Immigration + Essentials Hispanic y Latino News & Info (Noticias)
November 21, 2009
“They” Are “Us”: The Devastating Effects of Broken Immigration Policy on Children in Immigrant Families
November 20, 2009
Hispanic lawmakers say an old adversary, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, has his fingerprints all over a push to prohibit illegal immigrants from buying health insurance plans in a new market for people who don’t get insurance through their employers.
Some U.S. Democrats see momentum building for an overhaul of immigration laws that would legalize millions of undocumented workers, but analysts say a crowded agenda and struggling economy may once again sink hopes for reform next year.
November 19, 2009
More Than 60,000 Americans in 45 States Organize for Immigration Reform
New Report Shines Light on Detainee Rights Violations in Minnesota
November 18, 2009
On November 18 at 8:00 PM Eastern time/5:00 PM Pacific, all across the country people are hosting house parties with their families, friends, neighbors, churches, classmates and anyone else who supports comprehensive immigration reform for America.
Video report of Latina forced to give birth while in chains in Maricopa County, AZ courtesy of Sheriff Joe Arpaio (en Español)
Hundreds of defendants awaiting trial for violent crimes in Dallas County have been deported by federal immigration officials and then set free in their home countries. – The practice goes back to at least 1991 and includes the release of murder, kidnapping and child rape suspects.
Deporting undocumented students affects the chances for legal return if Congress doesn’t address it in immigration reform bill
Eleventh-hour criticism is arising over President Obama’s nomination for United States attorney in northern Iowa of a prosecutor who had a leading role in the criminal cases against hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested in a May 2008 raid at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. – Stephanie Rose
From a group calling themselves Electronic Civil Disobedience comes the Transborder Immigrant Tool, a simple mobile application intended to aid and abet border-crossers from Mexico to the United States by mapping the safest routes to take. – This GPS app is built to work on the cheapest cell phones available.
November 16, 2009
Scarlet “A” will dominate immigration reform rhetoric – Greg Tejeda on immigration reform & Janet Napolitano’s speech
The Obama administration will insist on measures to give legal status to an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants as it pushes early next year for legislation to overhaul the immigration system, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Friday.
November 13, 2009
Postville Raid: Eighteen months have passed since immigration agents raided Agriprocessors Inc. meat plant, arrested nearly 400 workers, and sent the plant spiraling into bankruptcy. – On Thursday, the plant’s former vice president – Sholom Rubashkin – was found guilty of 86 of 91 counts of financial crimes. – Verdict brings closure to many in Postville
Dobbs’ CNN departure leaves me cold – (Gregory Tejeda’s insightful post – good read)
Federal authorities have identified more than 111,000 immigrants with criminal records being held in local jails, during the first year of a program that seeks to deport immigrants who have committed serious crimes.
GOP should take a cue from Lou Dobbs and resign their attack strategy on illegal immigration
November 11, 2009
Domestic Violence In Immigrant Communities: Often Triggered by Stress and Complicated by Immigration Status – This is the first in a special two-part series on domestic violence in immigrant communities by Feet in Two Worlds reporters.
November 10, 2009
One of the largest immigration crackdowns under the Obama administration to date took place in the Twin Cities last month, when 1,200 undocumented janitors were ‘quietly’ fired from their jobs
November 9, 2009
Many illegal immigrants deported in ‘a cloud of uncertainty’
November 6, 2009
Native American corporations, particularly an array of Alaska Native Corporations, have become major defense and homeland security contractors – responsible for a wide range of national security operations, including electronic surveillance on the border, running immigrant detention centers, and supplying security and other services in U.S. overseas wars and energy exploitation.
Senate Democrats Thursday blocked a GOP attempt to require next year’s census forms to ask people whether they are U.S. citizens – Vitter’s attempts fail
November 5, 2009
For immigrants, illness can bring a death sentence
November 4, 2009
Native Americans Profit from Abusive Immigrant Detention and Billions of Dollars in National Security Contracts
The debate over health care for illegal immigrants continues to percolate in Congress despite the Obama administration’s efforts to put it to rest, with lawmakers in both houses also wrangling over how much coverage to provide for immigrants who have settled in the country legally.
November 2, 2009
Latinos need more than lip service – Families are being torn apart by America’s broken immigration system. President Obama needs to show leadership and fix it – (the view from England)
Rights activists in the northern Mexican border city of Tijuana have hung 5,100 small white crosses on the fence straddling the U.S. frontier to commemorate migrants who have died trying to cross.
Immigrant Jail Tests U.S. View of Legal Access – City Bar Justice Center is calling for all immigrant detainees to be provided with counsel.
October 30, 2009
U.S. May Be Open to Asylum for Spouse Abuse – Immigration lawyers said the administration had taken a major step toward clarifying a murky area of asylum law and defining the legal grounds on which battered and sexually abused women in foreign countries could seek protection here.
October 28, 2009
CNN Columnist Ruben Navarrette: Immigration Reform Must Wait – response to Rep. Luis Gutierrez
Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez: Immigration Reform Cannot Wait
Sanctuary journey ends – 1st Elvira Arellano left y now Flor Crisostomo has left the church in Chicago
American Rights at Work – Immigration Study Finds Enforcement Has Undermined Workers’ Rights
October 27, 2009
Immigrants and Children of Immigrants Comprise Nearly One-Quarter of the U.S. Population
October 26, 2009
Detained immigrant children face legal maze in U.S. – 7,211 children entered the U.S. illegally in 2008 by themselves – As many as 50% of those kids went before judges with no lawyer
October 17, 2009
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio launched a sweep in Phoenix on Friday, a half day after officials in Washington limited his powers to make federal immigration arrests.
October 14, 2009
Thousands of immigrants came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a day of lobbying and an afternoon rally calling for comprehensive immigration reform.
Forcing the debate over immigration reform starts now
October 12, 2009
The Pecos Insurrection – How a private prison pushed immigrant inmates to the brink. (a must read)
U.S. Can’t Trace Foreign Visitors on Expired Visas – about 40% of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States came on legal visas and overstayed. (of course they weren’t all Latinos)
October 9, 2009
Republican Senators Want Census to Identify ‘Illegal Aliens’
Over 3000 undocumented military veterans battling deportation orders
Julio Maldonado : Hate Crime Survivor Scheduled for Deportation
October 7, 2009
New measures to improve detention policies of undocumented immigrants doesn’t go far enough
Migrants Give More than They Take, Says U.N. – Often vilified and mistreated, migrant workers benefit both the countries they move to and the ones they leave behind, says the latest Human Development Report released Monday.
Ideas for Immigrant Detention Include Converting Hotels and Building Models
October 6, 2009
“Toughest Sheriff in America” Stripped of ICE Agent Status – According to a statement released by MCSO, the new 287(g) agreement has “stripped Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies of their ICE agent status to act as federal immigration authorities.”
October 5, 2009
Police: Maria Gurrolla’s immigration status was “not relevant” to solving assault and abduction of Gurrolla’s days-old son – If someone posing as the IRS attacked you at work, would the press interview your accountant? – The case of Yair Anthony Carillo abduction
Why Boycotting the Census will not force the Immigration Issue
October 2, 2009
Census “boycott” is self-defeating – The people who think that Latinos will benefit politically by having some of us ignore an attempt to be counted in the population speak with a contradiction that makes absolutely no sense.
Holding the US Census ransom to force action on reforming immigration is a bad idea
With the 2010 census 6 months away, the Commerce Department said Thursday it won’t seek a halt to immigration raids as it did in the previous census in hopes of improving participation in hard-to-count communities.
Upcoming Supreme Court Session to Decide Two Critical Immigration Issues
October 1, 2009
1st 9 months of 2009 = 441,942 repatriated Mexicans :: Durante los primeros nueve meses de 2009 fueron repatriados desde Estados Unidos 441 mil 942 mexicanos a través de los 26 puntos fronterizos y el Programa de Repatriación Voluntaria al Interior firmado por los gobiernos de México y Estados Unidos, informó ayer el Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM)
A U.S. government task force (Southwest Border Task Force) recommended Wednesday that the federal Department of Homeland Security scale back an initiative – 287(g) – that allows local authorities to enforce the country’s immigration law.
September 30, 2009
U.S.-Mexico Border Crossing Deaths Are A Humanitarian Crisis, According To Report From The ACLU And CNDH – Death Rate Climbs Despite Economic Decline And Drop In Migration And Apprehensions
September 29, 2009
The number of deaths of undocumented immigrants in the Arizona desert increased by 20% during the 2009 fiscal year, despite extreme vigilance and the efforts of humanitarian organizations.
With No Progress on Immigration Reform, Activists Ready to Take to the Streets Again
Immigration officials consider more fee increases – Immigrant rights groups fear that further fee hikes would cut many out of the citizenship application process. The immigration agency, which must be self-supporting, faces a $118-million shortfall.
September 28, 2009
With swine-flu vaccinations set to begin next month, public-health officials are mobilizing to ensure that the nation’s estimated 11 million-plus illegal immigrants are vaccinated.
California Senator Cedillo Tells the Truth About Immigration Enforcement in the Obama Era
The head (Thomas Saenz) of the nation’s leading Latino legal advocacy group (MALDEF) said if comprehensive immigration legislation seems unlikely in 2010, Congress should make down payments by passing smaller-scale reforms.
Liberals seek health-care access for illegals – Fearful that they’re losing ground on immigration and health care, a group of House Democrats is pushing back and arguing that any health care bill should extend to all legal immigrants and allow illegal immigrants some access.
September 24, 2009
Cubans tell of capture and torture on Mexican journey
Most Mexicans See Better Life in U.S. – one in three would immigrate to the United States if they could – new Pew Research report
September 22, 2009
Mexico’s violent drug gangs are increasingly kidnapping illegal migrants for ransom and forcing them to carry narcotics into the United States as they muscle into the lucrative trade of smuggling people across the border.
Obama overreaches on immigrant care
September 21, 2009
Billions for a US-Mexico border fence, but is it doing any good? The cost for adding 600 miles of new barriers is $2.4 billion so far. The new fencing has been breached more than 3,000 times, a government report finds. – also says $6.5 billion will be needed to maintain the new fencing over the next 20 years
September 17, 2009
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.
New Study Finds Local Enforcement of Immigration Laws Led to Racial Profiling – UC Berkeley
Obama links healthcare, immigration reform – “My commitment is real and so is my desire to get this (immigration reform) done,” Obama said Wednesday during the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 32nd Annual Awards Gala.
September 15, 2009
Latino Lawmaker Rips Obama for Making It Harder for Illegals to Buy Private Insurance – The criticism was leveled in Spanish by Rep. Luis Gutierrez
The astronaut José M. Hernández said the United States needed to legalize its illegal immigrants — a rare public stand for an American astronaut on a political issue.
The White House strengthened its stand against health-care coverage for illegal immigrants Friday, and a pivotal Senate committee looked ready to follow its lead.
President Obama’s usage of the term “illegal immigrants” is more than just semantics
New Report Holds Immigration Detention System Up to the Light
September 11, 2009
NYTimes Editorial – Immigrants, Health Care and Lies
September 10, 2009
Video: Obama Heckled by GOP During Speech to Congress
Rinku Sen: “Illegal” Word is a Gateway to Racism and Exploitation
How volatile is immigration in DC – In Lawmaker’s Outburst, a Rare Breach of Protocol – South Carolina GOP Rep Joe Wilson interrupted President Obama’s speech Wednesday night with a shout of “You lie!”
September 8, 2009
Center for Immigration Studies Adds to Falsehoods about Health Care Reform
September 3, 2009
The Five Biggest Lies in the Health Care Debate – Illegal immigrants will get free health insurance
September 2, 2009
N.C. native wrongly deported to Mexico – Federal investigators ignored evidence the man is a U.S. citizen, documents show.
August 27, 2009
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn this week signed into law a new measure requiring that history courses across the state include references to the mass deportation of Mexicans from the United States back during the 1930s. (???)
On Immigration, Kennedy’s Death Leaves Leadership Gap
Over 500 Organizations Demand White House End Flawed State And Local Immigration Enforcement Program – Federal 287(g) Program Results In Illegal Profiling And Threatens Public Safety, Say Groups
August 25, 2009
‘Better to Be Deported Alive Than to Be Dead’ – For undocumented residents, a call demanding ransom for a kidnapped loved one can lead to an equally fear-inducing call to federal immigration authorities.
In 2008, Mexican consulates located along the southern U.S. border handled the repatriation of 17,772 unaccompanied minors, 83% of them boys.
August 24, 2009
Enough! Immigration Reform is NOT Health Care Reform
Study: Immigration judge as stressed out as emergency room doctors, prison wardens
Woman facing deportation remains at Simi church – 2 years later still there – California
August 21, 2009
The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Monday the agency is no longer using arrest quotas in a program aimed at tracking down immigrants who have ignored court orders to leave the country.
States without Nations: The Mexican-izing of Mark Lyttle: The First Steps in Deporting a US Citizen
President Barack Obama on Thursday managed to undo some of the damage he did recently with immigrants’ rights advocates — who were angered when Obama said in Mexico that immigration reform would have to wait until after health care and energy bills passed Congress.
August 18, 2009
Homeland Security’s Revolving Door – Contracts with the Department of Homeland Security are spewing billions of dollars into private industry, largely to companies that also rely on Pentagon military contracts.
August 17, 2009
DHS Announces 11 Previously Unreported Deaths In Immigration Detention
New Cato Report Highlights Economic Benefits of Legalizing Immigrants – Reform that Includes Legalization Would Yield a Net Benefit of $180 Billion Over 10 Years, While Enforcement Efforts Alone Would Incur $80 Billion in Losses
August 16, 2009
Some Lawyers Said to Prey on Illegal Immigrants
August 13, 2009
Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies early Thursday launched an employer’s sanctions raid at a Valley paper company and planned to detain more than 100 employees in connection with using false or stolen IDs.
August 12, 2009
“Send them (immigrants) home with a bullet in their head”: Health Reform Racists Encourage Attacks on Immigrants
A day after President Barack Obama announced that legislation to overhaul immigration laws would have to wait until next year, the secretary of homeland security played down the need for change in a speech here and took a tough stance on enforcing current immigration laws.
August 11, 2009
One side effect of a broken immigration system — corruption — thrives on this side of the border too
Debate heats up on healthcare for illegal immigrants – House Speaker Pelosi has said that they would not be covered under overhaul proposals, but activists say medical care should not be denied to the sick, no matter their status.
August 10, 2009
Americans Return to Tougher Immigration Stance – More want immigration decreased than kept the same or increased
Obama: immigration overhaul will have to wait until next year
August 6, 2009
Obama’s Vision of “Truly Civil” Immigrant Prison Reform: More Prisoners, More Prisons
U.S. to Reform Policy on Detention for Immigrants – The Obama administration intends to announce an ambitious plan on Thursday to overhaul the much-criticized way the nation detains immigration violators, trying to transform it from a patchwork of jail and prison cells to what its new chief called a “truly civil detention system.”
August 4, 2009
New Postville Book Blames Feds, Globalization for Town’s Collapse – “Postville, U.S.A.: Surviving Diversity in Small-Town America”
The son of a decorated Vietnam veteran, Hector Veloz is a U.S. citizen, but in 2007 immigration officials mistook him for an illegal immigrant and locked him in an Arizona prison for 13 months.
After early pledges by President Obama that he would moderate the Bush administration’s tough policy on immigration enforcement, his administration is pursuing an aggressive strategy for an illegal-immigration crackdown that relies significantly on programs started by his predecessor.
August 3, 2009
Immigrants who flocked to the once-burgeoning Inland Empire are hard-hit in economic downturn
July 30, 2009
Obama Accused of Continuing Bush’s Racial Profiling of Immigrant – While Obama’s racial diplomacy with Skip Gates is making the headlines, rights groups say that he has expanded Bush’s racist immigration policies.
July 29, 2009
Immigrant Detainee Rights Are Routinely, Systematically Violated, New Report by National Immigration Law Center Finds “A Broken System” is based on 18,000 pages of previously confidential ICE, ABA, and UNHCR reviews of detention centers
July 28, 2009
The administration of President Barack Obama is vastly expanding a federal effort begun under President George W. Bush to identify and deport illegal immigrants held in local jails known as Secure Communities. But in Houston where the effort got a trial start eight months ago, people on each side of the immigration debate have found fault with it.
July 23, 2009
Police chiefs press for immigration reform – About 100 police chiefs and administrators from Framington, Mass., to San Diego joined Department of Homeland Security officials in Phoenix for a National Summit on Local Immigration Policies
July 22, 2009
Mexican Immigrants: How Many Come? How Many Leave?
July 21, 2009
The Department of Homeland Security is changing the way it tackles illegal immigration, in many cases remaking or rescinding Bush administration policies. The changes put heavier emphasis on employers, including more investigations of hiring records and fines for violations
July 16, 2009
In first year, Texas’ $2 million Webcam border watch nets just 11 arrests
July 14, 2009
More Immigration Non-Solutions – why expand the 287(g) program?
July 13, 2009
Outlaws in the U.S., Strangers at Home Downturn – Strands Illegal Latino Immigrants Between Cultures
287g Programs Expanded, Despite “Revamps” Immigrants Fearful
Mentally ill immigrants have little hope for care when detained
July 1, 2009
Feds begin immigration crackdown at 625 companies
The Arizona House has defeated a bill that would have made it the only state in the nation to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants by expanding its trespassing law.
June 26, 2009
Video: President Obama vowed on Thursday to immediately begin negotiations to craft comprehensive immigration reform , with the goal of passing legislation in Congress later this year or early next year.
June 25, 2009
Healthcare in Immigration Nation – interesting connection for Healthcare and Immigration Reform
Immigrant Treatment in Phoenix Reminiscent of Slavery – By Rev. Al Sharpton
The Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of Today’s White House Meeting on Immigration Reform
June 24, 2009
IMMIGRANT YOUTH AND SUPPORTERS URGE CONGRESS TO APPROVE “DREAM ACT” AND REMOVE BARRIERS TO COLLEGE
Obama’s immigration straddle – If he wants Americans to consider a “path to citizenship” for illegal aliens, he’ll have to lead on “enforcement first.”
June 22, 2009
More than 100 U.S.-born children sue the Obama administration over their parents’ deportations
June 19, 2009
A national commission released a report today that says there was a “systematic abuse of worker rights” during the federal immigration raids that included the 2006 raid at the Swift meatpacking plant in Marshalltown and the 2008 raid Agriprocessors in Postville.
Illegal Entry At A 36 Year Low, But Comprehensive Immigration Reform Still a Must
President Barack Obama says he is committed to a comprehensive immigration overhaul that includes a way that illegal immigrants can become U.S. citizens – at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and Conference.
June 18, 2009
The backlog of immigration cases awaiting disposal by the judges is steadily increasing. Since the end of FY 2006 this backlog has grown by 19% – over the past decade, it has increased by 64%.
Nearly three years after the Justice Department found that the nation’s immigration courts were seriously overburdened and recommended hiring 40 new judges, only a few hirings have taken place and the case backlog is at its highest point in a decade
June 17, 2009
Phoenix Suns forward Amar’e Stoudemire Backstabs Hispanic Fans, Signs on as “Special Deputy” Under Sheriff Joe Arpaio
June 16, 2009
Cautious Optimism Despite Another Delay in White House Immigration Reform Talks
In a new report, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)—an anti-immigrant hate group – Takes Aim at Virginia’s Immigrants and Children
Mexico report: 9,758 migrants mainly Central American were abducted in just 6 months
June 15, 2009
So The Time Isn’t Now Then? : Obama Postpones Immigration Reform Meeting…..Again
Computer ‘raid’ in Vernon leaves factory workers devastated – No immigration agents descended on Overhill Farms, a major food-processing plant in Vernon. No one was arrested or deported. There were no frantic scenes of desperate workers fleeing la migra through the gritty streets of the industrial suburb southeast of downtown Los Angeles. For more than 200 Overhill workers, however, the effect was devastating: All lost steady jobs last month
June 5, 2009
A federal appeals panel has upheld a suburban St. Louis town’s ordinance prohibiting the hiring of illegal immigrants, a case that could have national implications. – Valley Park
How an immigration raid changed a town – Tiny Postville, Iowa, struggles to regain its footing one year after the largest immigration sweep in US history.
June 4, 2009
Nevada Senator and Majority Leader Harry Reid wants immigration bill this year
June 3, 2009
Suppressed news of hunger strike at immigrant detention facility flies in the face of Obama administration’s goal for transparency
Mexican emigration drops 13 percent in 1st quarter
The Anti-Immigration Arguments of NumbersUSA Don’t Add Up – Immigration Policy Center
June 2, 2009
Washington DC hosts massive immigration reform summit this week and only one thing keeps it from being a total success
Did you see? “Coming to Homerica” the season finale of The Simpsons – The storyline is a pick on the illegal immigration by Mexicans to the United States, complete with self-appointed vigilantes and building a fence to prevent it. (watch it here)
Arrests on Southern Border Drop 27% – Decline Marks Fewest Seizures by Agents Since 1976
April 28, 2009
MAYDAY 2009: List of Marches and Actions – Primero de Mayo 2009: Lista de Marchas y Acciones – (Many thanks to Aurora for compiling this list of 91 events in 26 states)
April 27, 2009
This year’s immigration marches promise a bigger turnout than 2006
Could legalizing immigrants improve U.S. economy?
April 20, 2009
Father and son arrested: the other side of Utah’s stab at immigration reform
April 15, 2009
Nearly 75% of illegal immigrants’ children were born in the USA and are citizens, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Hispanic Center. – (nice interactive map)
April 9, 2009
While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country’s immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.
April 2, 2009
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Latest Victim? Yet Another Hispanic Mom in Estrella
Saying traditional census outreach will not be enough, Hispanic groups on Wednesday urged the Obama administration to follow through now on its pledge to pass immigration reform or risk an undercount of millions of people.
March 30, 2009
The nation’s immigration courts are now so clogged that nearly 90,000 people accused of being in the United States illegally waited at least two years for a judge to decide whether they must leave, one of the last bottlenecks in a push to more strictly enforce immigration laws.
March 25, 2009
Tens of Thousands Languish in Immigration Detention Without Hearings or Bond, Numbers Tripled Since 1996, Charges Amnesty International
March 24, 2009
260 immigrant detention facilities mimic Guantanamo Bay in denying basic legal rights and throwing away the key
March 23, 2009
President Barack Obama said last week that he wants to follow through on his promise to fix the immigration system. But that goal, always politically difficult, faces major hurdles: the crumbling economy, drug violence in Mexico, and a jam-packed agenda already facing Congress.
March 20, 2009
Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, the former Republican Party chairman who vividly remembers the “variety of names” conservatives called him because of his work on immigrant rights, is readying for another big brawl over the issue of immigration.
March 19, 2009
Hispanic Caucus Says Obama Will Back Its Push For Overhaul Measure This Year
Notes From the Immigration Battlefield – Here’s a thought. What if illegal immigrants really aren’t America’s worst nightmare? A lot of energy has been spent insisting that they are, but are they really as dangerous as, say, zombie banks? Or as evil as retention bonuses?
March 17, 2009
Hector Tobar: Readers share thoughts on immigration
Hispanic Democrats – Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) – will have their first West Wing meeting with President Obama on Wednesday morning to discuss immigration reform, according to Democratic sources.
March 16, 2009
Crossover Appeal – South of the Border, Popular Ballads About the Perils of Illegal Immigration Have a Surprising Heritage: Made in — and by — the United States of America
Most Immigrants In Detention Did Not Have Criminal Record, Reports AP
March 13, 2009
The Department of Justice notified Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into him for “alleged” patterns of discrimination because of national origin, among other things.
March 11, 2009
Awesome interactive map on US immigration from the NY Times
Rape trees prove Mexican violence has crossed the border and there are women who need justice
Though majority of immigrant women in ICE detention are pregnant by rape, abortion is no option
March 10, 2009
State and local leaders on Monday defended a $40 million federal program used by Mecklenburg County that identifies jailed illegal immigrants – after a congressional report criticized it for targeting minor offenders instead of serious criminals. – North Carolina
March 9, 2009
Border arrests drop to 1970s levels – With the economy in tatters and security beefed up at the U.S.-Mexico border, fewer people are willing to cross illegally.
March 4, 2009
Univision Anchor Jorge Ramos Admonishes Obama on immigration
Obama’s silence on immigration can’t last long
March 3, 2009
Activists Protest Immigration Raids In Phoenix – Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has dispatched deputies into Hispanic communities in the Phoenix area.
February 22, 2009
In Loneliness, Immigrants Tend the Flock – Most borregueros speak no English; many have only a vague idea of where they are and no knowledge of their legal rights as documented immigrants. The herders enter the country under the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program, which allows companies to hire foreigners if no Americans want their jobs. (at $750 a month who would?)
February 16, 2009
Some states, cities and counties that plunged into the immigration debate are having second thoughts. In Texas, Alabama and elsewhere, lawmakers have repealed or modified measures that cracked down on illegal immigrants or made English the official language. In Iowa and Utah, legislators are proposing similar reversals.
The Real Economics of Immigration Reform – By ignoring the role of immigration policy in our economic situation, Americans are actually hurting themselves.
February 1, 2009
Need a job? Try the Border Patrol – That’s the message this weekend in a 15-city job fair sponsored by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is seeking to hire more than 11,000 people this year. No experience necessary.
January 29, 2009
The lawyers for over 600 American born children filed a lawsuit against President Obama to suspend the deportation of their undocumented parents until there is immigration law reform.
January 26, 2009
Federal prosecutions of immigration crimes nearly doubled in the last fiscal year, reaching more than 70,000 immigration cases in the 2008 fiscal year, according to federal data compiled by a Syracuse University research group. The emphasis, many federal judges and prosecutors say, has siphoned resources from other crimes, eroded morale among federal lawyers and overloaded the federal court system.
Some 300 women held at immigration detention centers in Arizona face dangerous delays in health care and widespread mistreatment, according to a new study by the University of Arizona, the latest report to criticize conditions at such centers throughout the United States.
January 21, 2009
Obama’s Immigration agenda on new WhiteHouse.gov’s website
January 16, 2009
Hispanics and the New Administration – Immigration Slips as a Top Priority – Pew Hispanic Report
January 15, 2009
Janet Napolitano, named to run the Homeland Security Department, pledged today to crack down on illegal immigration by targeting companies that hire undocumented workers.
January 2, 2009
Vatican view of Hispanic immigration to U.S. – Prepared by FIDES, the Vatican information service, the historical and economic origins of Latino immigration and the U.S. response are summarized. The position of the Catholic bishops in the U.S. is also reviewed.
December 29, 2008
Tensions rise with U.S.-Mexican border fence – As construction crews have moved into El Paso, a working-class, largely Hispanic city of 600,000 in Texas’ western corner, emotions have intensified.
December 28, 2008
City of Immigrants Fills Jail Cells With Its Own – Central Falls, Rhode Island (a mostly Latino community) :: look into the fastest-growing, least-examined type of incarceration in America, an industry that detains half a million people a year, up from a few thousand just 15 years ago. The system operates without the rules that protect criminal suspects, and has grown up with little oversight, often in the backyards of communities desperate for any source of money and work. – In a sinking economy, immigration detention is a rare growth industry. – (A MUST READ)
December 23, 2008
This time of year, many Latin American immigrants return home for the holidays. But the failing economy in the United States is sending many immigrants home for good. Mark Lopez, Associate Director of the Pew Hispanic Center and Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Online, discuss the growing migration out of the US.
December 18, 2008
The U.S. government has completed 500 miles of fencing along the border with Mexico, which is just 170 miles short of its goal.
December 15, 2008
Illegal-immigrant workers driven down hard road – Bad economy, job cuts forcing many into stay-or-go decision
December 12, 2008
Bush Administration now bails out agricultural industry with changes to guestworker program that creates a government sanctioned slave market
Los indocumentados en Missouri enfrentarán en 2009 unas leyes de inmigración más severas
An investigation finds a Maryland cleaning company, which Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff used to clean his home, was hiring illegal workers.
Today marks the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement raid at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants.
December 10, 2008
Returning migrants find Mexico, themselves unready to adapt
U.S. steps up deportation of illegal immigrants – Reflecting stepped-up enforcement of its borders, the U.S. government now flies an average of 600 illegal immigrants back to their native countries every day.
December 7, 2008
Tennessee immigrants fight back fear, sue for rights – Three cases challenge state and local policies
December 5, 2008
The New Electoral Landscape and What It Means for Immigration Reform – Immigration Policy Center
Going Home to Guatemala – The aftermath of an immigration raid. – (the Postville, Iowa raid)
December 3, 2008
NPR series :: The U.S.-Mexican Border: A Changing Frontier
December 2, 2008
America’s in trouble, and immigrants are part of the solution
Immigration’s changing course is story that needs telling – A lmost everywhere that Miami Herald reporter Frances Robles and photographer John VanBeekum traveled along the southwest border with Mexico, they found the same ghost-town feel in what once were crowded villages built mostly on the illegal immigration trade.
Illegal immigrants going home, and local labor market at risk
Sides get set to lobby Barack Obama for immigration policy changes Some activists oppose detentions and deportations; others seek hiring restrictions and border control
November 28, 2008
Virginia, known for some of the nation’s toughest policies on illegal immigration, appears to be abandoning its hard-line approach as state officials consider proposals to help foreign-born residents assimilate, including increasing the number of English classes.
November 21, 2008
Fewer Mexicans leaving homeland Emigration down sharply; ailing U.S. economy, tighter border cited
November 20, 2008
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano tapped as new Homeland Security chief – The vocal immigration reformer brings border-state experience to the post.
November 19, 2008
‘Mixed-Status’ Families Look to Obama
November 18, 2008
Karl Rove says immigration reform key to saving GOP
A system’s fatal flaws – Thousands of inmates admit they’re in the U.S. illegally, but even those convicted of violent crimes are often released right back onto Houston’s streets
November 17, 2008
Children caught trying to slip illegally into the U.S. are mistreated while in custody, transported home unsafely and denied access to representation, a study released Thursday contends. The Austin-based think tank Center for Public Policy Priorities outlined a series of what they said were shortcomings by the federal government in dealing with unaccompanied illegal immigrant children taken into custody.
Economic crisis, illegal immigration crackdown spurs exodus
November 12, 2008
Immigrant rights organizations have called for a major march on Washington on January 21, the day after Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th US president.
Critics cry foul over DPS license checkpoint plan – Some lawmakers say stops would unfairly target illegal immigrants – Texas
November 11, 2008
Cuban American Senator Mel Martinez Slams Anti-Immigration Rhetoric In Republican Party
November 4, 2008
HIRC Struggles Show Immigration’s Failure as a Campaign ‘08 Wedge Issue – House Immigration Reform Caucus (HIRC) members are locked in tough re-election races – there’s a good chance the HIRC could lose 10% of its caucus tomorrow night and up to 20% if a strong Democratic wave develops
November 3, 2008
Central American immigrants adopt Mexican ways in U.S. – Many who come to the United States from El Salvador and elsewhere say it’s easier to adopt the language habits and customs of Los Angeles’ largest Latino population. Others fiercely stick to their own traditions
October 27, 2008
U.S. to renew push for crackdown on illegal workers – Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff says he will seek to lift an injunction on a rule that would check for discrepancies in workers’ Social Security data.
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, working to win over Latino voters in New Mexico, attacked Republican rival John McCain’s record and argued that his rival can’t be trusted to overhaul U.S. immigration laws.
October 23, 2008
Repatriations, deportations create dilemma for families with young U.S. citizens
October 21, 2008
An undocumented Mexican immigrant pleaded publicly Monday for a chance to stay in the country with her husband and six children, and sought to delay any action until after the next president takes office. – Chicago
October 20, 2008
Immigrants contribute $10.6 billion a year to Long Island’s economy by increasing productivity, generating new business and paying taxes, according to a study to be released Monday by Adelphi University’s Center for Social Innovation.
‘Kids in Need of Defense’ (KIND) Launched by Microsoft, Angelina Jolie, Major Law Firms and Corporate Legal Departments – New Children’s Advocacy Organization to Provide Legal Assistance for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in U.S.
October 15, 2008
The nation’s taxpayers have spent $5.2 million on the raid of Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville by immigration officials.
A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that the city’s plan to issue municipal identification cards to residents regardless of immigration status does not violate state and federal law.
Immigrants integral to Nebraska state economy, UNO study finds – If immigrants vanished and weren’t replaced in three of its key industries, Nebraska would lose 78,000 jobs, including some filled by U.S.-born workers. Production throughout the state would drop nearly 9 percent, or by $13.5 billion.
Mexican laborers giving up, going home – Economic, legal problems take toll
A look at immigration issues among Hispanic voters
October 9, 2008
Presidential Debates Ignore 12 Million Elephants in the Room, Bypass Immigration
October 8, 2008
Mexico should prepare itself for both the forced and voluntary return of more than 350,000 of its people currently living in the United States due to the financial crisis north of the border, an organization representing farm workers warned Sunday.
Federal agents detained more than 300 suspected illegal immigrants Tuesday in a raid at a chicken processing plant that has been under investigation for months. – Greenville, South Carolina
October 7, 2008
Arguably one of the most intriguing aspects of the presidential campaign is how John McCain and Barack Obama continue to fight over the issue of immigration in only their Spanish language ads. The issue rarely arises in their English-language political debate, but Spanish-speaking television viewers continue to see it mentioned in campaign ads.
Attorney General To Reconsider Rules Protecting Immigrants From Lawyers’ Mistakes
October 6, 2008
Make No Mistake : ICE Raid of Citizen Latina Wasn’t a Mistake -A Port Isabel woman who has been a U.S. citizen for 40 years has immigration agents storm into her house.
October 2, 2008
Flow of illegal immigrants slows, Pew Center finds
October 1, 2008
Could you pass the new citizenship test? – Tuesday was deadline to apply for old test
September 30, 2008
Border visits no longer will be day at beach – The federal government’s effort to slam the door on illegal immigration, drug smuggling and the threat of terrorism means a new secondary fence will be built in the park, creating a 90-foot-wide no-man’s land of patrol roads and security lights that extends to the sea. – Southern California
September 29, 2008
U.S. immigration authorities said Monday they arrested more than 1,150 people in California in a three-week sweep, the state’s largest of its type since since 2003.
September 25, 2008
Did you know that immigrants are to blame for Global Warming? That’s the conclusion of a recent “study” released by the anti-immigrant “think” tank – the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), which has a history of publishing less-than-credible research. – Watch Video Here + follow link for funny poll
September 22, 2008
It’s Immigration, Stupid – The dueling Obama and McCain ads in Spanish-language media show that the parties realize the election might just be won or lost on the issue of immigration – but not in the way they had imagined. NAM contributor Henry Fernandez has this analysis.
September 19, 2008
AdWatch: Spanish-language ads are short on facts – Apparently both presidential campaigns feel less constrained by the facts when they’re speaking in Spanish.
September 18, 2008
A state appellate court ruled on Monday that a state law granting subsidized in-state tuition rates to undocumented California college students conflicts with federal law.
nearly one-in-ten Hispanic adults–native-born U.S. citizens (8%) and immigrants (10%) alike–report that in the past year the police or other authorities have stopped them and asked them about their immigration status
September 16, 2008
Fenceless border presents challenges in Big Bend area
September 15, 2008
Immigration raids worry small towns
September 12, 2008
Anti-immigration hard-liners in the GOP have scared away many Latinos, leading immigrant voters to abandon the Republican Party in record numbers. But some Latinos still believe John McCain has their interests at heart.
The Bush administration needs an extra $400 million to complete its fence along the country’s southwestern border, and government investigators say that may not even be enough to finish construction by the end of this year.
September 11, 2008
Federal investigators will conduct an audit later this month of an 18-month-old agreement that gives the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office authority to enforce federal immigration laws. – Sheriff Joe Arpaio
The Immigration Battle Wages On :: FAIR Immigration + Leadership Quotes :: Don’t judge a book by its cover see what lurks below
September 10, 2008
It’s Time to Fight F.A.I.R. – What You Should Know About the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)
Pro-Latino Policies – McCain’s focus on immigrants and healthcare
Lou Dobbs and Immigrant Hate Groups Put Fear First, Leave Solutions Behind
New Immigration Ads Stir the Melting Pot in DC
U.S. teen: ‘I felt like there were no dreams for me’ – Julie Quiroz – (CNN picks up that: 3 million U.S. citizen children are believed to have one undocumented parent and tells this Latina’s story)
ACLU Urges House Judiciary Committee to Support Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008 – Legislation is first congressional action to provide basic medical care of immigration detainees
September 9, 2008
Border Patrol roadblock rattles small Washington town
As known anti-immigrant “hate group” lobbies Congress this week… SEIU Denounces Anti-Immigrant Hate Speech Joins Prominent Immigrant Rights Groups to Advocate for Smart, Pragmatic Reform
September 8, 2008
Republicans Echo Immigration Restrictionists – The draft Republican Party platform is a restrictionist dream come true. Rather than following the less severe lead of its presidential candidate, the party platform committee took its ideological lead from the party’s social conservatives and nationalist right.
Commenting on the Republican Platorm on Immigration – The GOP approved their platform, including immigration, which John McCain endorsed upon his acceptance of nomination
Separating Fact from Fiction: Refugees, Immigrants and Public Benefits Immigration OnPoint: Facts at Your Fingertips for Frequently Asked Immigration Questions
The Democrats are uniting behind new messaging on immigration reform. Having acknowledged that the immigration restrictionists are dominating the immigration debate, the Democratic Party and its allies are desperately seeking to reframe the immigration crisis. Their new language about immigration policy—”nation of laws,” “rule of law,” and “required legal status”—is popping up everywhere, from the pronouncements of immigrant-rights groups to the Democratic Party platform.
September 5, 2008
Guest Voz: Academic researchers discover the lack of comprehensive immigration reform increases disparities and limits future progress of Latinos nationwide – Dr. María del Carmen Salazar of the University of Denver
Immigration issue hardly mentioned at GOP convention
September 3, 2008
Immigration, once the hottest U.S. political issue, is on a backburner this election season with little firm evidence it will advance, no matter who moves into the White House in January.
‘Poli-Migra’: New Spanish Word for Blurred Line Between Police and ICE
As Republicans and Democrats race to write Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R) political biography, one issue remains a mystery: her views on immigration reform.
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to block Gov. Don Carcieri from enforcing an executive order requiring private employers to electronically check the immigration status of new hires. – Rhode Island
Lawyers difficult to obtain in immigration cases – Free representation is not assigned in such proceedings, leaving 58% of respondents nationwide without attorneys.
A darker state economy sends day laborers packing – With more competing for fewer jobs, some immigrant workers are returning home.
August 29, 2008
Can the Republican Party unite a divided country? The signs aren’t good – there are two issues Republican delegates are grappling with that specifically impact the Latino community — illegal immigration and making English the official language
August 28, 2008
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies raided a Mesa landscaping company early Wednesday, arresting nearly three dozen people suspected of being in the country illegally.
While members of the Democratic Party are gathered in the Pepsi Center to support Senator Barack Obama as the party’s nominee in the presidential campaign, Mexicans working just seven miles away, on Federal Boulevard, are living a very different reality.
E-Verify faces added scrutiny in the wake of Mississippi raid – Postville’s Agriprocessors raid now second largest in U.S. history
August 26, 2008
Immigration: Too Hot for DNC? Some of the leading voices shaping the Democratic Party’s immigration reform platform reveal a mix of reserved optimism and
ICE gambles that Democrats and progressive bloggers are too distracted to call them out on latest immigration raid
Immigration authorities on Friday ended a trial offer not to jail illegal immigrants who had been ordered to leave the country if they surrendered at government offices. In the three weeks that the federal immigration agency tested the program in a handful of cities, only eight people came forward.
Howard Industries is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electronic transformers and transportation equipment. Early Monday morning, the Laurel facility was swarming with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. After hours of interviewing all the employees on site, 350 illegal immigrants were identified. – Mississippi
August 20, 2008
Citizens of Postville, Iowa report ICE has created “open-air” prison in town that keeps detained immigrant women from feeding their children
Mexico says 11.8 million of its citizens now live in the United States. Immigration official Ana Teresa Aranda says some 580,000 Mexican nationals emigrate each year.
August 18, 2008
Federal officials granted temporary legal status on Friday to 15 illegal immigrants whose spouses or parents died on 9/11 but who have remained largely invisible, living in the shadows of society, for fear of deportation.
Organizations Win Lawsuit Challenging Unreasonable Delays Granting Citizenship – NWIRP and ACLU-WA Reach Settlement with Federal Government in Lawsuit Challenging Unreasonable Delays Granting Citizenship
August 17, 2008
Dept. of Homeland Security has deported over 90,000 children under the age of 17 to Mexico without a parent or caregiver
Immigration Is Snaring U.S. Citizens In Its Raids
Eight people serving on Gov. Don Carcieri’s Commission on Hispanic Affairs have resigned to protest Carcieri’s immigration crackdown in Rhode Island.
August 14, 2008
A federal judge has decided to let 10 women return to their homes in Guatemala or Mexico three months after they were swept up in an immigration raid in Postville.
August 12, 2008
As the gay rights movement progresses in Latin American countries, homosexual Mexicans struggle to prove asylum in the United States is warranted.
By hiring 1,500 more staff and increasing overtime, the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services will reduce the average national processing time to between 10 and 12 months from about 16 months, a spokesman for the agency, Shawn Saucier, said.
August 11, 2008
A new study by the nonpartisan Employee Research Institute (EBRI) indicates that the uninsured population in the United States is becoming increasingly dominated by immigrants. In fact, over a 12-year period ending in 2006, immigrants accounted for 55% of the increase in the uninsured population.
The U.S. government has spent more than $51 million over the past four summers flying nearly 64,000 illegal immigrants home to Mexico City.
Republican state lawmaker Doug Bruce blasted the El Paso County Sheriff’s office last week for booklets Bruce said tell suspected illegal immigrants how to avoid law enforcement officers. – Colorado
As Valley border fence work begins, questions resurface – Feds take steps to make sure only legal workers build barriers
August 8, 2008
Republican Sheriff Runs Attack Ad Against McCain – Sheriff Richard K. Jones doesn’t think much of McCain’s views on illegal immigrants and wants to make sure the presumptive Republican nominee for president knows it. – Butler County, Ohio
August 6, 2008
Conservative Republican Tamar Jacoby, who has become one of the nation’s leading advocates of immigration reform, says everything ultimately comes down to the economy. Marcelo Ballvé is a New York-based writer with New America Media.
Hispanic aldermen are demanding to know why 59 Chicago motorists with Latino surnames have been arrested for traffic violations and other misdemeanors recently only to land in jail because somebody tipped Immigration and Customs Enforcement in violation of the city’s “sanctuary” ordinance.
August 5, 2008
US races to erect controversial steel fence on Mexican border
