiling%20Cobb.pdf

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22.
Immigrants' top advocate
By Geraldine Washington
The Washington Times, October 13, 2009

It was her very first asylum case. Twenty-five years ago, immigration lawyer Crystal L. Williams represented a Salvadoran woman who had walked from Mexico to the United States seeking refuge. Several of her family members were opponents of the government of El Salvador, and for being related to them, the woman had been arrested and tortured.

The details are so horrific that even now, Ms. Williams cannot speak of them. Though unique in nature (only exiled or escaped members of a social group were given refuge) this case marked Ms. Williams' first asylum victory and sealed her fate as an advocate and change agent of immigration law.

On Oct. 1, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) named her as its executive director. A celebration will be held Friday in her honor to note her new position. In between, thousands are expected to attend a rally today on Capital Hill to push for immigration reform.

Ms. Williams, a Hagerstown, Md., native who resides in Alexandria, served AILA as deputy director of programs for the past four years and will be the third executive director since the formation of the association's national office in the District in 1982.

According to its Web site, AILA is the national association of more than 11,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law.
. . .
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/13/immigrants-top-advocate/

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23.
US F1 student visas fall 25%
By Ishani Dutta Gupta
The Times of India, October 13, 2009
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-F1-student-visas-fall-25/articleshow/5113122.cms

New Delhi -- It's official. There were less F1 student visas for the US issued across India in financial year 2009 (Oct 08-Sep 09) than the previous FY08. In fact, 25,860 issuances in FY09 actually translates into a whopping 25% decline over 34,510, which was the number issued last year.

Most experts and consultants feel that the fall in numbers of Indian students choosing to go to the US for higher studies is because of the fall in financial aid offered by institutions rather than any visa strictures.

'The US student visas are streamlined now and the reason for less students going to the US from India is probably because educational institutions are offering less financial aid in view of the economic slowdown. In fact, endowments in US colleges have been hit in a big way,' says Poorvi Chothani, Mumbai based immigration lawyer and founder and principal member of law firm LawQuest.

The influential Open Doors report published annually by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with support from the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which is scheduled to be published next month, will provide a detailed break-up of the numbers of international students at colleges and universities in the US.

'Till 2007-08, India remained the leading sending country of origin of international students to the US. This was for the seventh consecutive year, with an increase by 13% to 94,563.

However, this year, in view of the slowdown, there could be a different trend,' feels Ajit Motwani. India director of IIE.

And even as most experts agree that lower financial aid and scholarships are the reason for the drop in number of Indian students going to the US, many are hoping that as the recovery kicks in the numbers will improve.

'Going to the US for higher education is an investment decision and in India we’re now seeing all the markets reviving and investors coming back. I think that next year, the number of students going to the US will again increase as many are now making decisions to go and doing the required paperwork,' says Mumbai-based education consultant Karan Gupta.

And even in FY 09, many students have received substantial funding in a range of disciplines to study in America. 'We have had success with several students receiving substantial funding as well. Many students who went on to pursue some new disciplines such as fashion marketing, neuroscience, pastoral studies, petroleum engineering, imaging sciences, oceanography and global development economics received financial assistance. In general, students applying for research programmes continue to receive funding despite the drop this year,' says Shevanti Narayan, country co-ordinator at the US-India Educational Foundation.

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24.
Iowa slaughterhouse trial opens today
By Nigel Duara
The Associated Press, October 13, 2009
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/iowa/article_f86db5ee-6faa-5902-aca5-30bcb213dcda.html

Sioux Falls, SD (AP) -- The trial of the former top manager of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse opens this morning in South Dakota.

Sholom Rubashkin faces the first of two trials in Sioux Falls when jury selection begins in federal court. The trial is expected to last between four and six weeks.

U.S. District Court Judge Linda Reade moved the trial from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Sioux Falls because of pretrial publicity stemming from a massive immigration raid at the Agriprocessors, Inc., slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, in May 2008, when 389 illegal immigrants were found working in the plant.

The federal government laid out 163 charges against Rubashkin in a series of revised indictments. The charges were split into two trials, the first dealing with 91 financial charges and the second concerning 72 immigration charges.

In the trial the government will try to prove that Rubashkin directed employees to create invoices and bills of lading for sales that never happened, thereby inflating the sales figures in Agriprocessors accounting system and allowing the company to borrow against an artificially inflated borrowing base.

Prosecutors have also accused Rubashkin of laundering more than $1 million and failing to pay livestock providers on time.

He faces charges of bank fraud, giving false financial statements and mail and wire fraud.

Rubashkin has been under supervised release since February. He spent more than three months in jail because of flight risk concerns.

The case hinges on the government's ability to prove, among other things, that Rubashkin intended to defraud the bank that made loans to Agriprocessors and that he profited from the proceeds of the allegedly illegal transactions.

This summer, the plant was sold to a newly formed company owned by a Canadian plastics manufacturer.

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25.
Migrant workers fall prey to kidnap gangs as they chase American Dream
A freight train used by immigrants in Arriaga
By Hannah Strange
The Times (London), October 10, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6868844.ece

Miguel Ángel thanks God that he made it back alive. That his wife was able to scrape together the ransoms demanded by his Mexican kidnappers. That in his journey north from El Salvador in search of the American Dream, he ultimately escaped the horror that has befallen many of his compatriots.

Mr Ángel is one of 18,000 Central American migrants that the Mexican Human Rights Commission says are kidnapped annually as they undertake the treacherous voyage towards the promise of a better life in 'El Norte'. Seized by gangs such as the Zetas or by corrupt Mexican officials, the migrants suffer torture, starvation, rape, forced labour and even murder as their kidnappers demand money from their families back home.

As President Calderón’s war on the drug cartels intensifies, forcing them to find new sources of income, the number of kidnappings has grown dramatically.

Mr Ángel, a former police officer from the sugar mill town of Aguilares, was kidnapped twice as he headed north, hoping to provide for his family with a job in Maryland. In May 2005 he arrived in southern Mexico, where he boarded the 'train of death' — an illegal migration route for the desperate men who perch precariously atop its freight cars.

South of Mexico City, the train made an unexpected stop. A group of tattooed men approached Mr Ángel and a travelling companion and offered to help them. 'At first it seemed good. But then they seized us and took us to a small house and said we had to deposit $1,000 each if we wanted to leave,' he told The Times. 'We were held for five days. They phoned our families and said if they didn’t pay they would make our lives hell.'

Also in the house were a group of Hondurans, being starved because they were unable to pay. Fortunately Mr Ángel’s wife was able to borrow the ransom and he and his companion finally arrived near the border city of Reynosa — but his ordeal did not end there. Stopped by Mexican border agents, they were taken to a hotel at the Rio Grande river, near the US border. This time their captors demanded $1,500, holding them for two days until the money arrived.

Abandoned at the border, they paddled in tyre inner tubes across the river and on to US territory. After being detained briefly by US immigration officials, they eventually made their way to Maryland.

Armando Torres Sasía, of the Mexican Human Rights Commission, said the cruelty of kidnappers was astonishing. Victims were often tortured with their families listening on the other end of a telephone line, he told The Times. 'They beat them so they scream, so they beg their families to send the money.'

For many impoverished families, payment is not possible and the victims are forced into sexual slavery or simply killed, often in horrific ways. 'They want the word to go out that, if you do not pay, the penalty will be extreme,' said Jerry Kammer, of the US Centre for Immigration Studies.

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26.
Marine's father faces deportation
The cancer-stricken father of Pfc. Janos V. Lutz, who is serving in Afghanistan, was arrested at his Florida home last week and is scheduled for deportation to his native Hungary.
By Mike Clary
The Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-deport-marine-dad13-2009oct13,0,3936787.story

Miami -- The cancer-stricken father of a U.S. Marine serving in Afghanistan was arrested at his Florida home last week and is scheduled for deportation to his native Hungary.

The detention of Janos Lutz, 53, has outraged his family, including his son, Pfc. Janos V. 'Johnny' Lutz, a machine-gunner serving in Helmand province.

'We are out here fighting . . . and I find out the United States of America is deporting my dad?' Lutz, 21, said Thursday in a telephone interview from Afghanistan. 'I feel anger, betrayal, rage. But you can't lose concentration out here.'

Department of Homeland Security officials confirm that the elder Lutz is being held at the Krome Detention Center in Miami but have provided no details.

Lutz, a former truck driver, has lived in the United States since 1983. He is a legal permanent resident, according to his ex-wife, Janine Lutz.

She said Lutz told her that an immigration officer cited his failure to show up for a March hearing as the reason for his detention.

The March hearing apparently concerned deportation, but Lutz told her that he had not received notice of the hearing.

Janine Lutz said there was nothing in her ex-husband's background that would warrant deportation to Hungary, where he has no relatives. 'He doesn't have anything to hide,' she said.

Ibraham Ghantous, a Coral Gables, Fla., immigration attorney representing the family, said he has confirmed that Lutz is being held on a previous order of deportation. 'But I have not seen the file,' said Ghantous, adding that he did not know the basis for the order.

Janine Lutz said her ex-husband was charged with grand larceny in 1987 after what she described as an attempt to shoplift goods from a Sears store. He pleaded guilty and served six months' probation. Janine Lutz speculated that the deportation proceedings stemmed from that incident.

Lutz also has been arrested three times for driving while intoxicated, most recently in 2002, state records show.

'This is an unbelievable nightmare,' Janine Lutz said.

On Thursday, Janine Lutz wrote to both of Florida's U.S. senators, Bill Nelson and George LeMieux; Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart; urging them to look into the case. Since then, she said, all but Crist have expressed concern and pledged to investigate.

Janos Lutz, who was born in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, in 1956, immigrated to the United States in 1983 'with dreams of having a family of his own,' his ex-wife said. His mother died in childbirth, and his father died when he was 20.

Janos and Janine Lutz were married in 1987 and divorced 11 years later. They have two sons, Janos Victor, known as Johnny, who enlisted in the Marines after graduating from Western High School in Davie, Fla., and Justin, 18, a student at Broward College.

Lutz was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1993 and had part of a lung removed five years later, his ex-wife said. He also broke both heels in 2007 when he fell off a ladder while hanging Christmas decorations, she said.

'He has the worst luck,' said Janine Lutz, the chief executive of a family concrete business in Opa-locka, Fla.

Johnny Lutz said he applied for emergency leave after learning of his father's detention but was turned down. His unit is scheduled to return to the U.S. next month, but fears that may be too late.

Johnny Lutz served in Iraq before being sent to Afghanistan six months ago. 'Out here you learn that life is short,' he said. 'I saw one of my best friends killed on the first day we were here, and another was lost on patrol. At night, I put my iPod on and try to forget what's happening. But it's tough.'

Johnny Lutz credits his dad with giving him the courage to cope with such challenges.

'My father raised me with morals and character, and that's why I'm here today,' he said. 'My father was 100% behind my enlistment, and when they went to his room to arrest him they must have seen lots of pictures of me in uniform.'

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27.
Kidnap report leads to immigrant van
Driver, his associate and 16 passengers from several countries are arrested just off I-85.
By Ely Portillo
The Charlotte Observer (NC), October 13, 2009

State troopers found a van packed with immigrants Monday after a Charlotte man called 911 to report that his cousin had been kidnapped, officials said.
. . .
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/998571.html

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28.
Man gets 2 life terms for shooting officer
The Associated Press, October 13, 2009

St. Petersburg, FL (AP) -- A Bulgarian immigrant has been sentenced to two life terms for armed robbery and attempting to kill a St. Petersburg police detective.

A judge sentenced 20-year-old Velislav Matzov Monday. A jury found the man guilty in August.
. . .
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1279697.html


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29.
Terrorist suspect’s brother will not be deported, judge in Dallas rules
By Melody McDonald
The Star Telegram (Forth Worth, TX), October 13, 2009

The brother of Hosam 'Sam' Smadi, the Jordanian national accused of trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper, will not be immediately deported, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn has ordered that Smadi’s brother, Husein Smadi, 18, who is in the country illegally, be temporarily detained as a material witness in his brother’s terrorist case.
. . .
http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1682330.html

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Overseas News

Support the Center for Immigration Studies by donating on line here: http://cis.org/donate

ATTN Federal employees: The Center's Combined Federal Campaign number is 10298.

[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. Canada: Deportations in past decade have skyrocketed
2. U.K.: Doctors claim detention inflicts mental conditions upon kids
3. U.K.: Legal 'quirk' leaves Malaysians stateless
4. Finland: Survey finds foreign youths poised to leave
5. Russia: Aspiring black pol loses local-level election
6. Greece: Human Rights Watch blasts detention policies
7. Italy: Libyan makes bombing attempt on army barracks (link)
8. Malta: Deputy PM blasts opposition over burden sharing
9. Malta: Armed Forces accused of wrongful forced repatriation
10. Israel: Immigration slows while ex-pats return in greater numbers
11. Israel: Gov't indicates foreign workers' kids will be deported (story, 3 links)
12. Saudi Arabia: Group seeks help for Filipinos facing drug charges (link)
13. Sri Lanka: Australia sends aid to dissuade illegal exodus
14. Indonesia: Gov't cooperating with Australia on seaborne apprehensions (story, 3 links)
15. Philippines: NGO opposes mandatory insurance for workers abroad
16. Philippines: Church sets up ministry for overseas workers
17. Australia: PM toughens stance under heavy criticism (2 stories, 7 links)
18. Australia: Territorial Premier blasts asylum for Afghanis
19. Australia: Farm union calls illegal laborers 21st century 'slaves' (story, link)

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
Deportation numbers skyrocket in Canada
Immigration lawyer says the numbers point to a more aggressive system
By Katie Schneider
The Edmonton Sun (Canada), October 13, 2009
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2009/10/13/11382376-sun.html

Calgary -- Fifty per cent more people were deported from Canada last year than a decade ago -- proof the system is getting too aggressive with who it gives the boot, says one local immigration lawyer.

Figures from the Canada Border Services Agency show deportations from the country have spiked to 12,732 removed last year, compared to 8,361 in 1999.

While three-quarters of deportations were failed refugee claimants, the rest were removed on criminal or security grounds.

But Calgary immigration lawyer Bjorn Harsanyi says while more people are entering Canada who could be claiming refugee status, he believes the numbers speak to a more aggressive system.

'I do think there is a greater enforcement mandate in immigration and that means willing to deport anyone who is eligible to be removed without exercise of discretion to keep them here,' he said.

'If they can remove them any way, they will.

'I've seen many people on the verge of deportation when I don't think they should be deported.'

The government explains the spike in deportations as the logical result of a jump in refugee applications -- 35,000 refugee claims last year and the government says the system can only handle 25,000.

Spokesman for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said problems with the refugee system will be addressed in upcoming reforms.

Last month, Kenney vowed to explore 'different policy options to give government more power to remove dangerous and violent foreign criminals.'

But, Harsanyi said the discretion should be put back into the hands of decision-makers.

He said permanent residents accused of serious crimes used to receive letters from immigration officers warning they could be removed from the country, but now 'those letters don't get out anymore.'

Ultimately, that means for him and partner Raj Sharma, the lawyer for reputed gangster Jackie Tran -- who faces two deportation orders -- their case loads have also increased. 'We are crazy busy,' he said.

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2.
Children made 'sick with fear' in UK immigration detention centres
Weight loss, difficulty sleeping, bed-wetting and sickness among symptoms found at Yarl's Wood
By Karen McVeigh
The Guardian, October 13, 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/13/children-immigration-detention-health

Medical experts have found clear evidence that children held in UK immigration centres develop mental and physical health difficulties, according to a report published today.

In the first study of its kind, a team of paediatricians and psychologists found 73% of children they examined had developed clinically significant emotional and behavioural problems since being detained. None had previously reported such problems.

All those seen by a psychologist displayed symptoms of depression and anxiety and of being disoriented, confused and frightened by the experience. One child suffered the re-emergence of post-traumatic stress disorder, related to a previous war experience.
The report raised serious concerns over child protection issues after finding that at least 12 of the children had been separated from a main carer, two placed in detention with an adult with whom they had never lived, and one mother and her 20-month-old baby separated for three weeks during an outbreak of chicken pox.

The study, published in Child Abuse & Neglect: the International Journal, examined 24 children aged between three months and 17 years detained at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire, which is operated by Serco for the UK Border Agency. It found that:

* Eight children had lost weight since entering detention, including a two-year-old and a nine-year-old, both of whom had lost 10% of their body weight.

* Three children had regressed and refused to feed themselves or would only take milk.

* Most of the 20 children seen by a paediatrician complained of recent health problems including abdominal pain, headache, coughing and vomiting. Two required hospital care.

* Ten out of 11 children examined by a psychologist had begun to experience sleep problems, including nightmares and difficulty falling or remaining asleep.

* Four children began bed-wetting, although they had previously been dry for a number of years and two started daytime soiling and wetting, indicators of severe stress.

* Four children had regressed language skills, including one child who had become selectively mute.

* All nine parents interviewed reported severe psychological distress, and 6six out of nine had contemplated suicide. Two were on suicide watch.

Recent Home Office figures reveal that 470 children were detained with their families this year. Of 225 children released from detention in the second quarter this year, only 100 were removed from the UK, prompting calls from MPs and children's rights groups for an end to children being detained unnecessarily.

The authors of today's study say that as there is 'no clear evidence to indicate that detention is necessary in order to prevent families from absconding, more humane alternatives to current practice must be explored'.

Dr Ann Lorek, consultant paediatrician at the Mary Sheridan centre for child health in Lambeth, south London, said: 'Our study contains evidence that children in detention have worsening physical and mental health and express worrying levels of trauma and sickness, despite well-intentioned staff. As doctors we ask for safeguards to protect these vulnerable children from further harm in detention.'

Dr Kim Ehntholt, clinical psychologist at the traumatic stress clinic, Camden and Islington NHS foundation trust, in north London, said that their findings support previous Australian studies showing the negative effect of detention on children and their parents.

She said: 'The detained children's mental health is likely to have been negatively affected by a combination of factors including a recent deterioration in their parents' mental health, increased fear after being suddenly placed in a detention facility which children often believe is prison, anxiety over returning to their country of origin where they may have experienced traumatic events, as well as the abrupt loss of home, school and friends.'

Families involved in the research, who had been in detention on average 43 days, were referred to the authors by the charity Bail for Immigration Detainees.

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3.
Malaysians left stateless in row over colonial law
By Romen Bose
Agence France Presse, October 13, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jVf94wXeiWgUOxWNcuAUErzqCqSA

London (AFP) -- Hundreds of Malaysians who tore up their passports and set off for Britain in the belief they could claim citizenship under a quirk of colonial law have found themselves stateless and desperate.

'Dee', a trained architect from the resort island of Penang, is now reduced to washing up dishes at a Chinese restaurant in central London -- a victim, he says, of a 'citizenship that is not real.'

'I have become an illegal immigrant... actually even worse because at least they have their own country to go back to. I don't,' the 34-year-old told AFP.

A little-known legal clause gave residents of Penang and Malacca -- a seaside enclave south of the capital Kuala Lumpur -- the status of British Overseas Citizenship (BOC) when Malaysia gained independence in 1957.

Ethnic Chinese in the two regions that were part of a British colony in the former Malaya, wary of discrimination under an independent nation dominated by Muslim Malays, had sought assurances they could resort to residing in Britain.

Immigration activists say that a few hundred Malaysians took up citizenship, most of them eventually being granted the right after residing in Britain for more than five years in the 1980s and 1990s.

Immigration laws tightened up in 2002, ending any chance for Malaysian BOCs to register as British citizens.

But confusion over the change, combined with shady immigration lawyers out to make a buck, meant many Malaysians continued to pursue applications. Dee, who had seen many BOC friends successfully gain citizenship, applied in 2003.

Ben Scaro, an Australian lawyer who advocates their cause, says the situation became messier as cases were left unresolved for years, and letters sent in 2005 told applicants they could not proceed unless they showed they had lost Malaysian citizenship.

As a result, a large number of BOCs including Dee renounced their Malaysian citizenship -- a process that is extremely difficult to reverse.

'I filled up the forms to renounce my citizenship and my Malaysian passport was cut up,' Dee says.'I was told by the officials at the Malaysian High Commission here that I was no longer a Malaysian citizen.'

'What makes it worse is the British government saying it's very hard to renounce Malaysian citizenship and declaring we are still Malaysian while the Malaysian government says we are not Malaysian any more but British. Its crazy.'

Sealing their fate, an Asylum and Immigration tribunal in July 2008 ruled that Malaysian BOCs who have or had Malaysian citizenship do not have a right to reside in Britain.

'We are looking at a situation where nearly 1,000 Malaysians who have given up their citizenship are now BOCs but have no right to stay in the UK,' Ben Scaro said.

It also ruled that a Malaysian BOC does not lose their Malaysian citizenship by applying for a BOC passport or renunciation of Malaysian nationality.

'The British Home Office effectively orchestrated the BOCs' statelessness,' Scaro said.

'It said if you can prove you are not Malaysian your case can go forward, so of course the BOCs are going to go to the Malaysian High Commission and renounce.

'And then once they had renounced, then the decision comes along, saying the BOC will no longer be a path to citizenship.'

Malaysian constitutional lawyers also disagree with the British tribunal's interpretation of Malaysian law.

'If a Malaysian has gone through the renunciation process and followed the procedure, then the person is no longer a Malaysian citizen,' prominent lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar told AFP in Kuala Lumpur.

'Of course Malaysia would not allow the citizen to renounce its citizenship without having another citizenship but as far as the government is concerned the British Overseas Citizenship, as its name implies, is another citizenship.'

'If these Malaysians follow the procedures, in these circumstances, they end up being stateless.'

Edmund Yeo, a Malaysian citizen who is an elected councillor in Ealing, West London, says that only the British government can now resolve the dilemma.

'The British government gave them that right, they were born and you called them BOC in Malaysia... and now you want to remove yourself from this problem, that's not right,' he told AFP in his office near London's Chinatown.

'These people can be turned into very productive citizens who pay taxes. These are not economic refugees, they did not come in the back of a lorry. They walked in the front door saying they are claiming citizenship, so give it to them.'

London Citizens, a civic group campaigning for the BOC, organised a major rally in July to urge the British government to legalise long-term illegal residents who are hardworking and contribute to society.

'People who have been here for more than four years, show evidence that they are good citizens, non-criminals, willing to contribute, we ask the government to give them a two-year work permit and during the period if they get a strong reference from their employer, we ask they be made legal,' said organiser Joy Lam.

'The Malaysian BOCs are a small group of people and they are stateless so our first priority is to try and get them indefinite leave to remain.'

However, a UK Borders Agency spokesperson, in a written response to AFP, said the government was sticking to the ruling of the tribunal.

'Being a BOC is not the same thing as having British citizenship and does not give people an automatic right to live in the UK,' she said.

'We do not believe that these individuals are stateless and the courts agreed. Anyone in the United Kingdom illegally should leave voluntarily. If they do not, they are liable to be removed.'

For Dee, the situation remains bleak.

'Malaysia will not take me and I have lived in the UK for 11 years,' he said. 'I am British, I have lived here for more than a third of my life and I am willing to work hard so why don't they just let me?'

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4.
Many Immigrant Youths Consider Leaving Finland
YLE (Finland), October 13, 2009
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/10/many_immigrant_youths_consider_leaving_finland_1077280.html

Immigrant youths often want to leave Finland, according to a new survey. Networking and linguistic ability are factors helping them move away while racialism and prejudice accounted in Finland often provide the springboard.

According to a survey carried out by TAT Group, SEK PRO Oy:n and 15/30 Research, integration of young immigrants into Finnish society is a long process. For many building a life in Finland is not on their agenda.

Youths with a Russian, Estonian or Somali background often do not consider themselves as Finns, even if they have resided in the country for most of their lives and are Finnish citizens.

On the contrary, they maintain a strong individual cultural identity and an awareness of where home is. Youths say they are from Russia, Estonia and Somalia and are proud of the fact.

Finland is not an easy environment for all young immigrants. Public structures present a picture of equality while in reality racialism and prejudice remain fundamental problems.

Those interviewed said they often experienced racialism from older people and inebriates but they also singled out the media.

Somali youths were, in particular, the target for racial abuse. However, Estonians felt more at home in Finland with a much smaller cultural gap.

Hopes and expectations regarding working life were the same as those of Finnish youths. Of prime importance was getting a job in line with one’s education and training, job satisfaction as well as a pleasant working environment. Immigrant youths also possess a high motivation to gain training. The research also shows they have strong linguistic abilities and possess a wide international social network.

Estonian and Russian youths place great faith in their individual ability to get employment in Finland. However, Somali youths feel they are at a disadvantage owing to their background.

Many Ready to Move Abroad

Youths interviewed for the survey would easily be prepared to leave Finland. They cite the lengthy duration of integration as well as racialism. Other factors prompting departure included internationalism, a desire to travel and a desire to develop themselves.

Somali youths had the greatest willingness to leave and often wanted to return to their homeland. They cite a common desire of the Somali community to be able to someday return to their country of origin or live in a Muslim country. In addition, Finland is perceived as being prejudiced and unequal in working life. Somali youths often feel they cannot achieve their goals in Finland.

Estonian and Russian youths do not actively consider a return home. They usually feel that Finland could be their future home or they plan to move elsewhere.

Youths aged between 15 and 21 from Somali, Russian and Estonian backgrounds were interviewed by 15/30 Research as well as a comparison group of Finnish youths. Some 55 young people took part in either individual or group interviews.

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5.
'Russian Obama' loses election
Agence France Presse, October 13, 2009
http://www.smh.com.au/world/russian-obama-loses-election-20091013-gu7p.html

The so-called 'Russian Obama' has failed in his bid to become Russia's first elected official of African descent, but says he is satisfied with his third place finish.

Joaquim Crima, an immigrant from Guinea-Bissau whose candidacy for a seat in a local Russian legislature had drawn international attention, took only 4.75 per cent of the vote, a regional election official said.

'I expected to gain around one per cent and I came in third,' Crima said, calling himself 'pleasantly surprised'.

Crima, who has been living in Russia since 1989, had been seeking a seat in the municipal legislature of the Srednaya Akhtuba district in the Volgograd Region of southern Russia.

He finished behind Sergei Tikhonov, the candidate of the ruling United Russia party, who took 47 per cent of the vote, and Vladimir Romanov, who took 30.7 per cent, a spokesperson for the regional election commission said.

Crima's candidacy had astounded observers and drawn media attention, with non-whites often subjected to suspicion in Russia and sometimes even violent racist attacks.

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6.
Human Rights Watch: Greece must amend its immigration policy
The Sofia Echo, October 13, 2009
http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/10/13/798832_human-rights-watch-greece-must-amend-its-immigration-policy

The Human Rights Watch organisation has demanded that the newly elected Pasok government in Greece comply with European laws for immigrants and asylum seekers and cease illegally expelling asylum seekers across the Evros River into Turkey, according to a report on the organisation's official website on October 13 2009.

Immigrants who are headed for western Europe from eastern north Africa, the Middle East and as far afield as Pakistan and Afghanistan, usually arrive first on Greek shores because the country is the first EU member state they encounter. According to current legislation, asylum seekers have to file their applications for political asylum in the 'first country they reach' but in Greece's case, the chances of them obtaining asylum are slim.

Greece is criticised for not complying with European laws and procedures but also accused of exposing people to the risk of ill-treatment, both in the country itself, and once its authorities physically expel the immigrants from its territory, by creating resentment with the authorities in Turkey, in this particular case.

'Greece should guarantee access for all migrants to the asylum procedure, and restore a meaningful appeals process,' the report says.

The report demands immediate action from the Greek government and the European Union to 'reform the country's broken asylum system'.

Human Rights Watch cites shelters being destroyed in Patras and elsewhere, of children locked in detention facilities in the northern parts of the country, 'of overcrowded, unhygienic conditions with insufficient food and untreated health problems'.

'Greece's illegal expulsions have reached a new level,' says Simone Troller, researcher at Human Rights Watch, 'Migrants are now being arrested throughout the country and then pushed back to Turkey. Clearly, people who need protection are not safe in Greece. Greece's dysfunctional asylum system is entirely in the hands of police who create obstacles to filing asylum claims and deny asylum seekers fair hearings and assessments of their claims,' he says.

Meanwhile, the Greek authorities have detained more than 146 000 illegal immigrants in 2008, whereas the number of arrested asylum seekers in 2002 was 58 000, Dnevnik daily reported on October 13 2009. Most arrive via Ankara, and the Greek authorities in turn accuse Turkey of having done nothing to help curb the immigration problem 'which puts an increasing strain on the country's infrastructure and health care system'.

The quarrel between Turkey and Greece reached a new high on September 21 2009, when during a co-operative Frontex patrol in the Aegean Sea, a Latvian helicopter detected a Turkish coast guard vessel close to the islet of Farmakonisi, which not only failed to thwart an immigrant smuggling vessel from entering Greek waters but actively assisted it, Greek daily Kathimerini reported at the time.

The pilots have submitted documentation and pictures on September 14 to European authorities, implicating a Turkish coast guard vessel providing escort for a smuggling boat into Greek national waters.

As a consequence of the ongoing trafficking and smuggling problem in the area and the inability of Greek and Turkish authorities to curb escalating immigration, the French government is said to have submitted a proposal to the EU’s council of justice and interior ministers, calling for Turkey, as well as Libya, to co-operate with EU member states in the drive to help minimise illegal immigration.

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7.
Milan bomber had accomplices, more explosives - police
By Sara Rossi
Reuters, October 13, 2009

Milan (Reuters) -- A Libyan man who tried to bomb a Milan army barracks had accomplices and belonged to a group that had more explosives ready, Italian police said on Tuesday.
. . .
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43122820091013

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8.
Borg lambasts opposition on mandatory burden-sharing
Directive does away with duplication of procedures
The Times of Malta, October 13, 2009
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091013/local/borg-lambasts-opposition-on-mandatory-burden-sharing

Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg yesterday lambasted the opposition for continuing its insistence on mandatory burden-sharing, adding that this could only come about if there was consensus from all EU member states; it did not depend solely on the Maltese government.

Speaking during the second reading of the Immigration Act (Amendment) Bill, Dr Borg said that while the opposition insisted on a mandatory system, the government had opted for the best functional system that could be used, that of convincing other member states to take refugees from Malta.

He criticised the opposition having insisted with the government not to sign the Asylum Pact. The European Commission had also been doing its utmost to convince other member states to share the burden.

Minister Borg said that if a large number of countries participated in the voluntary scheme, moral pressure could be exerted on other member states to comply. For years, the immigration problem had not been an issue in the EU. Thanks to Malta and Italy, every country now recognised this problem and the EU had convinced other member states to contribute financially to solve the problem.

The Foreign Minister said that the US government was continuously taking on more refugees, while in Europe France had taken a hundred this year, promising to take another hundred refugees in 2010. Up to now the US government had taken about 400 refugees and there was no limit to how many it would take. Slovakia had agreed to take between eight and ten others. He was making efforts to convince other European countries to accept more refugees from Malta.

Minister Borg assumed that in cases involving the review of human rights violations, the rule incorporated in sub-clause 5 of the Bill would not apply. Consequently, pending review of human rights violations, warrants to stop the expulsion of a person could still be issued.

Dr Borg was reacting to Opposition spokesman on Home Affairs and Security Michael Falzon, who said it seemed that the government was now also agreeing with the opposition on the mandatory burden-sharing system, even if this had previously been described by a government speaker as a joke.

Introducing the second reading of the Immigration Act (Amendment) Bill, Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said that it implemented the provisions of the 2001 European Directive on the mutual recognition of decisions on the expulsion of third-country nationals.

After the Council of Ministers had established the criteria on how to execute the deportation of third-country nationals, all EU member states were to recognise a decision of expulsion issued in another member state without the need of initiating similar criminal proceedings.

He said it ensured that a deported person was sent back to the country of origin. The amendment did not apply to relatives of EU citizens or those persons who had the right of freedom of movement within the EU.

Third-country nationals could be expelled if they were a threat to public order or to national security and safety. This would result from a conviction in a member state or if there were serious grounds to believe that the third-country national had committed serious criminal offences.

Immigrants who did not comply with national rules of entry or residence could also be deported.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said Malta faced a situation where illegal immigrants did not have any official document - whether a passport, a travelling document or any other means of identification. This made deportation more difficult because the authorities of the country of origin would not recognise them as their nationals.

The directive gave EU member states the instrument to expel third-country nationals who entered the country illegally or who broke local laws.

No expulsion decision issued by the Principal Immigration Officer of a member state could be obstructed by means of any warrant issued under the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure.

Asylum seekers could not be deported before their request for refugee status had been decided on.

Once the national status of illegal immigrants who were denied refugee status had been determined, these could be deported to the country of origin.

This signified agreement among member states on the right to defend territorial rights against threats to national safety and security.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said it was a fact that the EU was taking measures to ensure the security and protection of its citizens.

Michael Falzon (PL) said that the Bill did not address illegal immigration but was simply a transposition of an EU directive into the national law.

He noted that although the directive had been approved in 2001, Malta was only transposing this law eight years later.

It would have been interesting to discuss irregular immigration especially in the light of comments made lately by an EU official. It seemed that the government was now also agreeing with the opposition in relation to the mandatory burden-sharing system, even if this had been previously described by a government speaker as a joke.

The directive spoke of third-country nationals - persons who were not citizens of any one of the EU member states. Thus, freedom of movement for EU citizens remained protected.

The directive did not address the expulsion solely of illegal immigrants but covered all third-country nationals who did not enjoy any protection under EU law, and ensured that expulsion orders issued by an EU member state were to be recognised and implemented by the other member states.

This did away with duplication of procedures in different countries.

Dr Falzon emphasised that article 23(5) did not allow the actions taken by the Principal Immigration Officer to be disrupted through the use of any warrant issued under the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure.

Consequently, the decision taken by one member state would have effect in all EU member states, and was not subject to civil remedies within the implementing country.

He said these regulations were based on the presumption that EU countries applied the rule of law and rules of natural justice, and that these rules would all have been considered by the issuing authority.

Despite these regulations Malta could still face difficulties in the expulsion of persons against whom such an order would have been issued, especially in relation to those persons who either did not have valid travel documents or where the return of those persons to their countries of origin was prejudicial, such as the case of Somalis. In this regard, a measure of protection had to be brought into effect.

There was a general consensus in relation to the expulsion of those third-country nationals who were a serious threat to public order or public security, and also where that person was faced with expulsion following a finding of guilt of a criminal offence which was punishable by imprisonment of at least one year. This situation was based on the presumption that the person had been accorded a due process at law.

Dr Falzon commented that the implementation of expulsion orders would also widen Maltese criminal law procedures which normally required the co-existence of criminal intent and criminal act, and also embraced the principle that a person was presumed innocent until proven otherwise without any reasonable doubt.

The Bill allowed the expulsion of a person even though they would not have committed an offence. The proposed law spoke only of the intention to commit an offence, which was neither tantamount to preparatory acts for the commission of an offence nor tantamount to an attempt. Malta followed the principle that the accused was presumed innocent until proved otherwise.

The principle of subsidiarity and uniformity in European regulation was also implemented in this directive through the recognition of expulsion orders in relation to those persons who had failed to comply with national rules on entry or residence. Although the laws of the EU member states were somewhat similar, differences did exist in national laws and this could bring about the situation whereby Malta would implement an expulsion order even if the law allegedly violated was not found within the domestic legal order.

The Bill did not only address recognition of expulsion orders but also the implementation of such orders, and gave the Principal Immigration Officer the power of detaining a person against whom an expulsion order had been issued in custody, even without warrant.

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9.
Migrant insists on claim that AFM made forced repatriation to Libya
‘I have no problem with Malta… I have no reason to lie’ – repatriated migrant
By Karl Stagno-Navarra
The Malta Independent, October 11, 2009
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/10/11/t10.html

An Eritrean migrant – who claims to have been part of a group of 264 migrants forced to return to Libya by a Maltese army patrol boat in 2005 – has rebuked the AFM Commander’s denial in MaltaToday and insisted that he has no reason to lie.

In a letter sent to this newspaper from Washington, Bill Frelick, refugee policy director of Human Rights Watch, explained that the Eritrean migrant had read Brigadier Carmel Vassallo’s official denial published in MaltaToday on 27 September, and insisted on his version of facts as he had originally recounted them when interviewed by the international human rights organisation.

The Armed Forces of Malta have categorically denied ever having committed forced deportations of migrants back to Libya. The report, published by Human Rights Watch on Friday, quotes the 26-year-old Eritrean migrant who told rapporteurs about an incident at sea that happened in 2005.

The migrant, who spoke under the pseudonym ‘Daniel’, stressed that 'when we were inside the boat a patrol boat arrived, with a Maltese flag. They threw water and biscuits at us, and we read on the water bottle that it was made in Malta.'

Daniel went on to explain that while the Maltese crew was giving them provisions, a big red cargo ship flying an Italian flag arrived, and some people from aboard this ship took some pictures of the migrants.

According to Daniel, the Italian ships only stopped for a short while, and after speaking to the Maltese, after which they continued with their journey.

Daniel says that the Maltese crew threw them a rope and started towing the boat. 'The rope was around 10 metres long so that we could not jump, and after they towed us we thought we were going to Malta.

'But after sunset, when it was dark and we could not see, they changed their direction but we did not notice. After some time, when we realised that we had changed route (one of the persons with me on the boat said he knew our direction by looking at the sky and he told us) – we started shouting and crying and pleading them not to return us to Libya,' he said.

According to Daniel, the situation worsened when, after some time, they saw a fishing boat with a green Libyan flag. 'We lost hope and knew that we were going back to Libya. The Maltese gave the rope to the fishing boat, they turned all their powerful lights on so that they could tie the rope properly, and the fishing boat started towing us away from the Maltese. In the end we went back to Libya,' he said.

In his reply to Brigadier Carmel Vassallo’s categorical denial of the event, Daniel stressed that he has no interest to lie about this fact. 'I have no problem with Malta. I have never been there, so I have no reason to lie. I am sorry that as an immigrant I do not have the power against the government of Malta, and I cannot show my face or my name, all I can do is tell my story so that maybe things like these will not happen again. As a result of what they did I was arrested and I suffered, I was lucky to end up in Italy in the end but I don’t know where the other people are, if they are still there or if they made it,' Daniel said.

He also denied the number of immigrants having been 264 as alleged by Brigadier Vassallo, and quoted in the original report published by Human Rights Watch. 'I read that Malta said they never towed a boat with 264 persons. They never counted us nor checked if we were carrying women and children, and they did not talk to us. They would not know how many people were there,' he said.

Daniel concluded that as a result of his forced deportation, he was arrested by the Libyan security forces and together with other migrants, he was beaten and left in a detention centre until he managed to escape once again and settle in Italy.

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10.
More expatriates returning, fewer immigrating this year
By Rebecca Anna Stoil
The Jerusalem Post, October 12, 2009
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1255204782238&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Immigrant Absorption Minister director-general Dimitri Aperchev presented data on Monday showing aliya in the first three quarters of the year slowed compared to the average pace during all of 2008, while more Israeli expatriates were returning.

In all of 2008, 16,276 people immigrated to Israel, whereas by September 30, 2009, 11,939 had made the same move. This is 73 percent of the 2008 total.

Some 9,280 former residents returned to live in Israel throughout 2008, while 8,170 have done so three-quarters of the way through 2009. This is 88% of the 2008 total.

Meanwhile, Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver painted an optimistic picture during her appearance before the Knesset's Absorption Committee, as she presented a briefing on the ministry's 2009 budget and activities. Landver said that where immigration is concerned 'there is no such thing as - and cannot ever be - any opposition.'

Landver said that it was already possible to state that 'aliya is on the increase', and that the trend of reduced immigration that had been recorded throughout the past decade has now been reversed. Landver added that today, the foremost problems facing immigrants are housing, employment and the quality of language instruction.

'In all of these directions,' promised Landver, 'we are making a massive effort to find suitable solutions to these problems, but they will not be solved exclusively through the efforts of our ministry. This must be a systemic effort to which the government as a whole must contribute.'

In no geographic subcategory - Western Europe, North America, Latin America, Ethiopia or the former Soviet States - did the number of immigrants for the first three quarters of 2009 exceed the total number of immigrants for the previous year. In most cases, the current numbers were between 65-91% of last years' immigration, with the notable exception among Ethiopians. There, 1,598 immigrated in 2008 and only 95 have come in 2009.

Committee chairwoman MK Lia Shemtov (Israel Beiteinu) said that 'the aliya of the '90s from the former Soviet states brought about revolutions in Israel in a number of fields including culture, science, medicine, economics and hi-tech. None of this would have been true without the efforts of the Absorption Ministry.

Among the lessons that Shemtov said that Israel had learned regarding absorption of immigrants was that 'there is no doubt that personal assistance of new immigrants by veteran immigrants is as important as providing housing and employment.'

Shemtov and Landver's comments reflected the general focus of the committee, which discussed steps taken in the former Soviet Union, but did not mention any official Absorption Ministry initiatives other than tax discounts targeting Western European and American immigration.

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11.
Foreign workers' children likely to be deported after school year
By Dana Weiler-Polak
Ha'aretz (Israel), October 13, 2009
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1120738.html

Some 1,200 children of foreign workers and their families will almost certainly be deported after finishing the school year, ministers indicated at Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

While no final decision has been made on the fate of the foreigners' children attending Israeli schools, the government is likely to deport them at the end of the school year.

The cabinet also authorized the Oz task force, which replaced the Immigration Police, to continue vigorously rounding up illegal workers.

'They bought time, not status,' said Interior Minister Eli Yishai after the cabinet session. 'I will not grant 1,200 families [residency] status.'

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar and Social Affairs Minister Yitzhak Herzog also attended the cabinet session.

The cabinet stressed that any child born in Israel by the end of the school year will be considered illegal and will not provide his parents with any protection. They may even be deported even before the end of the school year, the cabinet statement said.

The cabinet statement said it has 'not made a decision yet, but will continue the debate and decide after considering all the aspects.'

Karen Tal, principal of the Bialik-Rogozin School in South Tel Aviv, where many of the foreign workers' children study, said she hoped the government would 'recognize the children's right to grow and develop in Israel.'

'We're like doctors fighting for their patients' life ... as educators we want to enable the children to grow in the Israeli education system, where they began,' she said.

The organizations helping the migrant workers were bitterly disappointed by the cabinet's decision not to reverse its deportation policy regarding the children.

'We are sorry that the ministers adhered to the decision to deport Israeli children who have committed no crime,' a worker at the Moked hotline for foreign workers said.

'At the same time they permit bringing thousands of migrant workers who are also bound to lose their legal status, due to the government's policy. We will continue fighting this unreasonable, cruel decision,' she said.

A demonstration held in Jerusalem by the Israeli Children organization called to stop deporting the foreign workers. Some 50 people, most of them children, took part in the protest.

'We came to ask them not to send us to the Philippines,' said 8-year-old Amam Arpon, a student at the Bialik-Rogozin school. Born in Israel, she has never been to the country Israel wants to deport her to.

'They deported father seven years ago. I'm here with mother and here we want to stay. It's home,' she says.

Arpon has become accustomed to going straight home from school in recent months.

'Mother told me I must come straight home from school. She goes to work and returns immediately because she was arrested once but when they saw she was a mother she was released and since then she's afraid,' she said.

Among the adults at the demonstration was actor-model Noa Maiman, who joined the campaign about five months ago.

'Her mother takes care of my grandmother, a Holocaust survivor whose life was saved by a Polish woman in the Holocaust,' Maiman said.

'My grandmother asked us to take care of them and their friends because they're in danger of deportation.'

Pirita, 4, was born in Israel. Her father, who came to Israel illegally, was arrested in July, when the Oz task force began operating, and has not been seen since.

'We told her he was working far away,' Maiman said. 'But it seems that soon we will have no choice but to tell her the truth.'

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'Foreign workers' kids victims of failures'
While government has yet to make final decision on fate of foreign workers' children, aid organizations to continue their struggle demanding permanent residence status for kids. 'We will not let State deport children in order to bring new migrates and make a profit'
By Yael Branovsky
YNet (Israel), October 13, 2009
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3789143,00.html

Ministers: Foreign workers' kids to be deported by summer
By Yael Branovsky
YNet (Israel), October 12, 2009
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3789065,00.html

Shoah survivor: Don't deport foreigners' kids
By Yael Branovsky
YNet (Israel), October 12, 2009
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3789020,00.html

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12.
2 Filipinos jailed for drugs in Saudi seek gov’t help
By Jerome Aning
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 13, 2009

Manila -- An overseas Filipino workers group in the Middle East sought on Tuesday the government’s help for two OFWs jailed for drug offenses in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Migrante-Middle East alleged that the cases of the two were being neglected by Philippine consular officials.

Migrante-Middle East said one of the Filipinos, Jasper (not his real name), has been languishing at the Dammam Central Jail for one year and eight months and has undergone four hearings, during which only an interpreter from the Philippine consulate was present.

Jasper, 36, an electrician, was caught with a caché of illegal drugs at the airport post office on Feb. 23, 2007. He denied owning the illegal drugs, which were shipped from Manila.

'Jasper told me that until now there is no resolution on his case as he pleaded not guilty of the crime charged against him; he added that there is no proper legal assistance or local lawyer to defend him; only an interpreter sent by Philippine consulate during hearing,' Migrante-ME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona, who is based in the Saudi capital Riyadh, said in a statement emailed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Monterona said Jasper contacted him on Oct. 12 after availing of the free calls occasionally provided by jail authorities to inmates.
. . .
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091013-229887/2-Filipinos-jailed-for-drugs-in-Saudi-seek-govt-help

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13.
Volleyball nets spearhead anti-boatpeople campaign
By Amanda Hodge
The Australian, October 12, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26196661-5013404,00.html

Negombo, Sri Lanka -- The Rudd government will offer micro-loans, free volleyball nets and fishing nets to poor Sri Lankans as part of a campaign to dissuade them from illegally migrating to Australia.

Four hundred chairs, 300 fishing nets and 50 volleyball nets will be distributed in coming weeks to community centres and churches across the country's west coast -- all the products bearing warnings of the perils of the Indian Ocean crossing.

Australia will also offer community grants and micro-financing for local job creation projects in the hope that improving the lives of poor Sri Lankans in their own country will reduce the likelihood that they will seek a better life elsewhere.

Sri Lankans are now among the largest group of asylum-seekers in Australia with more than 300 washing up on our shores in the past year.

Another 260 Sri Lankan migrants, heading for Australia, were yesterday detained by Indonesian authorities in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra.

The freebies, known as 'livelihood products' are part of an advertising campaign being launched this month in Sri Lanka.

Australia Customs has hired the International Organisation for Migration and advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to deliver its message through posters, stickers, bookmarks and street theatre performances.

IOM Sri Lanka spokeswoman Stacey Winston said: 'These products are really effective, small amounts really make a big difference. There will be two rounds of distribution of livelihood products. That's what we will deliver in the first round but we have some flexibility to change the products'.

While posters and performances had proven 'wonderfully effective' in previous public information campaigns in Sri Lanka 'we wanted something tangible to give them also', she said.

The loans would not be advertised in the campaign but offered to community leaders in follow-meetings.

The Australian government has identified Sri Lanka's west coast, a series of largely Sinhalese Catholic fishing villages and the most popular jumping-off point for illegal boats, as the first target in their campaign. So prevalent is illegal immigration from that area that whole pockets of one village are known as Little Italy in honour of the Italianate villas financed with money sent back by locals who have washed up on Europe's shores. Last week six Sinhala Christians from that region became the first Sri Lankans to be returned by the Rudd government. The men were deemed to be economic migrants with no reasonable fear of persecution on their return.

The Australian understands the Sri Lankan navy intercepted a boat with up to 60 asylum-seekers last week as it left Negombo Port headed for Western Australia. All those on board, believed to be mostly west coast locals, are now in Negombo prison.

The first street performance for the Australian campaign was to have been launched yesterday during a Catholic feast day at St Sebastian Church in Negombo -- an event attended by hundreds of local parishioners. But the Australian government cancelled the event less than 24 hours before it was scheduled.

Parish priest Father Erington Silva said the Australian Government had missed an opportunity to reach a large audience of locals and drive its message home.

He also questioned the effectiveness of handing out free volleyball nets to communities of people so poor they were prepared to risk a perilous, month-long boat trip in the hope of a better life in a more prosperous country. 'I think people might be a bit cynical about that,' Father Erington said.

But he said the Rudd government plan to offer grants and micro financing could help in an area where mass unemployment was forcing many to either work in the people-smuggling trade or take their chances on the boats. 'If you can do something like that for people here, where there's so much poverty and unemployment, then maybe we can change peoples' minds little by little.'

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14.
Rudd did request asylum help: Indonesia
By Geoff Thompson
The ABC News (Australia), October 13, 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/13/2713317.htm?section=australia

Mr Faizasyah said intelligence provided by Australia helped Indonesian authorities locate the boat.

Indonesia says Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd did request help in stopping a boatload of 260 Sri Lankan asylum seekers found in Indonesian waters.

Last week about 260 boarded the boat and set off for Australia but before they reached Australian waters the Indonesian Navy and police stepped in. The boat was intercepted and the people detained.

According to The West Australian newspaper, the Indonesian response was triggered by a personal plea from Mr Rudd.

Indonesia's foreign ministry spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, says his country views Mr Rudd's personal request as a good thing which highlights the high level of cooperation between the two leaders and the two nations in solving a regional problem.

Mr Faizasyah said intelligence provided by Australia helped Indonesian authorities locate the boat.

After the telephone call, four Indonesian Navy warships intercepted the vessel carrying the asylum seekers.

However Indonesian immigration officials are faced with a headache with the asylun seekers refusing to leave the ship and immigration officials say some jumped overboard in protest when they were intercepted.

Asked whether Indonesia thought Australia was outsourcing its immigration problem to its northern neighbour, Mr Faizasyah said it was a regional problem requiring a regional solution.

'This is part and parcel of the good relationship between the two governments and the two heads of government in this regard,' he said.

'There is a need to coordinate how we respond to certain issues affecting the two countries, Indonesia as a transit country and of course Australia as the destination.'

Earlier Mr Rudd confirmed that he did call the Indonesian President on the weekend and the two leaders did discuss matters of people smuggling but he is keeping mum on the details.

'We have a range of communications with the Indonesians at all sorts of levels. The business of diplomacy is not to go to the detail of communications with the Indonesians or with any other foreign government. That is the right way to conduct diplomacy.'

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says such a high-level request for help is a one-off solution.

'That is one boat that was intercepted and we say well done to Australian and Indonesian security services that were able to intercept that people smuggling boat,' he said.

'But that was one boat that was intercepted but of course another boat has arrived and more are arriving in Australian waters than are intercepted in Indonesian waters.'

More boatloads arriving

The Government has confirmed that the Australian Navy intercepted another boat off Ashmore Island yesterday.

It was carrying 58 passengers including two young children. They are now on their way to Christmas Island, where their applications for asylum will be processed.

In the past six weeks 13 boats have made it to Australian waters carrying nearly 700 people.

Mr Rudd says people are fleeing trouble in the region.

'There has been recently a very large and brutally fought civil war in Sri Lanka. That is leading to a huge set of pressures, push pressures out to the entire region,' he said.

'That's what's happening. Therefore all regional countries are in the practical business of working against that particular challenge.'

But the Opposition has put it down to Labor Government policy bringing an end to the so-called Pacific solution and the system of temporary protection visas.

The Opposition has called for an independent inquiry to examine the Government's policy. It claims the policy is failing and the number of unauthorised arrivals will only grow.

But Mr Turnbull has not revealed a definitive Coalition stance, nor has he spoken for or against the reintroduction of the Howard government's policies, including temporary protection visas.

'I would not rule in or out any measure. I would have an independent inquiry and get the expert advice,' he said.

David Manne from Melbourne's Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre says the revived debate is a reminder of a broader failure to address the needs of millions of displaced people around the world.

'Many of these people who are getting on boats are otherwise going to be stranded in Indonesia and be subject to on average a nine-year wait for resettlement to safety, stuck in a very precarious situation in the meantime,' he said.

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Sri Lankans threaten to blow up boat in Indonesia
By Stephen Fitzpatrick
The Australian, October 14, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26207428-25837,00.html

Boat carrying 56 people arrives after Rudd calls for Indonesia's help
By Samantha Maiden
The Australian, October 13, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26203844-5013871,00.html

Australia, Indonesia Increase Cooperation on Boat People Issue
By Phil Mercer
The Voice of America News, October 13, 2009
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-13-voa9.cfm

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15.
OFW welfare group vs compulsory insurance
By Veronica Uy
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 13, 2009
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091013-229848/OFW-welfare-group-vs-compulsory-insurance

Manila -- The Center for Migrant Advocacy, which looks after the welfare of and policy issues concerning overseas Filipino workers, on Tuesday opposed the proposed law requiring compulsory insurance coverage for OFWs.

Members of the bicameral conference committee to amend Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers Rights could not agree on this either.

CMA executive director Ellene Sana said that while the intention to cover all OFWs is good, it is bound to follow the fate of the $25 membership fee for Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

The fee is supposed to be paid by the employer, but is usually paid by the OFWs themselves.

Sana said the government—not private insurance companies, recruiters, or OFWs—should provide OFW protection.

She said the present voluntary insurance coverage should stay. The proposal 'opens up another multi-million dollar insurance business at $75 per OFW. Madaming kikita ditto (Many will earn from this),' she said.

The proposed bill being discussed in the bicameral conference committee provides that in addition to performance bond by recruiter, each worker shall be covered by compulsory insurance policy at no cost to worker; $15,000 survivor’s benefit for accidental death; $10,000 for natural death; $7,500 for permanent total disability; repatriation cost in case of job termination or death; $100 a month in subsistence allowance benefit for six months for migrant worker involved in a case or litigation for protection of his or her rights in receiving country.

The bill also provides that claims resulting from employer’s liability to worker shall have an insurance coverage amounting to three months for every year of service.

In case of workers recruited through government-to-government mechanisms, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration shall provide a guarantee fund for monetary claims out of breach of contract.

Rehires and direct hires may get insurance coverage from employers or pay these themselves.

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16.
Ilocos church sets up desk for OFWs, families
The GMA TV News (Philippines), October 10, 2009
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/174326/ilocos-church-sets-up-desk-for-ofws-families

The Catholic Church has provided another source of support for migrant workers and their families in Ilocos Sur, with a new Migrant Ministry there.

Nueva Segovia Social Action Commission under Fr. Rufo Abaya and Sr. Lillian Carranza initiated the organization of that will serve migrants and their families.

'It is the church’s desire to assure workers abroad the pastoral care they need and the chance to live a decent life; and every migrant, hospitality and care from the community where he finds himself,' the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said on its news site (www.cbcpnews.com).

The local church and community were encouraged to do what they can to help uphold the dignity and rights of migrants and lead them to spread the teachings of God in their host countries.

Edmund Ruga of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant Peoples (ECMI) taught the participants efficient pastoral management of the parish migrants ministry.

Ruga gave pointers on the setting up and maintenance of an active migrant desk in their respective parishes.

'We would like to start this right,' said Carranza, stressing adequate training to prepare the staff and equip them to help the migrants and their families cope and solve their problems.

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17.
No vacancy for boatpeople as Kevin Rudd toughens stance
By Paul Maley and Debbie Guest
The Australian, October 14, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,24897,26207427-601,00.html

Kevin Rudd has been forced to expand the immigration detention centre at Christmas Island in a last-ditch attempt to avoid transferring asylum-seekers to the mainland.

And as officials began processing the 56 asylum-seekers intercepted on Monday - the 32nd boat to arrive this year - the Coalition renewed its attack on the government, accusing the Prime Minister of 'losing control of our borders' and of replacing the Howard era Pacific Solution with an 'Indonesian solution' of managing refugees.

But Mr Rudd moved to toughen the government's rhetoric following revelations he personally intervened through a conversation with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to have a boat carrying 260 asylum-seekers stopped by the Indonesian navy.

Last night, more than 260 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers were locked in a deadly stand-off with Indonesian authorities, threatening to blow up their boat if forced to disembark at the port in Merak.

'I make absolutely no apology whatsoever for taking a hard line on illegal immigration to Australia,' Mr Rudd said yesterday.

He said the government was working with countries in the region to stem the flow of irregular migrants, and that the harsh policies adopted by the Howard government had failed.

Mr Rudd's comments followed the interception on Monday of 56 asylum-seekers northwest of Ashmore Reef, bringing to 1704 the number of asylum-seekers to arrive by boat this year.

But Malcolm Turnbull seized on the arrival of the new boats, claiming there was now no doubt Labor's changes had encouraged people smugglers.

'Mr Rudd has to now admit that his border protection policies are failing. He has lost control of our borders. Since he started softening our border protection policies, we've had 41 boats and just under 2000 arrivals,' the Opposition Leader said.

Since coming to office, Labor has made several changes to immigration policy, dismantling the Pacific Solution of offshore processing and introducing a risk-based approach to mandatory detention.

The border protection debate raged as a Lowy Institute poll released yesterday showing 76 per cent of Australians were somewhat concerned or very concerned about unauthorised asylum-seekers.

It rated as the 10th-biggest critical threat to the vital interests of the country in the next 10 years.

News of the interceptions came as the Immigration Department confirmed it was 'reconfiguring' its Christmas Island detention centre to accommodate up to 1400 detainees - an increase of 200 on its maximum 'surge' capacity.

The expansion, which is being achieved by a 'reconfiguration of the activities room' represents a near doubling of the facility's 'normal' capacity of 800 people.

The spokesman said this would not mean activities would be cancelled. 'They will continue to have access to a range of educational and recreational activities,' he said.

Earlier in the day there were plans to move transportable buildings from the area known as 'construction camp' to the main detention centre, but these were cancelled.

The move is a temporary reprieve for the government, which has been drawing up plans to move large numbers of asylum-seekers to the mainland.

The Australian understands the government was discussing plans to send asylum-seekers direct to Darwin or Learmonth air base, 1200km north of Perth, as recently as two weeks ago.

It is understood a proposal was presented to cabinet to allow asylum-seekers to be processed directly on the mainland, if the number of boat arrivals meant facilities on Christmas Island could not cope.

Another proposal was for asylum-seekers to be sent to Darwin or Learmonth after their initial processing on Christmas Island.

This would have allowed space to be created on the island for future arrivals.

Yesterday, Immigration Minister Chris Evans made clear the Darwin option remained on the table should favourable seasonal conditions push the number of boats beyond the coping capacity of Christmas Island.

'If additional accommodation is required beyond that, adult men who are nearing the end of their processing on Christmas Island may be transferred to the Northern Immigration Detention Centre for the final stages of processing,' a spokesman for Senator Evans told The Australian.

An Immigration Department spokesman said yesterday there were 1016 asylum-seekers and 19 crew on Christmas Island, 820 of whom were housed at the detention centre.

The facility has an operating capacity of 800 people and, under normal circumstances, a 'surge' capacity of 1200.

The numbers at the facility do not include the 56 intercepted on Monday, which will push the facility well into its normal surge capacity of 1200.

Indonesia last night played down impressions Jakarta had acted at the behest of Kevin Rudd, who on the weekend phoned Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono requesting the boat be stopped. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the boat, which would have overwhelmed Australia's offshore detention facility, had been stopped in the interest of regional co-operation.

'It's not like that,' he said of the reports. 'In the context of regional co-operation, we share information, we co-ordinate ... This was only one part of that co-ordination.'

Speaking in Hobart where he was attending a community cabinet, the Prime Minister lashed out at former immigration minister Philip Ruddock, who on Monday said the government's policies had created a 'pipeline' of 10,000 asylum-seekers travelling to Australia via people-smugglers every year.

Mr Rudd said Mr Ruddock had 'zero credibility' on the issue.

'Phillip Ruddock was also that minister who said that asylum-seekers had thrown their kids overboard,' he said.

'I therefore place zero credibility on anything that Phillip Ruddock says about anything since that time ... In one fell swoop, he destroyed his credibility to make comments on this issue.'

Mr Rudd said in the two years after the Howard government introduced the system of temporary protection visas for refugees, the number of boat arrivals mushroomed to nearly 10,000.

'So I would say to those who want to bring back TPVs, who want to bring back the Pacific Solution, ask yourself this question - what is the record in the two years immediately following the introduction of these measures?' Mr Rudd said.

But writing in The Australian today, Mr Ruddock said only domestic measures had proved effective in stemming the flow. 'These included the return to Indonesia of a number of vessels ..., the implementation of the so-called Pacific Solution with the co-operation of Nauru and Papua New Guinea and humane mandatory detention for those who reached Australia,' he said.

Opposition spokeswoman Sharman Stone said Kevin Rudd had replaced the Pacific Solution with the 'Indonesia solution'.

'While Mr Rudd was successful in his panicked phone call to SBY, he has not addressed the problem,' Dr Stone told The Australian.

Yesterday, outspoken Christian minister Fred Nile told The Australian he was exploring the possibility of extricating by boat about 1900 Assyrian Christian refugees in Iraq, who have been trying for years to come to Australia.

'I thought what would happen if they were somehow able to all put together their money and hire a boat and just sail to Christmas Island,' Mr Nile told The Australian.

'Would the government welcome them with open arms as they are with all these boatpeople that are coming at the moment?'

Mr Nile said he was now actively considering the idea.

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Rudd reveals his Pacific Solution: MP
The Australian Associated Press, October 13, 2009
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/rudd-reveals-his-pacific-solution-mp-20091013-gups.html

The Rudd government has been accused of embarking on its own form of the Pacific Solution, dismantled after Labor's 2007 election win, amid warnings of an expected influx of thousands more asylum seekers.

As another boatload of asylum seekers was being escorted to Christmas Island, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd confirmed he had called Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before a vessel carrying 260 people was intercepted by the Indonesian navy.

The boat, intercepted on Saturday, would have been the largest contingent of asylum seekers since Mr Rudd came to office.

While not confirming whether he made a plea for the boat to be intercepted, Mr Rudd said he made 'no apologies' for 'deploying the most hardline measures necessary' to deal with illegal entries into Australia.

'This is a problem for all countries in the region. That's why we work closely with our friends in Indonesia,' Mr Rudd said.

Mr Rudd was reportedly given top-level intelligence on the whereabouts of the boat by Australian officials in Indonesia.

The Indonesian navy then intercepted what was described as a cargo ship carrying 260 Sri Lankan asylum seekers off the island of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait.

But Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the boat had not been apprehended at Australia's request.

'It's not like that,' he said.

'In the context of regional cooperation, we share information, we coordinate.'

He rejected suggestions Indonesia was doing Australia's bidding on asylum seekers.

'People smuggling is a crime and we apprehended the boat not only for our benefit but also for the good of the region.'

The architect of the Howard government's border protection policy, Philip Ruddock, said the move to stop the boat before it reached Australian waters was akin to the Pacific Solution.

'You're asking Indonesia to detain and enable people to be processed offshore,' Mr Ruddock said.

'It would be the equivalent of Rudd's Pacific Solution. He might not like the term but that's what it would be.'

Mr Ruddock said the Rudd government had lost control of Australia's borders, exposing Australia to a 'pipeline' for 10,000 unauthorised arrivals each year.

'The reason we've lost control of our borders now is because those measures, returning of boats ... offshore processing, temporary protection visas, all of these measures have been unwound, and the people smugglers are back in business.'

However, Mr Rudd said the former immigration minister had 'zero credibility' on asylum seekers.

'It seems to be that Mr Ruddock was also that minister who said that asylum seekers had thrown their kids overboard,' he said.

'I therefore place zero credibility on anything Philip Ruddock says about anything since that time.'

Amnesty International Australia's refugee coordinator, Dr Graham Thom, said he was concerned about the prospect of Indonesia being used to detain and process asylum seekers headed for Australia.

Dr Thom said that as one of the only countries in the region to have signed the United Nations Refugee Convention, Australia offered the only substantial form of protection for people whose lives were at risk.

Indonesia is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention, meaning asylum seekers are processed by the UNHCR and forced to wait - most for many years - to be resettled in a third country.

'If Australia is going to be engaging with Indonesia we need to make sure there is a protection space for people in Indonesia,' Dr Thom said.

Dr Thom said the number of refugees heading to Australia would continue to rise.

'We still have 250,000 people in camps set up by the Sri Lankan government,' he said.

'As the UN statistics have shown, there's clearly been an increase in asylum seekers around the world in the last few years and Australia can't be immune from that.'

Immigration Minister Chris Evans said on Tuesday the capacity to house asylum seekers on Christmas Island had been boosted from 1,200 to 1,400.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 1,016 asylum seekers being housed on Christmas Island.

However, two boats carrying 108 asylum seekers - one intercepted late on Monday night and another last Friday - were yet to arrive at the island.

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Asylum seeker torrent tipped
By John Ferguson
The Herald Sun (Australia), October 14, 2009 12:00AM
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/asylum-seeker-torrent-tipped/story-e6frf7l6-1225786420390

'Detention island' struggles to cope
By Debbie Guest and Lex Hall
The Australian, October 14, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26207243-5006789,00.html

Capacity raised at Christmas Island: Evans
By Yuko Narushima
The Age (Melbourne), October 14, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/capacity-raised-at-christmas-island-evans-20091013-gvs7.html

Asylum seekers' arrivals in Australia expected to surge in coming months
By Cao yang
Xinhua (Chinese National News Agency), October 13, 20090
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/13/content_12223896.htm

Kevin Rudd says Ruddock has no credibility on asylum seekers
By Samantha Maiden
The Australian, October 13, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26204142-601,00.html

Philip Ruddock predicts flood of 10,000 boatpeople
By Paul Maley and Amanda O'Brien
The Australian, October 13, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26202237-5013871,00.html

Influx prompts Christmas Island bed boost
The ABC News (Australia), October 13, 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/14/2713385.htm?section=justin

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18.
Barnett blasts govt over SIEV 36 visas
The Australian Associated Press, October 12, 2009
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/barnett-blasts-govt-over-siev-36-visas-20091012-gtdo.html

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has slammed a decision granting protection visas to asylum seekers from a boat that was deliberately set alight near Ashmore Reef in April.

His comments have sparked a spat with the federal immigration minister, who has backed the decision as allowing the 42 Afghan survivors to 'get on with their lives'.

Five of 47 people on board the SIEV 36 (Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel) died when it exploded 610km north of Broome on April 16.

Dozens more, including four Navy personnel, were seriously injured in the blast, which occurred as the boat was being escorted by the Navy to Christmas Island.

The decision on Monday to grant the 42 Afghan men temporary protection visas earned Mr Barnett's condemnation.

The actions that led to the fatal blast were criminal and tantamount to murder, he told Fairfax Radio.

'At the time (of the incident) I made the comment that fuel had been spread on the boat, I was roundly criticised by the federal government and others,' he said.

'That's now proved to be the case.

'That's a criminal act ... people died ... it could be seen as murder.'

Despite an exhaustive investigation during which more than 200 witnesses were interviewed, Northern Territory Police said there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone in relation to the fatal blast.

The men, who are being held in detention centres in Perth and Brisbane, will be released into the community this week.

Mr Barnett said the men should not have been granted refugee status until after a coronial inquest, set to begin in January.

But Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the premier was uninformed.

'Something happened on that boat clearly and someone caused it,' he said.

'But the question is, has someone been charged? No.

'Are the police about to charge anyone? No.

'We consulted with the Northern Territory police who are the relevant authority and they were very comfortable with the granting of the visas.

'So I think the views of the NT Police are more important to me than Mr Barnett's uninformed view.'

The men would be allowed to get on with their lives, Senator Evans said, although he noted any person found to be responsible for the blast would face having their visa cancelled and deportation.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the decision was a matter for the Department of Immigration.

'Under this Australian government, decisions concerning asylum seeker status are of course made independently by the Department of Immigration, assessing each applicant on their merits,' he told reporters.

'And can I say further, that anyone who is not found to be a legitimate asylum seekers will be sent home - it's very simple.'

Opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone said the decision to release the men into the community raised serious questions Senator Evans' judgment.

'It could be expected that any who have information not yet shared with the police will be most tempted to disappear into the Australian community,' Dr Stone said.

Dr Stone said it would have been much more sensible for the men to have remained in detention until after the coronial enquiry was completed.

'Minister Evans has simply provided further messages of weak policy to the people smugglers and those contemplating a dangerous journey to Australia,' Dr Stone said.

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19.
Industry blames Immigration Department over illegal farm workers
The ABC News (Australia), October 13, 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200910/s2712477.htm

The Australian Workers Union says illegal workers in the horticulture industry are being treated as 21st Century slaves.

In the past three months, there have been two raids in Gippsland in Victoria that have found, detained or deported 42 illegal immigrants, linked to work on local farms.

Sam Beechey, from the AWU, says there are hundreds more illegal workers working in appalling conditions across Australia.

But horticulture employers say illegal workers are a problem for the Department of Immigration, not the industry.

Chair of the Horticulture Australia Council, Stewart Swaddling, admits illegal workers exist, but says the situation isn't as bad as in the past.

'In some cases, it's beyond the growers' capability to know if they are illegal or not, if they use a labour hire firm,' he says.

'So it's very difficult, but clearly it's the Department of Immigration who should be making sure that these people aren't able to work in Australia.'

The Immigration Department has confirmed its investigating a labour hire firm for exploitation and frauds involving illegal workers.

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Australian unions call for crack down on 'modern-day slavery'
The ABC News (Australia), October 13, 2009
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/200910/s2712680.htm

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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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