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Daily news updates from CIS
October 29, 2009 -- Click here for 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. CIS analysis details success of 287(g) program
2. H-1B program experiences slump in applications
3. Bilateral task force targeting Canadian border crime (story, 3 links)
4. Mexican officials protest Border Patrol armed action (story, 2 links)
5. CA GOP gubernatorial candidate calls for 'pathway'
6. San Fran. mayor vetoes expanded sanctuary law (story, link)
7. Houston council fails to move on 287(g) (story, 3 links)
8. Sheriff Arpaio enjoys public support on enforcement (story, link)
9. UT city's council candidates address issue
10. Cities look to market parks to immigrant populations
11. CA groups allege racial profiling
12. IN workshop to inform foreign parents on schools
13. CA forum helps Filipinos organize
14. OH Hispanics claim enforcement begets harassment (story, link)
15. Illegal students form group to encourage others
16. Illegals in CT sue over 2007 arrests (story, 3 links)
17. Holiday travel to Mexico expected to hold steady
18. Islamic cleric awaits decision on status
19. WI sweep cracks down on criminal aliens (story, link)
20. Ukrainian fraud ring busted by FBI
21. Testimony continues against IA slaughterhouse exec
22. Police probe shots fired at hawkish CNN personality (link)
23. Belize rapper free from jail, deported (link)
24. TX police nab a dozen illegals (link)
25. AZ county sweep nabs 32 illegals (link)
26. FL man jailed for impersonating agent (link)
Subscribe to CIS e-mail services here: http://cis.org/immigrationnews.html
-- Mark Krikorian]
1.
CIS chronicles 287(g) immigration enforcement tool
By Kimberly Dvorak
The Examiner (San Diego), October 29, 2009
http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m10d29-CIS-chronicles-287g--immigration-enforcement-tool
Congress created 287g in 1996 as program to enhance the cooperation of local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration services. In an effort to pander to the Latino organizations that helped propel Obama into the White House, the reigns of 287(g) rules are being pulled back.
Despite unsubstantiated criticism from civil liberty groups, 287(g) remains an effective piece of legislation assisting local law enforcement with illegal immigration crime-fighting tools.
Protecting the homeland remains a top priority for many federal and local agencies and like many arms of law enforcement many tweaks have been implemented along the way.
According to Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) more than 81,000 immigration arrests were made by 287(g) officers during January 2006 and November 2008.
This program is responsible for flagging a large number of known serious/violent offenders, ICE reports the number in 2008 was more than 45,000.
While most agencies that use 287(g) mainly identify and process illegal aliens who have committed additional crimes, Congress has never intended the program to be limited to that use alone, according to Center for Immigration Studies.
'Participating agencies credit the 287(g) program as a major factor in reduced local crime rates, smaller inmate populations and lower criminal justice costs,' CIS stated.
CIS also dispels the myth that 287(g) causes racial profiling, discrimination or other abuse of authority.
Due to the program’s success, the federal government currently has a one to three year waiting list for local law enforcement agencies to obtain their 287(g) status and training. However, the Department of Homeland Security has rejected dozens of applications due to federal funding shortfalls in the last few years.
Recently there were 54 Democrat and Republican members of Congress who sent a letter to President Obama expressing their support of 287(g). The letter came just days after the Obama Administration implemented limits on state and local law enforcement agencies.
'Thanks to the 287(g) program, thousands of illegal immigrants that are identified in jails and through task force operations are being identified and deported,' explains Rep. Lamar Smith-R TX. 'The open borders crowd doesn’t like the 287(g) program because it is working – thousands of illegal immigrants are being identified.'
'Local law enforcement agencies deserve our thanks for helping to remove illegal immigrants from our communities before they threaten American lives and property,' Smith said. 'The Obama administration should not limit local agencies’ ability to help enforce our nation’s laws.'
EDITOR'S NOTE: The CIS report, 'The 287(g) Program: Protecting Home Towns and Homeland' is available online at: http://cis.org/287greport
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2.
Slump Sinks Visa Program
By Miriam Jordan
The Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125677268735914549.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
A coveted visa program that feeds skilled workers to top-tier U.S. technology companies and universities is on track to leave thousands of spots unfilled for the first time since 2003, a sign of how the weak economy has eroded employment even among highly trained professionals.
The program, known as H-1B, has been a mainstay of Silicon Valley and Wall Street, where many companies have come to depend on securing visas for computer programmers from India or engineers from China. Last year, even as the recession began to bite, employers snapped up the 65,000 visas available in just one day. This year, however, as of Sept. 25 -- nearly six months after the U.S. government began accepting applications -- only 46,700 petitions had been filed.
In addition to the weak economy, companies have curbed applications in the face of anti-immigrant sentiment in Washington and rising costs associated with hiring foreign-born workers.
Usually, all visas are allocated within a month or two from April, when applications for the following fiscal year are first accepted. But this year, six months later, 'you can still walk in with an application and you're still highly likely to get approved,' said R. Srikrishna, senior vice president for business operations in North America for HCL Technologies Ltd., an Indian outsourcing company.
The sagging economy, which has pushed U.S. unemployment to 9.8%, has crimped expansion in the technology sector, traditionally the biggest user of the H-1B program. Julie Pearl, a corporate immigration lawyer in San Francisco, said that at least a third of her clients have cut their hiring of H-1B visa holders in half from a year ago.
'Most companies just aren't hiring as many people in general,' Ms. Pearl said.
For Indian outsourcing companies, historically the largest recipients of H-1B visas, the economy as well as political pressures have prompted a cutback in applications. The recession has trimmed technology budgets at their U.S. clients; at the same time, Washington has scrutinized hiring from abroad more closely amid high unemployment at home.
Instead of bringing over Indian engineers, HCL has been hiring American employees who otherwise might have been let go by clients switching the work to HCL, Mr. Srikrishna said. Last year, HCL hired more than 1,000 employees from clients and received just 87 H-1B visas, he said.
Political pressures have come to bear among other applicants as well. Companies that receive federal bailout funds must prove they have tried to recruit American workers at prevailing wages and that foreigners aren't replacing U.S. citizens. That regulation caused Bank of America Corp., among others, to rescind job offers to dozens of foreigners.
In addition, would-be immigrants from India and China are finding new career opportunities at home as those economies grow relatively quickly while the U.S. economy sags and its political climate appears less welcoming.
Vivek Wadhwa, a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley who has studied H-1B visas, said that trend has been compounded by what he sees as rising anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. 'The best and the brightest who would normally come here are saying, 'Why do we need to go to a country where we are not welcome, where our quality of life would be less, and we would be at the bottom of the social ladder?'' Mr. Wadhwa said.
The cost and bureaucracy of applying for H-1B visas is another deterrent. Lawyers' fees, filing fees and other expenses can easily reach $5,000 per applicant.
And immigration lawyers say some would-be employers are put off by a crackdown on fraud. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which administers the H-1B program, has been dispatching inspectors on surprise company visits to verify that H-1B employees are performing the jobs on the terms specified. The fraud-detection unit in coming months is expected to inspect up to 20,000 companies with H-1Bs and other temporary worker visas.
'It's an invasive procedure that is both stressful for the employer and the foreign national employee,' said Milwaukee lawyer Jerome Grzeca, whose employment-visa business is down 40% since last year.
The numbers represent a sharp turnaround for a program that many companies had complained was too stingy with its visas. Year after year, U.S. businesses braced for 'visa roulette,' as applications to bring in highly skilled foreign workers far outstripped demand, forcing the government to hold a lottery to award them.
High-tech companies, such as Microsoft Corp., have been lobbying Congress for years to raise the cap. At the same time, some U.S. legislators have been calling for restrictions on the program, which they say displaces American workers.
Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, wrote a letter this month to the new director of citizenship and immigration services, urging tighter controls on H-1B visas. In April, Mr. Grassley and Illinois Democrat Sen. Richard Durbin introduced legislation to require companies to pass more stringent labor-market tests that would ensure they make a bigger effort to hire U.S. workers.
Companies that use H-1B visas argue the market, rather than Congress, should dictate the number of visas issued. The fact that the 65,000-visa cap hasn't been reached this year shows that the market will temper demand when necessary, said Jenifer Verdery, director of work-force policy at Intel Corp., who represents a coalition of companies that use the visas.
'Contrary to the claims of H-1B critics, if importing cheap labor were the goal of H-1B visa employers, these visas would have been gone on the first day applications were accepted last spring,' Ms. Verdery said. 'In slow economic times, such as today, the demand decreases and the market takes over, which is as it should be.'
In 2008, 44% of approved H-1B visa petitions were for foreigners working as systems analysts or programmers. The second-largest category consisted of professionals working in universities. Indians account for about half of all H-1B visa holders.
While the number of visa holders is small compared with the U.S. work force, their contribution is huge, employers say. For example, last year 35% of Microsoft's patent applications in the U.S. came from new inventions by visa and green-card holders, according to company general counsel Brad Smith.
Google Inc. also says that the H-1B program allowed it to tap top talent that was crucial to its development. India native Krishna Bharat, for example, joined the firm in 1999 through the H-1B program, and went on to earn several patents while at Google. He was credited by the company as being the key developer of its Google News service. Today, he holds the title of distinguished research scientist.
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3.
Detroit-based task force targets crime spilling over U.S. border
By Darren A. Nichols
The Detroit News, October 28, 2009
http://detnews.com/article/20091028/METRO/910280413/Detroit-based-task-force-targets-crime-spilling-over-U-S--border
Detroit -- The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unveiled today a 50-member task force comprised of federal, state, local and Canadian agencies designed to combat cross-border crimes.
The Border Enforcement Security Task Force, or BEST, will focus on national security and terrorist threats, human smuggling and trafficking, contraband smuggling, money laundering, bulk cash smuggling, transnational gang activities and other criminal acts. The team, which is the third along the northern border, covers 721 miles. The initiative will be housed in the federal building downtown.
'For those who are involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking or selling firearms, the international border really doesn't exist,' said Terrence Berg, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
'They operate across the border bringing in drugs to the U.S. and importing firearms, and this is a continuing problem. It's very rare to have this kind of cooperation, especially at the international level to have all of these agencies working together.'
Last month, the task force was instrumental in seizing a large quantity of high-potency marijuana that was headed from Detroit to British Columbia. In 2008, task forces nationally seized 1,083 points of cocaine, 52,420 pounds of marijuana, 432 weapons, 299 vehicles, four properties and $8.8 million in cash and monetary instruments.
Windsor Police Chief Gary Smith said the task force is important because efforts can be coordinated and relationships can be built to help solve cases.
'It very important we understand what's going on in each other's jurisdictions and territories,' Smith said. 'I've got the cost of one officer, some equipment, and my return on investment is going to be more than just that, through making the citizens of Windsor safer and more successful prosecutions.'
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Windsor police join Detroit-based border task force
By Frances Willick
The Windsor Star (Canada), October 28, 2009
http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Windsor+police+join+Detroit+based+border+task+force/2156476/story.html
Canada, U.S. join forces at Detroit-Windsor border
The CBC News (Canada), October 28, 2009
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/10/28/windsor-border-task-force-091028.html
Task Force to Target Cross-Border Crime
By Sarah Hulett
The Michigan Radio News, October 28, 2009
http://news.google.com/news/story?cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&ncl=dYA2r5lKZZfP8AMni6lF6Dkad7ygM&scoring=n
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4.
San Luis RC mayor files complaint
By Cesar Neyoy and James Gilbert
The Yuma Sun (AZ), October 28, 2009
http://www.yumasun.com/news/border-53805-baldenebro-complaint.html
The mayor of San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., has lodged a complaint with the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma Sector alleging agents hurled one or more concussion grenades at two Mexican nationals who had been chased back into Mexico.
In the complaint filed with Sector Chief Paul Beeson, Mayor Manuel Baldenebro said the grenade or grenades were thrown over the border fence in the area near 27th Street and Carlos G. Calles Avenue at about 9 p.m. Oct. 19.
There were no injuries or damages, Baldenebro said, but 'it was a considerable scare for the families who live in the area.'
The incident occurred after three Mexican Nationals allegedly crossed the border, Baldenebro said, one of whom was reportedly arrested by Border Patrol agents. Two others were chased back across the border.
Baldenebro said he didn't know what would have prompted the use of grenades. 'These things shouldn't have happened.'
In his complaint, Baldenebro called the incident an 'act of aggression' against Mexican citizens and the nation's sovereignty.
According to Agent Shaun Kuzia, a spokesman for the Yuma Sector Border Patrol, agents were assaulted on Oct. 19 while conducting an enforcement operation in San Luis, Ariz.
The operation, he said, was designed to prevent a group of individuals who had, on a number of occasions, unlawfully entered the United States from Mexico just east of the U.S. Port of Entry at San Luis, Ariz., with the intent to steal copper wire from the light poles located between the primary and secondary border fences.
Kuzia said the individuals have also entered the United States and caused significant damage to government property, including the tactical infrastructure that is in place in the San Luis area.
While agents were conducting this operation, Kuzia said, they observed several subjects trying to steal copper wire from the light poles.
As agents moved to make an arrest of the individuals, they used a percussion munition to distract the subjects and provide cover for their advance.
The suspects, Kuzia said, fled back to Mexico by climbing the primary border fence. Initial information indicates that these same subjects began an assault on the agents by hurling rocks over the fence.
As a defensive maneuver, agents deployed one less-than-lethal device over the fence to stop the attack and to allow them to move away to a safe position, according to the Border Patrol.
The less-than-lethal device deployed by agents, Kuzia said, was a sting ball rubber munition which, upon activation, propels rubber balls into the area surrounding the device.
Kuzia said this type of device is only available for trained law enforcement officers and is designed for rapid delivery in quickly changing tactical situations. It is intended to provide deploying officers additional standoff distances.
The percussion munition that the agents initially used is designed to momentarily stun, blind and distract, Kuzia said. In this case, agents deployed a percussion munition as they approached the subjects in order provide concealment in what is otherwise a wide-open area.
Kuzia said Beeson has received complaints from Mayor Baldenebro and from the Mexican Consulate. Those complaints, he said, are currently under review.
Baldenebro has demanded an investigation of the incident by the patrol and said he will also make a complaint through the Mexican consul's office in Yuma.
During fiscal year 2009, Border Patrol agents were assaulted 37 times, 31 of which involved rocking incidents, according to reports.
+++
San Luis R.C. mayor, Mexican Consulate file complaints with Yuma BP Chief
The KSWT News (Yuma, AZ), October 28, 2009
http://www.kswt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11401808
Border Patrol rockings
The KYMA News (Yuma, AZ), October 29, 2009
http://www.kyma.com/slp.php?idN=2916&cat=News
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5.
Path to citizenship needed, GOP candidate Whitman says
By Sandra Dibble
The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 29, 2009
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/29/path-citizenship-needed-gop-candida/
San Ysidro, CA -- With the San Ysidro border fence as her backdrop, Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman spoke out on immigration policy issues yesterday, saying it is 'simply not practical' to deport the estimated 12.5 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States.
The candidate, 53, said the solution is to find a mechanism that allows them to live here legally. 'Can we get a fair program where people stand at the back of the line, they pay a fine, they do some things that would ultimately allow a path to legalization?' she asked.
Whitman also urged tougher measures against those who hire undocumented workers, and said that as governor 'I would be an advocate for the people of California to make sure we really do secure this border.'
The former chief executive of online auction company eBay made her remarks after a two-hour ride-along with two U.S. Border Patrol agents.
Though immigration is a federal issue, the governor 'has to weigh in much more heavily on getting the federal government to fulfill its responsibility of paying for border control, of helping to pay for illegal immigrants that are in our prisons,' Whitman said.
Since declaring her candidacy in February, Whitman has spoken on immigration issues several times. She has said that had she lived in California in 1994, she would have voted against Proposition 187, a measure intended to deny education, health care and other services to illegal immigrants. Voters passed it, but its major provisions were overturned in court.
Others seeking the Republican nomination are Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former Rep. Tom Campbell. The Democratic candidates are Attorney General Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Yesterday, Whitman reiterated her opposition to 'sanctuary cities,' which pass local resolutions to protect illegal immigrants in their jurisdictions.
During her tour of the border, Whitman said agents told her they had enough people in the sector but wanted more technology, such as infrared cameras, to do their job.
The border tour 'increased my sense of urgency, and wanting to make sure that the federal government takes responsibility for the resources to get the job done,' Whitman said.
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6.
Newsom vetoes change in S.F. sanctuary law
By Heather Knight
The San Francisco Chronicle, October 29, 2009
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/28/MN9J1AC3TO.DTL&tsp=1
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday vetoed the Board of Supervisors' legislation changing the city's sanctuary city policy.
The letter is a formality on two counts: the supervisors have the votes to override Newsom's veto, and the mayor has said he'll ignore the legislation anyway.
At issue is legislation, written by Supervisor David Campos, requiring that undocumented youth be reported to federal immigration officials for possible deportation after they're convicted of a felony, not when they're first arrested, as is the current policy.
Newsom, has said the legislation must be ignored because it violates federal law.
'The sanctuary ordinance as originally conceived and adopted was designed to protect those residents of our city who are law-abiding,' Newsom wrote. 'It was never meant to serve as a shield for people accused of committing serious crimes.'
Newsom's letter also quotes a memorandum from the city attorney's office advising that 'there is a serious risk' that if the matter is brought to court, a judge would strike down not only the Campos legislation but 'possibly the entire sanctuary city ordinance.'
Campos said, 'It's a sad day for San Francisco. Our mayor has chosen to be on the wrong side of history on this issue.'
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Newsom vetoes sanctuary city bill
By Mike Aldax
The San Francisco Examiner, October 28, 2009
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/under-the-dome/Newsom-vetoes-sanctuary-city-bill-67093497.html
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7.
Lack of quorum kills meeting on immigrant screening
By Susan Carroll
The Houston Chronicle, October 28, 2009
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6691451.html
Three City Council members fell short of forcing a vote Wednesday on the city's participation in a controversial immigration screening program after the rest of their colleagues skipped a special meeting.
The city secretary counted only three members — Toni Lawrence, Anne Clutterbuck and Mike Sullivan — present at the afternoon special meeting before it was called off for lack of a quorum. To officially meet on the issue, they would have needed at least eight members of council present.
After the aborted meeting, City Council member Pam Holm joined the trio at a news conference calling for Mayor Bill White to hold a public meeting on whether the city should participate in the 287(g) program, which trains local law enforcement to identify illegal immigrants in the jails.
The lackluster turnout came as little surprise as several council members reported last week that they had scheduling conflicts. Others had called for an informal boycott of the rare special meeting, accusing Lawrence of political 'grandstanding' on the sensitive immigration issue.
Lawrence, who is campaigning to become the next Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner, denied calling the meeting for political gain, saying, 'I have never grandstanded in the six years I've been on the council. I'm very passionate about this.'
Lawrence said she tried to work with Mayor Bill White on the issue 'behind the scenes' before growing frustrated and scheduling the special meeting.
White changed mind
White had requested the city participate in the program last spring, after a Houston police officer was critically wounded during a raid by an illegal immigrant. But White announced recently that he was shying away from 287(g) after negotiations with ICE broke down on a range of issues, including how the program should be administered and which agency should shoulder the cost.
White now says he favors having the city participate in another ICE program, 'Secure Communities,' which automatically checks suspects booked into jail against a massive immigration database. Frank Michel, a spokesman for White, said the Secure Communities program is the 'best way to meet our goals of screening out people who are here illegally and have criminal backgrounds and histories.'
City officials said they are on track to have Houston police participating in the program by Dec. 1.
Favors both plans
Lawrence said the city needs to participate in both 287(g) and Secure Communities, calling on the city to build a system similar to the one in place at the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which uses the two ICE programs in tandem to screen for suspected illegal immigrants and refer them to ICE.
Clutterbuck said it was a 'shame' more of her colleagues did not show for the meeting, calling the need for an open debate on the 287(g) program 'extremely important.'
Councilman James Rodriguez, who had accused Lawrence of playing politics with the immigration issue, said he was encouraged by the poor turnout.
'I'm really glad my other colleagues saw fit not to attend the meeting,' Rodriguez said. 'I really think this is more political maneuvering than really a debate about the issues.'
White plans to report on the status of the jail screening plans at the council's next scheduled meeting on Nov. 4.
+++
Council Members Snub Immigration Meeting
By Isiah Carey
The KRIV News (Houston), October 28, 2009
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/politics/091028_houston_council_immigration_meeting
Hot-Button Immigration Issue Gets Little Discussion Among County Commissioners
By Liana Lopez
The Houston Press, October 28, 2009
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/10/287g_harris_county_jail.php
Houston City Council may take second look at 287(g) program
By Kevin Peters
The KHOU News (Houston), October 28, 2009
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou091028_tnt_city-council-287g.25f047130.html
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8.
Poll: Public sides with Arpaio on immigration dispute
By Mike Sunnucks
The Phoenix Business Journal, October 28, 2009
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/10/26/daily41.html
Phoenix-area voters sided with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on his immigration fight with the Obama administration, according to poll released Tuesday night by KAET-TV Channel 8 and Arizona State University. The survey also shows a majority of voters won’t get H1N1 vaccinations.
The KAET poll shows 60 percent of voters oppose changing the 287(g) agreement with Arpaio, which allowed officers to arrest illegal immigrants on federal charges out in the field. A new accord allows the sheriff’s office only to charge undocumented persons on immigration charges when they are booked into jail. Thirty-six percent of the 652 people polled favored the new agreement.
Sixty-one percent said they approved of the controversial sheriff while 35 percent disapproved of Arpaio’s job performance.
The KAET poll also found that 54 percent of state voters do not plan to get the H1N1 flu vaccine. Forty-one percent said they would get the shots.
The survey also shows 49 percent of those interviewed statewide oppose a government-run health insurance option that would operate alongside of private, sometimes for-profit providers. Forty-four percent support the public option.
The poll was conducted Oct. 22 to 25.
+++
Arpaio gets high marks from voters
By Daphne Adato
The KTAR News, October 28, 2009
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1225316
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9.
Voters ask questions
St. George hopefuls face tough queries
By Tiffany De Masters
The Spectrum (St. George, UT), October 29, 2009
http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20091029/NEWS01/910290328
St. George, UT -- Residents put St. George mayoral and city council candidates on the hot seat Wednesday evening as they asked each of them hard-hitting and controversial questions.
Mayoral candidates Ed Baca and Dan McArthur along with city council candidates Suzanne Allen, Gail Bunker, Jimmie Hughes and Ben Nickle answered questions at the Holiday Inn.
One of the questions posed was, will the city support the Chamber of Commerce, asked by a member of the chamber, Nina Heck. Baca said it's important to have a strong viable Chamber of Commerce.
'I think there is moderation needed in all areas,' he said.
Bunker, an incumbent, said she supports the Chamber but doesn't think the city can support the Chamber too much.
McArthur, incumbent, said he's pro business and the city supports the Chamber
Nickle said he supports the Chamber but thinks the Chamber crosses the line by endorsing candidates like it has it the past.
Heck said she asked the question because there are people running for council who don't attend Chamber meetings.
'The Chamber supports businesses in the community,' she said. 'We are separate from the city.'
Heck added she didn't think she got a good answer from some of the candidates.
Resident Don Graves raised the question to incumbents on how committed they are about illegal immigration.
Allen, an incumbent, said the council couldn't do a whole lot six years ago.
'Now there's more enforcement and new laws on the books that are good and fair,' she said.
Bunker said she's against illegal immigration.
'It's illegal and it's wrong,' said. 'I do think there are different types of illegal immigrants. There is the type who come here and want to better their lives and then there's the type that commit crimes and bring drugs into our communities, and we should have no leniency on those who do so.'
Hughes said a lot of people in the community have a lot of compassion.
'We cannot pile everyone into our lifeboat,' he said. 'This is a national problem, but we could do some things as a city to take (care) of the health and safety of the community.'
Nickle said the issue of illegal immigration didn't become an issue until he brought it up last year when he ran for city council.
'I think you're (addressing Graves) justified in asking how committed the candidates are,' he said.
Baca added the issue of illegal immigration has remained dormant.
'The mayor has had us on the fast track of becoming a sanctuary city and council members were rubber-stamping his decision,' he said.
McArthur said St. George is one of the most progressive communities in the state with officers at Purgatory Correctional Facility who have training in Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Graves said he brought the question up because four out of the five murders committed in Washington County were allegedly committed by illegal immigrants.
'I love my country,' he said. 'I don't want the character of our community degraded to a Los Angeles or a Phoenix.'
At the end of the Q&A each candidate was given a chance to give a closing statement.
Hughes said things have been good but he's saying he can be part of making it better.
'When you vote Jimmie Hughes you're not disrespecting the incumbents, you're thanking them for their service,' he said.
Allen said she's been apart of a lot of projects, the airport being one of them.
'I would like to see that through,' she said.
Nickle thanked everyone in the audience for being at the debate.
'Apathy is something we have a problem with in this country,' he said. 'The council has done a good job but it's time to see some different faces.'
Bunker said the city has had a lot of home runs with all the different projects that have been completed.
'I have enjoyed totally serving on the council and I've tried to serve the citizens,' she said. 'I'm an open book.'
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10.
City Seeks Ways to Adapt Parks to Immigrants
By Jennifer Lee
The New York Times, October 29, 2009
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/city-seeks-ways-to-adapt-parks-to-immigrants/
How should city parks adapt to immigrants? Various cities have been considering the question.
In Minneapolis, for example, a large influx of immigrants from Somalia meant more soccer and cricket pitches, and fewer tennis courts. In Chicago, the city’s large Mexican immigrant population is attracted to city parks less for the jogging trails and more as a type of town plaza for large social gatherings.
In New York, where some 40 percent of the city’s population is foreign-born, it’s been a constant quest to adjust the 1,700 parks, playgrounds and recreation facilities that stretch across the five boroughs. 'In a way we are always playing catch-up,' said Adrian Benepe, the commissioner for the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
'Parks for All New Yorkers: Immigrants, Culture and New York City Parks,' a new report issued on Wednesday by New Yorkers for Parks, a nonprofit advocacy group, offers new ideas for adapting parks to immigrant communities.
'This is the first time that we looked at parks through the lens of the immigrant community, on behalf of the immigrant community,' said Sheelah Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the organization. 'This report really highlights the park users in the outer boroughs.'
Accommodating the shifting demand for sports facilities has been a work in progress. The department installed its first cricket patch in Spring Creek Park — in Canarsie, Brooklyn, in 2003 — in response to demand from South Asian and West Indian immigrant groups. Now there are 14 cricket pitches, with more on the way. (Not to mention a high school league set up by the Department of Education.)
In addition, officials have installed courts for netball, a variation of basketball (there is no backboard) that is played almost exclusively by women. It’s popular in former British colonies.
Of course, some sports appear to die away, but then don’t. The parks department debated whether to reclaim boccie ball courts in once largely Italian neighborhoods. But in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in boccie ball from people in their 20s and 30s.
To accommodate the increased demand for fields, the parks department plans to install lighting on 25 fields so the hours can be extended into the night.
And the department is translating many signs into Spanish, Korean, Italian, Chinese, Russian and Haitian Creole. Already, the department has posted 7,000 foreign-language signs, according to Mr. Benepe. He also said the department was making an effort to hire employees who can speak to residents in their native languages. The initiatives were developed as part of a language-access plan that was required under a citywide push.
Although the report compliments the ambitions laid out in the language-access plan, it notes that the parks department might not have the financial resources to implement the plan at a time of government cutbacks. In addition, the report notes that the plan lays out language access in large parks but lacks details for smaller parks. It also emphasizes that applications for online park permits should be made available in languages other than English sooner.
And in a topic close to City Room’s heart, the report also pushes the parks department to seek out more diverse food vendors for parks; ethnic food sellers make up only a small portion of permitted vendors in parks across the city.
One of the notable ethnic offerings comes from the pan-Latin food vendors in the Red Hook Recreation Area in Brooklyn. They have sold items like tacos, huaraches and pupusas for over three decades.
After a brief scare during which the previously unregulated vendors feared they might be driven out, the vendors were given a parks permit as of 2008, in part because 'cultural relevance' was identified as a criterion for selecting vendors.
Mr. Benepe noted that Washington Square Park also features Thiru Kumar, a Sri Lankan immigrant known as the Dosa Man, who won a Vendy Award in 2007. (Park concession permits are independent of the process for issuing cart licenses, the number of which has been capped for 30 years.)
Mr. Benepe said the department was looking at broadening the culinary choices. 'We are seeking to augment the traditional park offerings — hot dogs, pretzels — with ethnic food,' he said. Mr. Benepe pointed to the Red Hook consortium as an example of where the department helped the vendors meet standards set by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
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11.
Two community groups allege racial profiling by law enforcement officers near Fontana schools
By Josh Dulaney and Stephen Wall
The San Bernardino County Sun (CA), October 28, 2009
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_13665296?source=most_viewed
Fontana, CA -- Members of two community organizing groups protested Wednesday against alleged acts of racial profiling by law enforcement officers near public schools.
At Wednesday's City Council meeting, members of ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, and the San Bernardino Community Service Center said Fontana police officers are targeting illegal immigrants by setting up driver's license checkpoints near public schools during school hours.
'It is unjust that members of our community are looked upon with scorn, derision, and suspicion,' said Bobbi Jo Chavarria, a 38-year-old resident who is leading an effort to start an ACORN chapter here.
The issue of racial profiling came up at a school board meeting last week after complaints were raised that a Latino family was allegedly stopped by four unmarked federal vehicles this month.
Residents say they have seen the police setting up survey checkpoints near school zones.
Police Department officials Wednesday denied the allegations, saying checkpoints set up near schools are for DUI checks only and conducted at night.
The Police Department has a policy against racial profiling, Chief Rodney Jones said.
'If anybody has a complaint, bring it forward and we'll respond to it,' Jones said.
Robert Ratcliffe, chief of police for the Fontana Unified School District, said there were also hints at the board meeting that district police took part in the action.
'There was inference that local law enforcement was involved with that and I issued a memo to the interim superintendent (of schools) that we had no involvement in that,' Ratcliffe said.
ACORN also protested the so-called 287g Program, which allows designated law enforcement officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions.
The program locally is administered by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
'Our local police department is actually working as a de facto immigration officer,' said Emilio Amaya, executive director of San Bernardino Community Service Center.
In 2008, the department identified 2,359 inmates as possible illegal immigrants under the program, said Lt. Rick Ells.
The department is in the process of extending the program that started in 2006. A new three-year agreement between the county and the federal government is expected to come before the Board of Supervisors for a final vote Nov. 3.
Under the program, people who are booked into county jails are asked to provide their country of birth on their booking applications.
If they were not born in the United States, their applications are flagged by a sheriff's custody specialist trained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
If after an interview the sheriff's employee determines the person may be in the country illegally, the inmate is referred to federal immigration authorities for additional questioning and possible deportation.
'Nobody is brought to our jails merely because of immigration status,' Ells said.
Ells said the program is effective at getting potentially dangerous criminals off the streets.
'If we don't do this and somebody gets picked up for a DUI and doesn't get deported and then goes out and commits another DUI and kills an innocent person, we would be under tremendous fire,' Ells said.
'Anytime you remove the opportunity for the crime or the criminal, you're going to improve the quality of life.'
Those protesting ACORN's stance on the program attended the meeting and voiced support for the Sheriff's Department.
'We are in complete support of the 287g program,' said Robin Hvidston, a rally coordinator for We the People. 'The (Sheriff's Department) has identified illegal aliens committing crimes on our soil. This helps us repatriate them to their country.'
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12.
Workshop to help immigrant parents with kids' education
IPFW New Immigrant Literacy Program workshop
By Ellie Bogue
The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, IN), October 29, 2009
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091029/NEWS/910290337
The IPFW New Immigrant Literacy Program will host a workshop Saturday designed for parents who want to better understand the American education system.
The program works with children ages 4-13 every Saturday during the school semester, giving them an opportunity to be tutored one-on-one by IPFW education students. But it holds a workshop once a year to educate the parents.
This year the workshop will focus on helping parents help their children get the best education at school, giving them a better understanding of the ISTEP test and encouraging them to get their children to read more.
Guest speakers will be Get Nichols, director of Fort Wayne Community Schools elementary administration; John Kline, FWCS ISTEP director; and Sherry Crisp-Ridge, FWCS reading teacher and IPFW instructor.
Kyaw T. Soe, director of the Immigrant Literacy program, says it is imperative to get parents involved. He and Joe Nichols, IPFW professor of education and chair of the Department of Educational Studies, have put together a binder with reference materials on everything from helping parents better understand how the school system works to simple picture translations for common objects.
While parents are engaged in the workshop, their children will have a special Halloween day session.
Soe hopes to see 150-200 parents involved in the workshop.
He started the program off-campus six years ago for Burmese children. It has been using space on the IPFW campus for the past three years, and this workshop will include a Spanish translator as well, for immigrants beyond the Burmese community.
Soe also said he will give away children's books to encourage children to read more at home.
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13.
Filipino immigrants share experiences of adjusting to American culture
A group seeks to inspire unity in the Filipino community.
By Tina Phan
The Daily 49er (Cal. State Univ., Long Beach), October 28, 2009
http://www.daily49er.com/news/filipino-immigrants-share-experiences-of-adjusting-to-american-culture-1.2041850
Bayanihan Studies Kollective presented stories told by Filipino immigrants who moved to America on Tuesday night at the Multicultural Center.
BSK is a coalition of Filipino youth started by three students at Cal State Long Beach. 'Bayanihan' means to a spirit of unity and helping the whole community. It is a global movement to assist families in the Philippines.
Due to budget cuts, fewer ethnic study programs are offered. BSK offers workshops outside of class for students to engage in learning about their culture.
Starting the event with a list of statements, students stood up from their seats or remained seated depending whether each statement applied to them. The workshop continued with a PowerPoint about the history of the Philippines, breaking into mini groups, two guest speakers and panel.
Filipino workers came to America as migrant labors in the 1920s. Migrators to the United States faced racial discrimination. Most Filipino workers who came to America were young men who worked in agriculture, service and fish cannery industries.
Alex Montances, a second-year anthropology graduate student and BSK founder, continued elaborating on Filipino history.
During the 1960s, Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos opened up immigration in the Philippines so citizens could leave quicker, Montances said.
The United States foreign policy allowed work labor to be imported into the United States.
'Labor becomes a commodity — something sold to be packaged and distributed,' said John Edward Tumamao Guevarra, first-year geographic information system graduate major.
Guest speakers from the workshop spoke about their experiences. Joy S. De Guzman works with Migrante International, Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants and the International Migrant Resource Center.
Guzman’s family came to America, leaving her in the Philippines. She wanted to stay to 'help the people of her home country,' she said. By doing so, she worked with migrant organizations.
Jamila Bascon, a junior communications major, moved from the Philippines and fit into American culture. Her parents came to the U.S. because they wanted her to pursue a career in nursing. After exploring the majors, she decided to switch.
'My dad approves of my decision in becoming a communications major,' Bascon said, 'but my mother wants me to go back to nursing.'
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14.
Hispanic residents complain of police harassment
By James Ewinger
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), October 29, 2009
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/hispanic_residents_complain_of.html
Veronica Dahlberg, director of HOLA, wipes away a tear as she describes the detention of Elena Becerra and her 12-year-old son, Jonathan Solis. Dahlberg said the family was taken from their beds at 4 a.m. last year for a background
check.
ASHTABULA, Ohio -- Dozens of Hispanic residents complained Wednesday that they are harassed by local police acting on behalf of federal immigration authorities.
Law enforcement agencies in Lake and Ashtabula counties deny singling out Hispanics, and say they are treating Latinos like everyone else.
Veronica Dahlberg, executive director of the Organization of Hispanic Women in Lake and Ashtabula, or HOLA, said the increased roundups have created such fear in the Latino community that people will not call police even when they are crime victims.
About 50 Hispanic residents from Lake, Ashtabula and Geauga counties appeared at a HOLA news conference to complain about unwarranted traffic stops, houses raided in the middle of the night, and about families being split up by deportations.
Roberto Arrieta, 18, of Ashtabula, said he was stopped last Saturday by Ashtabula police, and complained that they checked the identification only of the three Latinos in the car, not that of his non-Hispanic girlfriend.
Arrieta said he was told that he was stopped because his high-beam headlights were on, but he denied that.
Ashtabula police did not respond to inquires for this story, but Ashtabula County Sheriff Billy Johnson said his deputies stop people only if they believe a law has been broken.
Johnson said his department gets state funds for special programs, including running drunken-driving checkpoints. He said even if they pull over a bus with 100 people on it, they check the IDs of everyone aboard.
David Leopold, a Cleveland lawyer specializing in immigration issues, said the Ohio attorney general's office issued an opinion in 2007 that he thinks applies to all local law enforcement, stating that undocumented immigrants could be held, arrested or detained only if they were suspected of having committed a crime.
About 50 Hispanic residents air grievances at an HOLA news conference in Ashtabula about police harassment and stepped-up deportations splitting up families. The opinion was directed at county sheriffs. It said they could enforce federal immigration laws only through an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security extending some federal authority to them.
Khaalid Walls, a Homeland Security spokesman in Detroit, said the department has such an agreement with the Butler County sheriff, but not with any other Ohio agency.
The Ohio attorney general's opinion said local authorities can hold illegal immigrants -- if federal authorities issue a detainer -- or if the immigrants have committed a crime.
Lake County Sheriff Dan Dunlap said his deputies do not make so-called pretextual traffic stops, in which they have no real reason to pull someone over.
Dunlap said targeting immigrants would be futile 'because if they do get deported, they're back here in six weeks.'
Dahlberg said that the Latinos, undocumented or not, are wage earners whose taxes help subsidize the police who are not protecting them.
Terry Gilbert, a Cleveland lawyer with an extensive background in civil rights issues and criminal law, said, 'These people are powerless. They get ensnared in the legal system and deported, even if there's a legal basis to challenge the deportation because they don't have the knowledge or resources.'
Leopold complained that while the number of Homeland Security personnel dealing with immigration issues has increased markedly since the terrorist attacks of 2001, they nab few terrorists.
Andrew Scharnweber, patrol agent in charge of the Customs and Border Patrol office in Erie, Pa., said that since 2001, his station has grown from six agents to 50.
Scharnweber said they apprehended about 500 undocumented immigrants last year, and another 500 this year. But he said he didn't know how many Ohio residents were among those. About 40 percent of those apprehended are Mexican, while 5 percent are from countries with ties to terrorism, he said.
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HOLA says area police acting with heavy hand
By Jason Lea
The News Herald (Willoughby, OH), October 29, 2009
http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/10/29/news/nh1625067.txt
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15.
Undocumented youth encourage others
By Perla Trevizo
The Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN), October 29, 2009
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2009/oct/29/undocumented-youth-encourage-others/
Dalton, GA -- Ricardo came to the United States when he was 12 and is studying business administration.
Sandra immigrated here when she was 9 years old and is majoring in psychology.
Beyond their search for higher education, both college students also share a secret: They were brought to the United States illegally by their parents.
Sandra and Ricardo started a group called Youth in Action, coordinated by the Coalition of Latino Leaders, to encourage others in their situation to go to college and get involved with the community.
They asked to be identified only by their first names because of their legal status,
'Our main goal is to encourage (other undocumented youth) to change their way of thinking that 'This is it;' that if you don't go to school, that's it; that if you are not legal, that's all you can do,' said Sandra, a 24-year-old Mexico native.
The group held its second meeting recently and plans eventually to host activities and events to get others involved.
'We want to bring different speakers to share their testimony, provide college and scholarship information, to get them to think outside the box,' she said.
Ricardo said he wants to make a difference in other teens' lives, including his brother, who is also here illegally and is graduating from high school. 'I can see he isn't the way I was,' Ricardo said. 'I knew I was going to college, (and) he's thinking about it. Not because he doesn't want to go, but because of the situation we're in.'
In Georgia, illegal immigrants have to pay out-of-state college tuition rates, which can be three times higher than in-state, and they don't qualify for federal aid or loans.
In July, 2007, the Georgia Board of Regents instructed colleges and universities not to give lower in-state tuition to illegal immigrants under a state law forbidding such tuition breaks.
America Gruner, founder of the Coalition of Latino Leaders, said she often gets calls from teens who are undocumented and don't think they can continue their studies.
The Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors -- or DREAM Act -- would legalize the status of those who came to the United States before age 16 and who join the military or enroll in college. It was reintroduced in Congress in March and has been referred to a Senate committee.
Ms. Gruner said Sandra volunteered to form a support group at a meeting organized by the coalition to discuss the DREAM Act.
'There are smaller children in our homework club who they could help and serve as a positive role model, or perhaps help adults learning English or studying for their citizenship test,' she said. 'They can be productive members of society while they wait for a change.'
Area representatives and senators have said they will not support the DREAM Act, which was first introduced in 2001.
'The Dream Act would reward those who have obtained an education in a system in which they have not contributed,' U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., wrote in an e-mail. 'While I am sympathetic to students who are seeking financial assistance for educational purposes and were brought to this country by their parents without a choice, I am not supportive of programs that reward those behaviors ... when there are thousands of United States citizens who are in need of similar educational funds,' he said.
Ricardo will complete his bachelor's in business administration in May, eight years after graduating from high school with honors
He said he understands 'that coming here illegally is a crime, but sometimes we don't have a choice.'
'I just ask (people) to walk in our shoes sometime, to see things from our point of view and then they can judge about immigration reform, see if they think differently,' he said.
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16.
Arrestees Claim Rights Were Violated During New Haven Immigration Raids
By Hilda Munoz
The Courant (New Haven, CT), October 29, 2009
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-icelawsuit1029.artoct29,0,313028.story
New Haven, CT -- Ten city residents arrested during U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the summer of 2007 are suing the agency in federal court, claiming their civil rights were violated.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in New Haven, naming the agents who conducted the raids, their supervisors and senior ICE officials as defendants.
The plaintiffs, who are fighting deportation, are being represented by lawyers and students from Yale Law School's Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization.
'For them, it's been a humiliating, fear-producing, difficult and extraordinarily painful situation,' said Ana Muñoz, one of the law students working on the case.
ICE does not comment on pending litigation, agency spokeswoman Paula Grenier said.
The plaintiffs were sleeping or engaged in morning routines the morning of June 6, 2007, when ICE agents, carrying a 'target list,' banged on their doors. Weapons drawn, agents entered the plaintiffs' homes without cause, consent or search warrants, according to the lawsuit.
'Federal immigration authorities had not previously determined that most of those they arrested were in violation of immigration law, and the agents who stormed through Fair Haven had no reason to assume that those they arrested lacked immigration status,' the lawsuit states.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said that ICE agents often are looking for a fugitive immigrant and end up finding an undocumented immigrant.
'Every illegal alien is deportable,' he said. ' You don't have legal right to complain that ICE found you.'
The Center for Immigration Studies is a nonprofit organization devoted to research and policy analysis of the impact of immigration in the United States.
Federal agents arrested 29 illegal immigrants in the raids, two days after city officials approved a program that would grant identification cards to undocumented immigrants.
At the time, Grenier said the roundup was part of a routine fugitive operation, according to a report by the Associated Press. But city officials, including Mayor John DeStefano, said they believed the raids were conducted in retaliation for the Elm City Resident Card Program.
The lawsuit makes the same claim.
'Hartford ICE agents deliberately chose to conduct raids in New Haven in retaliation for the City's efforts to improve public safety for all its residents by integrating immigrants and Latinos into civic life,' the lawsuit states.
'When federal law enforcement officials try to fulfill enforcement obligations, the Constitution still applies to them,' Muñoz said.
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Experts disagree over lawsuit's chances in court
By Ilana Seager, Esther Zuckerman and Colin Ross
The Yale Daily News, October 29, 2009
http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/city-news/2009/10/29/experts-disagree-over-suit/
Immigration crackdown fought in court
By Mary E. O'Leary
The New Haven Register (CT), October 29, 2009
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/10/29/news/new_haven/doc4ae9274210887881739973.txt
Immigrants: Conn. raid retaliation for ID cards
By John Christoffersen
The Associated Press, October 28, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j9gwq_xjV5MtRZANVPq9GmATinzgD9BKA3H01
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17.
Immigrant travel to Mexico state expected to remain the same this holiday season
The Associated Press, October 28, 2009
http://www.kdvr.com/news/sns-ap-co--holidaytravel-mexicostate,0,5811331.story
Denver (AP) -- The same number of Mexican nationals living in the U.S. are expected to travel to Mexico City and the surrounding area for the holidays this year, despite the swine flu epidemic and the bad economy.
The Mexican government says it will be able to track some of the travelers through the use of 55 aid stations and information stations opening throughout the state of Mexico for the holidays. Carlos Chapa Silva, one of the officials overseeing the travel program, says at least 130,000 Mexicans used the travel stations last year and that number is expected to remain the same this year.
Chapa Silva was in Denver Wednesday to promote the program. He was in Tucson, Ariz., last week, and is also planning stops in Kansas, Minnesota, Illinois.
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18.
Small Gain for Cleric in Limbo
The KFSM News (Ft. Smith, AR), October 29, 2009
http://www.kfsm.com/news/nationworld/sns-200910290801mctnewsservbc-relig-imam-hk64453oc,0,2332809.story?page=2
Hackensack, NJ -- The father of six drives his wife to the supermarket to buy groceries and his children to school each morning, to their extracurricular activities, to the movies and to the homes of friends.
If it seems at times like all he does is drive and run errands in his Chrysler van, Mohammad Qatanani, the prominent Muslim cleric fighting deportation in a closely watched case, could not be happier.
After years of scheduling his and his family's lives around the ability of others to give them rides, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County in New Jersey finally has his driver's license. The right to apply for the license came with work authorization from immigration authorities, who took years to grant it.
'I tried to get a license for too many years,' said Qatanani on a recent afternoon in his office at the mosque. 'It was a beautiful occasion.'
It was an unexpected bright spot as Qatanani and his family live in limbo.
They are waiting for the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to determine whether to uphold a Newark-based immigration judge's decision a year ago to grant him permanent U.S. residency; reversal would mean deportation. The imam came to New Jersey in 1996 on a religious visa and decided that he wanted to make the United States home. The BIA's decision also will extend to Qatanani's wife, Sumaia, and three oldest children, who were born in Jordan.
In 1999, U.S. immigration officials denied his application for permanent U.S. residency because they said he failed to disclose an arrest and conviction by Israeli security officials during a visit to the West Bank in 1993.
Department of Homeland Security officials say that Qatanani, according to Israel, had links to Hamas, a group deemed terrorist by the United States and Israel. Qatanani, who established a reputation here as a staunch critic of extremism and terrorism, has denied links to Hamas or any terrorist group, and says that although he was detained by Israelis for three months, they never told him he'd been formally arrested or convicted.
Last September, Immigration Judge Alberto Riefkohl rejected DHS allegations as weak and granted the imam permanent U.S. residency. DHS appealed.
Qatanani says that as he waits for the appeals board decision, for which there is no deadline, he and his family are living day to day, building their life here, but knowing that they can be banished from the country at any moment.
'I try not to think about it every single day,' Qatanani said, with a polite smile that followed a brief look of sadness. 'People ask me every day about whether I've heard anything new.'
Immigration officials have declined to comment on Qatanani's case beyond saying that they appealed because they felt the immigration judge's decision was flawed.
Qatanani tries to keep a strong front, rarely expressing bitterness. But when he does express frustration and resentment, it is nearly always when he speaks about the impact of possible deportation on his children.
'The children, they are suffering,' Qatanani said, shaking his head and looking down. 'They wonder, and ask what will happen. They are American. They are pizza people. They read 'Harry Potter.' '
One of the most painful moments, Qatanani said, was when he had to tell his daughter, Isra, 18, that she could not go to the college, New Jersey Institute of Technology, that had accepted her. Since the oldest children do not have their U.S. residency, the imam said, they do not qualify for most financial aid programs, and they would be charged as international students.
'My son is at NJIT, and it is very expensive, and we are doing it with some help from others,' he said. 'But I could not meet the costs for two.'
Isra is attending Bergen Community College.
'My father told me he wanted me to follow my dream of going to that college,' she said, 'because it has the physician's assistant program I wanted to be in, but that he couldn't afford it.'
Qatanani said he feels guilt over the problems his children have because of his deportation battle.
Qatanani recalled the night two years ago that his son, Ahmed, felt sharp abdominal pains and the imam a diminutive man carried the teenage boy several blocks to a hospital emergency room. Ahmed had an emergency appendectomy.
Asked why he did not call an ambulance, the imam said: 'When I saw him in that kind of pain, I panicked. I just carried him in my arms.'
Now, his son, too, has been able to obtain his license, and he drives to NJIT.
Qatanani and his lawyer, Claudia Slovinsky, say they do not know what prompted immigration authorities finally to grant the permit.
'There's no reason it should have taken immigration so long to process his application for a work permit,' said Slovinsky, whose practice is in Manhattan. 'It's as if they were trying to squeeze him to make life as difficult as possible for him.'
For now, Qatanani and his family just wait.
Isra says she tries to remain hopeful that the family will be able to stay, and that she can attend NJIT someday.
'I feel that I'm an American teenager,' she said. 'I went to kindergarten in this country. English is my first language. I would be devastated if we had to leave to go anywhere but here. I'm a David Letterman fan, I shop at Forever 21. I'm rooted in this country.'
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19.
Sweep on Illegal Immigrants Nabs 34 in 11 Wisconsin Cities
By Bill Novak
The Capital Times (Madison), October 28, 2009
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_7f8af4c8-c3d0-11de-8c60-001cc4c03286.html
A crackdown on illegal immigrants with criminal histories resulted in 34 arrests over a two-week period in 11 Wisconsin cities, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
The arrests occurred between Oct. 13 and Oct. 23 in Milwaukee, Whitewater, Fort Atkinson, Beaver Dam, Jefferson, Kenosha, Neosho, Racine, Waukesha, Delavan, and Lake Geneva.
Special agents from the DOJ worked with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to do the sweep.
'Criminal illegal aliens do not belong in Wisconsin,' said state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in a news release announcing the arrests. 'Our partnership (with ICE) continues to remove these threats to public safety and the neighborhoods and citizens they victimize.'
Alleged crimes committed by those arrested ranged from sexual assault of a child to cocaine dealing.
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State Completes Illegal Immigrant Arrests
The state attorney general's office says authorities began making arrests of illegal immigrants last Tuesday and completed it on Friday.
The WSAW News (WI), October 29, 2009
http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/67181342.html
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20.
FBI cracks Ukranian immigration ring
Foreign nationals paying for real Ohio documentation.
The WTAM News (Cleveland, OH), October 29, 2009
http://www.wtam.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=122520&article=6238297
The Cleveland Division of the FBI has broken up a group accused of faking documents for Ukranian immigrants.
Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, says the investigation started in December of 2007 when information was received that individuals in the Cleveland Ukrainian community were involved in a scheme to bring foreign nationals to Cleveland.
Once here, they would help them fraudulently obtain real Ohio driver’s licenses for a fee, issued by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles by a Deputy Registrar working for this criminal organization.
The investigation focused on Vitaly Fedorchuk who was identified as the leader of the criminal organization; Sonya Hilaszek, the corrupt employee at the Deputy Registrars Office in Parma, Ohio; and Pavlo Mostranskyy, who acted as a middle-man bringing the foreign nationals to Cleveland.
Other members of the organization were based in several cities throughout the United States and worked with and for Fedorchuk and Mostranskyy to identify and facilitate customers through the operation.
Figliuzzi says an undercover FBI agent was able to fraudulently obtain a real Ohio Driver’s License in August of 2008 for $3000 from this criminal organization. The investigation showed that this criminal organization operated for at least four years, charging foreign nationals, most of whom are unlawfully present, between $1,500 and $3,000 for Ohio driver’s licenses, and Ohio state identification cards using either fraudulent documentation or none at all.
During the course of the US-based investigation, the investigators in Cleveland discovered evidence that the criminal group in Ohio were working with criminal counterparts in Ukraine. Together, they fraudulently obtained United States non-immigrant visas for Ukrainian nationals who then traveled to Ohio and other points in the United States. The visas were obtained from the United States Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, allegedly through corrupt Ukrainian national employees of the US Embassy.
The investigative team from Cleveland, the FBI’s Legal Attaché’s Office in Kyiv, and Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents assigned to the US Embassy in Ukraine investigated the Ukrainian criminal group jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Organized Crime Department over the course of many months. The criminal group allegedly charged each visa applicant $12,000.00.
As a result of the joint international investigation, seven members of the Ukraine-based criminal organization, including two Embassy employees, were officially detained Thursday in Ukraine by investigators of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs for violation of Ukrainian laws.
Arrested are Pavlo Mostranskyy, age 45, Ukrainian National from Cleveland, Ohio; Sonya Hilaszek, age 45, of Cleveland, Ohio; and Vitaly Fedorchuk, age 40, of Cleveland, Ohio on October 29, 2009.
Mostranskyy, Hilaszek, and Fedorchuk have been charged with a Federal Conspiracy to Commit Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Identification Documents and Information.
They were charged and arrested after a lengthy investigation conducted by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ohio Department of Public Safety-BMV Investigations Section, Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigative Division, Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, and the Cleveland Office of the FBI.
Fedorchuk, Hilaszek, and Mostranskyy will appear Thursday in United States District Court for their initial appearance on these charges.
Also charged in connection with this investigation are:
- Johongir Masudov, age 27, Uzbekistan National from Cincinnati, Ohio;
- Azamjon Asodov, age 43, Uzbekistan National from Cincinnati, Ohio;
- Valentina Denisova, age 30, Russian National from Cincinnati, Ohio;
- Artak Serobyan, age 25, Armenian National from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
- Petro Vytvytskyy, age 45, Russian National from Newark, New Jersey;
- Galina Dobrova – Volochiy, age 49, Ukrainian National from Newark, New Jersey;
- Dmytro Karabinovych, age 47, of Newark, New Jersey;
- Ivan Volochiy, age 40, Ukrainian National from Newark, New Jersey;
- Roman Matveev, age 32, Russian National from Newark, New Jersey;
- Vasyl Yatskiv, age 30, Russian or Ukrainian National from Chicago, Illinois;
- Michael Slepyan, age 41, Israeli National from Chicago, Illinois;
- Hennadiy Vaskevych, age 43, of Chicago, Illinois;
- Bohdan Borsuk, age 48, Polish National of Chicago, Illinois;
- Zdzislaw Kowalczyk, age 52, of Chicago, Illinois; and
- Martynas Bojarcius, age 29, of Chicago, Illinois.
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21.
Supervisor: Plant workers given immigration cards
The Associated Press, October 29, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMfmue_HkGVs_xOxsMilUlThrH4wD9BKSNF02
Sioux Falls, SD (AP) -- A former kosher slaughterhouse supervisor has testified the plant scrambled to get workers new identification documents the night before a massive immigration raid.
Former Agriprocessor's supervisor Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza says managers provided new permanent resident cards to 20 employees and had them fill out new applications the night before the May 2008 raid at the Iowa plant in which nearly 400 workers were arrested. Guerrero-Espinoza says the cards were fraudulent and manufactured in Minneapolis a week before the raid.
His testimony came Thursday in the third week of former manager Sholom Rubashkin's federal trial on 91 financial fraud charges.
Prosecutors have been introducing alleged immigration violations into evidence over the protests of the defense team.
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22.
Police Probe Shot Fired at Home of CNN's Lou Dobbs
By Joshua Rhett Miller
The Associated Press, October 29, 2009
A gunshot was fired at the New Jersey home of CNN's Lou Dobbs after a series of threatening phone calls earlier this month, the host told listeners on his nationally syndicated radio show.
. . .
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,570296,00.html
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23.
Shyne Released, Deported To Belize
Following his nearly nine-year prison term, rapper will return to Belize, according to his attorney.
By Jayson Rodriguez
The MTV News, October 29, 2009
Shyne was released from the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) on Wednesday (October 28) and has 'temporarily accepted deportation' to the country of Belize, according to his attorney Oscar Michelen.
. . .
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1625071/20091029/shyne.jhtml
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24.
Sugar Land PD chases truck packed with people
By Dale Lezon
The Houston Chronicle, October 28, 2009
More than a dozen people have been arrested following a brief chase after they were spotted hidden in the bed of a pickup traveling north on U.S. 59 late this morning near Sugar Land.
The people appear to be in the country illegally and will be handed over to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine their immigration status, officials said.
. . .
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6690935.html
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25.
MCSO defies federal order, arrests 32 'illegal' immigrants
By Christen Bejar
The KNXV News (Phoenix), October 27, 2009
Mesa, AZ -- Deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office arrested more individuals late Monday on suspicions of being undocumented immigrants.
. . .
http://www.abc15.com/content/news/southeastvalley/mesa/story/MCSO-defies-federal-order-arrests-32-illegal/8_5lZLWno0qQ8PpqxJs3cQ.cspx
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26.
Hollywood man gets 3 years in prison for impersonating immigration agent
By Alexia Campbell
The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), October 28, 2009
Hollywood, FL -- A Hollywood man was sentenced today to three years in federal prison for impersonating an immigration agent, authorities said.
Jerry Nazim Ali, 51, posed as a special agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and agreed to speed up the immigration process for the fiancée of a Broward County restaurant owner in exchange for cash, the agency said.
The owner paid Ali the money, but never saw any documents filed with ICE on his fiancée’s behalf, ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas said.
. . .
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hollywood/sfl-hollywood-immigration-impersonator-bn102809,1,1440338.story
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Overseas NewsSupport 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. Bahamas: 118 Haitian illegals repatriated
2. U.K.: Gov't to resume removal of failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers
3. France: President draws harsh criticism for tepid integration effort
4. France: Treatment of foreign minors draws fire
5. Spain: Lower chamber of legislature approves immigration restrictions
6. Italy: Nation leads Europe in illegal immigration
7. Thailand: Groups criticize Burmese passport operation
8. Indonesia: Gov't rejects accommodations for women, children (story, link)
9. Indonesia: Australia-bound illegals embrace country as next best thing
10. Philippines: Legislative committee to probe Mid-East labor conditions
11. Philippines: Development bank warns remittances may dry up (story, link)
12. Australia: Gov't challenged by fallout from 'boat crisis'
13. Australia: Indonesian officials visit for discussions on issue
14. Australia: Former Imm. Min. under fire for comments on Muslims (story, link)
15. Australia: Gov’t party caucus holds ranks over 'boat crisis'
16. N.Z.: Immigration bill overhaul advances in Parliament
Subscribe to CIS e-mail services here: http://cis.org/immigrationnews.html
-- Mark Krikorian]
1.
118 Haitian nationals repatriated this week
The Tribune (Bahamas), October 29, 2009
http://www.tribune242.com/news/10292009_repatriation_news_pg3
The Immigration Department said intensified routine patrols and detection exercises have lead to the capture of scores of illegal immigrants.
In a statement issued yesterday, the department said that following the detection and processing of these persons, the department began repatriation exercises this week.
On Tuesday, October 27 the department repatriated a total of 118 Haitian nationals to Haiti.
Of these 73 were men, 28 were women and 17 were children.
'The department continues to be committed to timely repatriations to any and all nationals that contravene the Immigration laws of the Bahamas,' the statement said.
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2.
UK plans Zimbabwe asylum removals
By Dominic Casciani
The BBC News (U.K.), October 29, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8331731.stm
The Home Office has announced it wants to resume the removal of failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers.
Immigration minister Phil Woolas said the ground was being cleared to start enforced returns 'as and when the political situation develops'.
The BBC understands the UK Border Agency could start returns in the New Year, but no firm date has been set.
Asylum groups have reacted with alarm, saying the country is too volatile to consider forcibly returning anyone.
Some 28,000 Zimbabweans have sought asylum over the past decade, but none have been removed since late 2006 because of a series of legal rulings on the safety of the country.
Mr Woolas said officials were considering resuming removals following the launch of the power-sharing government led by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition MDC party.
'As Prime Minister Tsvangirai has set out, including during a visit to the UK in June, there have been some positive changes in the situation in Zimbabwe over the past six months.
'While a great deal remains to be done to institute the political and other reforms set out in the Global Political Agreement, the indiscriminate violence which marred the elections of 2008 has abated.'
'Normalisation'
Mr Woolas said the UK Border Agency would spend the autumn working 'on a process aimed at normalising our returns policy to Zimbabwe, moving towards resuming enforced returns progressively as and when the political situation develops'.
He also announced there would be more cash offered to any failed Zimbabwean asylum applicant who wanted to return voluntarily.
The new scheme includes up to £2,000 in cash and a further £4,000 of support-in-kind for education or starting a business.
The announcement comes during a tense week in Zimbabwe. The MDC says there has been increased violence from militants in President Mugabe's Zanu-PF party. Prime Minister Tsvangirai then boycotted the second cabinet meeting in as many weeks.
And on Wednesday the UN's torture investigator was refused entry to Zimbabwe. African ministers are now in the country for crisis talks.
'Volatile situation'
Sarah Harland of the Zimbabwe Association said there was widespread evidence that some returning asylum seekers had already suffered abuse and violence.
She said that while those who wanted to return would welcome the additional financial help, that had come with the 'threat of removal for those who don't'.
'It's really disappointing that the UKBA is acting in this way,' she said. 'Our worry is that those who listen to what the Home Office is saying could put themselves at risk.
'The situation could not be more volatile at the moment.'
Amnesty International said the decision was straight out of 'Yes Minister', flying in the face of evidence of violence. And Donna Covey, of the Refugee Council, accused the Home Office of being cavalier.
'After the farcical attempts to return Iraqis and Afghans in recent weeks against UN advice, it is of great concern that the government are now considering returns to Zimbabwe,' she said.
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3.
Sarkozy accused of fear-mongering as France debates its identity
By Peter O'Neil
The Canwest News Service (Canada), October 29, 2009
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/ALLONS+ENFANTS+PATRIE/2159053/story.html
Paris -- President Nicolas Sarkozy is being accused of trying to take advantage of bitterly deep divisions here over France's lack of success, particularly when compared to countries like Canada, in integrating non-white immigrants.
Sarkozy, whose 2007 election victory was helped by his get-tough approach to crime and immigration, will launch a series of public debates next week on France's national identity.
It's an initiative that critics say is an attempt to 'change the channels' following controversies over child sex and nepotism that have tarnished Sarkozy's reputation, particularly among far-right voters who are deeply hostile to the millions of Muslims here.
'We must reaffirm the values of national identity and of the pride in being French,' said his minister of immigration and national identity, Eric Besson.
The public debates starting next week, and continuing over several months, will consider proposals such as a ban on women wearing burkas in public, and a requirement that all schoolchildren must sing the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, once a year.
The initiatives comes in the wake of controversies over Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand's past as a sex tourist in Asia, and over the aborted attempt by Sarkozy's 23-year-old son, Jean, to take control of the agency that runs France's top business district.
Sarkozy's rise to the presidency has been linked to his hard-line positions on crime and immigration as interior minister, particularly during the 2005 car-burning riots when he called young rioters 'scum' who should be hosed down.
His main 2007 presidential election rival, Socialist Segolene Royal, was among many who accused Sarkozy this week of trying to once again ramp up anti-immigrant sentiment to help win support from far-right voters.
Yet, while some on the left have denounced the initiative, saying it conjures up memories of Vichy France's bid to revive traditional French patriotism after the Nazi conquest in 1940, even critics defend the importance of determining what unites an increasingly diverse population.
'This debate is fundamental,' said Royal, who naturally hopes the country can rally around traditional left-wing principles such as solidarity and social justice.
One of France's leading immigration analysts, the University of Paris's Patrick Weil, denounced Sarkozy's tactics in an interview with Canwest News Service this week.
'Instead of trying to resolve the problem, they are aggravating it by attacking these minority people, who are mostly integrating very well in the French society,' said Weil, author of How to be French: Nationality in the Making since 1789.
'It's really, I would say, disgusting in some way.'
Weil, part of a government advisory panel whose recommendations led to a ban on headscarves in public schools in 2004, acknowledges France has ongoing problems that need addressing with respect to widespread discrimination, hopelessness and unemployment facing France's ethnic minorities.
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, during her many visits to France, has touted Canada's self-image as a role model for France in the areas of integration and multiculturalism.
Indeed, the Canada-France comparison is stark. Canada brings in almost four times the number of migrants on a per capita basis, according to the latest comparative analysis of 2006 data by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development.
That year, Canada, with roughly half France's population, accepted 252,000 newcomers — almost double France's 135,000 total.
Yet France clearly had far more difficulty absorbing the newcomers, with a jobless rate for foreign-born residents in the mid-teens — almost double that of native-born residents. The difference between the jobless rate for Canadian-born and foreign-born workers in Canada during that period was much narrower, the OECD said.
Despite several warnings from the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute that Canada's large migrant intake could lead to riots, there has been no violence even remotely on the scale of what countries like France have experienced.
But Weil said it is unfair to compare Canada's immigration experience with that of France.
'Canada is like an island,' Weil said, citing the Far North, two oceans and the U.S. as buffers limiting the number of undocumented migrants entering Canada.
'So Canada has a very strong power of controlling who can be an (immigrant), much more than the U.S. and Europe,' he said, 'and because of this power Canada always accepted the highest-skilled immigrants.'
France's immigration story is far different, even though this country has proudly viewed itself since the late 19th century as a country that has put out a welcome mat to the world.
France, from that period until the mid-20th century, was suffering from both a low birthrate and massive loss of life as a result of the First World War. So they welcomed Jews fleeing oppression in Russia, Germany and other European countries, Spaniards seeking a new home after the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, and countless others, including celebrated British and American writers and American blacks — veterans of the First World War who marvelled at the lack of prejudice here and returned to make their homes in France.
But the dynamic changed after the Second World War, when European economies took flight and desperately needed cheap labour for plants and factories located on city outskirts.
Migrants, often illiterates from rural communities in Africa, were imported by French companies to work and live in dismal neighbourhoods dominated by concrete high rises and little space for recreation.
The 1973 oil crisis, combined with the influx of baby boomers entering the job market, marginalized the so-called 'guest workers' — who many expected would remain in France only temporarily. The country tried to shut the door on immigration but the relatives of these guest workers kept coming, often illegally, to a country that was growing increasingly hostile to their presence.
Today, many French of foreign descent view Canada with wide-eyed wonder as a haven of openness and opportunity compared to France, where the French Revolution's principles of liberty, equality and fraternity clash with a widespread view that the upper echelons of business, politics and government are no-go zones for non-whites.
Jean-Paul Gourevitch, another immigration specialist at the University of Paris, said the ghettoization of Muslims in the poor suburbs — where unemployment rates are many times higher than the national average — is a problem that explains why the likelihood of violence is greater in France.
'We are in a situation that is worse than Canada's,' Gourevitch told Canwest in a telephone interview.
Weil said France, blinded by the demands of the liberty-equality-fraternity ethos, waited far too long to create institutions — like the anti-discrimination office called HALDE, which was set up recently by a Montreal-born lawyer — to deal with France's integration problems.
'In my country's history, you have always had big battles on this issue. Can the Protestants can be good citizens? Can the Jews?' he said.
'And now you have the Muslims, and you have half the country who are reluctant, and half who value equality before the law and respect everybody. And the question is, who will win? It's a battle.'
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4.
France migrant policy criticised
By Emma Jane Kirby
The BBC News (U.K.), October 29, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8331828.stm
France's system of detaining and deporting unaccompanied migrant children flown into Paris has been criticised in a damning new report.
The French government says children arriving at the capital's leading airport have not yet entered France.
This denies the children the right to appeal against their deportation, says the US-based group Human Rights Watch.
The report includes testimony from children who say they were strip-searched, handcuffed and intimidated.
French authorities say they are trying to improve conditions for immigrant children.
No proper safeguards?
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), in 2008 French airport police deported one third of the 1,000 unaccompanied migrant children who arrived at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, detaining them in a transit zone in the same facilities as adults.
The organisation claims France's refusal to accept that the unaccompanied children have arrived on French soil on reaching the airport denies them the rights granted to other migrant children - such as appealing against their deportation.
In its 60-page report, HRW expresses concern that there are not proper safeguards in place to check that children will be looked after once they have been deported to another destination.
The report concedes that the French government does try to provide a guardian for each unaccompanied minor who arrives at the airport, but adds that those guardians have little power.
The French government says the airport transit zone is a way to protect children from dangers such as trafficking gangs.
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5.
Spain moves toward immigration reform
The Associated Press, October 29, 2009
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1094679&lang=eng_news
The lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament has approved an immigration reform bill that would crack down on people entering the country illegally and makes it harder for foreigners with residency to bring over their relatives.
The Socialist government, which sponsored the bill, says it has to curb the influx of foreign workers because Spain's economic recession has led to a 17.9 percent unemployment rate.
The bill also establishes new rights for some immigrants, such as unaccompanied children, and young workers.
The bill was passed Thursday by a vote of 185 in favor, 146 against and 4 abstentions. It now needs to be also approved by the Senate before it becomes law.
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6.
Immigration: Foreigners Top 4.5MLN, Italy Exceeds EU Average
ANSAMed (Italy), October 29, 2009
http://www.ansamed.info/en/top/ME11.WAM30234.html
Rome (ANSA) -- There are over 4.5 million legal immigrants in Italy, amounting to one in 14 residents, according to a report released Wednesday by Catholic charity Caritas. According to the report, legal aliens now account for 7.2% of the population, exceeding the European Union average of 6.2% for the first time ever. Earlier this month, national statistics bureau Istat, placed the number of foreign residents at the beginning of the year at 3.8 million, amounting to 6.5% of the population. Both organizations agreed that a surge in 2008 brought more than 400,000 new residents into the country. According to Caritas, some 300,000 immigrants gained residency in the first nine months of 2009. The coordinator of the group's report, Franco Pittau, estimated that the number of legal aliens in Italy would top 12 million if current immigration trends continued. ''Istat estimates that the immigrant population will increase by 250,000 per year, but that's less than what we're seeing,'' said Pittau. Caritas said it expects immigrant workers to play an ever greater role in the Italian economy, where they are already a major help to the national pension plan and an important source of tax revenue. According to the report, foreign workers pump over 7 billion euros per year into the national retirement fund and pay the government 3.2 billion euros in income taxes. Moreover, just one in 25 foreign residents will be in retirement ten years from now compared to one in five Italians, a factor Caritas said will help to keep the Italian pension system afloat. The report added that foreigners made up a growing portion of Italy's tax base, with the number of immigrant workers rising by 200,000 last year. There are a total of two million foreign workers in Italy, who produce some 10% of the country's gross domestic product, the organization said. According to Caritas, immigrant workers are more willing to move and accept a wider range of tasks than many Italians, and are at greater risk of work accidents. Over 143,000 foreign workers were injured on the job last year and 176 killed. The organization noted also that foreign-run businesses have demonstrated resilience to the economic downturn, increasing by 10% in 2008 and generating 6.4 billion euros. Caritas is among Catholic human rights groups at odds with the government over its tough stance on immigration, which includes a bilateral arrangement with Libya adopted in May to forcibly escort migrants intercepted in international waters back to north Africa. Last month, Italy enacted a law which makes illegal immigration a criminal offense, punishable by summary expulsion from the country and fines of up to 10,000 euros. The law is now before the constitutional court following a ruling by a judge in Turin earlier this month who said it may be in violation of the Italian constitution.
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7.
Passport Unpopular with Burmese Migrants
By Alex Ellgee
The Irrawaddy (Thailand), October 29, 2009
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=17092
Mae Sot, Thailand -- 'I’m so happy that my days of worrying about the police are over. I can now travel freely around Thailand without worrying about being extorted or arrested,' said Ko Thaw Dar, a Burmese migrant worker in Bangkok.
When he was 10 years old, Ko Thaw Dar and his family fled from the hardships of Burma to try to make a living in Thailand. For years, he lived in fear of the Thai police, often having to pay bribes or risk being thrown in a detention centre or worse, forcibly repatriated to Burma.
Burmese illegal migrant workers sit in a prison cell at a Thai police station. (Photo: Reuters)
Seventeen years later, Ko Thaw Dar is a chef at a restaurant in Bangkok and is the proud owner of a short-term Burmese passport.
Eager to escape the uncertainty of illegal migrant life, Ko Thaw Dar jumped at the opportunity when his employer offered to help him by taking him to the Thai-Burmese border to apply for nationality verification papers.
For some, Ko Thaw Dar’s case could be seen to be a success story. He didn’t pay one baht more than he should have and was safely escorted to and from the border by his employer. However, activists argue that the scheme that offers migrant workers the chance to work legally and travel in Thailand is far from perfect.
Ko Thaw Dar is in the minority, one of just 2,000 out of an estimated 2 million Burmese migrants in Thailand, who, according to Thai Labor Minister Phitoon Kaewthong, have registered at a Nationality Verification Centre and obtained short-term (usually one year) passports.
Labor activists blame the low turnout on a lack of public relations and information available to migrants. They say the workers don’t know about the scheme and, for those who have heard of it, the process is shrouded in rumors.
This is certainly true in Mae Sot where most factory owners haven’t uttered a word about the verification process to their Burmese employees.
'The salaries are so low in Mae Sot and the conditions so bad that employers fear the liberty the workers will have if they obtain travel passports,' explained Ko Moe Swe, a representative of the Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association.
'If the workers verify their nationality then they can travel freely in Thailand. The factory owners know they would leave their 50 baht (US $1.50) per day jobs in Mae Sot to go to other areas like Bangkok where they can make 300 baht ($9) per day,' he said.
For most migrant workers working in the Mae Sot area, their salaries are already so low they can’t afford to apply for verification. And the motivation to apply is dampened by stories of corrupt brokers and officials.
One Burmese factory worker in Mae Sot who spoke to The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity expressed her frustration.
She said that she and her fellow workers were originally hopeful when they heard that four Burmese officials and two Thai immigration officers had joined forces and visited the knitting factory where she worked to pressure the owner to tell the workers to apply.
The employer announced to the Burmese workers in the factory that they had each been offered a cheap price of 5,000 baht ($150) and that if they wanted to apply for short-term passports, now was a good time.
Most of the workers started the verification process, but 10 days later the employer announced that the fee had risen to 7,500 baht ($225).
'How can they not know what the price is?' the Burmese employee said with a sigh. 'I really don’t understand how the price can increase like that and what they will do with the extra money. I don’t know how suspicious this behavior really is, but they must make the price official and transparent.'
Three broker companies are registered in Thailand to 'help' migrant workers complete their forms and transport the workers to the verification centers, which are dotted along the border with Burma.
Labor rights organizations argue that the prices they charge are too high for low-paid migrant workers and are deterring people from applying.
Illegal brokers are also active; reports have surfaced of applicants paying bogus brokers more than 10,000 baht ($300) for a 'speedy' process, never to see the broker again.
Sawit Keawan, the general secretary of Thailand’s State Enterprise Workers Relations Confederation, believes the scheme was built with good intentions, but that all parties involved need to accept their faults before it can be a success.
'In order for the scheme to work, the Thai government needs to accept that there is corruption on its side which is making the scheme costly and inefficient,' he said.
'And for the Burmese government, they need to accept that certain ethnicities are still Burmese and have the right to verify their nationality like any other Burmese national.'
Applicants, who are from ethnic groups aside from Burmans, are reported to have had many difficulties applying for short-term passports.
Most notably, according to an official from the Tak- Mae Sot Nationality Verification Centre, every Burmese Muslim who had applied for verification had been rejected.
'We have processed more than 1,000 applicants,' he told The Irrawaddy. 'There have been no problems so far apart from for Muslim people, who have all had their applications rejected by the Burmese government.'
For the Rohingya, a group disowned by the Burmese military government and driven into exile, mostly to Thailand and Malaysia or to makeshift camps in Bangladesh, the certainty of rejection makes them even more vulnerable to abuse.
'The Burmese government doesn’t even accept that Rohingya people are Burmese, so there is no hope that they can verify their nationality,' explained Enayet Ullah, a member of the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand.
'It’s more likely that a Rohingya applicant will be arrested than receive a passport,' he added.
With the February 2010 deadline fast approaching for applications, David Feingold, a UNESCO director, told The Irrawaddy he believes that many could miss out on the opportunity to obtain the short-term passport, thus increasing their susceptibility to human trafficking.
'It seems on the surface that its very unlikely many people will register before 2010, even if everything goes smoothly and there is no corruption,' he said. 'If the deadline is not extended then a large number of people will be left in a vulnerable situation because they will not have passports. Anything that increases someone’s vulnerability will increase their vulnerability to trafficking.'
Like the Rohingya, the Shan communities working around Chiang Mai also fear they will be persecuted for their ethnicity. A representative of the MAP foundation, a Thailand-based migrants rights’ group, told The Irrawaddy it had come to their attention that in one group of seven Shan workers, three of them had their applications rejected and papers taken without explanation by the Burmese government when they applied for nationality verification.
The Shan community’s sentiments were echoed at a meeting on Sunday in Chiang Mai, organized by the Workers Solidarity Organization, when it was announced that over 2,000 migrant workers working in the Chiang Mai area rejected the scheme and requested the Thai government to revert back to the previous registration process.
Many are worried about reprisals against their families by the Burmese authorities. Rumors have circulated among migrant communities of mass arrests at the border and soldiers looting money from applicants’ families as penalties for their relatives’ illegal entry into Thailand.
Ko Moe Swe told The Irrawaddy how he had spoken to a Burmese woman who worked in a fisheries factory in the Mahachai area near Bangkok.
She said she received a telephone call from her mother some two months after she had applied for nationality verification. She said that soldiers went to her mother’s home and demanded that she pay $30 per month tax because her daughter had gone to work in Thailand illegally.
The biggest worry for most migrant workers about the scheme is losing money. The possibility that the Burmese government may extort tax from them in the future has deterred many from applying.
Ko Thaw Thar’s happiness was broken by the realization that he could be taxed in the future.
'One thing I’m very worried about is that the Burmese government will tax me in the future,' he said. 'Even though we are so poor and making such little money, I am sure they would try to find a way to take our money while we are abroad.'
All the agencies involved appear to agree that there are too many concerns for the migrant workers to make the nationality verification scheme a success.
The process has to be changed, and it is widely accepted that this will require increased cooperation between the Burmese and Thai governments, which must ensure a transparent system exists and that migrant workers feel safe and can afford to apply for short-term passports.
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8.
Kids destined for detention: Jakarta
By Stephen Fitzpatrick, Tanjung Pinang, and Paul Maley
The Australian, October 30, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26279372-5013871,00.html
Senior Indonesian officials have rejected outright a claim by Kevin Rudd that women and children asylum-seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking could be accommodated in regular housing, rather than behind razor wire in an Australian-funded detention centre.
'We've already got a detention centre (at Tanjung Pinang) and in it we already separate men and women,' the Foreign Ministry's most senior official for international security, Sujatmiko, told The Australian.
'Indonesia does not need to be directed how to act. We've gotten the detention centre ready and we've already helped Australia for humanitarian reasons.
'There is commitment from both sides, and Indonesia has the commitment, but Indonesia is not your country.'
A spokesman for Mr Rudd said last night that the Prime Minister stood by his earlier comments.
On Wednesday, Mr Rudd told parliament: 'The Indonesian authorities have advised the government that women and children will be offered the option of staying in a house near the Tanjung Pinang detention facility.
women and children will be offered the option of staying in a house near the Tanjung Pinang detention facility.'
The Prime Minister's office did not respond to Dr Sujatmiko's comment last night.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's most senior adviser on international affairs, Dino Patti Djalal, also refused to confirm claims made by Mr Rudd in parliament that the women and children among the 78 Sri Lankans would be housed separately.
After a brief silence in response to the question yesterday, Mr Djalal said simply: 'I couldn't comment on that. We're waiting for Australian officials to go on board later today and convince them to come off, because that's all they can do.
'They're on Australian territory so we can't do anything about it. We just hope Australia can get them off the boat.'
Mr Rudd's 'Indonesia solution' is facing growing opposition from Jakarta, with senior Indonesian officials saying they will not allow their country to become a processing site for Australia-bound boatpeople.
As officials continued to negotiate an end to the standoff with the 78 Sri Lankans aboard the Oceanic Viking, now in its 12th day, there were fresh signs the impasse was taking its toll on relations between Australia and Indonesia.
Yesterday, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said talk of an 'Indonesia solution' to intercept the boats had become a sore in Indonesia.
'We don't want to be caught in the domestic issues in Australia,' Mr Faizasyah told The Australian.
'We don't want to be the object of insults from your dynamic, political dynamic, in your country.'
Mr Faizasyah said Indonesia has a 'bigger picture' when it came to bilateral relations.
'This will certainly irritate Indonesia to be associated with a new form of policy which in your country itself is still being debated,' he said.
Asked if it was likely Jakarta would agree to intercept and process more boats, Mr Faizasyah replied: 'I don't think so. We are not a country to process refugees because more importantly we are not parties to the refugee convention, so what we are doing (is) only based on our humanitarian perspective.'
But Dr Sujatmiko said Indonesian officials had responded promptly to Australian requests to supply food, water and other necessities to the Oceanic Viking, and in facilitating visa arrangements for an expected crew change aboard the vessel.
'We have helped with everything (possible) but we are not going to force (the asylum-seekers) to come off the boat,' he said.
Indonesian officials also revealed privately they were furious at the inactivity from Sri Lanka through the crisis, and were talking privately about making Colombo directly responsible for repatriating the next boat load of Tamils they intercept. Strategists in Jakarta believe this would send 'one of the strongest signals ... if next time one of these boats is picked up, it just gets sent straight back to Sri Lanka'.
Mr Djalal suggested that the move 'should give some discouragement to them (asylum-seekers), after making all that effort to get here'.
Late yesterday afternoon the Sri Lankan ambassador to Indonesia agreed to visit the 78 Tamils on board the Oceanic Viking and make an offer of repatriation.
'If even half or a quarter of them could be repatriated, that would be a great thing,' Mr Djalal said.
Security on the Oceanic Viking was ramped up yesterday, with the Sri Lankans herded behind fluorescent tape and kept under guard by armed Customs officials.
The Customs officers confirmed they had been directed to prevent any communication between journalists and the Sri Lankans.
Fellow Tamil refugee 'Alex', on board the Jaya Lestari 5, a wooden cargo boat moored with 251 asylum-seekers at the port of Merak in western Java, said he could confirm that those on board the Oceanic Viking had had 'at least one telephone communication with the outside world'.
'However, I can tell you that contact is waiting for a follow-up call, so whether it came from one person on board who had a phone but no longer does, I couldn't say.'
The Sri Lankans appeared relaxed yesterday, washing on the top deck where they were being guarded early in the morning and then retreating under tarpaulins and below deck when a violent thunderstorm struck in the middle of the day.
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Chilli weapon ruled out in asylum seeker boat standoff
News.com.au (Australia), October 30, 2009
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26279597-421,00.html
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9.
Indonesia: The fallback destination
The Jakarta Post, October 30, 2009
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/29/indonesia-the-fallback-destination.html
Thirty-five-year-old Bangladeshi Omar Syarif has lived in Indonesia for more than 13 years now.
Despite being stateless and an illegal alien, Omar has fared much better than the Tom Hanks character Victor Navorski in the film Terminal, in which he had to live in an airport because he was stateless.
Omar has everything to live for here: an Indonesian wife, a child, a house and a job as a helper at the immigration detention center in Kalideres, West Jakarta.
'I don't want to go back to Bangladesh, although I miss my family there very much,' he tells The Jakarta Post in halting Indonesian near the center.
At one point, Omar was detained at the center, and his access to the outside world limited.
But after years in detention, Omar eventually gained the trust of officials at the center who then gave him a job and a place to stay nearby.
Omar says he left Bangladesh to escape the conflicts ravaging the country, and came to Indonesia in the hopes of being able to go to Australia from here.
However, after being stranded here, Omar gave up his dream of getting to Australia.
There are thousands of stories similar to Omar's here, where immigrants from restive countries learn to embrace Indonesia as a fallback from their broken dreams of getting to Australia.
Omar's colleague from Bangladesh, Faroek, 49, also plans to stay for good in Indonesia after spending a year working at the detention center.
'I'm just waiting for my *Indonesian* wife, who is now working in Singapore,' he says.
'I can't go there because I have no papers, and I don't want to go back home either.'
Jawat, 18, from Afghanistan, was detained by authorities in Medan, North Sumatra, a year ago. He says he has already given up on any hope of living in Australia, and would rather stay in Indonesia than go back to his war-torn country.
'I didn't intend to enter Indonesia,' he says.
'I was in Malaysia with other *Afghan* refugees when our broker there blindfolded us and threw us in a boat we thought was heading to Australia.
'However, when we took off the blindfolds, we realized we were in Indonesia,' he goes on. 'We were heading to Jakarta, to the UNHCR office, when we got caught.'
There are an estimated 6,000 illegal immigrants living in Indonesia, the immigration office says, but official records list only 1,897 since August last year.
'More than half *the estimated 6,000* will likely remain here for good because the UNHCR couldn't find third countries willing to take them in,' says immigration office spokesman Maroloan J. Baringbing.
'Those who can't get refugee status from the UNHCR will be difficult to deport, because their embassies here won't acknowledge them, or else they won't have legal papers.
'So they're stuck here for good.'
Illegal migrants in Indonesia without UNHCR-recognized refugee status are held by the immigration office in its 13 detention centers across the country for deportation, which in most cases takes at least six months.
The government pays for their meals - about Rp 25,000 (US$2.60) a day on each detainee - and for the detention center workers.
Baringbing says the centers, with a maximum capacity to hold 1,000 detainees, are overcrowded, holding 1,400 migrants.
Immigrants recognized by the UNHCR as refugees are then taken care of by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Foreign Ministry until the UNHCR can find countries willing to host them.
During that time, the refugees are accommodated by the IOM in houses, apartments and hotels throughout the country, where they can spend years in waiting.
'There's no limit on the length of stay for the refugees *in Indonesia* until we can find a country willing to take them in,' say a UNHCR official speaking on condition of anonymity.
A source at the immigration office says the housing is heavily subsidized by the Australian government, functioning more or less as secret shelters.
Besides the widely known shelter in Bogor, West Java, neither the IOM nor the UNHCR were willing to disclose the locations of their other shelters.
IOM spokeswoman Jihan Labetubun and UNHCR spokeswoman Anita Restu both refused to comment on the issue.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah says the secrecy on the part of the agencies is regrettable.
He adds they have never reported to the ministry on the existence or location of the shelters.
'As international institutions operating in Indonesia, they must inform us about the location of such shelters,' Faizasyah says.
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10.
OFWs welcome House body's migrant affairs hearings in UAE
By Jerome Aning
The Inquirer (Philippines), October 29, 2009
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091029-232938/OFWs-welcome-House-bodys-migrant-affairs-hearings-in-UAE
Manila, Philippines -- Overseas Filipino workers groups in the Middle East are gearing for the hearings being conducted in the Middle East by the House committee on overseas workers affairs (Cowa) which is supposedly formulating new legislation for the protection of OFWs in the region.
Migrante-United Arab Emirates, a chapter of the OFW alliance Migrante-Middle East, said it would attend the hearings scheduled November 2 and 3 in Abu Dhabi and November 4 and 5 in Dubai.
Another hearing has been scheduled in Amman, Jordan on November 6 and 7.
The hearings in the Middle Eastern countries, which are major OFW destinations, are 'not just a historic event but a milestone as well for Cowa which for the fist time will conduct an investigation, hearing the issues and concerns directly from the OFWs themselves as resource persons,' said Nhel Morona, Migrante-UAE secretary-general in a statement.
He said the group was hoping to put on the agenda of the meetings 'the rampant cases of labor malpractices, abuses and maltreatment, sex-trafficking and illegal smuggling; the provision of legal assistance as mandated by the Migrant Workers Act of 1995 for OFWs in jail and on death row, the growing numbers of run away and stranded OFWs and the undocumented,' among many issues.
Morona said the Migrante chapters are awaiting invitations to the hearing, presumably to be sent by Cowa through the various Philippine diplomatic offices in UAE and Jordan.
There are 35 members of the committee, which is chaired by Compostela Valley Representative Manuel Zamora.
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11.
'Remittance-driven economy may be over soon'
By Karen Flores
The ABS CBN News (Philippines), October 29, 2009
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/10/29/09/remittance-driven-economy-may-be-over-soon
Manila -- Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) may no longer be one of the country's main growth drivers in the next decade, according to the top official of government-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
Remittances may have been a critical factor in keeping the economy resilient amid the global crisis, but DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Reynaldo David stressed that the country should start looking at other sectors for growth since this phenomenon may not last in the years to come.
In particular, David suggested developing potential industries such as the business process outsourcing (BPO) and medical tourism sectors.
'We should remove short-term blinders that remittances will be the Philippines' strength forever. Let's come up with solutions (to further spur economic growth),' he said in a forum organized by the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) on Thursday.
According to David, a number of OFWs are likely to be integrated in the domestic society of their host countries in the next 12 years either by applying for citizenship or through marrying someone from abroad. 'Since they're citizens already, remittances will probably start to diminish,' he said.
'(So) the phenomenon of migrant workers' remittances as a major financial linchpin to the economy will start to diminish, or plateau, in the next 12 years,' he added.
By then, David said most OFWs would have been concentrated in the Middle East and in some Asian countries. At present, bulk of the country's 9-million strong migrant workers are based in the United States.
An earlier study by 3 University of the Philippines (UP) professors showed that a remittance-driven economy is 'inherently limited and self-undermining' since skills demanded in OFWs are usually fitted to external markets and are difficult to deepen domestically.
Since it may not be sustainable in the long run, the report called on the government to make the most of the current setup 'so that its deleterious consequences are minimized while the domestic economy is guided onto a path of more sustainable growth.'
Specifically, the study advised the government to mitigate any unwarranted rise in the Philippine peso to prevent further damage to remittances, and to invest more on infrastructure and education, which were believed to be 'safe bets to focus on once the remittance-driven economy is over.'
Next step
The Philippines has long banked on the strength of remittances to keep the economy afloat. Money sent home by OFWs is a key driver of consumption, which fuels the engine of the economy usually more than government spending does. Accounting for 10% of domestic output, it also stabilizes the peso and keeps the balance of payments in surplus.
Since the remittance-driven economy is expected to crumble in the years to come, David said that the next step is to prepare OFWs for future trends by helping them start their own businesses back home.
'We should convince the migrant worker to save a portion of his remittances so he can put up his own business or livelihood. Let's ensure that OFW families are not fully dependent on remittances since this may not last long,' he said.
Aside from providing them another source of income, he said OFW businesses will spur economic growth as these will generate more employment and government revenues in the form of taxes and permits.
To help OFWs in setting up their own businesses, David called on banks to provide higher access to credit and other financial products and services. At present, he said the DBP has been extending technical assistance and advisory services so OFWs can see more investment and business opportunities.
'We should also increase the financial literacy of OFWs, give them information on bank products and services. Let's also give them more options for investments and savings,' he said.
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Remittances to lose their luster
Business World (Philippines), October 30, 2009
http://beta.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=624
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12.
Surge in Refugees Presents a Problem for Australia
Government Faces Pressure to Tighten Relaxed Policies as Boat People Flock to Economic Haven From War-Torn Asian Countries
By Rachel Pannett and Tom Wright
The Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125676584673614229.html
Canberra -- Growing numbers of political refugees heading to Australia are turning into a major headache for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as his government faces pressure to rethink its policies toward asylum seekers.
The problem was underscored Wednesday as a boat filled with 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers once destined for Australia sat moored off the coast of Indonesia while local officials argued over what to do with them. Mr. Rudd's government had earlier hoped to redirect more refugees to its giant archipelago neighbor, but it remains unclear whether Indonesians will be willing to serve as a staging ground for Australia's swelling number of asylum seekers.
The flow of boat people, periodically a problem in Australia, has surged since the onset of the global financial crisis. At least 34 boats carrying more than 1,700 refugees have sought asylum in Australia so far this year -- including four since Oct. 11 -- compared with just seven boats carrying a total of 161 people in 2008.
Some other countries also have seen an increase in political refugees this year, especially in Europe, as residents from Iraq and parts of Africa flee long-simmering conflicts. But for Asia, Australia is a destination of choice, in part because its relatively strong economy is still demanding workers at a time when several Asian nations -- including Afghanistan and Sri Lanka -- have been experiencing turmoil.
In addition, Mr. Rudd's government has relaxed some rules on asylum applications since taking office in 2007, creating a perception among refugees that it is easier to relocate to Australia than elsewhere.
'I heard Australia is taking a lot of refugees -- they are giving the best future for us,' said a 32-year-old Sri Lankan primary-school teacher and asylum seeker, who gave her name only as Ms. Shanti as she waited in an Indonesian port last week. She, her husband and 9-year-old daughter were among 250 refugees on a boat intercepted by the Indonesian navy en route to Australia in mid-October. They were towed to Merak, about two hours' drive west of Jakarta, where, to draw attention to their right to asylum in a developed country, they are refusing to disembark.
Critics of Mr. Rudd say he has brought the problem on himself by reversing some of the strict immigration policies of his predecessor, John Howard.
Mr. Rudd's center-left Labor government last year abandoned Mr. Howard's practice of granting refugees so-called temporary-protection visas, which were launched in 1999 and designed to limit the entitlements of people who arrive illegally. The Rudd administration also ended the controversial Howard-era policy known as the 'Pacific Solution' of housing refugees on remote Pacific island nations like Nauru, which some Australians considered inhumane.
Mr. Rudd endorsed the changes as a way of showing that his government was taking a more humanitarian stance on refugees. But the changes have left Australia's remaining offshore detention center, on the Australian territory of Christmas Island near Indonesia, overflowing.
Although Mr. Rudd's government remains popular among most Australians, some analysts believe the issue could start to cut into its strong lead in polls as it prepares for a national election it must call by early 2011.
Last week, conservative opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull argued in Parliament that Mr. Rudd's 'failed policies' have 'rolled out the red carpet to people smugglers,' suggesting Australia should return to Mr. Howard's hard-line tactics to deter refugees.
Mr. Rudd has responded by trying to persuade neighboring governments, chiefly Indonesia, to work harder to cut off boat people before they reach Australian waters -- a tactic critics have derided as the 'Indonesian Solution.' Mr. Rudd met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week to discuss a potential deal where Indonesia would intercept more people-smuggling boats within its territory, with Australia footing the bill for processing and detention until the refugees can be resettled elsewhere.
While Indonesia agreed to accept the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers rescued this month by the Australian navy, their fate remains unclear. They were taken Monday to Indonesia's Riau islands, where their claims are supposed to be processed at an Australia-funded detention center, after which they might be resettled overseas. But as of late Wednesday, they remained in limbo, refusing -- like their counterparts in Merak -- to disembark. Indonesian officials say removing them forcibly would breach international law, and Australia is refusing to take them to an Australian port.
The Rudd administration is also trying to tighten the screws on human traffickers who charge as much as $10,000 for passage on an Australia-bound boat.
Human-rights advocates worry that asylum seekers' claims may be dealt with less-fairly if processing is outsourced to Indonesia or other countries. Also unclear is whether the steps can make a major dent in the number of refugees coming at a time when many immigrants see Australia as one of the world's few developed-world lands of opportunity.
Ms. Shanti, the Sri Lankan refugee, said she paid $9,000 for her family to make the journey to Australia on a leaky boat along with the other people. Dressed in a smart black dress despite more than three weeks on the boat with only one shared toilet, she said she isn't happy about getting stuck in Indonesia, which might be better than Sri Lanka but has its own problems, including poverty and natural disasters.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Further crisis coverage is available at: http://news.google.com/news/story?cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&ncl=dHNfCSCt3z6c6zMcfnUTCT0UC_R7M&scoring=n
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13.
Delegation visits in push for regional co-operation
By Paige Taylor
The Australian, October 30, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26279300-5013871,00.html
Officials from the Indonesian National Police and Indonesian Immigration spent more than four hours inside Christmas Island's immigration detention centre yesterday as ASIO, Customs and the Rudd government's new immigration advisory group met on the island for talks.
The visit, the first by an Indonesian delegation since the Rudd government began detaining people at the $400 million centre last December, is part of a push by Australian Federal Police for enhanced regional co-operation on the issues of asylum-seekers and people-smuggling.
They were also taken aboard the HMAS Larrakia in Flying Fish Cove and will continue their tour today amid the standoff between 78 asylum-seekers aboard the Australian Customs vessel Oceanic Viking, moored off the Indonesian coast, and local authorities.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship described the visit as one of several to Christmas Island by a range of government and community stakeholders.
People-smuggling was an important regional issue and any sound and lasting solutions probably would come through enhanced regional co-operation, a departmental spokesman said.
'The government will continue to work closely and co-operatively with our regional partners in the fight against people-smuggling.'
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14.
Kevin Andrews condemned over Muslim claim
By Paul Maley
The Australian, October 30, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26279304-5013871,00.html
Controversial former immigration minister Kevin Andrews has drawn the ire of Islamic groups, the Greens and the Rudd government with claims Muslim migrants are not 'dispersing' into the wider community.
As the country continued to debate the charged issue of asylum-seekers, many of whom are Muslim, Mr Andrews said it was unhealthy to have ethnic groups concentrated in particular areas. 'To have a concentration of one ethnic or one particular group that remains in an enclave for a long period of time is not good,' Mr Andrews told Sydney broadcaster Alan Jones.
The former cabinet minister, who currently chairs the Coalition's policy review committee, said uninhibited public discussion on these subjects was essential for social cohesion.
His remarks came as Australia's political classes remained locked in debate about how to manage the latest wave of boatpeople, which the opposition says is being drawn to Australia by Labor's softening of immigration policy.
'I think if you don't allow discussion of these matters what happens is you get a resentment build-up in the community and you're likely to get a backlash,' Mr Andrews told The Australian.
Mr Andrews said Muslim communities were not dispersing as rapidly as others, probably, he said, due to economic factors and a high inter-marriage rate.
Mr Andrews' intervention into the debate drew a series of swift rebukes. Immigration Minister Chris Evans said his predecessor's remarks were uninformed.
'The Rudd government does not share the views expressed by Kevin Andrews and does not believe they contribute to an informed debate,' Senator Evans said in a statement.
Islamic Friendship Association of Australia president Keysar Trad said it was rich of Mr Andrews to criticise Muslims for failing to disperse, when Muslim developments were routinely denied by local governments.
'We've always maintained that (if) you allow us to maintain some of the infrastructure we need we're happy to disperse all over the place,' Mr Trad told The Australian.
Greens leader Bob Brown described Mr Andrews' comments as 'despicable'. 'We are seeing a far-right, pretty disgusting point of view,' he said.
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Andrews calls for debate over Muslim 'enclaves'
By Misha Schubert
The Age (Melbourne), October 30, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/andrews-calls-for-debate-over-muslim-enclaves-20091030-hnyd.html
Australian lawmaker calls for debate on Muslim immigration
Deutsche Presse Agentur, October 29, 2009
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1510011.php/Australian-lawmaker-calls-for-debate-on-Muslim-immigration
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15.
Caucus united on refugees
By Matthew Franklin
The Australian, October 30, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26279305-5013871,00.html
There's nothing like 11 years in opposition to instil discipline in a political party -- even on an emotive issue like the handling of asylum-seekers.
Despite increasing political tension surrounding the Oceanic Viking standoff, Kevin Rudd's caucus has been remarkably united on the Prime Minister's handling of the issue.
In previous years, refugee policy has been steeped in high emotion in the Labor caucus, with the Left and the Right often split on the best way to deal with boatpeople.
In 2002, for example, Labor Left frontbencher Carmen Lawrence, a former West Australian premier, quit the front bench because Julia Gillard, then the party's immigration spokeswoman, developed a policy that retained the concept of mandatory detention.
And this week, Paul Howes, the secretary of the right-wing Australian Workers Union and a key Labor powerbroker, savaged the government's approach to the spate of boat arrivals as inhumane and urged it to accept more refugees.
But since the beginning of the 11-day saga, caucus has stuck together, even as the Prime Minister talked about his determination to take a tough approach to border security -- which in the past has been like a red rag to a bull on the Left.
Senior government sources say the key source of unity was that the ministers handling the nuts and bolts of the issue are from the Left, the grouping most likely to be the source of discontent.
They are Chris Evans (Immigration), Brendan O'Connor (Home Affairs) and John Faulkner (Defence).
All three -- but particularly Senator Faulkner -- command significant respect within and outside their faction. Sources said left-wingers concerned about the issue would be more likely to take up their concerns directly with the ministers than to cause them more problems by going public with criticism.
Senator Faulkner has a strong reputation for integrity and adherence to policy and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, a right-winger, has quickly developed a reputation for diplomatic skills and moderate rhetoric.
So, sources said, concerned backbenchers prone to emotion were cutting the cabinet slack, certain they could ultimately rely on cabinet's judgment.
Other government sources stressed that much work went into the development of Labor's asylum-seeker policies, which amended the Howard government's by guaranteeing children would not be placed in detention, the elimination of temporary-protection visas and the abolition of the Pacific Solution. The sources said the policy position had broad factional support and that, putting aside some concern about rhetoric, the government was delivering agreed policy.
Others made the point that criticism of the government's approach from the community sector had also been muted, reflecting a wider view that border protection was politically fraught and that Mr Rudd deserved credit for acting on his promises.
'Everyone understands that this is a very difficult issue that requires the government to balance the need to have a proper system of dealing with asylum-seekers with the need to ensure they are dealt with in a humane manner,' said one MP.
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16.
Immigration law rewrite passed by Parliament
The New Zealand Press Ass'n., October 29, 2009
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3012188/Immigration-law-rewrite-passed-by-Parliament
The Immigration Bill, a five-year rewrite and update of immigration laws, passed its third reading in Parliament today.
The 497-page bill contains numerous changes to existing legislation designed to make it easier to understand and implement.
'The aim of the review was to modernise and future-proof the legislation,' Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy said on behalf of Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman.
'The future is upon us and this bill has never been more important. . .it is vital we have legislation that allows us to protect the border and the integrity of the immigration system.'
Among the changes are the creation of a streamlined deportation system and a new, independent appeals body to replace four existing agencies.
The Green Party opposed the bill, saying it contained too many restrictions on people's rights and increased the secrecy surrounding decisions on refugee claims.
The Maori Party had concerns about human rights and also opposed the bill.
It was passed into law on a vote of 108 to 12.
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Center for Immigration Studies
1522 K St. NW, Suite 820
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076
center@cis.org www.cis.org
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