Topics
- Local News
- Criminalization of Undocumented Immigrants
- Crimes Against Immigrants
- Enforcement
- Detention
- Immigration Maze
- Elections
- State Immigration Enforcement
- Federal Legislation - Update
- General
Local News
Ortiz, pride of Sox Nation, joins US as a citizen (Boston Globe)
Ortiz joined 226 immigrants from 57 countries as they raised their right hands and took the Oath of Citizenship at the John F. Kennedy Library in Dorchester.
Workers at former Bianco factory seek union help (South Coast Today)
Eagle Industries, a Missouri-based, military equipment manufacturer, took over the former Michael Bianco Inc. factory last November, inheriting a Department of Defense contract for backpacks used by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Workers say that while the sweatshop conditions outlined by the U.S. Attorney's Office in court documents have improved under new ownership, they need more rights. They want to see higher wages, paid sick leave and more affordable health care — and to do so, they say they need to unionize.
Immigration sweep nets 42, provoking outcry (Providence Journal)
At a news conference in Washington Square, half a dozen speakers said agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement had gone into restaurants, stores and apartments during the sweep, but in some cases appeared to be targeting people because they appeared foreign and were driving landscaping trucks.
Criminalization of Undocumented ImmigrantsOrtiz joined 226 immigrants from 57 countries as they raised their right hands and took the Oath of Citizenship at the John F. Kennedy Library in Dorchester.
Workers at former Bianco factory seek union help (South Coast Today)
Eagle Industries, a Missouri-based, military equipment manufacturer, took over the former Michael Bianco Inc. factory last November, inheriting a Department of Defense contract for backpacks used by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Workers say that while the sweatshop conditions outlined by the U.S. Attorney's Office in court documents have improved under new ownership, they need more rights. They want to see higher wages, paid sick leave and more affordable health care — and to do so, they say they need to unionize.
Immigration sweep nets 42, provoking outcry (Providence Journal)
At a news conference in Washington Square, half a dozen speakers said agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement had gone into restaurants, stores and apartments during the sweep, but in some cases appeared to be targeting people because they appeared foreign and were driving landscaping trucks.
More Illegal Crossings Are Criminal Cases (New York Times)
Criminal prosecutions of immigrants by federal authorities surged to a record high in March, as immigration cases accounted for the majority — 57 percent — of all new federal criminal cases brought nationwide that month, according to a report published Tuesday by a nonpartisan research group.
Homeland Security's Enemy Next Door (Tom Barry, Americas Program)
Faced with failure, the Bush administration's stated resolve to dismantle international terrorism has devolved into an attack on a far more vulnerable and proximate target—Latin American immigrants.
Rush to Prosecute Leaves Immigrant Victims of Crimes Without Protection (AlterNet)
Immigrants across the country are facing more aggressive enforcement tactics and it seems that victims of human trafficking and other crimes are no exception.
Crimes against immigrants go unreported (Truth in Immigration)
Criminals, armed with knowledge that their crimes are likely go unreported, have begun targeting anyone who may appear to be "illegal," whether they be undocumented, legal residents, or U.S. citizens of foreign descent. The local laws, instead of reducing crime, have only served to increase the amount of immigrant-targeted burglaries in these communities.
Sen. Menendez denounces raids on migrants (North Jersey Record)
Sen. Robert Menendez on Thursday said the top officials responsible for immigration enforcement proved to be "in denial" about constitutional violations by federal agents in a meeting he had with them.
Locked and Loaded (Nashville Scene)
The apathetic treatment of Hutto's immigrants was hardly an anomaly. CCA also operates a detention facility in San Diego that drew a separate ACLU lawsuit last year. In the complaint, the group claims that CCA routinely denied basic medical care to immigrant detainees with hepatitis, diabetes and other serious illnesses. One man from Ghana died from heart failure after the center's staff allegedly asked him to fill out some paper work—even though he was seen kneeling on the floor of his cell and complaining of chest pains.
Opportunity to Fix Shameful Detention System (AlterNet)
Now armed with hundreds of pages of evidence, the time has come for Congress to restore and protect the basic human rights of the 311,000 men, women, and children held in the detention system every year. The Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act calls for improved detention conditions and better oversight of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities. Additionally, it would allow immigration judges to review the cases of asylum seekers and release those individuals who pose no threat to society.
Visa backlog adds years to immigrants' wait (Houston Chronicle)
When they flew home in September, U.S. immigration officials at the Atlanta airport ordered his wife to return to Israel because her tourist visa had expired while he was waiting for citizenship. That lapse means Mama's wife now faces a penalty of up to 10 years before she can again enter the country legally.
Dying to be a U.S. citizen (Baltimore Sun)
Army Spc. Kendell K. Frederick, a native of Trinidad ... had left his base near Tikrit in October 2005 to get fingerprinted for his application for U.S. citizenship. The errand was necessary because the immigration service wouldn't accept the prints he gave when he enlisted. The 21-year-old was driving back to his base when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle.
Elections
Will Obama or McCain Halt our Growing Police State? (open letter, AlterNet)
Senator McCain and Senator Obama should both condemn these raids and declare that, their first day in office, they will put an end to them. Because Postville, like America, has bigger problems to deal with that require all of us working together -- not immigration raids tearing us apart.
Obama and McCain on Immigration: Life vs. Death (AlterNet)
So, in the netherworld of the immigrant gulag growing on our shores, the small differences around the minutiae of immigration law can mean the difference between life and death, a difference that can win the hearts and minds of many voters this year.
Legality of Immigration Laws Questioned Across U.S. (Suffolk Life - Riverhead, NY)
The court's decision may raise questions about similar legislation in Suffolk County aimed at placing verification responsibilities in the hands of employers. Last week, the county Legislature gave the green light for an 18-month pilot program, which requires contractors doing business with the county to use E-Verify, even though officials both here and across the nation have blasted the system for its error potential.
The court's decision may raise questions about similar legislation in Suffolk County aimed at placing verification responsibilities in the hands of employers. Last week, the county Legislature gave the green light for an 18-month pilot program, which requires contractors doing business with the county to use E-Verify, even though officials both here and across the nation have blasted the system for its error potential.
Federal Legislation Update
Bush signs bill to provide troops with tax rebates (Mercury News)
To be eligible for the rebates, taxpayers had to provide Social Security numbers, lawmakers decided. But legislators inadvertently penalized about a million legal immigrants - and U.S. service members stationed overseas - whose foreign spouses are ineligible for Social Security cards.
Single-family immigration bills face great difficulty in Congress (Arizona Daily Star)
The legislation Feinstein introduced on Arreola's behalf — a so-called private bill — has languished in committee and might never be approved. Feinstein has reintroduced it to keep it alive and could do so again in January. As long as the bill is pending, the Arreola family can stay in the United States. But until it passes, they remain in limbo, knowing that one day, they may have to leave.
General
The ID War: Do You Have Yours? (Center for American Progress)
Proponents of REAL ID and similar legislation at the local level want stricter identification systems mainly to fight terrorism and limit immigration. Others are skeptical for security, privacy, and civil liberties reasons, of programs that require proof of ID. About 20 million voting age citizens in our country right now do not have driver's licenses. And minorities are particularly at risk of being disenfranchised by these proposals.
Janitors reinstated by appeals court (San Francisco Chronicle)
A federal appeals court ordered reinstatement Monday for 33 janitors in Los Angeles who were fired because their Social Security numbers did not match the government's database, a ruling that could strengthen unions' case against a Bush administration proposal to pressure employers to get rid of suspected illegal immigrants.
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