Daily news updates from CIS

November 17, 2009

Domestic News -- Click Here for Overseas News

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[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. Feds relax vaccination requirements for foreign women
2. DOJ appointment meets resistance over imm. raids (story, 2 links)
3. Census seeks to reach foreign parents through kids
4. Ambassador: oil drives visas for corrupt foreign dignitaries
5. Clinton staffer to assume control of USCBP
6. New law eliminates “widows’ penalty”
7. Biden visits Sheriff Joe Arpaio (2 links)
8. Mexican consul says Dallas expats top priority
9. Report finds China fueling U.S. foreign student boom
10. MA governor's report urges tuition, licenses for illegals (story, 2 links)
11. Palestinian immigrant to make bid for TX governorship
12. AZ county sheriff launches two-day sweep (story, link)
13. NJ city police seeks answers on 287(g)
14. NY town mayor under fire for fraudulent marriage licenses
15. Episcopalians join campaign for amnesty
16. Latino groups build pressure for health care bill
17. CAIR announces 'new era of hope'
18. TX churches press for amnesty
19. Groups offer naturalization workshop in OR
20. CA forum to address mental illnesses among Asians
21. Illegals drive up CA health care costs
22. National pharmacy chain to verify NY construction contractors
23. CA woman's killer revealed as twice deported
24. Judge delays deportation of witnesses in detention death case
25. Mexican illegals stole tax refund checks (link)
26. Court dates set for accused Guatemalan killers (link)
27. ICE shuts down three Phoenix drop houses (link)

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
Immigrant girls and women seeking green cards will no longer be required to get HPV vaccine
By Anabelle Garay
The Associated Press, November 17, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-immigration-hpv,0,4453564.story

Dallas (AP) -- Immigrant girls and women will no longer have to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus to get their green cards.

Starting Dec. 14, the HPV, or human papillomavirus vaccine will no longer be on the list of immunizations female immigrants ages 11 to 26 must receive before becoming legal permanent residents.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the change on Friday. The CDC said it will require immunizations for which there is a public health need either at the time the person immigrates or changes their status to green card holder.

'More than half of the immigrants who come to the U.S. seeking opportunity are women,' Silvia Henriquez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, said in a statement. 'We thank the CDC for restoring their dignity and reproductive justice.'

Girls and women seeking to become legal permanent U.S. residents were required to get at least the first dose of the HPV vaccine, which protects against some strains of the virus blamed for cervical cancer. It was added to the list of required vaccinations for immigrants in July 2008.

Soon after, a coalition of more than 100 immigrant, health and women's advocacy groups challenged the requirement, saying it was unfair to require the HPV vaccine for immigrants but not for most U.S. citizens.

Attempts to require the vaccine for American girls has brought emotional debate and complaints that such mandates intrude on family decisions about sex education. In Texas, lawmakers fought off a 2007 order by Gov. Rick Perry requiring the shots for sixth-grade girls amid questions about vaccine's safety, efficacy and cost.

At a price of $400 to $1,000 for the three-shot series, the vaccine also was an added burden on green card applicants already paying more than a thousand dollars in application fees and hundreds of dollars for mandatory medical exams. Insurance companies do not cover health services required for immigration purposes, advocates pointed out.

'It also put the financial burden on the individual woman and her family,' Gabriela Valle, senior director of community outreach and mobilization for California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, said Monday. 'Not only are you taking my rights to make an informed decision over my body, over myself, over my daughter, but you're having me pay for it as well.'

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Merck & Co.'s Gardasil in 2006 to protect against the human papillomavirus. The CDC immunization advisory committee quickly followed up by recommending it for girls and young women.

For U.S. citizens, the committee's recommendations serve only to provide guidance on vaccines. But a 1996 change to the nation's immigration laws required anyone seeking permanent residency to get all the vaccinations recommended by the committee.

The CDC's newly adopted criteria to determine which vaccines will be required for immigrants says the vaccine must be age appropriate. It also must protect against a disease that has the potential to cause an outbreak, has been eliminated in the U.S. or is in the process of being eliminated from the country.

Aside from removing the HPV vaccine mandate, the change also means the Zoster vaccine to protect against shingles won't be required of immigrants 60 or older.

'They are not easily transmissible,' Dr. Katrin Kohl, deputy director in the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine, said of the two. 'They don't fit into the whole public health spirit of outbreak prevention.'

However, the agency continues to recommend both vaccines, Kohl said.

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2.
U.S. Attorney Nominee Criticized Over Raids
By Julia Preston
The New York Times, November 16, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/us/17attorney.html

Eleventh-hour criticism is arising over President Obama’s nomination for United States attorney in northern Iowa of a prosecutor who had a leading role in the criminal cases against hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested in a May 2008 raid at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa.

Those cases, the broadest use to date of tough criminal charges against immigrants caught working without authorization, were emblems of a crackdown on illegal immigration by the Bush administration.

In supporting the prosecutor, Stephanie Rose, Mr. Obama is following the recommendation of Senator Tom Harkin, the Democrat from Iowa who is an important ally — especially in the health care debate because he is chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Ms. Rose, a senior assistant United States attorney in the office she has been chosen to run, has also garnered support from criminal defense lawyers in Iowa, including at least 11 lawyers who defended immigrants from Postville. In those proceedings, 'she exhibited a level of competence and ability that would be hard to overstate,' the lawyers wrote in a letter in April.

But some defense and immigration lawyers have said that felony identity-theft charges against the immigrants were excessively harsh, that immigration lawyers were not given adequate access to their clients, and that improper contact took place between prosecutors and one judge. They contend that possible civil rights and ethical violations by prosecutors should have been investigated.

'Does she stand by those tactics?' asked David Leopold, the president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the national immigration bar. 'Would she engage again in this type of prosecution of scores of undocumented workers guilty of nothing more than civil immigration violations?'

The immigration lawyers’ association has not taken an official position on the nomination.

In May, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the identity-theft law could not be applied to prosecute immigrants only because they used false Social Security or visa numbers, as it was in many Postville cases.

Ms. Rose’s nomination was unanimously approved by the Judiciary Committee on Nov. 5 and is awaiting a vote by the full Senate.

Ms. Rose declined through a spokesman to comment at this point in the nomination process.

Katherine Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for the White House, said: 'As U.S. attorney, Stephanie Rose will be a great advocate for the people of Iowa. The president strongly supports her nomination.'

During 12 years in the northern district, Ms. Rose was the lead prosecutor in more than 200 criminal cases and argued 34 appeals, according to a fact sheet provided by Mr. Harkin.

After the raid at the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, 270 immigrants entered guilty pleas and were sentenced in four days of fast-track hearings, in temporary courtrooms in a cattle fairground. According to lawyers who participated, Ms. Rose distributed prepackaged plea agreements and was the principal case manager for the prosecutors.

In an interview, Mr. Harkin vigorously defended Ms. Rose, saying she is 'extremely bright and well versed with the law, has a lot of self assurance and a good demeanor for a U.S. attorney.'

In the Postville cases, Mr. Harkin said, officials in Washington made the strategic decisions about what charges to bring and what pleas to offer. 'Within the powers she had, she bent over backwards to make sure justice was done,' he said.

But at a hearing before the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee in July 2008, Deborah J. Rhodes, then senior associate deputy attorney general, testified that 'all of the charging decisions were made by career prosecutors in the local office.'

James Benzoni, an immigration lawyer in Des Moines whose office has secured visas for two dozen Postville immigrants as victims of exploitation, said, 'There was a general failure of due process and common decency.'

'You can’t go forward, you have to clean it up, and she’s not going to do that,' Mr. Benzoni said.

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U.S. Attorney Pick Criticized For Agriprocessors Prosecutions
By Jacqueline Palank
The Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2009
http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2009/11/17/us-attorney-pick-criticized-for-agriprocessors-prosecutions/

Will Immigration Crackdown Cost AUSA Her Shot at Top Post?
By Ashby Jones
The Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2009
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/11/17/will-immigration-crackdown-cost-ausa-her-shot-at-top-post/

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3.
In Immigrant Neighborhoods, a Way to Reach Adults Who Don't Speak English
By Miriam Jordan
The Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125840381259251035.html

Los Angeles -- The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting a new set of volunteers: kids.

Seeking to ensure strong participation in the decennial population count, especially in so-called hard-to-count neighborhoods, the bureau has decided children are key.

That has led it to settings like Arlene Paynes's first-grade class at Union Avenue Elementary School in this immigrant enclave on the edge of downtown. Last Thursday, the class gathered to read aloud a story titled 'Who Counts?'

They learned about a boy named Joey who helps his grandmother, an Italian immigrant, fill out the Census form that arrives in the mail. The grandmother and grandchild decide that those who 'count' in their household are Grandma, Mom, Dad, Joey, little sister Mary -- and even Mr. Macintosh, who occupies a spare room 'until he finds a job.' The only one who doesn't count: their cat Clover.

It is always a struggle to get everyone to participate, but the 2010 count is expected to present new challenges. The gloomy economy has forced many people to move or seek temporary residence with friends or family, making them harder to reach. And the U.S. is still absorbing the largest wave of immigrants since the beginning of the 20th century. Many aren't native English speakers; more than 10 million are here illegally.

The bureau is rolling out initiatives here and in other hard-to-reach tracts. It is running an information campaign in Spanish-language media, sending representatives to operate booths at street fairs and distributing forms in more languages than ever.

Early next year, households nationwide will begin receiving a form with 10 questions. It's shorter than in the past, according to Census officials, and should take only 10 minutes to complete.

'Making children part of the national conversation,' said Renee Jefferson-Copland, chief of the school program at the Census Bureau, might be one of the most effective tools for reaching many adults.

The goal of the school program is to reach 56 million students at 118,000 public and private schools in kindergarten through 12th grade. Scholastic Inc., the publishing company, worked with the bureau to develop material that could be integrated into math and social studies. Census lesson plans, accessible to schools on the Internet, are meant to help students develop map literacy, graphing and reading skills.

Most schools that participate in the voluntary program are likely to wait until just before Census questionnaires are mailed early next year. But the bureau has already distributed 900,000 maps to schools across the U.S. It also has been marketing the program to teachers' unions, school administrators and other educational groups. 'We want to build noise around this initiative,' said Ms. Jefferson-Copeland. The bureau also will dispatch 13 informational trucks to promote the program at school fairs and community events.

The program attempts to teach children why they and their families should participate in the Census. 'Many immigrant parents will rely on children to be their interpreters' for the Census, as they do during visits to clinics and stores, said Maureen Costello, project director for Scholastic.

About 98% of the 1,206 students at Union Avenue are Hispanic and most have working-class immigrant parents. The school sits in a neighborhood typical of those that historically show a low rate of participation in the Census. Residents are mostly poor, have little education and rent their dwellings.

Like Joey in the story, many children at the school live with extended-family members or people outside their family, said Joe Nardulli, the principal.

In their class, the first graders learned how the count works. After reading the story of Joey and his grandmother, Ms. Paynes asked the children why the count was happening after 10 years had passed. 'Some people have moved. Some people have come,' volunteered a boy named Edgar.

Ms. Paynes also reminded the children that a decade ago, 'you weren't even born.'

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4.
Taint of Corruption Is No Barrier to U.S. Visa
By Ian Urbina
The New York Times, November 17, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/us/17visa.html

Several times a year, Teodoro Nguema Obiang arrives at the doorstep of the United States from his home in Equatorial Guinea, on his way to his $35 million estate in Malibu, Calif., his fleet of luxury cars, his speedboats and private jet. And he is always let into the country.

The nation’s doors are open to Mr. Obiang, the forest and agriculture minister of Equatorial Guinea and the son of its president, even though federal law enforcement officials believe that 'most if not all' of his wealth comes from corruption related to the extensive oil and gas reserves discovered more than a decade and a half ago off the coast of his tiny West African country, according to internal Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement documents.

And they are open despite a federal law and a presidential proclamation that prohibit corrupt foreign officials and their families from receiving American visas. The measures require only credible evidence of corruption, not a conviction of it.

Susan Pittman, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement in the State Department, said she was prohibited from discussing specific visa decisions. But other former and current State Department officials said Equatorial Guinea’s close ties to the American oil industry were the reason for the lax enforcement of the law. Production of the country’s nearly 400,000 barrels of oil a day is dominated by American companies like ExxonMobil, Hess and Marathon.

'Of course it’s because of oil,' said John Bennett, the United States ambassador to Equatorial Guinea from 1991 to 1994, adding that Washington has turned a blind eye to the Obiangs’ corruption and repression because of its dependence on the country for natural resources. He noted that officials of Zimbabwe are barred from the United States.

'Both countries are severely repressive,' said Mr. Bennett, who is now a senior foreign affairs officer for the State Department in Baghdad. 'But if Zimbabwe had Equatorial Guinea’s oil, Zimbabwean officials wouldn’t still be blocked from the U.S.'

Shown the Justice Department documents that detail the accusations of corruption against Mr. Obiang, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who wrote the law restricting visas, expressed frustration and anger with the State Department, which is responsible for enforcing the law at the border.

'The fact that someone like Mr. Obiang continues to travel freely here suggests strongly that the State Department is not yet applying the law as vigorously as Congress intended,' Mr. Leahy said. The law was partly inspired by the accusations of corruption surrounding Mr. Obiang’s family and the Equatorial Guinean government, Mr. Leahy’s staff said.

'There are many instances of corrupt foreign officials plundering the natural resources of their countries for their own use while their people starve,' Mr. Leahy said. 'The law states clearly that if you do that, you are no longer welcome in the United States.'

Daniel Whitman, who retired in September as the deputy director of the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the Bureau of African Affairs at the State Department, agreed that the law should be used more forcefully. 'We just seem to lack the backbone to use this prohibition,' Mr. Whitman said. 'In the rare cases it is used, no one at State was willing to talk about it.'

When asked how many times the laws have been used to bar corrupt foreign officials from entering the country, State Department officials declined to answer, citing privacy reasons, though Ms. Pittman said thousands of visas had been denied to corrupt officials using other legal means. A 2007 State Department report said the presidential proclamation, signed by President George W. Bush in 2004, had been used 'dozens' of times.

A State Department official who handles corruption investigations said that while the measures were important tools, the department as a matter of policy did not want to reveal the number of times they had been used because it would show that the number was actually quite small. The official asked not to be identified because of departmental rules barring public comment.

The Justice Department memorandum, dated Sept. 4, 2007, and obtained by The New York Times, said the government believed Mr. Obiang’s assets were derived 'from extortion, theft of public funds or other corrupt conduct.' From April 2005 to April 2006, the memorandum said, Mr. Obiang funneled at least $73 million into the United States, using shell corporations and offshore bank accounts to launder the money and ultimately buy his Malibu estate and a luxury jet.

The document identified several wire transfers by Mr. Obiang from 2005 and 2006, beginning with a bank in Equatorial Guinea, then going to the central Banque de France and landing in American accounts at Wachovia, Bank of America and UBS. In one six-week period in 2006, Mr. Obiang transferred $33,799,799.99 to the United States, it said, which was used to buy a Gulfstream V jet.

Part of his wealth, the document said, comes from a 'revolutionary tax' that Mr. Obiang placed on timber. Instead of sending the payments to the treasury of Equatorial Guinea, Mr. Obiang, who is considered likely to be a successor to his father, has 'insisted that the payments be made directly to him,' it said.

In addition, the memorandum said, the Justice Department believes that Mr. Obiang 'may be receiving bribes or extortion payments' from the oil companies as a percentage of their contracts.

Spokesmen for ExxonMobil and Marathon said the companies followed all relevant laws. A request for comment from Hess was not answered. The Justice Department declined to comment on the memo.

Another document, prepared by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Homeland Security Department, said Mr. Obiang 'routinely travels to the United States with over $1 million in cash' that he fails to declare, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. Mr. Obiang regularly visits the country using a diplomatic passport, though he rarely does diplomatic business here, said the I.C.E. document. The document said the immigration agency’s goal was to deny a safe haven to Mr. Obiang and to 'identify, trace, freeze and recover assets within the United States illicitly acquired through kleptocracy by Teodoro Obiang and his associates.'

The documents were originally obtained by Global Witness, a British human rights group that monitors corruption in natural resources industries, after they were released in response to a legal complaint filed in France against several African dictators, including Mr. Obiang’s father, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. The Justice Department and I.C.E. would neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of the documents.

Through a spokesman at Qorvis Communications, a public relations firm working for the Equatorial Guinean Embassy in Washington, Teodoro Nguema Obiang declined to be interviewed. But his brother denied the charges of corruption.

'This is the problem when a country becomes very successful,' said Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima, the vice minister of mines, energy and industry and another of the president’s sons. 'Everyone assumes us guilty until proven innocent.'

The vice minister said his government had made great strides in dealing with corruption. He cited as an example his country’s participation in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an international coalition of governments, civil society groups and companies that sets global standards for transparency in oil, gas and mining.

But a 2009 internal document from the initiative says the organization is 'particularly concerned about the pace of progress' in Equatorial Guinea. The country has failed to produce a required report regarding its revenue, even though it joined the organization more than three years ago, the report says.

In 2004, President Bush signed a proclamation barring entry to the United States for any foreign officials and their family members 'whose misappropriation of public funds' has had serious adverse effects on American businesses or national security interests. Congress followed up in 2007 with a law containing even stronger language, barring entry to anyone 'involved in corruption relating to the extraction of natural resources in their countries.'

Otto Reich, who served until 2004 as the United States’ special envoy to the Western Hemisphere, said there was resistance to applying these sorts of prohibitions even before the presidential proclamation was drafted.

'Senior State Department people especially from Africa kept saying that if something like this is used they wouldn’t have anyone to talk to in their home countries,' Mr. Reich said. 'It’s politically simply something they do not want to take on.'

The Obiang family and Equatorial Guinea have been the focus of corruption accusations for years. In 2004, a Senate panel accused Riggs Bank in Washington of having 'turned a blind eye to evidence suggesting the bank was handling the proceeds of foreign corruption' in accepting hundreds of millions of dollars in deposits from Equatorial Guinea.

Committee investigators found dozens of irregular payments, multiple individual signatories to accounts and even deposits of millions of dollars in shrink-wrapped currency. Riggs Bank was fined more than $25 million for its handling of the Equatorial Guinean and other accounts, and several of the bank’s directors were criminally prosecuted.

But in more recent years millions of dollars of the country’s money has found its way to other American banks, including the ones named in the Justice Department memo. Wachovia and Bank of America, according to the memo, filed suspicious activity reports to the authorities, and ultimately closed all accounts associated with Mr. Obiang and his associates, but not before tens of millions of dollars had already entered the United States.

'These banks appear to have facilitated a grand corruption, and it may even have been done legally,' said Gavin Hayman, director of campaigns for Global Witness. 'Those that filed suspicious activity reports may have been complying with their regulatory obligations under the law, but at the same time they went ahead and forwarded transfers of tens of millions of dollars about which they already had suspicions. Effectively, the regulations are allowing banks to earn money from corruption.'

All three banks declined to answer questions about the transactions. Although Wachovia said Mr. Obiang was not a client, the Justice Department documents described how he used third parties to open accounts at some banks.

Since oil was discovered there in 1996, Equatorial Guinea has become the third-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, after Nigeria and Angola, with estimated revenues of $4.8 billion in 2007. But although petroleum has made the ruling Obiang family and its associates vastly rich, the oil and gas wealth has not been spread beyond ruling elites.

In 2006, more than three-quarters of the population was living below the poverty line, according to a 2009 International Monetary Fund report.

By some measures, conditions in the country are getting worse. Though the nation’s gross domestic product grew more than tenfold from 1990 to 2007, infant mortality rose to 12 percent from 10 percent, according to a 2009 Unicef report.

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5.
‘Border czar’ coming full circle
Obama's nominee Bersin led regional crackdown in '90s
By Greg Moran
The San Diego Union Tribune, November 16, 2009
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/16/border-czar-coming-full-circle/

He came to San Diego in 1993 as a little-known civil lawyer from Los Angeles, selected by a graduate-school friend who happened to be the president of the United States to become the chief federal prosecutor for the busiest border area in the country.

When he left five years later, Alan Bersin was the 'border czar,' lauded by local law enforcement for leading an unprecedented border crackdown and loathed by some immigrant-rights advocates for advancing the same policy.

Now Bersin is coming full circle, in a way. As President Barack Obama's nominee to be commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Bersin, 63, will oversee a policing force that guards the nation's borders and its ports of entry.

Initiatives Bersin undertook almost 15 years ago still resonate in San Diego courtrooms and across the region. They could foreshadow the approach Bersin might take in his new job overseeing 56,000 employees who work to smooth international trade and enforce drug and immigration laws.

That means Bersin again will influence enforcement policy across the southwestern border — the line separating the United States and Mexico, and the line that first defined the shape of his increasingly high-profile public life.

Bersin held several other positions after leaving the U.S. Attorney's Office in 1998. He served a contentious seven-year tenure as superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District, worked a stint as the state's secretary of education, then was appointed chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

With Bersin's appointment in April as assistant homeland security secretary for international affairs, commonly known as 'border czar,' followed by the recent nomination, those who have worked with Bersin — and at times against him — expect he will hit the ground running.

'He has on-the-ground, in-the-trenches experience on the border,' said Charles La Bella, a former top assistant to Bersin in the U.S. Attorney's Office and now a lawyer in private practice.

'He sees the whole field, from the turnstile in to the turnstile out,' La Bella said, referring to the pedestrian access point at San Ysidro and other border crossings.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Bersin is not granting interviews before his Senate confirmation hearing, which has not been scheduled.

A Harvard University classmate of former Vice President Al Gore and a friend of former President Bill Clinton when both were Rhodes Scholars, Bersin is a Spanish speaker and student of border politics. He has often said that the administrations of Obama and Mexican President Felipe Caldero´n have a rare opportunity to cooperate and target drug gangs.

Bersin said in April that he hopes to improve Mexican-American relations with 'the chance of leaping ahead in a very important way, in a very respectful way, and a mutually supportive way.'

Bersin is perhaps most closely identified with the early days of Operation Gatekeeper, a massive effort to slow illegal immigration using Border Patrol agents and stronger fencing to push traffic into places where it could be more easily contained and policed. San Diego became the most visible front of that strategy.

Coupled with the increased prosecutions of deported criminals who re-entered the country, the strategy helped earn Bersin the title of southwest border czar in the Clinton administration.

It also earned him enmity among immigrant-advocate groups that still lingers.

The American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego and a Mexican human rights group released a report in September that said about 5,000 illegal border crossers had died since the beginning of Operation Gatekeeper because the enforcement policies pushed them to cross in dangerous desert and mountain areas.

Last week, the same groups filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights calling for an investigation into the policy and the deaths.

'We're hoping for real change from CPB under Bersin,' said Kevin Keenan, the ACLU executive director in San Diego. 'But we're disappointed we haven't seen any commitment to tackling tough issues like border-crossing deaths.'

Others urge a broader view of Bersin's record as a federal prosecutor. Former San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst worked out an agreement with Bersin that allowed low-level, first-time marijuana smugglers caught at the border to be prosecuted in state court.

Freed from pursuing such minor cases, federal prosecutors stepped up prosecutions of criminals who were caught re-entering the country after they had been tossed out. It became a model for other border districts.

'Alan is extremely pragmatic,' Pfingst said. 'He's someone who searches for solutions and is willing to be innovative.'

He also said Bersin played an important role in securing federal funds for San Diego under legislation passed in 1994 to help border communities offset the costs of jailing illegal immigrants.

Bersin communicated regularly with district attorneys across the border and was known to combine a willingness to listen with a deft political touch.

'He understands the politics of local,' Pfingst said. 'His ample experience across the southwest border has taught him it's not a one-size-fits-all solution.'

Bersin's tenure as U.S. attorney also had several missteps. When border prosecutions were ramped up, defense attorneys claimed it was largely for show to make Bersin look good.

It had another effect: Federal jails ran out of space locally. Prisoners were shuttled to distant federal lockups. Eventually, Bersin was able to cut a deal with the Navy to house some inmates in the brig at what was then known as Miramar Naval Air Station.

Two weeks after the plan began, several inmates rioted and set fire to the brig, ending the experiment.

Bersin's office also caught flak in 1997 when a task force on border corruption headed by Bersin took out ads in Mexican newspapers offering rewards for information on corrupt border officers. The phone number in the ad connected directly to FBI offices, which irked the union representing customs officers. It gave smugglers a green light to cast suspicion on customs officials, the union complained.

Those are the same officers whom Bersin will now be overseeing. Despite that dust-up, Bersin was well-thought-of by the border law enforcement agencies, said T.J. Bonner, now president of the national union representing 17,000 Border Patrol agents.

'We had very few complaints about him,' Bonner said.

He credited Bersin for increasing prosecutions of border crime, but said credit for Operation Gatekeeper resides more with Clinton administration officials and others who crafted the policy.

Still, he said Bersin's knowledge of the border can only help.

'You have to be able to deal well with a variety of competing interests,' Bonner said. 'You're charged with enforcing the law but also facilitating commerce, and there is oftentimes a very tense competition between those two. It takes some skill to navigate those waters.'

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6.
US immigrant petition no longer dies with petitioner
By Lourdes Santos Tancinco
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 15, 2009
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/viewpoints/viewpoints/view/20091115-236394/US-immigrant-petition-no-longer-dies-with-petitioner

Lucia met Richard, a US citizen in Hong Kong, during one of her business trips.

After many months of courtship, Lucia and Richard got married. Both of them lived in the Philippines until they decided to travel to the United States and settle there permanently. Richard filed an immigrant petition for Lucia. While the petition was pending, Richard suffered a massive heart attack and died in 2008.

Lucia was told that with the death of her US citizen husband, the petition filed on her behalf was automatically revoked. She also could not file as a self-petitioning widow of a US citizen because their marriage was just for less than two years.

Lucia was devastated by the loss of her husband made worse by the revocation of her opportunity to stay in the US.

Widows’ penalty ends

Recently, Lucia heard about a bill that was signed into law allowing widows to file for their own immigrant visa. This new bill allows widows whose marriages lasted less than two years to get a green card.

What is the new law?

On October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill Conference Report that contains immigration provisions benefiting widows and certain survivors of US citizen petitioners.

Prior to the passage of Public Law Number 111-83, petitions filed for spouses of US citizens are automatically revoked as soon as the petitioner dies. Only those widows married to US citizens for at least two years were allowed to self-petition for their own green cards. Those whose marriage lasted less than two years were not given the same opportunity.

The signing of the new law changes the rules.

It removes the two-year marriage requirement. It allows a widow(er) married less than two years at the time of the US citizen spouse’s death to file an I-360 application. This law does not require that the US citizen spouse has ever filed a petition. However, it requires that the surviving spouse has not remarried.

Unmarried children less than 21 years old of the widow(er) may be included on this Form I-360. If the petition is approved, the unmarried minor children may also obtain their immigrant visas.

For the widow(er) who is outside the US, she/he can apply for the I-360 petition and for an immigrant visa following the approval of the petition. The deadline for filing this self-petition is October 28, 2011.

Other survivors

Other than the surviving spouses of the US citizens, certain relatives of deceased petitioners also are granted immigration benefits by the new law. It adds Section 204(l) to the Immigration and Nationality Act allowing certain survivors to continue to receive their immigrant visas.

The requirements are: (1) there is a petition filed by the US citizen which has been approved or still pending on behalf of the survivor; (2) the survivor beneficiary or derivative beneficiary resided in the US at the time of the death of the petitioner, and (3) beneficiary continues to reside in the US.

Residing outside the US

A significant requirement that must be noted is that this additional provision benefits only those who are residing in the US. The following are the survivors covered by the law: (1) immediate relatives to include the spouse, parent, minor child of a US citizen; (2) family preference relatives (unmarried son or daughter of a US citizen, married son or daughter of a US citizen, spouse or child of a permanent resident, brother or sister of a citizen); (3) employment-based dependents (derivative beneficiaries); (4) refugees/asylees relative petition beneficiaries; (5) nonimmigrant in “T” (victims of trafficking) or “U” (victims of crime) status and (6) asylees.

For widows/widowers, there is no requirement that they should have resided in the US at the time of the death of their US citizen spouse or that they continue to reside in the US. Even if they reside in the Philippines, for example, they may still file an I-360 self-petition.

However, for certain other survivors in the other categories, the law is clear that the survivors should be in the US at the time of the death of the petitioner and should continue to reside there to benefit under the new law.

Waiting for CIS regulations

The old cliché that the petition dies with the petitioner now only applies to survivors who do not meet the above-enumerated requirements.

It is unfortunate that the new law limits the applicability of the new provision.

It would have been more justified if it applies to all survivors whether or not they are residing in the US. The law seems to address only the problem of undocumented survivors of deceased petitioners.

Since Public Law 111-83 was passed and signed into law last month, the application of its provision will depend on regulations that will be released by the Department of Homeland Security. Until then, certain survivors should wait before filing any immigration form at the Citizenship and Immigration Service.

It is important to emphasize that while this is an added immigration benefit for widows/widowers and survivors of deceased petitioners, the coverage is very limited also to certain categories of survivors.

Unless one is sure that he is qualified for the survivor’s immigration benefits, the petitioner should not take immediate action without proper guidance, lest he risks being a victim of bad interpretation which may have serious consequence.

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7.
Biden touts effects of stimulus, visits with Arpaio
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), November 16, 2009

Vice President Joe Biden offered a strong endorsement of the federal stimulus in Phoenix on Monday and introduced some of the Arizonans personally touched by it.

He also met privately with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, although details of that meeting weren't immediately available.
. . .
Biden's visit with Arpaio came amid the clash between the Obama administration and the sheriff over the limits of immigration-enforcement policies; Arpaio's department is under a federal civil rights investigation amid complaints of racial profiling. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona, has set new guidelines that explicitly stripped Arpaio's department of authority to arrest people on the streets for immigration violations.
. . .
http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2009/11/16/20091116biden1116ON.html

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Biden’s office: Arpaio ‘meeting’ was merely a quick handshake
By Mike Sunnucks
The Phoenix Business Journal, November 16, 2009
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/11/16/daily11.html

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8.
New consul starts Monday at Dallas' Mexican Consulate, wants to strengthen relations with immigrants
By Dianne Solis
The Dallas Morning News, November 16, 2009
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/mexico/stories/DN-mexconsul_16met.ART.State.Edition1.4b5ce26.html

Mexico's new top diplomat in Dallas says his first priority is to improve relations with Mexican immigrants at his nation's bustling yet troubled consulate.

Juan Carlos Cué Vega, a 51-year-old lawyer, starts his first day of work in Dallas today, a month after his predecessor left amid an investigation into an alleged skimming scam by a consular employee who issued passports, a key service at the consulate.

As a result, Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have called for greater scrutiny and transparency of financial processes at the consulate.

Cué Vega arrives here after a three-year stint as ambassador to Kenya, overseeing six other countries. He also held posts at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C, and served as consul general in El Paso.

'I am very happy to be back in Texas,' Cué Vega said. 'I hope that I will be able to establish good relationships with all communities.'

But the emphasis will be on the Mexican foreign-born living in North Texas, the diplomat said. Dallas is the third busiest consulate, after Los Angeles and Chicago, in a country that is home to one-tenth of Mexico's population.

The investigation into the passport scam in which the Mexican government lost tens of thousands of dollars came as one of the toughest immigration crackdowns in recent decades deepened in the U.S.

The former consul general, Enrique Hubbard, has said he alerted authorities to the financial irregularities. He wasn't accused of participating in any financial wrongdoing and now holds a post in Mexico.

Cué Vega was direct about the challenges here, saying internal procedures would be reviewed and cash payments for services would cease in favor of money orders or direct bank payments.

'We are already working with ministry so that we do not actually handle any cash in the consulate,' Cué Vega said.

But problems at the consulate haven't ended with the passport scam.

Lawsuits

A Dallas real estate agent won a default court judgment of about $3 million against the consulate in late September, after it failed to respond to the agent's suit alleging breach of contract and other wrongdoings. A federal judge ruled that the consulate was properly served with notice of the suit but failed to mount a defense.

The Mexican consulate was sued in June 2008 for breach of contract after it was accused of backing out of a real estate deal with one agent and choosing another.

The property in question was at 1210 River Bend Drive, part of a manicured office park off Interstate 35. The plaintiff, Blake Box, argued that he was the original agent for the consulate and that he structured a proposed arrangement to purchase the property and sell a portion back to Mexican officials.

The Mexican Consulate now owns the River Bend property, according to the Dallas Central Appraisal District. For a time, it was owned by Setco Enterprises Corp., the second agent.

Cué Vega said he didn't know of the judgment. But he defended the Mexican government.

'This consulate followed all the proceedings in Mexico for this property,' the diplomat said. 'This is a property that we wanted for a long time, and all the necessary steps were taken. We followed all the established rules in Mexico for the internal controls.'

In his Sept. 30 opinion, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor noted that the Mexican government wasn't protected by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act because of a commercial activity exemption.

'In trouble'

George Martinez, a law professor at Southern Methodist University, read the judge's opinion and said it was carefully structured, and, in his view, the correct one. In fact, O'Connor cited a case that Martinez had lost while in private practice when he represented the government of Spain, Martinez said.

'The Mexican Consulate is in trouble,' he said.

Martinez also said the Mexican government could file for relief from the default judgment and get a sympathetic ear because of foreign policy concerns.

Dallas lawyer José Angel Gutiérrez called the civil case 'a major fumble' by the Mexican government. Gutiérrez sits on the advisory board to the Institute of Mexicans Abroad, an agency within the Foreign Relations Ministry, and has pushed for more transparency.

Gutiérrez also speculated that obtaining payment of the judgment would be difficult.

In his first day on the job, Cué Vega will meet in an evening reception with Mexican community leaders and Mexican-Americans.

Gustavo Bujanda, a Mexico-born public relations manager, said the diplomat has a formidable task ahead of him.

'I hope he comes with a clear view of the many problems the consulate faces,' he said.

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9.
China fuels US foreign student boom
Agence France Presse, November 17, 2009
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/11/17/09/china-fuels-us-foreign-student-boom

Washington, DC (AFP) -- The number of foreigners enrolled at US universities shot to a record high in the last academic year fueled by an influx of Chinese students, an educators' group said Monday.

India remained the top source of foreign students in the United States but their numbers appeared to be leveling off, with strong new growth coming from China as well as Vietnam and several other emerging economies.

The number of foreign students increased eight percent to a record 671,616 in 2008-2009 from the previous academic year, the sharpest growth since 1980-81 and more than any other country, said the annual report by the Institute of International Education.
With foreign students generating close to 18 billion dollars a year, officials and educators said higher education was proving to be a strong engine to bolster the troubled US economy.

Judith McHale, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, said US universities were also a crucial element in improving the US image around the world by offering foreigners a first-hand look at the United States.

'One of the things that has struck me is that everywhere I've gone -- even countries where we have a very difficult situation in terms of perception of the United States, throughout the Middle East, in Pakistan and elsewhere -- you find continued interest in people coming to the United States to study,' she told an event releasing the research.

Saudi Arabia was among the countries that sent far more students to the United States last year, with the number jumping 28 percent from a year earlier to 12,661.

But China was the key driver of growth, with the number of Chinese students heading to the United States increasing 21 percent to 98,510.

The study found a number of reasons for the surge including a concerted effort by US universities to promote themselves in China and the rising Asian power's burgeoning middle class.

'Even though we know there has been a financial crisis, the Asian economies have not been as badly hit as the US,' said Rajika Bhandari, who directed the research for the Institute of International Education.

'Chinese families tend to be smaller and put aside great resources to invest in their children's education,' she said.

The study was released as US President Barack Obama visited China, where he held a public forum with university students in Shanghai.

The United States also enjoyed dramatic growth in the number of Vietnamese students, with the figure soaring by 46 percent last year.

The only country that saw a significant decline was Japan. The number of Japanese studying in the United States slipped nearly 14 percent, a trend the study pinned on Japan's shaky economy and shrinking population.

The United States remained by far the biggest single destination for students studying outside their own country, but the gap has narrowed in recent years with Britain, its biggest competitor.

The United States in 2008 pulled in 21 percent of the world's estimated three million foreign students, compared with 13 percent for Britain. France came in third at nine percent, followed closely by Germany.

But in a sign there is room for growth, foreigners made up only 3.5 percent of the overall student body in the United States, compared with 16.3 in Britain and 22.5 percent in Australia.

Bhandari, the researcher, said the United States has largely addressed concerns about slow issuance of student visas in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, although some applicants still had negative perceptions about the visa process.

She said British universities were now facing troubles over student visas after London reformed its immigration system.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The IIE report is available online at: http://www.opendoors.iienetwork.org/

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10.
Tuition, driver’s licenses urged for illegal immigrants
By Maria Sacchetti
The Boston Globe, November 17, 2009
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/11/17/in_state_tuition_drivers_licenses_urged_for_illegal_immigrants/

Governor Deval Patrick today will unveil a state-commissioned report that urges him to push for driver’s licenses and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, as well as English classes for foreign-born Massachusetts residents who need them.

The issues were the top concerns raised by immigrants across the state during a series of public meetings the governor ordered from 2008 through early this year.

Now they are among 131 recommendations in the 'New Americans Agenda,’’ billed as the state’s most comprehensive blueprint for integrating immigrants into Massachusetts.

It is unclear whether Patrick will embrace the recommendations, which he has declined to release since he received them in July. He will refer the list to his Cabinet for an action plan within 90 days, said his spokesman Kyle Sullivan.

The majority of the 912,310 immigrants in Massachusetts are here legally; almost half are naturalized US citizens and other legal residents are waiting in line. But the authors of the report also urged Patrick to press federal officials to create a path to legal residency for immigrants here illegally, saying the harsh national debate casts a pall over all immigrants.

'We need to get past the rhetoric of hate that has dominated this debate and instead strive for policy choices that are in the best long-term interests of our nation,’’ Westy Egmont and Eva Millona, cochairmen of the Governor’s Advisory Council for Refugees and Immigrants, which authored the report, wrote in a letter to Patrick.

'As governor of Massachusetts, you are in a position to help influence the debate in Washington in favor of true reform that benefits the Commonwealth and the country.’’

The recommendations were submitted to the governor a year after he commissioned a panel of state officials and advocates to find better ways to integrate immigrants into Massachusetts.

The panel held six statewide hearings from Chelsea to Springfield through early this year, talked to 1,200 people, and spent $260,000 in private funding to complete the report.

Patrick has had a mixed record on immigrants, who make up 14 percent of the state’s population. The governor is viewed as an ally, but he has disappointed many immigrants by not lobbying hard for in-state tuition for undocumented students at state colleges and universities.

Patrick has long said he would sign a bill if lawmakers passed it, but advocates said they do not yet have the votes.

Legislative hearings are expected in 2010, an election year, which makes its chances even more uncertain. The measure last failed in the state House in 2006.

'I think it’s a very difficult political environment right now, but I don’t want to prejudge the process,’’ said Representative David Torrisi, cochairman of the Joint Committee on Higher Education, who voted in favor of the bill in 2006.

Opponents of granting the lower tuition rates say illegal immigrants should not enjoy the same benefits as legal residents.

Driver’s licenses also face difficult prospects. Allowing illegal immigrants to obtain them would require the repeal of the federal Real ID Act first, the report said.

Even expanding English classes faces barriers because the state has no new money to finance them. About 17,000 people are waiting for classes statewide.

Jessica Vaughan, policy director of the Center for Immigration Studies, urged the governor to focus his efforts on legal immigrants exclusively.

'Legal immigrants and illegal immigrants are competing for jobs,’’ she said. 'One of the best things for legal immigrants would be to drastically reduce illegal immigration.’’

Yesterday, Patrick’s spokesman made clear that he would not focus on one or two issues in the report.

'In order for the report to have meaning and lasting impact, it needs to be understood in the context of the breadth of recommended actions,’’ Sullivan said.

The 131 recommendations attempt to address the needs facing the widely diverse immigrant population in Massachusetts, which is far more varied than in such states as California and Texas. About a quarter hold a master’s degree or higher, while 43 percent of all immigrants cannot speak English very well.

Overall recommendations include making it easier for professionally trained immigrants to transfer their credentials to work in Massachusetts, creating a multilingual guide to public schools for parents, and increasing access to credit for immigrant-run businesses so that they will invest in Massachusetts.

The New Americans Agenda was headed by the Governor’s Advisory Council for Immigrants and Refugees and coordinated by the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, the state Office for Refugees and Immigrants, and a host of community groups.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The report is available online at: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2terminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Consumer&L2=Multicultural+%26+Specific+Populations&L3=Refugees+and+Asylees&sid=Eeohhs2&b=terminalcontent&f=ori_c_new_americans_agenda&csid=Eeohhs2

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Mass. immigration report urges 131 state reforms
By Laura Crimaldi
The Boston Herald, November 17, 2009
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/20091117mass_immigration_report_urges_131_state_reforms/srvc=home&position=recent

Immigration report urges in-state tuition, 130 other changes
By Russell Contreras
The Associated Press, November 16, 2009
http://www.telegram.com/article/20091117/NEWS/911179991/1116

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11.
Wealthy immigrant to run for Texas governor
USA Today, November 17, 2009
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2009/11/ragstoriches-texan-plots-run-for-governor.html

Farouk Shami may be best known for cutting costs while relocating companies to Houston from South Korea and China. However, the wealthy Texan now will be known for something else: Democratic candidate for governor.

Shami will officially announce his candidacy on Thursday afternoon at CHI USA, a hair care company Shami brought to the U.S. from Asia.

According to a press release from his campaign, 'Farouk Shami believes in new solutions for Texas and firmly believes that ‘Made in USA’ is the strongest brand in the world. Shami, the inventor of the world renowned brands CHI and BioSilk has created thousands of jobs in Texas. As governor, he will encourage business owners to stop sending jobs overseas and start creating jobs here in Texas.'

Shami, who was born in Palestine, has such a compelling rags-to-riches story that the Dallas News reports even Republican Gov. Rick Perry has praised him. Perry said of his potential Democratic opponent: He 'pretty much embodies the American dream.'

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12.
Arpaio launches 2-day immigration sweep
By Mike Sakal and Bill Bertolino
The East Valley Tribune (Phoenix), November 16, 2009
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/147233

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio launched a two-day crime-suppression and illegal-immigration sweep on Monday, as dozens of protestors lined a south Phoenix street close to where the sheriff outlined the plans at a crowded press conference.

Slideshow: Sheriff Arpaio's press conference

It is the second such operation since the federal government stripped Arpaio of street-level immigration patrols under the direction of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Arpaio contends he still can seek to identify illegal immigrants during street patrols using state laws against human smuggling and sanctions for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

The sheriff said his office plans to target semi-trailers and other load vehicles along alternative routes Valleywide, where human smugglers could be attempting to avoid checkpoints, such as those along Interstate 10 and Interstate 17, en route to drop houses.

'We are also noticing a significant change in travel routes,' Arpaio said. 'State highways still remain the main travel paths for smugglers and their co-conspirators, but more and more vehicles are being apprehended at alternative, out-of-the-way routes.'

Arpaio said anyone who films the stops along the interstate, including what he described as 'open-borders groups,' would be arrested, saying it is illegal to stop and stand unless it’s an emergency.

'These open-borders activists will be warned only once,' he said.

Dozens of protestors along Lower Buckeye Road stood with signs carrying statements, such as 'We are human' and 'I will not be bullied.'

During the press conference, Arpaio downplayed questions about whether he was grandstanding while Vice President Joe Biden and the national media were in town. Biden spoke in Phoenix Monday morning about the national economy.

'This is just another example of Arpaio’s lack of respect for the Obama Administration and he continues to thumb his nose at the administration,' said protestor Lydia Guzman, president of SOMOS America. Guzman was among a group of protestors across the street from the entrance of the MCSO training building.

'Arpaio’s sweep was nothing but political posturing,' she said.

Mercedes Mercado-Ochoa, a member of the Mesa Association of Hispanic Citizens, said she believes Arpaio is doing the sweeps just to impress the national media in town.

'He’s spending so much taxpayer money on these crime sweeps that it’s not funny anymore,' she said. 'He should be held accountable to the taxpayers for the amount he is spending on these sweeps.'

The sweep will entail 200 members of Arpaio’s volunteer posse and reserves, as well as sheriff’s office deputies. Helicopters will also assist in the operation, which Arpaio said will have a 'substantial focus' on the crime of human smuggling.

This is Arpaio’s 13th crime sweep. Since March 2006, the sheriff’s office reports it has arrested a total of 3,532 human-smuggling suspects or illegal immigrants.

The sheriff’s sweeps have drawn criticism that Arpaio’s deputies racially profile people. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Arpaio’s office over allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.

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Arpaio launches crackdown against human smugglers
By Glen Creno
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), November 17, 2009
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/11/17/20091117smuggling1117.html

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13.
Morristown police union: We're waiting for 287(g) answers
By Abbott Koloff
The Daily Record (Morristown, NJ), November 17, 2009
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20091117/COMMUNITIES/311170003/1344/NEWS14/Morristown-police-union--We-re-waiting-for-287(g)-answers

Morristown, NJ -- Police union officials have asked the town to answer three pages of questions about a federal program to deputize local police as immigration agents before they would consider signing off on it.

Detective Daniel Widdis, president of the local PBA, said on Monday that the union is still waiting for a response to a letter sent on Oct. 30. The letter said police officials don't have enough information about the program, known as 287(g).

'We still have been left out in the cold,' Widdis said.

Mayor Donald Cresitello said a town attorney is expected to respond to the letter, adding that he intends to sign an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security before his term ends at the end of the year regardless of what the union does.

'I absolutely will sign the document,' Cresitello said.

The mayor said he doesn't believe he needs the union's approval to sign the agreement, although he said it does call for the union and officers involved in 287(g) to commit to being part of the program for two years.

Mayor-elect Tim Dougherty has said he opposes implementation of the program. Cresitello has accused the union of stalling until his term expires, and maintains the program will make Morristown safer by allowing police to start deportation proceedings on illegal immigrants.

Widdis said on Monday that the union is willing to talk about the issue, and that questions in the letter came from a committee of union members that examined a proposed 300-page agreement with the federal government. The letter refers to concerns expressed years ago by Morristown Police Chief Peter Demnitz that crime victims might be afraid to come forward for fear of being deported.

'To date, he has not been provided any details of this program,' the letter said of the chief.

Cresitello said Demnitz does have information about the program and has been supportive.

'He told me he's on board with the program,' Cresitello said.

Demnitz said on Monday that he recently told the mayor during a chance meeting that he was not opposed to the program, but had expressed some concerns about it. He said that while he has done some research about 287(g), he is waiting for more information from town officials before forming 'a concrete opinion' about it.

'I don't have enough information,' he said.

Widdis and other union officials asked the town whether 287(g) officers ever would be asked to work outside of the townlimits and, if so, whether there were any to make up for them not being available for local duty.

'Who's covering our town?' Widdis said.

It also asked whether the program would place police officers in violation of a directive from state Attorney General Anne Milgram allowing law enforcement authorities to ask about immigration status only while investigating major crimes.

'Absolutely,' Cresitello said in answer to that question on Monday, adding that 287(g) is 'outside' the scope of the Attorney General's directive. 'Our position has always been that Milgram has no authority to comment on federal programs.'

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14.
Mayor admits marriage license errors
By Theresa Juva
The Journal News (White Plains, NY), November 16, 2009
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009911170340

Harrison, NY -- Mayor Joan Walsh is acknowledging that while she was town clerk, her office issued duplicate marriage licenses to two women who may have married two illegal immigrants apiece so the men could gain green cards.

Walsh said she learned about the mistake from ABC News reporter Jim Hoffer, who she said somehow got copies of the town's 300 marriage certificates from 2001.

'I did nothing wrong. I stand by everything I did. We followed the law,' Walsh said.

Walsh said the town was inundated with marriage license applicants in 2001 during a time when undocumented immigrants could obtain green cards by marrying U.S. citizens under a federal program. The immigration law provision, known as 245i, expired in April 2001. She said if applicants provide proper identification, the town can not refuse a license.

Deputy Clerk Angela Tamucci, who was also deputy clerk in 2001, said the office gave six women duplicate licenses, but in four instances the first license had expired or been voided. She said applicants are asked for birth certificates, passports and driver licenses, but the office has no procedure for checking if they already have a marriage license.

She added that the records are kept by the groom's last name, making it difficult to track if a woman showed up more than once.

Walsh took issue with how the documents were accessed. She says the town keeps them in a safe in the Town Clerk's Office and on computers. Marriage certificates are also filed with the state, but aren't available through the Freedom of Information Law.

Walsh said she believes a political rival gave the records to Hoffer, who first approached her before the election.

'Somebody called Channel 7 and gave them a tip that I had issued multiple licenses to Middle Eastern men, and implied I did something wrong,' she said

Walsh said Homeland Security visited Harrison and other surrounding municipalities after Sept. 11 to review the marriage licenses, but never contacted the town again.

Town Clerk Joseph Acocella did not return a phone message. Hoffer could not be reached for comment.

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15.
Episcopal Church joins holiday postcard campaign for immigration reform
The Episcopal News Service, November 16, 2009
http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_116875_ENG_HTM.htm

The Episcopal Church is joining the Interfaith Immigration Coalition postcard campaign, aimed at sending a holiday message to members of the U.S. Congress.

The message: 'Help keep immigrant families together by supporting comprehensive immigration reform now.'

An action alert from the Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) said its goal is to collect 10,000 signed postcards 'and send a strong message to Congress that people of faith want to see action on comprehensive immigration reform.'

'Your participation in the Holiday Postcard campaign will help us remind Members of Congress that our broken immigration system is hurting immigrant families, and needs to be reformed now,' the alert said. 'It can also bring the important work of doing justice into the weekly worship life of your community.'

Postcards can be downloaded here for printing. The alert urges people to fill out three cards, one for each of their two U.S. Senators, and one for their Representative. A map of congressional districts can be found here.

The Episcopal Church's stance on immigration reform is guided by the policies set out in Resolution B006 passed during the most recent meeting of General Convention in July. B006 continues the church's long-standing call for comprehensive immigration reform and urges an end to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) strategies that break up immigrant families.

The EPPN's alert suggests ways to organize the postcard campaign in local congregations and then ensure that the cards get to the attention of federal lawmakers. The network asks that the cards not be sent individually to members of Congress because EPPN and the interfaith coalition plan to deliver them in early January.

'Our goal is to send a strong, unified message of support for immigrant families and for immigration reform, and delivering the postcards in-person, within a tight time-frame, helps us do that,' the alert said.

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16.
Latino groups push Congress for health coverage for illegal immigrants
By Lynsi Burton
The Denver Post, November 15, 2009
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13791035

Washington, DC -- Latino advocacy groups are ramping up pressure on Congress to expand health coverage for immigrants as the lawmakers grapple with historic health-reform legislation.

Activists and health-policy experts who support greater immigrant coverage are concentrating their efforts on the Senate, which is expected to bar illegal immigrants from participating in health insurance exchanges, as stipulated in the Senate Finance Committee's bill, even if they pay with their own funds and no federal subsidies.

The House voted last weekend to deny federal subsidies to help illegal immigrants buy insurance but allow them to buy health insurance from government-created insurance exchanges.

The Senate Democratic leadership is working to merge two bills before bringing the legislation to the floor for debate.

Senate may be harder sell

However, the major Senate bill — the one written by the Senate Finance Committee — goes further than the House bill and bars illegal immigrants from obtaining health insurance with their own money at insurance exchanges.

'We do not see the same investment (in immigrants) in the Senate, and I think that will be a major component in the outreach by many other Latino organizations,' said Jennifer Ng'andu, deputy director of health policy at National Council de La Raza, which lobbies Congress to make insurance accessible to immigrants.

Steven Wallace, associate director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, said he doubts that the final Senate bill would go beyond the House measure.

'My hope is the Senate is a little more enlightened, but my guess is they'll come up with more punitive measures than the House,' Wallace said.

Rep. Michael Honda, D-Calif., who pressed the House leadership to ensure that undocumented immigrants could still purchase insurance at full price, argued that including immigrants would help reduce overall health care costs for everyone.

There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., according to the Migration Policy Institute, a pro-immigration think tank. They make up 15 percent of the country's total uninsured population, the institute says.

Elena Rios, president of the National Hispanic Medical Association, said Latinos have the highest proportion of uninsured people.

'Diseases know no boundaries,' she said. 'The best idea would be to have everyone have health care.'

Immigration, health care ties

But health-policy experts say that regardless of cost analyses, covering illegal immigrants will remain a political problem for lawmakers who want to look tough on immigration.

Lawmakers' hypersensitivity to immigration makes health care reform 'more complicated and less effective,' Wallace said.

Health insurance coverage for illegal immigrants has been a debate for a long time, but it attracted national attention in September when Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted 'You lie!' after President Barack Obama — speaking to a joint session of Congress — promised that health care reforms 'would not apply to those who are here illegally.'

The Wilson outburst 'illustrated how this issue has moved to the forefront,' said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports immigration limitations. 'Public mood for lavish public spending for people who have no right to be in the country has ended.'

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17.
Muslim advocacy group CAIR cites 'new era of hope' at Fremont event
By Matt O'Brien
The Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA), November 16, 2009
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13802659

Fremont, CA -- Despite concerns that the Fort Hood shooting rampage would lead to a new backlash against American Muslims, optimism pervaded a Sunday gathering of hundreds of Bay Area members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

'There is hope for Americans who happen to be Muslim,' said host and Fremont dentist Mohammad Rajabally, who said attitudes toward Muslims have improved but could fall back into misjudgment and hatred without persistent advocacy.

The fundraising banquet for the Bay Area chapter of the nation's largest Muslim civil rights group carried a cheerful name — 'A New Era of Hope' — but came on the heels of a litany of bad news locally and nationwide.

'I know that Muslims have said after Fort Hood, some of them have said they felt the same way they felt after 9/11,' said Zahra Billo, a Bay Area outreach director for the council.

Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in connection with the Nov. 5 tragedy on the Texas military base. He had been trying to leave the military and had complained of anti-Muslim discrimination, according to media reports. Some feared the attack and questions about Hasan's religious motivations would fuel misguided anger at the minority group.

For the most part, however, Billo said initial fears have not been met with examples of backlash. That is an improvement, she said, over the time following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when Billo was a college student and remembers feeling a deep-seated concern about how she and other Muslims would be perceived.

'I didn't feel that same way,' she said of her reaction to the shooting. 'Yes, we got hate calls, but we also got supportive calls.'

The Bay Area chapter says it responded to about 200 civil rights calls in the past year, a little over half of them from Muslims facing some kind of difficulty with a government agency, usually about immigration or citizenship questions.

Three of those dozens of government-related calls were from Muslims facing questioning from the FBI, the group said. Most of the other cases were about discrimination in workplaces, schools and elsewhere.

Some of those cases have had a high profile, such as the August beating of a cabdriver in Pleasanton. Police said the Sikh driver's assailants mistook him for a Muslim, labeling him a 'Taliban' before they beat him, breaking a tooth and causing other injuries that required stitches. The group called for the attack to be treated as a hate crime.

Though vilified by its fiercest opponents as a group sympathetic to terrorists, the council has a mainstream reputation in the Bay Area, as evidenced by the dozen or so East Bay and Silicon Valley mayors and city council members who took part in the banquet at the Fremont Marriott.

Local members said the organization faces more difficult challenges nationwide. Four Republican Congress members demanded an investigation of the group's Capitol Hill interns last month, citing their ability to infiltrate high-security committees.

The group also has been busy responding to last week's news that federal agents intend to seize a Sacramento County mosque that is owned and leased out by a foundation tied to the Iranian government. Confusion about the inquiry has led to racism against the mosque's members, the council's directors said.

Many of those examples were of concern to banquet attendee Sajid Khan, but the San Jose attorney said he was also convinced that years of advocacy and education have made a difference. Born and raised in the Bay Area by parents who moved from India in the 1960s, he said he has never faced discrimination because he is Muslim.

'I tend to look at the positive side of this country,' Khan said. 'The negative does take place but I think it's on the fringes, it's not the norm.'

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18.
Two North Texas churches hoping to influence Congress on immigration laws
By Diane Smith
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX), November 16, 2009
http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/1767430.html

Fort Worth, TX -- Congregants at two North Texas churches will participate in a holiday postcard campaign aimed at pressuring lawmakers to change immigration laws.

By Jan. 4, organizers hope to deliver 250,000 postcards to members of Congress. Several churches across the nation, including Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Arlington and Pleasant Mound/Urban Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, will hold special events to highlight a desire for immigration reform.

'Everyone agrees that this is a problem. I guess the disagreement is how to solve it,' said the Rev. Dean Reed, pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Stephenville and co-founder of the Texas-based Welcoming Immigrants Network. He is leading the Arlington effort.

Reed and six other faith-based leaders participated Monday in a news conference hosted by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. The national group partnership is pushing for reforms that would emphasize family unity and a pathway to legal status and citizenship for illegal immigrants.

The Home for the Holidays campaign will stress that many immigrant families are torn apart by deportation. Events will also be held in Little Rock and Monticello, Ark.; Decorah, Iowa; and Columbus, Ohio.

Leaders of several faiths discussed the importance of letting Congress know that faith communities stand behind reform.

'It’s a biblical issue,' said the Rev. Steve Copley, director of Arkansas Justice for Our Neighbors in Little Rock. 'Families need to be together. We need to welcome strangers who are in our midst.'

Participants said they want to counter anti-immigrant voices.

'The separation of families is the theme they are trying to focus on,' Reed said.

An 'Evening of Compassion' at the Arlington church, scheduled for Dec. 3, will include a message from Bishop Mike Lowry, leader of the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. Several immigrants will speak about their own experiences.

Immigration events Dallas: Prayer service for immigration reform, 6 p.m. Dec. 1, Pleasant Mound/Urban Park United Methodist Church, 8301 Bruton Road.

Arlington: 'An Evening of Compassion' with Bishop Mike Lowry, 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3, Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 2201 E. Park Row Drive.

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19.
Workshop helps aspiring citizens negotiate application minefield
Applicants must have courage, determination
By Erin Mills
The East Oregonian (Pendleton, OR), November 15, 2009
http://eastoregonian.com/main.asp?SectionID=8

Cristina Medrano and her daughter Nellie Sanchez left the U.S. Citizenship workshop Saturday in Hermiston with a feeling of euphoria touched with frustration.

Medrano, 53, is determined to get her citizenship. She's been studying for her citizenship test - she can now tell you who Susan B. Anthony was - and she's ready to pay her $675 application fee.

But filling out the application is a feat in itself. To get it right, Medrano and Sanchez spent more than two hours with the workship volunteers and immigration lawyers. Sponsored by ConAgra Foods and the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy organization, the citizenship workshop helps green-card holders like Medrano fill out their application.

First, Medrano answered 13 yes-or-no questions designed to weed out those unlikely to win citizenship. Had she ever voted, gone to court, been stopped by the police or failed to pay income taxes? Medrano answered all the questions in the negative, which is the right answer if you want to become a citizen.

'She's never even had a traffic ticket,' Sanchez said.

So Medrano moved to the application form and, eventually, consulted one of the lawyers. Everything went fine, she said, except for one thing.

Medrano was told she must remember the month and duration of all her travels outside the United States for the past 20 years.

Outside the workshop room, which was at the National Guard Armory, Medrano and Sanchez stood beside their thick file of citizenship documents. Medrano's application was entirely filled out - except for the part about travel. She threw up her hands.

'It went bad,' she said. 'How can I remember all the times I went to Mexico?'

However, Sanchez seemed optimistic they would figure it out. Her mother has lived in the U.S. for the majority of her life, Sanchez said, and has children and grandchildren here.

'She kind of feels like she's already part of the country,' Sanchez said.

Thomas Roach, a immigration attorney, said workshops such as La Raza's are of supreme importance for people looking to apply for citizenship. Those who are not aware of the latest laws, he said, could end up deported.

Roach told the story of one of his clients, a Pasco woman who had a green card for 20 years and married a United States citizen. When she filled out her citizenship application, she checked 'yes' on the question about whether she had voted; several years before, when she lived in California, she signed up during a voter registration drive.

She got a letter back asking her to explain herself. When she went to Roach for advice, he told her what she did not know: it's a deportable offense to vote in an election with only a green card.

Roach said he advised the woman to do nothing. The government denied her case and she lost her application fee, but she kept her green card.

'She dodged a bullet,' Roach said. 'Citizenship is a dangerous, dangerous thing and not something to be taken lightly.'

Another common problem, he said, is if a green-card holder leaves the country. A person could have a green card for 20 years, but if they leave for one year, it is considered 'abandoning legal permanent residency' - another deportable offense.

Roach gives presentations to civic groups in which he talks about the illegal alien issue and common myths about immigrants. The most egregious myth about illegal aliens, he said, is they don't pay taxes.

Close to 72 percent of illegal aliens pay taxes, he said, and the money they pay into Social Security is money they may never see again. The Social Security Administration has $345 billion in a 'Social Security Suspense Fund' - money that came in using false social security numbers. Those funds have most likely already been put to use, he said.

'If you looked in this pot of money, you'd probably see an IOU at the bottom,' he said.

Roach also talks about why there are so many illegal aliens in the country. - 'It's the economy, stupid,' he quoted.

And, even with the economy in a slump, he said, there are plenty of jobs that U.S. citizens simply don't want to do.

Another myth is that marrying a citizen is an easy path to a green card, Roach said.

'I've got 400 files in my office of Mexicans who married U.S. citizens,' he said. 'As a general rule, they can't get a green card until they return home for 10 years.'

That's because of changes in immigration law in 1997, he said, which essentially punished Mexicans who came to the United States illegally.

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20.
Town Hall to address high rates of mental illness in some Asian immigrant populations
The Pasadena Star News (CA), November 16, 2009
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_13800464

Los Angeles -- A group of experts is hosting a town hall Wednesday at USC to discuss data showing Vietnamese immigrants and other Asians living in Southern California have high rates of mental illness.

Assemblyman Mike Eng, D - Monterey Park, and his Asian American colleagues in the legislature released a report in April on Asian health. The report found that many Asian immigrants have mental health issues that could be related to trauma from war or other tragedies suffered during the refugee experience.

The data showed that Vietnamese people in particular have high rates of mental illness but have a lower rate of insurance to treat the problems.

The report also noted that health issues for many Asian ethnicities have never been studied.

Wednesday's meeting is being hosted by Eng and will feature health care experts, doctors, patients and educational researchers.

For more information or to reserve a spot, call Annie Lam at (916) 319-2049

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21.
Hospitals absorb millions of dollars in care for uninsured
By Diana Sholley
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA), November 16, 2009
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_13801615

While the debate rages nationwide over the impact of undocumented immigrants on health care and hospitals, it is the overall number of uninsured who use emergency rooms that is most stressing the system.

In a year, hospitals in the state will treat about 768,400 uninsured patients, said Tony Cava, spokesman for the state Department of Health Care Services.

Cost for the services total about $1.2 billion.

However, the figure only accounts for a portion of what the hospitals actually spend on care for the uninsured and undocumented.

Medi-Cal pays a set amount for each service, no matter what the hospital actually charges. This has resulted in hospitals absorbing millions of dollars in unreimbursed care.

The 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires emergency rooms to treat anyone in need of care. Emergency rooms carry the burden of the bulk of medical services provided to the uninsured.

At the emergency room at San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland, patients are triaged to determine the extent of their injury or illness and then sent to an admittance clerk to determine insurance status, hospital spokeswoman Jaynie Boren said.

'We work with local designees to see if an uninsured patient can qualify (for funding),' Boren said. 'The number of those who would qualify for federal and state reimbursement is so insignificant, and the process is so cumbersome we don't apply.'

In 2008, the hospital absorbed about $7 million caring for the uninsured.

'That amount will be more in 2009,' Boren said.

Loma Linda University Medical Center has specially trained intake workers who evaluate each patient and try to match the uninsured with either a state, federal or county program.

'We always want to link a patient with a program,' said Cindy Schmidt, vice president of revenue cycle for the medical center.

Schmidt explained that when it comes to reimbursement there are various programs and patient categories to consider.

'We try and get the uninsured qualified for Medi-Cal,' wrote Schmidt in an e-mail. 'If they do not qualify for Medi-Cal, then we would screen them for our charity care or discounted payment programs.'

In 2008, Loma Linda was not reimbursed for more than $95 million in unpaid Medi-Cal costs.

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton is one of the state's safety net hospitals - it delivers care to all who need it, regardless of ability to pay or insurance status.

Arrowhead Regional's patient base is about 50 percent Medi-Cal and 30 percent uninsured. A mere 5 percent are undocumented immigrants.

In a report released by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, surveyors found that two-thirds of the state's uninsured are U.S. citizens. Of 51,000 households surveyed, another 15 percent were permanent legal residents, and 19 percent were noncitizens without green cards.

'This is a population that is obviously not draining down public services, or even private services,' said Shana Alex Lavarreda, director of the nonpartisan center's insurance studies. 'They're just uninsured.'

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22.
CVS subcontractors must prove all workers are legal
By G. Jeffrey Aaron
The Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY), November 16, 2009
http://www.stargazette.com/article/20091116/NEWS01/911160342/1113

Chemung, NY -- All of the subcontractors hired to work on the CVS warehouse project in the Town of Chemung have until Friday to submit affidavits verifying their employees are properly documented, a spokeswoman for Gray Construction said Monday.

The Lexington, Ky.-based building company is managing the project for the CVS pharmacy company of Woonsocket, R.I. Gray's Communications Vice President Jill Wilson also said the company is planning to hire an outside firm later this week to conduct a third-party audit of all workers at the site.

On Thursday, seven undocumented workers from Mexico -- hired by Walker Electric of Nashville, Tenn. -- were arrested by Chemung County Sheriff's deputies as they left the work site. They were all charged with federal immigration administration violations and one was also charged with federal weapons offenses.

'We look forward to resolving this matter so we can continue to focus on the construction of this facility, an investment of more than $90 million which has awarded work to 30 New York contractors to date and will bring 600 jobs to the area once completed and fully operational,' Wilson said Monday in a statement.

Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli said he is planning to meet with a representative of Gray Construction this week to discuss the future of Walker Electric at the job site, and the policies in place to ensure the incident is not repeated. Santulli said he discussed the events over the telephone Monday with an attorney for CVS and a Gray representative. He learned those arrested had used fraudulent documents to obtain their work permits.

'The vice president of Gray will be here this week and will look at procedures, who is working there and using more local labor. CVS's attorney was cooperative and understood the severity of it all. We don't want to go through it and won't go through it again. They are reviewing everything that's happened and are concerned about the impact,' Santulli said.

When the sit-down between Santulli and the building company Gray does take place, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 139 Business Manager Ernie Hartman said he'd like to be there. Hartman and other local tradesmen have long complained to county officials about the lack of local laborers on the building project.

'The whole thing comes down to communication,' Hartman said. 'You have to get an open dialogue between the county executive and the Southern Tier Building and Construction Trades Council,' he said.

The day following the arrests, which took place on Route 17 in the Town of Chemung after deputies pulled over two minivans carrying the illegal workers, town officials issued a stop-work order for the project.

Work resumed Saturday, said Chemung Building Inspector Larry Lanterman, but Walker Electric has been indefinitely barred from the work site and their work is going undone.

At this stage of the investigation, Santulli said he and immigration officials are confident all of the project's remaining workers are legal.

Hartman, however, isn't so sure.

'Who knows?' he said. 'When you deal with out-of-state contractors who travel the country for work, this is what you get unless you mandate local workers.'

Meanwhile, Santulli said the sheriff's office will continue to monitor the construction site, and Lanterman intends to continue his frequent visits to the site.

'The town doesn't want to put a stop work order on a job, but this one shook some people up,' Lanterman said. 'I'm confident Gray was doing what they had to do, but sometimes, these things fall through the cracks.'

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23.
Mid-City killer's violent past disclosed
The man who fatally stabbed a Mid-City woman had a criminal record and twice had been deported.
By Baxter Holmes and Andrew Blankstein
The Los Angeles Times, November 16, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mid-city17-2009nov17,0,2731794.story

The man who fatally stabbed a woman at her Mid-City apartment last week, hours after she filed a domestic violence report against him, was twice deported to Mexico and had two prior felony convictions for domestic violence, according to government records.

On Monday, authorities formally identified the man, who was fatally shot by police as he attacked and killed Flor Medrano, 30, in her apartment in the 1300 block of Cochran Avenue on Wednesday. The attacker, Daniel Carlon, 23, was described as a Mexican national who was living here illegally and had a history of threatening and harassing women. Carlon had entered the building and attacked the victim as Los Angeles Police Department officers stood watch outside.

According to U.S. Department of Homeland Security records, Carlon had been sent back to Mexico twice -- once in January 2007 on the orders of an immigration judge and again in June of this year, after he was arrested by federal immigration officials. No further details of those cases were available.

Carlon had also pleaded guilty to charges of domestic violence in two previous cases, both of which involved another woman, according to Michele Daly, a family violence prosecutor with the San Bernardino County district attorney's office, which had jurisdiction.

The first incident occurred in March 2005. According to Daly, who quoted from a police report, Carlon threatened violence against the victim if she reported the abuse to authorities. 'If you call the police department, we're both going to die. I'll kill you if you call the cops,' Carlon told the victim

After pleading guilty to felony spousal abuse, Carlon was sentenced to 180 days in jail and was ordered to complete a 52-week domestic violence program. When he was released in the fall of 2005, he began stalking the same woman again, Daly said.

The woman filed a report in November stating that Carlon was harassing her over the phone and knocking on her window, which he broke. The woman also hid from him, Daly said. He was sent to prison in February 2006 for two years after he again pleaded guilty to felony spousal abuse.

Daly prosecuted both those cases, and she said she saw similarities between those incidents and Carlon's behavior leading up to Medrano's killing.

'It goes to show that this was his issue, his problem, because it was the same type of behavior,' Daly said.

Medrano filed a domestic violence report against Carlon hours before she was killed Wednesday. Police believe Carlon scaled the roof of the victim's building and entered the second-story apartment through a rear window. When officers heard screaming, they rushed upstairs and saw Carlon through a window, stabbing Medrano. Police then shot and killed Carlon.

Jasmin Gomez, 20, who lives in the building, said there was a memorial with flowers, candles and a photo outside the building for Medrano.

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24.
Deportation of witnesses in detention death halted
By Maria Sacchetti
The Boston Globe, November 17, 2009
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/11/17/us_judge_halts_deportation_of_possible_witnesses_in_detention_death/

A federal judge late yesterday temporarily halted the deportation of two immigrants, including one who was hours from being removed, who say the Suffolk County House of Correction failed to provide swift medical care to an immigrant who died Oct. 19.

US District Judge Mark L. Wolf halted the deportation of Leonel Bello last night and Domingo Martinez, whose deportation date is unknown. The two men are among six who signed a letter to the family of the late Pedro Tavarez, asserting that the jail neglected Tavarez’s care, according to a copy of the letter.

Wolf issued the order after an emergency hearing yesterday and scheduled another hearing this morning on the matter.

'All we’re asking is let us investigate,’’ lawyer Robert Sinsheimer, who represents Tavarez’s daughter Judith, said in a petition that names the state and federal government and Suffolk Sheriff Andrea Cabral. 'We would think that trained investigators would be sympathetic to that simple request.’’

Suffolk County officials could not be reached late yesterday. But a spokesman for Cabral has said that the jail provides a wide range of medical care.

Suffolk was recently reviewed and received a good rating, according to federal officials.

Federal immigration officials were not immediately available for comment. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency in charge of detention and deportation, referred the case to its Office of Professional Responsibility for investigation.

Tavarez, 49, a Providence shuttle driver from the Dominican Republic, had been held for a year and a half in different detention centers as he fought deportation. He had two prior drug convictions, but his family said they were minor and they had successfully reopened his case.

Robert Sinsheimer said he and another lawyer working on the case, Lauren Thomas, determined that several witnesses to Tavarez’s decline have been deported. He said they want to take a formal deposition of the remaining witnesses to help determine whether Tavarez’s death was preventable.

Federal immigration officials have confirmed that on Oct. 16, Tavarez was taken to two hospitals before he was taken to Brigham and Women’s, where he died Oct. 19.

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25.
Immigrants get prison time in Kan. refund case
The Associated Press, November 16, 2009

Wichita, KS (AP) -- Two illegal immigrants from Mexico have been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for stealing tax refund checks from Texas workers and using phony IDs to cash them in Kansas.
. . .
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6723629.html

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26.
Dates set for accused Guatemalan immigrants
The Associated Press, November 17, 2009

Woodward, OK (AP) -- Court dates have been set in Woodward County for two Guatemalan brothers accused in the May strangling death of another Guatemalan man.
. . .
http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=11519804

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27.
ICE busts three drop houses; capture 17 illegal immigrants
By Natalie Rivers
AZ Family, November 16, 2009

Phoenix -- Within the last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 17 illegal aliens at three suspected drop houses in the Phoenix area.
. . .
http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/ICE-busts-three-drop-houses-capture-17-illegal-immigrants-70227812.html

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Overseas News

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

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

[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. U.A.E.: Gov’t streamlines recruitment of Filipino nurses
2. Indonesia: Sri Lankans agree to debark from Australian vessel (story, 3 links)
3. Indonesia: Gov't forces accused of firing upon defenseless Afghanis (story, link)
4. Philippines: President lauds contributions of overseas workers
5. Philippines: Minister proposes ASEAN free-travel zone (story, link)
6. Philippines: Remittances up 8.6% in September (story, link)
7. Philippines: Groups blast proposed insurance for recruiters (story, link)
8. Philippines: Campaign emphasizes absentee voting for OFWs
9. Philippines: Research details concerns of women working overseas
10. Australia: Gov't confirms 119 failed asylum seekers repatriated
11. Australia: Opposition increases pressure over asylum dilemma (story, link)
12. Australia: Opposition party divided over temporary protection visas
13. Australia: Report presses expanded immigration, older retirement age
14. Australia: Navy intercepts boat with 41 asylum seekers aboard (link)
15. Australia: Thirty Christmas Island detainees repatriated (link)
16. N.Z.: Gov't tightens restrictions on foreign kids
17. N.Z.: Visa program attracts $20m-plus in investment (story, link)
18. N.Z.: Wealthy immigrant denies corruption charges (link)

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
Pinoy nurses can register online for UAE employment exams
The GMA TV News (Philippines), November 14, 2009
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/176934/pinoy-nurses-can-register-online-for-uae-employment-exams

Filipino nurses can now apply for work at the United Arab Emirates online, as a shortage of nurses there has prompted it to set up an online recruitment system for such caregivers.

A report on UAE-based Khaleej Times said the UAE Ministry of Health now allows applicants to register for entry exams online rather than in person.

'We launched the new registration system on the ministry website six months ago, and we have been getting hundreds of applications everyday,' said Dr Fatima Al Rifaee, Director of the Federal Nursing Department in the ministry.

Of the nurses working in UAE, 40 percent are from India, 30 percent Filipinos and the remaining 30 percent are local nurses and those coming from other Arab countries.

Local nurses comprise merely 4-7 per cent.

A UAE national nurse is paid around Dh6,000-7,000 (P77,674 to P90,620), while an expatriate nurse gets Dh4,000-5,000 (P51,783 to P64,729).

International standards require one nurse for every five patients, but UAE hospitals average one nurse for every 10.

Such a trend prompted the Ministry of Health to fuel recruitment from abroad by allowing applicants to register for the entry exams online.

But while the system allows applicants to register for exams from abroad, the candidate still has to appear to sit for the exam in person.

Some 23,000 nurses and midwives are currently working under the ministry of whom only 25 are men.

Recently, the ministry recruited 242 nurses for the school health departments in Dubai and the Northern Emirates on a war footing to manage H1N1 cases in schools.

The online system also aims at reducing burden on the customer service desk at the ministry.

'We had several people enquiring about the exams and the registration process daily,' said Abdullah Nuaimi, Section Head of the Registration and Regulation Department at the ministry.

'Introduction of the website has streamlined this procedure,' he added.

Candidates can take a suitable appointment online to register for the exams that take place five times a year except for the midwifery exam that is held once a year.

However, Nuaimi registration alone does not make a candidate eligible to sit for the exams.

'We have to verify forms, certificates and licences before the nurses are allowed to appear for the exams,' said Nuaimi.

The ministry also holds exams for registered nurses and midwives in English while for practical nurses, the exams are held in both English and Arabic.

Also, the officials said that despite the huge number of nurses getting registered in the UAE, those actually taking up jobs are a few.

'Several countries readily accept UAE-registered nurses, so we are actually a kind of bouncing board,' he said.

Low-salary structures, skyrocketing prices of basic commodities and the spiraling cost of housing are some reasons why many nurses opt to leave the UAE and take up jobs in the West.

Trends also showed nurses from the region migrate to the United States and European countries that offer family and immigrant visas.

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2.
Boat saga tests ties to Jakarta
By Stephen Fitzpatrick and Paul Maley
The Australian, November 18, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/boat-saga-tests-ties-to-jakarta/story-e6frgczf-1225799079863

The 56 asylum-seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking are due to end their three-week standoff with the Australian government this morning in a move that will help Kevin Rudd address tensions with Indonesia over the impasse.

As authorities intercepted another boatload of asylum-seekers, the opposition described Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's decision to postpone a trip to Australia as a 'slap in the face' for the Prime Minister.

And the government's insistence that the details of a proposed visit by Dr Yudhoyono had not been finalised was undermined by Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Primo Alui Joelianto, who told Seven News a detailed itinerary had been set.

Mr Rudd has been adamant Dr Yudhoyono's postponement was not a diplomatic snub, with representatives of the Prime Minister saying while dates had been discussed, none had been confirmed.

But Mr Joelianto said Dr Yudhoyono had been due to arrive this Sunday for a three-day visit that would have included an address to parliament, an official welcome, a special cabinet meeting and an official lunch.

Malcolm Turnbull described the President's delayed visit as an 'extraordinary slap in the face'.

'Our relations with Indonesia are clearly very strained and they are strained because of Kevin Rudd's colossal failure of policy and his failure to manage effectively our relationship with our largest and closest neighbour,' the Opposition Leader said.

In parliament yesterday, the Prime Minister faced renewed questions about his role in authorising the deal to entice the Sri Lankans off the Oceanic Viking.

Under a salvo of opposition questioning, Mr Rudd acknowledged he was aware negotiations were under way. But he repeated his denial of any prior knowledge of the terms of the deal, which was formulated by the border protection committee of cabinet, where members of the Prime Minister's staff are represented and which is chaired by Immigration Minister Chris Evans.

But Mr Turnbull questioned Mr Rudd's explanation.

'I suppose it is possible that this 24-hour-a-day workaholic, said to be a control freak, was not told by his staff about the offer being made,' the Opposition Leader said.

'I can't say that without smiling because it seems so incredible.'

The comments came as Border Protection Command intercepted a boat carrying 41 asylum-seekers and two crew 90 nautical miles southeast of Ashmore Island off northwestern Australia on Monday night. It was the 44th boat intercepted this year, bringing to more than 2000 the number of asylum-seekers to arrive by boat this year.

In Tanjung Pinang, the 56 Sri Lankans due to leave the Oceanic Viking will join their 22 compatriots in immigration detention. They will be eligible for the same special deal as the first group who left the vessel.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Mr Rudd refused to confirm the breakthrough, saying only that discussions with the passengers were continuing.

Under the terms offered to them by the Australian government, genuine refugees have been guaranteed resettlement within four to 12 weeks.

Mr Rudd has maintained throughout there is nothing exceptional about the offer.

Extra staff have been put on at the detention centre in Tanjung Pinang to cope with today's expected influx, which will boost to about 160 the number of people being kept in the razor wire-ringed complex.

The breakthrough came as Indonesia officials downplayed the significance of Dr Yudhoyono's decision to postpone his visit.

The President spent the day in crisis meetings with cabinet members and advisers, dealing with a growing political corruption scandal and protests threatening to rival in impact the 'reformasi' movement of 1998 that brought down the late dictator Suharto.

Insiders said it was this, not the Oceanic Viking affair, that had led Dr Yudhoyono to cancel his Australian visit.

Yesterday, senior Australian diplomatic sources said Dr Yudhoyono's visit had been cancelled for domestic reasons, namely the bailout of Century Bank.

That explanation received the backing of Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Djalal.

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Tamils set for mixed welcome to detention
By Ben Doherty
The Sydney Morning Herald, November 18, 2009
http://www.smh.com.au/national/tamils-set-for-mixed-welcome-to-detention-20091117-ikey.html

Viking saga nears end, war of words continues
By Geoff Thompson and Lyndal Curtis
The ABC News (Australia), November 17, 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/17/2745568.htm

Indonesia draws up plan to force Sri Lankans home
By Tom Allard
The Sydney Morning Herald, November 16, 2009
http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesia-draws-up-plan-to-force-sri-lankans-home-20091115-igdt.html

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3.
Asylum seekers shot over bribe
The Australian Associated Press, November 16, 2009
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/3064774/Asylum-seekers-shot-over-bribe

Indonesian authorities opened fire on a boat crammed full of Afghan asylum seekers, wounding two, after demanding a bribe the Afghans could not afford to pay, one of the asylum seekers says.

The 17-year-old boy, who spoke to AAP from immigration detention in West Timor, says the group of 61 Afghans had been on the water for four days, trying to reach Australia, when the Indonesian coast guard intercepted them near Rote Island early on Friday.

After the coast guard demanded a $US50,000 (NZ$69,204) bribe, the Afghans handed over all their money and were allowed to proceed, the boy said. But half an hour later they were stopped by another coast guard boat, whose crew asked for more money.

Because they could not pay, the Indonesians told them they had to stop their boat. But the Afghans, who believed they were then in international waters, decided to continue, the boy said.

'Without any announcement, without saying anything, they started shooting,' said the boy, who does not want to be named.

Another 17-year-old boy was shot in the hand and a managed about 30, believed to have been one of the boat's nine crew, was shot in the leg. Both are now being treated in a police hospital in Kupang.

'I don't know if they are dead or alive. We don't have communication with them,' the boy told AAP.

'They knew this boat was carrying asylum seekers.'

Bayu Herlambang, operations chief of West Timor Water Police, said the violence had been necessary.

'The police shot them because they were trying to fight back after the patrol saw them,' he said.

Provincial sea police chief AR Lubis told reporters in Kupang the passengers protested at their arrest and clashed with the crew of their ship.

'The migrants wanted to continue their journey to Australia but the ship captain wanted to follow police orders and a clash broke out between the migrants and the ship's crew,' Lubis said.

'Five of the ship's crew members were hurled into the sea. The police fired warning shots but they didn't care. Finally, the police shot the captain in the thigh to stop the clash and detained them.'

But Pamela Curr from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said the teenager's account made a mockery of the police line.

Ms Curr said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's so-called 'Indonesia solution' was clearly pressuring Indonesian authorities to be tougher on asylum seekers.

'They have never shot asylum seekers before,' she said.

'This is a new game.

'This is a dangerous escalation.'

The federal government has described the shooting as 'regrettable'.

'We don't know what's happened. We don't know what kind of circumstances that's been involved,' Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner told Network Ten.

'Obviously it's regrettable if anybody's been injured in any kind of situation like this.'

The boy said he had boarded the boat after waiting more than a year for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to process his case. He says his father was killed by the Taliban and he has a sister who lives in Brisbane.

Meanwhile, the stand-off aboard the Oceanic Viking continued on Sunday.

AAP understands at least four of the remaining 56 Sri Lankan asylum seekers aboard the boat will leave in the coming days, perhaps as early as Monday. That number could rise.

Twenty-two left the boat on Friday.

In Singapore, Rudd discussed the issue with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono but indicated there was still a way to go to finalise a new deal on people smuggling.

He said he had no further details about the shooting incident.

'This lies within the purview of Indonesian national police and we will be seeking to get details of what has occurred,' he told reporters.

Indonesian police on Sunday arrested about 40 more Afghan asylum seekers in west Java before they could board a boat to Australia.

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Cops deny asylum seeker extortion claims
By Adam Gartrell
The Australian Associated Press, November 16, 2009
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/cops-deny-asylum-seeker-extortion-claims-20091116-ihrm.html

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4.
Arroyo lauds Singapore OFWs, pushes more protection
The GMA TV News (Philippines), November 15, 2009
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/177019/arroyo-lauds-singapore-ofws-pushes-more-protection

President Gloria Arroyo has called for the protection of migrant workers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), in a world seeing an acceleration of human movement.

Speaking before some 600 members of the Filipino community at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore, Mrs. Arroyo on Saturday said trade can expand only as much as human capital is allowed mobility.

'And the world might as well recognize the fact and make it orderly,' Arroyo was quoted as saying in a Malacañang statement.

The President is in Singapore to attend a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

In her speech, she said APEC needs to put the flow of human capital in the same way the World Trade Organization (WTO) puts the flow of trade in order.

'Because we are pioneers in this new age of global labor, it is our obligation to make sure that we protect our workers wherever they may be,' she said.

In the Philippines, she said, the country is capable of continuing its fiscal stimulus program, all because of the resiliency of its economy.

She said leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) agree that there is need to cushion the impact of the global recession on the poor and members of the most vulnerable sectors of society.

'The problem is how to finance the stimulus program,' she said.

She also said APEC can claim that Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, is on a solid comeback trail

'We can still finance the fiscal stimulus. Our bonds are still very, very marketable. I think we are resilient and will bounce back to the rapid growth that we achieved before the global recession slowed us somewhat. At least our economy never turned negative even at the height of the crisis,' she said.

Mrs. Arroyo also lauded members of the Filipino community in Singapore, saying they demonstrate they are comparable to the best workers anywhere in the world.

She acknowledged the contributions made by OFWs to the economic development of the Philippines

From January to August this year, she noted, OFWs remitted $11 billion to their families back home.

She said OFWs in Singapore are hardworking and talented. She added they do very well in all imaginable occupations, whether they are working as doctors, nurses, healthcare workers; information and communication technology technicians, architects and engineers.

'OFWs in Singapore have moved up the value chain to higher-paying jobs that require more complex skills,' Mrs. Arroyo said.

She added that through the OFWs' efforts, Singaporeans have come to admire Filipino culture.

She noted she had just opened two exhibits of Filipino art works at the Singapore Art Museum.

Mrs. Arroyo encouraged everyone to support these events and invite their Singaporean and other friends to see and experience their country's culture.

Yet, Mrs. Arroyo would have preferred to see Filipinos staying home with their families.

'My vision is to make our economy competitive enough so that one day going abroad will just be a career choice, not the only option for our hardworking Filipino workers,' she said.

She also thanked the OFWs for their donations to the victims of recent floods and landslides in country.

'That again shows how Filipinos in Singapore remember the folks back home no matter how successful they have become,' she said.

There are an estimated 144,000 Filipinos in Singapore, many of whom excel in various fields such as banking and finance, medicine, education, information technology, retail services, engineering, and entertainment.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo will speak on behalf of the Asean in a dialogue with the United States.

As coordinator for Asean, Arroyo, during the ASEAN-US Summit, will sit beside US President Barack Obama.

The meeting between Obama and the Asean leaders would take about at least an hour, the Palace statement said.

Mrs. Arroyo will be the fourth speaker after the welcome remarks of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the opening remarks of Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and Obama, respectively.

She will speak specifically on what needs to be done to improve the US-Asean Plan of Action that was signed five years ago.

Asean will review what has transpired since and prepare for a new five-year partnership.

The Asean leaders and Obama will come up with a joint statement at the end of the summit.

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5.
Push for single EU-style visa for ASEAN countries
The Associated Press, November 17, 2009
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/push-for-single-eustyle-visa-for-asean-countries-20091117-ij28.html

The Philippines is proposing the adoption of a single visa policy for 10 South-East Asian nations, saying it would benefit trade and tourism.

Visitors currently need to secure separate visas for each of the 10 members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Philippine Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said he was pushing for a single visa for citizens of countries not belonging to ASEAN that would enable them to travel freely within the region.

He said the proposal would be discussed at a three-day meeting of regional immigration heads that starts on Monday in the Philippine capital, Manila.

Libanan said a common visa, modelled on the European Union system, would bring huge benefits in trade, investment and tourism.

The ASEAN member countries are: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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RP to push for 'Schengen' type visa
By Tetch Torres
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 16, 2009
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091115-236431/RP-to-push-for-Schengen-type-visa

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6.
Remittances up 8.6% in Sept
By Karen Flores
The ABS-CBN News (Philippines), November 16, 2009
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/11/16/09/remittances-86-sept

Manila -- Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFW) grew 8.6% in September, with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expecting further growth in the coming months due to the impact of recent typhoons.

Remittances increased to $1.446 billion in September from last year's $1.332 billion. The amount is also higher than the $1.369 billion recorded in the previous month, when remittances posted a meager 2.8% growth.

The September figure brought the country's total remittance inflows to $12.789 billion for the first 9 months of the year, a 4.2% growth from last year's $12.273 billion. This is already higher than the BSP's full-year growth forecast of 4%.

During the 9-month period, the country's major source of remittances were the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Italy, and Germany.

The BSP attributed the steady rise in remittances to high global demand for professional and skilled Filipino workers, stronger ties with host countries, and to increased access of OFWs and their families to formal money transfer channels.

But beyond all of these, the BSP said remittances are likely to grow further in the coming months as OFWs send more monetary assistance to families whose properties were devastated by typhoons 'Ondoy' and 'Pepeng' (international code names Ketsana and Parma, respectively).

The 2 storms hit the Philippines in late September and early October.

'In the near term, remittances could rise even further as the series of strong typhoons that hit the country in September and October could have encouraged larger amounts of transfers from relatives based overseas with a view to assisting their families in their rebuilding efforts,' the BSP said in a statement released Monday.

The World Bank has also projected a 4% growth in remittances this year, but stressed that the figure has upside potential due to the impact of recent typhoons. Citing a study, the multilateral lender said about 60% of household income lost through natural calamities such as storms is replaced by remittances.

'As households affected by typhoon Ondoy constitute a large share of remittances flowing into the country, a strong increase in remittance inflows in and around the month of October is expected,' the World Bank said early this month.

Historically, OFWs send more money to their families back home when they need it the most. In June, for instance, remittances reached a record $1.498 billion amid fears that rich countries would slash jobs and prioritize their own citizens in employment generation efforts.

June is one of the traditionally strong months for remittances as OFWs send more money home to their families to pay for tuition fees and other supplies needed for school. Inflows are also usually more robust in December as migrant workers send money to their loved ones to celebrate the Christmas season.

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Remittances up 8.6% to $1.4B in September
By Michelle Remo
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 16, 2009
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/remittance/view.php?db=1&article=20091116-236626

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7.
Proposed OFW insurance to protect local recruiters
The GMA TV News (Philippines), November 17, 2009
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/177192/proposed-ofw-insurance-to-protect-local-recruiters

Instead of protecting overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), a proposed insurance scheme will absolve recruitment agencies of any liability, migrant workers groups said.

Compulsory insurance coverage for OFWs – as contained in a proposed amendment to the Migrant Workers Act of 1995 (Republic Act 8042) – will also further burden OFWs, the Center for Migrant Advocacy, the Kanlungan Centre Foundation Inc., and the Alliance of Progressive Labor said in a joint statement.

All three groups also doubted how the proposed amendment could be implemented equally.

'Only some 26 percent of OFWs deployed every year have agencies. A greater number of them are rehires, who renew their contracts on their own without agencies. How can this law be applied equally when it will cover only one-fourth of our migrant workers?' the groups said in a statement.

The government should also refrain from legislating insurance coverage for OFWs since these are already being provided by some agencies, and in some cases, as a benefit by the employers themselves in the host countries, the groups said.

The proposed insurance amendment is in the final stages of discussion at the joint Senate and House Bicameral Conference Committee, which is scheduled to meet later this week.

'Many of the provisions of RA 8042, including the provision against the charging of placement fees, have until now not been efficiently implemented by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA),' the statement said.

'We question the ability of these government agencies to successfully monitor the implementation of these additional provisions. It thus creates another opportunity for unscrupulous recruitment and insurance companies to make money from our OFWs,' the worker groups added.

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Mandatory insurance benefits recruiters, not OFWs
By Veronica Uy
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 16, 2009
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091116-236582/Mandatory-insurance-benefits-recruiters-not-OFWs

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8.
Pinoys kick off election awareness campaign in Vienna
By Hector Pascua
The ABS-CBN News (Philippines), November 14, 2009
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/pinoy-migration/11/14/09/pinoys-kick-election-awareness-campaign-vienna

Vienna, Austria -- An initiative that would make Filipino migrant voters more aware of the Philippine electoral process and encourage them to go out and vote in the May 2010 polls will be launched by the end of November.

'We all know that in May 2010, around 46 million Filipinos, including us here abroad thru the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV), will exercise our most sacred right of suffrage. Will we make it in choosing and installing the right person/s to lead our country this time around? Historical records of the electoral process document Dirty and Unorderly Elections (DUE). In fact, the open issue of the 2004 election, the scandal of 'Hello Garci' tapes, is still fresh in our minds,' said PINAS First Chairman Manny Sarmiento.

After several meetings and deliberations, about 21 conveners came together and agreed to conduct the awareness campaign towards a peaceful and clean May 2010 elections.

They agreed to use the word 'HOPE' which stands for 'Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Election' as their campaign slogan.

'As concerned Filipinos in Austria, it behooves us to do our part in promoting understanding and involvement towards an Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Election,' Fr. Mars Sahulga said.

The initiative’s four objectives are as follows --Throw light into the context, character and dynamics of the Philippine electoral process; Communicate to the Pinoys in Austria the importance of the 2010 elections; Encourage the broadest possible participation of Pinoys (individual or community organizations thru their leaders) in the entire election process; and provide relevant and appropriate information that will enable potential voters to participate in the elections.

HOPE will be launched on November 30, 2009, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the 'Breitenfeld Pfarre', Florianigasse 70, 1080 Wien (U6 Josefstädterstrasse)

Organizers are expecting a huge turnout of Filipinos who would be participating in the campaign.

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9.
Says Initial Research: Family, food, money cause women OFWs stress
By Veronica Uy
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 17, 2009
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091117-236801/Family-food-money-cause-women-OFWs-stress

Manila -- Family expectations, money, relationship with employers, and food and religious beliefs in host country are five of the most common causes of stress among women overseas Filipino workers.

This was revealed by Dr. Maria Theresa Ujano-Batangan of the Action for Health Initiatives Inc. Philippines (Achieve) Tuesday, citing an initial research based on interviews and focus group discussions.

The initial research is in preparation for a more comprehensive quantitative survey of 500 OFWs in five places around the country to be funded by the European Commission as part of its Joint Migration and Development Initiative it is conducting with the United Nations Development Programme.

Achieve, in partnership with Netherlands-based Vrije Universiteit-Metamedica/Health Care and Culture (VU-MHCC), has received a 154,689-euro grant to identify the 'stress factors among women migrant workers.'

'Usually, women OFWs are stressed not by work but by what happens in their home countries. Money is another key stress factor, especially if money is not enough or if it is mismanaged by relatives,' said Malu Marin, also of Achieve.

Achieve’s 18-month project to 'develop interventions to address stress and mental health problems among women migrant workers' is only one of the four projects that the European Commission is funding in the Philippines.

The three others are related to increasing the linkages between the overseas employment and the development of the migrant workers’ home countries.

Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation Philippines, Migrant Forum Association, and Commission on Filipino Migrant Worker Netherlands received 200,000 euros for an 18-month project 'to enhance the capacity of migrants as partners in economic development.'

Economic Resource Center for Overseas Filipinos Philippines and COS Utrecht, Netherlands also received 200,000 euros for an 18-month project 'to harness the disapora, local women’s groups, rural banks, and local government for rural development.'

Atikha Overseas Workers and Communities Initiatives Inc. Philippines and Comitato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo dei Popoli Italy received 198,575 euros for an 18-month project 'to maximize the gains and minimize the social cost of overseas migration in the Philippines.'

Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines, said the four projects form part of the worldwide program of the European Union’s executive arm on migration and development out of a total of 55 projects across 16 countries.

He said the 753,264 euros (about P52.35 million) for these four Philippine-based projects is part of the 10 million euros the European Commission has released for the project.

MacDonald said that while the EC has come up with a 'triple win' policy approach (triple win for the host countries, the receiving countries, and the migrant workers themselves), the 'reality is that migration is extremely complex that no one-size solution can be found.'

He said he hopes the four projects would help achieve the goal of migration as an informed choice, not a compulsion for OFWs.

After all, he said, the migrant workers have invested 'their lives, years of their lives' to it.

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10.
Taxpayers foot bill as 119 failed asylum-seekers deported
By Samantha Maiden
The Australian, November 15, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/taxpayers-foot-bill-as-119-failed-asylum-seekers-deported/story-e6frg6nf-1225797889601

Australia has deported more than 100 failed asylum-seekers at taxpayers' expense this year, Immigration Minister Chris Evans has confirmed.

Senator Evans said today that the Rudd government had deported 119 asylum-seekers who were found not to be refugees. Domestic and charter flights were used to return the asylum-seekers to the countries they fled.

The confirmation came as the government described as 'regrettable' the shooting of two suspected asylum-seekers whose boat was intercepted by the Indonesian coast guard.

The boat, carrying 61 Afghans, was heading for Australia on Thursday when it was intercepted off Indonesia.

More than two thirds of a group of 50 Sri Lankans who arrived by boat in April have now been returned to Sri Lanka.

The group were from a boat that was intercepted by Australia's Border Protection Command 65 nautical miles north-east of Thursday Island on April 2.

Six men who had been involved in protest action on Christmas Island were removed on Saturday, while 12 others have been granted protection visas and settled on the mainland.

'Someone who is seeking better economic opportunities does not meet the criteria for a protection visa,' Senator Evans said today in a statement.

'People who are owed Australia's protection under our international obligations will be granted that protection.

'All irregular maritime arrivals found not to be owed protection and with no other basis to remain in Australia will be removed.'

The policy is in line with the previous Howard government, which also deported failed asylum-seekers at taxpayers' expense.

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11.
Turnbull says Rudd has misled parliament
By Karlis Salna
The Australian Associated Press, November 16, 2009
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/turnbull-says-rudd-has-misled-parliament-20091116-igx4.html

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been accused of misleading parliament over a special deal offered to asylum seekers while relations with Indonesia appear to be under pressure with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cancelling a state visit.

Dr Yudhoyono was scheduled to visit Australia this week for the first time since 2005 and had been expected to address parliament.

A spokesman for Mr Rudd said the dates for the visit had never been confirmed and efforts were underway for Dr Yudhoyono to come to Australia next year.

Mr Rudd maintains relations remain sound, pointing out that he met informally with Dr Yudhoyono five times on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Singapore at the weekend.

'My dealings with President Yudhoyono of Indonesia are in first-class working order right across the spread of the bilateral relationship, including on border security matters,' he told parliament.

But there were no formal meetings between the pair at APEC and the latest development will be seen as an indication relations between Canberra and Jakarta have become strained over the asylum seeker issue.

The development comes as the Rudd government struggles to resolve the stand-off aboard the Oceanic Viking and as another boat of asylum seekers was intercepted off Australia's north-west coast - the 42nd this year.

Mr Rudd faced a barrage of questions on Monday about what he knew of the deal to entice the asylum seekers off the Customs vessel.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull charges that Mr Rudd misled parliament over the deal, firstly by saying the asylum seekers had not been given preferential treatment, and also by denying he knew of the offer before it was made.

The written offer, published under Department of Immigration letterhead, guaranteed those aboard the vessel already declared to be refugees would be resettled within four to six weeks.

Just 22 of the group have accepted the offer, while another 56 remain on the Oceanic Viking which has been anchored off the Indonesian island of Bintan since October 26.

Asked if he was aware of the offer before it was made, and whether he approved the deal, the prime minister said he did not.

He later clarified his answer, saying members of his staff were aware of the contents of the letter before it was presented to the group.

'These matters are considered by the border protection committee of the cabinet, that's where it's handled,' he said.

'There are other ministers represented on the committee, there are ministerial staff represented on the committee, including my own staff.'

Mr Rudd maintains the offer made to the group did not amount to preferential treatment, pointing to a letter he received on Monday from Department of Immigration secretary Andrew Metcalfe.

Mr Turnbull said the prime minister 'has not been straight with the Australian people' in relation to the deal.

'Clearly this is a preferential deal. There are no other refugees in Australia that are being guaranteed resettlement within four to six weeks.

'And secondly, he knew all about this deal, or at least his office did, because they were part of the committee that approved it.

'There is no question that he has misled the House. There is no question about that.'

The prime minister's office flatly rejected the accusation.

'It's very sad to see Mr Turnbull hasn't learnt his lesson from the fake email scandal,' a spokesman for the prime minister told AAP.

The spokesman was referring to Mr Turnbull's use of a fake email which purported that Mr Rudd had helped a Brisbane car dealer mate access a government finance scheme.

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Malcolm Turnbull on attack over asylum-seeker deal
By Paul Maley
The Australian, November 17, 2009
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/malcolm-turnbull-on-attack-over-asylum-seeker-deal/story-e6frgczf-1225798397500

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12.
We need to know: Turnbull faces party ire on visas
By Michelle Grattan
The Age (Melbourne), November 18, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/we-need-to-know-turnbull-faces-party-ire-on-visas-20091117-ikci.html

Dissident moderate backbenchers have criticised Malcolm Turnbull for failing to consult his party before re-embracing controversial temporary protection visas for refugees who had been unauthorised arrivals.

Victorian Russell Broadbent challenged Mr Turnbull at the Liberal Party meeting, saying he would not have expected to find out about the decision from Fran Kelly's ABC radio program.

With mock humility Mr Turnbull said he was suitably chastened. Mr Broadbent shot back, ''No, you're not.''

The promise that a Coalition government would bring back temporary visas, under the name ''safe haven'' visas, was canvassed in a shadow cabinet hook-up before Mr Turnbull announced it on Friday, but was not taken to the party room. Refugees on the visas would be reviewed and returned home if conditions had changed.

The decision also came under fire in the Coalition party's meeting, with Victorian Liberal Petro Georgiou saying backbenchers had raised lack of consultation on other issues - a reference to Mr Turnbull's pre-emptive statements on emissions trading.

Judi Moylan, from Western Australia, and Danna Vale, from NSW, criticised the visas, but it was clear the proposal had strong backing.

Mr Georgiou said the facts did not support the argument that the visas deterred people. In the five years before the Howard government brought in the visa 3700 people arrived; in the five years after, 11,300.

People on such visas could not bring in family, which could lead to tragedy, Mr Georgiou said. This was a reference to the 2001 SIEV X sinking, in which 353 people drowned, some trying to reunite with family on temporary protection visas.

Former immigration minister Philip Ruddock strongly defended the visas.

Mr Turnbull said people smugglers were businessmen making fine judgments and acutely aware of changing nuances of policy. The aim of refugee policy was to remove people from a location where they were in danger, and return them to their homeland when they no longer faced persecution. The safe haven visa fulfilled that requirement, Mr Turnbull said.

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13.
Country 'faces skills shortage by 2025'
The Australian Associated Press, November 17, 2009
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/country-faces-skills-shortage-by-2025-20091117-iiki.html

Australia will be lumbered with a skills shortage of 1.4 million workers by 2025 if governments don't raise the retirement age and boost immigration, a new report says.

The report by the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce, to be presented at a summit in Melbourne on Tuesday, said unless changes were made the nation's job participation rate would fall from 65.2 per cent to 61.8 per cent by 2025.

The organisation is calling on federal and state governments to lift barriers to older workers and boost skilled migration, among other measures, The Australian has reported.

'To meet moderate levels of labour-demand growth, Australia's participation rate would need to be 68 per cent,' one of the report's authors Darin Ritchie told the newspaper.

'To address this workforce deficit, Australia needs to raise the average retirement age, increase the workforce participation of disadvantaged groups, increase migration, or offset labour demand through productivity growth.'

EDITOR'S NOTE: The VECCI report is available online at: http://www.vecci.org.au/Advocacy_and_Representation/Summit_2009/Documents/pdf_docs/Workplace.pdf

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14.
Navy intercepts asylum boat
The ABC News (Australia), November 17, 2009

Another boat with 41 asylum seekers has been intercepted in Australian waters.

A statement from the Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor says the boat was intercepted late last night 90 nautical miles south-east of Ashmore Islands off north-west Australia.

There were also two crew on board.
. . .
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/17/2744717.htm

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15.
Sri Lanka asylum seekers sent home
The Australian Associated Press, November 15, 2009

More than 30 Sri Lankans, including a man who scaled a lightpole and threatened to jump during a protest on Christmas Island last month, have been returned to Colombo.
. . .
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26352990-1702,00.html

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16.
Govt raises bar for migrant kids
By Lincln Tan
The New Zealand Herald, November 17, 2009
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/education/news/article.cfm?c_id=35&objectid=10609660

Work-permit-holders in the lower income bracket will find it a lot tougher to put their children in New Zealand schools from next month.

Immigration policy changes taking effect on November 30 will mean children of work-permit- holders under the essential-skills policy who earn $33,675 or less will no longer be considered as domestic students. Parents will therefore have to pay international-student fees if they want their children to study in local schools.

Domestic students enjoy free education, but international students have to pay fees of between $10,000 and $15,000 per child annually to study at primary, intermediate and high schools.

'The minimum income threshold must be met and maintained wholly by the salary or wages of a parent or parents holding the work permit,' Immigration New Zealand said in a circular distributed to immigration advisers.

'This is to ensure that the children have an appropriate level of financial support, given that these families are not eligible for state-funded income support.'

However, an Immigration spokesman told the Herald that children of parents whose initial work permit was issued before the end of this month could carry on with their studies as domestic students.

Migrant Action Trust, a migrant advocacy group, says the changes will just be another 'trap' for migrant workers.

'Migrant workers will accept significantly lower pay - way below industry standards in their skilled area - just to cling on to the dream of residency, so many skilled migrant workers fall into the lower salary bracket,' said trust spokeswoman Agnes Granada.

'Because many come here for the sake of their children, they will become victims of this policy change.'

The trust presented a petition last Saturday asking Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman to grant amnesty for migrant workers who have lost their jobs in the recession.

A spokeswoman for Dr Coleman said the minister couldn't comment as he had not yet seen the petition, but said the policy changes were aimed at ensuring adequate support for children of temporary migrant workers coming to New Zealand.

'The minimum income threshold helps ensure that essential-skills temporary work-permit-holders have a salary enough to look after a family in New Zealand,' the spokeswoman said. 'The threshold is set at the lowest possible level to ensure children are adequately supported.'

In other policy changes taking effect on the same day, a special Philippines work policy will allow a limited number of skilled workers, including 100 nurses, 20 farm managers and 20 engineers, to work in New Zealand at any one time for a period of up to three years.

Immigration NZ said that under the policy, nurses from the Philippines would be able to work for a district health board while obtaining occupational registration.

A separate Vietnam special-work policy will also allow 100 chefs and 100 engineering professionals to work here under the same terms.

Meanwhile, Immigration NZ head Andrew Annakin announced last week that the Pacific division, set up Mary Anne Thompson in 2005 when she headed the service, would be reintegrated back into the core service.

An Auditor-General's report in June found that problems were worse in the division than elsewhere in the agency, which is part of the Department of Labour.

Ms Thompson resigned last year after accusations of conflict of interest in helping her family members to gain residency.

Labour Department CEO Christopher Blake said the new structure 'will ensure clear lines of accountability and that the workings of the Pacific division are aligned with the rest of Immigration New Zealand'.

'Recent review findings have informed the way Immigration New Zealand has organised and identified the requirements to deliver immigration services in the most effective and efficient ways. The change is designed to minimise risks to current work and any uncertainty and instability to the department.'

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17.
Two $10m investors cleared to move to NZ
By Lincoln Tan
The New Zealand Herald, November 18, 2009
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10609957

Two business migrants, wanting to invest $10 million each in New Zealand and described as 'well known' and 'serious entrepreneurs', have been given the okay to invest and move to New Zealand.

The two approvals, under the Investor Policy, have been issued in addition to another nine approvals-in-principle granted to migrants wanting to invest at least $1.5 million each, Immigration New Zealand said.

'One, a $10 million investor, has been approved, and another $10 million investor has been granted an approval-in-principle to transfer funds,' said an immigration spokesman.

The Herald reported yesterday that the agency had received expressions of interest from 12,000 individuals to a new entrepreneur policy taking effect on November 30 that offers residency to business migrants who can create at least three fulltime jobs and invest $500,000 in their business.

Immigration NZ said it had also received 22 applications under the Investor Policy, launched in July, which also offers residency to migrants who invest between $1.5 million and $10 million and maintain the funds in New Zealand for between three and four years.

'Obviously, for privacy reasons I can't say who the $10 million investor migrants are but these people are serious entrepreneurs and are well known,' said James Chang, a senior policy analyst with the Labour Department, of which Immigration NZ is part.

Mr Chang said that while Immigration NZ's role was mainly in the area of advising prospective migrants on meeting immigration policy, the agency was working with the Ministry for Economic Development, Investment New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to develop ways for migrant investors to link in to investment opportunities in New Zealand.

Immigration NZ listed the five areas of investment in order of preference by business migrant applicants as; setting up or investing in an existing business, commercial or investment property, education and training, professional, scientific and technical services and tourism.

But Independent Business Foundation trustee Ralph Penning said these areas of business were 'non-productive' and saturated, and he was 'sceptical of logic' behind the new immigration scheme.

'These business migrants will be at a distinct disadvantage getting to know the local conditions in sufficient time to get their feet under the table,' Mr Penning said.

'They would be better advised investing for a period in an existing business before venturing out on their own.'

He said that unless they were given an initial helping hand, their businesses would go 'belly up' because these business migrants had very little understanding of New Zealand's 'small business mentality and culture'.

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman said an increase in the number of business migrants would create 'real jobs for New Zealanders and contribute a significant investment in our economy'.

But the minister didn't think the yet-to-be introduced Entrepreneur Plus scheme was the only reason for generating such a high level of interest among thousands of potential business migrants, she said.

'We consider that the high interest has been due to the new suite of investor policies. There has been general publicity around business migration policy, which is a likely contributor to increased interest.'

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Residency 'carrot' lures rich investors
By Lincoln Tan
The New Zealand Herald, November 17, 2009
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10609740

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18.
Immigrant denies all charges
By David Fisher
The New Zealand Herald, November 15, 2009

A millionaire immigrant built relationships with the country's most powerful then used their names to try to hurry along a decision on his citizenship, according to prosecution evidence against him.
. . .
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10609373

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