(posted by Prof. Montejano)
Love’s Mayor Lost: A match made in San Angelo.
by Forrest Wilder
When the popular mayor of San Angelo abruptly announced after his landslide election to a fourth term that he was stepping down to be with his gay lover, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, the story quickly became a media sensation.
Last week, Senator Daniel Akaka introduced legislation entitled PASS ID (S. 1261), a bill that would gut the REAL ID Act.
By Annie Kim
http://www.fairus.org/site/News2/1929724780?page=NewsArticle&id=20785&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1012#4
President Barack Obama stayed away from hot-button words in remarks Thursday on immigration reform, but hinted that his immigration push will include some kind of “amnesty” or “legal path” for illegal immigrants already in the United States.
He also praised U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was at a White House meeting on the issue and has supported a legal path for undocumented immigrants and a guest worker program.
Posted by Weiting Wu
Click HERE for full article
Enough is enough. State Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, should listen to his own words. In a column last Thursday ("Let's put an end to illegal-migrant catch and release"), Pearce said "enough is enough" with the blind eye he claims Phoenix is turning toward illegal immigration.
But the senator's own vision is distorted and myopic. Enough of his reckless misstatements.
Posted by Weiting Wu
Click HERE for full article
PHOENIX, Arizona – Undocumented immigrants in Arizona could face jail terms for simply being in the state under a series of bills gathering momentum in the state legislature.
A bill approved Wednesday by a Senate committee (SB 1175) would allow any police officer to arrest an undocumented immigrant under charges of trespassing on state land. Those jailed would have to pay the cost of their own incarceration.
“If this bill passes, it would be the first state in the nation making illegal presence a crime,” said Alessandra Soler-Meetze, Executive Director of the Arizona Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “The implications are tremendous. What it means is that anyone who is in this country without proper documentation is going to be charged and arrested.”
Posted by Weiting Wu
Click HERE for full article
Henry León says he was assured by a man who ran a Pentecostal church in Corona, Queens, that his immigration problems would be resolved.By KIRK SEMPLE
Published: June 16, 2009
Word of the deal spread swiftly among Ecuadorean immigrants, along a robust grapevine from New York City out to Long Island and into Westchester County. In Peekskill, N.Y., a gas station worker named Henry León heard about it through a friend of his wife’s: The pastors of a storefront Pentecostal church in Corona, Queens, had the inside track on a special allotment of green cards the government had earmarked for church congregations.
Mr. León and his wife made the two-hour trip by train and subway to Corona to meet with one of the two pastors, Gregorio Gonzalez. He told them that all they had to do was to fill out a form and provide $8,000 each in cash and some personal identification documents, Mr. León recalled. The green cards would be ready in a month.
It seemed too good to be true. And it was, according to prosecutors in the Queens district attorney’s office.
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday that his office had issued more than 50 subpoenas to individuals and businesses in New York City — including numerous immigrant-assistance organizations, a travel agency, an English-language school and a church — as part of a widening investigation into immigration fraud.
Customers have complained that the businesses and their directors have masqueraded as legitimate providers of immigrant services, many offering legal aid they are not authorized or able to provide, officials in Mr. Cuomo’s office said. Some immigrants told investigators that they were falsely promised permanent residency or American citizenship, even though the firms or individuals were not qualified to secure such benefits.
Senate Democrats outlined plans yesterday to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, including a requirement that all U.S. workers verify their identity through fingerprints or an eye scan.
Speaking on the eve of a White House summit with congressional leaders on immigration, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) said a national system to verify work documents is necessary because Congress has failed to crack down on unscrupulous employers and illegal immigrants with fake documents.
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PHOENIX -- As America's busiest immigrant smuggling hub, Arizona has earned the distinction as a place that's tough on people who sneak across the border.
That reputation would harden if the Legislature and governor approve a proposal that would draw local authorities deeper into immigration enforcement and further reject the notion that immigration is the sole responsibility of the federal government.
The proposal, which has cleared the state Senate and is being considered by the House, would require police to try to determine people's immigration status when they have reasonable suspicions that a person doesn't have legal status.
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"We can't tolerate a situation where people come to the United States in violation of the law, nor can we tolerate employers who exploit undocumented workers in order to drive down wages," he said. Mr. Obama said illegals who want to become citizens should be required to pay a penalty and taxes, then go to the back of the line for eventual
(Prof. Montejano)
‘Only by addressing the realities of North American economic integration can we solve the problem’
Douglas S. Massey
This article is a response to Joseph H. Carens’s Case for Amnesty, and part of a New Democracy Forum on immigration.
The roots of the Mexican problem go back to 1965, when the U.S. Congress ended a 22-year-old temporary worker agreement with Mexico and enacted a new cap on immigration from the Western Hemisphere. This measure was followed in 1976 by updated country-specific limits. In a few short years, Mexico went from enjoying access to 450,000 annual guest worker visas and an unlimited number of residence visas to having no guest worker visas at all and just 20,000 visas for permanent residence.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
NEWARK -- New Jersey's percentage of uninsured immigrant children is higher than the national average, and the state has a poor track record of making sure those children receive health coverage, according to a Rutgers University report released today.
The release of the report comes on the heels of immigrant and health care advocacy groups calling on the state to restore $1 million in funding that has been eliminated in the latest round of budget tightening. The money was earmarked for community outreach efforts to educate legal immigrants on available state health programs.
Posted by Marianna Khoury
(CNN) -- An SUV carrying almost two dozen undocumented immigrants crashed in Arizona over the weekend, killing 10 people and injuring several others, state police reported Sunday.
The Ford Excursion crashed at about 11:55 p.m. Saturday in a remote area about 30 miles north of the Mexican border, ejecting almost all the 22 passengers inside, police said in a statement.
In addition to the dead, 12 people were hospitalized.
The identity of the driver, passengers and owner of the Excursion were not released.
With President Obama on a historic foreign trip, a Supreme Court nomination pending and massive health-care and climate change bills percolating in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) managed to draw headlines on a completely separate front Thursday: immigration.
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Monday, June 8th was supposed to mark President Obama's first promised immigration reform discussion with Congressional leaders from both houses. However, new reports tell us that the meeting has been moved to June 17th because of a scheduling conflict. While the postponement is frustrating, it hasn't slowed down the current push for immigration reform.
CongressDaily reports that at a summit yesterday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "Congress would tackle immigration reform after finishing with health care and energy." Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, echoed Pelosi's statement today, saying that he wants to pass immigration reform this year, "if at all possible."
Meanwhile, a national campaign was unveiled as part of a week-long cross-country initiative supporting comprehensive immigration reform. The Reform Immigration FOR America Campaign launched today to push immigration solutions in 2009. The coalition is made up of over 200 organizations such as the National Council of La Raza, the Center for American Progress, the Asian American Justice Center, the AFL-CIO, and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, to name a few.
The Reform Immigration FOR America campaign has a great website that provides more information about the campaign, including ways you can get involved.
New border document requirements are now in effect. As of June 1st, everyone entering the country--including U.S. citizens--must present a passport or passport equivalent at all U.S. ports of entry. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) went into effect for air travelers January 2007, but was delayed until this week for land and sea travel into the U.S.
This is a big change for U.S. and Canadian citizens, who, up til now, have been able to drive across the northern border with just a birth certificate and drivers license as proof of citizenship and photo I.D.
More information about the WHTI, including a list of acceptable documents, is available from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Information for international travelers can be found on the same site. By MATTHEW LEE
The Associated Press
Sunday, May 31, 2009 8:09 PM
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- Cuba has agreed to resume talks with the Obama administration on legal immigration of Cubans to the United States and direct mail service between the two countries in a move welcomed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"These talks are part of our effort to forge a new way forward on Cuba that advances the interests of the United States, the Cuban people and our entire hemisphere," she said. She added that the Obama administration was "very pleased" with the Cuban decision.
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(Prof. Montejano) | |
President Obama has tried to split the difference between comprehensive immigration-reform advocates and law-and-order types. But for immigrants in detention, not much has changed since the Bush era. | |
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Maryland Stops Granting Driver's Licenses to Undocumented
El Tiempo Latino, Posted: Jun 02, 2009 
WASHINGTON -- Thousands of undocumented immigrants are no longer able to obtain driver's licenses in Maryland, reports El Tiempo Latino. As of June 1, Maryland residents are required to show proof of legal residence in the country when applying for a driver's license. Until April 2009, Maryland was the only state on the east coast that did not require proof of legal status. But that changed after a new law was passed, requiring the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) to cancel about 8,000 requests for appointments in June. An estimated 200,000 undocumented immigrants will no longer be able to get a driver's license in the state. According to the Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez, D-Montgomery, this change will be detrimental to public safety as more people drive without a license and may not know the laws. However, undocumented immigrants who already have licenses will be allowed to keep them and renew them once.
