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Daily news updates from CIS
October 30, 2009 -- Click here for overseas news
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[For CISNEWS subscribers --
1. Obama signs bill reversing HIV travel ban
2. TX GOP congressmen critical of 287(g) rules
3. Study examines use of 287(g) program
4. LA senator's amendment irks colleague
5. Tax credits may be open to illegals (link)
6. Canadian residents sought after raid
7. Report questions role of ICE informants
8. USCIS head visits MN city on 'listening tour'
9. Precedent set for new asylum category
10. Shot fired at home of CNN’s Lou Dobbs
11. TX lawmakers seek Coast Guard presence
12. OH police deny targeting immigrants
13. AZ sheriff reexamines security
14. NV city business fences out laborers
15. FL city commission candidate protested
16. Advocates push admin. for Haitian TPS
17. Testimony links Agriprocessors to coverup (link)
18. NV ceremony to naturalize 31 (link)
19. ICE special agent arrested for battery (link)
20. ICE red-flag MA shooting suspect (link)
21. Two men sentenced for ID fraud (link)
22. Nicaraguan pleads in molestation case (link)
23. Sophisticated smuggling tunnel found in Tijuana (link)
24. Street vendor to be deported (link)
-- Mark Krikorian]
1.
White House announces end to HIV travel ban
By Garance Franke Ruta
The Washington Post, October 30, 2009
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/10/30/obama_to_announce_end_to_hiv_t.html?wprss=44
President Obama called the 22-year ban on travel and immigration by HIV-positive individuals a decision 'rooted in fear rather than fact' and announced the end of the rule-making process lifting the ban.
The president signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 at the White House Friday and also spoke of the new rules, which have been under development more more than a year. 'We are finishing the job,' the president said.
The regulations are the final procedural step in ending the ban, and will be published Monday in the Federal Register, to be followed by the standard 60-day waiting period prior to implementation.
A ban on travel and immigration to the U.S. by individuals with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was first established by the Reagan-era U.S. Public Health Service and then given further support when Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) added HIV to the travel-exclusion list in a move that was ultimately passed unanimously by the Senate in 1987.
A 1990-1991 effort to overturn the regulatory ban failed in the face of outcry and lobbying from conservative groups and bureaucratic turf disputes. The ban was upheld in 1993 when Congress added it to U.S. immigration laws.
The Senate finally voted to overturn the ban as part of approving legislation reauthorizing funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, in 2008, and President Bush signed it into law on July 30 of that year. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and then-Sen. Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore.) led the process in the Senate.
'This really proves that immigration laws that exclude families and stigmatize individuals are destined to fail,' said Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality, a group that has mobilized more than 20,000 comments in support of ending the ban.
'The climate has really changed,' she said, attributing the end of the ban to a diminishment in 'misinformation about HIV and AIDS.'
The lifting of the ban removes one of the last vestiges of early U.S. AIDS policy. 'We're thrilled that the ban has been lifted based on science, reason, and human rights. Our hope is that this decision reflects a commitment to adopting more evidence-based policies when confronting the AIDS epidemic and developing a comprehensive national AIDS strategy,' said Kevin Robert Frost, CEO of amFAR, an AIDS research foundation.
Until today's announcement, the U.S. was one of only 7 countries with laws that bar entry of people with HIV, the group noted.
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2.
Republicans Say Obama Administration Is Limiting Arrests of Illegal Aliens
By Penny Star
The CNS News, October 30, 2009
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/56382
Fifty-four members of Congress, mostly Republicans, have signed a letter to President Barack Obama praising the 287(g) program that allows specially trained state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law.
The Oct. 26 letter comes shortly after the Obama administration imposed new limits on state and local law enforcers, preventing them from arresting many of the illegal immigrants with whom they come into contact.
Instead of allowing local police to arrest people simply for being in the United States illegally, the Obama administration has now established categories of illegal aliens who are a “priority for arrest and detention.”
Those priorities include aliens convicted of or arrested for major crimes, including drug offenses and murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, and kidnapping; aliens convicted of or arrested for minor drug offenses and property crimes such as burglary, larceny, fraud, and money laundering; and aliens who have been convicted of or arrested for “other offenses.”
Rep. Lamar Smith, ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, said contrary to claims that it was supposed to focus only on serious crimes, the 287(g) program was intended to allow states and local law enforcement officials to enforce all immigration laws – “not just a select few.”
“One of the most effective things we can do to prevent illegal immigrant crimes in the first place is to deport illegal immigrants before they’ve committed one, whether they are identified in jails or by law enforcement task forces,” Smith said.
Smith and the other letter-signers are urging the Obama administration not to “politicize this highly effective immigration enforcement and public safety program.”
Thanks to the 287(g) program, they said, thousands of illegal immigrants who are identified in jails and through task force operations are being deported. Smith added that the “open borders crowd” doesn’t like the program because it is working.
The 287(g) program – created by the Clinton-era Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 -- is operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
In a speech in August, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) allowing state and local law enforcement to participate in the 287(g) program had been “rewritten and reprioritized to focus on using them in jails and prisons.”
But in their Oct. 26 letter, lawmakers noted, “While the majority of the current 287(g) programs follow the jail intake model, the task force model is also a highly effective means of removing illegal immigrants from the streets. Both should be continued,” the letter said.
To date, more than 60 law enforcement agencies have either signed or agreed to sign the revised MOA.
As reported earlier by CNSNews.com, only one local law enforcement agency has had its immigration enforcement authority curbed.
In September, ICE notified Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio that it was terminating his department’s authority to conduct “sweeps” (task force model) for illegal aliens. Arpaio’s department is still allowed to identify illegal aliens being held in Maricopa County jails.
Arpaio, who actively sought to identify illegal aliens flowing into his community, is now under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for possible civil rights violations.
Republicans note that the revised MOA also requires local and state law enforcement to get approval from ICE before releasing information about immigration enforcement activities to the media or the public.
“Federal, state, and local cooperation is key to combating illegal immigration,” the Oct. 26 letter concluded. “So it is crucial for the federal government to continue to support the range of 287(g) operational programs in jurisdictions throughout the United States.”
The only Democrat signing the Oct. 26 letter was Rep. Heath Shuler of N.C.
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3.
New Study Reveals Connection Between Enforcing Immigration Laws and National Security
Friday, October 30, 2009
By Penny Starr
The CNS News, October 30, 2009
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/56352
A new study by the conservative think tank Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reveals the connection between enforcing immigration laws and national security – sometimes in chilling detail.
“Shortly after midnight on September 9, 2001, Maryland state trooper Joseph Catalano pulled over a red Mitsubishi rental car traveling 90 mph in a 65 mph zone on I-95 north of Baltimore,” the introduction of the report stated.
“The driver, Ziad Jarrah, had a Florida driver’s license and quietly accepted the $270 fine issued by Catalano before continuing on to join his friends at a hotel in New Jersey. Two days later, Jarrah boarded United Airlines flight 93, which he would later pilot into a field near Shanksville, Pa., killing everyone aboard,” it added.
“In 2001, Trooper Catalano had no way of knowing that Jarrah was an illegal alien who had overstayed his business visitor visa. But in the years since 9/11, dozens of state and local law enforcement agencies have been able to join ranks with federal immigration authorities under the auspices of the 287(g) program to help identify and remove foreign nationals who commit crimes or otherwise pose a threat to our well-being,” the report said.
“These state and local agencies are making a significant contribution to public safety and homeland security, not just in their jurisdictions, but for us all,” it added.
The 287 (g) programs the CIS refers to is the program that started in 2003 as an amendment to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
The program trains and certifies state and local law enforcement personnel to enforce federal immigration law through Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) issued by the Department of Homeland Security through its Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
“This Backgrounder examines the 287(g) program’s history and its status,” the introduction states. “We interviewed participating local law enforcement agencies (LEAs), reviewed statistics and reports provided by local LEAs, analyzed data provided by ICE through a FOIA request, and scoured news reports on the program.”
Some of the findings in the report include:
287(g) officers lodged immigration charges on more than 81,000 illegal or criminal aliens between January 2006 and November 2008, according to data provided to us by ICE.
In 2008, the number of 287(g) arrests (45,368) was equal to one-fifth of all criminal aliens identified by ICE in prisons and jails nationwide that year (221,085). The program has flagged a large number of known serious and/or violent offenders, as well as some low-level offenders still at the bottom of the criminal behavior escalator.
Illegal aliens targeted by the program have been identified as a result of involvement in local law-breaking in addition to immigration law-breaking.
Participating agencies credit the 287(g) program as a major factor in reduced local crime rates, smaller inmate populations, and lower criminal justice costs.
287(g) is cost-effective — much less expensive than other criminal alien identification programs such as Secure Communities and Fugitive Operations. For example, in 2008 ICE spent $219 million to remove 34,000 fugitive aliens (mostly criminals).
In 2008, ICE was given $40 million for 287(g), which produced more than 45,000 arrests of aliens who were involved in state and local crimes.
In Harris County, Texas, the billion-dollar ICE Secure Communities interoperability program found about 1,718 removable aliens in its first six months beginning late in 2008; meanwhile the locally paid 287(g) officers in the same jail system charged about 5,000 criminal aliens over the same time period.
287(g) is a force multiplier. In 2008, the Colorado state 287(g) unit alone made 777 immigration arrests. In that same year the entire ICE investigations office based in Denver, which covers all of Colorado and several other states, made a total of 1,594 arrests.
In Maricopa County, Ariz., the local ICE detention and removal manager supervises five ICE deportation agents, who are supplemented by 64 additional locally paid county jail 287(g) officers who also identify and process criminal aliens.
The biggest obstacle to improving and expanding the 287(g) program is the lack of funding for bed space to detain illegal aliens discovered by local agencies to have committed crimes. As a result, ICE currently is removing fewer than half of the criminal aliens identified under 287(g).
Several states have submitted proposals to ICE to help alleviate this problem, but ICE has not acted to increase funding for bed space, even as it claims to prioritize the removal of criminal aliens.
The report, written by Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at CIS, and CIS Fellow James R. Edwards, Jr., is critical of the Obama administration and Congress for not fully supporting the 287 (g) program as the report concludes it was intended to operate.
“The 287(g) program has been a welcome addition to U.S. immigration law,” the report states. “It represents the forward thinking of serious lawmakers. The program’s success, once congressional advocates helped advance it despite bureaucratic resistance, has been significant.
“However, the 287(g) program could be much bigger, fine-tuned for greater efficiency and effectiveness, and augmented in ways that represent maturing,” the conclusion continued. “287(g) has achieved the success it has is due to sustained commitment from Congress, as well as the administrative branch waking up a bit to that promise.
“State and local jurisdictions are, by and large, willing to do their part in immigration enforcement. The gains of 287(g) will certainly be lost if the troubling change in congressional priority and ICE’s bureaucratic games persist,” it added.
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4.
Landrieu turns up heat after Vitter's census-citizenship proposal
By Jonathan Tilove
The New Orleans Time Picayune, October 30, 2009
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/10/post_101.html
Republican Sen. David Vitter's ongoing crusade to include a citizenship question on the 2010 Census, and then exclude non-citizens from the reapportionment count, has managed to inflame passions all around.
And that was before Sen. Mary Landrieu, his senior Democratic colleague, got mad.
In a decidedly un-collegial letter this week, Landrieu wrote Vitter that she agrees that 'many are surprised to find that non-citizens are included in the calculation that determines the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives.'
But Landrieu advised Vitter that, in her view, his proposed legislative remedy is a recklessly expensive, unconstitutional gambit that relies on the erroneous forecasts of Shreveport political analyst Elliott Stonecipher and would not, in any case, achieve its goal of keeping Louisiana from losing a congressional seat in 2010.
She concluded her missive by offering an olive branch thick with thorns: 'If you are ever interested in setting aside political gamesmanship and working together with me on a serious initiative to reform the laws that govern illegal immigration and congressional apportionment, I would welcome your support. Sincerely. Mary L. Landrieu.'
Whether it is gamesmanship or statesmanship, Vitter's amendment has now held up Senate passage of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill for going on three weeks. It has also won the support of every member of the Louisiana House delegation save Rep. Anh ``Joseph'' Cao, R-New Orleans, but notably including Rep. Charlie Melancon, the Napoleonville Democrat who is challenging Vitter's re-election. The six House members wrote Landrieu a collective letter urging her to join them in working to protect Louisiana from losing one of its seven House seats in 2010.
Vitter's amendment has roused the ire of the Census Bureau, which said it will wreck their planning, costs hundreds of millions of dollars and delay the decennial census and the reapportionment of congressional districts and redistricting within states that depend on the timely arrival of those census numbers. Civil rights, labor groups and minority lawmakers have characterized it as nativist.
In her letter, Landrieu contends that Louisiana's reapportionment dilemma has nothing to do with the problem Vitter is trying to remedy, and everything to do with the fact that Louisiana was one of only two states (the other is North Dakota) to lose population in the last decade.
And Landrieu suggested to Vitter, that 'any demographer worth his salt (which would not be Elliott Stonecipher) would tell you that Louisiana's probable loss of a seat would occur even if there was not one (underlined) illegal immigrant in the United States.' The problem with this assertion is that it does not directly address what Vitter is proposing. While Vitter's amendment originally sought to have the Census Bureau ask respondents both about their citizenship and legal status, he amended it, at the urging of Stonecipher, who thought the question about legal status would discourage people form responding. Now, Vitter's amendment only adds a question about citizenship.
Vitter said he wants a good count of citizens and non-citizens so that he could then move legislation to change the historic practice of counting all people for purposes of apportioning congressional districts to states and carving up districts within each state.
Because there are many people who are legal residents of the United States but not citizens, the effect of removing all those people from reapportionment counts would be much more profound than simply removing people who are not in the country legally.
According to an analysis by Andrew Beveridge, a Queens College sociologist, excluding non-citizens from the count would spare Louisiana, and some other states with relatively small foreign-born populations, the loss of a congressional district, even as the new math would cost California, which is brimming with immigrants, five seats.
However, if only those in the country illegally were removed from the count, its impact on Louisiana's fortunes would be a closer call. But that is not what Vitter is proposing.
It was Stonecipher, a familiar and frequently-quoted figure in Louisiana, whose Wall Street Journal op-ed piece in August, co-authored with LSU law professor John Baker, apparently inspired Vitter.
In an e-mail message after reading Landrieu's reference to him, Stonecipher suggested that if he is not worth his salt, than apparently neither is Beveridge. Stonecipher also noted that while he is not a degreed demographer, he has built a successful career as a demographic analyst.
Stonecipher, who will join Vitter at a news conference on the issue at the state Capitol on Friday afternoon, said that while he has never spoken with Landrieu, he has, in his years as a public political analyst, noted on many occasions that she 'is the best there ever was, better than Edwin Edwards, at getting 100 percent of the vote in some precincts, for example in the Lower 9th Ward,'' a record of achievement that he finds suspicious.
Landrieu spokesman Aaron Saunders replied that Stonecipher is a 'Republican operative'' passing himself off as an independent analyst, who never tires of predicting a defeat for Landrieu that never comes.
Asked which demographers Landrieu was relying on for her analysis, her office mentioned Greg Rigamer of New Orleans, whose office said he was away on vacation Thursday.
Landrieu and other Vitter critics also contend that changing the count for apportionment purposes would required a Constitutional amendment, but Vitter and his allies suggest that his legislative fix would force the issue before the Supreme Court, where it has never been definitively tested.
But Jeffrey Wice, a Democratic election attorney, said that route would further delay the arrival of the numbers that states need for redistricting, which is especially urgent in Louisiana, one of only four states that hold legislative elections in 2011.
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5.
Senators agree to extend $8,000 housing tax credit for first-time buyers
The lawmakers also OK offering a tax credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years.
The Associated Press, October 29, 2009
Washington (AP) - Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers and to offer a smaller credit to some repeat buyers.
The tax credit provides up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers but is set to expire at the end of November.
Senators agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time home buyers while offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
The tax credits would be available to buyers who sign purchase agreements by the end of April. They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes, according to a summary of the legislation being circulated among lawmakers.
. . .
Republicans were demanding the opportunity to offer amendments to restrict federal aid to the community activist group ACORN and to require that people receiving unemployment benefits be processed through E-Verify, an Internet-based system that employers use to check on the immigration status of new hires.
The Senate's majority Democrats have blocked the proposed amendments.
. . .
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-home-credit29-2009oct29,0,7286028.story
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6.
FBI nabs 1 of 3 fugitives in probe of Islamic group
The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale), October 29, 2009
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-200910291951mctnewsservbc-fbiraid-de24303oct29,0,3450080,full.story
Detroit - Federal officials arrested one fugitive Thursday and asked the public for help in finding two suspects who remain at large, and could be dangerous, after Wednesday's raids in Detroit and Dearborn, Mich., that resulted in a shootout and killing of the head of an Islamic fundamentalist group.
U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg also asked people not to connect the group, headed by Luqman Ameen Abdullah, with Muslims in general. Abdullah, 53, was killed in a shootout with FBI agents Wednesday at a Dearborn warehouse.
Berg said the group in question 'is a specific brand of radical ideology.'
Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers arrested 30-year-old Detroit resident Mujahid Carswell, who is Abdullah's son, at 1 p.m.Thursday in Windsor, Ontario, according to a release issued by the FBI. The Canadian Border Patrol is holding him on immigration violations.
Detroit FBI Agent in Charge Andrew Arena said he met with several Muslim leaders before Wednesday's raids that came after a 2-year undercover investigation.
'This is a very hybrid radical ideology,' he said of Abdullah's group. 'You will see the violent tendencies from the affidavit. In the end we take solace that we took some bad people off the street yesterday.'
Still at large are 30-year-old Yassir Ali Khan of Warren, Mich., and Ontario and 33-year-old Mohammad Alsahli of Ontario.
Arena said Abdullah was armed and opened fire during the raid at the warehouse which he described as an undercover FBI-controlled location.
'I'm comfortable with what the agents did, they did what they had to do to protect themselves,' Arena said, later adding. 'We do not target religious institutions. We have to have predication to send an informant or source into any location and predication is that there are bad things going on in a certain location.'
The incident has reopened concerns over the FBI's use of informants in the Muslim world, said Imad Hamad, senior national adviser and regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Though the FBI doesn't name its sources, the complaint said at least one 'has admitted that he was a follower of Luqman Abdullah, a faithful member of the Ummah, and involved in their criminal activities in the past.'
Hamad said he and other Arab-American leaders have had ongoing talks with the FBI about its use of informants, and authorities insist that they use such sources only when they have specific allegations rather than during a 'witch hunt.'
Still, the tensions will be aggravated by this week's events. And those who already are skeptical of the FBI's tactics will doubt the allegations contained in the indictment.
'The case regardless of the facts, regardless of the allegations, regardless of what went right and what went wrong brings back that issue of informants,' Hamad said.
Sgt. Julie Gagnon, a spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, directed inquires to the FBI because it is their case. However, she said her department is working closely with the FBI.
At least two of the suspects have Canadian addresses.
Arena declined to comment when asked by reporters on whether the case is connected to a recent FBI dig on at a lot at Tireman and Colfax on the Detroit's west side.
Federal agents dug for several days in September at a vacant lumberyard, but never revealed what they were looking for.
Arena confirmed Thursday that the dig was not connected to Jimmy Hoffa in any way.
In U.S. District Court Thursday, Magistrate Judge Donald A. Scheer ordered one of the defendants detained and a second defendant held in custody. Scheer reserved his decision on whether two defendants should be detained and granted bond for two others.
Ordered detained was Abdullah Beard,, 37, of Detroit, who is charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes. Scheer said he based his decision to hold Beard on a taped conversation with a federal informant in which Beard allegedly plotted to rob the manager of a check cashing store with Abdullah's permission.
Adam Ibraheem, 38, of Detroit, agreed to be temporarily detained due to an outstanding detention order.
Scheer reserved his decision on whether to detain Garry Laverne Porter, a physical education teacher at A.L. Holmes Elementary School in Detroit who had two knives on him when he was arrested Wednesday at the school, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Oberg.
Scheer also reserved his decision on whether to detain Mohammad Abdul Salaam, 45. He is charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes and sale or receipt of stolen goods. The magistrate said he would announce his decision by the end of the day.
Scheer released Abdul Saboor, 37, of Detroit; on an electronic tether despite objections from Oberg. Oberg consented to bond for defendant Acie Pusha, who is charged with conspiracy to receive and sell stolen goods.
After Thursday's detention hearings, Jihad El-Jihad, who said he has belonged to Al-Haqq mosque for more than 20 years, said its members have strong opinions about the world, about its leaders, and about 'abominations' such as sexual promiscuity, alcoholism, and homosexuality.
They exercise and learn self-defense techniques, teaching them as well to children.
But some label them as terrorists because they are Muslim, El-Jihad said outside a federal courthouse where several of the suspects were ordered detained.
Rather, the mosque had opened its doors to the homeless and hungry, starting a program many years ago with bagged lunches and tuna sandwiches and now handing out warm meals, El-Jihad said.
'We feed them. We give them a place to sleep, and we teach them about God. Is that a terrorist?' he said.
El-Jihad said the Koran may at some time call upon the faithful to fight against those who condone acts that God considers an 'abomination.
He called Abdullah 'a great human being,' adding: 'I envy that man. I admire that man. I can only hope that if I'm in the same situation, I have the courage to go like he did,' El-Jihad said.
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7.
ICE corruption: Our safety can't be compromised
El Paso Times (TX), October 27, 2009
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_13645561?source=most_emailed
With national security such a worry in these times, learning there's corruption among those who protect our side of the border is appalling. We are quick to point fingers at government agencies in Mexico for being on the so-called 'take,' or for 'looking the other way.'
Now the Associated Press reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been involved in various illegal activities.
In El Paso, there are charges of interfering in an El Paso police investigation.
More than one U.S. city was named in situations that included: Internet pornography, improper relationships with informants, and allowing an informant to smuggle a group of undocumented immigrants into the U.S.
In El Paso, the AP reported, police say ICE steered detectives away from a man who has been charged with setting up an assassination. The AP said, 'Some local and federal authorities in El Paso are hesitant to work closely with ICE because of the way it operates, said law-enforcement officers who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity ...'
There are several federal agencies charged with various forms of border security since 9/11 -- and now in El Paso with the two-year ongoing drug-war between major Mexican cartels. Integrity at its highest is demanded. Cooperation and trust between agencies is a must when federal agencies interact with each other and with local agencies.
Since ICE was formed in 2003, at least eight agents have been investigated for improper dealings with informants.
And nearly 40 others have been investigated for other wrongdoings, the AP reported.
ICE is important to the U.S. It was spun off from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to be the investigative arm of Homeland Security. ICE also processes undocumented immigrants and has responsibilities for security at federal buildings.
This agency is too important to have such improper dealings going on, even by a small percentage of its agents.
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8.
Obama's citizenship director visits Twin Cities
By Sasha Aslanian
The Minnesota Public Radio, October 29, 2009
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/10/29/immigration-chief-visit/
St. Paul, MN - The Obama Administration's new director of Citizenship and Immigration Services was in the Twin Cities today as part of a listening tour.
Alejandro Mayorkas met with about 60 people, including law enforcement officers, business owners and members of immigrant rights groups to hear how the immigration system is working
'I picked up on a great deal of hope for comprehensive immigration reform and the need for it,' Mayorkas said. 'One person at the outset articulated a view that the current immigration system is broken and that encompassing view might have captured some of the frustration.'
John Keller, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, was among the attendees. He said Mayorkas oversees lawful immigration, not enforcement, but he got to hear about both.
'The director himself addressed the fact that there is so much frustration as he travels around among the high levels of arrests, enforcement and detention that we're currently living in under the Department of Homeland Security,' Keller said. 'That has been a very common theme in his discussions around the country.'
Mayorkas said he's working to make Citizen and Immigration Services more transparent and accountable to the people it serves, and speed up processing time for things like green cards, applications for citizenship and other services.
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9.
Abused Wife Wins Political Asylum in US
Decision sets precedent for women fleeing domestic abuse
By Rob Quinn|
The Newser, October 30, 2009
http://www.newser.com/story/72909/abused-wife-wins-political-asylum-in-us.html
The Obama administration has recommended that a Guatemalan woman who came to America fleeing horrific domestic abuse be granted political asylum. Rody Alvarado Peña's case has been in the courts since 1995 and lawyers say the decision will finally clarify the rules on whether abused women in foreign countries can seek asylum in the US. The ruling is 'a giant step forward,' one asylum lawyer said.
Alvarado suffered a decade of abuse from her husband, an ex-soldier, and came to the US out of fear for her life, court papers state. Experts testified that only 2% of the thousands of domestic murders in Guatemala over the last decade have been solved, adding weight to arguments that Alvarado, as a battered woman, could be considered part of a persecuted group. “I thank God it came out well,” Alvarado, who works as a housekeeper for elderly nuns in California, tells the New York Times. “But it wasn’t easy to wait this long for immigration to make a decision.”
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10.
Police Probe Shot Fired at Home of CNN's Lou Dobbs
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Fox News, October 29, 2009
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,570296,00.html
In this file photo provided by CNN, news anchor Lou Dobbs sits on the set of his show, 'Lou Dobs Tonight,' in New York.
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.
Dobbs, a fervent proponent of U.S. border enforcement, told listeners of 'The Lou Dobbs Show' on Monday that the incident is part of an ongoing assault against anyone who opposes amnesty or leniency toward illegal immigrants.
'They've created an atmosphere and they've been unrelenting in their propaganda,' Dobbs said in reference to pro-immigration groups like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Council of La Raza and America's Voice. 'Three weeks ago this morning, a shot was fired at my house where I live. My wife was standing out and that followed weeks and weeks of threatening phone calls.'
Dobbs continued, 'But this shot was fired with my wife not, I don't know, 15 feet away, and we had threatening phone calls that I decided not to report because I get threatening phone calls.'
Reached early Thursday at her home, Dobbs' wife, Debi Lee Segura, told Foxnews.com that she was outside the house when the shot was fired in her direction. She declined to elaborate, referring calls to Dobbs, who could not be immediately reached for comment.
A spokeswoman for CNN declined to comment Thursday.
New Jersey State Police Sgt. Steve Jones said troopers were called to the Dobbs' estate in rural Wantage, N.J., at about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 5. The investigators who responded to the call were told that Dobbs and his wife were outside their home when they heard a gunshot, and a bullet struck their attic.
'It struck the siding and then fell to the ground,' Jones said.
A search of the vicinity was unsuccessful; the bullet was taken for analysis.
'It's a shot fired that struck the house,' Jones continued. 'We're not sure what the intended target was. It's still under investigation.'
No injuries were reported.
William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC), said it's very likely Dobbs' outspokenness on illegal immigration led to the shooting.
'That shot, that attack on the Dobbs family is an attack on every American that values First Amendment rights,' Gheen told Foxnews.com. 'The chances are greatest that it was political, because pro-amnesty groups have tried to dehumanize Lou Dobbs and lie about him.'
Dobbs, who claimed the 'national liberal media' has in part created a hostile environment regarding immigration, said enduring such incidents has become a 'way of life' for him.
'It's become a way of life — the anger, the hate, the vitriol — but it's taken a different tone where they've threatened my wife,' he said Monday. 'They've now fired a shot at my house while my wife was standing next to the car.
'It's become something else. And if anybody thinks we're not engaged in a battle for the soul of this country right now, you're sorely mistaken.'
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11.
Bill seeks Coast Guard's help on Rio Grande
By Gary Martin
The San Antonio Express News (TX), October 29, 2009
http://www.mysanantonio.com/military/67353357.html
Washington - Texas border lawmakers are calling on the U.S. Coast Guard to expand its operations along the Rio Grande as a way to increase the federal law enforcement presence there, help thwart drug cartels and curb escalating violence.
“The safety of the international border continues to be a national security concern as violence persists in neighboring Mexico,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.
Cuellar tucked a provision into a bill authorizing Coast Guard programs for fiscal year 2010, which began Oct. 1, that orders the agency to conduct an analysis to determine the costs of expanding missions along the Rio Grande.
The measure was prompted by concerns in Laredo, where firefighters and ambulance crews are exposed to violence from Mexico when conducting search and rescue missions and recovering bodies along the river.
“Anytime our personnel respond to any call in the city, my primary concern is their safety,” Laredo Fire Chief Steve Landin said. “On the river they are vulnerable. I see them as sitting targets.”
Cuellar wants the Coast Guard to determine the number of personnel and equipment it will need to patrol the Rio Grande, and to assist other agencies with drug interdiction and other missions resulting from illegal immigration and drug cartel violence.
Coast Guard officials say they currently perform many of those duties along the river, although mostly in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
A Coast Guard station is located near the Rio Grande where it meets the Gulf of Mexico. Patrols there were instrumental in breaking an immigrant smuggling ring this month where Jet Skis were used to transport undocumented immigrants across the river near Boca Chica Beach.
Coast Guard activity on the river is concentrated from Boca Chica to the Los Ebanos Ferry near the Hidalgo-Starr county line, although the service uses helicopters and jets to patrol farther upstream.
There are three H-65 helicopters and three Fan Jet Falcon aircraft for search, rescue and drug interdiction efforts along the river, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Mark Morin in Corpus Christi.
The Coast Guard also performs duties on Amistad Reservoir near Del Rio and Falcon International Reservoir below Laredo, where the international border bisects the lakes.
Legally, the Rio Grande is considered a navigable waterway all the way to New Mexico, despite numerous reservoirs and dams along its lower portions and shallow depths in the northwestern regions.
Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, a Coast Guard spokesman in Washington, said he could not comment on the pending legislation that would expand the agency's river role, but added, “In general terms, the Coast Guard can exercise its law enforcement authority upon any navigable waterway in the United States.”
Cuellar said the Coast Guard dedicates only eight days a year to active patrol on the Rio Grande, but he noted it conducts many operations along the Great Lakes and the Niagara River on the U.S.-Canada border.
The Coast Guard authorization bill, including the provision to study the expansion of the service's duties, passed the House on a 385-11 vote last week. The bill is pending in the Senate.
Cuellar, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, has bipartisan support for his request from Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin.
The Texas lawmakers said it's a response to local concerns. Landin and Laredo City Manager Carlos Villarreal met with Cuellar in Washington last year to outline the need for federal assistance when local crews operate along the river.
“We've gone to Washington to discuss jurisdictional issues,” Landin said. “It has not been clearly defined.”
An agreement by Laredo and Nuevo Laredo allows Mexican law enforcement to recover bodies in the river, and for U.S. officials to return bodies to Mexico for proper burial when nationality and identification are determined.
But the risk of riverside violence from drug smugglers can make rescues and body recoveries dangerous for unarmed medical personnel.
Cuellar said he wants the Coast Guard to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol and other federal agencies trying to stem the flow of contraband and unauthorized immigrants into the United States.
“Is taking care of the river a federal responsibility or a city responsibility?” Cuellar asked. “I would say it is a federal responsibility.”
The Coast Guard, he said, does “some limited things. I just think they should have a greater presence.”
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12.
Hispanics Protest Police Action in Ohio Community
The Associated Press, October 30, 2009
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/20091030/NEWS01/910300333/1002/NEWS01/HISPANICS-PROTESTS-POLICE-ACTION-IN-OHIO-COMMUNITY
Ashtabula (AP) -- Members of the Hispanic community are complaining that police in Ohio's northeast corner are targeting them on behalf of federal immigration agents.
A Hispanic advocacy group held a news conference Wednesday in Ashtabula calling for fair treatment by law-enforcement officers. The group claims police in the area about 50 miles northeast of Cleveland are making unwarranted traffic stops and raiding homes in the middle of the night.
The sheriffs of Ashtabula and Lake counties say deputies don't stop people without cause.
Lake County Sheriff Dan Dunlap said targeting immigrants would be useless because they would return six weeks after getting deported.
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13.
Security concerns for Arpaio after TV host shooting scare
By Katie Fisher
ABC 15 (Phoenix), October 30, 2009
http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/Security-concerns-for-Arpaio-after-TV-host/Eii2pbE_6kCIe62gujRFxg.cspx
Phoenix -- Officials with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office say they are closely examining Sheriff Joe Arpaio's security after a recent shooting involving CNN TV host Lou Dobbs.
Dobbs' New Jersey home was shot at three weeks ago and some say the outspoken host may have been the target of pro-illegal immigration activists.
According to MCSO officials, Dobbs went public Thursday, saying the media's portrayal of him as a 'hate monger' is fueling open borders activists to rally against him, now to the degree of attempting to cause his family bodily harm.
MCSO spokesperson Ryan Lee said the department is concerned for Arpaio's safety considering that both he and Dobbs are extremely vocal and visible on a national level in their beliefs that illegal immigration is a serious crime, worthy of arrest and incarceration.
Fox talk show host Geraldo Rivera said Saturday that Arpaio and Dobbs are the 'two most unpopular figures with millions of American Latinos.'
Lee also cites the many protests Arpaio's television and newspaper interviews have incited, saying some protesters' signs have even depicted Dobbs and Arpaio as fellow KKK members.
Lt. Aaron Brown, head of the Arpaio's security detail, says that his team is re-examining the current level of security his unit provides the Sheriff and whether or not more security is now warranted.
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14.
Day laborer debate opens larger issue
By Hetty Chang
News 3 (Las Vegas, NV), October 29, 2009
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=11411212
Local businesses are taking a stand on day laborers. You saw the story first on News 3. Some valley businesses are now putting up fences to prevent the workers from crowding in front of their stores.
The story opened up a much bigger debate on immigration. Dozens of viewers weighed in with differing and strong opinions.
Thousands read and watched the story, several wrote in; some in support of the laborers, many against. Most of the comments have to do with enforcement.
The problem is local law enforcement says it's a federal issue and federal law enforcement says it's out their hands.
Last week, News 3 cameras captured the daily scene each time a driver slows in front of day laborers. Some of them are so desperate for work their aggressiveness drives customers away from the businesses where they camp out.
The problem prompted Star Nursery to put up signs and fences around their stores. Other businesses have reached out to local officials for help.
'I've received phone calls from business people who are affected by the day laborers,' Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman tells News 3. 'Some of their patrons are scared to death. They just don't understand what's happening when these fellas come up to the cars and they try to shoo them away; they are persistent.'
They are persistent, but there is no one to tell them they can't be.
Local laws target the person who picks up the worker rather than the worker him or herself. Cities like Las Vegas prohibit soliciting employment of a pedestrian.
Even with laws in place, Mayor Oscar Goodman says there are no resources to enforce them.
'Metro is busy trying to solve those serious crimes. They just don't have the man power to be standing out there. Basically it's up to the citizens to figure this one out. In my opinion they should figure it out. They are creating a big problem by hiring these folks.'
Star Nursery is discouraging its customers from picking up laborers. That might solve the issue for Star Nursery but it doesn't solve the bigger issue.
Hetty Chang: So you're (here) illegally?
Luis Hernandez (laborer): Yes, I'm illegal.
Day laborers like Hernandez, who was an accountant in Mexico, are now scrounging for work in the United States.
Hetty Chang: How long have you been trying to become a citizen?
Hernandez: It's difficult. For Mexican people it's very difficult.
Hetty Chang: But you understand that you're here illegally.
Hernandez: Yes, I understand. I need to support my family. This is the full reason I try to find some work in the USA.
We received viewer comments from both sides of the fence. One viewer supports the laborers because, according to that viewer, they are willing to do work others are not.
Another applauds Star Nursery for taking a stand. One viewer suggests a random check of day laborers to ask for proof of citizenship.
We took those comments to Mayor Goodman.
'I'm not getting into the immigration issue. That's law enforcement, that's federal. There (are) laws on the book and they just don't enforce those laws.'
But Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) calls this a nuisance issue not a federal immigration issue.
ICE says its investigations are based upon actionable leads and intelligence information. So unless agents have evidence that workers are being hired without proper documents, ICE cannot investigate.
Further, ICE says a sweep of day laborers would be an assumption that all of them are undocumented which would constitute racial profiling.
Metro has a partnership with ICE. The agreement allows Metro to determine the immigration status of inmates processed through county jails. That means an undocumented worker must commit a crime before his or her legal status is questioned.
Luis Hernandez told News 3 that he pays taxes. The IRS does not track immigration status. Undocumented workers can use an alternative Social Security number to write a check to the IRS.
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15.
Lake Worth candidate's immigration stance draws protestors, including Commissioner Jennings
By Willie Howard
The Palm Beach Post (FL), October 29, 2009
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/10/29/1029lwmaxwell.html
Lake Worth - The race for the District 1 city commission seat turned personal this week when opponents of Scott Maxwell urged a restaurant not to host a gathering for the candidate and organized a rally against him today based on his stance on immigrants.
Before Maxwell met with supporters Wednesday night at the Nature's Way Cafe on Lake Avenue, City Commissioner Cara Jennings called cafe owner Gary Dario and told him that Maxwell was affiliated with hate groups and that she would not patronize his restaurant if he hosted the gathering. Dario said about 15 other people called, too, to deliver a similar message.
Dario said the encounter with Jennings made him decide that it was time to close his cafe.
'I did not threaten him with my position in any way,' Jennings said.
Organizers of today's rally at the Cultural Plaza, including the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition and the county's Coalition for Immigrant Rights, painted Maxwell as a supporter of hate groups based largely on guests and excerpts from his former radio show, Illegal Immigration: Connecting the Dots, which aired on WBZT AM-1230.
Maxwell ended the radio show after qualifying to run for the city commission.
During the rally, about 100 people gathered around the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial holding banners that read 'Keep Hate Groups Out of Lake Worth' and 'Lake Worth Honors Diversity.'
Panagioti Tsolkas, co-chairman of the Environmental Coalition, said Maxwell's broadcasts link him to groups such as Floridians for Immigration Enforcement, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Center for Immigration Studies and the Minutemen, a border-patrol group.
A Web site compiled by organizers of the rally claims Maxwell is 'tied to anti-immigration militias and racist hate groups.'
Maxwell, 51, a former city commissioner, has been endorsed by Retha Lowe, the District 1 commissioner. After 12 years on the commission, Lowe decided not to seek re-election this year.
'I'm a minority commissioner and I'm supporting Maxwell because I think he's the best person to move the city forward, not backward,' Lowe said.
Maxwell did not attend today's rally, but several of his supporters waved his campaign signs and argued with those who criticized the candidate, who is running against Ron Exline, a former mayor and commissioner, in Tuesday's election.
'These are desperate people,' Maxwell said after hearing of the accusations and the rally. 'I'm concerned we have to deal with people who will do anything and say anything to divert voters' attention.'
As for his stance on immigration, Maxwell said, 'It's not the cornerstone of my campaign.'
Thursday's rally ended with a prayer for peace led by Lisa Stewart of the Quaker Church.
'We asked for a moment of silence where every person, in their own tradition, prayed for peace and tolerance in Lake Worth,' Stewart said.
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16.
Supporters, protesters greet Obama in Miami
By Danielle Alvarez, Karina Chavarria and Nicole List
The South Florida Times, October 30, 2009
In his two-day visit to Florida this week, President Barack Obama left behind $1.5 million to buoy Democratic congressional races and $200 million in federal stimulus money to boost the state’s energy capabilities.
“The president showed a real commitment to Florida for only having had nine months in office,” said Adam Sharon, a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami.
Obama did a whirlwind sweep of the state, stopping first in Jacksonville on Monday, where he visited the city’s Naval base and spoke to 3,500 servicemen and women. Later that afternoon, he arrived in Miami Beach, where he immediately attended a fundraiser at which supporters paid $500 to have dinner with the president.
. . .
Members of the Haitian-American community also wanted to send a message to Obama. They came out to urge the president to take a stand on granting Temporary Protected Status to Haitian Americans.
“After 10 months in office, the Obama administration has not responded to several appeals from Haitian advocates nationwide regarding granting of
Temporary Protected Status designation to approximately 30,000 Haitian Nationals,” said Jean-Robert Lafortune, chairman of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition.
“Haitian-Americans from South Florida met on three occasions with administration officials in order to advocate for TPS,” Lafortune added. “We told the administration that undocumented Haitians cannot continue to live on hope alone.”
The TPS provision grants temporary immigration status to foreign nationals who live in the United States but whose countries are recognized by the U.S. as being temporarily unsafe.
Susana Barciela, policy director at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, also voiced her concern about the president’s inaction on TPS.
'We had high hopes that the Obama administration would grant TPS soon after coming into office,” Barciela said. “We've been disappointed. There are simple remedies that would offer Haitians work permits and allow them to send the remittances that Haiti desperately needs. That's the least that this administration should do.'
Lafortune said the organization’s latest protest efforts did not fall on deaf ears with the administration. The day after the president left, he received a call from an administration official.
“We let them know that the TPS campaign will continue ‘til we get results,” he said.
“We are not asking the administration for preferential or special treatment. We are asking for the same benefits that citizens from Sierra Leone, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador have received.”
. . .
http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3503&Itemid=199
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17.
Supervisor: Plant workers given immigration cards
The Associated Press, October 29, 2009
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.
. . .
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMfmue_HkGVs_xOxsMilUlThrH4wD9BKSNF02
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18.
31 to receive certificate of naturalization today
By Brian Duggan
The Nevada Appeal (Carson City), October 30, 2009
Three adults and 28 children will receive their certificate of naturalization today during a ceremony in the Nevada State Capitol.
The 31 participants, who hail from 12 countries and range from 2 years of age to 34, are already U.S. citizens whose parents either gave birth in the United States or became naturalized before their children turned 18.
. . .
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20091030/NEWS/910299966/1006/NONE&parentprofile=1058
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19.
Immigration and customs agent arrested on domestic-battery charge
By Susan Jacobson
The Orlando Sentinel, October 29, 2009
A special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was arrested today on a battery charge after he went to his ex-girlfriend's apartment to discuss their breakup, authorities said.
The woman told investigators that Dwight Pinder, 47, was waiting outside her Orange County apartment at 9:20 a.m. today. When she came out, Pinder grabbed her and pulled on her arm, but she got away and called 911 at the apartment complex office, sheriff's investigators said.
. . .
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-immigration-agent-busted-102909,0,3901207.story
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20.
Slaying suspect fights extradition
By Scott J. Croteau
The Telegram and Gazette (Worcester, MA), October 30, 2009
A Worcester man arrested in New Jersey Tuesday on charges of gunning down his roommate Sunday night in Worcester is fighting extradition to Massachusetts, authorities said.
. . .
Mr. Garcia was allegedly evasive about his date of birth and other information. Southbridge police found a red flag about his immigration status and contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Paperwork for Mr. Garcia to report for a hearing on his status was sent over. A hearing was then supposed to occur Tuesday.
. . .
http://www.telegram.com/article/20091030/NEWS/910300414/1003/NEWS03
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21.
Two sentenced for ID theft
The Topeka Capital Journal, October 29, 2009
Kansas City, KS - Two Olathe men have been sentenced to federal prison for identity theft, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today.
Benito M. Dominguez, 47, was sentenced to 54 months, while his son, Jose E. Dominguez, 22, got 48 months.
. . .
On Oct. 22, 2008, investigators served a search warrant at the home of Benito and Jose Dominguez at 120 Saxony in Olathe. They seized materials for manufacturing fraudulent documents including templates for Social Security cards, permanent resident alien cards and driver's licenses, a device for laminating cards, and notebooks containing handwritten names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers.
. . .
On Jan. 9, 2009, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested eight Engineered Air employees who had used stolen identities to obtain employment. Investigators determined Benito Dominguez was charging approximately $350 for a full set of fraudulent documents, which included a Social Security card and a resident alien card. Jose Dominguez helped his father create the false documents.
. . .
http://cjonline.com/news/state/2009-10-29/two_sentenced_for_id_theft
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22.
Molestation of girl nets 1 year in prison
By James Tinley
The New Haven Register, October 30, 2009
A Superior Court judge sentenced a Derby man accused in a molestation case to one year in prison Thursday, even though the prosecutor was seeking only a period of probation with stringent conditions.
Ceasar Rueda, 45, had previously pleaded guilty to risk of injury to a minor based on allegations he molested a 14-year-old girl in his basement July 7.
. . .
Rueda is originally from Nicaragua and will “likely be placed in removal proceedings by the Immigration and Naturalization Services,” Cradle added.
. . .
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/10/30/news/valley/b1-derueda.txt
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23.
Mexican military finds tunnel 100 feet from US
The Associated Press, October 27, 2009
Tijuana (AP) - Mexico—Mexican soldiers have discovered a secret tunnel complete with electricity and an air supply that may have been planned for smuggling migrants or drugs under the U.S. border into San Diego.
Reporters in Tijuana were invited by military officials on Tuesday to a private, industrial property about 100 feet south of San Diego's Otay Mesa border crossing. Law enforcement officials opened the property for the media and then left.
The journalists, including about 20 reporters, photographers and videographers, walked around until they spotted a big hole, the entrance to a 4-foot-wide tunnel behind a tractor-trailer.
. . .
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_13656116?source=most_viewed
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24.
ICE Confirms That Amuse Bouche Street-Food Vendor is Detained, Will Be Deported
By John Birdsall
The San Francisco Weekly, October 29, 2009
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) told SFoodie she could confirm that street-food vendor Murat Celebi-Ariner is currently in detention, and will be deported.
. . .
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2009/10/ice_confirms_that_street-food.php
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********Support the Center for Immigration Studies by donating on line here: http://cis.org/donate
ATTN Federal employees: The Center's Combined Federal Campaign number is 10298.
[For CISNEWS subscribers --
1. Canada: Son of alleged Muslim extremist expelled (link)
2. U.K.: Gov't mulls deportation of failed Zim. asylum seekers (2 stories)
3. E.U.: Frontex may institute deportation charter flights
4. U.K.: Russia requests streamlined visa process
5. U.K.: U.K.: Bermuda residents rush to beat passport deadline
6. France: Gov't 'national pride' campaign aims at Islamic fundamentalism
7. Spain: Parliament approves controversial reform (2 stories)
8. Spain: Illegal entry decreases by 50 percent this year
9. Spain: 53 Nigerian illegal aliens deported
10. Turkey: Official defends enforcement effort
11. Singapore: Officer charged for accepting bribes
12. Thailand: 42 North Korean refugees detained (story, link)
13. Indonesia: Gov't extends deadline for refugee ship to depart
14. Australia: Student visa program linked to crime
15. Australia: PM faces standoff with asylum seekers (3 stories)
Subscribe to CIS e-mail services here: http://cis.org/immigrationnews.html
-- Mark Krikorian]
1.
Son of suspected Muslim extremist expelled from Canada
Canadian resident, apprehended in Windsor, agreed go with FBI, border agency says
By Paul Koring
The Globe and Mail (Toronto), October 29, 2009
Windsor police apprehended the son of a suspected Muslim extremist killed this week in Detroit by U.S. agents, and within hours Canadian border agents expelled him from the country.
“We have him now,” FBI Special Agent Sandra Berchtold said Thursday.
Mujahid Carswell, also known as Mujahid Abdullah, 30, had been living openly in Windsor for months and moving routinely back and forth between Windsor and Detroit.
Canadian border agents declined to say why Mr. Carswell had been expelled or whether he was entitled to any hearing.
The section of the FBI complaint involving Mr. Carswell says he was involved in teaching martial arts to young children in mosques on both sides of the river separating Detroit and Windsor and that he sometimes beat them.
Most of the complaint involves allegations that he was selling stolen furs and laptop computers.
“The FBI would like to thank the RCMP and Canadian law enforcement for their assistance,” Ms. Berchtold said, but RCMP spokeswoman Julie Gagnon said the Mounties were not involved in the raid by Windsor police, who apprehended Mr. Carswell around 1 p.m. less than a kilometre from the border-tunnel portal.
. . .
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/son-of-suspected-muslim-extremist-expelled-from-canada/article1344647/
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2.
UK plans Zimbabwe asylum removals
The Home Office has announced it wants to resume the removal of failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers.
By Dominic Casciani
The BBC News, October 29, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8331731.stm
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.
+++
UK to resume Zimbabwe deportations
THE UK Government has announced that it will resume scheduled deportation flights for failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers.
By Tendai Mashingaidze
The Zimbabwe Guardian, October 30, 2009
http://www.talkzimbabwe.com/news/117/ARTICLE/5586/2009-10-30.html
The announcement comes just 24hrs after an envoy from the United Nations claimed that the situation in the country was 'worsening' and Amnesty International claimed the nation was once again on the 'brink of violence'.
The UK High Court deemed in 2006 that forced returns to Zimbabwe would endanger the lives of any opponents of President Robert Mugabe.
However, Immigration minister Phil Woolas claims that since Zimbabwe's all-party agreement was launched in June the situation in the country has improved greatly, prompting Woolas to ‘normalize’ returns.
According to a written statement by Woolas to Parliament the UK Border Agency will begin the return process over autumn and will grow progressively as the political situation stabilises.
Woolas argued that Zimbabwe has seen improvements in the economy, education and basic commodity availability.
Woolas also announced a controversial £6,000 repatriation incentive package which would involve £2,000 cash with the remainder in funded aid.
Refugee and human rights groups have denounced the decision, claiming that Zimbabwe was 'still unstable and the crisis was worsening. '
Asylum campaigners say around 11 000 Zimbabweans, many of them 'opponents' of President Mugabe, have sought asylum in Britain, and thousands have had their applications refused.
The Refugee Council, which provides advice to asylum seekers, welcomed the improvements to the help available to Zimbabweans who wish to return home, but said any consideration of enforced returns was 'ludicrous'.
'In the past few days allegations of arrest, intimidation and harassment of supporters of the MDC and of human rights defenders have been widely reported,' said Donna Covey, the council's chief executive.
She also said that a 'crisis hit Zimbabwe's fragile coalition this month when the MDC said it would stop attending cabinet meetings in protest at the arrest of one of its senior officials and Mugabe's refusal to implement fully a political agreement'.
'Our government is showing a cavalier attitude to the safety of refugees who have stood up for democracy and human rights .... it is of great concern that the government are now considering returns to Zimbabwe,' Covey said.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of a report that the Home Office was “bending the rules” on asylum so it can meet a promise to clear a backlog of 450,000 cases by 2011.
A leaked document earlier this month revealed that migrants from countries with poor human rights records can be granted leave to remain in the UK after being in the country for a minimum of six years, down from the previous 10 to 12 years.
This meant that 40,000 cases were now exempt from the risk of deportation, though the Home Office insists the number of people benefiting from the “change in guidance” is far smaller.
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3.
European deportation charters could become routine
Undocumented immigrants could be sent home from Europe in chartered flights under a proposal being considered by European Union leaders at a two-day summit in Brussels.
Radio France Internationale, October 30, 2009
http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/118/article_5682.asp
Opponents argue the measure is too repressive and will present a poor image of Europe.
The draft proposal, which may be altered by the assembled heads of state and government, calls for an 'examination of the possibility of regular chartering financed by Frontex, the EU border service, of return flights'.
Several delegations deemed the measure in need of amendment, with one diplomat arguing 'the proposal will not pass like that'.
The idea of charter flights came originally from the French, with support from Italy, one of Europe's frontline countries where illegal immigrants land after perilous journeys from Africa and the Middle East.
France and Britain organised a joint flight last week to send three Afghan citizens to Kabul from France and 24 from Britain. Human rights groups protested angrily to the move.
French Immigration Minister Eric Besson recently spoke in favour of more such joint flights 'under the European banner' for the forced return of immigrants to their country of origin.
Frontex is tasked with patrolling 42,000 kilometres of the EU's sea borders and 8,800 kilometres of land frontier.
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4.
Russia seeks straightforward UK visa regime
By Liam Clifford
Global Visas, October 30, 2009
http://www.globalvisas.com/news/russia_seeks_straightforward_uk_visa_regime1762.html
Russia will ask the UK to reconsider it's UK visa system for Russian visitors.
Russia and the UK are soon to discuss the possibility of normalising relations in a move that may see a simpler UK visa system being introduced for Russians.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says he sees no obstacles in normalising relations with the UK, stating that the country has long been willing to do so: “the same as it happened with the United States, Russia does not have to take any efforts. We are always prepared for an equal dialogue and co-operation.”
British foreign secretary David Milliband is set to visit Moscow in early November in response to an invitation from Lavrov. The two will discuss simplifying the visa regime for Russians hoping to obtain a UK visa. This process is currently very complicated and this has been a bone of contention for Russia for some time. As a result, Lavrov is keen to simplify this process as part of the moves to improve the relationship between the Russia and UK immigration.
Lavrov was quick to point out that Russia never applied tough visa measures for the UK and it is ready to embark on normal relations. He stated, “Moscow did not suspend facilitation of the visa regime with London or co-operation between secret services. We are prepared for a reset.”
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5.
Immigration Dept. flooded with residents trying to beat deadline
By Nadia Arandjelovic
The Royal Gazette (Bermuda), October 30, 2009
http://www.royalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d9af2b30030017§ionId=60
Lines of people desperate to beat a Government deadline for submitting British passport applications on Island, spilled out onto the Immigration Department's corridors this week.
Residents have until 4 p.m. today, to file applications directly with the Department of Immigration. As of Monday, applications must be couriered at personal expense to Washington DC.
The cost of the British passport will remain the same $212 for adults and $135 for children under the age of 16. However the cost of sending the application and paying for the passport's return via UPS, drives the price up by $21.
The new rules will not affect applications for Bermuda passports.
Curtis Hodgson, 38, a kitchen porter at Lobster Pot, picked up necessary forms earlier in the week. His plan was to return them to the Department of Immigration today: 'I'm going to get it in as soon as possible. It's easier.'
The changes, which are part of a worldwide initiative to streamline the Foreign and Commonwealth passport operations, are expected to make the process more cost-effective, secure and sustainable.
Marita Grimes, a personal service manager for the Immigration Department said yesterday: 'The only change that is taking place is that the Department of Immigration will no longer facilitate the processing of the British citizen passport.
'We want to advise members of the public that if they don't meet the deadline, they will still have an opportunity to apply directly for their passport by sending the information to Washington DC.'
Mrs. Grimes continued: 'Over the course of today and tomorrow, I would like to encourage the public's patience. We have a great team at the Department of Immigration and our personnel are working tirelessly to ensure that all our customers' needs are met.'
Applications that have the correct supporting documentation and payment fee will be assessed within ten working days of receipt. However persons will need to allow extra time for their applications to transit between Bermuda and Washington.
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6.
France’s national pride campaign to battle Islamic fundamentalism
The Malta Independent Online, October 30, 2009
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=96412
France is to adopt a series of measures to ‘reaffirm pride’ in the country and combat Islamic fundamentalism.
They include everybody receiving lessons in the nation’s Christian history and children singing the national anthem.
Using words which infuriated ethnic minority groups and Socialist opponents, immigration minister Eric Besson also said he wanted ‘foreigners to speak better French’.
He called for all recent arrivals to be monitored by ‘Republican godfathers’, charged with helping immigrants to integrate better.
His proposed measures contrast sharply with the situation in Britain where ‘citizenship education’ centres on multicultural diversity.
Mr Besson, who was born in the former French protectorate of Morocco, suggested a debate on national identity’ entitled ‘What does it mean to be French?’
He also reignited the debate about face and body-covering Muslim veils, saying they should definitely be banned.
As well as providing civic lessons for adults – including classes about the country’s Christian history and liberal political institutions – the government will encourage school children to sing the national anthem at least once a year.
His proposed measures contrast sharply with the situation in Britain where ‘citizenship education’ centres on multicultural diversity and the European Union, while ‘God Save The Queen’ is not even taught in schools.
In an interview broadcast on national TV, Mr Besson said: ‘It’s necessary to reaffirm the values of national identity and the pride of being French.
‘I think, for example, that it would be good for all young French people to have the chance to sing The Marseillaise at least once a year.’
Making clear that radical Islam was a threat, Mr Besson said: ‘In France, the nation and the republic remain the strongest ramparts against... fundamentalist tendencies. France is diversity, and France is unity.’
Mr Besson defended a decision to send illegal Afghan immigrants – all of them Muslim – back to Kabul on charter flights organised in conjunction with the British government last week, saying there would be many more.
More than 21,000 people have been deported from France this year – with 27,000 the ultimate target, said Mr Besson.
He also reignited the debate about face and body-covering Muslim veils, saying they should definitely be banned.
‘For me, there should be no burqas on the street,’ said Mr Besson. ‘The burqa is against national values – an affront to women’s rights and equality.’
Explaining the apparent shift to the extreme right by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government, Mr Besson evoked the legacy of Jean Marie Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Front party, which is struggling massively with huge debts and low electoral support.
Mr Besson said: ‘We should never have abandoned to the National Front a number of values which are part of the Republic’s heritage. I think that the political death of the National Front would be the best news for all of us.’
But Mohammed Moussaoui, a prominent French Muslim leader, said debates like the one about the burqa were stigmatising the country’s entire Muslim community, which at some five million is the largest in western Europe.
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7.
Spanish parliament approves controversial immigration law
Spain's lower house of parliament has approved a controversial law which extends from 40 to 60 days the maximum period that illegal immigrants can be held in detention centres before being deported.
Agence Press France, October 30, 2009
http://www.expatica.com/es/news/spanish-news/Spanish-parliament-approves-controversial-immigration-law_57691.html
Madrid -- The draft law also imposes restrictions on parents joining their immigrant children in Spain, which has seen the unemployment rate soar to nearly 18 percent, the highest level in the European Union.
It now goes to the Senate, the upper house of parliament, and if it passes as expected the new rules will take effect in 2010.
The draft law has drawn widespread criticism from Latin America, from where the bulk of Spain's immigrants come from as well as from rights groups who point out it allows illegal immigrants to be held for longer than criminal suspects.
But the conservative opposition Popular Party accuses the Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's of not doing enough to curb illegal immigration.
Spain's secretary of state for immigration, Consuelo Rumi, said the law was 'modern, has integrity, was in favour of integration, reinforces the efficiency of the fights against illegal immigration and puts the focus on order, control and legality.'
The new law comes at a time of mounting concern over immigration in Spain, which entered into its first recession in 15 years at the end of last year.
One in two Spaniards, 46 percent, see immigration as a serious threat, according to a 2008 poll by the Real Instituto Elcano think tank.
The number of immigrants in Spain has rocketed from 500,000 in 1996 to 5.5 million in 2008 out of a total population of 46.7 million people.
Romanians make up Spain's largest foreign community with 796,576 members, followed by Moroccans with 710,401 members and Ecuadorians with 413,715.
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Spanish Lawmakers Approve Bill to Tighten Immigration
EFE, October 30, 2009
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=346401&CategoryId=12395
MADRID -- The lower house of Spain’s Parliament on Thursday approved a reform of immigration law that allows the transference of guardianship for unaccompanied minors to regional administrations and NGOs, regulates the situation of the victims of the sex trade or sexual abuse and limits family reunification.
The bill, proposed by the Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, passed without support from the conservative main opposition Popular Party and moves now to the Senate, where passage is expected.
After much debate, family reunification remains limited to children under 18 – with exceptions for disability – and the parents of the person and his/her spouse “when they are in charge of them, they are older than 65 and there exist reasons justifying the need to authorize their residence in Spain.”
Also, in these cases the public administration entities will promote the participation of the reunified people in language classes and “socio-cultural integration programs.”
In addition, the new law allows Spain’s autonomous regions to grant initial work and residence permits limited to their own territories, establish relations with other countries for contracting workers and processing visas and collecting taxes and appropriate administrative penalties.
The regions likewise will be able to certify the level of integration of immigrants, assume or transfer the guardianship of unaccompanied minors and establish accords with the countries of origin to obtain “attention and social integration (for) the minors.”
The regulation also expands the internment period from the current 40 days to 60.
The law also details the integration efforts that immigrants must make if they want to renew their work or residence permits and specifies that they must participate in training courses about “constitutional and statutory values,” human rights, “tolerance and equality” and language proficiency.
During the parliamentary debate on the bill, the PP announced that it will reform the law insofar as it has the chance to do so.
The conservatives contend that this reform will not serve to stem what they describe as the “avalanche” of undocumented immigrants.
Criticizing the measure from the opposite perspective, Amnesty International says the measure is focused on national security and economic considerations instead of guaranteeing respect for access and the protection of human rights.
Several Spanish charities and refugee-aid organizations assert that the new law includes important restrictions that will seriously affect the immigrants already living in the country.
Foreign-born residents make up nearly 10 percent of Spain’s roughly 46 million people.
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8.
Illegal entry into Spain down by 50%
Based on data of the entire European Union, Spain repeated this year its third place as a destination for illegal immigration, with nine percent of all illegal crossings.
The Barcelona Reporter, October 30, 2009
http://www.barcelonareporter.com/index.php?/news/comments/illegal_entry_into_spain_down_by_50/3010090327am
Illegal crossings over the Spanish border either by land or sea have reduced more than half so far this year, as of today there have been 7000 clandestine penetrations against the 17,000 recorded in the same period in 2008, according to data given at a press conference by the Deputy Executive Director of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (FRONTEX), Gil Arias.
Based on data of the entire European Union, Spain repeated this year its third place as a destination for illegal immigration, with nine percent of all illegal crossings.
In first place is Greece, which absorbs 70%, followed by Italy with 13 percent. These three countries are accumulating 91 percent of illegal border crossings throughout the Union.
However, Gil Arias said the economic crisis has much to do with the figures and said that there are 'some 4,000 people' in Mauritania who are expecting a better chance of finding work in Europe who will make the trip. The same situation is occurring in countries such as Senegal, according to Frontex, so a resurgence is expected when the economic situation improves.
In parallel, Andalusia and Levante have become 'the main entry point by sea to Spain' as FRONTEX has documented more clandestine arrivals on their shores as part of operations developed in the region in 2008.
In 2009, 65 percent of those intercepted were from Algeria, and most of them were headed to the shores of the Levant. After Moroccans, secondly, were Malians. This year has also witnessed a decrease (18% less) in the number of illegal immigrants detected within the Community.
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9.
Spain deports 53 illegal Nigerian immigrants
Xinhua News, October 29, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/29/content_12356003.htm
LAGOS (Xinhua) -- Fifty-three Nigerians deported from Spain arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Wednesday aboard an Air Europa flight.
A Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) source at the Airport said the deportees comprised 31 females and 22 males, the News Agency of Nigeria reported on Thursday.
The source said 47 of them were deported for immigration-related offences, and the six others, over alleged criminal offences.
Between Sept, 27 and Oct. 22, more than 1,064 Nigerians were deported from Libya.
Fifty-eight Nigerians were also deported from Ireland on Oct. 23.
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10.
Turkey frets over EU's illegal immigration stance
By Abdullah Bozkurt
Todays Zaman, October 30, 2009
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-191471-100-turkey-frets-over-eus-illegal-immigration-stance.html
HELSINKI -- As European Union countries are increasingly swamped with soaring illegal immigration, putting social infrastructure and safety systems under increasing strain, Turkey's role of being a front state serving as a barrier becomes more and more important, says Turkey's top negotiator for the EU accession process.
Egemen Bagis, the state minister charged with shepherding the country's EU negotiations, was in the Finnish capital of Helsinki earlier this week to pitch this very notion. “The metaphor of Turkey 'being a bridge' alone is no longer a valid argument by itself,” he said, arguing the country also has served as a barrier to many problems creating headaches for EU member-states in recent years, ranging from illegal immigration to the narcotics trade. Illegal immigration has been a source of tension between Turkey, an EU candidate country, and EU officials in the last couple of years. Many people who fled chaos in Iraq and conflict and poverty-stricken countries to the east of Turkey have flocked to the EU, seeking refuge in relatively stable and prosperous countries.
These people have started to venture out to reach Europe at all costs, sometimes getting killed in capsized makeshift boats in the Aegean waters between Turkey and Greece. Battered economies stemming from the global economic crisis in EU member-states, however, have taken a heavy toll on employment and social security systems. That helped turn the attention of public opinion to illegal immigration as a factor in growing unemployment in many countries. Politicians added fuel to the discussion when they rushed to capitalize on the sensitive issue in order to take advantage of the public interest.
Trading blame
The EU alleges that Turkey is not doing enough to tackle illegal immigration coming from the east, claiming the country has failed to fulfill its promises to repatriate illegal immigrants who pass through Turkey and are later detained in EU member-states.
“Well, this is not exactly true,” says Bagis, who talked with Today's Zaman on his return flight from Helsinki to Ankara. “First of all, we have done a great job of apprehending the bulk of these immigrants on Turkish soil,” he underlined, complaining about the lack of appreciation from Brussels on the matter.
Turkey apprehended approximately 65,000 illegal immigrants in 2008, marking a big spike from the previous year. Ankara maintains that the problem is a heavy financial burden on the state budget.
Bagis lashes out at EU critics who decline to pitch in to share in the financial burden for the repatriation of illegal immigrants to Turkey for deportation to their source countries. “I understand where these critics are coming from, but they need to be able to shoulder part of the financial cost with Turkey,” Bagis asserted, saying not all these immigrants have passed through Turkish territory.
Bagis uses the problem as another convincing argument that the EU needs Turkey much more than Turkey needs the EU. “Without us being involved in the resolution of the problem, the EU can't protect its borders from illegal immigration or the narcotics trade,” he pointed out, adding they would very much like to work out a solution in coordination with EU officials.
The discussion of illegal immigration has also strained Turkish-Greek relations, as Greece naturally becomes the first country for people who seek safe refuge after crossing Turkish soil. Turkey and Greece signed a re-admission agreement in 2001 to manage the flow of people, but Athens claims the treaty is not working. Brussels siding with Greece on the issue received a harsh rebuke from Ankara last month.
Re-admission treaty looks distant
The EU's top migration official, Jacques Barrot, who accused Turkey of turning a blind eye to the trafficking of illegal migrants to Greece, has drawn the ire of Turkish officials. The Turkish side contends the country has been facing a growing influx of illegal migrants and has been trying to counter this problem resolutely with its increasing capacity.
Remarks by Barrot, the vice president of the European Commission and commissioner for justice and security, came after the EU Council made reference to Turkey and its responsibilities on the same issue in the illegal migration paragraph of the Presidency's conclusions following a meeting held in Brussels June 18-19.
Barrot is expected to pay a visit to Ankara on Nov. 5. He will meet with both the interior and justice ministers to make a sales pitch for a re-admission treaty with Turkey. Bagis said both the EU and Turkey have agreed in principle to establish such a treaty. “However there are some strong disagreements on the substance which remain to be resolved,” he underlined.
Bagis emphasized that Turkey has continuously said that it would expect its European partners to share the burden on its shoulders caused by illegal migration but lamented the lack of cooperation from its EU partners. “So far we have not seen a real partnership approach on the issue, and I very much hope Barret will come with a different attitude when he visits Turkey next week,” he noted. “If the EU does not offer any substantive plan to share the financial costs, a proposed new treaty dealing with the repatriation of illegal immigrants would be stillborn” Bagis underlined.
The Turkish side complains that the financial assistance by the EU for the repatriation of illegal immigrants heavily favors the Greek government. Approximately 70 euros are provided to Turkey per person to offset the cost of re-admission, hosting, processing and deporting to the country of origin. However, the EU gives 1,000 euros per person to the Greek side.
Another point of contention between Turkey and the EU over illegal immigration is the former's exclusion from treaties signed by the EU with third countries. For example the EU's ongoing negotiations for a re-admission treaty with Pakistan would impact Turkey, as most illegal immigrants from Pakistan choose to cross Turkey in their transit passage to the EU.
Turkey's top negotiator also unveiled a plan to better secure Turkey's borders against the flow of illegal immigration and the narcotics trade. “We would establish a 50,000-man-strong border patrol agency to deal with this,” he told Today's Zaman. The new agency will monitor border security in line with Schengen criteria, he said. Bagis also revealed that the Reform Monitoring Group (RIG), a high-level meeting of key Cabinet members held every month to monitor the progress and implementation of EU reforms, is weighing lifting the reservations Turkey had lodged in the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
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11.
Senior immigration officer charged with accepting bribes
Channel News Asia, October 29, 2009
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1014540/1/.html
SINGAPORE -- A senior immigration officer was charged in court on Thursday with accepting S$1,550 in bribes.
54-year-old Mah Chin Phock faced eight charges of taking bribes in the form of cash and loans, between June and November 2007. He was a Senior Immigration and Checkpoints Specialist when he accepted the bribes from a coffee shop owner, Chia Ngee Seng.
Chia had provided 'U-turn' services to female Chinese nationals entering Singapore via the Woodlands checkpoint. These foreign women would go to Malaysia for a short period and return to Singapore to get their social visit passes extended.
Chia had sought the assistance of Mah to facilitate the entry of these Chinese nationals by conducting less stringent checks on them. In return, Chia had given Mah bribes, with amounts varying from S$100 to S$500, on eight occasions.
Chia also bribed Mah's supervisor, Matthew Goh, with 4D tickets. He did this in return for Goh to turn a blind eye on his colleague's illegal activities.
Goh was sentenced to six months' jail in March this year, and Chia was sentenced to ten months' imprisonment on October 22.
If convicted, Mah could be jailed for up to five years or fined up to S$100,000, or both.
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12.
North Koreans Held in Thailand
Thai authorities detain a group of would-be North Korean defectors.
Radio Free Asia, October 29, 2009
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/defectorsthailand-10292009160520.html
SEOUL -- A group of North Korean defectors trying to flee through Laos across the Mekong River has been apprehended and placed in an immigration detention center in northern Thailand, according to an authoritative source there.
The group of 42 is the largest detained by Thai police officers this year. They crossed the Mekong River from Laos and were detained Oct. 21, the Thai source, who asked not to be named, said in an interview.
“It has been confirmed that they are currently being held at an immigration detention facility in Shinsen, Chiang Rai province,” the source said.
A crackdown on North Korean defectors in China has intensified recently, causing the defectors to flee the country via Laos.
Between January and September this year, 190 North Korean defectors were imprisoned at the Thai immigration detention facility in Chiang Rai.
In October, a total of 60 North Korean defectors were detained in Thailand, marking a steep increase in the number of those attempting to cross the Thai border.
One expert believes that the reason for the increased number of river crossings by North Korean defectors is the decreasing water level of the Mekong River.
On Oct. 13, a 20-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man—both North Korean defectors—were arrested on a bus in Chiang Rai province, according to a report by local Thai broadcasters.
Sources inside Thailand disclosed that a 61-year-old woman and two 35-year-old men were arrested on a bus Oct. 27.
Three other North Korean defectors were also apprehended on a bus on Oct. 28, the sources said.
Thai police suspect that 10 more North Korean defectors have gone into hiding.
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42 Detained in Thailand Suffer South Korea's Lame Treatment
By Yang Jung A
The Daily NK, October 30, 2009
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=5597
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13.
Indonesia extends deadline for refugee return
CCTV.com, October 30, 2009
http://english.cctv.com/program/worldwidewatch/20091030/104641.shtml
Indonesian officials have extended by a week the deadline for an Australian ship carrying 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to leave its waters.
The asylum seekers are ethnic Tamils, including women and children. They were found drifting in a wooden boat with a broken engine in international waters near Indonesia, where they were picked up by the Australian Customs Service ship 12 days ago. They were taken to an immigration center on Bintan Island in Indonesia to be assessed under United Nations refugee rules.
The Indonesian government has refused to move the Sri Lankans off the boat but Australia says the migrants are Indonesia's responsibility according to the laws of the sea. To complicate the issue, the Sri Lankans are reportedly refusing to get off the ship, saying they want to go to Australia.
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14.
Crime link to student scam
By Chris Johnston
The Age, October 31, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/crime-link-to-student-scam-20091030-hpwm.html
A cartel of migration agents linked to organised crime is running Melbourne's booming blackmarket in fake foreign student paperwork, federal investigators say.
The 10 registered migration agents employ a team of seven unregistered 'facilitators' to sell bogus education and work experience documents to students. The students use them to apply for permanent residency.
The rort is called the 'template scam'.
The migration agents buy letterheads and blank certificates from crooked trade schools and workplaces for $1000 each, then facilitators fill them out and sell them to students for $5000 to $15,000.
An investigation by the Immigration Department and federal police is under way. An immigration spokesman said the size and complexity was 'without precedent'.
A federal source said the facilitators did the 'dirty work'. 'If this was the drug trade, you would call them mules,' the source said.
Investigators say 2500 international students have used fake documents in Melbourne this year. The Age has learnt that up to 5000 visas may be cancelled by the Immigration Department within six months because they were granted with illegal paperwork. The visa holders would be deported or detained.
Investigators believe a Chinese-born businessman active in template scams also uses an identity crime racket to sell students fake passports and birth certificates, manufacturing new identities for six-figure amounts and earning $1.5 million a year.
A report to the Migration Institute of Australia, the industry's peak body, this year warned of 'sophisticated photo-morphing' techniques to make fake documents.
The institute's chief executive, Maurene Horder, speaking from India, said migration fraud was damaging Australia's reputation in international education, worth $15 billion a year to the economy. She said there were possibly many more people entering Australia illegally through student scams than people smuggling.
The template scam paperwork gives students passes in trade school courses and certifies 900 hours work in a course-related job. Investigators have identified 40 allegedly corrupt employers, all restaurants and printing workshops. The Age has obtained successfully used fake documents from a rooming house in the northern suburbs posing as a print workshop claiming students worked as 'very competant' graphic pre-press tradesmen who would be 'valuable, skilled worker(s)' in 'the Australian labor workforce'.
Some restaurants claiming to have employed hundreds of cookery students were found to be small takeaway shops with few real customers.
Two weeks ago investigators seized a USB stick — found in the pocket of jeans in a laundry basket in a suburban house — that contained 800 fake work references.
A 24-year-old Chinese-born woman, Xiaoyi 'Kelly' Huang, of Carnegie, was charged last week with migration fraud offences, including possessing 75 blank templates.
She was released with strict bail conditions but was permitted to communicate with her 'business partner', Qi 'Gary' Zhou. Mr Zhou's city office was raided late last year but he was not charged.
The raid uncovered a 'treasure trove', a source said, including 16 boxes of papers allegedly linking Hong Yun, Mr Zhou's former company, with suspect businesses, including a restaurant and a CBD trades school recently closed down by the Government after failing an audit.
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15.
Rising tide of asylum-seekers: Will Australia let them in?
Australian Prime Minister Rudd faces twin crises as he weighs how to handle Sri Lankan Tamil refugees picked up at sea by Australian and Indonesian ships and taken to Indonesian ports. The 'boat people' are refusing to disembark.
By Kathy Marks
The Christian Science Monitor, October 30, 2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1030/p06s07-woap.html
Sydney, Australia - It is the enduring image of the John Howard era: special-forces troops boarding a Norwegian freighter, the Tampa, to prevent it from docking in Australia with 430 asylum-seekers rescued from their sinking boat. The 2001 incident sparked international condemnation but it helped the conservative prime minister to win his third general election.
Now Howard's Labor successor, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd – who must call an election within the next 12 months – has his own Tampa: the Oceanic Viking, an Australian customs ship that picked up 78 Sri Lankan Tamils from a stricken vessel in Indonesia's search-and-rescue zone nearly a fortnight ago. Mr. Rudd has persuaded Indonesia to take in the asylum-seekers, but they were still refusing to disembark Friday, after five days anchored off the northern port of Kijang.
Meanwhile, another 255 Tamils intercepted by the Indonesian Navy en route to Australia have spent nearly three weeks in the port of Merak, in West Java. They too, are refusing to get off. They too, want to go to Australia, rather than being processed in an Indonesian detention center and then waiting, probably for years, to be resettled in another country.
The twin standoffs come amid a sudden increase in the number of asylum-seekers heading to Australia, often in rickety boats after having paid unscrupulous 'people-smugglers.' And they are proving a serious test for Rudd's government, which is facing criticism across the political spectrum for either opening the door to human smuggling or shirking responsibility on a humanitarian issue.
'Indonesian solution' on 'boat people'
The Rudd government sees Indonesia, the main transit point for the voyage to Australia, as the key to tackling the problem. Last week, the sprawling archipelago to Australia's north agreed to play a bigger part in intercepting and accommodating 'boat people' in exchange for fina0ncial assistance reported to amount to tens of millions of dollars.
The Australian media is calling it the 'Indonesian Solution': a reference to the so-called 'Pacific Solution,' which Howard thought up to resolve the Tampa crisis. The Tampa's mainly Afghan passengers, along with successive boatloads of would-be migrants, were shipped to the impoverished Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where they were processed by United Nations refugee officials, without access to the Australian legal system.
One of Rudd's first acts after being elected two years ago was to scrap the widely reviled 'Pacific Solution,' together with certain other hard-line policies, including 'temporary protection visas,' which entitled refugees to remain in Australia for only three years.
Others he retained, notably the policy of 'excising' offshore Australian islands from the country's migration zone. Asylum-seekers who reach Australian waters are taken to Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. Many, including some children, are kept in detention.
Now Rudd is under fire from both left and right: conservatives, including opposition politicians, claim his policies have 'rolled out the red carpet to people-smugglers,' while those on the left accuse him of offloading responsibility on to Indonesia. The use of Christmas Island – bursting at the seams following the arrival of 34 boats carrying about 1,700 people this year, the largest number for seven years – has been denounced by the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Australian opinion
Public opinion, meanwhile, is divided. A recent poll by the Lowy Institute for International Policy found that three-quarters of Australians are concerned about the rising number of asylum-seekers, who come mainly from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sri Lanka. But the debate, while lively, does not have the same stridency as in 2001, and has not harmed Rudd's popularity.
David Manne, of the Melbourne-based Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, says 'push factors' such as the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka – rather than more lenient government policies – are responsible for the spike in asylum-seekers. He points out that it is a global phenomenon, with Europe and other destinations also witnessing an increase.
Australia, he says, has been pursuing a policy for some years of persuading Indonesia and also Malaysia to 'warehouse' asylum-seekers. 'One of the fundamental problems is that these countries are not signatories to the UN Refugee Convention. They have very poor human rights records, particularly in relation to their treatment of refugees, and have even at times deported people back to their homeland.'
In Indonesia, says Mr. Manne, refugees are detained 'in appalling, dangerous, often prisonlike conditions' while they wait, sometimes for up to nine years, to be resettled.
Graham Thom, refugee coordinator for Amnesty International Australia, says the numbers of people seeking asylum here are still tiny. 'They've gone from nothing to very few, so it's hard to argue that we're being swamped or overrun.'
Rudd has not ruled out the use of force to remove the Tamils from the Oceanic Viking and transport them to a detention center on Bintan island. But local officials are lukewarm about the Indonesian Solution. The provincial governor, Ismeth Abdullah, said this week: 'We're not a dumping ground for other countries.'
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Asylum-seeker's eight-hour pole protest
By Paige Taylor
The Australian, October 31, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26284106-5013871,00.html
A group of agitated Sri Lankans facing deportation staged a tense standoff with police and immigration authorities yesterday when one scaled a pole in the Christmas Island detention centre and threatened to jump.
The six men were among a large group of detainees due to be flown off the island last night on a government charter and sent back to Sri Lanka without visas. But they refused to leave voluntarily.
Emotions ran high inside the detention centre yesterday morning before the man shimmied up the tall, steel lightpole at about 9.30am, apparently urged on by others determined to stage a protest.
Visiting guests and maintenance crews looked on in shock as detainees shouted and gestured to the man, who, almost eight hours later, was persuaded to come down.
Last night an immigration spokesman said all six men had agreed to end their protest and the detention centre was 'calm'.
'Protest action at the Christmas Island immigration detention centre has been peacefully resolved without incident,' a department spokesman said.
Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said the man who scaled the pole was one of three Sri Lankans who believed they were being tricked into signing forms agreeing to voluntary deportation.
'Anxiety levels among detainees have risen since the forced deportation of Sinhalese men in early October,' said Mr Rintoul, adding that yesterday's incident was one of the most serious at the centre.
Within minutes of the man climbing the pole, contractor Serco evacuated the area and locked down the communal recreation hub inside the centre.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship brought in a psychologist, police and other professionals to manage the situation.
During his high-level protest the detainee accepted water and ice and was offered food by officials who spoke to him from a cherrypicker. The five other men on the ground refused to co-operate.
On Wednesday the Rudd government deported 12 male Sri Lankan asylum-seekers, including a teenage boy, bringing the total number of asylum-seekers denied visas and sent home this year to 115.
Last night the department intended to press on with the removal of other asylum-seekers by charter plane, as well as the removal of 12 Indonesian boat crewmen.
The six Sri Lankans involved in yesterday's protest were not put on the flight.
Last night the Department of Immigration and Citizenship flew three Sri Lankans and a parent and child from Indonesia to immigration detention in Perth, from where they will be sent home.
The removals left 1127 asylum-seekers and 11 Indonesian crew on Christmas Island, including 925 men inside the immigration detention centre.
There were 131 in family groups at a converted construction workers' camp, 38 in demountables and 44 living in houses in what is termed community detention.
+++
Asylum seekers showdown averted for week
By Crystal Ja
Australian Associated Press, October 30, 2009
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/asylum-seekers-showdown-averted-for-week-20091030-hoqf.html
The Oceanic Viking has been granted approval to remain in Indonesian waters for another week, avoiding another possible showdown for its boatload of 78 asylum seekers.
The Australian customs vessel would have been forced from its current resting spot, 10 nautical miles off Bintan Island, had the Indonesians failed to extend the deadline due to expire on Friday.
Diplomatic clearance has been granted to the ship until November 6, and the federal government is confident it will be given repeatedly until a resolution can be found.
'We have infinite patience here,' a spokesman from Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor told AAP.
It means there is still no end in sight to the drama that unfolded for the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who refuse to make landfall, and the growing debate on home soil about border protection.
The opposition came under fire on Friday after its immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone let slip that it was planning a return to the tough policies of the Howard government.
'Our policy will include the suite of measures that we had before,' she told Fairfax Radio.
It was one step further than Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull had been prepared to go, having only conceded the coalition would introduce a refined version of Howard government policy.
Dr Stone said 'the suite of measures' included looking at the type of visa you do get if you come via an unauthorised, unlawful people-smuggler entry point.
That signalled a return to temporary protection visas, which had proven not to deter people smugglers, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said.
There were 3,722 irregular maritime arrivals in 1999, the year they were introduced, with another 8,459 arrivals in the following two years.
'An unfortunate consequence of this was that it forced more women and children to risk their lives with people smugglers on leaky boats because the harsh conditions attached to TPVs prevented people from being reunited with their families,' Senator Evans said.
The TPVs neither prevented people from staying in Australia nor had the support of the UNHCR, he said.
Dr Stone later sought to distance herself from the earlier comments, saying the measures were only up for discussion.
Any suggestion of returning to the policies of the Howard era would be atrocious, the Australian Greens said.
Their immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young is still advocating that the 78 asylum seekers be brought to Australia for processing immediately.
The group has been at sea for almost two weeks following their interception by an Australian navy vessel on October 18.
The spokesman from the home affairs minister's office said Australia would continue to monitor the health situation, including providing additional supplies and rotating crew if required.
A doctor is on board and all of the 78 were in adequate health, he said.
But the federal government was still keeping silent on the possible need for force in removing them from the boat, despite Indonesia's advice on Friday it would not physically intervene.
Ongoing debate about immigration policy comes as another boatload of asylum seekers arrived in Australian waters, the 37th this year.
Its 34 passengers and four crew members have been taken to Christmas Island.
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