Daily news updates from CIS

October 22, 2009 -- Click here for overseas news

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[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. Obama handed bill extending E-Verify (story, 2 links)
2. Republicans press for citizenship query in Census
3. Sen. McCain struggles to cope with Sheriff Arpaio
4. Bill would provide reunification for gay couples
5. Mexican rights official released after refusing refuge (story, link)
6. CNN poll: 75% of Americans want illegals reduced
7. Boston College study suggests 'reform' measures
8. AZ enforcement hawks pledge to redouble efforts (story, 3 links)
9. NE prisons to review background checks
10. San Fran. probation officers voice opposition to new law (story, link)
11. MD county officials want illegal students tallied (story, link)
12. MD county tightens guidelines on federal cooperation
13. UT enforcement program enjoys success
14. MS program to aid citizenship applicants
15. Advocates lobby against increase in application fees
16. Activists aim to demonstrate ease of border monitoring
17. CA activists advise against voluntary deportation form
18. Amnesty International targets detention policies
19. Hispanic activists seek termination of Lou Dobbs show (story, link)
20. CO activists blast enforcement program
21. WA immigrant activists win national award
22. Mandarin displacing Cantonese in Chinese communities
23. FL veterinary doctor escapes visa debacle
24. Belize-born rapper facing deportation (link)
25. Dominican dies in Federal detention (link)
26. Iraqi man runs down daughter over 'westernizing' (link)

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
E-Verify program likely to be continued
By Russ Wiles
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), October 22, 2009
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2009/10/22/20091022biz-Everify1022.html

E-Verify, a federal program that makes it easier to check the immigration status of newly hired workers, appears likely to be extended after approval in Congress.

The Senate this week opted to maintain the program for three more years as part of a $44 billion funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that passed on a 79-19 vote.

The House last week passed a similar extension including a provision from Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., that, among other things, would tighten the verification process by including thumbprints or other biometric traits to cut down on forgeries.

Through E-Verify, employers can check to see if new hires are U.S. citizens or legal residents with permission to work here. The Internet program ties into databases maintained by the Social Security Administration and Homeland Security.

Firms that screen workers through E-Verify are less likely to invest time and money in valuable employees who might wind up getting deported, said Sharon Rummery, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in San Francisco.

'Every week, around 1,000 employers will sign up for E-Verify,' Rummery said. 'It's free, it's helpful and it saves you from making a mistake that could cost you in the long run.'

More than 32,000 Arizona businesses that operate more than 53,000 plants, offices, stores and other sites participate in the voluntary program, according to the CIS. They are part of nearly 161,000 employers and 623,000 worksites nationally.

Arizona companies participate in E-Verify at a higher rate than firms nationally, prodded by the state's tough employer-sanctions law, said Glenn Hamer, president and chief executive officer of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

'For Arizona businesses seeking protection from the state's employer-sanctions law, E-Verify plays an important role,' Hamer said. 'For companies that use E-Verify in good faith, the chances of being prosecuted are pretty slim.'

However, observers note that E-Verify is not without its flaws.

Hamer said the program sometimes raises red flags, at least temporarily, for naturalized citizens who are eligible to work. He also noted the program is susceptible to identity theft because workers sometimes pass muster using fake Social Security cards.

Julie Pace, an employment attorney at law firm Ballard Spahr in Phoenix, said an estimated 17 million people who are authorized to work have Social Security numbers or other documents that don't match their current names for reasons such as changing names through marriage or divorce.

She called on the government to work to resolve such problems more promptly and suggested that prescreening applicants through E-Verify would work better than having to wait to check their status until after applicants have been hired.

That way, companies wouldn't invest in training, administrative oversight and other costs before they knew whether a worker was legitimate.

'It can take 10, 30, even 60 days to know whether a person is authorized to work,' Pace said. She said the government has improved the program but still needs to resolve various issues. 'E-Verify is a good tool, when it's working.'

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E-Verify extended for three years
By Raju Chebium
The Gannett News Service, October 21, 2009
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20091021/UPDATES01/91021046/1005/NEWS01/E-Verify+extended+for+three+years+

Congress: Green cards for citizens' widows
United Press International, October 22, 2009
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/10/22/Congress-Green-cards-for-citizens-widows/UPI-88581256212137/

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2.
Republicans press to add citizenship question to Census forms
By William Douglas
The McClatchy Newspapers, October 21, 2009
http://www.heraldonline.com/115/story/1692228.html

Washington, DC -- Immigration, an issue placed on the congressional backburner by attempts to revamp the nation's health care system, is percolating again as Republican lawmakers are pushing a measure that would require U.S. Census forms to include a question about the citizenship status of respondents.

An amendment by Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Bob Bennett, R-Utah, to freeze Census Bureau funds if it doesn't add the citizenship question to more than 425 million forms before the once-a-decade count begins in April has divided Latino groups, as well as some opponents of comprehensive immigration legislation.

Vitter calls his amendment - which he hopes to attach to a Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill - necessary to try to exclude illegal immigrants from the census count so their numbers won't affect congressional apportionment or legislative redistricting, which is based on population.

'If the current census plan goes ahead, the inclusion of non-citizens towards apportionment will artificially increase the population count in certain states, and that will likely result in the loss of congressional seats for nine other states, including Louisiana,' Vitter said last week.

Several civil rights groups, however, say Vitter's amendment is a naked attempt to rouse anti-immigrant sentiments as next year's mid-term elections approach.

'Vitter is tapping into public resentment over illegal immigration,' Wade Henderson, the president of the Leadership Council on Civil Rights, said this week. 'There are some members (of Congress) who are susceptible to that siren song.'

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials called the amendment a deliberate attempt to suppress Latino census numbers.

'By making intrusive inquiries into immigration status, the Vitter-Bennett amendment would raise concerns among all residents - both native-born and immigrant - about the confidentiality and privacy of information provided to the Census Bureau,' the organization's education fund said in a written statement. 'This would deter participation in the census count, particularly among Latino residents, which we believe is the ultimate goal of the amendments proponents.'

Civil rights and Latino groups and have been pressuring lawmakers this week to try to scuttle the amendment, which doesn't appear to have much support from Democrats. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., the chairman of the Homeland Security subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security, called the measure 'problematic.'

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus are expected to denounce the amendment at a news conference Thursday.

Eight former census directors from Republican and Democratic presidential administrations released a letter last week blasting Vitter's amendment, saying that adding a question at this point could delay the decennial enumeration and add to the $7 billion already spent on the survey.

'The effect on data quality is completely unknown, as are the consequences for participation among all immigrants, regardless of their legal status,' the former Census directors wrote. 'We could foresee, for example, problems during door-to-door visits unresponsive households, when a legalized 'head of household' would avoid enumerators because one or more other household members are present unlawfully.'

Immigration groups in South Florida argued that such measures would discourage foreign-born residents from taking part in the census.

'Such a provision has only one outcome in mind,' said Randolph McGrorty, an immigration attorney with Catholic Charities Legal Services in Miami. 'To intimidate immigrants from participating in the census, thereby suppressing the numbers of the count and thwarting the constitutional and legal requirement that every 'person' be counted.'

The question over adding an immigration-related question to the Census has blurred normally tight alliances.

The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders has separated itself from other comprehensive immigration proponents that oppose the Vitter amendment by speaking of it as a tool that could force Washington's hand on immigration.

'It is basically the best thing to happen to us since sliced bread,' said the Rev. Miguel Rivera, the president of the group that's called on illegal immigrants to boycott the census as a way to push lawmakers to act. 'The amendment is different from our intentions, but it applies pressure on Congress, particularly Democratic members of Congress, to pass a comprehensive immigration bill.'

Rivera said illegal immigrants shouldn't be factored in when it comes to recalculating congressional district boundaries.

'Counting undocumented immigrants has created ghost electoral districts and has taken away from districts with larger (legal) voters ... and that's definitely immoral,' he said.

Steven Camarota, the research director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based policy organization that advocates stricter immigration controls, agreed with Rivera but said Vitter's amendment is the wrong way to address the problem.

Camarota's group says that 10 million of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in this country responds to the census. The best thing to do, he says, is to enforce existing laws rather than to try to alter the census.

'Vitter has a point ... but trying to re-do the census forms is like trying to turn an oil tanker around in a sea of mud,' Camarota said. 'If you had done this five to eight years ago, you might be able to do it. It's too late to do it now.'

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3.
Sheriff has McCain in immigration jam
By Glenn Thrush
The Politico (Washington, DC), October 21, 2009
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28588.html

Earlier this year, a TV reporter in Arizona coaxed Sen. John McCain into a quick on-air game of word association. The reporter would say a word or two, McCain would offer a short response and it all went along well until the reporter said the following words: 'Joe Arpaio.'

The 2008 Republican presidential nominee, seldom at a loss for words, momentarily went blank.

Arpaio — the bombastic Maricopa County sheriff who’s immensely popular with the right but widely reviled by Hispanics for his anti-immigration sweeps — has a long and turbulent history with Arizona’s most famous politician.

And now McCain finds himself right in the middle of another Arpaio controversy just as he’s trying to reconcile his long-standing support of comprehensive immigration reform with a growing anti-immigration sentiment among Republicans back home.

'Arpaio’s a minefield for McCain,' said Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a longtime Arpaio critic who describes the sheriff as 'a racist.'

McCain and Arpaio aren’t exactly enemies, but they aren’t pals, either: The senator’s support of a guest worker program, as part of a package that includes stringent border protections, has long put him at odds with Arpaio, who is fond of rounding up illegal immigrants in front of TV crews.

In February, McCain told CNN, 'I’ve disagreed with the sheriff fundamentally about the fact that we need to have a comprehensive approach to illegal immigration.'

Yet it was McCain who spoke up when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano terminated the department’s partnership with Arpaio’s office on immigration sweeps earlier this month, citing the sheriff’s methods. Last Friday, McCain joined fellow Arizona Republican Sen. John Kyl in asking Napolitano to 'provide the rationale' and 'criteria' for cutting off Arpaio’s department.

Arpaio has defied Napolitano, saying state law gives him the right to continue his sweeps — without federal approval.

'I’m still the elected sheriff,' he told Glenn Beck on Fox News earlier this month. 'I’m still going to enforce state laws.'

McCain told POLITICO the letter was an attempt 'to get all the facts' and that he hasn’t formed an opinion, one way or another, about Arpaio or his controversial law-enforcement methods.

'I haven’t looked at him that carefully because I haven’t been around,' McCain said of Arpaio’s well-publicized exploits in the Phoenix area.

'I understand it is the subject of significant controversy in Arizona, and I’ve always tried to have respect for the law,' McCain added. 'I’ve staked out a very strong position on securing the borders and the need for a temporary workers program.'

McCain later contacted POLITICO to say his 'I haven’t been around' comments referred to the Arpaio situation and not to his attention to Arizona. 'I meant that I have not been involved in the issues involving Arpaio and the federal government, but I have been working hard on jobs and the economy in the state,' he said.

Grijalva said he was 'disturbed' by McCain’s position and is worried that the senator, who earned many Hispanic admirers by pushing immigration reform in 2006, is lurching right to deal with a possible primary challenge from conservatives in 2010.

'This is all about politics,' said Grijalva. 'Who doesn’t have a position on Arpaio? You’re either with him, or you’re against him. He’s the most polarizing man in Arizona.'

McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan says her boss isn’t equivocating — just that he favors a 'balanced' immigration policy that begins with a secure border, the use of local law-enforcement agencies, where appropriate, to enforce existing law and, ultimately, the use of worker programs.

'He’s taking the adult approach,' said Buchanan. 'He understands this more at the border-state level than someone who might be from a nonborder state.'

But there are undeniable home-state political pressures on McCain.

On Wednesday, Arpaio was at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, calling for a special legislative session on illegal immigration — alongside Republican congressman-turned-radio-host J.D. Hayworth, who is mulling over a challenge to McCain in next year’s primary. Conservative party activist Chris Simcox is also considering a challenge.

'Arpaio’s been a real thorn in McCain’s side, and he’s causing him trouble again next year,' said Jennifer Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party. 'We see this letter as part of a pattern. McCain’s really trying to position himself to fend off an attack from Hayworth on the right.'

In 2000, McCain pushed hard to get Arpaio’s endorsement in his primary battle against George W. Bush. The sheriff eventually backed Bush, saying, 'I will make the decision that I want to make, regardless of politics, favorite sons or otherwise.'

Four years later, McCain returned the favor, backing Mesa police Cmdr. Dan Saban over Arpaio; the sheriff won the race handily, despite McCain’s intervention. The sheriff bucked McCain again in 2008, backing Mitt Romney in the GOP primary.

Whatever his relationship with McCain, Arpaio’s main battle will be with the Obama Justice Department, which has dispatched investigators to Arizona to look into charges that his force broke laws against racial profiling.

Napolitano will respond to McCain’s letter shortly — and DHS spokesman Matthew Chandler gave a preview of her rationale.

'[DHS] decided to terminate the Task Force Model in Maricopa County because the agency believes Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office sweeps do not align with ICE priorities to arrest, detain and remove serious criminal aliens,' he wrote in an e-mail to POLITICO.

'The success of the Task Force model relies on cooperation and coordination with local law-enforcement partners,' he added. 'MCSO has been unwilling to coordinate with local jurisdictions while continuing to flaunt a disregard for [DHS] priorities.'

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4.
South Bay couple has high hopes for the 'Reuniting Families Act'
By Mary Gottschalk
The San Jose Mercury News (CA), October 21, 2009
http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_13610285

Judy Rickard found the love of her life later in life and now she doesn't want to lose her.

Rickard, 61, connected with Karin Bogliolo, 69, on a lesbian dating Website in 2005.

'Even though we're both in our 60s, we're hip 21st-century chicks,' Rickard says with a laugh.

Rickard was in marketing in the International and Extended Studies program at San Jose State University at the time, and Bogliolo, a British citizen, was visiting friends in Oregon.

E-mails resulted in visits and by January 2006, the two were in a committed relationship and Bogliolo came to visit Rickard's Cambrian area home.

What might have been a happily-ever-after result then turned into an ongoing series of separations because Rickard cannot sponsor Bogliolo for immigration into the United States.

Rickard and Bogliolo are among an estimated 36,000 binational same-sex couples in the United States who are hoping that U.S. Rep. Mike Honda's 'Reuniting Families Act' will pass into law. Honda introduced HR 2709 on June 3, and it's currently before the Congressional Judiciary Subcommittee on immigration.

Michael Shank, communications director for Honda, says, 'Judy's story brought to light the tragic choice that binational same-sex permanent partners must make between their country and their families.' The legislation would allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents to file a visa petition on behalf of their foreign national same-sex partner for immigration, a right already accorded to opposite-sex couples.

'We're a group a lot of people don't know about,' Rickard says. 'I didn't know much about this issue until it became my issue.'

Since they became a couple, Bogliolo has had to leave the United States several times, coming back on six-month visas. The visas are at the discretion of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

In 2008 an official looked at Bogliolo's passport and told her she was visiting America too often and gave her only a four-month visa.

After being separated from the end of August 2008 through May 2009, Rickard made the decision to take an early retirement from her job, resulting in a reduced pension.

'I took early retirement so I could be with my partner,' Rickard says.

Bogliolo, who lived in the United States previously when married, says she finds the situation frustrating and sad.

'In Europe I could sponsor Judy anywhere, even in England. It's been on the law books for many, many years,' Bogliolo says.

'I find this country backward in many ways, including your health care. It keeps shocking me. You have wonderful people, yet you have some very weird areas of being terribly backward.

'I feel incredibly sad because Judy should be living here. We could easily live here. She has elderly parents and family here. She's never lived anyplace else.

'I speak four languages and I'm used to moving around, but there will come a day when I can't do all this traveling anymore.'

As Bogliolo's visa is expiring yet again, the couple is planning to leave on Nov. 5, first to France, then Spain and finally to England, where Bogliolo has a home.

In six months, they plan to return to San Jose and hope that Bogliolo will be allowed a visa to return.

Rickard is using her media skills to share their personal story in the hopes of gaining support for Honda's legislation, but she knows it won't be a slam-dunk.

'I'm optimistic it's going to get a serious consideration,' Rickard says.

'I think it might be overly optimistic to think it will pass easily, but I'm more positive than I've been. I'm thinking enough people are hearing about this issue.' The couple has been featured in a CNN report as well as an Associated Press story, which ran in newspapers across the country.

'What we hope and pray is that the law will pass and I can sponsor Karin,' Rickard says. 'We want to stay here and travel on our own initiative rather than having to leave because we have to leave.'

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5.
U.S. put Mexican human rights crusader into forced asylum
Lawyer likens episode at El Paso crossing to 'Twilight Zone'
By William Booth
The Washington Post, October 22, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/21/AR2009102103921.html?hpid=sec-world

Mexico City -- Gustavo de la Rosa looks over his shoulder, notes suspicious license plates, changes his routine. As one of the most prominent human rights officials in Ciudad Juarez, he says he would be a fool not to. On Wednesday, his home town reached a milestone: more than 2,000 people slain this year. His phone rings all day with pleas for help -- and with threats.

When de la Rosa crossed the international bridge from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso on Oct. 15, as he has done hundreds of times, he did not think it unusual that inspectors with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency asked whether he feared for his life. He said yes. They asked whether he was seeking political asylum. He said no, not at this time. Then U.S. agents detained him, for his own safety.

'They said to me: 'Well, then, we cannot allow you to return. You have not violated any law. But neither can we allow you to be free in El Paso.' I took this as a gesture of hospitality. And then they said, 'We are going to protect you by taking you to a secure place,' ' de la Rosa wrote in a letter to his supporters, saying that he was treated well but was put in handcuffs when taken to see a doctor. 'Could it be true,' he asked, 'that I am in prison?'

De la Rosa was held for almost a week as U.S. officials sorted out his case. His attorney asked: What case?

'This is one of those episodes of 'Twilight Zone' on the border,' said Carlos Spector, de la Rosa's attorney and friend. 'It's one of those cases where idiots screw up, but it is too embarrassing, and so they don't know what to do. You're just trapped in this bureaucratic maze.'

Spector said de la Rosa was released late Wednesday.

De la Rosa, 63, is the public face of human rights in Ciudad Juarez, where he serves as a top official on Chihuahua state's human rights commission. He is also a lawyer, a professor and a source for reporters digging into allegations of abuses by police, soldiers and prosecutors.

'Everybody knows Gustavo. He looks like Santa Claus. He's a famous guy. He comes across the bridge, they look at his visa, the computer spits something out, and they ask him if he's afraid? Unless you're crazy or stupid, the correct answer is yes,' Spector said. 'But based on this criteria, they would have to arrest every Mexican who crosses from Juarez to El Paso.'

U.S. officials declined to discuss the specifics of de la Rosa's case, citing concern for his privacy and safety. But Roger Maier, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, said: 'If during the interview someone entering the country expresses a fear for his life, our officers are required to process them for an interview with an asylum officer. Our officers are not authorized to determine the validity of the fear expressed. The applicant does not have to specifically request asylum, they simply must express fear of being returned to their country.'

After he was detained at the border, de la Rosa was passed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, brought to the detention facility for illegal immigrants and others in El Paso, and finally interviewed by officials with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services, which handles applications for political asylum.

Except that as de la Rosa had said, he didn't want asylum.

He had, however, been feeling increasingly exposed. In recent weeks, threats have grown. In a letter seeking help from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, de la Rosa said that in August, Mexican soldiers abducted and beat his bodyguard. His phone rang with taunts. He was followed.

As a human rights official, de la Rosa has his hands full in Ciudad Juarez. Ten thousand soldiers and federal, state and local police officers patrol the city as two big smuggling cartels fight for access to the billion-dollar U.S. drug market, and gangs of low-level dealers kill one another over turf.

Between January 2008 and September, de la Rosa collected 154 human rights complaints against the Mexican military, including 'allegations of house searches without warrants, arbitrary detentions, torture, abuse and even killings during the detention of the victims.'

The Mexican military and President Felipe Calderón, who sent troops to fight the cartels three years ago, say that Mexican forces do not engage in systemic human rights abuses and that all complaints are investigated and the guilty punished.

De la Rosa said that the commander of Mexican troops in Ciudad Juarez, Gen. Felipe de Jesús Espitia, had threatened him by suggesting to state legislators that there are links between drug traffickers and human rights commissioners.

That makes de la Rosa, the human rights crusader, as fearful of the Mexican military as he is of the cartels and their henchmen.

+++

TX authorities free Mexican human rights advocate
By Alicia A. Caldwell
The Associated Press, October 22, 2009
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&um=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=mmigration+authorities+released+a+Mexican+human+rights+official+Wednesday%2C+after+detaining+him+last+week+as+an+asylum+seeker+even+though+he+had+not+sought+U.S.+protection%2C+his+attorney+said.

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6.
CNN Poll: 3 out of 4 want illegal immigration decreased
The CNN News, October 22, 2009
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/22/cnn-poll-3-out-of-4-want-illegal-immigration-decreased/

Washington, DC -- A new national poll indicates that nearly three-quarters of all Americans would like to see a decrease in the number of illegal immigrants in the country.

Seventy-three percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Thursday morning called for a drop in the number of illegal immigrants, with 22 percent saying the number should remain the same and just 3 percent stating that there should be an increase in the number of illegal immigrants. That 73 percent figure is the highest number since CNN started asking this question four years ago.

According to the poll, 37 percent want to see all illegal immigrants deported, also the highest number since the questions was first asked in 2006, and another 23 percent say that the number of illegal immigrants in the country should be decreased significantly.

'Support for deporting all illegal immigrants is highest among older Americans and people who live in rural areas. It's highest in the South and Midwest and nearly as high in the Northeast, but only one in four Westerners think that all illegal immigrants should be deported,' says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted October 16-18, with 1,038 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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7.
Study Co-authored by BC’s Skerry Proposes Major Immigration Reforms
By Sean Smith
The Boston College Chronicle, October 22, 2009
http://www.bc.edu/publications/chronicle/TopstoriesNewFeatures/topstories/skerry102209.html

A Boston College faculty member is co-author of a new study recommending major reforms of US immigration policy, including a mandatory workplace verification system linked to a legalization program for undocumented immigrants, admitting more skilled and fewer family-sponsored immigrants, and improving temporary worker programs.

Professor of Political Science Peter Skerry was one of three conveners of the Immigration Policy Roundtable, a group of 20 scholars, community leaders, political and policy entrepreneurs, think tank analysts and former government officials who produced 'Breaking the Immigrant Stalemate: From Deep Disagreements to Constructive Proposals.'

Among other recommendations, the roundtable report also calls for greater public and private sector efforts to assimilate immigrants, and increased cooperation with Mexico.

Skerry and fellow co-convener Noah Pickus, the Nannerl O. Keohane Director for the Duke University-based Kenan Institute, will give a presentation of the report on Nov. 4 at 4 p.m. in Devlin 101. Daniel Kanstroom, associate director of the BC Center for Human Rights and International Justice, and Center for Immigration Studies Director of Policy Studies Jessica Vaughan will give responses, and members of the audience also will have an opportunity to offer questions and comments.

The project, sponsored by the Brookings Institution — where Skerry is a non-resident senior fellow — and the Kenan Institute for Ethics, was hardly a genteel academic exercise, says Skerry. Many participants came from significantly different viewpoints and perspectives, and sharply disagreed about various aspects of the immigration issue — to the extent that not all members necessarily even agreed with every facet of the final report.

And that, adds Skerry, is an important reason why the report’s creators hope it can play a role in the ever-divisive national debate on immigration in the US. The roundtable project, he says, shows that it’s possible for people with strong differences of opinion to engage civilly on a contentious issue — and to hammer out proposals and recommendations that can make a difference.

'This is an era of polarized politics, where discussions often take on the character of a food fight,' says Skerry. 'It’s not a great environment in which to have a discussion on a complex, volatile issue like immigration. Without trying to seem grandiose about it, we feel very pleased that we could have some very substantial, meaningful conversations and produce concrete proposals.'

'Breaking the Immigration Stalemate' groups its proposals for reforming US immigration policy under six general recommendations. The first calls for the US to reduce illegal immigration by linking workplace verification and legalization, in a program to be monitored by the General Accounting Office. Proposed legislation would bolster wage and labor law enforcement and workplace inspections and audits, but also target unauthorized workers who have been in the US for five or more years — to qualify for legalization, they would have to pay a fine, provide of evidence of current employment and steady work history, pass a background check, and meet other requirements.

The report identifies the visa system as another area needing revision, and proposes eliminating the Diversity Visa Program — in which residents of eligible nations who have at least a high school diploma or equivalent compete via a lottery for 50,000 permanent resident visas — and limiting family-sponsored visas to spouses and minor children, while increasing visas for skilled immigrants (those with a bachelor’s degree or higher).

Temporary worker programs should be overhauled as well, according to the report. It recommends replacing temporary employment visas with non-renewable, five-year provisional visas that — following an initial employment period — would be portable across employers.

The roundtable also calls for Congress to establish an independent Standing Commission on Immigration that would report on specific recommendations on ceilings for, or any changes in the nature of, permanent and temporary admissions categories.

In addition, the report recommends creating an Office of New Americans that would work with state and local governments, voluntary and non-profit organizations — including Kiwanis, Boys and Girls scouts and an expanded AmeriCorps program — and other entities that foster immigrants’ assimilation and integration into American society. The private sector should also work with the public sector to strengthen immigrants’ participation in early childhood and ESL programs, as well as efforts promoting high school retention and pursuit of higher education.

Core civic principles and US history should be emphasized in the content of naturalization preparation, English language courses, 'and educational instruction for all Americans,' the report adds.

The report’s final recommendation urges greater cooperation between the US and Mexico 'across a spectrum of issues,' including not only immigration but in initiatives that promote economic development, law enforcement, judicial reform, and border safety and security.

Underscoring the range of views represented by the roundtable, the report includes an appendix in which several members, including Skerry, provide dissenting opinions or other comments regarding aspects of the report.

Skerry, in his statement, notes his opposition to the proposed legalization program: 'While I sympathize with my colleagues’ desire to alleviate the burdens on illegal immigrants,' he expresses concern that the proposal could spur more immigrants to 'come here illegally with the expectation of legalization and eventual citizenship.' He proposes a program allowing illegal immigrants to attain legal status while forever barring them from citizenship.

'There were a lot of considerations to balance,' said Skerry. 'The needs of the labor market versus concerns about national identity and security, for instance; or the idea that you need to give people a clear idea of what’s expected of them versus concerns about imposing too many, or unrealistic, conditions.

'We tried to bite off small pieces, find some common ground, then move on to the next. It’s the beginning, we hope, of a process that could — and should — happen more.'

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Immigration Policy Roundtable report is available online at www.brookings.edu/reports/2009/1006_immigration_roundtable.aspx.

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8.
Immigration foes pledge new bill, voter initiative
By Matthew Benson
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), October 22, 2009
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/10/22/20091022immigration-initiative1022.html

Accusing the federal government of hampering local attempts to combat illegal immigration, state Sen. Russell Pearce, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and some of Arizona's most hawkish public figures on border security pledged on Wednesday to redouble their efforts with new legislation and a citizens initiative.

Critics, meanwhile, said the anti-migrant push figures to only complicate matters for area businesses already hammered by the recession.

At issue is Pearce's new 'Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act.' It takes a three-pronged approach to the state's illegal-immigration problem. It targets the undocumented immigrants themselves, the cities where they live and the companies and businesses that employ them.

His legislation, for which language has yet to be introduced, would allow local officers to arrest undocumented immigrants under the state's trespassing statute, essentially criminalizing their presence in Arizona. Additionally, the proposal would bar cities from enacting policies that prevent them from enforcing federal immigration law. Under such so-called sanctuary policies, communities discourage local authorities from contacting federal agents during routine encounters with residents living in the country illegally.

Lastly, Pearce's measure would add teeth to an employer-sanctions law that was enacted two years ago but has not resulted in a successful prosecution. The new provision would grant civil-subpoena power to prosecutors, giving them more ability to question witnesses and review internal records at businesses suspected of employing undocumented workers.

'This is not a partisan issue,' said Pearce, a Mesa Republican. 'This is about the rule of law.'

The proposal comes just weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials revoked some of Arpaio's authority to enforce federal immigration laws under a program known as 287(g). The program allows local law authorities who undergo special training to act as immigration officers, but Arpaio's actions drew scrutiny as he used the authority to launch dozens of immigration sweeps in Valley communities.

On Wednesday, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas accused the feds of 'undercutting our efforts here.' He said the new legislation is needed to provide local law enforcement and prosecutors the power to continue combating illegal immigration. He stood alongside radio personality and former Congressman J.D. Hayworth, Pearce, Arpaio and others as dozens of supporters gathered on the state Capitol lawn.

Pearce is preparing an identical citizens initiative that he will unveil next month. It will stand at the ready for the 2010 ballot in case the legislation fails at the Capitol, in the same manner that an initiative was used in 2007 to help goad lawmakers into approving the state's initial employer-sanctions law. In that instance, some lawmakers who were lukewarm on the legislation ended up supporting it, finding it preferable to an initiative that was more stringent and would have been exceedingly difficult to amend once approved at the polls.

'All of this is unfortunate,' said former Arizona Democratic legislator Alfredo Gutierrez. Gutierrez, who hosts a Latino affairs radio talk show, said proposals such as Pearce's feed a national perception that the state is unfriendly to minorities, especially Latinos.

Glenn Hamer, executive director of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called the employer-sanctions provision 'an unwarranted addition to what is already the strongest employer-sanctions law in the country.' He questioned whether it would needlessly open a variety of business records to law enforcement, potentially including the Social Security numbers and medical records of employees.

'The complete focus of the Legislature and governor should be on fixing the state budget mess . . . and getting the state's job machine going,' Hamer added.

In past legislative sessions, Pearce has attempted bills to invoke the state's trespassing statute and outlaw sanctuary policies by cities and towns. Such measures have always come up short, whether rejected by lawmakers or vetoed by the governor.

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Arpaio seeks opinion on immigration authority
By Kevin Tripp
The KTAR News (Phoenix), October 22, 2009
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1222906

Crowd Rallies Against Illegal Immigration
The Associated Press, October 21, 2009
http://www.kpho.com/news/21363086/detail.html

Pearce: We Must Stop Illegal Immigration
The KPHO News (Phoenix), October 21, 2009
http://www.kpho.com/politics/21387142/detail.html

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9.
Neb. prison worker background checks under review
By Nate Jenkins
The Associated Press, October 21, 2009
http://www.fremonttribune.com/articles/2009/10/22/ap-state-ne/ne_fugitive_prison_guard.txt

Nebraska is considering additional and different background checks for job applicants at state prisons after discovering that it had hired as a guard a man wanted in the Czech Republic on drug and fraud allegations.

Department of Correctional Services Director Robert Houston said Wednesday that possible new checks could include a Google search.

Houston's comments came a day after a story from The Associated Press detailed how Michal Preclik worked for a year the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution while listed as 'wanted' by Interpol. A Google search of Preclik's name turns up an Interpol wanted poster from his native Czech Republic.

'We're going to look at other technology or software,' to help conduct background checks, Houston said. 'We'll learn from this experience and expand our tool box,' he added later.

Preclik is suspected of drug and fraud crimes in the Czech Republic, has been charged with violating U.S. immigration laws, and now faces deportation following his Sept. 8 arrest at the Tecumseh prison.

Still, Houston defended the department's multi-pronged background-check system, which he said is similar to that in other states and was 'followed to a T' with Preclik.

'I have no doubt we did what we should have done' when vetting Preclik, Houston said.

The checks, which included running his name through national databases overseen by the FBI, didn't reveal that Preclik was wanted nor did it show a warrant for his arrest, officials said.

Shannon Rowen, assistant human resources administrator with the corrections' department, said she had 'no clue' why he didn't come up as being wanted during two background checks.

A spokesman for the FBI did not immediately return messages seeking comment Wednesday.

An initial background check on Preclik using a national FBI database was done on Sept. 7, 2008, according to prison officials. That was a day before Interpol posted him as wanted, on Sept. 8, 2008.

Officials say Preclik was fingerprinted on his first day of employment, Oct. 14, 2008, and the FBI ran the fingerprints through a criminal database a week later.

'All of these background checks revealed no warrants on these dates,' corrections' spokeswoman Dawn Renee Smith said in an e-mail.

It is unclear when a warrant for Preclik's arrest was issued. Some warrants may not be issued until well after Interpol has listed people as wanted because U.S. law enforcement officials must determine themselves whether someone should be arrested, said U.S. Marshals spokesman Brandon VanBuskirk.

Preclik has a Nov. 9 hearing to determine whether he could be released on bond. He has asked that the decision to send him back to the Czech Republic be reviewed.

On the Net:

Nebraska Department of Correctional Services: http://www.corrections.state.ne.us/

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10.
Probation officers back S.F. mayor on sanctuary
By Heather Knight
The San Francisco Chronicle, October 22, 2009
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/21/BAHS1A8QE9.DTL#ixzz0UgMV9sMr

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has an important ally in ignoring the Board of Supervisors' new changes to the city's sanctuary city law: the probation officers who determine whether an arrested youth should be turned over to federal authorities for possible deportation.

The Board of Supervisors voted 8-2 Tuesday to require that undocumented youths picked up on felony charges be reported only after they're convicted - not when they're first arrested. But Newsom has said the legislation breaks federal law, and he will ignore it.

Gabriel Calvillo, president of the San Francisco Deputy Probation Officers' Association, told The Chronicle the city's 60 juvenile probation officers will continue reporting arrested youth to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement if they suspect they're in the country illegally.

'I think that keeps all of our officers safe and free from violation of federal law,' Calvillo said.

Currently, police officers who arrest youth on felony charges bring them to the city's juvenile hall. Calvillo said probation officers ask them several questions during intake including their country of birth, whether they have family in the United States with them and how long they've been in the country.

Calvillo said if an officer has questions about the youth's immigration status, he or she is bound by federal law to call ICE.

One of the union's probation officers was detained by federal authorities at the Houston airport last year when he was found to be escorting an illegal youth convicted of a felony back to Honduras. The officer was questioned for an hour and ordered not to pass through the airport again with another undocumented youth, Calvillo said.

The incident took place under the city's previous policy of shielding undocumented youths convicted of felonies from deportation - including sometimes using city money to pay for their flights back home.

Newsom, running for governor, changed the policy so illegal youth would be turned over to federal authorities upon their arrest for a felony, but immigrant rights advocates and the majority of the supervisors say the new policy is too extreme.

They point to youths arrested for crimes as minor as graffiti or bringing a BB gun to school who've been reported to ICE. They also say some American citizens and legal residents have been detained.

Supervisor David Campos, the author of the legislation, on Wednesday said a judge is in a much better position to determine whether a youth is here illegally than a probation officer.

'It's led to discrimination,' Campos said of Newsom's policy. 'As a city official, you should not be discriminating against young people simply because of what they look like or because of their surname.'

Newsom lashed out at the legislation Wednesday, saying he's already writing his veto letter. The supervisors have the votes to override his veto, but the mayor said the legislation is moot because it breaks federal law.

'By definition, it's a symbolic piece of legislation,' he said.

Newsom also accused the supervisors of tugging at people's heartstrings with stories of graffiti artists ripped away from their families. Newsom said that of the 168 youths turned over to ICE since the policy change last year, the 'overwhelming majority' were drug dealers who are here alone.

Calvillo said he is a big supporter of immigrants, but doesn't believe his union should have to break the law.

'I don't have any problem with people coming and seeking a better life,' he said. 'I'm a third-generation Mexican American, so it's not like the subject is foreign to me - no pun intended. But I also have concerns when issues arise and probation officers are forced to be put in a position to break the law, especially federal law.'

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City’s sanctuary policy battle far from over
By: Joshua Sabatini
The San Francisco Examiner, October 22, 2009
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Citys-sanctuary-policy-battle-far-from-over-65367527.html

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11.
Proposal would count illegal immigrants
By Nicholas C. Stern
The Frederick News-Post (MD), October 22, 2009
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=96782

The contentious subject of illegal immigration and how to tackle its effects on a local level has not stayed for long off the minds of county commissioners.

On Tuesday, Commissioners Charles Jenkins and John L. Thompson Jr. and Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins introduced a plan to force the Frederick County Board of Education to provide commissioners with a count of students whose legal presence in the country cannot be reasonably determined.

The plan was among several under consideration to be introduced in the county's 2010 state legislative package.

If approved by the full board of commissioners next week, the proposal will go to the county delegation of state lawmakers for approval.

Successful proposals will be introduced in the Maryland General Assembly during the 90-day regular session that convenes in January.

In October 2008, county commissioners voted to ask whether a local school system could collect data 'to support the proposition that a student is lawfully present in the United States.'

In March, the state board of education ruled in part that unless the school system has a valid reason, officials cannot seek immigration status of students.

Commissioner Jenkins said the school system receives more than half the county's budget and so is an important area to understand the cost of undocumented students.

'We've got to start somewhere,' he said.

Jenkins said he did not think collecting the information would be a burden on school officials, or an unfunded mandate.

'Until we stop making this an attractive place where everybody who gets rewarded for breaking into our country É it starts at the local level,' he said.

Gary Brennan, president of the Frederick County Teachers Association, spoke out against the proposal at the commissioners' meeting.

'In effect, this proposal would force the Board of Education into an administrative role for which it is entirely unequipped,' he said.

Brennan thinks federal agencies designed and trained to determine immigration status should be the ones to do so.

'This is a poorly developed and unfunded mandate that will provide data with no clear benefit or application,' he said.

He also said the proposal could have a chilling effect on some students and families who may become concerned about attending school.

'Public schools have a legal and moral obligation to educate any students who come through their doors,' he said.

Thompson said that, for the most part, the proposal would not ask students or their parents for more information than the school system already does.

The idea, he said, is not to determine who is in the country legally or illegally, who is a citizen and who is not.

The proposal has nothing to do with who gets educated or not, he said.

Instead, the plan is to get a rough count of people whose legal presence can't reasonably be determined, and then to give the number to federal officials.

'The more opposition I hear from people, the more concern I have that the number's a lot higher than we think,' he said.

Frederick County delegation Chairman Paul Stull said it was too early in the process to determine how the delegation may vote on such a proposal.

He said he has been approached by some citizens who expressed their concerns about how many tax dollars are going to educate illegal immigrants.

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Plan Targets Frederick Illegal Immigrant Students
The Associated Press, October 22, 2009
http://wjz.com/local/Frederick.illegal.immigrant.2.1264216.html

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12.
County tightens rules for cooperating with feds over illegal immigrants
By Alan Suderman
The Washington Examiner (DC), October 22, 2009
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/County-tightens-rules-for-cooperating-with-feds-over-illegal-immigrants-8418646-65192097.html

Montgomery County police have been warned against turning over illegal immigrants to federal immigration agents based on affiliation with gangs, according to a memo sent to officers.

The changes were spurred after an illegal immigrant named Milton Guerra alleged that police beat him and turned him over to federal authorities to be deported in retaliation for filing a police complaint.

A September memo authorized by Police Chief J. Thomas Manger reminds police that they can only contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if they arrest someone for violent or handgun-related crimes.

When suspects are arrested for other crimes, 'ICE will NOT be contacted, regardless of the individual's legal status and/or perceived gang affiliation,' the memo said.

The memo also says that any future requests for help from ICE must first go through the director or deputy director of the Special Investigations Division 'for assessment.'

Capt. Paul Starks said the department was trying to keep better tabs on its cooperation with ICE.

'We wanted to collect data in one place, to better be able to manage requests,' he said. Starks added that the department was concerned with maintaining a level of trust with the county's Hispanic and immigrant community.

But anti-illegal-immigration advocates said Manger was trying to appease politically powerful groups by weakening the ability of rank-and-file officers to work with federal agents to gather more information on potentially violent criminals.

'This guy wants helicopters to help enforce the law and he can't even do it on the ground,' said Brad Botwin, director of Help Save Maryland, referring to Manger's proposal to start a police helicopter unit.

The county is currently lobbying the federal government for a temporary visa to prevent the deportation of Guerra. Starks said the county needed to interview Guerra because he's made allegations that a police officer beat him.

Guerra's complaints were first reported in the Gazette.

Guerra is a former member of MS-13, a notoriously violent street gang that originated in El Salvador, but had started a new life in the county away from the gang, said Candace Kattar, director of the Latino youth advocacy group Identity.

Kattar said police set up Guerra to be deported, even though he wasn't charged with any crime by county police, as retaliation for filing a complaint after an officer lost Guerra's driver's license. The allegations against police officers were investigated, and no charges were filed.

'What kind of message does that send to the Latino community?' Kattar said.

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13.
New task force against illegal immigrant actions succeeding
ABC4 (Salt Lake City), October 21, 2009
http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/New-task-force-against-illegal-immigrant-actions/YxTldibb4USKNWA2a_2NFA.cspx

Salt Lake City -- A new task force targeting illegal immigrants who commit crimes appears to be working according to Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman.

They say over the past five months, the group has made multiple arrests.

Those cases include the roundup of 76 suspected gang members, and a West Valley man with more than 1,000 fake ID's.

Officials say they are not targeting all people in the country illegally, just those who commit crimes.

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14.
Workshops will help immigrants attain citizenship
By Donna Melton
The Biloxi Sun Herald (MS), October 21, 2009
http://www.sunherald.com/local/story/1692361.html

Biloxi, MS -- Socorro Leos holds dual citizenship, which she says is muy bueno.

Leos, a native Mexican, became a U.S. citizen three years ago.

She is encouraging other legally permanent residents to attend a one-day workshop Saturday that will help them become American citizens, too.

The Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance will present Citizenship Day 2009, a workshop staffed by volunteer attorneys, immigration specialists, paralegals and interpreters. The team will prepare naturalization applications for a $60 fee, which covers the cost of MIRA membership.

Applicants will be able to consult with professionals to ensure their documentation is accurate and complete, said Alisha Johnson, MIRA’s development director.

Leos, who now works in MIRA’s Biloxi office, chose to become a citizen after years of living here legally because she wanted to be able to find a better job.

She was married to a legal resident of more than a decade, but until he acquired his own citizenship, she couldn’t become a legal resident herself.

After he was a citizen for three years, she was able to become a legal permanent resident, and then through the application process, she became a U.S. citizen, too.

Now Leos gets teary when she hears the National Anthem.

'I have to stand and cry and participate with it,' she said. 'I feel this is my country. It has blessed me so much.'

Johnson said the citizenship process slowed down around the end of 2007, but is slowly picking up again.

She said more than 1 million new citizens were naturalized in 2008 and 366,000 applications for citizenship have been submitted this year, which is an 8 percent increase compared to the first six months of 2008.

She recommends that legal residents seeking citizenship attend the workshop to be prepared for the detailed, lengthy process. 'We’re here and we have your back if you need help,' she said.

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15.
Citizenship fees: Immigrant advocates urge U.S. against new increase
Applications dropped sharply since last fee increase two years ago, group says
By Antonio Olivio
The Chicago Tribune, October 22, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-citizenship-brief-22oct22,0,6591689.story

Pointing to a steep drop in the number of immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship since federal processing fees were raised two years ago, immigrant advocates in Chicago called on U.S. officials Wednesday not to raise them again in the face of a looming budget shortfall.

Higher processing fees for citizenship applications and other services are being considered to close a projected $118 million budget gap next year, said Chris Ratigan, spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Washington.

She added that the federal agency, which relies on fee revenues, is required by law to reconsider its fee structure every two years. A 69 percent fee hike in 2007 raised the price of citizenship applications to $675, which Ratigan said helped the agency eliminate application backlogs and streamline computers.

This time around, agency director Alejandro Mayorkas is 'looking at everything that he possibly can look at' to shore up agency finances, Ratigan said.

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16.
New border watch effort will focus on cameras
By Jonathon Shacat
The Douglas Dispatch (AZ), October 21, 2009
http://www.douglasdispatch.com/articles/2009/10/21/news/doc4ade479eeb276138651597.txt

Hereford, AZ -- American Border Patrol, a nonprofit organization, launched a plan Thursday to demonstrate how easy it would be for federal officials to count illegal immigrants entering the United States.

The group, with help from designated contractors, is setting up a system of cameras and sensors along a 30-mile segment of the U.S.-Mexico border in Cochise County, said president Glenn Spencer.

'We can’t reveal where they will be because they would be stolen or damaged, but they will be on smuggling trails and in places where people are known to have crossed the border,' he said.

An effort is underway to raise $100,000 by Jan. 15 for the initial phase of the operation, which is known as 'Hidden in Plain Sight.'

Plans call for using 50 very small high-tech cameras and 150 fairly inexpensive seismic sensors, said Spencer. Also, a silent aircraft will be flown over the border to take thermal images and count people passing north.

The sensors contain special electronics that filter out wind noise and animals, and can actually count people walking by the nature of their cadence, he explained. They will be used to make sure the cameras are functioning in highly-trafficked areas.

Mario Escalante, public information officer for Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, said the agency appreciates the efforts by concerned citizens, but it 'discourages private parties from taking matters into their own hands.'

The program came about as a result of the Sept. 9 Government Accountability Office report on the Secure Border Initiative, according to Spencer.

The GAO’s recommendation was 'to improve the quality of information available to allocate resources and determine tactical infrastructure’s contribution to effective control of the border, the Commissioner of [Customs and Border Protection] should conduct a cost-effective evaluation of the impact of tactical infrastructure on effective control of the border.'

Spencer said the Department of Homeland Security could measure its effectiveness by counting the number of illegal crossers with a similar system and then subtracting those individuals who get apprehended by Border Patrol agents.

He added it is not realistic to expect officials to stop every person from coming into the country. But, he added, DHS could set a goal to try to limit the amount.

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17.
Pro-immigrant Activists Warn 'Don't Sign Voluntary Deportation'
By Alex Garcia
The San Fernando Valley Sun (CA), October 21, 2009
http://www.sanfernandosun.com/sanfernsun/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4362&Itemid=2

Elvira Ayon with her two kids, Angelica and Jacob Manuel Soto, ages four and two. The children stayed with friends and relatives during the weeks Ayon was detained by immigration authorities even though she had obtained a permit that would allow her to remain in the country temporarily.

Javier Ramirez, 28, of North Hollywood spent 10 months in an immigration jail after being caught driving his friend's car that had been reported stolen. His father, Pablo Ramirez, said it was all a misunderstanding. When his son's friend had sold the car to a man who did not pay him. His son's friend then went to get the car back, the man reported it as stolen. Unknowingly the friend let his son use the car.

After his detention at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles and despite having a 'green card' (a temporary resident card), Javier was sent to the Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. During the long incarceration at the center, Pablo told his son repeatedly not to sign the voluntary deportation documents he claimed immigration agents tried to convince his son to accept.

'The prosecutor wanted to take his green card away. They tried to convince him to sign a voluntary deportation order,' said the Mexico native.

He added his son, who had come to the United States at an early age, had only been to Mexico occasionally and returning there would have been devastating not only to Javier, but to his son and wife.

'My son has never lived there [Mexico]. It would have been like going to a new world,' said Pablo, who sought help at the office of Hermandad Mexicana in Panorama City, a pro-immigrant group that helps people with immigration procedures. They were able to get him a lawyer that finally convinced the judge to throw out the charges against his son and was able to get him out of jail.

'The lawyer was able to show that he [Javier] was not a criminal,' said Gloria Saucedo, director of Hermandad Mexicana. 'It was an injustice and the message for everyone is that they shouldn't sign their voluntary deportation order without seeking legal representation first, that they must fight.'

That was the same message Saucedo and other pro-immigrant activists repeated earlier this week at a demonstration outside the immigration detention center in downtown Los Angeles where they noted the need for an immigration reform.

Saucedo said cases like this one illustrate the 'suffering that families are exposed to when they refuse to sign a voluntary deportation order.'

Pablo Ramirez said her son Javier was imprisoned for 10 months for a minor crime and that immigration authorities tried to convince him to sign a voluntary deportation order.

'They [immigration] try to convince them to sign the order because that way they can get rid of them right away,' said Saucedo. 'People get scared and they do it, but then they give away their rights.'

Elvira Ayon, a 26-year-old mother of two from Delano, California who was sent to Arizona where she spent a month in an immigration detention center after she refused to sign a voluntary deportation order.

Despite having been approved for a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) permit, extended to those who are victims of domestic violence, Ayon was arrested by immigration agents.

'I showed it to them and they [immigration] didn't pay attention to it,' said Ayon, who has a four year- old daughter and two-year-old son.

As with Javier, Ayon said immigration agents repeatedly pressured her to sign a voluntary deportation order, even though she refused to do it.

'The only thing they wanted was to get me out of the country,' she said, adding that the time she was incarcerated were 'the worst days of my life' as she worried about the well being of her children who had to stay with relatives and friends.

'I knew that if I left, my children would suffer and I could have never left them,' said Ayon.

Eventually, Hermandad Mexicana and other pro-immigrant groups got wind of Ayon's case and with the help of the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, Arizona, provided her with an attorney who was able to convince a judge to grant her release upon paying a $2,000 bail. Her case is still ongoing, but at least Ayon was able to reunite with her children. Saucedo, from Hermandad Mexicana, said they are still trying to show the courts her detention was unjustified.

'They [immigration] did not have the right to detain her. Even the judge said her detention was unjust,' said Saucedo.

Javier Rodriguez of the March 25th Coalition, another well known immigrant rights advocate, said cases like that of Ramirez and Ayon illustrate that despite a change in the presidential administration, things have not improved for immigrants.

'It's incredible that nine months after President Obama took office, this sector of the population is still suffering almost as much as it suffered during the previous eight years under Bush,' said Rodriguez.

'I'm sure the President has good intentions but he's surrounding himself with people who want to continue with this practice of separating families.'

Saucedo agrees.

'They [immigration] are going after people who are not criminals and whose only crime is working here. When they refuse to sign a voluntary deportation order, they are incarcerated', she said. 'But people have to fight and not sign those orders or they will lose their rights.'

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18.
Amnesty International sponsors talk on illegal detention
By Cheryl Lecesse
The Concord Journal (MA), October 21, 2009
http://www.wickedlocal.com/concord/news/x1365712762/Amnesty-Internation-sponsors-talk-on-illegal-detention

Concord, MA -- They are arrested without warning and often not told why.

Though innocent of any crime, they are jailed alongside convicted criminals, often hundreds of miles away from their families, handcuffed or placed in chains, held for months or years without any judicial review of their cases, and frequently denied medical care.

They are some of the more than 300,000 women, children and men detained by U.S. immigration officials each year. 'Jailed Without Justice: Our Government’s Abuse of Asylum Seekers and Other Immigrants' will be the subject of talks by two speakers — one a formerly detained immigrant himself — on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m., at First Parish Church, 20 Lexington Road.

Those detained are asylum seekers, survivors of torture and human trafficking, lawful permanent residents, and the parents of U.S. citizens. Having fled persecution in their own countries, they suffer treatment in the United States that can be as bad as or even worse than what they left behind.

Sarah Ignatius, executive director of the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) project in Boston, will describe how the dramatic increase in the use of detention to enforce U.S. immigration laws since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has led to a number of human rights violations.

PAIR is a coalition of legal service agencies, civil rights organizations, and bar associations dedicated to helping detainees. Since 1989, its staff and pro bono attorneys have provided legal services to clients who have come to the United States from more than 90 countries.

Also speaking will be 'Luis,' who came to this country years ago to escape the violence in his native Nicaragua and immediately applied for asylum. The Immigration Court lost his address, and when he tried again to regularize his legal status after marrying an American citizen, he was suddenly arrested by immigration officials.

What followed was a nightmare odyssey in which he was repeatedly transferred from one detention center to another, all over the country, usually at night, while being deprived of sleep, food and warmth. Finally, as he was being placed aboard a plane for deportation, PAIR stepped in, succeeded in court in reopening his case, and had it transferred to Boston.

Similar experiences

An investigation by Amnesty International discovered many detainees whose experiences were even worse than Luis’s. One man, who had been tortured and imprisoned for five years in an Albanian concentration camp, was granted asylum and had been living lawfully in the United States for 12 years when he was detained and told he would be deported. He spent four years in detention, fearful he would be tortured again if he was returned. In four years he saw his wife and children, who lived hundreds of miles from his detention center, only four or five times, and he lost his small business.

Story after story, verified by Amnesty, tells of treatment that is callous and even cruel. A 34-year-old Mexican mother of three, a legal immigrant, was arrested in front of her 3-year-old autistic son, a U.S. citizen. Unable to speak English, she had no idea why she was being held. After three weeks in detention, desperate with worry about her children and threatened with deportation, she tried to hang herself. Instead of taking her to the hospital, the officers who cut her down handcuffed her and took her to another cell.

In researching its 56-page report entitled 'Jail Without Justice,' Amnesty found that the conditions under which immigrants are held violate both United States and international standards for the treatment of detainees. International human rights standards also require that detention be used only in exceptional circumstances, that it be justified in each individual case, and that it be subject to judicial review.

Yet in the United States immigrants can be detained for months or years without any form of meaningful judicial review of their detention. Detainees lack even the basic rights accorded to those charged with crimes. The overwhelming majority — 84 percent — do not have access to legal assistance, leaving them unable to navigate an adversarial and complex court process.

Detention facilities are required to comply with standards established by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, but oversight and accountability for abuse or neglect in detention is almost nonexistent. Immigrants are often placed in excessive restraints, including handcuffs, belly chains and leg restraints, and find it very difficult to get medical treatment. In the past five years more than 80 people have died while in immigration detention.

The event, co-sponsored by Amnesty International Group 15 and the Social Action Community of First Parish, is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Phil Villers at 978-371-7118 or pvillers@grainpro.com, or Lorraine Loviglio at 978-371-0914 or loviglio@rcn.com.

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19.
S.A. groups join ‘Basta Dobbs' campaign
By Elaine Ayala
The San Antonio Express-News (TX), October 21, 2009
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/65316732.html

A coalition of San Antonio social justice groups Wednesday signed on to a national campaign to pressure CNN to drop Lou Dobbs, the controversial anchor of the nightly cable show 'Lou Dobbs Tonight.'

While stopping short of calling for an advertiser boycott, the national campaign seeks talks with CNN about what they see as Dobbs' anti-immigrant, anti-Latino rhetoric.

With representatives of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Fuerza Unida and the William C. Velasquez Institute, among others, the coalition vowed to stand together against Dobbs until CNN responds.

CNN spokeswoman Barbara Levin said in an e-mail Wednesday the network would not comment on the 'Basta Dobbs' campaign. Basta is Spanish for 'enough.'

The campaign believes Dobbs, more than other cable TV figures, has stirred irrational fears and perpetuated myths that demonize Latinos and immigrants. Officials said Dobbs has played to a racist undercurrent in U.S. society that has contributed to a rise in hate crimes documented by FBI statistics.

'We already have enough violence in our country,' Fuerza Unida representative Viola Casares said in Spanish. 'He's poisoning our futures. ... He should not be on the air.'

Wednesday's event was planned to coincide with the start of CNN's two-part documentary 'Latino in America,' hosted by Soledad O'Brien. Like its 'Black in America' series, the program explores what it means to be Latino in the United States today.

Favianna Rodriguez, co-founder of the campaign, said CNN can't have it both ways.

'The Basta Dobbs campaign is happy that CNN is airing a program with a positive representation of Latinos,' she said. But four hours of programming is not comparable to Dobbs' Monday-through-Friday news slot.

'Lou Dobbs is the media personality that most circulates hateful messages about Latinos on a network that purports to be the most trusted name in news,' she said.

In four weeks, the campaign has garnered more than 70,000 petitioners online, officials said, adding that supporters also can sign up via cell phone by using the words 'basta' or 'enough' in a text message to 30644.

The campaign cites the host's repeated airing of myths about Latinos, specifically his inaccurate reporting that a third of the nation's prison inmates are undocumented immigrants.

'I can't believe CNN is tolerating it,' said Patricia Castillo, executive director of the PEACE Initiative.

In addition to the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, other Texas groups are affiliated with the national campaign, including Acción America in Dallas, CRECEN in Houston, La Peña in Austin, No Border Wall in Brownsville and the elasquez Institute, with offices in San Antonio.

+++

CNN documentary on Hispanics features Miami immigrant
The Miami Herald, October 22, 2009
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1294688.html

CNN asked to fire his anchor Lou Dobbs
The Associated Press, October 21, 2009
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fchirla.org%2Fen%2Fnode%2F683&sl=es&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

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20.
Immigration enforcement program blasted
Polis says it leads to profiling, fear, exploitation; Tancredo says 287 (g) works fine
By Peter Marcus
The Denver Daily News, October 22, 2009
http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=6112

Democrats are pushing back against a Department of Homeland Security announcement last week that it will enter into new controversial agreements with local law enforcement agencies to combat illegal immigration.

Congressman Jared Polis, D-Boulder, said standardizing the 287 (g) program would only threaten the nation’s constitutional protections.

He points to accusations of racial profiling associated with the program, including Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arapio in Phoenix, who is being investigated by the Justice Department. Organizations such as the ACLU and Congressional Hispanic Caucus are calling on the government to end the controversial program.

'We’ve watched in horror as (Arapio) and others Ń a disgrace to the uniforms that they wear Ń have detained people based solely upon the color of their skin,' Polis said yesterday during a floor speech.

'287 (g) scares victims and witnesses of crimes to avoid contacting people for fear of being mistreated,' he continued. '287 (g) invites exploitation by those who know that they won’t be reported to police, because it combines the contradictory duties into the same police force.'

Homeland Security said that it would enter into new agreements with 67 state and local law enforcement agencies.

Former Congressman Tom Tancredo, an outspoken Republican on immigration issues, said the program is effective, and therefore should not be scaled back.

'To the extent that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would actually cooperate with a local law enforcement entity, it’s been marvelously effective,' said Tancredo. 'We exponentially increase the manpower available to identify and get illegal aliens off our streets and out of the country.'

But the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition says the program does little to achieve comprehensive reform, which should be the ultimate goal.

'Expanding enforcement-only measures, like the 287 (g) program, does nothing to bring us closer to fixing our broken immigration system. It only succeeds in terrorizing communities and compromising safety,' said Julien Ross, executive director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. 'Any program that has local police acting as immigration enforcement creates widespread fear Ń victims and witnesses avoid the police, making all of us less safe. Moreover, racial profiling abounds, with people targeted for the way they look or speak.'

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21.
Seattle-based Northwest Immigrant Rights Project wins national award
The Seattle Times, October 22, 2009
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010113886_award22m.html

The organization has been awarded the 2009 Daniel Levy Award by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

Seattle-based Northwest Immigrant Rights Project has been awarded the 2009 Daniel Levy Award by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

The national recognition comes on the heels of a separate recognition NWIRP received from the city of Seattle and King County for its work on behalf of immigrant survivors of domestic violence and as the organization celebrates 25 years working with immigrants across the state.

Levy was a former staff attorney of the National Immigration Law Center and an advocate for immigrant and civil rights. The National Immigration Project said NWIRP exemplifies Levy's vision of a socially conscious immigration-law advocacy.

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22.
In Chinatown, Sound of the Future Is Mandarin
By Kirk Semple
The New York Times, October 22, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/nyregion/22chinese.html?em

He grew up playing in the narrow, crowded streets of Manhattan’s Chinatown. He has lived and worked there for all his 61 years. But as Wee Wong walks the neighborhood these days, he cannot understand half the Chinese conversations he hears.

Cantonese, a dialect from southern China that has dominated the Chinatowns of North America for decades, is being rapidly swept aside by Mandarin, the national language of China and the lingua franca of most of the latest Chinese immigrants.

The change can be heard in the neighborhood’s lively restaurants and solemn church services, in parks, street markets and language schools. It has been accelerated by Chinese-American parents, including many who speak Cantonese at home, as they press their children to learn Mandarin for the advantages it could bring as China’s influence grows in the world.

But the eclipse of Cantonese — in New York, China and around the world — has become a challenge for older people who speak only that dialect and face increasing isolation unless they learn Mandarin or English. Though Cantonese and Mandarin share nearly all the same written characters, the pronunciations are vastly different; when spoken, Mandarin may be incomprehensible to a Cantonese speaker, and vice versa.

Mr. Wong, a retired sign maker who speaks English, can still get by with his Cantonese, which remains the preferred language in his circle of friends and in Chinatown’s historic core. A bit defiantly, he said that if he enters a shop and finds the staff does not speak his dialect, 'I go to another store.'

Like many others, however, he is resigned to the likelihood that Cantonese — and the people who speak it — will soon become just another facet of a polyglot neighborhood. 'In 10 years,' Mr. Wong said, 'it will be totally different.'

With Mandarin’s ascent has come a realignment of power in Chinese-American communities, where the recent immigrants are gaining economic and political clout, said Peter Kwong, a professor of Asian-American studies at Hunter College.

'The fact of the matter is that you have a whole generation switch, with very few people speaking only Cantonese,' he said. The Cantonese-speaking populace, he added, 'is not the player anymore.'

The switch mirrors a sea change under way in China, where Mandarin, as the official language, is becoming the default tongue everywhere.

In North America, its rise also reflects a major shift in immigration. For much of the last century, most Chinese living in the United States and Canada traced their ancestry to a region in the Pearl River Delta that included the district of Taishan. They spoke the Taishanese dialect, which is derived from and somewhat similar to Cantonese.

Immigration reform in 1965 opened the door to a huge influx of Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong, and Cantonese became the dominant tongue. But since the 1990s, the vast majority of new Chinese immigrants have come from mainland China, especially Fujian Province, and tend to speak Mandarin along with their regional dialects.

In New York, many Mandarin speakers have flocked to Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and Flushing, Queens, which now rivals Chinatown as a center of Chinese-American business and political might, as well as culture and cuisine. In Chinatown, most of the newer immigrants have settled outside the historic core west of the Bowery, clustering instead around East Broadway.

'I can’t even order food on East Broadway,' said Jan Lee, 44, a furniture designer who has lived all his life in Chinatown and speaks Cantonese. 'They don’t speak English; I don’t speak Mandarin. I’m just as lost as everyone else.'

Now Mandarin is pushing into Chinatown’s heart.

For most of the 100 years that the New York Chinese School, on Mott Street, has offered language classes, nearly all have taught Cantonese. Last year, the numbers of Cantonese and Mandarin classes were roughly equal. And this year, Mandarin classes outnumber Cantonese three to one, even though most students are from homes where Cantonese is spoken, said the principal, Kin S. Wong.

Some Cantonese-speaking parents are deciding it is more important to point their children toward the future than the past — their family’s native dialect — even if that leaves them unable to communicate well with relatives in China.

'I figure if they have to acquire a language, I wanted them to have Mandarin because it makes it easier when they go into the workplace,' said Jennifer Ng, whose 5-year-old daughter studies Mandarin at the language school of the Church of the Transfiguration, a Roman Catholic parish on Mott Street where nearly half the classes are devoted to Mandarin. Her 8-year-old son takes Cantonese, but only because there is no English-speaking Mandarin teacher for his age group.

'Can I tell you the truth?' she said. 'They hate it! But it’s important for the future.' Until recently, Sunday Masses at Transfiguration were said in Cantonese. The church now offers two in Mandarin and only one in Cantonese. And as the arrivals from mainland China become old-timers, 'we are beginning to have Mandarin funerals,' said the Rev. Raymond Nobiletti, the Cantonese-speaking pastor.

At the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, which has been the unofficial government of Chinatown for generations and conducts its business in Cantonese, the president, Justin Yu, said he is the first whose mother tongue is Mandarin to lead the 126-year-old organization. Though he has been taking Cantonese lessons in order to keep up at association meetings, his pronunciation is sometimes a source of hilarity for his colleagues, he said.

'No matter what,' he added, laughing, 'you have to admire my courage.'

But even his association is being surpassed in influence by Fujianese organizations, said Professor Kwong of Hunter College.

Longtime residents seem less threatened than wistful. Though he is known around Chinatown for what he calls his 'legendarily bad' Cantonese, Paul Lee, 59, said it pained him that the dialect was disappearing from the place where his family has lived for more than a century.

'It may be a dying language,' he acknowledged. 'I just hate to say that.'

But he pointed out that the changes were a natural part of an evolving immigrant neighborhood: Just as Cantonese sidelined Taishanese, so, too, is Mandarin replacing Cantonese.

Mr. Wong, the principal of the New York Chinese School, said he had tried to adjust to the subtle shifts during his 40 years in Chinatown. When he arrived in 1969, he walked into a coffee shop and placed his order in Cantonese. Other patrons looked at him oddly.

'They said, ‘Where you from?’ ' he recalled. ' ‘Why you speak Cantonese?’ ' They were from Taishan, he said, so he switched to Taishanese and everyone was happy.

'And now I speak Mandarin better than Cantonese,' he added with a chuckle. 'So, Chinatown — it’s always changing.'

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23.
Tampa veterinarian rebuilds his dream after visa nightmare
By Dong-Phuong Nguyen
The St. Petersburg Times (FL), October 22, 2009
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/tampa-veterinarian-rebuilds-his-dream-after-visa-nightmare/1045891

Tampa -- Dr. Salvador Galindo spent weeks wondering and worrying.

What would become of him? The life built in the United States as a veterinary neurosurgeon had been taken away from him because of bureaucratic errors over his visa.

He was back in Mexico where his degrees did no good. Would he bus tables? Or become a hotel worker?

'It was really tough,' he said. 'I was a foreigner in my own country.'

But he refused to give up. And on Wednesday, six weeks after returning to Mexico and losing everything, Galindo was back in Tampa, taking care of Fiona, a feline, and basking in his old life again.

'My rebirth,' he called it.

Galindo's nightmare began in the fall of 2008 when he walked into immigration offices in Tampa expecting to walk out with a green card.

He had entered the country legally. But during that hearing, immigration officials discovered a warrant for his arrest and a final deportation ruling issued by a judge in Chicago.

It was a surprise to Galindo, his wife, and his attorney, who had accompanied him to the appointment.

Attorney Jennifer Roeper of Fowler White Boggs asked an agent to help Galindo obtain bond until she could get a court hearing. The agent handed her a letter sent from immigration to Galindo in 2007. It was a notice to appear immediately in immigration court.

Roeper was stunned. Agents had mistakenly issued Galindo a second alien number for the most recent green card application with his second marriage. Still, that didn't explain why U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agents in Chicago had sent that 2007 letter, or why the attorney for Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed to see numerous legal visas in Galindo's file before bringing him to court.

Galindo, 38, was immediately handcuffed and spent months in detainment. Roeper sorted through the mess, making phone calls, filing motions, pleading for a change.

In January, an Orlando immigration judge threw out the old Chicago deportation case. By then, Galindo's marriage had broken up. He divorced in June.

Six weeks ago, Galindo sold most of his possessions and returned to Mexico because he no longer had legal status in the United States.

While Galindo visited relatives all over Mexico and contemplated his future, Roeper continued to work tirelessly to help.

Dr. Katy Meyer, owner of Tampa Bay Veterinary Emergency Service in North Tampa, sponsored Galindo's visa.

On Sept. 25, Galindo was given the green light to return to America on a three-year work visa. During that time, Roeper will work on getting Galindo a green card.

Galindo, back at work Wednesday at Tampa Bay Veterinary Emergency Service, said he arrived in Tampa with everything he owns: two suitcases of clothes and a tent. A friend bought him an air mattress, which he will sleep on when he moves into a Channel District apartment in a few days.

Despite his emotional journey, Galindo said he did not shed a tear during his hearing at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.

But he soon found himself climbing atop the tallest pyramid at the ancient archeological site of Teotihuacan in Mexico. He spread his arms upward toward the sky and cried.

He gave thanks for his future.

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24.
Is Shyne's Deportation To Belize Imminent?
Immigration officials detained the rapper immediately after his release from prison.
By Jayson Rodriguez
The MTV News, October 21, 2009

Shyne's deportation appears imminent, according to a conversation Hot 97's Angie Martinez recently had with the detained rapper off-air.
. . .
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1624364/20091021/shyne.jhtml

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25.
Immigrant held by ICE dies in Boston
By Karen Lee Ziner
The Providence Journal, October 22, 2009

A 49-year-old immigration detainee who died at a Boston hospital Monday was apparently working as a Providence taxi driver when Rhode Island State Police stopped him for speeding last year, and turned him over to immigration authorities on an outstanding deportation warrant, according to Capt. David Neill.
. . .
http://www.projo.com/news/content/ICE_DETAINEE_DEAD_10-22-09_TAG65L0_v8.36f2a63.html

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26.
Cops: Arizona Man Ran Down Daughter For Becoming 'Westernized'
The Associated Press, October 21, 2009

Peoria, AZ (AP) -- Police in a Phoenix suburb are looking for a father suspected of running down his daughter because she was becoming too 'Westernized' and was not living according to their traditional Iraqi values.

Police say 48-year-old Faleh Hassan Almaleki of Glendale allegedly ran his daughter down Tuesday at an Arizona Department of Economic Security parking lot in Peoria.
. . .
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,568924,00.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: Province’s web portal caters to immigrants
2. Canada: Lawyers blast response to Sri Lankan illegals (story, link)
3. E.U.: Officials announce impending harmonization of asylum policies
4. E.U.: Justice Comm’r urges careful repatriation of Afghans
5. E.U.: Poles express resistance to obligatory burden sharing
6. Ireland: Report calls for reduction of foreigners' child benefits
7. Ireland: Overseas-bound Irish frequently scammed in visa rackets (link)
8. Sweden: Pol quits over comments regarding muslims
9. Switzerland: U.N. calls for integration of foreign children
10. Greece: Gov't to ease tensions by recruit immigrants for police
11. Malta: Island sees 1,475 illegal arrivals since January '09
12. Malta: Jesuits urge Europe to adopt a more humane approach toward migrants
13. Israel: Interior Min. skips session over presence of illegal kids (story, 3 links)
14. S. Korea: Amnesty International decries treatment of foreign workers (story, 2 links)
15. Hong Kong: Police cracking down on human smugglers
16. Australia: Gov't denies negotiating 'bounty' for illegal aliens (2 stories, 11 links)

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
Work continues on immigration web portal
By Duane Hicks
The Fort Frances Times (Canada), October 21, 2009
http://fftimes.com/node/228372

With a launch date set for March, work is continuing on the Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal Project (NOIP), a provincially-funded Internet-based project that hopefully will help attract more residents to Rainy River District.

The NOIP will be a web portal having general information pertaining to immigration to the region, such as living, working, and doing business here, as well as links to information on how to get a Social Insurance Number or accreditation in a profession.

But in addition to that, the portal will feature web pages from 27 participating municipalities with information specific to their communities, including Fort Frances and Rainy River District.

Locally, the input from the community has been limited (for example, only four people showed up to a teleconference last Thursday). But Geoff Gillon and Jeannette Cawston of the Rainy River Future Development Corp. are working hard to gather and prepare content for web pages for Fort Frances and communities in the west end of the district.

This content consists of text and photos, as well as links to relevant content on other websites, which will inform those who visit the websites about:

*information about the community (i.e., demographics, location, features, points of interest, etc.);

*quality of life (access to Rainy Lake, clean, safe, etc.);

*employment opportunities and primary employers;

*investment and business opportunities, including any business currently for sale;

*housing availability and prices;

*education facilities;

*recreation and sporting facilities;

*community organizations; and

*ethnocultural organizations and associations.

They also are seeking testimonials of positive experiences from immigrants who have come to Fort Frances and Rainy River District, and would like to share their feelings on how they like it here, how their life has changed, etc.

These immigrants need not come from far away, but could have just moved here from elsewhere in Ontario or Canada.

Testimonials ideally will include text and photos. Two or three testimonials should be sufficient.

Those who would like to provide testimonials, or any kind of relevant input, are encouraged to contact Gillon or Cawston at 274-3276 or info@rrfdc.on.ca

The pair will present a preliminary version of the local website to the public in early to mid-November (to get an idea of what it may end up looking like, check out www.immigratetosmithsfalls.ca)

At that time, they will gather input as to what else local residents would like to see added to the web page that they might have not thought of or missed 'before it’s set in stone,' said Gillon.

'The last thing you want to do is go through the whole process and then have somebody say, ‘You should have done this,’' he added.

After any new information is added, all of the content will be turned over to consultant Walter Bilyk, who is co-ordinating the project.

Bilyk said Thursday during the teleconference that all participating municipalities must have their finalized information into him before the end of the year so that it may be translated into several languages and readied for the regional immigration portal launch in March 2010.

Portal project

Bilyk has been consulting with participating communities in recent months, co-ordinating them to get ready for the launch next spring.

'Every community we’ve visited is in the process of collecting their content now,' said Bilyk, adding participants range from Fort Frances and Rainy River to Ear Falls and Red Lake to Sioux Lookout and Pickle Lake.

'A large part of this project is the consultation we’re conducting with all these communities,' Bilyk explained. 'That’s why this portal is really unique. It’s different than all of the other immigration portal websites that are out there now in Ontario.

'Right now, there are 15 Ontario municipalities that have their own immigration websites, and they’ve all been funded by the provincial government as is this project that’s for Northwestern Ontario.

'That’s why I am so excited about this,' he enthused. 'It’s for Northwestern Ontario. It’s not just for Thunder Bay, or for Fort Frances or a single community, it’s for the whole area of Northwestern Ontario.

'So in terms of the consultations, we’ve completed the initial visits to each community and during each visit we talked about the community profile that each community would want to have on their [web] pages and what priorities the communities would have, as well.

'For example, if they’re primarily interested in attracting entrepreneurs to set up businesses in their communities, which a lot of communities definitely are, or do they have a real need for skilled workers in a specific area?

'A couple of communities had a real shortage of service workers in the service sector,' he noted.

Bilyk reiterated that attracting new people to a community need not only mean immigrants from afar, but from elsewhere in Ontario or Canada.

'Some of the communities, for example, are interested in attracting newcomers from Newfoundland to come to Northwestern Ontario,' he said.

'A lot of Newfoundlanders are interested in Northwestern Ontario because the climate is similar, they like to live in small communities, they like to live in communities that may not be close to large centres, for example,' he noted.

'Different communities have a different perspective on what they want to focus on in this portal.'

Objectives of NOIP include:

*providing the community with a national and international profile to support the attraction of new residents;

*providing local information, access to community services and programs, and related links for potential immigrants or individuals considering relocation to the community;

*attracting newcomers with skills and experience that reflect the needs of local employers and industries;

*integrating and retaining newcomers already located in the community; and

*complementing the services provided to immigrants and newcomers by local and other service providers.

The Thunder Bay Multicultural Association will be translating the information put up on the websites to make it understandable by those who may not read English.

At this point, it’s confirmed the information will be translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, simplified Chinese, Tagalog (Filipino), Russian, Hindi, Arabic, and Japanese.

After the portal is launched in March, participating municipalities will be able to update their pages via the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association.

Bilyk noted the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association likely will contact the participating municipalities semi-annually to see if they want to do updates, which the group then will translate, adding that if a major change has to be done at shorter notice, it probably could be.

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2.
Sri Lankan migrants suffered gruelling journey, lawyer says
Canada's slow response to refugee drama criticized
By Jill Mahoney and Jane Armstrong
The Globe and Mail (Canada), October 22, 2009
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/sri-lankan-migrants-suffered-gruelling-journey-lawyer-says/article1333205/

Toronto and Vancouver — From Thursday's Globe and Mail Published on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009 10:52PM EDT Last updated on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 11:10AM EDT

The Sri Lankan migrants who arrived in British Columbia last week on a decrepit cargo ship feared for their lives during a gruelling, lengthy voyage.

The 76 Tamil asylum seekers had only minimal supplies and skeleton facilities during the journey, said a lawyer who spoke with one of the men.

'It was a very difficult, difficult experience and something that I think can probably best be described as parallel to a Titanic-type of an experience,' said Gary Anandasangaree, a lawyer for the Canadian Tamil Congress.

The information is the first to emerge about the migrants' trip aboard the Ocean Lady, a cargo vessel that was operating outside shipping rules when it sailed into Canadian waters last Friday.

Lawyers hired to represent some of the detained men are criticizing Canada's slow response to the refugee drama, saying they cannot even speak with their clients and that it is taking far too long for them to get hearings.

'If this happened in a criminal [law] context, people would be up in arms,' said Hadayt Nazami, a Toronto lawyer who is representing one migrant.

An Immigration and Refugee Board hearing spent most of Wednesday focusing on whether the media can report the migrants' identities. By late Wednesday, just 10 of the 76 men had had detention reviews before an adjudicator. All of the men, whose names can't be released because of a publication ban, were deemed flight risks and kept in custody.

Lawyer Doug Cannon said he hasn't been able to speak to his client even though the man was taken into custody Saturday night. Under Canadian immigration law, people detained at the border must get a hearing within 48 hours, or within a reasonable time.

'I'm frustrated,' Mr. Cannon said, adding he has contacted Canada Border Services Agency and the Immigration and Refugee Board to demand that his client get a detention hearing today. 'I can't even get through to him.'

Mr. Cannon said he suspects officials are overwhelmed by the volume of migrants who arrived en masse but argued that's no excuse for the holdup. If delays persist, he said, a lawyer could make a valid argument to have a client released.

The Sri Lankans, said to have paid $45,000 each to a smuggler to come to Canada, were kept in the bottom of the Ocean Lady and had little sense of time, only that the voyage lasted for weeks, Mr. Anandasangaree said. He said they encountered rough weather and 'there were times' they feared for their lives.

One migrant looked 'exhausted' when he spoke to him late Tuesday at a detention centre in Maple Ridge, B.C. Mr. Anandasangaree interviewed the man on behalf of a Toronto lawyer who is representing him.

'They took extraordinary risk during the voyage,' he said. 'It's quite eye-opening to look at what they went through to get here.'

The Tamil asylum seekers are fleeing violence and persecution in Sri Lanka, which just emerged from a long civil war between the government and separatist Tamil Tigers.

Duty counsel Larry Smeets, who has interviewed 15 of the migrants, yesterday said four of his clients still hadn't been interviewed by border officials. He said some of the men arrived with passports and other identification.

At least two dozen of the migrants have relatives or friends in Canada, Mr. Anandasangaree said. Some brought telephone numbers and have been able to speak with loved ones. Canada has the largest Tamil community outside Asia, with an estimated 300,000 people, more than 200,000 of whom are in Toronto.

Some family members are making preparations to help prove the migrants' identities and to supervise them if they are released from detention, said Mr. Nazami, who was hired by a Toronto cousin of one of the migrants. He said he doesn't even know if his client is aware he has a lawyer.

Mr. Cannon, who was also hired by relatives of one of the migrants, said they were contacted by other family members in Sri Lanka and informed that the young man was aboard the ship. He said he's attempting to verify his client's identity by getting the man's family to send identification papers.

Mr. Cannon, who has represented Tamil refugees in the past, said human smugglers typically demand that migrants not bring any identification that could trace them back to their origins.

Several ships carrying people from Sri Lanka have been intercepted this year on the Pacific Ocean, apparently headed for Australia.

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Sri Lankan migrants reach out to Canadian Tamils
Mystery still surrounds identities of men, as well as how $45,000 fees were paid
By Jane Armstrong and Heather Amos and Jill Mahoney
The Globe and Mail (Canada), October 20, 2009
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/sri-lankan-migrants-reach-out-to-canadian-tamils/article1331599/

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3.
Britain 'forced to take more asylum seekers' under EU common asylum plan
Britain would be forced to take a greater number of asylum seekers under EU plans that would create a Europe-wide common asylum policy with uniform criteria for deciding on cases.
By Martin Banks in Brussels
The Telegraph (U.K.), October 22, 2009
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/6399333/Britain-forced-to-take-more-asylum-seekers-under-EU-common-asylum-plan.html

Commission officials on Wednesday announced the 'final building blocks' had been put in place to 'harmonise' immigration across the union’s 27 member states.

But critics condemned the proposal, saying it would strip Britain of its sovereign powers to determine asylum policy.

Tim Kirkhope, the leader of Conservative MEPs in Brussels, said: 'Britain stands to lose its central pillar of its sovereignty: the ability to decide who can and can’t enter the UK.

'There are many things the EU can do to help growing immigration concerns but such decisions should be based on goodwill from other national governments, not on decisions forced on governments by Brussels.'

Jacques Barrot, the European Commission’s justice commissioner, said the system would 'eliminate differences' and set out procedures to follow to avoid unequal treatment.

He said the plans were designed to ensure asylum seekers would have the same chance of being accepted or rejected in all EU countries.

'Our proposals represent a major step forward towards achieving higher standards of protection, a more level playing field as well as coherence for the system,' he said. Under the new rules, authorities would be forced to present asylum seekers with clear information on their rights as soon as they arrived in a country.

The authorities would then be expected to apply the common criteria for admission 'robustly' and to 'identify more quickly persons in need of protection and those who are not'.

The EU has made it clear it would like the allocation of asylum seekers to be 'proportionate' based on population so that each country 'shares the burden' of asylum applications.

Bigger countries such as Britain would be expected to take a larger share because of their size. Critics say this could see Britain being 'forced' to accept refugees from 'overburdened' countries such as Malta, which has seen a surge in asylum seekers from North Africa.

At present, the time taken to process applications differs from several weeks in some EU countries to up to 12 months in others. Under the proposals, the commission said all member states would process applications for asylum within six months.

Critics said the policy would end Britain’s right to determine its own asylum policy.

Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said: 'The mainstream political parties can no longer pretend they have any control over our borders.

'On the day that the Office for National Statistics has made it clear that our population is increasing faster than ever before, with two-thirds of that increase attributed to immigration, the commission makes it clear that there is nothing we can do to halt the rise.'

Phil Woolas, the Borders and Immigration Minister, said: 'We will consider and scrutinise the details of the proposals very carefully and will apply a very cautious attitude.' The proposals will be discussed by the European Parliament in November.

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Brussels seeks end to EU 'asylum lottery'
Deutsche Presse Agentur, October 22, 2009
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291181,brussels-seeks-end-to-eu-asylum-lottery.html

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4.
Afghan expulsions must follow rules, EU's Barrot says
Deutsche Presse Agentur, October 22, 2009
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291322,afghan-expulsions-must-follow-rules-eus-barrot-says.html

Brussels (DPA) -- European Union member states must follow strict rules if they want to forcibly repatriate illegal Afghan immigrants, the EU's justice commissioner said Thursday. Jacques Barrot was speaking a day after France controversially flew three illegal Afghan migrants back to Kabul, arguing that they would not be in danger in the city.

National authorities have to make sure that Afghan migrants either do not want asylum or have had an asylum application rejected, and ensure that their lives will not be in danger if they are sent home, Barrot said in a statement.

'The (European) Commission attaches great importance to the strict respect of these three conditions and will remain vigilant to assure the respect of EU rules,' Barrot said.

France and Britain chartered a joint flight to send illegal immigrants back to Afghanistan overnight to Wednesday.

Immigration Minister Eric Besson said that the Afghans would be flown to Kabul, 'where there is no threat to their physical safety.'

But charities working with immigrants said the flights contravened the European Declaration of Human Rights because they exposed the returning Afghans to war and terrorism.

Commission officials said Thursday that the French move appeared to have followed EU rules.

'According to what (Besson) said, the conditions were met for the first three expellees. We will keep an eye on the situation,' Barrot's spokesman, Michele Cercone, told the German Press Agency dpa.

This summer, Barrot, a Frenchman, scolded Italy for sending would- be immigrants intercepted in international waters back to Libya without finding out if they might qualify for asylum.

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5.
Malta warned other EU states not obliged to help with migrants
Deutsche Presse Agentur, October 22, 2009
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291371,malta-warned-other-eu-states-not-obliged-to-help-with-migrants.html

Valletta, Malta (DPA) -- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday other European Union nations cannot be forced to take would- be immigrants arriving in Malta to help the island nation deal with illegal arrivals. 'Solidarity cannot be obligatory ... As long as decisions on immigration are left up to individual countries, they have to be on a voluntary basis,' Tusk said.

He was speaking at a press conference following talks with his Maltese counterpart, Lawrence Gonzi, in the island's capital Valletta.

However, Tusk promised Poland would give its support if a proposal on the so-called 'burden-sharing,' were to receive wide support among the 27-nation member EU.

Malta has been calling on other EU member states to absorb some of its refugees. The tiny Mediterranean island has become the landing point for thousands of immigrants who each year attempt to reach mainland Europe from Africa.

In July, France agreed to take 92 would-be immigrants from Malta, a move marking the first show of solidarity by a EU country since the signing of the EU Immigration and Asylum Pact in October 2008.

In May the European Parliament voted to support the establishment of a mandatory, as opposed to voluntary, burden-sharing mechanism by 2011.

However, observers say the new mechanism is unlikely to receive much at support in the EU's Council, the bloc's highest political body.

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6.
Child benefit changes urged for foreign nationals
By Carl O'Brien
The Irish Times, October 22, 2009
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1022/1224257226342.html

Child benefit payments to foreign nationals whose children live outside the State should be reduced significantly, according to a report on social welfare fraud by an Oireachtas committee.

About 7,000 EU nationals resident in Ireland are claiming child benefit for 11,000 children living outside the State. This is projected to cost the exchequer about €20 million this year.

The report says it is 'not appropriate' to pay the Irish rate of child benefit for children in other countries where the cost of living is significantly lower.

It is one of 14 cost-saving recommendations in a report by the Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs. Overall, the report says more money could be saved through tougher welfare checks and more intensive monitoring of fraud or overpayments. Its proposal include:

The report’s author, Labour TD Róisín Shortall, said the recommendations were urgently needed given the large increases in unemployment and pressure on the public finances.

'At a time when more and more people need to avail of social welfare, we must ensure that any money lost through fraud and scams is kept to the absolute minimum, so those who really need the help can avail of it,' she said.

On the issue of reducing child benefit for children resident abroad, Ms Shortall said it was not right the payment was paid at the Irish level given the lower cost of living in many other EU countries.

'There is a huge difference in the cost of living between Ireland and other EU countries. We’re questioning the appropriateness of this. The Irish level of child benefit should be paid for children who are resident in Ireland . . . '

Under regulations dating back to 1971, migrant employees from any member state can claim child benefit from the EU country in which they work, even if their children are living in their home country. Ms Shortall accepted that the proposal may be just 'aspirational' given that the current payment arrangement is provided for under EU law.

Last year, a total of €476 million was saved through anti-fraud measures, almost €60 million behind the target of €535 million.

This year, the Department of Social and Family Affairs estimates it will save some €600 million. However, initial figures show it is already behind target.

Fianna Fáil TD Charlie O’Connor, vice-chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs, said the recommendations had been made on a consensus basis between all parties.'We believe these actions will ultimately benefit the country economically and make it a better society for all those who live in it.'

EDITOR’S NOTE: The report is available online at: http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/Committees30thDail/J-SocialFamilyAffairs/Reports_2009/document1.htm

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7.
Our Canadian dream hit the rockies after €5,000 visa scam
By Tina Leonard
The Irish independent, October 22, 2009

Paul* lost his job at the beginning of this year. Together with his wife Mary* they decided that Paul would emigrate to Canada and that Mary and their four children would follow him out once he was settled.

That plan is now on hold because this family has lost €5,000 to an immigration scam.

Mary saw an advert in an Irish newspaper for a UK-based company offering immigration services.

After paying an initial fee by credit card, Mary was told that they would pass Canada's immigration rules and that it would take six to nine months for Paul's employers visa to be granted. She then transferred the remaining fee of €4,885 to a Swiss bank account.

One week later, the website and telephone number for the company no longer worked.

However, soon a company with a different name but with the same contact details and personnel appeared and claimed they had taken over the clients of the first company. Since then, there have been two further company name changes, but the people and details always remain the same.

They signed up with this company in February, but no application for residency has yet been lodged in Paul's name and no job offers have been forthcoming. Fed up, Mary asked for a refund but the company says it is nothing to do with them.

'Last week,' says Mary, 'I lodged a 30-page document outlining the whole story with the Gardaí. They say this has all the hallmarks of a fraud.'

This sort of scam is more common than you might think. So much so that a prominent warning is displayed on the Canadian government's website and they have launched a media campaign to explain how Canada's immigration system works.
. . .
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/smart-consumer/our-canadian-dream-hit-the-rockies-after-83645000-visa-scam-1920871.html

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8.
Sweden Democrat quits over anti-Muslim views
The Local (Sweden), October 22, 2009
http://www.thelocal.se/22820/20091022/

The head of the far-right Sweden Democrats’ local chapter in Falkenberg in western Sweden has quit the party in the wake of an anti-Muslim article published by party leader Jimmie Åkesson.

Lars-Erik Persson took over as head of the local Sweden Democrat chapter in April, but now says he’s had enough, according to local media reports.

One reason for his departure is an opinion article by Åkesson published on Monday in the Aftonbladet newspaper in which the far-right party leader describes Islam as the greatest threat to Sweden since World War II.

'I don’t like that he went after Muslims as a group. I have several Muslim employees at my job and I think they’re really talented and well-mannered. You can’t just lump everyone together,' Persson told TV4’s local affiliate in Halland.

Persson has made his views known directly to Åkesson, but hasn’t received a reply from the party leader.

He joined the Sweden Democrats because he agreed with their policies relating to families, education, and care for the elderly, but has also become a critic of Sweden’s current immigration policies, one of the Sweden Democrats’ central issues.

'On the other hand, I’ve never felt that the meetings and workshops I’ve attended were as hostile toward foreigners as is claimed in the press,' he told Svergies Radio.

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9.
UN Children's fund calls for social inclusion of immigrant children
Xinhua (Chinese National News Agency), October 22, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/22/content_12294474.htm

Geneva (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF on Wednesday called for social inclusion and integration of immigrant children in affluent countries, news reaching here said.

A report released by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Florence, Italy, revealed that children of immigrant families are at a disadvantage in comparison to native-born children.

Donald Hernandez, sociology professor at the University of Albany, New York, authored the study, named Children in Immigrant Families in Eight Affluent Countries.

Hernandez said that immigrant children 'often experience educational and economic challenges and higher poverty rates.'

In order to diminish these differences, the report recommends improving access to health care, education and work opportunities.

'Fostering civil integration and social inclusion can benefit not only children and parents in immigrant families,' said David Parker, Deputy Director of UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 'but also the countries of settlement that the parents in immigrant families have adopted as their own.'

UNICEF, founded in 1946, works in 190 countries and is headquartered in New York.

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10.
Migrants to join police
Minister wants foreigners on the force, orders probe into Pakistani death
Kathimerini (Greece), October 21, 2009
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100002_21/10/2009_111745

Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis yesterday said he was determined to integrate immigrants into the police force following talks with members of the Pakistani community regarding the death of a 25-year-old Pakistani national alleged to have been beaten by officers while in custody earlier this month.

Apart from his vow to introduce migrants into the force, a pledge made several times over the past five years by the previous conservative government, Chrysochoidis also heralded the amendment of a law introduced by his predecessor that puts the examination of migrants’ claims for political asylum in the hands of police departments at first instance, and at the discretion of the relevant minister on appeal. Chrysochoidis said this process would now come under the remit of the new Interior Ministry, which no longer deals with public order issues. The legality of the police dealing with asylum claims has been questioned by rights groups and other organizations including the United Nations refugee agency which suspended its participation in processing Greece’s huge backlog of asylum claims in protest at the police’s dominant role in the process.

According to Chrysochoidis, the first phase of integrating immigrants into the police force would be for them to act as 'mediators' between officers and members of communities with large immigrant populations such as the central Athens district of Aghios Panteleiomonas. According to sources, the second phase would involve the employment of second-generation immigrants as full members of the force. This would require the amendment of a presidential decree which is reportedly in the pipeline.

As for 27-year-old Muhammad Kamran Atif, who was found dead at his home in Nikaia, Piraeus, on October 9, just a few days after allegedly suffering a severe beating at the hands of police in a local holding cell, Chrysochoidis said he had asked the Supreme Court to launch an investigation into the incident. 'I will not choose to conduct yet another internal investigation as this usually leads to such matters being forgotten and becoming an internal police affair,' the minister was quoted as saying.

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11.
1,475 migrant arrivals, 319 repatriations, by end September
The Times of Malta, October 22, 2009
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091022/local/migrants

A total of 1,475 migrants arrived illegally between January and September this year, while the number of repatriations during the same period reached 319. Repatriations totalled 260 in the whole of last year and 338 in 2007.

Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said this year's arrivals included 898 Somalis, by far the biggest group. They were followed by 156 from Eritrea.

The minister also said that in the past five years, 89 migrants who had arrived in Malta illegally were subsequently found in other countries of the European Union. Sixteen were sent back to Malta.

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12.
Jesuits call for EU solidarity and 'truly accessible' asylum
The Times of Malta, October 22, 2009
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091022/local/jesuits-call-for-eu-solidarity-and-truly-accessible-asylum

European Jesuits have called on the EU to take 'urgent action' on immigration because the humanitarian issue 'cannot be resolved in Malta or the southern border states alone'.

They added that asylum in Europe should be 'truly accessible' and that 'forced migrants' should be dealt with more justly and humanely.

In a joint statement at the end of its annual general assembly, which was this year held in Malta, the Jesuits, who run a refugee service on the island, called on the EU to take action in three ways.

They said the EU should show effective solidarity with those seeking protection, help over-burdened states with their human rights' obligations and strengthen partnerships with African states to sustain more dignified lives.

'Equally, it is a challenge to the whole of European society to confront the fear and xenophobia that sometimes underlies the utter resistance to the claims of migrants,' they said.

The increasing inaccessibility of Europe to persons who urgently needed protection obliged thousands of men, women and children to risk their lives by crossing the sea on small, fragile boats, often with tragic consequences.

Speaking about the situation in Malta, the Jesuits said: 'Except in the most desperate and vulnerable cases, they are then held in prolonged detention, in conditions that deepen previous suffering. If they succeed in gaining international protection, they still face untold difficulties, stemming from overcrowding, from Malta's very limited capacity to receive them and from the scarcity of employment opportunities.'

Meanwhile, the Jesuits' superior general, Fr Adolfo Nicolás, yesterday told University students that no matter what Malta, or other countries, did to help refugees and immigrants, it would never be enough.

'Refugees in Malta suffer like all the refugees anywhere in the world. No matter how you treat them, the starting situation is alienation from their own country and their own family,' he told University students after celebrating Mass at the campus chapel yesterday.

During a visit to Lyster Barracks earlier, Fr Nicolás met immigrants, mainly from Somalia, who are concerned about the families they left behind.

'One of them had just learnt that his wife, with two young children, had to leave the house because of fighting in the area,' he said.

He said immigrants were totally at the mercy of others, but he was comforted to see that those who were showing him around were trying to minimise the suffering of migrants.

Fr Nicolás said these migrants came from different cultures and background and needed education so they could contribute to society.

In his homily, Fr Nicolás, who spent many years living in Asia, said University students were privileged, unlike migrants.

However, he said, education did not make one a master, but brought with it new responsibilities.

'We are not called to rule others but to serve,' he said, adding that education opened many doors.

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13.
Yishai refuses to meet children of foreign workers
By Ruth Eglash
The Jerusalem Post, October 21, 2009
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256037274724&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Interior Minister Eli Yishai refused to appear before a special session of the Knesset Sub-Committee on Trafficking in Women Wednesday, after social action groups and children of foreign workers awaiting deportation showed up to tell their personal stories and make a plea for citizenship.

It was supposed to have been a discussion on the failures of the Interior Ministry's new Oz Immigration Unit to differentiate between illegal migrant workers and those brought to Israel via trafficking networks to work in slave labor or the sex industry.

However, the issue of the rights of foreign workers and especially the claim that children born here should be allowed to stay proved to be a far more potent issue in the hour-and-a-half-long discussion.

'Shas is scared of seeing the faces of these children,' charged MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), in what quickly became an explosive meeting when one of the foreign workers stormed out in tears. 'The interior minister is too scared to enter this room and hear their stories.'

'It's an embarrassment that Eli Yishai did not show up at the meeting, especially after saying that he would destroy the government over this issue,' one NGO representative told The Jerusalem Post later.

A spokesman for Yishai said, however, that the minister had decided not to participate after learning that the media, NGOs and young foreign workers' children would be present.

'It was an attempt by some to turn the Knesset into the theater of the absurd,' said the minister in a statement, calling on the committee's chairwoman, MK Orit Zuaretz (Kadima), to reschedule 'this serious and important discussion,' which needed to be dealt with exclusively.

'As soon as [Eli] Yishai heard that the children would be here, he decided not to come,' said Zuaretz, adding that the minister had known their presence would ignite a different discussion.

Zuaretz said the children had not been invited by her committee, but had been in the Knesset to attend an almost simultaneous discussion in the Committee for Foreign Workers on formulating a policy to prevent children set to be deported from being held in prisons.

Noa Maiman from the Israeli Children's Forum told the Post following the meetings that the deportation of illegal migrants, detecting those who were victims of human trafficking, and unfair treatment of children born and raised here were 'all part of the same subject.'

'It's about human rights and how we treat others, especially those that don't belong to us,' said Maiman, whose organization brought some of the very young children to the Knesset on Wednesday. 'This country needs to work on its policies regarding foreigners and, of course, should give these children citizenship.'

One Israeli-born Ghanan girl, who asked not to be named, said that the Interior Ministry's threats to deport children of foreign workers who were here without official status was 'a crime.'

'We should not be punished for the mistakes our parents made,' said the 14-year-old, who has spent her entire life in Tel Aviv and speaks fluent Hebrew. 'I know that every state has its immigration policy and don't understand why there is nothing here.'

Zuaretz, who also spoke emotionally at the second Knesset discussion, said that in her view, the main problem was lack of a clear immigration policy or regulations on who could enter the country.

'I find it very difficult to accept that in the Israel of 2009 there are cases of slavery and trafficking in human beings,' she said. 'The state is not taking responsibility for this issue, and while it is deporting those without status, at the same time it is turning a blind eye to more and more people coming in.'

She added, 'We cannot continue like this. We are hurting the rights of people. To send children back to a country they have never even visited is a crime. We have to find a way to give them full shelter.'

+++

Yishai skips Knesset meet on migrant workers, citing attendance of two kids
By Dana Weiler-Polak
Ha'aretz (Israel), October 22, 2009
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1122791.html

Interior Minister skips immigration debate attended by foreign workers' children
By Dana Weiler-Polak
Ha'aretz (Israel), October 21, 2009
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1122628.html

Yishai absent from Knesset session with foreign children
By Yael Branovsky
Ynet News (Israel), October 21, 2009
http://news.google.com/news/story?cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&ncl=dqU8lVF-PWliJTMVvPtAfwACQlOeM&scoring=n

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14.
Migrant workers face abuse in S. Korea: Amnesty
Agence France Presse, October 21, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iHHZiGtDsDMsjWxEa7poGfqsqQLw

Seoul (AFP) -- Many migrant workers in South Korea are abused, trafficked for sexual exploitation or denied wages despite the introduction of rules for their protection, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

South Korea became one of the first Asian countries to recognise the rights of migrant workers when it implemented the Employment Permit System (EPS) in August 2004.

'Now, five years into the EPS work scheme, migrant workers in South Korea continue to be at risk of human rights abuses and many of the exploitative practices.... still persist,' the rights group said in a report.

Norma Kang Muico, Amnesty's East Asia researcher, said the EPS was a good starting point.

'What is lacking is the implementation,' she told a news conference. 'There is not enough monitoring on workplaces... when abuses do take place, nothing is done to rectify them.'

Migrant workers still incur large debts to pay exorbitant fees to brokers but find on arrival that jobs are different from what was promised back home, the report said.

They are barred from changing jobs without their employer's permission.

Amnesty said migrants often have to operate heavy machinery or work with dangerous chemicals with little or no training or protective equipment, and suffer a disproportionate number of industrial accidents.

'Interviews that we had with migrant workers (showed) that they all had some form of industrial accident' ranging from minor to quite severe, Muico said.

Women migrant workers are particularly at risk, the report said. 'Many are sexually assaulted or harassed by the management or their co-workers.'

At some entertainment venues including establishments in US military camp towns, women with entertainment visas were expected and at times forced to have sex with customers.

In one case, a 39-year-old Philippine woman identified only as JA was told by her promoter in the Philippines that she would be working as a singer.

'All I did was talk to customers -- American soldiers -- and get them to buy me drinks. I was forced to fill a drinks quota. That was my job. Upstairs, there were rooms with beds where customers could have sex with the bar girls,' she was quoted as saying.

'The club owner tried to force me to have sex with the customers by threatening to send me back to the Philippines but I refused and told him that I would rather go back home,' JA was quoted as saying.

The report said South Korea had about 680,000 low-skilled migrant workers in September 2008, mostly employed in manufacturing, construction, agriculture and other industries.

Most were Vietnamese, Filipinos, Thais or ethnic Koreans from China.

Of the total an estimated 220,000 were irregular workers and authorities had launched a 'massive and sometimes violent' crackdown to try to halve this number by 2012.

Amnesty urged the government to carry out rigorous inspections to ensure migrants' rights are observed, to protect female migrant workers and to stamp out sexual exploitation and harassment.

It called on the government to allow irregulars to remain while seeking compensation for abuses by employers, and to ensure that immigration authorities obey the law when cracking down on illegals.

+++

Amnesty Raps Korea Over Plight of Female Workers
By Bae Ji-sook
The Korea Times, October 21, 2009
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/113_53985.html

Migrant workers more prone to workplace accidents
The Korea Herald, October 21, 2009
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/10/21/200910210088.asp

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15.
Police step up patrols to counter people smuggling from South Asia
Deutsche Presse Agentur, October 19, 2009
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290734,police-step-up-patrols-to-counter-people-smuggling-from-south-asia.html

Hong Kong (DPA) -- Police in Hong Kong are increasing the number of marine patrols after a spate of incidents involving South Asians who were caught as they were being smuggled into the territory, officers said Monday. Police small boat unit superintendent John Cameron said 18 people from India and Pakistan were arrested after the boats they were in were intercepted by marine police on Saturday and Sunday.

Two men from India and eight Pakistanis were held after an 8-metre wooden sampan was captured by officers in the territory's western waters near Tuen Mun on Sunday. The boat's master from China was arrested.

The incident came less than 48 hours after eight Pakistanis were seized when the boat they were in was stopped in Hong Kong's eastern waters near Tai Po on Saturday morning.

On Friday, 13 Pakistani illegal immigrants were arrested after their boat was stopped by marine police near the north-west New Territories.

Police said the 10 men held on Sunday each paid 5,000 Yuan (735 dollars) to be smuggled into Hong Kong from China.

Marine police Senior Inspector Yip Kwong-choi said the sampan was only designed to carry four passengers and none of the men had been given life jackets.

Officers thought the South Asians that had been arrested aimed to seek political asylum.

They said smuggling syndicates, known as snakeheads, had stepped up their illicit activities following a court ruling in March which allowed asylum seekers to work while immigration officials decided whether they were entitled to asylum.

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16.
Government denies offering 'bounty' for asylum-seekers
By Kathy Marks
The Associated Press, October 23, 2009
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10604894

Sydney (AP) -- Faced with a steady stream of asylum-seekers heading towards Australian shores, the Government is seeking a deal with Indonesia that would guarantee its assistance, but denied yesterday that it is offering its neighbour a 'bounty' payment for every would-be migrant.

As the 35th boat to arrive in Australian waters this year was intercepted off Christmas Island yesterday, reports emerged that the Sri Lankan occupants of another boat had drilled holes in its hull to force the Australian Navy to rescue them.

The 78 Sri Lankans were transferred to the Australian Customs boat Ocean Viking last weekend after the Navy concluded their vessel was not seaworthy. Indonesia has agreed to process them, following negotiations between the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Rudd intervened earlier this month to persuade Indonesian authorities to intercept another boat carrying 255 Sri Lankans, who remain docked in the West Java port of Merak, refusing to go ashore.

The Government has confirmed it is seeking a deal involving financial incentives for Indonesia to intercept and house asylum-seekers en route to Australia. But Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said yesterday: 'I'm not aware of any consideration being given to a price per head.' He refused to confirm the boat picked up last weekend had been sabotaged.

Rudd called on the Liberal Party to withdraw support from one of its politicians, Wilson Tuckey, who suggested terrorists were masquerading as asylum-seekers.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Comprehensive coverage of the Australian immigration debate can be found online at: http://news.google.com/news/story?cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&ncl=dp6neYut8GC2KGMbkGQfqEdr5HwMM&scoring=n

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Terrorists 'hiding' with boat people
By Malcolm Farr
The Daily Telegraph (Australia), October 23, 2009
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/terrorists-hiding-with-boat-people/story-e6freuy9-1225790211002

The Opposition attack on the Government's handling of boat people has been sidetracked by claims that terrorists are hiding among the asylum seekers.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull's growing case against the Government strategy was stalled yesterday - by one of his own.

And it came as the Government was forced to reveal that the second boat in 24 hours had been intercepted by border protection patrols.

West Australian Liberal backbencher Wilson Tuckey said it was two or three to one that a terrorist was travelling with asylum seekers, although his odds later blew out to 100 to one.

'If you wanted to get into Australia and you have bad intentions, what do you do?' Mr Tuckey said.

'You insert yourself in a crowd of 100 for which there is great sympathy for the other 99. You go on a system where nobody brings papers, you have no identity, no address.'

Labor backbencher Michael Danby, a staunch defender of asylum seekers, said something similar in Parliament on June 18 while listing criminal elements who might exploit weak border protection.

'They include identity thieves, people smugglers, potential terrorists, drug runners and those who traffic in illegal sex workers,' he said.

However, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd used a press conference and Question Time in Parliament to attack Mr Tuckey and demand that Mr Turnbull carpet his colleague.

And he took a further shot at Mr Turnbull and his tactics on boat people: 'It's almost as if any time a Liberal leader gets into trouble out comes old faithful, which is how to whack the asylum seekers hard.'

He described Mr Tuckey's claims as disgusting and said: 'In Australia, for a long, long time, we have applied health checks and security checks to asylum seekers wherever they come from around the world.

'It is a prudent approach, it is the right approach.'

However. he said Mr Tuckey's remarks were 'of an entirely different nature' and reflected on the 750,000 refugees who had settled in Australia since World War II.

'I think these are deeply divisive, disgusting remarks and they do not belong in any mainstream political party,' he said.

+++

PM Kevin Rudd's $50m Indonesian solution
By Stephen Fitzpatrick and Matthew Franklin
The Australian, October 23, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26248154-601,00.html

Rudd says joint asylum seeker solution makes sense
The ABC News (Australia), October 23, 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/23/2721908.htm?section=australia

Wilson Tuckey rocks boat on border protection debate
By Stefanie Balogh
The Courier Mail (Australia), October 23, 2009
http://news.google.com/news/story?cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&ncl=dp6neYut8GC2KGMbkGQfqEdr5HwMM&scoring=n

Chaos as Jakarta diverts asylum boat
By Michelle Grattan and Lindsay Murdoch
The Age (Melbourne), October 23, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/chaos-as-jakarta-diverts-asylum-boat-20091022-hbfb.html

Asylum seekers sent to detention centre
By Adam Gartrell
The Sydney Morning Herald, October 23, 2009
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/asylum-seekers-sent-to-detention-centre-20091022-h9a7.html

Australia PM furious over asylum militant claim
By Rob Taylor
Reuters, October 22, 2009
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43350920091022

Australia denies 'terrorists' on asylum boats
Agence France Presse, October 22, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g6ZSkR5bG2drU8eDCfvCvT4nv7Iw

Australia not to pay Indonesia 'price per head' for boat people
XInhua (Chinese National News Agency), October 22, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/22/content_12296991.htm

Asylum seekers diverted to island
By Geoff Thompson
The ABC News (Australia), October 22, 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/22/2721516.htm?section=justin

Australia Pursues Asylum Seeker Accord With Indonesia
By Ed Johnson and Rob Fenner
Bloomberg News, October 22, 2009
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=acikDuwcPOxY

Terrorists probably on asylum boats: Tuckey
By Emma Rodgers
The ABC News (Australia), October 22, 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/22/2720950.htm

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Center for Immigration Studies
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