Daily news updates from CIS

October 16, 2009 -- Click here for overseas news

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[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. DHS shifts focus and expands 287(g) program (story, link)
2. Community Shield racks up over 1,700 arrests in six months (2 stories, 7 links)
3. DHS Chief's CA visit picketed by amnesty activists
4. Senate reins in Gutierrez’s urgency
5. UT Sen. Bennett under fire for Census plan
6. Sen. Vitter: Dems want illegals on Census to bolster House numbers
7. CIS poll finds a third of Mexicans open to immigration (story, link)
8. Panel recommends joint U.S.-Mexican border policing
9. Report finds 2.5 million Indians living in the U.S.
10. Report expects health care bills to restrict immigrants
11. SC backs off surprise employer inspections
12. OR plan to deport convicts hits constitutional hurdle
13. Virginia Atty. Gen. hopefuls split over enforcement role (2 stories)
14. Bloomberg markets ideas for pro-immigrant policies
15. AZ county sheriff to continue enforcement efforts
16. AZ activists undertake new border surveillance
17. Amnesty activists welcome Gutierrez outline (story, link)
18. Evangelical Latinos split over Census boycott
19. Harvard students’ snit KO’s enforcement activist
20. AZ high school coach fired over illegal alien assistant
21. Hollywood starlet gives take on amnesty effort
22. Would-be bomber Zazi had connections to top-level al Queda
23. NYC contractor accused of defrauding foreigner workers of wages
24. Witness: smuggler refused to save drowning family (link)
25. Bogus lawyer in NYC charged with defrauding immigrants (2 links)
26. Illegals, drugs discovered off So. Cal. coast (link)

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
DHS Reshapes Its Immigration Enforcement Program
By Spencer S. Hsu
The Washington Post, October 16, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/15/AR2009101503933.html

A controversial federal program that deputizes state and local law enforcement agents to catch illegal immigrants is expanding under the Obama administration, despite changes announced this summer intended to curb alleged racial profiling and other police abuses.

The Department of Homeland Security is expected to report Friday morning that a small number of the 66 participating agencies have dropped out because of the new federal requirements, officials said. And those losses are offset by applications from 13 additional police and sheriff's departments, a federal official said, speaking on condition of anonymity before the formal announcement.

In the Washington area, sheriff's offices in Frederick, Loudoun and Prince William counties intend to continue to participate, according to local officials.

Nationwide, the program identified about 60,000 illegal immigrants for deportation over the past year, the highest number since the program was expanded nationwide in 2006. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in July said agencies that receive federal grants and training under the program would have 90 days to agree to new terms aimed at ending controversial police practices identified by congressional auditors and civil rights groups. Critics cited cases in which police conducted roadside stops and neighborhood sweeps aimed at Latinos and other ethnic groups, often arresting minorities for traffic and other minor offenses in pursuit of illegal immigrants.

Changed Focus

Instead of scaling back the program, as its critics wanted, DHS has reshaped it. The agency has reined in local police units that target illegal immigrants at large, directing the units instead to focus on those who commit major drug offenses or violent crimes, especially those already incarcerated. Most prominently, the agency cut back authority it had given to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, according to Arpaio. His operations in the Phoenix metropolitan area had led to charges of racial profiling and three federal investigations.

Although those and similar tactics had drawn the most controversy, they accounted for a small fraction of the 135,389 illegal immigrants caught under the program, according to new federal data obtained by The Washington Post. The vast majority -- 94 percent -- were found by checks at local and state jails. DHS is moving to expand jail checks, adding such agreements with eight new agencies, a federal official said.

'We've refocused the program on identifying and removing serious criminal offenders, whether in jail or on the street,' said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because final decisions had not been made. The official said the new rules show that the Obama administration is intent on enforcing immigration laws against dangerous illegal immigrants and upholding civil rights.

DHS has determined that in Maricopa County, for example, the program to identify illegal immigrants already in jail -- accounting for nearly 90 percent of the county's total arrests under the program -- may continue, the sheriff said. But the agency found that the county's task force aimed at finding illegal immigrants in the community was not being operated 'in a manner consistent with our law enforcement policies,' the U.S. official said.

ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel declined to comment on the status of any participating agency.

Critics on Both Sides

Jessica Vaughan, an analyst with the Center for Immigration Statistics, which seeks greater immigration restrictions, said the administration needs local agencies to be satisfied with the new federal rules to maintain its credibility over immigration enforcement. Nevertheless, the changes did not please the most vocal critics on either side.

Supporters of tougher enforcement have championed Arpaio.

'This unbelievable move by the Obama administration represents a politicized attempt to hinder one of our most effective illegal immigration enforcement mechanisms,' Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.

Arpaio, whose, 4,000-employee department has caught more illegal immigrants under the program than any other agency -- more than 20 percent of the nationwide total -- vowed to defy the new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement rules and continue arrests in the community. He said deputies will conduct another 'crime suppression' raid Friday and turn over illegal immigrants found violating traffic laws or other civil offenses to federal authorities. If ICE refuses to take them, Arpaio said, he will take them to the next closest federal agency, probably the U.S. Border Patrol at the Mexican border.

'I can't understand why they are bullying this law enforcement agency for political reasons when we've been so successful,' Arpaio said in an interview. 'We're going to go out again [Friday] -- the same way we've been doing it.'

A coalition of more than 500 local and national civil liberties and immigrant groups have opposed the federal program, saying it hampers public safety by intimidating immigrant communities from reporting crimes to the police and diverting police from investigating more serious crimes.

Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) wrote President Obama last month on behalf of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, calling on the White House to terminate the program.

Omar C. Jadwat, staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, cited a report last month by the University of California at Berkeley School of Law as evidence that the administration's shift to jail checks would encourage some local police to arrest and book more minorities so their immigration status could be determined once they were behind bars. That study found that police in Irving, Tex., working with a separate ICE program, increased arrests of Hispanics for minor offenses by nearly 150 percent between April and September 2007.

'Focusing on jail programs as opposed to these [investigative] task force programs doesn't eliminate the serious problems we've seen with profiling,' Jadwat said.

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Push on deportation shifting
Sheriff agrees to leave it to federal officials to decide when to detain illegal immigrants.
By Franco Ordoñez
The Charlotte Observer (NC), October 16, 2009
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/1003583.html

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2.
Feds arrest more than 1,700 in 89-city, six-month investigation of gangs, criminal activity
By Suzanne Gamboa
The Associated Press, October 15, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-immigration-arrests,0,1637754.story

Washington, DC (AP) -- Immigration officials say a six-month, 89-city operation focused on gangs led to the arrests of more than 1,700 people.

The 1,785 arrests are of people suspected of gang and criminal activity or immigration violations. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says 35 percent have violent criminal histories, 16 are gang leaders and more than 1,400 are suspected gang members. About 905 people face criminal charges.

The operation targeted gangs with largely foreign-born members involved in many types of smuggling. The operation ended Sept. 30. The arrests are part of the Operation Community Shield program that involves federal, state and local law enforcement officers.

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Nearly 300 L.A.-area gang members, associates arrested in nationwide crackdown
By My-Thuan Tran
The Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gangs16-2009oct16,0,4038974.story

Nearly 300 gang members and associates were arrested in the Los Angeles area in the last six months as part of a nationwide crackdown that targeted gangs involved in cross-border smuggling of people and weapons, drug trafficking, identity theft and other crimes, authorities said Thursday.

The arrests were among 1,785 made around the country from March to September as part of Operation Community Shield, a coordinated effort by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that was launched by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2005, authorities said.

The recent sweep included the arrest of 78 alleged members or associates of the Avenues gang on federal charges related to drug dealing and previously unsolved killings, said Jorge Guzman, an assistant special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In addition, Elmer Fredy Hernandez-Ayala, 29, a Salvadoran national and a member of the 18th Street gang, was arrested on charges of reentry after deportation, and nine members and associates of Barrio Evil 13, a Bell Gardens street gang, were arrested on drug trafficking and weapons charges.

The operation was initially intended to target the Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, one of the most violent street gangs in the United States, but has since grown into an international effort, Guzman said.

Federal agents identify gang leaders and their associates and quickly seek their prosecution and possible deportation from the country, Guzman said. They also work to seize the gang's financial assets, he said.

'That is a huge hammer against these criminal gangs,' Guzman said.

The operation has chipped away at some of the country's most notorious gangs, including the Sureno and various Asian Tong gangs, he said.

'Some of these street gangs are involved in so many illegal activities that rise to the level of organized crime,' Guzman said.

Many of those arrested were already in custody or have been deported, he said.

Of the 293 arrests made in the Los Angeles area, 185 were on criminal charges, said Virginia Kice, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman.

The remaining arrests were for immigration violations, and federal authorities are working to deport the foreign nationals from the country, Kice said.

'The goal of Community Shield isn't to just take individual gang members off the streets, but to disrupt the cycle of crime and dismantle the entire gang,' she said.

Kice said many transnational street gangs have significant numbers of foreign-born members. Authorities have worked on identifying gang members who previously were deported and prosecuting them for felony immigration violations. Using both criminal arrest authority and prosecuting them for immigration violations is a 'one-two punch,' Kice said.

The majority of the local arrests occurred in Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire, Kice said. In Los Angeles County, 147 were arrested, compared with 135 in the Inland Empire, nine in Orange County and two in Ventura County.

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91 from Dallas-Fort Worth area arrested in ICE crackdown on gangs
By Dianne Solis
The Dallas Morning News, October 16, 2009
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/DN-immigraid_16met.ART.State.Edition1.4bdd6ed.html

ICE gang sweep nets 116 people in Southeast Texas
The Houston Chronicle, October 15, 2009
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6669532.html

Hundreds arrested in nationwide anti-gang sweep
By Bill Miller
The McClatchy Newspapers, October 15, 2009
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/crime/story/77262.html

ICE Arrests 62 Suspected Gang Members In El Paso Region
By Dena Richardson
The KFOX News (El Paso, TX), October 15, 2009
http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/21306578/detail.html

Omaha Part of National 'Surge' Against Gangs
The KMTV News (Omaha, NE), October 15, 2009
http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=11320556

Nationwide gang sweep wraps up with 1,785 arrested
By Kristina Davis
The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 15, 2009
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/15/bn15gangs124930/

Immigration agents nab 280 in Texas gang probe
The Associated Press, October 15, 2009
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa091015_wz_apiceroundup.21cb6e736.html

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3.
Protesters outside Napolitano speech at SCU call for immigration overhaul
By Ken McLaughlin
The San Jose Mercury News (CA), October 15, 2009
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13571425?source=most_emailed&nclick_check=1

Immigration reform supporters chant during a rally on Oct. 15, 2009, in Santa... ( Dai Sugano )

About 1,000 noisy but peaceful protesters greeted U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano when she returned to her alma mater Thursday night to speak on global security.

The protesters' message: Tell your boss, President Barack Obama, to keep his promise to work for the passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill by Congress.

As Napolitano, a former governor of Arizona and the valedictorian of Santa Clara University's Class of 1979, spoke to a crowd of about 500 inside the Mayer Theatre, the protesters carried signs urging the Obama administration to stop trying to deport undocumented immigrants to their home countries.

The protesters, who marched to the campus from Santa Clara's Lafayette Park, want to see legislation that will give the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a path to legalization.

Carrying signs that said, 'Justice for Immigrants,' and 'Keep Our Families Together,' the protesters were not allowed near the campus theater, where Napolitano spoke. Instead, they gathered several hundred yards from the building, at Homestead Road and Lafayette Street, many carrying candles.

The 9-month-old Democratic administration has decreased the number of workplace raids that were common during the Bush administration. But the Obama administration has supported a rapidly developing system called E-Verify, which employers can use to instantaneously determine if a potential employee is legally residing in the U.S.

The net effect, say the protesters, is the same: Workers lose their jobs, families are fractured, people get deported and are forced to live against their will in other countries.

In late September, a crackdown at an American Apparel factory in Los Angeles led to the firings of 1,800 employees. Immigration authorities said the workers were using false identity documents.

Exploited workers

Authorities, however, say they are simply trying to enforce the laws as humanely as possible by eliminating the 'job magnet' that draws so many illegal immigrants to the U.S. They also say they are stopping the employment exploitation of undocumented workers.

'Look, we are and will continue to be a nation of laws,' Napolitano said. 'And laws need to be enforced. But we are also a nation of immigrants.'

In New Orleans on Thursday, Obama promised to push for a comprehensive immigration bill in 2010 and put Napolitano in charge of coming up with a plan.

Agreeing with protesters outside, Napolitano said a lot of America's immigration laws are unwieldy and in many ways unfair.

'We're a nation that prides ourselves on our fairness,' she said.

But as they carried signs such as 'Family Unity Cannot Wait,' protesters, who came to Santa Clara from several Western states, decried the enforcement policies of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of Homeland Security.

Richard Hobbs, interim executive director of San Jose's Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network, noted that the last time Congress dealt with immigration on a comprehensive level was 23 years ago. 'It is inhuman and against American core values to ask people to wait who have not been able to legally work, drive, travel, vote or access a safety net during that time,' Hobbs said.

He said more than 380,000 immigrants were detained in fiscal year 2008-09 in jails and by local police officers deputized to perform federal immigration work, and more than 440,000 people will be held in detention by the end of the year. 'The majority of these people do not have a criminal record, and yet the Napolitano policies continue to separate families,' he said.

The frustration from the protesters stems from stalled congressional efforts over what to do with the nation's millions of undocumented immigrants, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for decades and have children who are citizens. Some advocates of a congressional immigration overhaul fear that Obama now lacks the political will to get a bill passed anytime soon.

One reason is that the administration is mired in a debate over how to overhaul the nation's health care system. And with the issue of illegal immigrants caught up in the debate over health care, some advocates of immigration changes say they fear that Obama's commitment to repairing the broken immigration system has faded.

Broken families

Thursday's protests began with a news conference at Somos Mayfair, a community organization in East San Jose, attended by about 200 people. Some of the speakers were local residents who told poignant stories of how their families were broken up because of immigration raids.

Yvette Jimenez, a 17-year-old San Mateo County girl who has five siblings, saw her father deported to Mexico in December 2008. And immigration authorities are now trying to deport their mother.

Since the father was the family's breadwinner, she said, the family has been forced to live in motels and a homeless shelter.

'I'm a U.S. citizen and a senior in high school and want to go to college,' she said. 'I don't know why my parents are being forced out of a country they taught us to love.'

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4.
Senators Following Slower Path on Immigration
By Jessica Brady
Roll Call (Washington, DC), October 15, 2009
http://www.rollcall.com/news/39565-1.html

Although Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) vowed this week to introduce comprehensive immigration reform next month, his Senate counterparts expected to take the lead on the issue aren’t heeding a similar timeline.

'That’s new to me,' Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said of Gutierrez’s announcement, made Tuesday at an immigration rally on Capitol Hill.

'I’ve been talking to Sen. Schumer, and we hope to get something done that’s comprehensive,' Graham added. 'We just don’t know when yet.'

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, has been meeting periodically with Graham to discuss ideas on immigration, but the Senate duo has no plans to offer legislation in the near term as the Senate looks to pass a massive health care package.

'We have to get health care done first,' Graham said.

Schumer’s Immigration subpanel is scheduled to hold a hearing next month on how best to track the flow of immigrants in and out of the country. Schumer met recently with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to discuss the issue, and has called on the agency to adopt a comprehensive tracking program.

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5.
Dem challenger rips Bennett's census plan
Utah senator wants forms to ask about citizenship status.
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City), October 15, 2009
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13570907

Washington, DC -- Utah Sen. Bob Bennett's recent plan to require the 2010 census to ask every American about their citizenship status is akin to changing the design of a building in the middle of construction, said his Democratic challenger Sam Granato.

'Anyone who has been involved in a construction project can tell you that the budget is blown when changes, additions and deletions are made to the plans once the actual building process is under way,' Granato said in a statement. 'This business principle is apparently lost on Senator Bennett. I had thought better of his business skills.'

The Census Bureau already has printed millions of forms that will be sent to every household next March for the 2010 count. Bennett has argued that a question should be added about citizenship status. He believes undocumented immigrants should not count toward a state's population for the purposes of determining the number of U.S. House seats it receives.

'The system is broken,' Bennett said, 'and areas of the country with high illegal populations should not be rewarded with greater representation in Congress.'

The Commerce secretary and the census director have said it is impractical and extremely costly to add the question this late, requiring reprinted forms and a thorough rewrite of software that would add untold millions to the $7 billion already budgeted for the census.

Bennett insists printing a separate sheet is feasible. He is pushing the idea in an amendment offered with Louisiana GOP Sen. David Vitter to the Commerce Department funding bill. The Senate is expected to debate and possibly vote on their amendment as early as next week.

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6.
Sen. Vitter: Reid Wants Illegals Counted in Census
By Jim Meyers
Newsmax, October 15, 2009
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/vitter_reid_census/2009/10/15/272738.html

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants next year's census to include illegal aliens in the overall tallies.

That's the word from Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter, who is co-sponsoring an amendment that would require illegals to disclose their status to the Census Bureau.

Vitter claims that Reid wants illegals to be counted so that left-leaning states with large numbers of undocumented aliens will increase the size of their congressional delegations, The Hill newspaper reported.

'I think it's pretty clear that Harry Reid and the Democratic side ... [want] illegals in the reapportionment of the House,' Vitter said in a radio interview.

The census is a major factor in determining how many House seats each state will have.

A number of Republicans want the 2010 census form to include a question about citizenship, and believe congressional seats should be reapportioned based on a count of citizens, rather than all residents.

According to Vitter, illegals counted in the 2000 census gave California up to five additional seats in Congress.

'Basically states with large illegal populations, starting with California, are rewarded and other states are penalized,' he said.

Reid is now seeking to block a vote on the amendment for fear that Democratic senators from states with low illegal immigrant populations might vote for it, according to Vitter.

He named Louisiana, Iowa, Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and North Carolina as states that could lose House seats if illegal aliens are counted.

According to the Census Bureau’s 2007 American Community Survey data, California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Reid's home state of Nevada are set for big gains thanks to their large populations of illegals.

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7.
Zogby poll of Mexicans raises concerns over Mexican immigration
By David Paulin
The American Thinker, October 15, 2009
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/10/zogby_poll_of_mexicans_raises.html

Why do many Mexican immigrants -- legal and illegal -- have trouble assimilating into American culture? Most of the 10 to 12 million Hispanics estimated to be here illegally are from Mexico. How would granting them amnesty affect future illegal immigration -- especially from Mexico?

Recently, polling firm Zogby International surveyed more than 1,000 Mexican adults across Mexico. The idea was to get the opinions of the average man and woman on the street - all to better understand America's immigration debate from a Mexican point of view, according to the Center for Immigration Studies of Washington, D.C. The conservative think tank is now reporting the results of the Zogby poll.

According to CIS, the survey was the first of its kind to get the opinions of Mexicans, including those entertaining the possibility of immigrating to America illegally.

Many Americans may find the views that Mexicans have on immigration and America unsettling -- and even disturbing.

Critics of an amnesty for illegal immigrants contend it would only encourage more illegal immigration. Well, surprise, surprise: That's just what the average Mexican on the street thinks, too.

According to CIS: 'A clear majority of people in Mexico, 56 percent, thought giving legal status to illegal immigrants in the United States would make it more likely that people they know would go to the United States illegally.'

In addition, the think tank stated that: 'Of Mexicans with a member of their immediate household in the United States, 65 percent said a legalization program would make people they know more likely to go to America illegally.'

And that raises another question: Just how many more Mexicans would like to immigrate to America? According to CIS: 'Interest in going to the United States remains strong even in the current recession, with 36 percent of Mexicans (39 million people) saying they would move to the United States if they could. At present, 12 to 13 million Mexico-born people live in the United States.'

Most Americans would be shocked by how the majority of Mexicans felt about America. According to CIS:

* 'An overwhelming majority (69 percent) of people in Mexico thought that the primary loyalty of Mexican-Americans (Mexico- and U.S.-born) should be to Mexico. Just 20 percent said it should be to the United States. The rest were unsure.'

* 'Also, 69 percent of people in Mexico felt that the Mexican government should represent the interests of Mexican-Americans (Mexico- and U.S.-born) in the United States.'

CIS noted that 'the perspective of people in Mexico is important because Mexico is the top sending country for both legal and illegal immigrants.

'In 2008, one of six new legal immigrants was from Mexico and, according to the Department of Homeland Security, six out of 10 illegal immigrants come from that country.'

CIS noted there are now '10 to 12 million illegal immigrants in the country, seven million of whom are estimated to have come from Mexico. But this poll suggests that many people who might like to come have not done so. This could be seen as an indication that enforcement efforts are effective.'

The results of the survey are sure to add to concerns raised by Harvard political scientist Samuel P. Huntington in his 2005 book 'Who are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity.'

He wrote:

'The persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages. Unlike past immigrant groups, Mexicans and other Latinos have not assimilated into mainstream U.S. culture, forming instead their own political and linguistic enclaves-from Los Angeles to Miami-and rejecting the Anglo-Protestant values that built the American dream. The United States ignores this challenge at its peril.'

He also published a related essay, 'The Hispanic Challenge,' in Foreign Policy magazine. It promoted liberals to all but accuse him of being a racist and xenophobe.

The Zogby survey had a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent, 'for a 95 percent confidence level,' CIS noted.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Zogby poll results are available online at: http://cis.org/ZogbyPoll-EffectsOfAmnesty

Rasmussen Reports also released results recently indicating most Americans believe current U.S. policies encourage illegal immigration. The results can be found at: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/immigration/56_say_u_s_government_policies_encourage_illegal_immigration

The Pew Research Center also found that approximately 1/3 of Mexicans would immigrate to the U.S. if given the chance. The Pew results are available at: http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=266

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U.S. still a big draw for Mexicans
By Jim Cross
The KTAR News (Phoenix), October 14, 2009
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1220137

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8.
Joint U.S.-Mexican police patrols among proposed fixes for the border
The Los Angeles Times, October 14, 2009
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2009/10/joint-usmexican-police-patrols-among-panels-fixes-for-the-border.html

That radical idea is one of the recommendations made by a blue-ribbon panel of scholars, diplomats and other experts that spent most of the year searching for 'a new vision' in dealing with cross-border issues as diverse as migration, security and water.

'It’s time to do something different, even if it is provocative and controversial,' said Andres Rozental, a former deputy foreign minister of Mexico and co-chair of the so-called Binational Task Force on the United States-Mexico Border.

The task force was put together by the Los Angeles-based Pacific Council for International Policy and the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations. It presented its findings at a conference in a Mexico City hotel Tuesday night.

Recommendations included an urgent, comprehensive reform of immigration laws in the U.S.; creation of a binational border-development administration; establishment by Mexico of a federal police force for the border; and the easing of monopolies in Mexico to spur competition and private investment.

But the point that really got the room buzzing was a recommendation to 'cross-deputize' Mexican and U.S. border police for joint operations.

Rozental and fellow co-chair Robert C. Bonner, former Drug Enforcement Administration chief, were quick to explain that did not mean Mexican police would be enforcing U.S. laws, or vice versa. They would patrol together and share information, Bonner said -- seemingly simple tasks that both sides have traditionally resisted.

The task force suggested that changes in both nations’ capitals may have opened an opportunity. The Mexican government, it said, has 'moved beyond a reflexive preoccupation with sovereignty' that thwarted cooperation on law enforcement, while a new administration in Washington has bluntly acknowledged its shared responsibility for the trafficking of drugs and weapons.

'Both governments seem ready to replace nationalist finger-pointing with a 21st century approach to border management that benefits both sides,' the group’s report concluded.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The task force paper is available online at: http://www.pacificcouncil.org/pdfs/Task%20Force%20Concept%20Paper.doc

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9.
From a trickle to a flood, 2.5 million Indians make US their home
The Economic Times (India), October 16, 2009
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/From-a-trickle-to-a-flood-25-million-Indians-make-US-their-home/articleshow/5130270.cms

Washington, DC -- Stating with no more than 700 persons moving from India to the US between 1820 and 1900, the ethnic Indian community in America has grown to 2.5 million in 2007, according to a new report.

The report, Emigration, Immigration, and Diaspora Relations in India, released Friday by the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, DC also shows that at 2.5 million, the community's size in the US is nearly double of that in the UK and more than 2.5 times as large as the one in Canada.

Of almost 400,000 Overseas Citizenship of India cards issued by the Indian government as of March 2009, 43 per cent came through Indian consulates in the US and 13 per cent in the UK, says the report by author Daniel Naujoks, a scholar based in New Delhi.

The report comprehensively details the country's history of emigration and immigration and discusses current trends such as remittances, how the Indian IT industry may be wooing home highly skilled Indian expatriates, and the main destinations for the Indian diaspora.

It shows 74.1 per cent of the Indian foreign born in the US in 2008 held at least a bachelor's degree, and 68.9 per cent reported working in management, professional, and related occupations, according to the US Census Bureau.

According to the report, substantial Indian migration to Northern America started only in the late 1960s. Both in the US and Canada, major changes in immigration policy affected immigration flows generally, and Indian immigration specifically.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security, from 1986 to 2005, the annual total influx of Indian immigrants more than tripled from 27,000 to 85,000, while the share in total immigration flows rose from 4.4 to 7.4 per cent.

Indian citizens accounted for 5.7 per cent of all persons obtaining lawful permanent resident status in 2008.

Overall, the Indian foreign born are highly skilled: The US Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey found that 74.1 per cent held at least a bachelor's degree, and 68.9 per cent reported working in management, professional, and related occupations.

The total size of the Indian community, meaning those born in India, the foreign born of Indian ethnicity, and the US-born children of Indian immigrants, surpassed 2.5 million in 2007.

India's domination of computer-trained temporary workers is mainly attributed to the large supply pool in India and to the fact that prior waves of Indian IT workers had successfully established a significant presence in that industry, the report says.

The success of Indian IT professionals in the US has created trust in the country's intellectual abilities abroad, says the report.

It has been a major factor in branding India as a source of well-educated and hard-working professionals, rather than a poverty-ridden country of snake charmers.

This new 'India brand' explains several countries' increased interest in recruiting Indian graduates and professionals. It also contributes to the willingness of US and other companies to collaborate with and outsource to Indian companies.

EDITOR’S NOTE: MPI can be found online at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/

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10.
Health care legislation would restrict immigrant coverage
By Sean Cooley
The Medill Reports (Northwestern Univ., Chicago), October 15, 2009
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=142385

New health care legislation that is moving through Congress will, if approved, be a welcome relief to most low-income uninsured Americans, but not immigrant communities.

An Oct. 5 report published by the Migration Policy Institute emphasizes two key flaws in the proposed reforms: the restriction of health care access to legal immigrants and the use of health care debates as a vehicle to screen out undocumented immigrants.

'Unfortunately,' one advocate said, 'the debate over health care serves as a proxy for a larger debate on immigration where restrictionist attitudes and exclusion come into play.'

Fred Tsao, policy director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said he expects the total of uninsured immigrants to rise as newcomers are frozen out of health coverage should the reforms pass both houses of Congress.

Legal immigrants represent more than 10 percent of the uninsured in Illinois. More than half of undocumented immigrants are uninsured.

The legislation being considered would deny new immigrants eligibility for Medicaid and insurance subsidies; current immigrants who meet income requirement are eligible after five years.

'Unless the proposals change current law, low-income immigrants won’t have a safety net,' said Senior Policy Analyst Marc Rosenblum, co-author of the Migration Policy Institute report.

States with large immigrant populations such as Illinois would be hit hardest if unauthorized immigrants are pushed out of employer-based coverage and become uninsured. Nearly four million unauthorized immigrants receive health benefits through their employer, a loophole that legislation would sew up.

However, the reform bills calling for required identification screenings by employers or insurance providers do not address the cost these additional procedures would have on business and government, according to the report.

'Lawmakers are avoiding some of the hard questions about unauthorized immigrants during the health care debate,' Rosenblum said.

Being uninsured will not mean these individuals won’t continue to require costly treatments in emergency rooms or clinics – ultimately on the taxpayers’ dime.

Mandating that all Americans purchase coverage would pose significant financial trouble to immigrants who are denied government aid.

'It’s inhuman to exclude immigrants who do not have documents because they are in the country regardless' said Antonio Zavala of Brighton Park, a member of United Front for Immigrants and a first-generation immigrant from Mexico. 'They are people, they have medical emergencies too, how can you leave these people out?'

Zavala sees the immigration issues woven into health care legislation as political hypocrisy and a violation of human rights.

'It’s a little cruel to exclude certain types of immigrants from health care … all human beings, regardless of status, need health care, just as they need and an education and work,' Zavala said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The MPI report is available online at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/healthcare-Oct09.pdf

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11.
Immigration experts glad state agrees to back off on surprise inspections
By Josh McCann
The Island Packet (Hilton Head, SC), October 15, 2009
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/1001831.html

State regulators enforcing a new state immigration law have agreed to give businesses at least three days notice before inspections and make other changes after employers objected to practices they said might have been overzealous.

The changes came after a group of businesses and lawyers led by the S.C. Chamber of Commerce met with regulators in August to discuss their concerns about the S.C. Illegal Immigration Reform Act, which took effect July 1, said Melissa Azallion, a Hilton Head Island immigration lawyer and partner in the Nexsen Pruet firm.

'They have heard our concerns,' Azallion said. 'They have reacted positively.'

For now, the law applies only to employers with at least 100 employees -- about 2,500 of the state's more than 100,000 employers, said Jim Knight, a spokesman for the state Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation, which enforces the law.

It requires those businesses to check the status of potential employees by using either the federal E-Verify system or a drivers license from an approved state.

Businesses with fewer than 100 employees must comply by July 1, 2010.

Notice of inspections brings South Carolina regulators in line with their federal counterparts, who also provide three days notice, Azallion said. The state law had left the matter of notice up to interpretation, she said.

The state law does not require employers to provide I-9 forms, although local and federal regulators can still ask for them, she said.

Employers often volunteered I-9s when the state's audits began, but regulators have agreed not to inspect them, Knight said.

Some observers also objected to the state investigating the status of employees who were hired before the law went into effect.

Knight said the state continues to investigate some workers hired before July 1, although he said regulators' focus is on those hired after that date if employers sign a new form affirming they have not knowingly hired an employee unauthorized to work in the United States.

'With that affirmation, we don't have to audit prior to June 1,' he said. 'If you can't sign that affirmation, then we go ahead and do a random employee audit.'

Otis Rawl, president and CEO of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, said his group is confident state regulators are now complying with the law.

'Without a doubt, I think they've brought an equitable position back to the table for all of us,' Rawl said. 'We're satisfied, and we just want to comply.'

Knight thanked businesses for their cooperation during the transition, and Azallion said she is pleased the state was willing to listen to the businesses and lawyers affected.

'Hopefully, that will continue as additional issues pop up,' she said.

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12.
Oregon plan to deport prisoners early hits federal snag
By Susan Goldsmith
The Oregonian (Portland), October 15, 2009
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/10/oregon_plan_to_deport_prisoner.html

Oregon lawmakers planned to save $2.1 million over two years by transferring 175 prisoners to federal immigration authorities for deportation before they complete their sentences.

But federal officials, who have deported prisoners early for other states, say the Oregon Constitution may prevent them from deporting the Oregon inmates early. Federal and state officials are trying to resolve the issue while each day of delay erodes the savings that legislators anticipated.

The legal disagreement is 'a glitch,' said Joe O'Leary, public safety advisor for Gov. Ted Kulongoski. O'Leary said the governor sent a letter to the assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday. 'We let them know the clock is ticking.'

With states all over the country strapped by the recession and looking to trim prison costs, the immigration service agreed to work with state officials to deport criminal offenders before their sentences expire. Under the program started last year, the inmates must have been convicted of nonviolent crimes and must waive their appeal rights. They are told that if they re-enter the United States illegally, they are subject to prosecution under federal statutes, with a possible sentence of 20 years in a federal prison.

Several states have deported prisoners under the program.

Earlier this year, Oregon legislators approved a two-year budget for the Department of Corrections that saved money by deporting nonviolent offenders with less than six months on their sentences. Some of the inmates had come into the United States illegally, mostly from Mexico. Others were originally legal residents, but violated their legal status by committing crimes.

Legislators 'thought this was an appropriate population of inmates to get out of our system early,' said Jennifer Black, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections. Legislators also increased the amount of time inmates can shave off their sentences due to good behavior.

Oregon's Constitution prohibits criminal sentences from being set aside without a formal court hearing -- unless the governor grants a pardon or commutes the sentence. With that in mind, legislators spelled out in the bill that Kulongoski would commute the sentences so the prisoners could be deported.

Now, the governor's office says federal officials have told them that Oregon's method of commuting sentences doesn't fit the federal program's standard agreements. For Oregon to participate in the program, the state needs a special agreement.

Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for the immigration service, declined comment, saying negotiations are under way.

The governor's office wants a written agreement.

'Because the governor is going to be using his commutation power, he wants clarity on the deal,' said Kulongoski spokesman Rem Nivens.

Once a sentence is commuted, Nivens said, that person is free and cannot be returned to state custody. State officials want to make sure the inmates are deported.

The state had expected to save $700,000 by Dec. 1 through the early deportation program. If those savings aren't realized, legislators will have to make adjustments when they reconvene in February. The state cannot run a deficit, so any shortfall has to be made up by other cuts or increased taxes.

Jennifer Boyter, associate director of policy for the Council of State Governments, said more and more states are examining how their public safety dollars are spent and looking for ways to reduce those costs.

Citing federal Bureau of Justice statistics, Boyter said incarcerating illegal immigrants costs states $624 million a year. Federal prisons spend another $891 million a year, she said.

Oregon's 14 prisons house about 14,000 inmates; 1,236 of them are in the country illegally, according to the Corrections Department.

Jim Ludwick, president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, a group that lobbies for stricter enforcement of immigration laws, says the maneuvering is astonishing.

'I just think the machinations the government has to go through to follow through on a common sense program is beyond belief,' Ludwig said. 'Rhode Island has signed up for this, so has Georgia. It can't be that complicated.'

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13.
Cuccinelli running on GOP core values for Va. AG
By Sarah Abruzzese
The Washington Times, October 16, 2009
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/16/attorney-general-candidate-kenneth-t-cuccinelli-ii/

Attorney general candidate Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II says Republican losses in recent Virginia elections were not solely because the state became more Democratic, but because the GOP failed to adhere to its core principles.

The Republican state senator from Northern Virginia told editors and reporters at The Washington Times this week that his candidacy is about applying basic conservative principles like lower taxes and less government to transportation issues, to health care issues and winning grassroots support by 'selling it to one voter at a time.'
. . .
Asked about illegal immigration, Mr. Cuccinelli described himself as a 'rule-of-law supporter.'

'I think that people that are here illegally ought to be deported. And state government isn't the primary level of government responsible for that, but it has tremendous impact on us on our budgets and our communities. And it is appropriate for us to deal with that.'

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Shannon would target predators, gangs as Va. AG
By Sarah Abruzzese
The Washington Times, October 16, 2009
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/16/cuccinelli-shannon-square-off-for-ag-post/

Delegate Stephen C. Shannon says that if elected Virginia's attorney general, he plans to refocus the office to more aggressively combat sexual predators and gangs.
. . .
Mr. Shannon said the federal government has failed to enforce or effectively revamp the country's immigration laws, but the involvement of the state in enforcing those laws should be limited to immigrants who commit crimes.

He said same-sex couples should have health insurance options and legal protections allowing them to make medical decisions for each other, but he does not support civil unions or same-sex marriage -- both prohibited by a constitutional amendment in Virginia.

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14.
Queens Response Split Over Immigrant Plan
By Vladic Ravich
The Queens Tribune (NYC), October 15, 2009
http://www.queenstribune.com/news/1255622661.html

Well aware that more than half of Queens residents speak a foreign language at home, Mayor Mike Bloomberg promoted his blueprint for the immigration policies he wants to pursue in his third term. Calling immigrants the City's 'economic engine,' Bloomberg stumped on his record and his plans for the future.

The document puts in writing the mayor's commitment to a rather progressive stance on immigration. It spells out 11 specific priorities for future programs and policies ranging from expanding English as a Second Language programs to creating a fellowship for more immigration lawyers to supporting undocumented students pursing a college education.

The report also spells out Bloomberg's accomplishments in the last eight years, which include establishing a uniform policy for translation and interpretation in six major languages among City agencies that directly deal with New Yorkers. He has also signed an executive order that forbids City workers from asking immigrants about their legal status unless they are suspected of a crime.

The mayor's campaign also highlighted his centralization of immigrant services and agencies, the creation of an immigrant heritage week and the work being done to ensure immigrants are fully counted in the 2010 Census.

Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of Make the Road By Walking, a large immigrant advocacy group that is comprised of roughly 60 percent undocumented immigrants, gave the mayor credit for providing 'an opening' to listen to and acknowledge the efforts of advocates such as herself.

'I think his second term showed an attention to immigrants that we haven't seen before in many mayors,' said Archila. 'I think that attention is both a testament to the work of the immigrant communities becoming more vocal and organized than in the past and a willingness and leadership on his side.'

When asked about the mayor's call for greater enforcement against con artists who take advantage of immigrants, Archila acknowledged that issue may not be fully addressed by City agencies, but still lauded publicizing these concerns. 'The more attention that is given to this issue, the more difficult it becomes for people to continue exploitative processes. We both need an institution that provides enforcement and an environment that doesn't tolerate abuse.'

Archila said many of Make the Road's priorities were addressed by the plan, but some specific demands have not been assuaged. 'Our No. 1 priority right now is passing the Sick Day Bill which would make sure that all the workers in New York City have paid sick days,' Archila said.

Valeria Treves, executive director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment, was more skeptical. 'When judging an incumbent, it's not just about promises, but it's also about the record,' she said, 'and Bloomberg has a mixed record.'

Treves praised the mayor for laying out his platform, but wanted to hear more about specific executive orders he could implement right away. 'A lot of these plans are very complicated and need support from City Council.'

For example, Treves wanted the mayor to reign in the rampant stop-and-frisk policy by the police. 'He needs to temper down police harassment, put an end to fear of raids, fight increased harassment of [day laborer] workers by police, investigate hate crimes and enforce safety measures for undocumented workers.'

Both organizations say a lot remains to be done, but they also acknowledge the mayor has not ignored immigrant issues and has proposed some creative ideas.

'Nonetheless, these are just promises,' said Treves, 'Whatever people think of his record, that's where they should be placing their vote.' The full plan is available online at mikebloomberg.com.

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15.
Arpaio plans another crime sweep
By Sandra Haros Kevin Tripp
The KTAR News (Phoenix), October 16, 2009
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1220812

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio planned to make his first crime suppression sweep Friday since a change in his agreement with the federal government on immigration enforcement.

Earlier this month, the federal government stripped Arpaio of his authority to make arrests on the street for violations of immigration laws, although it said he can continue to question jail inmates about their immigration status once they are arrested.

Arpaio vowed the change will not curtail his fight against illegal immigration. He did not reveal details of Friday's sweep, but was vocal about his intentions.

'I don't have a problem,' he said. 'I'm still going to arrest illegals under state laws and when we come across them, on traffic (violations) or anything else... We will continue doing crime supression. It will not stop.'

Past sheriff's sweeps have been denounced as racial profiling targeting Hispanics. Arpaio denied any racial profiling and said the crime sweeps were in high-crime areas and aimed at criminals, along with employers who are violating state law against hiring illegals.

Friday's sweep came on the same day that the Rev. Al Sharpton was to speak at a civil rights forum in Phoenix. Organizers said Sharpton would discuss education, race relations and probably immigration. Sharpton came to the Valley five months ago to protest the sheriff's sweeps. He met with Arpaio at that time, but said his focus was not just on the sheriff.

'We are not here about Sheriff Joe as much as we're here about Citizen Jose,' Sharpton said.

Arpaio blasted the federal government Thursday for trying to restrict his immigration policies.

'The U.S. government can try to do everything they want to curtail local law enforcement,' he said. 'They have to understand we have state laws and we'll just increase enforcing the state laws.'

Arpaio's critics said they would be out in force to protest Friday's activities. Arpaio said he had a new secret weapon if critics tried to videotape his deputies as they have in the past.

'I'm not going to tell you right now,' he said. 'I call it a special tool and what we do will be legal.'

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16.
New border watch effort will focus on cameras
By Jonathon Shacat
The Sierra Vista Herald/Review (AZ), October 16, 2009
http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2009/10/16/new-border-watch-effort-will-focus-cameras

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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17.
Immigration reform bill sparks support, opposition among Midwest activists
By Jessica Binsch
The Medill Reports (Northwestern Univ., Chicago), October 15, 2009
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=142347

When U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago) outlined an immigration reform bill in Washington Tuesday, Chicago-area activists were there to hear it. Gutierrez is expected to introduce the bill to Congress soon, but not everyone is happy with it.

Jesus Carlin, youth organizer with the Chicago-based advocacy group Sin Fronteras, went to Washington earlier this week with about 50 others from his group. The rally and Gutierrez’ announcement, Carlin said, proved the push for immigration reform was still there.

'People felt like they were making an impact,' he said. 'It rejuvenated hope back into them.'

As for the bill, Carlin said he is waiting to find out more details. 'I think we need to know a little bit more about the bill,' he said. 'but from what I heard it sounds like a good approach.'

Catherine Salgado, spokeswoman for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, welcomed the announcement. 'This is a very progressive bill,' she said, 'that contains a lot of the language and a lot of the things that we’ve been asking for.'

The Illinois Coalition and immigrant organizations across the country have been working with Gutierrez and other members of Congress to put together a new immigration reform proposal, Salgado said. She expects Gutierrez to introduce the bill into the House in the coming weeks.

The core principles outlined by Gutierrez would provide a pathway to legalization for undocumented workers, strengthen border enforcement and adjust immigration quotas to changing U.S. economic needs. (See sidebar for details).

'We need a bill that says, 'If you come here to hurt our communities, we will not support you.,' ' Gutuierrez said in a statement on his Web site. 'But if you are here to work hard - if you are here to make a better life for your family – you will have the opportunity to earn your citizenship.'

The proposals overlap with recommendations made by a roundtable of experts from the Brookings Institution and Duke University earlier this month. The scholars called for improving verifications of workers’ legal status and a legalization program for unauthorized workers who have been in the U.S. for more than five years and meet other criteria.

They recommended creating an independent immigration commission that would report to Congress. The experts also called for an Office for New Americans at the White House to better coordinate federal, state and local agencies.

Not everyone agrees with these ideas. 'Amnesty for illegal aliens is what this is all about,' said Dave Gorak, executive director of the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration.

He said he fears the possibility of legalization will lead to an increase in unauthorized workers. 'When you reward people for breaking law you only encourage other to do same,' he said.

Gorak found some common ground with the outlined principles, though: He, too, thinks an official verification of workers’ legal status should be required.

Once the bill reaches Congress, it will become a test for President Obama's promises of immigration reform made during last year's presidential campaign..

'The pressure is on,' said Emma Lozano, founder of Sin Fronteras, before she got on the bus to Washington Monday evening. 'We can’t wait anymore.'

+++

Activists: ‘We simply cannot wait any longer’ on reforms to US immigration system
By Adam Goldstein
The Aurora Sentinel (CO), October 15, 2009
http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2009/10/15/news/metro_aurora/doc4ad7835d6ffe1048951419.txt

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18.
Evangelical Latinos divided over census boycott
By G. Jeffrey Macdonald
The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City), October 15, 2009
http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_13568050

With less than six months to go before the start of the 2010 census, immigration reform activists -- divided over whether undocumented immigrants should volunteer to be counted -- are escalating rhetoric as they seek critical support from Latino evangelical pastors.

On Oct. 1, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) launched a nationwide campaign to encourage participation in the census and recruit support from faith leaders. Arturo Vargas, NALEO's executive director, said nonparticipants in the census 'cause injury to their community' by keeping public resources from reaching their neighbors in need.

At the same time, a group of evangelical Latino pastors who support a census boycott is not backing down.

The heated exchanges underscore the high stakes of the once-a-decade population count. Communities with large immigrant populations stand to win more representation in Congress and attract millions in additional federal funding under existing formulas.

Yet if immigrants avoid census takers en masse, such benefits may never materialize.

The boycott threat 'is the only reason why we're beginning to see some movement in Congress on comprehensive immigration reform,' said Miguel Rivera, president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC), which supports a boycott.

Congressional Democrats, he said, don't want to lose political clout on Capitol Hill due to an undercount in immigrant communities and are more open to new legislation.

Tensions intensified when CONLAMIC accused NALEO of spreading 'lies' and 'terrorizing' undocumented immigrants by suggesting that public services, including funding for public schools, will suffer if immigrants aren't counted.

'It's a lie that schools will lose money,' Rivera said. '... They're financed by taxes paid by residents in the community,' including undocumented immigrant homeowners.

Whether undocumented immigrants get counted or not may hinge to a large degree on the advice they hear inside Latino evangelical congregations, observers say. These churches, which often gather in rented retail storefront spaces, serve as trusted havens for transient populations, including millions of first-generation immigrants, according to Arlene Sanchez-Walsh, associate professor of Latino church studies at Azusa Pacific University.

'The issue with the census is: can you frame it in a theological frame?' Sanchez-Walsh said. For pastors to be influential on the issue, she said, 'people need it tied to a theological matrix. Otherwise it's very hard to bring it down to the grass roots as a spiritual issue and say, 'This is why this matters to you.''

To date, it's not clear how much support the boycott idea is gaining in Latino evangelical churches, home to an estimated 7 million to 9 million worshippers. Rivera says 314 pastors in his network voted unanimously to urge a census boycott; he estimates that 2.5 million immigrants in CONLAMIC's network have pledged to take what he calls the 'radical' measure of skipping the census.

Sanchez-Walsh, however, says support for a boycott is probably far lower, since Rivera and his New Jersey-based efforts are still largely unknown in the West and Southwest.

Activists on both sides are targeting evangelical pulpits and pews by framing the issue in moral terms. Opponents of the boycott charge that it would be immoral to sit out because doing so would disenfranchise underprivileged Hispanic communities.

The census 'should garner a faith response (because) one person answering the census could have an effect on (congressional) redistricting,' and Hispanics need full representation, said Luis Cortes, president of Esperanza, a network of more than 10,000 Latino evangelical congregations.

'It's an affront to human dignity to make (undocumented people) invisible' by encouraging nonparticipation, added Gabriel Salguero, an evangelical pastor and director of Hispanic programs at Princeton Theological Seminary. 'Invisibility is not an option.'

Boycott supporters, meanwhile, are grounding their moral case in terms of social justice. Rivera sees a boycott as 'protection' from federal immigration raids that occurred in areas in which the 2000 census identified immigrant population centers.

Brazilian immigrant Fausto da Rocha, an evangelist at The Temple of Miracles church in Quincy, Mass., advocates for a census boycott every day on his Portuguese-language AM radio talk show. He makes the same case at church, both before and after services.

'How is (a boycott) going to hurt us? We're already suffering,' da Rocha said. 'We can't let the government, the politicians, destroy our families. More and more families are separated and broken' because of the country's immigration policies.

The solution, he said, is immigration reform, and a census boycott brings necessary pressure to make it happen.

A census boycott would be called off, organizers say, if Congress were to pass immigration reform before April. Lawmakers are expected to introduce new legislation in the House and Senate as soon as this fall.

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19.
Harvard group cancels invitation to anti-immigration speaker
By Milton J. Valencia
The Boston Globe, October 16, 2009
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/16/harvard_group_cancels_invitation_to_anti_immigration_speaker/

Less than a year after speaking at a Harvard University student conference, the head of an anti-illegal immigration movement had his invitation to speak at a similar forum tomorrow rescinded following a student uproar over his aggressive position on immigration.

Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, which sends armed civilians to patrol the Mexican border for illegal immigrants crossing into the United States, was scheduled to speak during a public interest and law conference hosted by the Harvard Undergraduate Legal Committee.

Gilchrist was slated to appear on a panel that discussed 'Immigration and Its Future in America.’’

But student protests, emboldened since Gilchrist spoke at a Harvard Law School event in February, led to the cancellation of his invitation.

The Undergraduate Legal Committee released a statement that read, 'Mr. Gilchrist’s participation in the conference on the behalf of the Minutemen Project was not compatible with providing an environment for civil, educational, and productive discourse on immigration, and we cannot host him at this time.’’

A representative from the group would not elaborate on the statement.

Gilchrist could not be reached for comment, but said in a statement on his website that the protests came from only a few and that 'the minute they received threats from fellow students these pre-law students shied away from defending free speech.’’

'That future graduates of the most renowned university in the world are literally afraid to support the very cornerstone of the foundation of our nation, namely ‘free speech,’ ought to frighten anyone looking to America as the beacon of liberty, freedom, and justice for all,’’ he said.

Gilchrist seemed to be looking forward to tomorrow’s conference and had solicited funds for the trip.

'Believe me, in these turbulent times many are looking for answers to the illegal immigration chaos,’’ he said in an earlier statement. 'Not just the man on the street, but all the way up through the nation’s Ivy League schools.’’

A former Marine and journalist, Gilchrist has run into protests before. He was attacked in 2006 while speaking at Columbia University.

The incident spurred national debate on free speech as well as immigration, while many condemned the violent protests.

He formed what he calls the 'multi-ethnic’’ Minuteman Project in 2004, saying he was frustrated with the nation’s failure to enforce immigration laws, and has participated in academic panels, given countless interviews, and has been published in legal journals.

But his hard-line anti-immigration stance has met much opposition, centering on the arming of civilians enforcing federal laws - referred to by many as vigilantes - and the group’s animosity toward immigrants, particularly Mexicans.

Gilchrist’s participation in a Harvard Law School Journal on Legislation panel in February prompted the head of the American Immigration Lawyers Association to withdraw from the event, saying in a letter that, 'I draw the line . . . at debating or appearing with members of known hate groups, and those who advocate violence whether explicitly or implicitly.’’

Kyle de Beausset, an undergraduate student and migrant advocate, who was one of the original Harvard protesters, said yesterday that Gilchrist’s removal will allow discussions to move toward policy, rather than animosity.

'It’s a victory for people who are trying to get hate out of the immigration debate,’’ he said. 'There’s a difference between having views, and hate speech.’’

Beausset said more students have been alerted to the group’s stance since the arrest in June of a woman with ties to the Minuteman Project.

Shawna Ford and two others allegedly shot and killed a father and son, and wounded the mother in a robbery that Beausset said was to 'finance her nativist activism.’’

He said the episode showed the extremes to which some members of the movement will go.

'I’m concerned about the broader national implications of legitimizing these extremist views with the Harvard name,’’ he said in a letter to fellow students.

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20.
Controversy costs Alhambra coach job
Runners choose to forfeit remainder of season after coach loses job in conflict with school over illegal immigrant
By Jose E. Garcia
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), October 15, 2009
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/2009/10/15/20091015spt-alhambra.html

Phoenix Alhambra boys cross country coach Carlos Borja lost his position this week in a conflict with the school over his assistant and long-time friend, an illegal immigrant whose status was not discovered until this summer.

In protest, the team's runners, including defending Class 5A Division I champ Jorge Martinez, decided to forfeit the rest of the season, which has about three weeks remaining.

Borja said he was dismissed on Monday by Alhambra Athletic Director Lorenzo Cabrera for insubordination after he refused to tell volunteer assistant Miguel Aparicio to stay away from the team.

Aparicio was stopped in April in Casa Grande by the Pinal County Sheriff's Department for running a school stop sign, and subsequently arrested after the sheriff's department learned Aparicio was an illegal immigrant.

Alhambra's cross country team members and their families helped post bail for Aparicio, who is fighting his deportation case. In August, when Aparicio reapplied to become an Alhambra assistant, Aparicio said he told Cabrera he had been arrested. When district officials learned of the arrest, Aparicio was told by Cabrera he couldn't coach and had to stay away from the cross country team, Aparicio said. But Aparicio kept attending the team's practices.

The Phoenix Union High School District is investigating Borja's release and will determine his coaching future by Friday, said Moody Jackson, the district athletic director. Cabrera declined an interview request Wednesday.

Aparicio, 35, has coached in the Valley for approximately 12 seasons, including stints at Phoenix South Mountain and Laveen Cesar Chavez. Aparicio ran for Phoenix Carl Hayden, where he met Borja, 36, and the duo continued their running careers at Yavapai College.

Aparicio first joined Alhambra as a volunteer assistant coach in 2002, although he actually served as head coach that season and received a $3,600 stipend from the district when a former head coach stepped down.

Unpaid volunteer coaches must apply annually at any district school they want to coach. The school submits a volunteer's paperwork to the district, which runs background checks including fingerprints before an application is accepted. Aparicio had been cleared to coach through the end of last season; Jackson said the district didn't know Aparicio was an illegal immigrant until August.

'I worked hard for this district and the teams I coached,' Aparicio said. 'They (cross country team) are my family.'

Aparicio said he kept attending Alhambra's practices partly because Cabrera would see him during this cross country season and Cabrera didn't say anything.

Borja, who was in his seventh season at Alhambra, said Cabrera told him three times to tell Aparicio to stay away from the team.

'My friendships mean more to me than my coaching job,' said Borja, who is a middle school teacher in Phoenix. 'I always told those boys you have to fight for what you believe. Fight until the end no matter what the outcome is. You are fighting for something that is worth it. I fought, and I lost.'

Alhambra's teams usually won more than they lost under Borja and Aparicio.

The program won a state title - Alhambra's first - two years ago, finished as the state runner-up last year and has sent 10 athletes to college with academic or athletic scholarships since Borja and Aparicio took over. Cesar Chavez coach Gary Anderson said he has seen Borja and Aparicio help several disadvantaged kids be successful in athletics and in academics.

'To us they (Borja and Aparicio) are like father figures,' Alhambra junior George Ramirez said. 'What we are doing (forfeiting) is worth it, because they are the ones who helped us become successful.'

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21.
Eva Longoria: Immigration Debate ‘Not Relevant’ to Health Care Reform
By Nick Ballasy
The CNS News, October 16, 2009
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/55590

Actress Eva Longoria Parker told CNSNews.com that it is past time for Congress to 'take on' the issue of illegal immigration and that the topic should not be used to scuttle health care reform.

'I think there needs to be a sophisticated dialogue about what needs to happen with immigration but the main thing is it needs to be happen,' she told CNSNews.com. 'And also, there needs to be education about the current system and how it’s not working and this has been on the national agenda for 10 years, so it’s time to take it on.'

Longoria Parker spoke with CNSNews.com following an event on Capitol Hill to announce the leadership of the National Museum of the American Latino Commission and to discuss its efforts to build a museum in the District of Columbia.

When asked, 'Do you think illegal immigrants should be covered under the public health care plan if it goes through, the federal health care plan?' Longoria Parker said: 'I think it’s a difficult question to answer because we don’t have comprehensive immigration reform so we don’t even – we haven’t even identified who these people are. They’re living in the shadows. They are contributing to our society; how they contribute – how much they contribute, we don’t know yet.'

'So it’s a difficult question to answer but I don’t like the idea of people who don’t want health care reform using the immigrants and the immigration debate as the scapegoat to not pass this reform for health care because I think it’s not relevant to the health care debate right now,' she said. 'I think to use the immigrant stories and use that as an angle to not have health care reform is not right.'

President Barack Obama has said illegal immigrants will not be covered under health care reform. However, he has also said that the health care debate 'underscores' the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

'Even though I do not believe we can extend coverage to those who are here illegally, I also don't simply believe we can ignore the fact that our immigration system is broken,' the president said at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Gala last month.

'That's why I strongly support making sure folks who are here legally have access to affordable, quality health insurance under this plan, just like everybody else,' he said.

'And we certainly should not let this debate on health care--one that’s so essential to Hispanic Americans and all Americans--get sidetracked by those looking to exploit division and kill reform at any cost. That’s what they always try to do,' said Obama.

'If anything, this debate underscores the necessity of passing comprehensive immigration reform and resolving the issue of 12 million undocumented people living and working in this country once and for all,' the president said.

Eva Longoria Parker, a Mexican-American actress, is best known for her role as 'Gabrielle Solis' on the ABC sitcom Desperate Housewives. She is married to NBA Guard Tony Parker.

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22.
Al Qaeda ties exposed in NYC bomb plot
The Associated Press, October 15, 2009
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/15/al-qaeda-ties-exposed-in-nyc-bomb-plot/

NYC (AP) -- The airport shuttle driver accused of plotting a bombing in New York had contacts with al Qaeda that went nearly all the way to the top, to an Osama bin Laden confidant thought to be the terrorist group's leader in Afghanistan, U.S. intelligence officials told the Associated Press.

Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, an Egyptian reputed to be one of the founders of the terrorist network, used a middleman to contact Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi as the 24-year-old man hatched a plot to use homemade backpack bombs, perhaps on the city's mass-transit system, the two intelligence officials said.

Intelligence officials declined to discuss the nature of the contact or whether al-Yazid contacted Mr. Zazi to offer simple encouragement or to help with the bombing plot prosecutors say Mr. Zazi was pursuing.

Al-Yazid's contact with Mr. Zazi indicates that al Qaeda leadership took an intense interest in what U.S. officials have called one of the most serious terrorism threats crafted on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

'Zazi working with the al Qaeda core is exceptionally alarming,' said Daniel Byman of the Brookings Institution's Saban Center. 'The al Qaeda core is capable of far more effective terrorist attacks than jihadist terrorists acting on their own, and coordination with the core also enables bin Laden to choose the timing to maximize the benefit to his organization.'

U.S. intelligence officials said earlier that Mr. Zazi had contact with an unnamed senior al Qaeda operative. That helped distinguish Mr. Zazi from other would-be terrorists who have acted on their own in planning or attempting U.S. attacks.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the case remains under investigation, declined to describe al-Yazid's specific interaction with Mr. Zazi, who has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. But one senior U.S. intelligence official said the contact between Mr. Zazi and the senior al Qaeda leader occurred through an intermediary.

Just weeks before U.S. intelligence officials identified Mr. Zazi as a possible terrorist threat in late August, John Brennan, President Obama's top domestic terrorism adviser, told a Washington audience that 'another attack on the U.S. homeland remains the top priority for the al Qaeda senior leadership.'

U.S. intelligence officials and prosecutors have said that Mr. Zazi was recruited and trained by al Qaeda. They say he and others traveled last year to Pakistan to receive the training.

Prosecutors say Mr. Zazi, during meetings with federal investigators before his arrest last month, 'admitted that he received instructions from al Qaeda operatives on subjects such as weapons and explosives' during his trip to Pakistan.

Mr. Zazi, who is being held without bond in New York while awaiting trial, has denied receiving al Qaeda training or visiting one of the group's training camps. He said before his arrest that he traveled to Pakistan to see his wife.

In court documents, prosecutors say Mr. Zazi is linked to three e-mail accounts that he used to pursue his bomb plot. Investigators say they found nine pages of handwritten bomb-making instructions when searching two of the e-mail accounts. The notes were sent to the e-mail accounts while Mr. Zazi was in Pakistan last year, prosecutors say.

The bomb, which can be made of hydrogen peroxide and flour, is similar to the explosives used by terrorists in the 2005 London subway bombings that killed 52 people.

Prosecutors say Mr. Zazi accessed the bomb-making instructions and downloaded them to his computer after moving to the Denver area in January. In a Colorado hotel suite in early September, Mr. Zazi contacted someone 'on multiple occasions' for help correcting mixtures of bomb ingredients, 'each communication more urgent in tone than the last,' court papers say.

Al-Yazid, 53, also known as Abu Saeed al-Masri and Sheikh Said, is a well-known al Qaeda figure who initially disagreed with bin Laden's Sept. 11 plot, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. Al-Yazid was known at the time of the attack as head of al Qaeda's finance committee.

He proclaimed in a June interview with Al Jazeera television that al Qaeda would use nuclear weapons in its fight against the U.S.

A member of Egypt's radical Islamist movement, al-Yazid took part in the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, according to 'In the Graveyard of Empires,' a book by counterterrorism expert Seth G. Jones. He spent three years in prison, where he joined Ayman al-Zawahri's Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Mr. Jones wrote. Al-Zawahri is considered al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, behind bin Laden.

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23.
Contractor Is Accused of Cheating Minority Workers Out of Wages
By Charles V. Bagli
The New York Times, October 15, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/nyregion/16cheat.html

But according to a civil suit filed Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan by the state attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, one contractor routinely shortchanged hundreds of immigrant workers and forced them to work as many as 70 hours a week. The contractor, Michael Mahoney, chief executive of EMC Construction, instituted a three-tiered wage rate in which Irish workers were paid $25 an hour, African-Americans about $18 and Latino employees $15, the suit says.

The lawsuit is seeking $4 million in wages and overtime pay from ECM and Mr. Mahoney’s other companies as well as an end to discriminatory practices.

The workers did concrete and carpentry work for ECM and other companies controlled by Mr. Mahoney at about 10 hotel and condominium sites in Manhattan, several of them owned by Sam Chang, a prolific developer who emerged in recent years as the budget hotel king of New York.

'New York is supported by the hundreds of thousands of construction workers who labor tirelessly to build and maintain this city,' Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. 'To deny workers the wages guaranteed by this state, or to discriminate against them based on race and ethnicity, is a gross violation of the law and a disgraceful abuse of power.'

Mr. Mahoney, 42, did not return calls to his home in Pearl River, N.Y. His lawyer, George L. Santangelo, declined to comment on the case, saying, 'I haven’t seen the papers yet.' Mr. Santangelo did accompany Mr. Mahoney recently when the contractor repeatedly invoked his right against self-incrimination in declining to answer questions from the attorney general’s office about the claims, according to the lawsuit.

Martin Sosa, 28, said he worked for ECM for 18 months in 2005 and 2006 at four sites in Chelsea. He said he frequently worked 70 hours a week, including on Saturday and Sunday. He said his paycheck frequently bounced. Still, he would work on the 25th floor of one hotel without a safety belt, he said.

'They never gave us overtime,' said Mr. Sosa, who is from Uruguay and lives in Harrison, N.J. 'The Irish worked for eight hours and did a little carpentry. Not the Latinos. They did everything. The hardest part of the work.'

Andres Puerta, an organizer for the New York City District Council of Carpenters union who worked with ECM employees, said the working conditions were reminiscent of those of a 'sweat shop.' 'There’s a problem in the construction industry in New York City,' he said. 'These aren’t the only bad jobs.'

The attorney general’s investigation began in 2006 after several melees broke out at three hotel construction sites on Manhattan’s West Side between union organizers and EMC officials, fights that were first reported in The Village Voice. The union had focused on what it said was exploitation of immigrant workers by unscrupulous contractors.

The hotels were being developed by Mr. Chang, whose construction company, Tritel, had hired ECM. Investigators say that the attorney general’s inquiry is continuing and that they will review whether Mr. Chang and others who hired ECM played a role in the matter.

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24.
13-year-old Mexican girl says smuggler ignored plea to save drowning family, kicked her
By Elliot Spagat
The Associated Press, October 15, 2009

El Centro, CA (AP) -- Cecilia Cid-Contreras remembers waking up underwater, unable to breathe. A migrant smuggler had just plunged a GMC Suburban packed with about 20 suspected illegal immigrants into a canal, including Cid-Contreras' parents and 10-year-old brother.

After swimming to a bank, the 12-year-old pleaded with the smuggler to save her family.

He refused and kicked her once in the stomach, Cid-Contreras, now 13, told jurors Thursday in Imperial Superior Court.

Cid-Contreras, whose family died in the wreck, is a key prosecution witness against Alejandro Toribio Gama, a 16-year-old Mexican accused of driving the Suburban into a canal in July 2008, killing six passengers. Toribio Gama is charged as an adult with murder. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
. . .
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-border-crash,0,1276739.story

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25.
NYC DA: Bogus Ga. Lawyer Left Immigrants Worse Off
The Associated Press, October 16, 2009

NYC (AP) -- A convicted bigamist posing as a veteran immigration lawyer scammed thousands of dollars from Guyanese immigrants and gave them advice so bad they now face deportation, prosecutors said Thursday.
. . .
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/15/us/AP-US-Immigration-Scam.html

+++

Man Charged in Immigration Fraud Scheme
By John Eligon
The New York Times, October 15, 2009
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/man-charged-in-immigration-fraud-scheme/

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26.
15 people, bales of pot seized when boat lands in Encinitas
By Debbi Baker and Jose Luis Jiménez
The San Diego Union Tribune, October 14, 2009

Encinitas, CA -- Fifteen people are in custody and 35 bundles of marijuana have been seized after Border Patrol agents spotted a boat as it came ashore at a Leucadia beach early Wednesday morning, an agency spokesman said.
. . .
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/14/bn14boat-off-leucadia/?metro&zIndex=182742

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Overseas News

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

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

[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. Canada: Advocates dubious of changes to foreign worker program
2. U.K.: London business leaders press for fewer immigration restrictions
3. U.K.: Previously banned Dutch pol speaks against Islam
4. Ireland: E.U. subsidy to fund repatriations
5. Ireland: S. Africa objects to recent race-based residency decision
6. France: New encampment of illegals emerges near Channel port
7. Norway: Over 13,000 asylum seekers arrived this year
8. Germany: Immigrant high school graduates at disadvantage in job market
9. Switzerland: Voters to decide upon ban on new minarets
10. Romania: Ten percent of employed population living abroad (story, link)
11. Greece: Gov't releasing 1,200 detainees, offering incentives to repatriate
12. Italy: Leading Muslim intellectual urges action against fundamentalism
13. Malta: Slovakia renews promise to relocate illegals
14. Israel: NGO throws weight behind foreign kids slated for deportation
15. Iraq: Repatriating asylum seekers denied entry, returned to Britain (story, 2 links)
16. S. Korea: Detention of Nepalese worker draws criticism
17. Thailand: Burmese labors increasingly falling prey to gang crimes
18. Indonesia: Leading actress advocates U.N. Int’l Migrant Convention (2 stories)
19. Philippines: Capital police prepare for regional group’s parley on immigration

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
Changes to temporary foreign workers program don't go far enough, critics say
By Nicholas Keung
The Toronto Star (Canada), October 16, 2009
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/711400--changes-to-temporary-foreign-workers-program-don-t-go-far-enough-critics-say

The proposed changes to Canada's temporary foreign workers program reinforce a 'disposable' workforce and further penalizes workers already vulnerable to abuse, advocacy groups and labour unions warn.

The changes, announced by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney late last week, represent another setback for the 260,000 temporary foreign workers - many of them in clerical and manual jobs - because it limits their stay to four years and bans them from returning to Canada for at least six years, critics say.

'They are punishing the victims, not stopping the exploitation,' said Sonia Singh, a spokesperson for the Toronto-based Coalition for Change, an umbrella group of 20 labour and community organizations.

'It is another tool for the government to create a disposable workforce. So, you work hard, do jobs that Canadians don't want and contribute to our economy, and we send you home after four years. Is it the way we want to build Canada?'

Critics say Canada is being pushed backward in history to when cheap labourers, like the Chinese rail workers or Caribbean domestics, were brought here temporarily and then restricted entry when they were no longer needed.

'We used them, abused them and booted them out,' said Toronto MP Olivia Chow, the New Democrats' immigration critic. 'There is not a lot of difference.'

The parliamentary citizenship and immigration committee made dozens of recommendations to revamp the foreign workers' programs, but based on the proposed regulations most were not adopted. The bipartisan report had called for an advisory board to monitor the program as well as the creation of 'a path to permanent residency' for foreign workers.

'A lot of these problems have to do with the imbalance of power between employers and workers. No tinkering of the program can solve the root cause,' said Chow.

The committee had also recommended work permits be sector-and province-specific instead of employer-specific and that the government perform unannounced spot checks of work and housing conditions on temporary foreign worker job sites.

Under the rules proposed by Ottawa, employers who abuse foreign workers will be blacklisted and banned from hiring another foreigner for two years.

Karl Flecker of the Canadian Labour Congress said the government allocated $80 million to streamline the foreign workers program to make it easier for employers to bring in workers, but there is no mention of investing in compliance and enforcement of employment standards for these workers.

In the government's own impact analysis, it admitted that — despite the abuse — 'no provisions exist in the regulations to hold employers accountable for their actions regarding temporary foreign workers.'

The government's own estimate puts the number of foreign workers subject to mistreatment at 1 per cent of the total or 26,000. Said Flecker: 'It's not a question of the lack of resources, but the lack of political will.'

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2.
Johnson pressed on immigration rules
By Brian Groom
The Financial Times (London), October 16, 2009
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f40814a-b9b2-11de-a747-00144feab49a.html

Business leaders are calling for London’s mayor to put a campaign against restrictive immigration rules at the centre of efforts to fend off threats to the city’s status as a leading global business centre.

Boris Johnson is also being urged to attract Asian companies to set up European headquarters in London as replacements for US and British companies that have left.

The recommendations come in a report to be presented on Friday at the annual meeting of Mr Johnson’s international business advisory council at City Hall, in response to the mayor’s call for a review of London’s competitiveness.

Booz & Co, the consultants, interviewed more than 50 business leaders, who said measures such as the planned 50p top tax rate and the £30,000 ($49,185) levy on non-domiciled residents were prompting individuals and companies to consider leaving London. The report urges the mayor to set up a small London competitiveness unit to strengthen his lobbying capability, with one of its priorities to launch a co-ordinated campaign on immigration.

Business leaders and foreign community representatives expressed 'widespread concern' about the government’s points-based visa system, which they feared would damage London’s openness and diversity.

The campaign would aim to ensure the rules were applied in a way that did not damage London’s interests. One option could be a set charge for appeals, which would encourage only those with strong grounds to challenge the outcome of applications.

The report says eight companies have moved their headquarters from London since 2007, mainly for tax reasons: Yahoo, WPP, Kraft, Rolls-Royce Marine, Suntech, NYK, Regus and McDonald’s. They went to cities such as Geneva and Dublin, while three companies (Canon Europe, Vodafone and Lowe) came to London.

Over the next 15 years, up to 3,200 companies from China, Taiwan, South Korea and India may consider moving to Europe, according to the report.

Mr Johnson will tell the council: 'Recent inte­r­national and European surveys have consistently put London as the number one place to do business and invest in, but this is not the time to rest on our laurels.'

The mayor will pledge to continue lobbying on London’s competitiveness and on infrastructure improvements such as Crossrail and the Olympics, and lobbying government and the European Union on issues that matter to Londoners.

'I am under no illusion about the task ahead or the threats to London’s global dominance. The proposed national and international regulation that the City faces is a reaction to the financial services crisis but we must ensure that we don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg,' he will say.

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3.
Geert Wilders arrives in UK and explains his 'problems with Islam'
The Telegraph (U.K.), October 16, 2009
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6348730/Geert-Wilders-arrives-in-UK-and-explains-his-problems-with-Islam.html

Police held back a crowd of Muslim demonstrators as Geert Wilders met Ukip peer Lord Pearson opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Explaining his controversial views on Islam, he said: ''I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel that the more Islam that we get in our societies, the less freedom that we get.''

The leader of the Dutch Freedom Party was allowed into Britain after overturning a Government decision led by former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to bar him from the country.

It was feared that his outspoken views on Islam could spark religious violence, but this was rejected by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal on Tuesday.

Mr Wilders denied responsibility for the publicity which has greeted his visit.

The 46-year-old said: ''If anybody has responsibility for this publicity, it is the UK Government and the Home Secretary and not Geert Wilders.''

Mr Wilders, who wants the Koran banned, insisted: ''I am not extreme, I am not a racist either.''

He has been under 24-hour protection for the past five years after receiving death threats over his views.

The controversial figure had planned a press conference on College Green opposite the Houses of Parliament, but this was hastily moved inside a nearby building when the protesters emerged.

Mr Wilders opened the meeting by saying: ''I would like to start by quoting one of the great British writers, George Orwell, who once said 'if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear'.''

He said oppression of homosexuals and journalists in some Islamic countries is ''retarded'' and he is fighting for the rights of non-Muslims.

The politician said he wants to return to the UK to screen his short film Fitna, which criticises the Koran as a ''fascist book''.

Lord Pearson, who invited Mr Wilders to Britain, said his arrival was ''a celebration of the victory of freedom of speech over those who would prevent it in this country, particularly the Islamists, the violent Jihadists who are on the march across the world and in the UK''.

The visit saw protesters brandishing banners saying ''Sharia is the solution, freedom go to hell'' and ''Geert Wilders deserves Islamic punishment''.

Abu Muaz, who said he was from a group called Islam For UK, said: ''If I were to say some of the things he has said, I would be arrested under the Terrorism Act. But because there is a war on Muslims, he gets an easy ride.''

The demonstrators said Mr Wilders was an ''enemy of Islam'', and called for Sharia law in the Netherlands.

He faces allegations in his home country of inciting racial hatred.

Mohammed Shafiq, from the Ramadhan Foundation, said it was right that Mr Wilders had been allowed into the UK, but he should be closely monitored while in the country.

He said: ''The right decision was made to let him in because we believe in freedom of speech in this country, no matter how abhorrent someone's views are. But he has got to be monitored so that he doesn't say anything to incite religious violence.

''If you start attacking somebody's faith in the way that he has, they could react violently. Islam is not above criticism, and criticism based on a mutual respect and tolerance is fine.

''But his hatred is no different to the intolerance that the BNP and the far right are preaching.''

A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) branded Mr Wilders ''a relentless preacher of hate'' and objected to ''the rapturous welcome he is receiving in the name of free speech''.

MCB secretary general Muhammad Abdul Bari said: ''At a time of heightened tension, with the unprecedented rise of the far right, we must all pull together and focus on points of unity and cohesion.

''Our unhealthy obsession with divisive figures only bolsters their objective to sow discord on the streets of Britain.''

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4.
EU cash will help State fund more deportations
By Edel Kennedy
The Irish Independent, October 12, 2009
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-cash-will-help-state-fund-more-deportations-1910834.html

The EU is giving cash to the Government to help pay for flights home for migrants who lose their jobs.

Ireland had applied to the EU for monies to help non-EU immigrants who cannot afford to live here or who have failed in their asylum applications. The EU has agreed, and will provide around €600,000 per annum from 2008 to 2013, under its Return Fund.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said: 'For the first year of the fund, Ireland has decided to focus on forced returns.'

In the first five months of this year, 103 people were deported at a cost of €270,828. One of the most expensive deportations to date was that of a Ghanaian man, in March 2008, which cost €151,900.

Fine Gael's Denis Naughten, party spokesman on immigration said: 'Ideally if Ireland, France and Germany had people to send back to somewhere like Chad, one flight would be used to bring them all.

'But the problem is that while we may regard Chad as 'safe' for those going home, another country might not.'

The Government spent €2m on the voluntary repatriation of non-EU nationals between 2005 and 2008.

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5.
South Africa to protest race-based argument accepted by Dublin court
By Bill Corcoran
The Irish Times, October 15, 2009
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/1015/1224256689848.html

Cape Town -- The South African government is to lodge a protest with the Irish ambassador in Pretoria against a race-based argument that was accepted by a Dublin court leading to one of its citizens being granted temporary residency.

The decision last week by the High Court to grant South African Dianne Jefferson Irish residency for five years, partially based on her fears that she would be targeted by black criminals if deported, has reignited a race row in her country of origin.

In her affidavit to the court Ms Jefferson said that as a 'white South African' she believed her life would be put in serious danger if deported because criminals would target her because of the colour of her skin.

Ms Jefferson (22), from Doughiska, Co Galway, launched her legal bid to secure residency last month after she was told by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service that she had been refused a residence card, and should return to South Africa.

The young woman left South Africa in 2002 as a 14-year-old following the death of her grandmother, and came to live in Ireland, where her father is based. She has attended secondary school, gone to college and married an Irishman. She has no relatives in South Africa.

In her affidavit Ms Jefferson said: 'I say and believe that as a white South African there is a real possibility of criminal racial discrimination against me and I fear for my wellbeing and ultimately my life if I am returned.'

Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba, director general of South Africa’s department of international relations and co-operation, has questioned the veracity of the affidavit.

The court’s decision, while accepted by South African officials, has prompted the state to seek a meeting with the Irish Ambassador to object to Ms Jefferson’s argument, because it is similar to one put forward by a South African man who was given asylum in Canada in August.

Cape Town-born Brandon Huntley was given refugee status by Canada’s independent immigration board last August after the 31-year-old said he would be targeted by black criminals if he returned to South Africa. He said he had been attacked seven times and stabbed four by black criminals. He never reported the incidents to the police.

An outraged South African government took issue with the board’s ruling and approached their Canadian counterparts to contest the decision in court, which they have agreed to do.

According to the South African government, Mr Huntley’s claims that whites are targeted by black criminals does not reflect the reality, and does little to bring the two ethnic groups together in the post-apartheid era.

Sanda Kimbimbi, southern Africa’s representative at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, said there were limited scenarios under which South Africans should be granted refugee status in Ireland, and fear of common law crime was not among them.

The ruling has also caused widespread debate in the South African media, and in public forums, among those who think whites are targeted more because of the colour of their skin.

The latest figures show a crime epidemic in South Africa. More than 18,000 murders were committed in the 12 months to last March, and the number of burglaries has risen steeply over the same period.

On Monday a South African government spokesperson said that after receiving a full report from the embassy in Ireland on the Jefferson decision, the government had decided to pursue the matter to ensure the country’s good name was not tarnished by suggestions that whites are targeted by blacks.

'We have decided to take the issue up with the Irish Ambassador in South Africa, and international relations and co-operation deputy minister Ebrahim Ebrahim will raise our objections against the position taken by the young woman,' said spokesperson Malusi Mogale. A source told The Irish Times that as of yesterday no protest had been lodged with Irish officials in Pretoria.

Dr Ntsaluba said it was tragic that the country’s efforts to build and pursue policies of national reconciliation were being undermined and abused by Ms Jefferson and Mr Huntley. 'Any notion that crime in South Africa, which is a scourge that our government is spending a lot of time on trying to address, any notion that it is racially motivated is obviously without any basis,' he said.

The Dublin ruling has sparked fierce debate among South Africans. Some argue that the Irish and Canadian cases highlight legitimate concerns among some in the white population who fear for their lives, while others see them as nothing more than an attempt by white South Africans to secure legal status abroad by any means.

According to Ireland’s refugee application statistics 975 South Africans have applied for asylum in Ireland since 1999, and 46 of these have been granted.

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6.
Vast new illegal migrant camp opens in France as officials admit they have 'no alternative'
By Peter Allen
The Daily Mail (U.K.), October 16, 2009

A vast charity camp for illegal migrants heading towards England has opened in northern France.

As fears grew that it will become a magnet for thousands more, officials said they had 'no alternative' but to allow it to be put it in place.

It is situated at Steenvoorde, next door to a motorway service station filled with lorries heading towards Channel ports at Calais and Dunkirk.
. . .
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1220804/Charity-camp-opens-France-illegal-migrants-headed-England--just-weeks-destruction-Jungle.html

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7.
More asylum seekers to Norway
The Norway Post, October 15, 2009
http://www.norwaypost.no/content/view/22627/1/

Image So far this year 13,379 asylum seekers have arrived in Norway. This is nearly as many as for the whole of last year, when around 14,400 applied for asylum. 1612 applied in September alone.

This is 66 more than in September last year, according to fresh figures from the Immigration Directorate (UDI).

Around 14 per cent of the asylum seekers classify themselves as single minors.

Of the near 14,000 asylum seekers who have arrived this year, 24 per cent come from Afghanistan, 15 per cent from Eritrea, 11 per cent from Somalia and 7 per cent from Iraq.

By the end of August UDI had processed around 8,600 applications. Around 60 per cent of these were turned down because they were already registered as asylum seekers in another European country.

Norway's expenses in connection with asylum reception centers, immigration and integration will next year amunt to NOK 11.5 billion, according to the proposed budget for 2010. This is an increase by NOK 2 billion compared with this year.

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8.
Immigrant school graduates disadvantaged in Germany, OECD study finds
Deutsche Welle, October 15, 2009
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4793932,00.html

A new study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that high school graduates from an immigrant background have significantly worse chances in the German job market.

Germany may not be quite the egalitarian meritocracy it might imagine itself. This is the conclusion of a new study published Thursday in Berlin by the OECD, the international organization of 30 free-market-based democratic countries. The study found that children born of German parents have much better chances of finding work, even with the same high school qualifications.

16 OECD member states took part in the survey, which compared the careers of young people in a 20-29-year-old age bracket. Germany came second only to Belgium in the list of most unfair Western democracies.

The number of young people with no high school graduation or equivalent vocational qualification in Germany is twice as high among immigrant families than it is among children with at least one German parent.

Employer prejudices prevail

But even those children of immigrant families with high school graduation have trouble finding work, according to the study. 90 percent of 20-29-year-old male high-school graduates with German parents have a job, compared with only 81 percent in an identical demographic, but with immigrant backgrounds.

OECD expert Thomas Liebig believes that this may show that German employers are still strongly prejudiced. 'One explanation could be that the job market is dominated by the expectation that immigrants and their children are less qualified,' he said.

Children of immigrant parents have particular difficulty in finding work in public services. Only three percent of 20-29-year-old high school graduates of immigrant families are employed in public services, compared to 10 percent of those with German parents. This is the biggest discrepancy in any of the countries surveyed.

The OECD showed unease at the statistics. Liebig said that the survey's results were surprising, since high-school graduates of immigrant families had generally attained their qualifications in Germany. The OECD's findings on the educational circumstances of immigrants in Germany were similar to those of PISA studies.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The OECD can be found online at: http://www.oecd.org/home/0,3305,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

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9.
Swiss to vote on proposal banning new minarets
Reuters, October 16, 2009
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091016/world-news/swiss-to-vote-on-proposal-banning-new-minarets

The minaret of the mosque of the Islamic Cultural Foundation at Grand-Saconnex in Geneva, Switzerland.

Switzerland will hold a referendum on November 29 on banning the construction of new minarets after a group of politicians from the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) and Federal Democratic Union gathered enough signatures last year to force a vote.

The Swiss government urged voters yesterday to reject a proposed ban on new minarets, saying it would contravene religious freedom and human rights, and could provoke extremists.

'It is not a suitable means to counter religious extremism, rather it threatens to give a boost to religious fanatics,' Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference webcast from Berne.

The Alpine country is home to more than 300,000 Muslims - about four per cent of the population - and has hundreds of mosques, of which only a handful have minarets. Applications to build more prompted the campaign for a ban.

Some local governments have banned a poster in favour of the ban which shows the Swiss flag, a white cross on a red background, covered in missile-like minarets and a woman wearing a black chador and veil associated with strict Islam.

An opinion poll last week showed 51 per cent of Swiss opposed a ban, while 35 per cent were in favour.

Supporters of a ban say minarets have no religious justification and are symbols of Islamic power which contravene Swiss constitutional rights to religious freedom.

Thomas Wipf, head of the Swiss Council of Religions, said Swiss identity was associated with cultural and religious diversity, but said the calling of the referendum showed Islam provoked questions, uncertainty and fear among many Swiss.

'Such questions should be discussed openly but the referendum initiative is counterproductive as it hinders dialogue rather than promoting it,' he told the news conference.

The right-wing SVP, which took 29 per cent of the vote in the last election to make it the country's biggest party, has been accused of racism for anti-immigration campaigns, including a poster showing white sheep kicking a black sheep off a Swiss flag.

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10.
10 per cent of Romanians are working abroad
The Romanian Times, October 16, 2009
http://www.romaniantimes.at/news/General_News/2009-10-16/3573/10_per_cent_of_Romanians_are_working_abroad

Some 8 to 10 per cent of the Romanian population aged 15 to 64, or around 2.7 million people, are working abroad.

Romania needs to develop policies for those working abroad, for those coming back and for regional development.

Sociologist Dumitru Sandu presented three directions that Romania needs to move in on the issue of migration yesterday (Thurs).

Sandu called for new national policies on labour abroad, immigration, since Romania would become an immigration country in 8 to12 years, and migration in the framework of regional development, reports Mediafax.

'There is no coordination of migration and development policy. In Romania, there are three big deficits: namely, normative, vision and data deficits. Immigration is covered much better than emigration from a legislative point of view,' Sandu said.

He said that in 2008 Romanians abroad remitted six billion Euros or five per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

'Some 35-40 per cent of 7.3 million households have living standards affected by money from abroad. Emigration has led to growing disparities of income, as the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer,' Sandu said.

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10% of active population is abroad
ACT Media (Romanian), October 16, 2009
http://www.actmedia.eu/2009/10/16/top+story/10%25+of+active+population+is+abroad/23565

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11.
Release for 1,200 illegal migrants
Kathimerini (Greece), October 16, 2009
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100012_16/10/2009_111607

Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis yesterday announced the impending release of 1,200 illegal immigrants from police holding cells around the country while also heralding a overhaul of the coast guard and police force to deter traffickers from bringing would-be migrants to Greece.

The freed immigrants would be given a month to leave the country and offered financial incentives for their repatriation, the minister said, noting that migrants facing trial on criminal charges would not be subject to release.

Chrysochoidis said that more measures were in the pipeline, including the reform of legislation to ensure greater rights for the children of migrants. 'Child migrants who have grown up in Greece and merit protection status will not be subject to deportation,' he said.

'First and foremost we want to discourage illegal entry but we must also drastically improve our country’s human rights record,' Chrysochoidis told reporters following talks with top police and navy officials. The minister added that Greece would 'no longer be a free-for-all but neither a hell pit for human souls.' To this end, and in an apparent reaction to complaints lodged against Greece by international rights groups earlier this week, Chrysochoidis also heralded the creation of a police department that would probe alleged rights violations by officers. The plan is for the unit to operate in cooperation with the Ombudsman, Giorgos Kaminis, who last week highlighted the problem of illegal immigration when he appeared at the new government’s first ministerial meeting.

Chrysochoidis said another priority would be reorganizing the coast guard with the aim of intensifying sea patrols and curbing a relentless influx of migrants to islands in the eastern Aegean.

Earlier this week, the European Union’s border-monitoring agency Frontex reported a 47 percent increase in the number of illegal immigrants entering Greece through its sea border with Turkey. This sharp increase came even as Italy and Spain, also external EU border states, reported a 60 percent drop in illegal arrivals partly due to repatriation agreements signed with Libya and Senegal respectively.

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12.
Italy: Muslim intellectual urges action on fundamentalism
ADN Kronos International (Italy), October 15, 2009
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=3.0.3879938004

Rome (AKI) -- The president of the association of Italian Muslims, Ahmad Gianpiero Vincenzo, has urged measures to tackle the problem of religious extremism. 'We need to analyse fundamentalism and develop practical action to combat this,' said Vincenzo. His call came after a 35-year-old Libyan earlier this week carried out a botched bomb attack against a military barracks in Italy's northern city of Milan.

'We know very little about the channels through which extremists are being funded,' said Vincenzo.

He is also a consultant on immigration for the Italian Senate's Constitutional Affairs Commission and a member of Rome Mosque's General Assembly.

'We also need to know the extremists' geographical distribution across the country and the real targets of their propaganda,' Vincenzo said.

Until now, very little has been done in Italy to support the creation of a moderate, official Islam, he noted.

'There is no public funding for the training of imams. This can only result in self-styled preachers and dodgy sources of funding,' Vincenzo said.

He and a group of Italian jurists are drafting legislation that would regulate places of worship for religions like Islam which don't currently have an agreement with the Italian state.

'The bill will place greater value on institutions that are officially recognised by the Italian state, such as Rome's Grand Mosque.

'And it sanctions the creation of schools for imams and mosques which are managed with maximum degree of transparency,' he concluded.

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13.
Slovakia renews promise to take migrants
The Times of Malta, October 16, 2009
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091016/local/slovakia-renews-promise-to-take-migrants

Slovakia today reiterated its promise to take illegal immigrants from Malta during talks in Valletta between Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak and Foreign Minister Tonio Borg.

The talks focused on bilateral political and economic relations as well as developments in the EU.

Dr Borg said the two countries wanted to build on the collaboration that existed when Malta helped Slovakia in the euro-adoption process.

He said there was particularly a need to improve trade exchanges and trade missions would be held by the respective governments with this aim in mind.

The two ministers also discussed Malta's offer to host the EU's European Asylum Support Office.

Mr Lajcak said that his country was committed to helping Malta to share its burden on illegal immigration. Slovakia would therefore be taking a number of illegal immigrants from Malta under the pilot project introduced by the EU for migrants granted protection.

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14.
Nonprofit throws weight behind kids of foreign workers facing deportation
By Dana Weiler-Pollak
Ha'aretz (Israel), October 16, 2009
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1121532.html

Rotem Ilan, the head of the Israeli Children organization, is sitting on a bench in the school yard of Hayarden Elementary in South Tel Aviv, taking a break from filming a short video protesting the deportation of 1,200 migrant children and their families. Whenever phone calls to ministerial aides and members of Knesset momentarily cease, Ilan, 24, can be heard swearing softly and grabbing the phone again, to coordinate something else before she forgets. 'A planner, I need a planner!' Ilan declares to the world at large.

Unlike many other nonprofit organizations, Israeli Children doesn't have a secretary, a fundraiser or even an office. When the 'Oz' unit of immigration inspectors took to the streets in July, Ilan and three friends understood that the Interior Ministry meant business and that time was scarce. 'We decided to call a meeting for that very night, and sent out e-mails and Facebook invitations,' she says. 'We worried people might not come. More than 100 showed up.'

These days, any demonstration called by the group yields hundreds of protesters.

Ilan, who recently earned a degree in psychology and special needs education, learned a lesson or two in field organizing, and divided the organization into task forces. One team, headed by Marcello Wexler, was tasked with handling legal concerns, as well as finding safe houses and temporary foster families for children threatened with deportation. Before the deportation began on August 1, over 100 families came forward to offer assistance.

'It hurts me that the struggle became political, because it's anything but,' says Ilan, who seems like a protective young mother among the children rallying around her. 'It's a struggle for people's lives. I think a lot of Israelis have lost touch with common sense. These people arrived here completely legally, and only became illegal aliens either because they had a child or because they changed employers - despite the fact that the Supreme Court said contracts binding a worker's visa to a specific employer were [a form of] modern slavery.'

The organization's most recent initiative was hanging posters picturing migrant children, stamped with the word 'Deported,' throughout Tel Aviv. On Sunday, the Contemporary by Golconda art gallery, also in Tel Aviv, will launch an exhibition of photographs taken by the children. Also on Sunday, a short film about the kids' predicament, directed by Yariv Horowitz and written by Reshef Levi, will be aired on television.

Responding to critics of the campaign's use of children, Ilan said this is the only way to make anyone realize who the humans behind the slogans and rhetoric are. 'People see there's no connection between their [assumptions] about foreigners and the lovely children, who speak Hebrew as well as their own kids. It was important for me to allow the kids to be seen and to show the great love they have for this place.'

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15.
Iraq sends back UK asylum flight
By Marie Jackson
The BBC News (U.K.), October 16, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8310572.stm

Iraqi asylum seekers sent back to Baghdad by the UK government have been refused re-entry to their homeland, and flown back to Britain.

The flight, carrying about 40 asylum seekers, landed in Baghdad on Thursday. Ten were admitted but the rest were turned away and have now arrived back.

Human rights group Refugee and Migrant Justice said this was 'unprecedented'.

The Home Office said it was working with the Iraqi government to iron out issues that caused some to be returned.

The reason for their return, it said, was a matter for the Iraqi authorities.

It is understood that about 80 escorts were also aboard the government-chartered flight.

The asylum seekers are now at Brook House detention centre near Gatwick airport where they are being given legal advice, according to a Refugee and Migrant Justice spokeswoman.

She said: 'One would have expected with such a high profile remove, the Home Office would have sorted this out with the Iraqi authorities.

'For such a high profile group to be returned is unprecedented.'

She added that the reason for the Iraqi authorities turning away some of the group was unclear, but suggested it may have been that certain documents were not in order.

The government's plan to send the group back to Baghdad, where just this week at least eight were killed in attacks on a market in north-west Baghdad, met with criticism from human rights group.

There have been no returns to Iraq since 2008 and this would have been the first return to the capital city since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.

Political and sectarian violence has diminished in Iraq since 2005-07 levels, but lawlessness remains a problem, and there has been a recent spike in violent incidents.

Enforced route

Lin Homer, chief executive of the UK Border Agency, said: 'We are establishing a new route to southern Iraq and have successfully returned 10 Iraqis to the Baghdad area. This is an important first step for us.

'We are working closely with the Iraq government to iron out the issues which lead to some of the returnees being sent back, and expect to carry out another flight in the future.

'Having an enforced route for returns is an important part of our overall approach; however the government prefers the majority of returnees to leave voluntarily.'

She said more than 2,500 people have chosen to return to Iraq under the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme in the past three years and that was expected to continue.

The Home Office said it has no estimates of the current number of failed Iraqi asylum seekers in the UK, but about 1,000 had returned to northern Iraq last year, either through enforced deportation or voluntarily.

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Iraqi army confronted UK deportation officials on Baghdad plane
By Owen Bowcott and Alan Travis
The Guardian (U.K.), October 16, 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/16/unhcr-uk-baghdad-deportations

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16.
Detention of Unregistered Nepalese Draws Protest
Minod Moktan faces being deported after he was caught by immigration officers earlier this month. The detention of the Nepalese, who has been active in various cultural and human rights activities, is drawing protest from migrant workers’ groups. / Courtesy of MWTV
By Cho Jae-hyon
The Korea Times, October 16, 2009
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2009/10/178_53690.html

The detention of a Nepalese who overstayed his visa by about 17 years is drawing fierce protest from migrant workers' groups, while authorities make it clear that they will handle the case in line with the law.

Minod Moktan (Korean name Minu), who worked as a film section chief for an Internet broadcaster MWTV (Migrant Workers TV), was apprehended on Oct. 8 by immigration officers while he was entering the station's building in Yongsang, Seoul.

The abrupt detainment sent migrant workers' associations and many other human rights groups into forming an alliance to campaign for freeing the 38-year-old.

Minu has been active in cultural and human rights activities, emerging as a symbolic figure representing the rights of unregistered foreign workers. He has taken part in various music events and received a number of awards ― even one from the culture minister in 1999.

Forming a band 'Stop Crackdown' along with other migrant workers in 2003, he performed as a vocalist, appearing on numerous TV programs and holding tours across the nation for migrant people.

Lee Byung-han, co-representative of MWTV, said the authorities should take into consideration his contribution to helping Korean society understand migrant workers before attempting to deport him.

'He has played a significant role in bridging Korean society and migrant workers. Minu has really played a pioneering role in laying a stepping stone for Korea moving toward becoming a multicultural society,' Lee said. 'We are concerned that this symbolic mediator for multicultural society might disappear. It will be a great loss to our society.'

He said the association formed for the campaign to free Minu will file a petition with the Justice Ministry, Monday, demanding the government grant special permits to make his sojourn legal at least for the next one or two years.

No Exception

However, the Korea Immigration Service said that there will be 'no exception' in applying laws to those migrant workers who are illegally staying here.

'We are well aware that Minu is a sort of symbolic figure for illegal sojourners and he is drawing a lot of support from many human rights groups. But we cannot make an exception no matter how many petitions they make,' a senior immigration officer said, declining to be named.

He said Minu was caught in 2000 but released temporarily so he could receive unpaid salaries and sort out other affairs on condition that he report back to the authorities when he had taken care of the matters. But he just disappeared, according to the officer.

He said the immigration is reviewing Minu's complaints filed with the immigration office, with the decision expected to be available next week.

Minu has been transferred to a detention center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

His detention is also causing a stir on the Internet. Some netizens have set up an online cafe for the campaign to help set him free at portal Daum (http://cafe.daum.net/free-minu).

Minu first set foot here with a tourism visa in 1992 when E-9 work visas were not available for foreign laborers.

The 'Free Minu' association held a protest rally in front of the detention center in Hwaseong, Friday, demanding the authorities release him and pledging to take all possible measures to keep him from being deported.

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17.
Burmese migrant workers harassed by gangs in Southern Thailand
The Independent Mon News Agency (Burma), October 15, 2009
http://www.monnews-imna.com/newsupdate.php?ID=1565

Incidents of Thai gangs harassing and robbing Burmese migrant workers in Southern Thailand are on the rise, claim several migrant workers interviewed by IMNA.

A Mon migrant worker, employed at a rural rubber plantation in Hat Yai district in Trang Province in Southern Thailand, reported to IMNA that on October 11, he and his wife were robbed of by a gang of three Thai teenagers. The gang stole 440 baht and a cell phone.

Nai Myint Aung, aged 30, informed IMNA that he and eight of his friends are already paying 50 baht per month to a different Thai gang, and have been doing so for the past eight months. Nai Myint Aung told IMNA that if he or his friends fail to pay the monthly extortion fee, the gang follows them back to their homes and harasses their families.

Nai Myint Aung reported to IMNA that on the afternoon of October 11th at 2pm he left his boss’s home, where he had received his paycheck of 7000 baht, and entered the local market. The gang of Thai teenagers followed him from the marketplace to his neighborhood. Nai Myint Aung claimed that the gang stopped his motorbike and seized his wife who accompanied him, threatening the pair with a knife. The gang then searched his wife’s body and stole 440 baht and her cellular phone.

A Thai neighbor of the pair, a-35 year-old man, saw the Nai Myint Aung and his wife being attacked, and phoned the police, causing the gang to scatter. Nai Myint Aung reported to IMNA that his wife had luckily had the foresight to stow his paycheck in her brassiere, and thus the pair managed to escape the attack without losing the 7000 baht he’d just received.

Nai Myint Aung claimed to IMNA that he fears that the gang will continue to cause problems for his family, as the group likely remembers his motorbike number. His Thai neighbor, who came to his rescue the day of his attack, allegedly urged him to report the incident to the police, but Nai Mynit Aung says he fears that reporting the gang to the Thai police will only result in more violence. Reportedly, his fellow workers at the rubber plantation where he is employed have heard rumors of a Thai gang killing a family in the area who reported them to the authorities, and he does not want his family to meet a similar fate.

Mi Hlaing, Nai Myint Aung’s wife, told IMNA, 'The Thai gangs know that most of the Mon migrant workers go to the market [once a week] to buy goods. That’s why the gangs perform a robbery every week on the way [to the market].'

Mi Hlaing added that she and her family previously lived in Thailand’s Phanga Province, but that after an incident 2 months ago where a 50-year-old Thai man attempted to rape her, she and her husband decided to move to the Hat Yai area.

A Mon worker named Mi Mee, from Pattaya, also in Southern Thailand, claims that during the last ten days, Thai gangs have stolen a gold necklace, 2000 baht, and three mobile phones from migrant workers in the Pattya area; the rape of a migrant woman in the area has also been attributed to gang activity.

Mi Mee explained to IMNA that migrant workers in Southern Thailand feel that they must face the abuse of Thai gangs in the area with patience, because the Burmese workers need their jobs in Thailand too much to cause trouble.

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18.
Rieke seeks support for migrant workers
The Jakarta Post, October 16, 2009
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/16/rieke-seeks-support-migrant-workers.html

Jakarta -- On screen, in a TV show, she might be the naïve kampung girl Oneng. But in real life, as a seasoned activist in the field of feminism and human rights, Rieke Dyah Pitaloka has recently taken on a new challenge: to speak on behalf of migrant workers.

At an event to gather support for the ratification of the International Migrant Convention, Rieke took to the stage as the ambassador for migrant workers.

'We’ve all followed the news on how complex the problems are that migrant workers face. Most of them have to do without sufficient protection of their rights,' said the 35-year old.

Indonesia signed in 2004 the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers, but has yet to ratify it. One of the aims of Monday night’s event was to gather support for a petition urging the ratification to be submitted to the government on the presidential inauguration day, scheduled for Oct. 20.

'Please, all of you who have not signed the petition to urge the ratification, do so before you leave,' Rieke reminded the guests. 'It’s the least we can do for our migrant workers.'

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Gov’t demanded to ratify UN convention
The Jakarta Post, October 16, 2009
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/16/govt-demanded-ratify-un-convention.html

The National Commission for Women has urged the government to ratify the 1990 UN Convention on female migrant worker protection to look after millions of Indonesian female migrant workers.

The organization's commissioner, Sri Wiyanti Eddyono, said recently the government signed the UN convention but was yet to approve it - even though the country had migrant workers in numerous countries since the 1980s.

Sri said the government issued a law on the protection of workers abroad. She said it regulated most labor-supplying companies, and prevented labor smuggling and illegal migrants.

According to Sri, if the UN convention was ratified it could be a legal base for female migrant workers to settle disputes with employers, and demand their wage, work hours and leave rights were met.

The chairman of the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, Jumhur Hidayat, admitted the government was yet to commit to protecting migrant workers, which the Constitution should guarantee.

'The convention has not seriously been considered by the government,' he said. Jumhur also said he expected the next minister to propose the convention be ratified.

It was claimed the government had declined to ratify the UN convention since countries employing Indonesian workers had not yet authorized it.

Sri said Indonesia should not supply workers to countries that refused to ratify the convention.

He also said female Indonesian migrant workers consistently filed physical and sexual assault complaints they experienced in their workplaces abroad.'Some employers also take their employees' passports. This means they cannot leave the country, even though they have been abused and exploited,' she said.

Jumhur also said many female migrant workers who suffered from mistreatment were domestic workers. He added a great number of female migrant workers from Indonesia had suffered from abuse while some had died as a consequence. He said most domestic workers were regulated by the domestic workers law - not the labor law.

Indonesia has signed a bilateral agreement with Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and South Korea to prevent abuse in the workplace.

However, labor abuse is rife in countries that have not deployed regulation to protect employees' rights in the workplace.

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19.
Metro Manila cops gear for Asean Immigration meet
By Abigail Kwok
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 16, 2009
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091016-230383/Metro-Manila-cops-gear-for-Asean-Immigration-meet

Manila, Philippines -- Security has been tightened in key areas in Metro Manila ahead of two conferences of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to be held in November in Makati City.

Director Roberto Rosales, Metro Manila police commander, said he has instructed both the Southern and Manila police districts to intensify intelligence operations to thwart possible threats against foreign delegates who would be attending the 5th Asean Immigration Intelligence Forum and 13th Asean Directors-General of Immigration Departments and Heads of Consular Affairs Divisions of Ministries of Foreign Affairs (DGICM).

The two Asean conferences will see a gathering of representatives from the Eastern European Union, International Office of Migration, and the International Criminal Police Organization.

Key areas in Manila and Makati City have been told to implement traffic rerouting, security, and other measures to secure the delegates, Rosales said.

Rosales added that a team from the explosives and ordinance division and K-9 unit would assist police in securing the venue.

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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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