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Federal judge delays portion of border fence
A federal judge this week temporarily delayed construction of a 1.5-mile section of a border fence in a wildlife conservation area on the Arizona-Mexico line, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle said she granted the delay in part because the federal government did not explain why it hurried through an environmental assessment and began building the fence in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, the AP said.
Huvelle repeatedly asked the government’s attorney, Gregory Page, to explain why the agencies took only three weeks to do the environmental assessment. She said that amount of time was unprecedented and that the government was trying to “ram” the environmental study through and start construction “before anyone would wake up,” according to the story.
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White House disappointed in “no match” ruling, will continue to push immigration enforcement
Scott Stanzel, White House deputy press secretary, said Thursday that a federal judge’s ruling to halt a government crack down on companies that hire illegal immigrants is “another reminder” of the need for comprehensive immigration reform.
“Every day we see stories in the newspaper about local communities taking immigration matters into their own hands. Coupled with this court ruling, it is a reminder that Congress should move forward to implement a comprehensive immigration reform that puts in place a system that is secure, orderly, fair and productive,” he said.
In addition, he said the administration is disappointed in the ruling and will “continue to push forward with enforcement efforts.”
On Wednesday, a federal judge in San Francisco put on hold a set of new rules known as “no match.”
Under the rules, a company that ignores warning letters about employees with potentially fake Social Security numbers could be fined up to $10,000 per employee or face criminal prosecution.
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Bush honors Latino soldiers, firefighters, police
At a White House event Wednesday to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, President Bush paid homage to Latinos in uniform.
“We honor the many Hispanic Americans who wear the uniform here at home — the police, and firefighters, and emergency rescue personnel who risk their lives each day to protect our homeland and our communities,” he said. “And we honor the 200,000 Hispanic Americans who serve in our Armed Forces — who are working to spread liberty so we can be secure here in America; who are doing the hard work today so our children and grandchildren can grow up in peace.”
Hispanic soldiers have been a hot topic lately because of the effort to pressure filmmaker Ken Burns to include Latino soldiers in his documentary about World War ll.
In the speech, Bush also dabbled in Spanish, saying that Hispanic Americans strengthen the nation with their commitments to “familia y fe” or “family and faith.”
In addition, he touted new free trade agreements negotiated with Peru, Colombia and Panama.
“For the sake of businesses and sake of our workers, and for the sake of prosperity in the neighborhood, the United States Congress needs to approve these three very important trade agreements,” Bush said.
Guests included Latin music guru Emilio Estefan and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who Bush called “my friend, my dear friend.”
After the speech, grammy-winning singer and composer, Israel “Cachao” Lopez, who was born in Cuba, provided the entertainment.
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Chamber of Commerce president: visa shortages damaging high tech, agriculture
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue on Wednesday urged Congress “to act immediately to address pressing visa shortages that are today damaging industries from high tech to agriculture.”
In a speech in Phoenix, Donohue also said that state and local immigration ordinances, designed to crack down on illegal immigrants, are “often contradictory, probably unconstitutional, and impossible for businesses to follow.”
He also said that the Chamber would continue to challenge such ordinances in court.
“Legal immigration is more than just a social value — it is an economic necessity,” Donohue said. “The United States is producing more jobs than workers, and we need immigrants at all skill levels to balance the equation if we are to remain an economic superpower.”
To read the entire speech, click here.
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Free iPods to help students learn English
While many schools are banning iPods, a district in Hudson County New Jersey is handing out the portable digital players to help bilingual students with limited English ability sharpen their vocabulary and grammar by singing along to popular songs, the New York Times reported this week.
Grace Poli, a media specialist at Jose Marti Middle School in the district, said her Spanish-speaking students have been able to move out of bilingual classes after just a year of using the iPods, compared with an average of four to six years for most bilingual students, the Times said.
The effort is garnering nationwide attention.
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Feds arrest 1,300 in summer “surge” against immigrant gangs
A four-month nationwide “enforcement surge” against immigrant gangs netted more than 1,300 arrests in 23 cities, federal officials said Tuesday.
Some of the alleged gang members were charged with violent crimes such as assault, kidnapping and human smuggling, but most — 939 — were detained for immigration violations and put into deportation proceedings.
Julie Myers, head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that the arrests were part of a joint effort with state, local and international law enforcement agencies to combat the growing problem of violent transnational street gangs.
“We’ve arrested some of the worst of the worst,” said Myers, at a press conference at ICE headquarters.
Most of the alleged gang members were in the United States illegally and about one fourth had violent criminal histories, Myers said.
Several of the arrests were in large cities such as New York, which had the highest number, 205. In addition, 160 people were arrested in Miami, and 121 in Dallas.
But many were also arrested in smaller urban areas, including 93 in Raleigh, N.C. and 34 in Boise, Idaho.
(Photo by Rick McKay/Cox News Service)
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Former Mexican president says racism is dictating U.S. immigration policy
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said Monday that the United States is letting racism dictate its policies, especially when it comes to immigration, the Associated Press reported.
“The xenophobics, the racists, those who feel they are a superior race … they are deciding the future of this nation,” Fox said, without naming names, in an interview with AP.
The interview was designed to promote Fox’s new book, “Revolution of Hope.”
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Mexican president: It is “impossible” to stop illegal immigration with a fence
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Monday that it is impossible to stop illegal immigration into the United States with a fence.
“It’s impossible to stop that by decree. It’s impossible to try to stop that with a fence. Why? Because the capital in America needs Mexican workers. And Mexican workers need opportunities of jobs. Capital and labor are like right shoe and left shoe, and one needs the other,” he said, in an interview with Diane Sawyer on “Good Morning America.”
He later added: “It’s impossible to stop that. It’s natural. It’s an economic phenomenon.”
In addition, Calderon said it is “absolutely false” that Mexico wants to keep its citizens in the United States because of the millions of dollars in remittances that immigrants send back home to their relatives.
He said that Mexico loses many of its bravest, youngest and strongest people when they leave for the United States.
“I don’t want to see Mexico as a permanent provider of workers to the United States. I want to build the conditions in Mexico to provide the opportunities here in our land,” he said.
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Immigration advocates: Mexico “criminalizing” Central Americans
Mexico’s immigration authority has set off howls from immigrant-rights advocates by announcing plans to fingerprint and photograph the mostly Central American migrants that pass through its detention facilities.
Human rights groups say the new rules show Mexico is treating migrants like criminals, and they are adding them to a list of grievances: Authorities along Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala have long been accused of robbing and attacking Central Americans and human rights groups have decried conditions in Mexico’s detention facilities.
Many have accused Mexican authorities of hypocrisy: demanding fair treatment of Mexicans who cross illegally into the United States while providing less than stellar treatment to the legion of Central Americans who pass through the country on their way north.
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Tancredo: “Rogue” mayors who oppose border fence are loyal to Mexico
Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who is running for president, blasted a handful of Texas mayors Monday for refusing to give the federal government access to their land to build a border fence.
“These mayors are jeopardizing national security with their not-in-my-backyard attitude,” Tancredo said. “Congress approved the border fence with the overwhelming support of the American people to protect our nation from terrorists and illegal aliens and it will not be thwarted by a handful of rogue mayors.”
Mayors in Brownsville, Del Rio and El Paso have reportedly denied access to some parts of their city property, turning away federal workers trying to begin preliminary work on a fence between the United States and Mexico.
Tancredo suggested that the fence should be built north of those cities, moving the urban areas into Mexico.
“These mayors have already demonstrated that their hearts and loyalties lie with Mexico — perhaps they’d feel more comfortable if their cities were geographically located there as well,” he said.
Tancredo is shown here at a GOP presidential candidate forum last month.
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Illegal immigrant crackdown hurting real estate market?
In Prince William County, near Washington, D.C., a combination of anti-illegal immigrant policies and an excess of housing will likely exacerbate the county’s weak real estate market, the Washington Post reported Friday.
“If I’m not welcome somewhere, I’m going to sell my house,” Jose Luis Semidey, a real estate agent told the Post.
The county’s anti-illegal immigrant measures, which he and a coalition of other Latino businessmen are fighting, “have accelerated the collapse of the real estate market in the minority community,” Semiday added.
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Fearing deportation, immigrant parents pull their kids from school in Dallas suburb
The superintendent of the Irving school district said some immigrant parents have pulled their children from school over fears that they or their families will be deported, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Jack Singley (pictured) said about 90 children have withdrawn from 33,000-student public school district in the last week, the AP said.
The Mexican Consulate has advised people to avoid driving through the Dallas suburb in response to the Irving Police Department’s participation in a program with federal immigration authorities to identify illegal immigrants who have been arrested and deport them.
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Bush’s SCHIP veto could hurt GOP with Latino voters
President Bush’s veto of a children’s insurance measure could hurt many poor Hispanics and further erode Latino support for the GOP, political experts and liberal activicts said.
The legislation would have expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, by $35 billion over five years. The program serves thousands of Latino children who lack private health insurance.
Thomas Mann, a political analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said Bush’s veto is enormously unpopular with almost every group in the country, including Hispanics.
“The veto, especially if sustained in the House by Republicans, is bound to further weaken Republican support among Latinos,” he said.
John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California, said that Democrats will surely run Spanish language ads on the issue during the 2008 election cycle.
“Republicans have a reasonable policy argument against the measure, but it sounds complex and abstract,” Pitney said. “The Democratic argument is simple and strong: ‘We want to help kids but Bush and his friends do not.’”
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GOP lawmakers decry “activist judge” in no-match rule case, compare him to dictator
Members of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, which seeks stronger immigration controls, lashed out at a federal judge for putting on hold a federal effort to crack down on companies that hire illegal immigrants.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas (pictured), said: “A judge who ignores or violates the law under the pretense of enforcing it places himself or herself in the same camp as leaders from the most corrupt, dictatorial, or backward countries in the world.”
He later added: “It is unconscionable that some well educated jurists have not yet grasped the superlative and enlightened concept of that separation of powers.”
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., said: “The liberal left movement in this country, whether legislatively or through the judicial system, is doing everything it can to encourage an illegal alien invasion of our country…It may not be treason, but it certainly does not reflect loyalty to the American people.”
And Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., who chairs the caucus, said: “We cannot allow this unholy alliance of big labor, big business and activist judges prevent us from enforcing our immigration laws.”
The federal judge in San Francisco extended a hold on a Department of Homeland Security rule for 10 days until he decides on the legality of the program.
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Border city mayors refusing to let feds work on fence
Mayors along the Texas-Mexico border have begun a quiet protest of the federal government’s plans to build a fence along the border by refusing to give access to their land, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Mayors in Brownsville, Del Rio and El Paso have denied access to some parts of their city property, turning away federal employees assigned to begin surveys or conduct other preliminary work on the fence meant to keep out illegal immigrants, the story said.
“This is exercising our rights. This is our property. We are not going to make it easy for them,” said Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada (pictured), who refused last month to sign documents granting government workers permission to enter city property.
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AFL-CIO pleased at delay of “no-match” rule
The president of the nation’s largest labor organization said he was “pleased” that a federal judge extended an order which put on hold a Bush administration rule designed to crack down on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
Under the rule, a company that ignores warning letters about employees with potentially fake Social Security numbers could be fined up to $10,000 per employee or face criminal prosecution.
“We are pleased that the judge saw the need to continue to block this rule that would lead to increased exploitation of workers,” said John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO. “More than 70 percent of (Social Security Administration) discrepancies refer to U.S. citizens but the Department of Homeland Security regulation would encourage employers to fire any worker based on these erroneous discrepancies, especially if she has an accent or is perceived to be foreign born.”
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Chertoff: Illegal immigrants “degrade the environment” along the border
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff defended the construction of a fence along the southwest border, saying it’s actually better for the environment than what happens when people illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico line, the Associated Press reported Monday.
“Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I’ve seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas,” Chertoff said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment.”
To curb illegal immigration, the U.S. government plans to complete 370 miles of fencing and put 200 miles of vehicle barriers on the southwest border by the end of 2008. But this has brought complaints that the fence and barriers are harmful to the environment, the story said.
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Richardson raises $5.2 million
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is trying to become the nation’s first Hispanic president, raised about $5.2 million for his White House bid during the last three months, bringing his total fundraising for the year to more than $18 million, the Associated Press reported Monday.
The numbers could solidify Richardson’s position behind the three top-polling and top fundraising Democrats, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards, the story said.
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Bilbray slams Pelosi comments on border fence
Rep. Brian Bilbray, a California Republican who chairs the House Immigration Reform Caucus, said Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not understand the link between homeland security and border security.
“In a post-9/11 world, our borders represent a major vulnerability to our homeland security,” he said. “We have not only the right, but the responsibility to act now so that we can protect ourselves against all potential threats to our country…Speaker Pelosi clearly does not understand the link between border security and homeland security.”
Bilbray was responding to comments Pelosi made during a trip to the Rio Grande Valley this week where she said the border fence was “a terrible idea.”
According to the Associated Press, Pelosi said: “I have been against the fence, I thought it’s a bad idea even when it was just a matter of discussion…These are communities where you have a border going through them, they are not communities where you have a fence splitting them.”
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Hillary campaign manager among most influential Hispanics
Patti Solis Doyle, presidential campaign manager for Sen. Hillary Clinton, is among the most influential Hispanics in the United States, according to the October issue of Hispanic Business magazine.
According to the article, Doyle is the first Hispanic woman to run a presidential campaign — and for the Democratic frontrunner, no less.
Other folks on the list include actress America Ferrera, star of the television show, “Ugly Betty,” Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, chairman of the Republican Party, and journalist-turned professor Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, associate director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas, who spearheaded the effort to include Hispanic soldiers in the new Ken Burns documentary about World War II.
The eclectic selection also includes Omar Minaya, general manager of the New York Mets; Christian Samper, acting secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; and NASA astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Olivas.
To see all the influential Latinos, click here.
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Keyes: “Black folks are hurt” by illegal immigration
Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes, a former ambassador, said in a debate Thursday that black people are hurt by illegal immigration.
“These elites who have been under the thumb of certain corporate interests have an interest in cheapening the price of labor in America. Do you want to know who’s first hurt by that cheapened price of labor? Black folks are first hurt, as they’ve been hurt in the rebuilding of New Orleans, in the rebuilding of other parts of the United States that were affected by those hurricanes,” he said.
He later added: “I think people, including a lot of the black liberals, are more worried about what we do with illegal immigrants than they’ve ever been about the impact of illegal immigration on black Americans who have been in this country all along. I’m sick of seeing it.”
The debate focused on concerns in the black community and took place at Morgan State University, a historically black school.
The top four GOP presidential candidates — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson — skipped the forum, citing scheduling conflicts.
Their absence was criticized by several fellow Republicans, including former House Speaker Newt Gingich, who is considering a presidential run.
The missing candidates were represented by empty podiums.
To read more about the debate, click here.
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Pete Wilson endorses Giuliani
Former California Gov. Pete Wilson backed Rudy Giuliani on Thursday, an endorsement that could be a mixed blessing for the Republican presidential candidate due to Wilson’s hardline stand on illegal immigration, the Associated Press reported.
“America needs America’s mayor to lead us as president,” Wilson said of the former New York mayor.
Wilson, who served terms as U.S. senator and San Diego mayor, becomes Giuliani’s most recognized supporter in the nation’s largest state.
But the endorsement represents a tricky political calculus for Giuliani as the immigration policies Wilson championed as governor in the 1990s are widely blamed for driving Hispanics from the GOP in California, the AP said.
To read more click here.
Setback for “DREAM Act” student immigration bill
The Senate will not vote on legislation known as the DREAM Act this week after an attempt to attach it to a large defense spending bill failed.
Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, is the chief sponsor of the measure which would give young illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they complete two years of college or join the military.
Durbin said late Wednesday: “I am disappointed that the Republican leadership has blocked my efforts to offer the DREAM Act as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill, despite the fact that it would help to solve the military’s recruitment crisis.”
But he also said that Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised a vote on the DREAM Act by Nov. 16.
“This narrowly-tailored bipartisan legislation will allow a generation of immigrant students with great potential and ambitions to contribute to our nation’s security and future,” Durbin said.
U.S. unveils new citizenship test
Do you know the name of the current speaker of the House? Or why the United States’ flag has 13 stripes? Or the role of the president’s cabinet?
These are some of the 100 questions in a new citizenship test unveiled Thursday by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Emilio Gonzalez, director of the agency, said the new questions are designed to be more profound and test knowledge of basic civic concepts essential to being an American.
“The questions are more about meaning and understanding than rote memorization,” he said.
In a pilot program in 10 cities, 142 questions were tested. The ones that showed higher failure rates and did not include basic historical and civic concepts were either changed to make the language more clear or tossed out, USCIS officials said.
Several questions ask for more meaningful answers than the current test. For example, the old test asks “what country did we fight during the Revolutionary War,” and the new test changes the question to, “why did the colonists fight the British.”
However, a few questions on the new test appear to be more simple. For example, in the current test, an immigrant is asked to name the two U.S. senators from their state and in the new test, only one.
To see the new questions, click here.
Durbin: DREAM Act is not amnesty
Sen. Richard Durbin said Wednesday that legislation known as the DREAM Act, which would give young illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they complete two years of college or join the military, is not an amnesty.
“When I hear some describe this as amnesty, I just wonder. If someone is willing to risk his or her life to serve in our military in a combat zone, is that a giveaway? Is that citizenship for nothing? I don’t think so,” said Durbin, the Senate majority whip.
Durbin, who authored the DREAM Act, made the remarks during a speech on the Senate floor where he urged lawmakers to support the measure.
Durbin is hoping to bring the DREAM Act to a vote as an amendment to a defense spending bill, but is struggling to gain enough Republican support for the measure to pass.
The amendment would allow illegal immigrant high school graduates to eventually attain permanent legal status if they complete two years of college or serve honorably in the military for at least two years.
Many of the young people targeted by the legislation were brought to the United States illegally as infants or small children and have grown up as Americans, Durbin said.
“It’s really been fundamental in this country that we don’t hold children responsible for the error and crimes of their parents. Why then would we hold these children responsible,” he said.
To read more about the DREAM Act, click here.
Virginia considers first of a kind detention center for illegal immigrants
Officials in Virginia are considering a proposal to build a 1,000-bed detention center where illegal immigrants arrested for certain crimes could be held until federal officials deport them, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said that such a center would be the country’s first state-run facility built to hold only illegal immigrants accused of crimes, the story said. Currently, illegal immigrants who are arrested are held in local jails, federal facilities and private prison.
Under the proposal, the new facility would house illegal immigrants arrested and charged with less serious offenses — such as driving under the influence — who state officials and ICE agree should be forced to leave the United States, the Post said.
To read more, click here.
Photo system unveiled to catch illegal immigrant workers
Businesses, facing a government crackdown on hiring illegal immigrants, have one more tool to help them verify a worker’s status.
The Citizenship and Immigration Services unveiled a new system Tuesday that matches photographs from green cards and other immigrant work permits against a database of more than 14 million pictures.
If the photos match, the employer will know that the person is using his or her own card, not a stolen or doctored identification, federal officials said.
“We are very, very committed to the idea of workplace enforcement, said Emilio Gonzalez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (pictured). “If we have workplace enforcement, we can reduce pressure on our border. That allows the assets that we have on our border…to catch bad people.”
Dallas suburb deports 300 illegal immigrants every month
More than 300 illegal immigrants are being deported every month from the city of Irving, Texas because of its increased scrutiny of the immigration status of people arrested here, McClatchy Newspapers reported Tuesday.
The Mexican consul general has expressed concern after members of his staff found that half of all the Mexicans they interviewed in an immigration jail last Saturday were arrested in Irving, a suburb of Dallas. He said he suspects racial profiling, the article said.
Mayor Herbert Gears disputed that assertion.
“If somebody’s arrested, it is because they have committed an arrestable offense,” Gears said, according to McClatchy. “Our police officers do not check for papers or documentation of citizenship.”
To read more, click here.
Romney blasts GOP for “insecure borders”
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, blasted his own party this weekend for a host of problems, including insecure borders.
“We Republicans have to put our own house in order. We can’t be like Democrats — a party of big spenders. We can’t pretend our borders are secure from illegal immigration. We can’t have ethical standards that are a punch line for Jay Leno,” Romney said, at the Mackinac, Mich. Republican Leadership Conference.
It looks like the crowd didn’t want to hear the criticisms.
Romney got only scattered and infrequent applause as he gave his stark assessment about the GOP’s woes, the Associated Press reported. “Only when he returned to his usual right-flank pitch — restoring family values, shrinking government and the like — did the audience come alive.”
To read more, click here.
Democratic presidential hopefuls pledge to tackle immigration reform quickly
Leading Democratic presidential candidates are signaling that they will return to the thorny issue of immigration reform faster than their party colleagues on Capitol Hill would like, The Hill newspaper reported this week.
The campaigns of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois say their candidates will seek comprehensive reform as soon as they get to the White House, the article says.
In addition, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, speaking at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) political action conference Monday, said: “We’re going to ensure that every single person living in the United States of America has a completely achievable path to American citizenship so that they don’t live in the shadows.”
The Hill reports that every leading Democrat seeking the nomination told the gathering that reform was one of his or her top priorities.
“This is in stark contrast to Democratic leaders in Congress, who have been content to stand back and let Republicans fight each other over ‘amnesty’ versus a guest worker program,” the article said.
To read more, click here.
Cornyn: Not the time for student immigration bill
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on Thursday said it was not the right time for the Senate to debate a measure that would give illegal immigrant high school students a path to citizenship.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., is planning to offer the legislation — known as the DREAM Act — as an amendment to a large military spending bill currently on the Senate floor.
“I do not believe that it is a good idea to add immigration related measures (to the defense bill),” Cornyn said, in a conference call with reporters. “There is a time and a place for everything and frankly this is not the time.”
The Durbin amendment would allow illegal immigrant students to eventually attain permanent legal status if they complete two years of college or serve honorably in the military for at least two years.
The law would apply to illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least five years, have graduated from high school or obtained a GED, and have no criminal record.
Cornyn said he had “sympathy” for the plight of children brought to the United States illegally by their parents, but that he would have to see the details of the legislation to decide whether to support it.
“Sometimes, ideas with which one might have sympathy are sometimes used as a Trojan Horse to try to introduce other extraneous things that I would not agree with,” he said.
Gingrich: immigration divides “elites” and ordinary citizens
The immigration issue delineates “one of the most fundamental dividing lines in American life” between the “elites” and ordinary citizens, Newt Gingrich said Thursday, in a breakfast with reporters.
The average American wants the borders tightly policed and those who cross illegally sent home, explained the former House Speaker from Georgia. The elites — whom he defined as the national media, Washington politicians and the political class of consultants and commentators — are in opposition.
“The average American is not for an anti-immigrant policy in this country,” said Gingrich.
But these ordinary citizens want immigrants to enter the country legally, become Americans when they get here, and become immersed in English classes, not enrolled in bilingual education, he said.
“The elites are not for assimilation,” said Gingrich. “They’re not going to enforce the borders.”
Average Americans have a “deep belief in English as the official language,” said Gingrich. “Elites” see this as an an “anathema.”
The “elites” believe the ordinary citizens are “rubes” and dismiss their opinions on immigration, Gingrich said. He said this attitude can be found in Bush administration as well as among liberal Democrats.
To read more click here.
First “virtual” fence on the U.S.-Mexico border not working
Because of a continuing software glitch, the first high-tech “virtual fence” at the nation’s borders remains unused, three months after its scheduled debut, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff (pictured) said he is withholding further payment to the prime contractor, Boeing Co., until the success of the pilot project stretching 28 miles near the border southwest of Tucson, the story says.
Nine 98-foot towers laden with radar, sensors and sophisticated cameras have been built across 28 miles close to the Arizona-Mexico border near Sasabe, southwest of Tucson, in an area heavily trafficked by illegal immigrant and drug smugglers.
To read more, click here.
Senate to debate giving illegal immigrant students a path to citizenship
With a possible Senate vote looming, a group of illegal immigrant students asked lawmakers on Wednesday to approve a measure that would give them a path to citizenship if they attended college or joined the military.
The high school and college students, who gave only first names, said at a press conference that they arrived in the United States as small children and are being denied access to their dreams of becoming doctors, lawyers and scientists because they can’t qualify for financial aid or get a job after graduation.
“I foresee myself as a doctor helping thousands of families, but without education, without being able to go to medical school, I can’t. Therefore, my dreams will die,” said Rodrigo, who said he crossed the border illegally with his mother when he was 6 years-old and later graduated from a San Jose high school as class valedictorian with a 4.0 grade point average.
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (pictured), a Florida Republican who authored the legislation in the House, participated in the press conference at the National Press Club in Washington.
He said he was hopeful that the bill — known as the DREAM Act — would become law this year.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. is planning to bring the DREAM Act to the Senate floor as an amendment to a Pentagon spending bill currently under debate.
The measure is sure to face opposition.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a vocal critic of illegal immigration, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., asking him to “put an end to efforts in the Senate to attach any measures to unrelated legislation that would reward illegal aliens with amnesty or allow them increased access to publicly funded benefits.”
In addition, Tancredo said that “using a military bill - when we have troops in the field - as a vehicle for trying to sneak these kinds of unpopular measures by the public would be a terrible mistake.”
Newt Gingrich to GOP contenders: don’t skip black and Latino debates
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is considering a run for the White House, said that Republican presidential candidates are making a big mistake skipping forums and debates sponsored by minority groups and organizations, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Several top-tier Republican candidates have declined invitations to various events including one for a Sept. 27 debate focused on African-American issues
organized by talk show host Tavis Smiley, to be televised on PBS.
“For Republicans to consistently refuse to engage in front of an African American or Latino audience is an enormous error,” Gingrich said. “I hope they will reverse their decision and change their schedules. I see no excuse — this thing has been planned for months, these candidates have known about it for months. It’s just fundamentally wrong. Any of them who give you that scheduling-conflict answer are disingenuous. That’s baloney.”
Gingrich upset Hispanic groups himself earlier this year for implying that Spanish was “the language of living in a ghetto.”
After the comments became public, Gingrich taped an apology in English and Spanish which was broadcast on popular website YouTube. He said he was misunderstood and didn’t mean to imply that Spanish was the language of people of lower incomes.
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Schools act to protect illegal immigrant students during raids
Amid stepped-up federal efforts to curb illegal immigration, some school districts with large numbers of immigrant students are crafting new policies intended to balance cooperation with federal officials, protection of student privacy, and the safety of students during enforcement operations, Education Week reported in its latest issue.
In Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M., for example, school personnel are barred from putting information about a child’s immigration status in school records or sharing it with outside agencies, including federal immigration authorities, the article said. Personnel are also told to deny any request from immigration officials to enter a school to search for information or seize students. School officials—with the help of lawyers—instead would determine whether to grant access.
Smaller districts are also dealing with the aftermath of immigration raids.
Steve Joel, the superintendent of the 8,000-student Grand Island school system in Nebraska, said that when federal immigration officials arrested illegal workers at a meatpacking plant in his community last December, he and his staff had to figure out what to do with 25 children who had had both parents detained, Education Week said.
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October 11, 2007 3:24 PM | Link to this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dy2sgJIUuc&mode=related&search=La Raza ramos campeon san diego
... read the full comment by George | Comment on Federal judge delays portion of border fence Read Federal judge delays portion of border fence
By RO
October 4, 2007 10:23 PM | Link to this
It will speak volumes to the masses of Americans who don’t believe it is their responsibility to take care of other peoples children. Medicaid is available for poor children. The idea that a politician... read the full comment by Joel E. | Comment on Bush's SCHIP veto could hurt GOP with Latino voters Read Bush's SCHIP veto could hurt GOP with Latino voters
Not one single real estate person who obeys the law, and supports the United States is going to get hurt. Not one single lender that obeyed our laws and supported our country is going to get hurt.
Some of them did it their own way which was illegal.
... read the full comment by Joel E. | Comment on Illegal immigrant crackdown hurting real estate market? Read Illegal immigrant crackdown hurting real estate market?
That fence has done a magnificant job just about everywhere it has been built. The people of San Deigo don’t have to have bars on their windows now. In more remote areas, the illegal aliens don’t even try, and the total apprehensions in those
... read the full comment by Joel E. | Comment on Federal judge delays portion of border fence Read Federal judge delays portion of border fence
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