Daily news updates from CIS

September 16, 2009

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[For CISNEWS subscribers --

1. White House under fire for health care stance (2 stories)
2. Military seeks skilled foreign recruits
3. USCIS conducts information blitz
4. Customs and Border Protection touts new intercept vessel
5. ICE arrests include those without criminal records
6. Issue fuels heated debate on Capitol Hill
7. Immigration cases overwhelming appellate courts
8. CNMI regulations worry Taiwanese investors
9. CA city to probe DUI checkpoint cancellation
10. MA city welcomes USCIS branch office
11. Albuquerque mayoral hopeful hammers sanctuary policy
12. Talk radio hosts attack Obama on issue, health care (story, link)
13. Astronaut stands behind immigration comments
14. NJ vigil protests enforcement efforts
15. Smithsonian under fire for renting space to FAIR
16. NJ activists allege police profiling
17. Latino activists seek Lou Dobb's termination
18. West NC Hispanic population continues growth
19. MA immigrants celebrate citizenship
20. Immigrant's sons at higher risk of obesity
21. British girl challenges STD vaccination
22. Families of deportees struggle
23. Afghan national caught in NY terror raids
24. Illegal with three DWIs at center of deadly wreck
25. MO poultry plant fined $450,000
26. CA pot grower held on immigration charges (link)
27. Agents nab illegals landing on CA beach (link)

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

-- Mark Krikorian]


1.
Obama takes heat from other side of immigrant healthcare debate
He suggests that those here illegally be kept from taking part in an insurance exchange set up by the government. Some on the left say that's bad policy that panders to the likes of Joe Wilson.
By Peter Wallsten
The Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/healthcare/la-na-health-illegal-immigrants.ar0-2009sep16,0,3467056.story

Washington, DC -- Trying to quell a conservative uproar over his healthcare agenda, President Obama has proposed barring illegal immigrants from a possible government-arranged health insurance marketplace -- even if the immigrants pay with their own money.

The move has surprised some of Obama's fellow Democrats and infuriated immigrant advocates, who on Tuesday attacked the position as political pandering and bad policy.

The White House revealed its stance Friday, after a renewed debate over illegal immigration that was triggered when Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) heckled Obama on the issue during the president's televised address to Congress.

Wilson yelled out, 'You lie!' when Obama said that illegal immigrants would receive no benefit from his healthcare proposals.

But some on the political left say that the White House -- wary of more damaging battles with the right -- has given in to Wilson and other conservatives.

Wilson 'acted like a buffoon, and everybody criticized him -- but then at the end of the day he sort of got his way,' said Brent A. Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

'It rewards bullying in a way that begets more bullying,' said Frank Sharry, who directs the pro-immigrant group America's Voice and has been advising the White House and congressional Democrats on broader immigration issues.

After a sharply partisan debate Tuesday, the House voted 240 to 179 to formally rebuke Wilson for his outburst.

A White House official said that Obama's stance barring undocumented immigrants from participating in the insurance marketplace did not reflect a change of heart after Wilson's outburst -- only that the specific question had just come up in recent days.

'The president has been clear since the campaign that he does not intend for health insurance reform to cover undocumented immigrants,' said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity while discussing official White House policy.

But several White House allies said Tuesday that the policy was a shift designed to position Obama to the right of his critics.

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), an early Obama ally, said Tuesday that members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were reevaluating their support for the healthcare overhaul.

Wilson's outburst, Gutierrez said, was 'said in a mean, ugly way. And what the president did was create an even meaner, uglier public policy to accompany it.'

Congress is working on plans to give low- and moderate-income people subsidies to buy health insurance in an effort to reduce the number of uninsured in the country.

None of the measures would allow illegal immigrants to receive subsidies.

Obama's proposal, circulated in an e-mail to reporters, would go further, barring undocumented immigrants from an insurance marketplace designed to make it easier for consumers to find coverage.

As they can today, undocumented immigrants still could buy insurance in the private market. But the White House e-mail noted that if the Democratic legislation passed, private insurers could be expected to sell more insurance through the so-called exchange and less coverage outside of it, leaving the private market to shrink over time.

The White House also has embraced a verification system to validate that people buying insurance were in the country legally. That idea had been rejected by House Democrats, who cited studies showing that such systems were costly and prone to mistakes.

The White House has not, however, proposed changing the law that requires emergency rooms to treat people who need care, including illegal immigrants.

Immigrant advocates said Tuesday that the insurance issue could be a political headache for the White House if members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, after hearing from their constituents, felt pressured to vote against the healthcare legislation.

Some said they intended to organize activists in the coming days to push the White House and Democratic leaders to make the bill more favorable to illegal immigrants.

Obama's policy statement, some activists said, was motivated by politics -- an effort to build credibility with conservatives and defuse criticism that the president was soft on illegal immigration.

Latino leaders and immigrant advocates aired their concerns during a meeting Monday at the White House. Administration officials said that the insurance coverage restriction was needed for the sake of clarity, according to several meeting participants.

One official, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, assured the group that Obama supported allowing legal immigrants to participate in the insurance exchange. Advocates said they presumed that meant legal immigrants would be eligible for subsidies.

Conservative critics have said that allowing illegal immigrants to participate in a government-run system rewarded lawbreakers. Moreover, they said, any ban on subsidies to illegal immigrants would be ineffective without an enforcement mechanism, such as requiring consumers to show that they were in the country legally.

But others have argued that imposing hurdles on illegal immigrants who want to buy insurance forces those people to hospital emergency rooms and raises taxpayer costs. And because illegal immigrants tend to be younger and more fit, some say their participation in insurance risk pools could actually drive down costs.

Leighton Ku, a health policy professor at George Washington University, said that immigrants' healthcare costs about half as much as citizens' care.

'They're low-risk people,' Ku said. 'It's advantageous to have low-risk people in insurance pools.'

It was unclear how the policy would affect families in which parents were in the country illegally and the children were citizens, or how it would affect illegal immigrants who get their insurance through their employers, if the employers choose to participate in the new insurance exchange.

Experts said Tuesday that the dust-up over immigration amid the broader healthcare fight underscored the political challenges that await the White House later this fall and next year, when Obama has said he hoped to overhaul the immigration system.

Obama has said he supports creating a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. But some say that his new restrictive policy violates the spirit of that old pledge.

'It's a contradiction in terms,' Gutierrez said, 'to say that people live in the shadows, that they live in a constant state of exploitation -- and then to push public policy that simply pushes them further into the shadows, further onto the periphery of society.'

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Dems query Obama's view on immigrant health care
By Suzanne Gamboa
The Associated Press, September 15, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hzHn6esvCSk8Bj_IKVx3lQ9NxXSgD9AO43G80

Washington, DC (AP) -- House Democrats want the White House to clarify its tougher new position that illegal immigrants can't buy insurance with their own money from a government-created marketplace.

The White House said last week that President Barack Obama will oppose allowing illegal immigrants to buy insurance through the purchasing exchanges, including from participating private companies. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that is what Obama intended all along. Also, a system would be created to verify people buying from the exchange are in the country legally, he said.

'I'm not sure if Gibbs misspoke,' Rep. Xavier Becerra, vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Tuesday.

Asked to clarify Gibbs' comments, White House spokeswoman Gannett Tseaggai repeated the White House view that undocumented immigrants would not be allowed to purchase health care insurance on the exchange.

Democrats said the health care proposals were to bar undocumented immigrants from getting any tax-supported subsidies to buy health insurance, but not prevent them from using their own money to buy private insurance.

The proposed exchange would allow consumers and small businesses to shop for insurance and compare prices in a regulated, competitive environment.

'There's a consensus undocumented will not be able to have any subsidies. To deny those undocumented folks who could afford private insurance plans to do so, what's the rationale?' said Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

One of the points of health care reform is to reduce the use of emergency rooms by the uninsured, Honda said. 'Those undocumented immigrants who are working and buying their own health insurance, why would you want to get involved in that? All that will happen is they will become clients of the emergency room,' he said.

Becerra said the White House has been an active participant in writing the House bill that did not include the ban Gibbs mentioned.

'I'm not sure what the White House is doing with this. Shadow boxing helps no one,' Becerra said.

The White House said illegal immigrants could use their own money to buy coverage from the few private insurance companies that will still sell insurance outside the exchange.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, sees the White House view as an admission Democrats were providing coverage for illegal immigrants.

His comments followed a House vote to rebuke Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., for yelling 'You lie' at Obama when the president spoke to Congress last week and said his health care reform proposals do not apply to people in the country illegally.

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2.
Military offers a path to citizenship
Immigrants without a green card but who have specific language or medical skills get a big incentive to enlist. The Army has recruited more than 100 people in Los Angeles under the pilot program.
By Alexandra Zavis
The Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-recruit16-2009sep16,0,2130477.story

Looking more like a student than a soldier, the young Indian in jeans and a T-shirt snapped his heels together and stood at attention in front of an American flag. He raised his right hand and pledged to defend the United States against all enemies.

The enlistment ceremony earlier this month at a military center near Los Angeles International Airport took less than five minutes. With that, he became the 101st person in Los Angeles to join the Army under a program that significantly increases the number of immigrants eligible to serve.

'I think I'm in seventh heaven,' he said, grinning.

Until recently, the 25-year-old with a master's degree from Purdue University in Indiana would not have been permitted to sign up. He had come to the U.S. on a student visa, and only citizens or permanent residents who carry green cards were eligible to join the armed forces. That changed in February when the Army started taking applications from foreigners with specific language and medical skills who are here on temporary visas or as refugees or asylum seekers.

Although all military branches are meeting or exceeding their recruitment goals, they have struggled to find individuals with critical skills needed in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond, officials said. In exchange for their service, the foreign recruits -- who offer skills it would take years to teach -- get an expedited path to citizenship.

Since the pilot program began in New York, expanding to Los Angeles in May, the foreign recruits have included 34 healthcare professionals and 385 people who speak languages such as Arabic, Polish and Swahili.

More than 69% of them have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with just under 10% for the Army as a whole.

'These are really accomplished individuals,' said Naomi Verdugo, the Army's Pentagon-based assistant deputy for recruiting.

More than 200 slots remain for recruits with language skills in the Army's pilot program, as well as more than 260 for healthcare professionals.

On Aug. 31, Army recruiters in Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas also began taking applications from qualified foreigners proficient in any of 35 languages. (Spanish is not on the list.) Healthcare workers can apply at any Army recruiting station in the country. An additional 110 slots are earmarked for other military branches. The Navy, which is taking applications only for medical posts, signed up its first recruit last month in Houston.

The pilot program has raised concerns among some veterans groups and advocates for tighter immigration controls, who worry that the policy shift could pave the way for large numbers of foreigners, including ones who may not have entered the country legally, to join the armed forces. Still, Army officials say they have not encountered the resistance some had anticipated.

'People seem to recognize that these are folks who want to serve, and I think people respect service,' Verdugo said.

Defense officials underscore that the program is open only to foreigners who have lived legally in the U.S. for at least two years. Under a wartime statute invoked in 2002, those who serve can apply for citizenship on the first day of active duty. But to continue the program in peacetime would require a change in existing laws.

The military has long struggled to compete with the private sector for skilled healthcare workers, officials say.

The Los Angeles Recruiting Battalion signed up its first medical recruit in August, a nurse. The pilot program has attracted more than 7,200 applications for language skills, compared with about 1,500 medical applications. So far, the Army has signed up only 34 medical recruits, Verdugo said, in part, because it takes months to verify credentials.

Response has been greatest among certain Asian communities. The Army has enlisted 112 Korean and 108 Hindi speakers. Applicants with those languages are now going on a waiting list.

By expanding the pilot program, the Army hopes to reach more people with languages spoken in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other countries. Only 14 of those enlisted so far speak Arabic and one speaks Dari, one of Afghanistan's two official languages. None of them have tested in Afghanistan's other official language, Pashtu, Verdugo said.

Los Angeles' 101st recruit, Abhinab, tested for Urdu, an official language in Pakistan. The Army requested that his full name not be published because it might put him or his family members who live outside the U.S. at risk.

Abhinab arrived in the U.S. three years ago and decided that he wanted to stay. He had already enrolled in a doctorate program at UC Berkeley when friends told him he could become an American if he joined the Army. Abhinab didn't believe them at first, but headed to the nearest shopping mall to find a recruiter.

'In my childhood, I always used to love 'GI Joe,' ' Abhinab said. 'The U.S. Army is the most technologically advanced in the world, so being part of it is really exciting.'

His parents in India, however, worry that he will be deployed to a combat zone.

'They were crying on the phone,' said Abhinab, who leaves for boot camp in January. 'But I have a younger brother. I am not the only son.'

The chance to become a U.S. citizen is the main draw for most applicants. The Army has immigration officials at four of its five basic training centers who can process applications in as little as 10 weeks. Eight of the recruits have already been sworn in as citizens.

The Navy, however, has received a number of inquiries from people who do not want to become Americans because it would mean giving up the citizenship of their birth, said Mass Communication Spc. Senior Chief Tom Jones, a spokesman for the Navy Recruiting Command in Millington, Tenn. These individuals do not qualify to enlist.

The pilot program will run until Dec. 31 or until all 1,000 slots are filled. But Army recruiters say they hope it will be extended.

'Bottom line, we have certain skills that we need,' said Lt. Col. Somport Jongwatana, commander of the Army's Los Angeles Recruiting Battalion. 'We are at war.'

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3.
Federal agency hosts US citizenship events
By Anabelle Garay
The Associated Press, September 15, 2009
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6620448.html

Immigration officials are looking across the nation for some new citizens.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is hosting information sessions Wednesday in the Dallas suburb of Irving and in Kansas City, Kan., to familiarize immigrants with the naturalization process. The sessions are part of a larger, nationwide effort the agency began this month to help non-citizen residents better understand naturalization.

Green card holders, or legal permanent residents, can apply to become U.S. citizens after a few years. An estimated 8.1 million people around the country are eligible to become United States citizens, said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, a Citizenship and Immigration Services spokeswoman.

'Our goal ... is to ensure that these people are educated on what the requirements and the responsibilities, really, of becoming a United State's citizen,' she said.

During the sessions, agency workers will discuss requirements and steps toward citizenship and review the background checks and processing times applicants face. They'll also hold mock citizenship interviews, question and answer sessions and give away study aids for the new citizenship test applicants will have to take starting in October.

The cost to apply for citizenship doubled to $595, plus an $80 fingerprinting fee, two years ago. The move was meant to generate revenue for Citizenship and Immigration Services but the agency has collected hundreds of millions of dollars less than expected. Officials blame the shortfall on fewer immigration-related applications being filed, possibly caused by the economic slump.

Most recently, the average processing time for citizenship applications was 4.5 months, lower than the five- to seven-months goal the agency set when it raised fees.

Citizenship and Immigration Services also revamped the naturalization test to emphasize understanding of American democracy concepts rather than just memorization of historical and government facts. The new questions include: 'What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?'' and 'What does the Constitution do?'

The agency recently held similar information events in the Houston, Detroit, Miami and Los Angeles areas. Events were planned for Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C.; Tampa, Fla. and Fresno, Calif. More sessions were planned for later in the week in New Orleans, Tucson, Ariz. and San Juan, Puerto Rico, Garcia-Upson said.

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4.
Public introduced to state-of-the-art U.S. Customs vessel
By James Proffitt
The News Messenger (Fremont, OH), September 15, 2009
http://www.thenews-messenger.com/article/20090915/NEWS01/909150307

Marblehead, OH -- The U.S. Customs and Border Protection's new prototype intercept watercraft, the Advanced Concept Demonstrator Vessel, was given a full introduction to the press Monday morning at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Marblehead.

'This is the future of interdiction,' said Marine Interdiction Agent Jeff Lane, who works for the CBP's Air and Marine Unit and has traveled around the country on a tour with the ACDV.

Lane described the vessel as a floating laboratory, where all the possible concepts of interdiction marine vessels meet the personnel, on the water, that will be utilizing them in the future.

Lane, who has been in law enforcement 26 years, said this is the first time personnel in the field have been so deeply involved in developing a new tool.

'This is the first time they've done this,' he said. 'We'll really get the right package.'

According to Lane, officers from various agencies around the country have driven and tested the ACDV in a number of venues, both fresh and saltwater.

The final design will be used to patrol the nation's coastlines in the hunt for drugs and weapons smuggling, illegal immigrants and terrorism activities.

The tour, which goes coast-to-coast and includes Puerto Rico, invites law enforcement officers to captain and crew the vessel and test systems like the 360-degree infrared surveillance system, the pilot and co-pilot operating systems, shock mitigating seats and the numerous other state-of-the-art features that have been incorporated into the ACDV.

Some features are as simple as a folding windshield and flush-mounted cleats.

Carlos Diaz, a CBP interdiction agent from Puerto Rico, said the four 350-hp supercharged Mercury outboards are the latest and greatest.

'These are the latest and highest-tech engines available,' said Diaz, pointing out several ACDV-specific modifications made to the engine units.

The engines purr when idling, rumble quietly at about 20 or 30 knots and roar at 60 knots.

Anglers, pleasure-boaters and ferry-riders on the lake turned their heads to get a glance of the gun-metal gray vessel as it planed across the water at 70 mph Monday morning, zigzagging across the water and heeling at a 45-degree angle as it turned on a dime and switched directions.

U.S. Customs Agent Paul Pope said after the vessel makes its 10-city tour it will return to the CBP National Marine Center in St. Augustine, Fla, where it will undergo more testing and refinements.

'Different agents drive the boat and give us their feedback,' said Pope, going on to explain the refinements that will make their way into the next generation of interdiction boats.

Lane said the ACDV and its nationwide tour will save taxpayers money in the long run, going on to say when the final design is completed and the vessels manufactured, there will be no errors made and no corrections required.

'We've seen agencies do that before,' Lane said.

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5.
Register exclusive: Many ICE arrests are not of criminals, data show
By Lee Rood
The Des Moines Register, September 16, 2009
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090916/NEWS/909160364/0/NEWS13/Register-exclusive--Many-ICE-arrests-are-not-of-criminals--data-show

A new team of federal agents operating in Iowa this year has arrested immigrants with previous convictions for sex crimes, cocaine possession, kidnapping and carjacking.

But arrests of such criminals have been the exception, not the rule, new statistics obtained by The Des Moines Register show.

The arrest information is the first data released to the public since the so-called fugitive unit was formed. The Register received the data after filing a federal Freedom of Information Act request.

The numbers show 67 percent of those detained — 84 of 125 people from February to May this year — had no previous criminal offenses.

Immigration violations, such as crossing the border without permission or overstaying a visa, are usually handled as civil, or administrative, offenses.

One-third of those arrested were not considered fugitives, the new statistics show. People are categorized as fugitives if they did not heed a previous court order to leave the country.

'Eighty percent of the fugitive population is noncriminal,' said Tim Counts, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 'While we focus on the worst offenders, we are charged with enforcing the nation's immigration laws.'

Teams focused on apprehending fugitives began growing dramatically during the Bush administration, after the creation of ICE in 2003. Each team of four to seven agents was expected to meet controversial arrest quotas of 1,000 illegal immigrants a year.

Iowa's unit, which is based in Des Moines and covers central and eastern Iowa, was established at the end of last year. The team's arrests have triggered widespread anxiety and complaints of heavy-handed tactics in immigrant neighborhoods, as they have elsewhere across the country.

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary John Morton, appointed by President Barack Obama, began his new job in May amid growing controversy surrounding the roundup of nonfugitive immigrants. In July, he said the program would do away with the arrest quotas and focus more on finding fugitives and those with criminal backgrounds.

Morton said quotas could hamper ICE's efforts to arrest higher-risk offenders, which can take more time.

Until Morton announced the changes, the percentage of nonfugitives being arrested in a five-state region that includes Iowa had grown faster than the percentage of criminals being arrested.

Nonfugitives made up almost 42 percent of those arrested by the region's fugitive teams during the agency's 2009 fiscal year, up from 24 percent in 2006. Criminals accounted for 36 percent of arrests in the region in 2009, up from 29 percent four years earlier, according to arrest data obtained by the Register.

Some advocates in Iowa said they had hoped Morton's new marching orders would take the heat off family members who were undocumented but established in their communities.

But Counts says the fugitive teams will continue to arrest nonfugitives while it seeks the lawbreakers.

'If we get leads, we're not going to ignore administrative offenders,' Counts said.

One of the fugitive program's primary measures of success is whether the fugitive population is declining, Counts said.

'Due in large part to ICE's fugitive operations program, the fugitive population for the first time in history began declining just a couple years ago — and it continues to decline,' to about 539,000 nationally, he said.

U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Ia., the top-ranking Republican on a House subcommittee on immigration, has not said whether he supports Morton's policy change. King said in a statement that he was monitoring the implementation.

He added: 'I support an immigration policy that upholds the rule of law for all immigration lawbreakers.'

Advocates for immigrants, meanwhile, continue to criticize nonfugitive arrests, saying most of those who enter the United States illegally have no realistic means of gaining legal status under current immigration laws.

'If you are the adult child of a lawful permanent resident, you're looking at around 17 years' of waiting, said Jason Finch, a lawyer for many immigrants in western Iowa.

'If you are the married child of U.S. citizens, the wait is about 18 years.'

The immigrants Finch works with want 'to become contributing members of society,' he said. 'They don't want to live in the shadows.'

Finch points out that law-abiding immigrants who are arrested can move to have a judge cancel an order of removal. However, he said, immigration judges are limited in the number of visas they can approve. Applicants must have been in the country for at least 10 years, have no criminal history and be able to prove deportation would cause 'exceptional or unusual hardship' to those left behind.

'But even then, it's not easy,' he said.

In the absence of immigration reform, fugitive teams will continue to arrest greater numbers, critics say, regardless of whether detainees could eventually obtain visas or make good citizens.

Nationwide, ICE's detention and removal operations program — which includes the expanding fugitive teams — sent more than 369,000 illegal immigrants to their countries of origin during the federal government's 2008 fiscal year. That represents a nearly 27 percent increase over the previous year.

Obama has said he will pursue immigration reform next year. Even with reform, new enforcement programs focusing specifically on criminals make it likely ICE will be able to find lawbreakers more easily.

One of those criminals was Manuel De Jesus Gonzalez-Villalta.

Originally from El Salvador, the 34-year-old had been hiding in Marshalltown until police arrested him last spring for domestic battery. That's when authorities learned he was wanted by ICE for a 1994 murder in his native country.

Gonzalez-Villalta was caught — not by the fugitive unit, but by agents in another program under the same umbrella.

That program, called the Criminal Alien Program, and another newer one, Secure Communities, have given ICE more authority to work with local officials to identify criminal fugitives.

The Criminal Alien Program enables agents to screen people in federal, state and local jails. Secure Communities, which is being tried in 40 states, allows local authorities to check criminal offenders' fingerprints against both FBI and Department of Homeland Security immigration records.

The Obama administration plans to make that program nationwide.

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6.
Partisan Heat Shows No Sign of Cooling
On Capitol Hill, There's Anger -- And Then There's Anger About Anger
By Joel Achenbach
The Washington Post, September 16, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/15/AR2009091503435.html

The raw emotions of American politics found full-throated voice Tuesday in and around the Capitol. At any given moment, someone was expressing outrage -- or counter-outrage.

In the House chamber, Rep. Joe Wilson argued that he should not be reprimanded for shouting 'You lie!' at the president. Democrats took turns hammering the South Carolina Republican for his indecorous behavior. Republicans defended him, some calling him a patriot and saying that he has a son serving in Iraq, or argued that Democrats were wasting time that would be better spent on more important issues. On a largely party-line vote, the House passed the 'resolution of disapproval,' the gentlest form of punishment for members.

Meanwhile, 45 conservative radio hosts gathered at the Phoenix Park Hotel to blast lawmakers for not doing more to stop illegal immigration. In response, advocates for immigrants held a prayer vigil and denounced what they consider racist and hateful rhetoric.

All of which indicated that the searing politics of summer are showing no sign of abating and may be heading in the other direction as Congress struggles with a legislative agenda bristling with live-wire issues.

Some front-line culture warriors were just getting warmed up. At the Phoenix Park, radio and TV host Lou Dobbs took a break from his broadcast to applaud Wilson for helping the political establishment transition from constrained civility to what Dobbs calls 'forthrightness.'

'I think he's owed a great deal of gratitude for doing that,' Dobbs said. 'I applaud him.'

Health-care reform remains the most pressing and complex item on Congress's docket, but even without that issue, lawmakers would find themselves with an ambitious fall calendar. They are also working on legislation that would sober up Wall Street, change the way energy is used and take a crack at ameliorating global warming.

At the close of Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid's weekly news conference, a reporter asked if he would consider separating the energy component of the far-reaching energy and climate bill from the climate component. But the Nevada Democrat made it clear that energy and climate are going to be on the back burner until at least the end of the year while the Senate handles health-care and banking reform.

Throughout the day, the 'House triangle' -- the spot where lawmakers speak to the cameras, the Capitol angling away in the background -- was a scene of heavy traffic. First there was a health-care news conference at 10 a.m. with parents of disabled children. Then, at 11, the issue was same-sex marriage. At noon, the prayer vigil took place. As the vigil was breaking up, a gaggle of college kids poured into the triangle, some members of Congress and staff gathered, and a black Suburban pulled up and disgorged Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

'This is a big, big deal,' Duncan said into the microphones. Everyone on hand knew he was referring to the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 -- 'the largest investment in college education since the G.I. Bill.'

But his media turnout was relatively feeble. The major news of the day Tuesday was the debate in the House over whether to pass the resolution targeting Wilson. In the chamber, lawmakers discussed whether the vote was a 'partisan stunt' or the appropriate reaction to 'reprehensible conduct.' Outside of it, Rep. Hank Johnson, a black Democrat from Georgia, invoked the Ku Klux Klan in talking about Wilson's behavior.

Somewhere along the way, five senators tried to drum up publicity with a news conference on the 'national dairy crisis.' Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified about flu pandemics. House lawmakers held a hearing on whether humanity has a destiny in space. Toss in hearings on ambassadorial nominations, a transportation bill, a measure on funding health-care benefits for Postal Service retirees, and so on.

As emotions churned across the Hill, the question of what is next on the hot-button issue of immigration remained a mystery. It has been a couple of years since Congress made a serious run at immigration reform, and it went nowhere. Legislation co-sponsored by the late senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was so unpopular among conservatives that it nearly sank McCain's presidential campaign.

The issue has gained attention since Wilson's outburst, which came in response to Obama's statement in an address to Congress last week that new government-funded health coverage would not be provided to illegal immigrants. On Tuesday, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a conservative advocacy group, gathered the radio talk show hosts, including Dobbs, for a set of broadcasts to push Congress to do something about illegal immigration.

'Immigration's always on the agenda,' FAIR President Dan Stein said. 'It's like a good, recurring evergreen issue.'

FAIR's event inspired the prayer vigil, organized by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.

'We must clearly say shame, shame, shame on those who depend on our immigrant brothers and sisters, use them and often abuse them, and then turn against them with their racism and hatred,' said Bishop Minerva Carcaño, who helped put together the vigil.

Said Paco Fabian, a spokesman for the immigrant rights group America's Voice: 'Anti-immigrant groups bring up the issue of immigration for everything. 'Cash for Clunkers,' steroids in baseball. They even blame immigrants for global warming.'

'This is juvenile muck-slinging,' responded FAIR's Stein, standing in the hotel basement next to a 'Hold Their Feet to the Fire' banner.

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7.
Official Cites Case Overload, Says More Judges Needed
By Keith Perine
The Congressional Quarterly (Washington, DC), September 15, 2009
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/legal_beat/2009/09/judicial-conference-executive.html

The need for more federal judges was the topic at a news conference Tuesday with Anthony J. Scirica, executive committee chairman of the Judicial Conference.

Scirica, who serves on the 3rd Circuit appeals court, said that since 1990 -- the last time Congress enacted a major judgeship bill -- appellate court caseloads have gone up by 45 percent, and district court caseloads have gone up 27 percent. Scirica said there has been a 'huge influx' of immigration appeals to circuit courts, and that 'border courts,' such as the Southern and Western districts of Texas have seen a big jump in cases.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy has introduced a bill that would create dozens of new appellate and district court judgeships.

'Judges are working extremely hard,' Scirica said. He said that the current workload means civil cases often have to wait because judges are so busy with criminal cases.

Scirica said several lawmakers, including Leahy, D-Vt., Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions, and House Judiciary chairman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., spoke at the Judicial Conference's biannual meeting, as did Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

Scirica said that the subject of a major salary increase for federal judges -- or 'pay restoration,' as he put it -- was discussed, but signaled that lawmakers appear to be waiting for the economy to improve before taking action.

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8.
Additional visa requirement for alien investors concerns SCC
By Haidee V. Eugenio
The Saipan Tribune (Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands), September 16, 2009
http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=93580&cat=1

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce expressed disappointment over the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' proposed investor program for the CNMI, mainly due to an additional visa requirement to re-enter the Commonwealth and for not 'grandfathering' existing long-term foreign investors beyond the five-year transition period ending in 2014.

An E-2 CNMI investor who exits the Commonwealth needs to obtain an E-2 CNMI investor visa from a U.S. embassy or consulate in order to be re-admitted to the Commonwealth, regardless of nationality.

USCIS published on Monday (Tuesday Saipan time) the proposed E-2 CNMI investor program in the Federal Register.

The public has until Oct. 14, 2009 to comment on the proposed regulations, a copy of which can be accessed at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-21967.pdf.

USCIS is one of the components of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is the lead agency implementing the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, extending U.S. immigration laws to the CNMI with transition provisions unique to the islands.

Jim Arenovski, president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, said yesterday the key provisions of the proposed investor regulations, as published, are not much different from what DHS officials had told the Chamber.

'What's most disappointing is that foreign investors will be required to get additional visa outside the CNMI. They need to get extra documents from the U.S. embassy or consulate in Korea or China, for example, to allow them to re-enter the CNMI. That will take hours and days, and it could really be frustrating. The E-2 CNMI investor visa is good only within the CNMI for work purposes; it won't be used for re-entry purposes,' he said.

Arenovski said the same policy of securing an E-2 CNMI investor status outside the Commonwealth is likely to be applied also to foreign workers.

DHS has yet to issue its CNMI-only transitional worker program rule.

'It's also a bit disappointing that foreign investors who have been here for a long time won't be grandfathered in the proposed regulations beyond five years. We understand that things will change in the future.But foreign investors who have been here and invested much will have a hard time meeting the federal requirements,' he said.

Press secretary Charles Reyes said yesterday the Office of the Attorney General is currently reviewing the proposed investor rule.

The Fitial administration, along with the Chamber of Commerce, has been pushing for further delay in the implementation of federalization, which is set to start on Nov. 28.

Undesirable investors

The Chamber president said that while the regulations, as proposed, will weed out 'undesirable investors,' the CNMI doesn't need the federal government to do this.

'There's no guarantee that they will weed out all these undesirable investors because even in the states, there are lots of illegal investors, employers not paying wages,' he added.

The Chamber, which currently has over 150 member-businesses, is preparing its formal comments on the rule.

Arenovski encourages businesses to start preparing the requirements for them to apply for an E-2 CNMI status.

'Don't wait too long. Start putting together the needed documents, like tax records,' he said.

DHS estimates 500 foreign investors in the CNMI.

In its notice of proposed rulemaking in the Sept. 14 Federal Register, DHS said applicants would be required to apply for an E-2 CNMI investor status either before the start of the transition date of Nov. 28, or within the first two years following the start of the transition period.

Because an E-2 CNMI investor nonimmigrant status is a CNMI-only status, the rule proposes that each alien must be present in the CNMI or outside the United States at the time his or her application is filed with USCIS.

'Upon approval, an alien outside the CNMI would need to obtain an E-2 CNMI investor nonimmigrant visa at a United States consulate abroad to be admitted to the CNMI as an E-2 CNMI investor on or after the transition program effective date,' USCIS said.

The proposed special status of E-2 investors would allow eligible CNMI investors to remain in the CNMI for the duration of the transition period under E-2 CNMI investor status.

At the end of the transition period, E-2 CNMI investors and qualifying spouses and children must qualify for and obtain an appropriate immigrant or non-immigrant status under the Immigration and Nationality Act in order to remain in the CNMI or to enter the CNMI after departure.

The current processing fee for an E-2 CNMI investor status is $320, plus an $80 biometrics fee for a total of $400.

Eligibility requirements

DHS is proposing to amend its regulations governing E-2 non-immigrant treaty investors to establish procedures for classifying long-term investors in the CNMI as E-2 non-immigrants.

In order to be eligible for an E-2 CNMI Investor nonimmigrant status, USCIS proposes to require that an alien must:

* Have been admitted to the CNMI in 'long-term investor' status before the transition program effective date on Nov. 28;

* Have continuously maintained residence in long-term investor status;

* Maintain an investment or investments forming the basis for such long-term investment status; and

* Be otherwise admissible to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

USCIS said aliens who have not been admitted as eligible CNMI investors prior to the beginning of the transition period are not eligible for classification as E-2 CNMI investors.

Also not eligible for an E-2 investor status are aliens who have investor applications pending with the CNMI as of the transition program effective date, or who have approved investor applications but have not been admitted to the CNMI as of the transition program effective date.

The federal agency said 'continuous residence' does not mean continuous physical presence; thus, an investor would not need to have remained in the CNMI for the entire period in order to be deemed to have maintained continuous residence.

The proposed rule provides that an alien must have been physically present in the CNMI during at least half the time for which continuous residence is required.

In addition, any single absence of over one year will break continuity of residence, as will any single absence of more than six months, unless the alien is able to demonstrate that he or she did not abandon his or her residence by such absence.

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9.
Redwood City DUI checkpoint shutdown scrutinized
By Shaun Bishop
The San Jose Mercury News (CA), September 15, 2009
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_13339781?nclick_check=1

Redwood City's mayor has asked the city manager to review an incident in which a police DUI checkpoint was canceled after a council member relayed concerns about its location to the police chief.

Council Member Barbara Pierce says she did nothing wrong in contacting Chief Lou Cobarruviaz about the July 2 operation in front of the Fair Oaks Community Center.

Still, the incident has raised questions about the relationship between council members and department heads, and Mayor Rosanne Foust asked City Manager Peter Ingram late Friday to re-examine what happened in case the council wants to discuss the issue. The checkpoint shutdown was first reported in the September issue of the city's monthly community magazine, The Spectrum.

'This is an uncomfortable and sensitive issue, so I think we need to think about it,' Foust said in an interview Monday. 'I asked (Ingram), do we need to do something, based on this (Spectrum) story and the public comments on it.'

A flurry of correspondence on July 2 about the DUI checkpoint started with an e-mail from Sheryl Munoz-Bergman, the director of San Mateo County immigration programs for the International Institute of the Bay Area, which has an office in the Fair Oaks center. The institute provides legal advice and other services to immigrant families, including illegal immigrants.

In the e-mail, obtained by The Daily News, Munoz-Bergman said she was concerned that police set up the checkpoint in front of the center at 2600 Middlefield Road and were using its parking lot to impound cars. Munoz-Bergman noted that the center is known as 'a safe place for all Redwood City residents to get help and answer questions' and wrote that the authorities were 'jeopardizing our relationship with the community.'

Munoz-Bergman also called Pierce, who said she tried to pass on the concerns to other city officials. When none of them responded, Pierce called and e-mailed Cobarruviaz, telling him in her e-mail that she had received a call about the checkpoint, though she did not suggest any actions.

'I appreciate the need to do the checking, just ask for your thoughts on the location, and community concern. Thanks,' Pierce wrote.

The chief then told patrol division Capt. Chris Cesena to either move the checkpoint or shut it down, according to an e-mail Cobarruviaz later sent to Foust and other city officials. Cesena decided to end the operation early and reschedule it.

Police had planned to set up the checkpoint in front of the Costco down the road, but construction there forced the move to the 'unfortunate' spot in front of the center, the chief explained in his e-mail. Cobarruviaz could not be reached for comment Monday.

Munoz-Bergman wrote to Pierce a few days later on July 6, thanking her 'for your quick action to end the use of the Fair Oaks Community Center parking lot as a police checkpoint on Thursday afternoon.' Reached Monday by phone, Munoz-Bergman declined to comment.

Pierce said she was simply passing on information to the chief, not trying to influence his decisions.

'When I heard that there was some concern, I sent him a note just simply saying, 'FYI, by the way,' ' Pierce said. 'Didn't tell him what to do. Not my job. And I would have stood by whatever decision he and his department made.'

One resident who spoke at Monday's city council meeting told the council he was 'disturbed' that the checkpoint was shut down; a second person said the city should 'enforce the law for the safety of its citizens.'

For her part, Foust said she disagreed with the decision to close down the checkpoint.

'For me, it's a DUI checkpoint and I personally think the location is not relevant,' she said. 'My feeling is they are set up for a reason.'

While she stopped short of saying Pierce made a mistake in contacting the police chief, Foust noted she got the same e-mail from Munoz-Bergman and opted not to contact him.

'I don't think that we have to respond right when we get an e-mail. Maybe we all need to get more information first,' Foust said.

Ingram said Monday he hasn't yet begun to review the incident, but he plans to start by talking with police officials to verify what happened in the field. At this point, Ingram and City Attorney Stan Yamamoto both said they don't think Pierce was out of line in contacting the chief.

'It is not unusual for council members to pass on information to me and others on a frequent basis,' Ingram said. 'I think that's the way it ought to be. It's helpful to us and it respects the boundaries and it lets management make management decisions.'

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10.
US immigration agency branches out
Lawrence celebrates opening of new office
By Maria Sacchetti
The Boston Globe, September 16, 2009
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/16/us_immigration_agency_branches_out_to_lawrence/

Lawrence, MA -- The state’s 'immigrant city’’ unveiled its own federal immigration agency yesterday.

US officials opened the state’s only field office outside Boston where immigrants in Northern, Central, and Western Massachusetts can apply for work permits, green cards, citizenship, and other benefits.

Denis Riordan, the agency’s district director, said he hoped that the Lawrence office would allow the agency to reach more immigrants.

'We are celebrating both the past and the future today,’’ he told dozens of federal, state and city officials at the ribbon cutting ceremony. 'It has been said that home is not where you live; home is where you belong, and USCIS belongs in Lawrence.’’

The unveiling in Massachusetts, where as many as 290,000 immigrants are eligible to become citizens, arrived at a daunting time for the agency: Projected revenues are down in the state and nationwide, and fees are under review after a sharp increase two years ago.

In 2007, the agency raised the citizenship application fee from $400 to $675, and the fee to obtain a green card, which confers legal permanent residency, rose from $395 to $1,010.

'Everything’s on the table,’’ said Michael Aytes, acting deputy director of Citizenship and Immigration Services in Washington, who traveled to Lawrence for the event. 'We’d love to charge less money, but the question is can you deliver the level of service that these folks need at that lower cost, or are you charging them a lower fee and then making them pay through your inability to be able to deliver the service they need?’’

Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said in an interview that it would help to reduce fees so that more immigrants could afford to apply for benefits. 'The fees do present a barrier to many people,’’ she said.

The Associated Press reported yesterday that the federal government is collecting $282 million less than expected from the fee increases this budget year, which ends Sept. 30, possibly as a result of the battered economy.

In Massachusetts, citizenship applications declined by almost half since 2007, to 15,652 this year. Green card applications dropped from 10,266 in 2007 to 7,970 this budget year.

The decision on fees in the coming months will have a direct impact on the new building unveiled yesterday in Lawrence, a former mill city about 30 miles north of Boston.

The city is nearly 70 percent Latino, the highest in the state; 35 percent of its residents are foreign-born.

Almost two years ago, immigrants in Massachusetts could wait as long as 18 months to become US citizens, for instance. But federal officials said the processing rate is now one of the fastest, if not the fastest, in the agency’s history, making it an excellent time to apply.

In Massachusetts, it takes an average of 3.6 months to get a green card and 3.4 months to become a US citizen, Riordan said.

The new office will serve immigrants from Essex County to the Berkshires, including 13,000 applicants in the first year alone.

Previously, immigrants had to journey 30 miles to the John F. Kennedy building in downtown Boston.

Now they can take their citizenship tests, apply for legal residency, and get fingerprinted at 2 Mill St. in Lawrence. The $15 million office, which employs 38 people, is a cheery red-brick building with the Statue of Liberty etched in the glass out front, a grassy lawn dotted with flowers, and a waiting room with little couches and books set aside for children.

The city, with its hulking textile mills and smokestacks, was founded in the 1840s and became, for a time, one of the largest suppliers of textiles in the world, said Barbara Brown, executive director of the Lawrence History Center. The immigrant influx began with Europeans and continued in recent decades with large waves from Latin America, particularly the Dominican Republic.

After the ribbon cutting on the new building, officials walked several blocks away to the history center, to swear in 15 new US citizens in the courtyard of one of the city’s oldest buildings, the former Essex Co.

There, immigrants and their grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, of many backgrounds, from Irish and Polish to Albanian and Russian, wiped away tears and reminisced about the sacrifices their families made to bring them to the United States. US District Judge Nancy Gertner presided over the ceremony.

Among them were Eartha Dengler, 87, a German immigrant who fled war-torn Europe and founded the Lawrence immigrant archives, housed at the history center, to preserve families’ stories.

Dengler, struggling to walk with a cane, beamed at the crowd and later insisted on climbing the stairs at the Lawrence History Center to see every corner.

'It was hard in the beginning, but we made it,’’ she said, eyes twinkling. For the new citizens, there was joy but also bewilderment and uncertainty. Now they can vote, serve on juries, and live here forever.

Loise Mwangi, 37, a worker at the state Department of Developmental Services from Kenya, broke into a wide smile after hearing a recorded welcome from President Obama. His late father was from Kenya.

'I feel like there’s a tie,’’ she said.

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11.
Berry, Romero Target Chávez's Record
By Sean Olson
The Albuquerque Journal (NM), September 15, 2009
http://www.abqjournal.com/cgi-bin/decision.pl?attempted=www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/1523330958newsmetro09-15-09.htm [Subscription]

Mayoral challengers continued to hound incumbent Martin Chávez on his record Monday, even as Chávez chastised them for 'personal and negative attacks' during a Chamber of Commerce forum.

Richard Berry continued his assault on what he calls 'sanctuary city' policies from the Mayor's Office that give too much leeway to illegal immigrants suspected of a crime. Richard Romero hammered away at Chávez's reputation for not getting along with other government bodies and school officials.

Chávez, sticking with the same strategy from other forums, rattled off accomplishments during his three terms and stressed the value of his experience during tough economic times.

But the mayor also addressed his opponents' scrutiny on the 'sanctuary city' policy - which Chávez adamantly denies is an accurate way to describe it; his record of clashing with Albuquerque Public Schools; and a question from Berry on why Chávez decided to seek a fourth term after promising his third term would be his last in 2005. Chávez refused to answer that, instead saying he wouldn't 'go down that road' of negative attacks.

'I hear my name more from my challengers than my own literature,' Chávez said. He later added that he regrets 'the challengers have chosen so many personal and negative attacks.'

The forum was held at the Community College of Central New Mexico Workforce Training building Monday afternoon. A panel of three moderators from the news media - Mary Lynn Roper of KOAT-TV, Pat Allen of KKOB radio and Journal editor Kent Walz - took turns asking the candidates questions. Three businessmen on a separate panel also asked one question each.

Berry defined the term 'sanctuary city' as any place where it's 'easier to be a criminal.' He argued the city's policy of not asking suspects for their immigrant status unless it is pertinent to the crime does not give enough discretion to officers. Berry favors the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department policy that allows deputies to inquire about a suspect's, but not victim's, status.

Chávez said everyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant is reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after they have been arrested and Berry's plan is nothing short of 'racial profiling.'

Romero said Chávez's leadership was questionable due to his conf licts with other bodies over the years and that a new mayor could forge more productive relationships.

'He's been at war with the school system, he's been at war with the City Council,' Romero said about Chávez's past eight years as mayor.

Chávez said he has been hard on APS, but he said his complaints have been effectively addressed and he has a good relationship with the new superintendent, Winston Brooks.

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12.
'Obama to make illegals eligible for health care'
Upcoming immigration bill seen as 'backdoor' to bring millions into plan
By Jerome R. Corsi
The World Net Daily, September 15, 2009
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=109973

The Obama administration intends to 'backdoor' illegal immigrants into its proposed health-care plan by passing an immigration reform bill that would give legal status to as many as 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S., charged Radio America talk-radio host Rodger Hedgecock today in Washington, D.C.

Calling comprehensive immigration reform the Obama administration's 'second act,' Hedgecock said illegal immigrants initially would be excluded from the health care plan but would have access to it once comprehensive immigration reform is passed by Congress.

Hedgecock charged the administration's immigration plan amounts to providing amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States.

He suggested the administration will follow the steps of the twice-defeated comprehensive immigration reform legislation proposed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., by including ample provisions for establishing a 'pathway to citizenship' and providing for 'guest workers' to give legal status to illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

Pointing to the anti-big-government rally in the nation's capital last weekend, Hedgecock said 'America is waking up and is determined to have a say.'

When asked by WND what his illegal immigration reform suggestions would be, Hedgecock responded, 'Enforce the immigration laws already on the books.'

Hedgecock told WND that some 150 radio listeners from his nationally syndicated show have traveled to Washington at their own expense to lobby members of Congress during the annual 'Hold their Feet to the Fire' event, which began yesterday.

Hedgecock is headlining some 45 radio talk show hosts from across the nation who are participating in the two-day event, hosted by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR.

South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson drew national attention when he shouted 'You lie!' during last week's joint session of Congress when President Obama claimed no illegal immigrants would receive health care services under the president's proposed health-care reform legislation.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who is leading bipartisan negotiations in the Senate with his 'gang of six,' has promised the compromise bill presented to the Senate would include enforcement provisions to bar illegal immigrants from buying health care insurance through a new insurance marketplace, according to the New York Times.

On Monday, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., scheduled a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for Sept. 22 on 'Comprehensive Immigration Reform: How the Current Immigration Law Negatively Impacts America's Agricultural Industry and Food Service.'

Schumer has announced his intention to introduce new comprehensive immigration reform legislation to the Senate this year.

Red Alert has previously reported that illegal immigrants make up a large portion of those in the United States who lack health care, with immigrants – both legal and illegal – accounting for 71 percent of the increase in the uninsured over the last two decades, since 1989.

WND has previously reported that President Obama in February, his second month in office, affirmed on a Spanish-language radio show that his goal was to pass comprehensive immigration reform this year, even though his administration had not yet announced the goal to the American public at large.

'Comprehensive immigration reform' became catchwords in the 109th and 110th Congresses for the legislation co-sponsored by Kennedy and McCain to create a 'path of citizenship' and 'guest worker program.'

Characterized as a 'shamnesty' bill by opponents that viewed the measure as amnesty for illegal immigrants, the U.S. Senate finally defeated repeated Bush administration attempts that trace back to 2005. A June 5, 2007, vote on cloture failed in the Senate by a vote of 34-61.

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Talk Radio Pundits Demand Changes To Immigration Reform
The NPR News, September 16, 2009
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112876325

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13.
Mexican American astronaut isn't changing course on immigration stand
NASA went ballistic when Jose Hernandez advocated legalization of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. shortly after his return to Earth. The California-born son of migrants isn't backing down.
By Tracy Wilkinson
The Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-astronaut16-2009sep16,0,7117107.story

Mexico City -- He may have soared a gazillion miles in outer space, but back here on Earth, U.S. astronaut Jose Hernandez has stepped knee-deep in controversy.

Hernandez, the California-born son of Mexican immigrants, is a full-fledged media star in Mexico. Fans here followed his every floating, gravity-free move during two weeks recently as he Twittered from the Discovery space shuttle mission and gave live interviews to local TV programs.

After the shuttle returned to this planet last week, Hernandez told Mexican television that he thought the United States should legalize the millions of undocumented immigrants living there so that they can work openly in the U.S. because they are important to the economy.

Officials at NASA flipped. They hastened to announce that Hernandez was speaking for himself and only for himself.

'It all became a big scandal,' Hernandez told television viewers Tuesday. 'Even the lawyers were speaking to me.'

Hernandez was back on Mexican network Televisa's popular morning chat show, where he has seemingly been a fixture, to update host Carlos Loret de Mola on how he was adapting back on Earth.

Loret de Mola asked Hernandez, 47, about the controversy, and the astronaut said he stood by what he had said a day earlier on the same program, advocating comprehensive immigration reform -- a keenly divisive issue in the United States.

'I work for the U.S. government, but as an individual I have a right to my personal opinions,' he said in a video hookup from a Mexican restaurant owned by his wife in Houston. 'Having 12 million undocumented people here means there's something wrong with the system, and the system needs to be fixed.'

He added that it seemed impractical to try to deport 12 million people. In the previous day's conversation, he spoke of circling the globe in 90 minutes and marveling at a world without borders.

Hernandez, whose first language is Spanish, grew up picking cucumber in the fields of California. He joined NASA in 2004. His orbit-trotting on the Discovery mission included a salsa demo and mini-science lessons for viewers back on Earth. He made taquitos for his fellow fliers.

TV host Loret de Mola said his audience was flooding him with one question above all: How does a humble son of peasant immigrants manage to become an astronaut?

Hernandez cited two crucial factors: a good education and parents who forced him to study, who checked his homework and stayed involved in his schooling.

'What I always say to Mexican parents, Latino parents, is that we shouldn't spend so much time going out with friends drinking beer and watching telenovelas, and should spend more time with our families and kids . . . challenging our kids to pursue dreams that may seem unreachable,' he said.

Hernandez said he planned to visit Mexico soon to take up President Felipe Calderon on an invitation to the presidential residence for a meal. Calderon extended the invite during a nationally televised videoconference with the astronaut before the Discovery voyage.

Calderon's and Hernandez's parents hail from the same state, Michoacan, and the president has called the astronaut his paisano.

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14.
Vigil organizers aim to keep immigrant families together
By Tanya Drobness
The Star Ledger (Newark, NJ), September 16, 2009
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1253068510250840.xml&coll=1

In churches and parks, outside courthouses and municipal buildings, hundreds of people yesterday called for an end to federal immigration policies that advocates say tear apart families and punish the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants who are deported or detained for long periods of time.

So-called 'children's vigils' were held through the afternoon and evening in nine New Jersey communities, from Morristown, Newark and Jersey City in the north to Bridgeton, Cumberland County, in the south. Advocates staged a 10th vigil in the Bergen County community of Dumont on Monday.

At each venue, the message was the same: Children born on U.S. soil -- and who are therefore American citizens -- suffer the most under federal policies that make the deportation of illegal immigrants a priority.

In some cases, parents opt to leave their children in the care of guardians in the United States to give them the promise of a better life. In other cases, they take their kids with them to home countries where educational and economic opportunities are scarce.

'What our country has done has imposed the intentional breakup of the family or a dislocation of the children from their homeland,' said the Rev. Charlie Ortman, one of about 50 people to attend a vigil at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Montclair.

He cited the case of a Montclair family in which the parents were deported to Mexico last month, choosing to leave behind two of their four children.

'We were dealing with some very broken hearts,' he said.

Valdil Toar, who attended a vigil with some 35 other people at the Reformed Church in Highland Park, said he knew about broken hearts. Federal agents took his father, an illegal immigrant from Indonesia, from the family's Avenel home on May 24, 2006. Valdil, was who was 12 at the time, hasn't seen him since.

He said he vividly remembers his mother sobbing when he and his sister rushed into the living room on the morning of the raid.

'They took him,' he said she cried. 'They took Daddy.'

'We want to be a family again,' the teen said.

Vigils also were held in Hightstown, Keyport and Freehold, where about 40 people read excerpts of speeches from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Those who attended the rallies want Congress and the Obama administration to provide illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. They also are seeking passage of the Child Citizens Protection Act, a stalled measure that would give more discretion to federal judges in evaluating deportation cases in which U.S.-born children are involved.

Advocates say hundreds of thousands of children live in fear that their parents will be taken.

Between 1998 and 2007, the federal government deported 108,434 adults whose children were U.S. citizens, according to a Department of Homeland Security report released in January. Some parents were repeat offenders, bringing the total number of parent removals above 180,000.

DHS estimates there are 12 million illegal immigrants nationwide. The department's last estimate for New Jersey came in 2006, when it pegged the number at about 430,000. Since then, the Pew Hispanic Center estimates, the state's illegal alien population has likely grown beyond 500,000.

It is not known how many of those people have U.S.-born children, but the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 4 million children nationwide have at least one parent who is an illegal immigrant.

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15.
Postal Museum Rental Violated Policy
By Jacqueline Trescott
The Washington Post, September 16, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/15/AR2009091503050.html

The Smithsonian Institution restated its policies on renting its facilities to outside groups Tuesday, acknowledging that it had made an error in allowing the Federation for American Immigration Reform to hold an event Tuesday night at the National Postal Museum.

'It was a mistake,' said Linda St. Thomas, the chief spokeswoman for the Smithsonian, which oversees the Postal Museum, a facility near Union Station dedicated to the history of the U.S. postal service and stamps.

'This was a violation of the special-events policy that says it is unacceptable to have groups which are partisan, political or religious in nature use the Smithsonian space,' she said.

The Smithsonian did not cancel the event. FAIR, St. Thomas said, made a $5,000 donation to use the space from 7 to 9 p.m. 'The Postal Museum did say yes, and it isn't fair to say, 'We have just found out you violated our standards' ' and force the group to cancel, she said. Furthermore, 'we did not cancel this event because FAIR did nothing wrong. It was our mistake in giving permission.'

In the past, many Smithsonian facilities have played host to such events as presidential inauguration parties. 'The inaugural every four years is its own thing. It doesn't matter who won the election,' St. Thomas said.

FAIR, which supports, with few exceptions, a temporary moratorium on all immigration, is holding a two-day lobbying effort in Washington on the issue. Tuesday's events included a radiothon of almost 50 talk-show hosts.

A spokesman for FAIR said the group had not been informed of the Smithsonian's policies. 'We are nonpartisan and nonpolitical. Anyone who gives our organization a thorough look, anyone -- a journalist, the Smithsonian, a concerned citizen -- can look at what we represent, and their conclusion would not be negative,' said Dustin Carnevale, a communications assistant.

'If the Smithsonian deems us unworthy, we are disappointed. But we think that [comes from] what they have read, but not our reputation,' Carnevale said. He said that FAIR, which says it has 250,000 members, had just issued a guide to the 'tactics' of its critics, partially in response to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which lists FAIR as a hate group. The Anti-Defamation League says on its Web site that FAIR spreads a 'xenophobic message.'

St. Thomas said FAIR's rental was approved because the special-events staff at the Postal Museum didn't conduct the proper reviews. 'They didn't look at the nature of the group. They didn't do the research,' she said, adding that in the future, all events at the Postal Museum will be reviewed by Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian undersecretary for history, art and culture, 'just as a double-check.'

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16.
Report outlines ticketing of local Latino population
By Clare Marie Celano
The News Transcript (Colts Neck, NJ), September 16, 2009
http://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2009/0916/front_page/010.html

Freehold, NJ -- A report detailing the issuance of tickets by police claims that in some instances Freehold Borough's Latino community is being ticketed in a disproportionate fashion.

The report drew an angry response from borough officials who said they and police have sought to smooth relations with Latino residents. They denied that Latinos are being targeted by police with summonses.

The report was prepared by the Latino Leadership Alliance, Casa Freehold and the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, and released last week.

The organizations state that the report was prepared 'in response to a steady stream of complaints issued by members of the Freehold Borough Latino community.'

Mayor Michael Wilson called the report 'disingenuous' and said it was 'fraught with baseless allegations.' He said the facts presented in the report 'show no indication of racial bias by Freehold Borough police or any Freehold Borough official.'

The organizations that produced the report state that the findings 'suggest that in relation to the rest of the population, Latinos receive a disproportionately high number of tickets throughout Freehold Borough.'

The borough's Latino population is about 30 percent.

The two most significant issues reviewed, according to report, were driving an unlicensed taxi and improper operation of a bicycle.

The review was then expanded to include all traffic violations issued in a single sampling month (January 2009) and additionally, 40 random dates from August 2006 to December 2008 were chosen and the tickets that were issued were examined.

According to the report, 1,300 tickets were reviewed for the study and 601 tickets (42.6 percent) were issued to Latinos. The report's authors said they judged a person to be Latino based on the name recorded on a ticket.

Summonses for the operation of illegal taxis showed that 232 out of 247 tickets (93.3 percent) issued between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008 were issued to Latinos, according to the report.

Regarding bicycle violation tickets — many of which were given to Latino men who were found to be riding a bicycle on downtown sidewalks in violation of the law — the report states that 82 of the 104 tickets (79 percent) reviewed from Jan. 1, 2007 to Dec. 31, 2008 were issued to Latino bicyclists.

A review of the tickets for January 2009 and the random sample of 40 days was more in line with the percentage of Latinos living in the borough.

Of 491 tickets issued in January 2009, 137 tickets (28.3 percent) were issued to Latinos. The results for the random sample were 458 tickets reviewed, of which 150 (32.8 percent) were issued to Latinos, ac- cording to the report.

'We stop short of alleging racial profiling, but urge Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin to review all bicycle and traffic tickets issued by the Freehold Borough Police Department over the last five years,' the report states.

The report issues recommendations to the town, including the implementation of an ongoing and systematic public education program by the Freehold Borough police with regard to motor vehicle operations, bicycle operations and the transportation of children.

The reference to the transportation of children dates to the fall of 2007 when some Latino parents were ticketed by police while they were taking children from various families to school, and in some cases accepting gas money to do so. This led to a perception that parents were operating illegal taxis.

Borough officials maintained that the issue leading to the violations was not so much illegal taxis as it was the fact that multiple children in a vehicle were not being properly restrained in accordance with the law.

While the report presents information about tickets that were issued to members of the Latino community, its authors commend Police Chief Mitch Roth for his effort to increase the police department's public education efforts.

In response to the issuance of the report, borough officials said the report, which 'claims to be based on facts, fails to cite any proof for the allegations of car pooling vs. operating taxis. The report also fails to point out that the Freehold Borough police hosted several educational forums to educate the public about the requirements for child safety restraints, seat belts and vehicle occupancy limits. It also describes how the police and recreation departments hosted 'bicycle rodeos' and other educational forums regarding bicycle safety.'

Regarding the illegal taxi issue, the borough officials said, 'Most egregious in this alleged report is the failure of the authors to disclose that the allegations regarding the issuance of summonses for illegal taxis have been fully reviewed by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office Professional Responsibility and Bias Crime Unit which found there was no evidence to suggest that the Freehold Borough Police Department or any member of the Freehold Borough Police Department violated … Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive 2005/1, which prohibits racially influenced profiling.'

Borough officials said they already offer ongoing public education programs that are seldom well attended; that police complaint forms are online in English and Spanish; and that an ordinance has been adopted which eliminates the need for a court appearance for some minor infractions.

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17.
Latino advocates ask CNN to drop Lou Dobbs
By Alsy Acevedo
The Orlando Sentinel, September 15, 2009
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_hispanicaffairs/2009/09/latino-advocates-ask-cnn-to-drop-lou-dobbs.html

Lou Dobbs Latino organizations in 25 U.S. cities are joining forces through a national technology-based campaign demanding that CNN drop Lou Dobbs from its program offerings.

Their leaders are citing Dobbs’ links to immigration hard-line groups such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which some consider an anti-immigrant organization, and his ongoing promotion of dangerous anti-Latino and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

'Enough is enough. CNN has allowed Dobbs to spout hate on its network for too long, and his alignment with a hate group like FAIR should be the last straw,' said Roberto Lovato of Presente.org, the national online group that is organizing the effort.

FAIR was founded by John Tanton, decried by the Southern Poverty Law Center for his connection to white supremacist organizations.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, there are 46.9 million Latinos in the U.S., making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. Recent studies tie anti-immigrant hate speech to increased violence against Latinos.

Dobbs is joining FAIR’s annual 'Hold Their Feet to the Fire' event, which is taking place in Washington D.C. today and tomorrow. The conference topics include 'How Best to Close Illegal Alien Loophole in House Health Care Bill,' even though it’s been widely reported that undocumented immigrants are forbidden from receiving health care benefits under proposed plans.

Dobbs’ involvement in the FAIR event is the most recent action upsetting Hispanic activists nationwide.

Back in March, he criticized President Barack Obama for speaking about education reform to members of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a group in Washington, D.C. that advocates on behalf of Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S., calling it 'crazy stuff.' He apologized days later.

'We are calling on CNN President Jon Klein to drop Dobbs if he and his network are to maintain any semblance of credibility in the fast-growing Latino media market,' Lovato said.

Organizers are asking supporters to join the campaign by visiting www.DropDobbs.com.

The groups involved in the campaign are based in the 25 U.S. cities with the largest Latino populations, which account for more than 75 percent of the entire Hispanic television audience in the country.

Here’s the list of groups and cities active in the campaign. Orlando is included.

CHIRLA, Los Angeles, CA

Families for Freedom, New York, NY

Florida Immigrant Coalition, Miami, FL

CARECEN, San Francisco, CA

Accion America, Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX

The National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC), Chicago, IL & Nationwide

Somos un Pueblo, Chicago, IL

Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, San Antonio, TX

Tonatierra Community Development Institute, Phoenix, AZ

Dolores Street Community Services, San Francisco, CA

No Border Wall, Brownsville, TX

Chicano Consortium, Sacramento, CA

New Mexico Media Literacy Project, Albuquerque & Santa Fe, NM

American Friends Service Committee, San Diego, CA & Boston, MA

Coalicion por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes del Valle de San Joaquin, Fresno, CA

Colorado Latino Forum, Denver, CO

Latino Leadership, Inc. Orlando, FL

Florida Immigrant Coalition, Tampa, FL

Mexicanos Sin Fronteras, Washington, DC

Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, Atlanta, GA

Hermandad Mexicana, Las Vegas, NV

La Pena, Austin, TX

May 1st Coalition, Boston, MA

Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, Tucson, CA

William C. Velasquez Institute, San Antonio, TX & Nationwide

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18.
Hispanic population in WNC growing, thriving
By John Boyle
The Asheville Citizen-Times (NC), September 15, 2009
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090915/NEWS01/909150330/1009

Asheville, NC -- You've probably driven by the sign - Papas & Beer - and just assumed it was a catchy name for a restaurant.

You probably didn't know it's a minibiography.

'That was what our life was about then - potatoes and beer,' said Larry Huerta, who owns and operates the Papas & Beer Restaurant on Tunnel Road, one of three his family owns.

Huerta, 33, said when he was little, his father, Uriel, drank a lot of beer, and the family grew up poor, with little to eat but papas, or potatoes. Huerta was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley in California, where he learned to cook from his mother, Maria, who cooked for weddings and other events.

After attending a food conference in Asheville 11 years ago, Huerta decided to move here to work and live. He's part of a burgeoning local Latino population that continues to thrive in the mountains.

The lingering recession has resulted in dwindling numbers of Hispanics in some parts of the country, as unemployed workers return home.

But that doesn't appear to be the case in the mountains, where populations remain steady or continue to grow.

Numbers are up

U.S. Census Bureau estimates put the number of Hispanics in the 18 counties of Western North Carolina at 31,661 in 2008, up from 22,861 in 2003.

Anecdotally, those who provide services to the Latino population say they've noticed no decline in the Hispanic population.

In Buncombe County Public Schools, Geneva Neeriemer, director of the Title I, migrant and English as a Second Language programs, said ESL student numbers have increased from 962 in 2003 to 2,125 at the end of the last school year.

'As far as (immigrant Hispanics returning home), I think there are some, but it's not en masse,' Neeriemer said. 'I've heard teachers talk about individual students and some of them going back to Mexico. Sometimes, it's employment, sometimes they have an ill relative at home. In some cases, one parent is not documented, and the whole family is going back to be with that person. It's various reasons, but it's not a lot of people.'

At the Buncombe County Health Center, nurse practitioner and Medical Director Gibbie Harris said, 'What we're seeing this year is very similar to last year. In fiscal year '09, we show about a 1 percent increase in the number of Hispanic ethnicity (patients) over fiscal year '08.'

That comes out to about 4,200 individuals seen in '09, up from 4,000 a year earlier.

Experts and those in the Hispanic services field say the total number of local Hispanics is likely higher than census estimates because undocumented workers often do not show up on official headcounts.

'I've done it all'

It's clear Latinos do like the mountain region, for many of the same reasons others who move here do: a good quality of life, good schools and beautiful scenery.

All those factors drew Huerta, 33, who with his wife, Mayra, has three children, ages 3, 6 and 9. His extended family opened the first Papas & Beer in Hendersonville in 2003, and Huerta took the latest leap with the Tunnel Road restaurant, a former Lone Star Steakhouse location, four months ago. With a menu featuring California-style Mexican food and prices that are easy on recession-conscious consumers, the new spot has been a success.

Experts note that entrepreneurship generally is higher among immigrants because it's a path to economic success. In 2002, the Census Bureau estimated the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States at 1.6 million, a 31 percent increase from 1997.

The three Papas & Beer restaurants employ a total of 37 people.

In Huerta's case, he has a work ethic instilled by hard times - by a time when the pantry held only potatoes and beer.

'I started as a dishwasher, then busing tables, then I worked as a bartender,' Huerta said of his career path. 'I've done it all.'

'All this progress, all this success has come right off of the work,' he continued. 'I've worked no less than 75 hours a week. But I think if you work hard and treat people right, it'll be a success.'

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19.
New citizens to celebrate
By David Pepose
The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, MA), September 15, 2009
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_13345567

Pittsfield, MA -- It s been a long, long road to citizenship... and now they re going to celebrate.

The Berkshire Immigrant Center plans to host its first annual Citizenship Day dinner on Thursday at the First Baptist Church.

'We used to have swearing in ceremonies in Pittsfield, until about 2001,' said Berkshire Immigrant Center director Hilary Greene. 'People get sworn in at random days, and we didn’t have a solid group one day or the other to celebrate...then, last year, we sort of discovered Citizenship Day.'

According to members of the Berkshire Immigrant Center, at least 70 immigrants in the Berkshires, hailing from Ecuador to Russia to Indonesia, have gained citizenship in the past 18 months. Perhaps most fittingly, some of these newly minted citizens will be sworn in that very day.

These former immigrants, along with their families, are been invited to bring potluck dishes from their native countries in order to celebrate their success.

Gaining citizenship is 'pretty daunting,' said program coordinator Brooke Mead. 'It s time to break bread and say congratulations.'

Many immigrants have to wait a period of five years after receiving their green card in order to apply for citizenship. In addition, hurdles such as language barriers, a spotless criminal record, as well as signing up for selective service must be overcome before taking the application.

'My goal, besides acknowledging people who have reached a dream of theirs, is also to educate people what citizenship is about,' Greene said. 'A lot of people don t realize you have to take a test -- it s not something you are given, you have to earn it.'

In addition to food and company, the event also will have an appearance by state Rep. William 'Smitty' Pignatelli, D-Lenox. Greene also said that there was not only a possibility of a slideshow of the swearing in ceremonies, but that Pittsfield Mayor James M. Ruberto would attend, as well.

Greene said she was thrilled to celebrate the success of the immigrant community, especially those coming in with limited English proficiency.

'Watching them grow in their language skills and work so hard because they want it so badly, to see them raise their hands and take the oath, that is very rewarding,' she said. 'It s definitely the best part of my job.'

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20.
Food habits lead to obesity hikes for immigrants
By Perla Trevizo
The Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN), September 16, 2009
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2009/sep/16/food-habits-lead-to-obesity-hikes-for-immigrants/

When Dalton resident Maria Khote lived in Venezuela, if someone wanted to make lemonade, they simply would go to their backyard and get the lemons from their tree.

'I grew up in a house where all the produce we wanted was in our backyard,' said the mother of three. 'Here, immigrants can't afford to buy (fruits and vegetables) because it's too expensive.'

A less healthy diet combined with reduced physical activity seems to have a direct impact on why children of the newest, least acculturated immigrants tend to have higher obesity rates, local and national experts say.

'Everything our culture represents has a drive towards obesity, because we tend to have larger portion sizes ... and more screen time (in front of the TV or computer) for children, which is known to cause an increase in obesity,' said Joani Jack, a pediatrician at T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital.

The higher obesity rate among children of immigrants is even more pronounced among boys and Hispanics, according to a recent study released by the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C., that studies immigration issues.

'We speculate that immigrant parents may be more likely to indulge their sons than their daughters and grant sons more freedom to choose what and how much to eat,' said Jennifer Van Hook, an associate professor of sociology at Pennsylvania State University and co-author of the study.

For Sylvia Rangel, migrating from a rural Mexican town to Texas when she was 17 was a shock. Not only did children not play on the streets, but their parents couldn't go to the market every morning to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.

'It's a very drastic change, not only in the diet but in the activity we get,' said Mrs. Rangel, a Chattanooga resident whose family left Mexico 20 years ago.

American children tend to take part in activities that are organized and have a cost involved, such as youth soccer or football, Dr. Jack said. Immigrant parents sometimes can't afford to participate or do not know how to enroll their children, said Dr. Jack, who co-authored the book 'Raising Fit Kids in a Fat World.'

Neither the Whitfield County Health Department nor the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department track the obesity rate of children by ethnicity.

About 50 percent of the 1-to-5-year-olds that are served in the Whitfield County Health Department have Hispanic backgrounds, officials said.

'A lot of people who immigrate here are immigrating from more rural areas and, in that respect, they walk to the store, they can walk several miles to school,' said Susan Shacklett, nutrition manager at the Whitfield County Health Department. 'Their diet does change, because (healthy) food is more accessible (in their native countries).'

When they come to America, 'even if the diet didn't change, the activity level changes so dramatically,' she said.

According to the Migration Policy Institute study, despite socioeconomic status, the parents' English proficiency and lack of experience in the United States play a role in the high obesity rate.

'I think (the report) is a wake-up call to show that our food system in the United States is not producing healthy children, and sometimes we get evidence of that by looking at what happens to kids when they move into our country,' Dr. Van Hook said.

Mrs. Khote said she and her husband, a native of India, eventually learned how to eat healthier in the United States and were able to pay for their children to be in organized sports and other activities.

'After years and years, we started eating much better because we could afford it plus we learned to eat apples, grapes, berries, not so much guava, mangos and other tropical fruit,' she said. 'At the beginning, parents' priorities are to pay the bills and have a place to live, not so much being healthy.'

EDITOR'S NOTE: The MPI report is available online at: http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=739

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21.
Girl Rejects Gardasil, Loses Path to Citizenship
Teen Asks Why She Should Take Vaccine If She is Not Having Sex, Worries About Dangers
By Susan Donaldson James
The ABC News, September 11, 2009
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ReproductiveHealth/gardasil-vaccine-roadblock-citizenship/story?id=8542051

Born in Britain in 1992, Simone Davis got off to a rough start in life. Her biological mother abandoned her as a baby, and her father couldn't care for her.

At 3, her paternal grandmother Jean Davis got court orders giving her complete parental rights and responsibility to raise Simone until the age of 18.

Davis married an American in 2000 and moved them to Port St. Joe, Fla., but there was no equivalent guardianship in the United States. So for the last near decade, Davis has embarked on a quest to get Simone U.S. citizenship.

Now 17 and an aspiring elementary school teacher and devout Christian, Simone has only one thing standing in the way of her goal -- the controversial vaccine Gardasil.

Immigration law mandates that Simone get the vaccine to protect against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, which has been linked to cervical cancer.

But Simone, who has taken a virginity pledge and is not sexually active, doesn't see why she should have to take the vaccine, especially since it's been under fire recently regarding its safety.

And none of her American classmates is mandated by law to be vaccinated.

'I am only 17 years old and planning to go to college and not have sex anytime soon,' said Simone. 'There is no chance of getting cervical cancer, so there's no point in getting the shot.'

Since 2008, the government has required that female immigrants between the ages of 11 through 26 applying for permanent resident or refugee status receive Gardasil, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006.

Simone and her adoptive mother she still calls 'Nanny' sought a waiver for moral and religious reasons and were recently rejected by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

That ruling threatens to separate Simone and Davis, and could dash the teen's plans to attend Pensacola Christian College, where she was conditionally accepted.

They were given 30 days to appeal or the teen would face being 'removed.'

The 1996 Immigration and Naturalization Act requires girls and women within a specified age group to receive the vaccination against certain specified diseases 'and any other vaccinations recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.

Gardasil was added to the list of vaccines in 2008.

'The decision to include HPV as a required vaccine was made by the CDC,' said Citizenship and Immigration Services spokeswoman Chris Rhatigan.

'We follow the law,' she told ABCNews.com. 'The objection to a waiver would have to be to all vaccines, not just Gardasil.'

The CDC is expected to publish new criteria to determine which vaccines should be recommended for U.S. immigrants in about a month, according to spokeswoman Christine Pearson.

Simone's struggle began in 2000, when U.S. authorities did not recognize the British adoption papers, and the process began anew.

'We never heard from her mother again after she sent a third birthday card, and was never given a contact address,' said Jean Davis, who is now 63, divorced, and a teacher. 'I had no idea where she was.'

The Salvation Army Missing Person's Bureau traced Simone's biological mother, and the American adoption was finalized in 2006.

Local churches helped pay more than $1,700 immigration application fees for Simone's permanent residency status, the first step toward citizenship. For another $585, Davis can appeal, but says she doesn't have the money.

Citizenship Dashed by Gardasil

If Simone does not become a permanent resident by her 18th birthday in January, she willl have to reapply as an adult and wait five years before she can even be eligible for citizenship.

'I kind of feel like they may be experimenting with immigrants to see how we will react and then give the vaccine to citizens,' said Simone. 'I told Nanny that if it is such a great vaccine, why isn't it mandatory for everyone?'

Gardasil must be administered before the age of 26 to be effective, according to FDA guidelines. It protects against HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18. Almost 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts are linked to these four strains.

About 12,000 women a year are diagnosed with cervical cancer, which kills about 4,000 annually, according to the CDC.

The vaccine can cause fainting, redness and inflammation at the site and fever. The most dangerous side effect, which has alarmed some gynecologists, is an increase in blood clots, which, according to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), may have caused 32 unconfirmed deaths.

In an accompanying editorial, the journal complained about the lack of concrete evidence that the vaccine is effective.

When Gardasil was added to the vaccine list last year, it drew anger and protests from immigration advocates, who argued that it placed an unfair financial burden on women. A three-shot series of the vaccine can cost between $300 and $1,400.

Some health care policy experts suggested the requirement was excessive and unnecessary. Of the 14 required vaccines, 13 are designed to combat infectious diseases that are considered highly contagious. But Gardasil targets a virus spread through sexual contact.

Though 18 states are currently debating whether to make the vaccine mandatory, none, so far, require it.

'I am most definitely surprised and I would love to know how it ever became policy,' said Dr. Jacques Moritz, director of gynecology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. 'I wonder if the drug company could have had any influence.'

'It's a voluntary vaccine, and for the U.S. government to make it a mandatory decision to come to this country is crazy,' he told ABCNews.com. 'It has no public health value that has been shown.'

Merck & Co., which makes Gardasil, said it had no involvement in the enactment of the mandate.

'Merck recognizes that many individuals and groups are concerned over this requirement and emphasizes that, while we encourage all women to be educated about HPV-related diseases, the company does not support mandatory vaccination of new female immigrants,' said Merck spokeswoman Pam Eisele.

The company said it has an 'extensive and ongoing' safety-monitoring program and does not believe that reported deaths have been caused by Gardasil.

'Nothing is more important to Merck than the safety of our medicines and vaccines,' she told ABCNews.com. 'We are confident in the safety profile of Gardasil.

The company garnered $1.4 billion in sales last year. According to the business publication Medical Marketing and Media, the company has 'captured lightning in a bottle' with its direct-to-consumer marketing to mothers and their daughters, encouraging them to talk to their doctors about protection from HPV.

Just this week, an advisory panel recommended that the FDA allow doctors to prescribe Gardasil to boys and men ages 9 to 26 to help prevent genital warts, which have been linked to the transmission of HPV.

Moritz, himself, has chosen not to have his 11-year-old daughter vaccinated, as long as good cervical cancer screening tests, like the Pap smear, exist.

'I'm pro-preventing cervical cancer,' he told ABCNews.com. 'But I'm not that pro that the physicians don't know the risks and side effects.'

But Dr. Mark Einstein, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York, disagrees.

'Every scientific stakeholder has advocated for use of this vaccine,' he told ABCNews.com. 'The more serious side effects may not be vaccine related. The most recent report in the JAMA was positive, reinforcing the safety of a vaccine that been delivered to 26 million in the U.S.'

Einstein said cervical cancer was 'not just a Third World Disease.' American women are struck in their 'reproductive prime,' and radiation treatments can cause sexual dysfunction and child-bearing problems.

'I have a busy clinical schedule,' said Einstein. 'The death rate is low because the treatments are very effective. But the treatments are toxic and have very serious side effects through life.

'We have a lot of opportunity to prevent [cervical cancer] before it happens and shift the future of a disease,' he said.

Einstein also debunks Simone's claim that she doesn't need the vaccine because she is not having sex.

'Quite frankly, from a science standpoint and outreach, everyone does ultimately as an adult have sex,' he said.

But her adoptive mother, Jean Davis, said the issue is about more than chastity.

'All we want is the rights of a U.S. citizen,' said Davis, who has scoured the Internet for research on Gardasil and sent letters to all her political leaders, including the president. 'It's not mandatory for them to get this. That's our objection.

'My choice to make an informed decision for the health of my child has been taken away,' she told ABCNews.com. 'I have been like a crazy woman, I have been so upset about this. I am really in a panic.'

'How can they call this America, the land of the free?' she asked. 'Where are my parental rights?'

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22.
'I'm struggling,' says mom of six whose husband deported
By Lee Rood
The Des Moines Register, September 16, 2009
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090916/NEWS/90915053/-1/BUSINESS04

Patty Sanchez knows some will applaud what happened to her family last month.

Still, the Des Moines woman said, she wants others to know how it happened so they can better appreciate the mixed messages her family says it has received from the federal government and understand the hardship the family now faces.

A U.S. citizen, Sanchez married her husband, Rafael, an undocumented construction worker from Mexico, 17 years ago. Rafael Sanchez, 35, applied for citizenship, and, for the past six and a half years, had a visa to work legally in America, she said.

But at 6 a.m. on Aug. 14, three fugitive operations agents arrested Rafael Sanchez at his home. Not long after, he was deported to Zacatecas, Mexico.

ICE officials don't discuss individual cases. But Patty Sanchez surmises two reasons her husband was a target: Rafael was convicted of theft for snatching a purse when he was 20 at an east-side grocery store in 1993, and he was convicted of drunken driving the same year.

Court records confirm Rafael Sanchez was given probation for both of those crimes, which is why he and his wife believed he had a chance at citizenship.

Then this year, agents in a new fugitive unit started looking for fugitives with records to arrest. After steadily progressing toward citizenship, Rafael Sanchez is now banned from re-entering the United States for 20 years.

'For years, we were given hope he could become a citizen,' Patty Sanchez said. 'Then all of a sudden Immigration just says, 'Get out of here. You're inadmissible.'

'I tell my children I now have to choose between seeing them grow up without a father or their education. We both made mistakes in the past, but do we have to pay for the rest of our lives?'

ICE's fugitive operations teams more than doubled arrests from fiscal 2006 through 2008. Those numbers, in turn, create collateral hardships, immigration advocates say.

Sanchez, like many others in her shoes, is having difficulty supporting her family by herself.

The 42-year-old woman works seven days a week as a child-care provider and respite caregiver for disabled children. Still, she cannot afford the house the couple bought when immigration authorities previously granted Rafael permission to work in the United States.

'It's real hard,' said Patty Sanchez, whose children are 13, 14, 15, 19, 23 and 25. 'I'm struggling.'

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23.
FBI unit set for more anti-terror raids in Queens
Fears of Madrid-style subway bombings - sources
By Rocco Parascandola, Alison Gendar and Larry Mcshane
The New York Daily News, September 16, 2009
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/09/16/2009-09-16_fbi_unit_set_for_more_antiterror_raids_in_queens_sources_fears_of_madridstyle_su.html

Fearful of a Madrid-style subway train bombing, authorities are poised to make more raids to seize bomb-making materials at locations in Queens, sources said Wednesday.

The FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Squad arrived in New York in anticipation of the offensive to thwart a Denver-based terror cell with ties to Al Qaeda, police sources told the Daily News.

Another source said an earlier raid uncovered nine backpacks and cell phones, raising memories of the March 2004 bombings in Madrid.

A series of terrorist bombs detonated aboard commuter trains killed 191 people. The source said authorities feared a potential attack on the city subway, with its 5.2 million daily riders.

Najibullah Zazi, the Colorado man who triggered a rash of Queens raids Monday, was identified through e-mail, wire taps and a confidential informant as part of the plot, the source said.

Zazi, 25, told The News he had nothing to do with any terrorist activity.

'No. Of course, I'm not a terrorist,' the 25-year-old Afghan national said Tuesday.

A source said Zazi, tipped while visiting Manhattan last weekend that he was under surveillance, fled back to suburban Denver.

Even as Zazi, of Aurora, Colo., professed his innocence, counterterrorism agents eyed him as part of the first suspected Al Qaeda cell they've uncovered in the U.S. since 9/11.

A bearded and barefoot Zazi, standing in the doorway of his apartment, said he's a hardworking airport shuttle driver who is married and lives with his elderly parents in the Denver suburb.

'I didn't know anything about who was following me,' Zazi said of reports he is under surveillance by the FBI.

He confirmed driving to New York last week to visit friends, but denied involvement in any Al Qaeda bomb plot or terror cell.

Zazi was stopped at the George Washington Bridge on his way into the city, sources told The News.

Authorities later seized his rental car from a Queens street, sources said.

In the car, sources said the feds found documents and papers about bomb-making and bombs. The massive federal response was 'an indication of just how serious a threat they see this as,' said Frances Townsend, a former counterterrorism adviser to ex-President George W. Bush.

Zazi remained under constant surveillance Tuesday, the sources said.

Zazi said he and his newly hired lawyer plan to hold a press conference Wednesday.

FBI officials would not comment on The News' report that Zazi is indeed the target of their ongoing probe.

Scores of FBI agents inundated Denver Tuesday as they closed the noose on what sources say is a five-man cabal with ties to World Trade Center mastermind Osama Bin Laden's terrorist group.

One of the suspects, purportedly Zazi, recently had returned home from a trip abroad to Pakistan, where the U.S. believes a significant number of Al Qaeda's leaders live, sources said.

Multiple sources told The News the FBI believes it had uncovered an Al Qaeda cell for the first time since 9/11, prompting the unprecedented response.

'The FBI is seriously spooked about these guys,' a former senior counterterrorism official told The News. 'This is not some ... FBI informant-driven case. This is the real thing.'

Zazi, seen last week praying and chatting with other worshipers at the Masjid Hazart Abubakr Islamic Center in Queens, was one of the quintet under intense scrutiny, sources said.

Known around the mosque as 'Naji,' he ran a coffee and doughnut cart in Manhattan before moving to Colorado earlier this year.

'I left New York because it's hard to live there; the rent is too expensive,' said Zazi, who was born in eastern Afghanistan and moved here as a child.

His Queens home was in the same Flushing neighborhood where FBI agents swarmed into three apartments Monday, bashing down doors and carrying search warrants seeking bomb-making materials.

'I didn't know what he was up to,' said mosque President Abdulrahman Jalili, 58, after he was contacted by the FBI about Zazi. 'Islam is against terrorism. It is a religion of peace.'

Red flags about an impending attack went up last week when Zazi visited with several people in a single day, combined with worrisome information collected from wiretaps, sources said.

The Queens apartment raids were triggered by the Denver investigation, Zazi's New York visit and the timing of the upcoming UN General Assembly.

New York authorities also detained several men - later released - in a hunt for bomb-making components, explosive powders and fuses.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said unspecified material was seized from the apartments and shipped for analysis.

One of the suspects, purportedly Zazi, recently had returned home from a trip abroad to Pakistan, where the U.S. believes a significant number of Al Qaeda's leaders live, sources said.

Multiple sources told The News the FBI believes it had uncovered an Al Qaeda cell for the first time since 9/11, prompting the unprecedented response.

'The FBI is seriously spooked about these guys,' a former senior counterterrorism official told The News. 'This is not some ... FBI informant-driven case. This is the real thing.'

Zazi, seen last week praying and chatting with other worshipers at the Masjid Hazart Abubakr Islamic Center in Queens, was one of the quintet under intense scrutiny, sources said.

Known around the mosque as 'Naji,' he ran a coffee and doughnut cart in Manhattan before moving to Colorado earlier this year.

'I left New York because it's hard to live there; the rent is too expensive,' said Zazi, who was born in eastern Afghanistan and moved here as a child.

His Queens home was in the same Flushing neighborhood where FBI agents swarmed into three apartments Monday, bashing down doors and carrying search warrants seeking bomb-making materials.

'I didn't know what he was up to,' said mosque President Abdulrahman Jalili, 58, after he was contacted by the FBI about Zazi. 'Islam is against terrorism. It is a religion of peace.'

Red flags about an impending attack went up last week when Zazi visited with several people in a single day, combined with worrisome information collected from wiretaps, sources said.

The Queens apartment raids were triggered by the Denver investigation, Zazi's New York visit and the timing of the upcoming UN General Assembly.

New York authorities also detained several men - later released - in a hunt for bomb-making components, explosive powders and fuses.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said unspecified material was seized from the apartments and shipped for analysis.

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24.
Why was three-time DWI driver still driving?
Officials say timing, immigration status allowed Jaime Alvarado to be involved in a fatal wreck.
By Andrea Lorenz
The Austin American Statesman, September 16, 2009
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/09/16/0916dwi.html

A combination of timing and immigration status affected the prosecution of a Honduran construction worker who had been charged three times with driving while intoxicated before police say he caused the wreck that killed a Tennessee man last month.

Jaime Alvarado, who faces a murder charge, was deported to his native Honduras at least once before and has never had a driver's license in this country.

So what was he doing on the road Aug. 31, when he is accused of running a red light while being pursued by police — who suspected he had been drinking — and crashing into Robert Benn's rental vehicle?

According to affidavits, in each of Alvarado's previous DWI charges, the 23-year-old was driving around East Austin, drinking as he drove in at least two of the instances. Police found empty and open containers in his vehicle when he was arrested on U.S. 183 in September 2006 and on Pleasant Valley Road in September 2007. In November 2006, Alvarado was arrested near Pleasant Valley Road, this time for driving on the wrong side of the road. All incidents were within a few miles of the fatal wreck.

Typically, a person who is convicted of drunken driving three times becomes a felon and must serve at least two years in prison, which might have put Alvarado behind bars the night of the crash, with another year to go.

But Alvarado benefited from timing: His offenses took place within one year, before any were tried.

'We called them multiple firsts,' said County Attorney David Escamilla. 'It's where you get a DWI, and before you get convicted on the DWI, you get another one.'

Under state law, each subsequent offense would be considered the person's first offense, a Class B misdemeanor.

Escamilla, whose office handles misdemeanor criminal offenses, said his hands were tied.

Alvarado pleaded guilty in a plea bargain to all three charges at the same time, even though they were spread out over a year. In the eyes of the law, the three convictions were first offenses — misdemeanors for which he was sentenced to three 80-day jail terms.

The maximum allowed for the three offenses would have been almost a year and a half, but the county court-at-law judge who sentenced him, David Crain, said he had expected Alvarado to be deported after his jail term.

'I had every reason to believe he would be deported back to Honduras, and we'd never see him again in this country,' Crain said.

Alvarado's immigration status hindered the state's case against him. He was in the country illegally and never had a driver's license. Each time he was pulled over, he provided a different name and once a different birth date.

In September 2006, he was arrested and charged as Jaime Alvarado, born Aug. 18, 1986. Two months later, he told police his name was Donnie Noel Bonilla, born Aug. 15, 1986. At one point during the court process, Alvarado gave his name as Jaime Bonilla Ontivera.

'He intentionally changed the names,' Crain said. 'I don't think you could draw any other conclusion.'

Crain said the different names made it difficult for the court system to match up Alvarado's three charges, and he presumed that had they made the connection, magistrates would have increased his bail amounts, which for each of the three charges was set below $5,000. Each time, Alvarado posted bail and was released from jail.

It's unclear when the courts figured out that Alvarado had been charged three times, but in March 2008, there were three warrants of arrest issued for him for each of the cases for failing to appear in court. In July, he was arrested by police on a misdemeanor charge of failing to identify himself, and the plea bargain made by Escamilla's office for the other three charges was accepted by Crain.

'It was a plea bargain that appeared to not be out of the ballpark of what is fair to me,' Crain said.

Alvarado had hired an attorney, Eloisa Ontiveros Garcia, for the three cases. Garcia said she didn't remember Alvarado, although she said his name had sounded familiar when she heard about his recent arrest. She did not return further calls for comment. In 2008, Alvarado requested a court-appointed attorney, Rene Vargas, who worked out the plea agreement. Vargas did not return calls for comment.

A court program set up specifically to treat people with more than one pending DWI charge through counseling and other methods probably wouldn't have been available to Alvarado because he was not in the country legally and because he didn't show up in court when required, Crain said.

Instead, those arrested who are in the country illegally are supposed to be deported after serving their sentences.

'I can tell from talking to the prosecutors that (Alvarado) had an immigration hold on him, so that would mean they're going to be in jail probably for the rest of the sentence, then they're going to immediately be taken to the immigration facility,' Crain said.

Alvarado was released from the Travis County Jail on Sept. 22, according to jail records. He was picked up from jail by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and prosecuted by the federal government for illegal re-entry into the country following a deportation, said Adrian Ramirez, assistant field office director for the Austin area. Alvarado had previously been picked up by border agents in 2005 and sent back to Honduras, which made it possible to charge him with the illegal re-entry offense, Ramirez said.

Alvarado was sentenced by the federal court to time he had previously served.

It's unclear whether Alvarado was deported following the 2008 federal case. Ramirez cited Alvarado's privacy as the reason to withhold the information but said that agency policy calls for deporting those convicted in federal cases.

An immigration hold has been placed on Alvarado with the murder charge as well.

'That detainer stays in place until his state criminal case is concluded,' Ramirez said. 'Once it's concluded, he will come back to us in custody.'

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25.
SW Mo. poultry plant pays $450,000 in fines
The Associated Press, September 16, 2009
http://www.bnd.com/336/story/925284.html

Springfield, MO (AP) -- A southwest Missouri poultry processing plant has paid a $450,000 fine after being charged with hiring illegal immigrant workers.

Acting U.S. Attorney Matt Whitworth announced Tuesday that George's Processing Inc. paid the fine Friday, under a settlement ending a federal investigation of the company's hiring practices.

George's Processing has not admitted or denied guilt.

Immigration agents raided the George's Processing plant in Cassville in May 2007. They arrested 136 people who were in the country illegally, prosecuting 28 for immigration violations. Two company officials were convicted of harboring illegal aliens.

Under the settlement, the company must also improve its hiring practices and install a system to ensure its workers are in the country legally.

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26.
Pot grower gets probation, but is held on immigration charges
By Greg Welter
The Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA), September 16, 2009

Willows, CA -- Ricky The Chu, an Oakland man who pleaded no contest in August to single counts of marijuana possession and theft of utilities, was sentenced to time served and five years probation in Glenn County Superior Court Friday.

A 52-month state prison sentence was suspended.

Chu, 35, would be out of jail now, if authorities hadn't learned he was in the U.S. illegally.
. . .
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_13347323

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27.
Busy night: Smuggler boats, 23 illegal migrants found on north coast
By Debbi Baker
The San Diego Union-Tribune, September 16, 2009

Carlsbad, CA -- A search for immigrants believed to have disembarked from an abandoned boat early Wednesday morning led to the discovery of another boat and the arrests of 23 people.
. . .
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/16/carlsbad-8212-search-immigrants-believed/

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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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