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13 May, 2008
Tough Immigration Stances winning elections
In Texas it's get tough on immigration or get out!"Supporters of crackdowns against illegal immigration in Irving and Farmers Branch are leading in their races for political office. Farmers Branch City Councilman Tim O'Hare, 38, the champion of an effort to ban illegal immigrants from renting apartments in his city, is leading the mayoral race with 68 percent of the vote with five of 19 precincts reporting. His opponent, Gene Bledsoe, has 32 percent of the vote. Bledsoe said the city is spending too much money legally defending a rental ban doomed to be struck down in the courts.This is happening in local races across the country. By and large Americans want the influx of illegal immigrants stopped and those in this country illegally deported. It's not rocket science, it's upholding the law. It's what America is made of. This is something McCain ought to remember when he's out kowtowing to LaRaza in July.
Irving Mayor Herbert Gears, 45, whose reelection campaign included support for the city's Criminal Alien Program, is leading with 53 percent percent of the early vote. CAP refers suspected illegal immigrants in the city's jail to federal immigration officials and has resulted in the deportation of more than 2,700 people since it started in September 2006.
Gears' opponents Roland Jeter, who advocated a tougher crackdown, has 38 percent of the vote; Rigo Reza, who supported easing the crackdown, has 8 percent of the vote."
Source
Absconder hunt nets 89 in Houston ICE arrests
Houston Chronicle:
The arrest went exactly as the agents planned. A few minutes after dawn, the Mexican citizen backed his new Chevy pickup out of the driveway onto the street, on the way to his job as a construction supervisor. Within seconds, Reynaldo Campos, wanted for being in the country illegally, was boxed in by vehicles driven by immigration agents who, wearing flak jackets and guns drawn, ordered him out of the car and cuffed him.More than a half a million nationwide is a scary number. It is not clear to me why someone is released after they have been ordered to leave. It is not like they have ties to the community. Why not transport them out of the country as soon as the judge issues his order? They can appeal his decision in their native country.
It was a successful start to last Thursday's roundup of illegal immigrants, the third of a four-day operation to track down illegal immigrants who have gone underground after being ordered to leave the country.
It's a daunting task. In Houston alone there are an estimated 30,000 immigrant fugitives, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Nationally there are about 575,000.
Last week, ICE agents in the Houston Field Office's area of responsibility, which extends over 52 counties from Louisiana to Corpus Christi, cut that number by a small margin. Before the operation began at dawn Tuesday, ICE officials were confident of apprehending hundreds of immigrants. But when it ended shortly before noon Friday, they had picked up 89, including 28 with criminal convictions.
Source
12 May, 2008
Anti-illegal immigration group censored
When members of an anti-illegal immigration group offered to sponsor litter cleanup on local roads, they never imagined California officials would offer them an Adopt-a-Highway stretch near a Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 5, the main artery carrying illegal migrants north from the U.S.-Mexico border.
On Friday, lawyers for the San Diego Minutemen told a federal judge that the state had no right to rescind the offer after state legislators complained to the California Department of Transportation. The group asked that its blue Adopt-a-Highway sign be put back where it stood without incident for about six weeks until the agency removed it in January. "We were moved to silence our message in response to pressure from the open border advocates and the Latino caucus," said Minutemen attorney Robert Fuselier. "It all comes down to one thing: We can't have our speech because if we do, people who don't like it might become unruly and unlawful." Attorneys for the state contend the sign was removed because of concerns that demonstrators or vandals could create safety hazards for the 160,000 drivers who pass the checkpoint daily and for Minutemen volunteers collecting litter by the roadside.
The Minutemen have had a polarizing influence in San Diego the last several years, achieving hero status among advocates of tightening border restrictions and sparking outrage from immigrant groups who accuse members of harassing migrant workers.
State lawyer Jeff Benowitz told U.S. District Judge William Q. Hayes the Adopt-a-Highway signs amounted to a "thank-you" from the state, not political messages protected under the First Amendment. He said transportation officials planned to end all sponsorship of roads near Border Patrol stations, and had offered to reassign the Minutemen to a two-mile stretch of state route in a less-trafficked area in eastern San Diego County.
Hayes asked whether the state would continue moving the Minutemen sign if protests followed it. "It would seem you're saying you're allowing the people who are unhappy with the message to dictate who can be in the program," the judge said. "We can do that," Benowitz responded. "It is not a public forum."
Courts have found otherwise. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Ku Klux Klan after Missouri officials sought to bar the group from its Adopt-a-Highway program under a regulation prohibiting groups that deny membership based on race or with a documented history of violence.
State legislators, meanwhile, renamed the contested stretch of highway the "Rosa Parks Highway" in honor of the black woman arrested in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus in Montgomery, Ala.
California assemblywoman Lori Saldana of San Diego said she was considering legislation that would stop the transportation department from accepting new sponsorships until it develops standards governing who qualified to participate in the highway adoption program. "We want them to say what constitutes a legitimate group," Saldana said after the hearing. "Do we want these people allowed on a highway near a security checkpoint?"
Police searched the home of San Diego Minutemen leader Jeff Schwilk in 2007 during an investigation into alleged vandalism at three migrant camps in San Diego's McGonigle Canyon. No members of the group were arrested. "We are not a hate group," Schwilk said outside the courtroom Friday. "The open borders people have made it very clear that they don't want our participation anywhere in San Diego County." He said neither the sign nor the group's litter cleanup activities created hazards during the six weeks the sign stood.
Hayes said he would issue a written decision on the matter, but it was unclear when.
Source
Filipino whose wife died after blunder by British hospital to be deported
Governments justify their asylum policies for refugees on the grounds of compassion but there seems to be no compassion here
A man whose wife died as a result of an NHS blunder has lost his right to remain in Britain, in what a coroner described yesterday as an "extraordinary" decision.
Arnel Cabrera, 39, came to Britain from the Philippines in 2003 to join his wife, Mayra, a theatre nurse, who worked at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon. But a year later, Mrs Cabrera died at the same hospital after she was given an epidural during the birth of the couple's child which was mistakenly injected into her arm. The baby survived. An inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killing and found the NHS trust had been guilty of gross negligence. Now the Home Office has told Mr Cabrera he has failed in his bid to remain in the UK.
David Masters, the Wiltshire coroner who presided over the inquest, said yesterday: "This is extraordinary. In view of the verdict reached at the inquest I find it difficult to appreciate how the Home Office has reached this decision." In its letter of refusal, the Home Office said Mr Cabrera had "not established a family life with his son in the United Kingdom". It added: "As his son remains in the Philippines there are no insurmountable obstacles to his family life being continued overseas."
Alex Rook, the solicitor who handled Mr Cabrera's immigration case, said: "This is an absolutely dreadful decision. If Arnel's wife had not been killed, the family would be living happily here. I will be writing to the relevant Home Office ministers asking them to reconsider their decision." He added: "His wife is killed by one part of the Government [the NHS], then Arnel is told by another part of the Government that he has to leave." Mr Rook said Mr Cabrera had taken his son, Zac, to the Philippines to be looked after by family until the inquest and related legal proceedings had concluded in the UK, but it was always his intention to build a future in Britain.
Mr Cabrera's personal injury lawyer, Seamus Edney, also reacted with disgust. "I am staggered by this decision and embarrassed on behalf of our government," he said. "Arnel was permitted to reside in Britain on the basis that his wife was working - but when she is unlawfully killed by gross negligence by the NHS, he is told he is no longer welcome." In a statement issued before Mr Cabrera lost his right to remain in the UK, he said he hoped the Government would show him "compassion". He added: "I have been unable to return to the Philippines during this difficult period and I desperately miss my young son, Zachary." A spokesman for the Home Office said: "All applications for leave to enter or remain in the UK are carefully considered on their individual merits."
Source
11 May, 2008
Florida: 80 accused in immigration weddings scam
A federal sting of four companies accused of arranging fraudulent marriages for U.S. citizenships, complete with wedding photos of brides in gowns and elaborate fake cakes, has netted more than 80 arrests, authorities said Friday. Immigrants, Americans and company officials were among the 83 arrested. The immigrants paid as much as $10,000, while the U.S. citizens were offered up to $2,500, U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill said.
The couples were coached on how to pass immigration checks with fake answers, even though in some cases they didn't speak the same language as their purported spouses, officials said. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials who review each citizenship-conferring marriage to ensure legitimacy tipped off federal agents in many cases. At least one of the businesses kept a standing wedding showroom in its office, with a prop cake, an assortment of 10 to 15 wedding dresses and table settings never dirtied with dinner or drink.
"What we've seen in the past generally is that a person will meet someone, that person might be desperate for some money, willingly engage in a sham marriage and then they go their own ways," O'Neill said. "Here, you can see this was much more sophisticated. They incorporated businesses, they obviously sought out people, people came in."
Officials said some of the immigrants had criminal records, ranging from burglary to battery, drug offenses, domestic violence and even aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. They were primarily from Central and South America, though at least one was from Morocco.
The four companies that allegedly arranged the marriages were incorporated as immigration assistance services. They were All Kind Services, A-3 Services, American Solutions and Services, all based in the Orlando area; and Power of Attorney, based in Daytona Beach. Officials said more arrests were expected. Two people behind Power of Attorney, Larry Humm and Natalia Humm, pleaded guilty this year to conspiracy and fraud charges. She is appealing a nearly four-year prison sentence for masterminding the scheme, while he received three months' probation in exchange for cooperating with authorities. No telephone listings could be found for three of the companies. A message left at American Solutions and Services on Friday was not returned.
Those arrested were from Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, Sarasota, Cocoa Beach and Fort Myers. Robert Weber, the agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Tampa, characterized the fraudulent marriages as a threat to national security. "[The Americans] did not know their motives; they did not know their intent; they didn't know where they were coming from -- in this case from 11 different nationalities," Weber said. "They did it for financial gain; they were willing to put our national security and domestic public safety at risk."
Weber warned that ICE was stepping up enforcement of marriage fraud. The agency investigated more than 5,200 such cases in 2006 and the first half of 2007, up from about 2,300 in 2004. "The bottom line: If you commit marriage fraud, whether as a United States citizen or one illegally in the country, you will become an ICE investigative target and be held accountable for such criminal activity," Weber said.
A total of 83 people were arrested, including the suspected business operators and couples. The operators were charged with establishing a commercial enterprise to evade immigration laws, punishable by up to five years in jail. The couples, including the Americans, face charges of knowingly entering into a fraudulent marriage to evade immigration laws, also carrying a maximum five-year penalty.
Source
Foreign criminals work at British airports unchecked
Thousands of foreigners are being allowed to work in high security parts of Britain's airports without passing proper criminal record checks. There is no bungledom like British bungledom. If there have been no Islamic attacks on aircraft operating out of Britain, it is not because of British airport security. It seems that even Osama bin Laden would get a pass to work at a British airport
Despite warnings that terrorists would try to recruit people working "airside" in terminals - with direct access to aircraft and baggage - no attempt has been made to check whether foreign workers have committed any offences abroad. The vetting process checks only for crimes committed in Britain. Foreign workers - arriving from inside or outside the European Union - are not checked in their country of origin. This means that someone with a conviction for firearms or explosives offences committed abroad could, for example, take a job loading bags on to aircraft at Heathrow, Gatwick or any other airport, provided they had committed no crimes here.
The security lapse was called "absolutely astonishing" by David Davis, the shadow home secretary, who demanded "full and immediate checks". Ministers ordered a review of airport security after Samina Malik - the "lyrical terrorist" - was found to have been working in the airside branch of WH Smith at Heathrow. And eight British Muslims are on trial for allegedly plotting to blow up transatlantic airliners using bombs disguised as soft drinks.
The Department for Transport's head of aviation security said last year that the next terrorist attack "would have the components available airside with the help of people who work there". There are an estimated 200,000 staff in the "airside" parts of airports employed in shops, cafes or as cleaners in the departure lounge. Others may be employed as baggage handlers, security guards or driving buses between aircraft and the terminal.
The Government brought in emergency rules in 2003 to improve airport security after September 11. Staff working airside were to be vetted to ensure they had no criminal record and had a checkable employment history for the previous five years. However, last night's BBC2 Newsnight disclosed that officials checked only British criminal records - and that no attempt had been made to find out about any crimes in their home countries. Experts said that meant thousands of foreign workers were not vetted properly. The Government said that it did not want to carry out foreign criminal record checks because it would take too long and involve complicated comparisons between legal systems in different countries.
Mr Davis called for immediate foreign security checks on all people working airside regardless of cost. "This is astonishing given airside at an airport is one of the most vulnerable and critical security points," he said. "It is doubly astonishing the Government have let it continue to exist." Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "It's crazy to have an elaborate system of checks for British employees but completely ignore potential problems from somebody from another country."
Asked on Newsnight whether convicted EU terrorists could be working at Heathrow, Jim Fitzpatrick, the transport minister, said: "What we're absolutely confident of is that any individual who is working at our airports would have to go through the same screening process as anybody who wants to travel or anybody else who is working at our airports to make sure they are safe when they are working in that restricted zone area." Pilots called for anyone suspected of having a criminal past to be banned from working airside.
The loophole is the latest in the controversy over foreign nationals. In April 2006, Charles Clarke resigned as home secretary after it emerged that 1,013 foreign prisoners, including sex offenders and murderers, were not deported on release from prison. Last year the Home Office admitted 11,000 illegal immigrants were working in the security industry. That came months after it emerged that 27,529 records of British nationals convicted of crimes abroad had been left in box files at the Home Office when they should have been entered on a police database. This year the Crown Prosecution Service admitted losing 4,000 DNA profiles for more than a year. When the checks finally started in February 2008 since when 15 matches were found. Of these people, 11 are known to have committed offences - some serious - in the UK.
Jim McAuslan, the general secretary of the pilots' union Balpa, said: "If it's good enough for pilots it should be good enough for anyone else that's working airside and these checks need to be carried out on everyone."
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said all airside workers were required to go through the same checks that passengers have to pass through. He said: "Enforcing a check on overseas records would require the co-operation of a large number of foreign countries involving delays and complex comparisons of international legal systems. "It would also have a major impact on an international airport's day-to-day operations, including preventing many foreign aircrews from landing in the UK. "However, this practical difficulty should not prevent us from requiring checks of UK records. Neither is such a check required by International Aviation Security bodies."
A spokesman for the airports operator BAA said: "We work very closely with the Department for Transport and ultimately with the Government to take a view on what security measures are appropriate." A spokesman for the industry body, The International Air Transport Association, added that conditions were laid down by national governments. He said that airlines applied whatever checks were required to by their own authorities, but said security was a national responsibility.
Source
10 May, 2008
Canada/US comparison
What would the U.S. do if this happened here? AFP reports:Authorities have lost track of 41,000 people ordered to leave Canada, and in most cases have stopped looking for them, said a federal watchdog Tuesday. In a scathing report, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said most of the missing were failed asylum seekers allowed into the country on temporary permits while their immigration or refugee cases were assessed. However, some of them "may pose a threat to public safety and security," she added.Oh, wait -- it did happen here. A Homeland Security Inspector General report (pdf) released last year said that the backlog of immigration cases involving immigrants ordered to leave the U.S. had reached 600,000 -- and the whereabouts of many of those, whether criminal offenders or non-criminal deportees, couldn't be determined. It's important to note that this number represents the backlog, not the number of people missing, as in Canada.
The report put the blame for the backlog, which had been increasing since 2001, on insufficient detention space and systems, along with inadequate staffing. (This focuses on ICE rather than CIS, so it doesn't take into account the long lines legal immigrants face to get in or change their status if they're already here.)
There hasn't been an internal assessment of where the "fugitive" backlog stands more recently. And though Homeland Security has received more beds and staff, it has also stepped up its enforcement efforts, so the backlog may very well still be rising, if at a slower pace.
The Canada case gives occasion to recall that this country's ad-hoc enforcement-first approach doesn't necessarily work as smoothly as advocates hope. And, as the editorial board would argue, it isn't the best approach for the country even when it works as intended.
Source
Nutty British immigration tribunal frees terror supporter
A firebrand preacher once described as Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe is due to be freed within days after being granted bail by an immigration tribunal. Abu Qatada, who came to Britain in 1993 and last month defeated the British Government's efforts to deport him to Jordan on terror charges, will be subject to a 22-hour curfew when he is released from Long Lartin high-security prison.
Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said she was extremely disappointed at the decision and promised all steps necessary to protect the public. Some of the bail money is thought to have been put up by Norman Kember, the Christian peace worker who was held hostage in Baghdad for four months from November 2005 by a group of insurgents. Abu Qatada had made a video appeal for his release.
The bail decision by the Special Immigration Advisory Tribunal is a fresh blow to the British Government's anti-terror policies. Last month, the Home Office was forced to abandon plans to deport 12 Libyans, leaving a memorandum of understanding with Libya, signed in October 2005, effectively in tatters.
Abu Qatada, 45, has been convicted in his absence in Jordan of involvement with terror attacks in 1998 and of plotting to plant bombs. The radical cleric once called on British Muslims to martyr themselves, and tapes of his sermons were found in a flat in Germany used by some of the September 11 hijackers.
Source
9 May, 2008
Canadian bungling
Authorities have lost track of 41,000 people ordered to leave Canada, and in most cases have stopped looking for them, said a federal watchdog Tuesday. In a scathing report, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said most of the missing were failed asylum seekers allowed into the country on temporary permits while their immigration or refugee cases were assessed. However, some of them "may pose a threat to public safety and security," she added.
Fraser noted an improved enforcement since her last audit in 2003, when responsibility for removals was transferred from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). In 2006-2007, Canada Border Services Agency removed about 12,600 individuals, including 1,900 criminals who "posed a high risk to Canada," she said in her report. But "due in part to a lack of exit controls, there is a growing number of individuals whose whereabouts is unknown and who might remain in Canada illegally," Fraser said.
As of September 2007, the Canada Border Services Agency determined that there were about 63,000 individuals with either enforceable removal orders or outstanding immigration warrants for removal. The agency said it knew the whereabouts of 22,000 of the individuals, but "the remaining 41,000 cases are individuals with immigration warrants for removal, whose whereabouts are unknown to the agency," said the report. The agency said it did not investigate most of these cases because "this could mean devoting resources in an attempt to find individuals who have already left the country."
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told reporters: "The CBSA has already put in place quite a few of the recommendations that she (Fraser) has talked about so we're improving. "It's not perfect yet but it's a big improvement over what it has been," he said.
Source
New Australian center-Left government tougher on asylum seekers than the previous conservatives
Great news if it's true across the board. Refugees from Africa have been the sort of disaster that everyone without his head in the sand would have expected. There is no place in the world where Africans are not far out ahead of everyone else in committing violent crimes
THE Rudd Government is rejecting asylum seeker applications at a higher rate than the Howard government, according to an analysis of new figures. An Asylum Seeker Research Centre report says the immigration department has knocked back 41 of the 42 cases it has had referred to it since Labor took power after the November 2007 election, a rejection rate of 97.6 per cent. The report, authored by ASRC chief executive Kon Karapanagiotidis, says that is the highest rejection rate since the Victoria-based ASRC started in 2001.
ASRC community campaign co-ordinator Pamela Curr conceded some of the 42 did not have compelling cases, but said others certainly did. "There is no way you can look at some of these cases and, with the guidelines for ministerial decision making, reject them," Ms Curr said. "We don't have the figures yet from other advocacy agencies but we know this is going on all around Australia."
Ms Curr said wrong decisions were being made because of Immigration Minister Chris Evans' emphasis on clearing backlogs and making decisions more quickly. She said the figures made a mockery of Senator Evans' assurance that he would bring humanity back to the immigration portfolio. "I think that this government is absolutely dead scared on the refugee issue, after all they lost an election on this back in 2001," she said. "Now they're in power, they've got a wonderful majority, they've got the country behind them but they're too gutless to tackle the hard issues."
Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition said he believed the promise of a new dawn in immigration was not being delivered. "I think the minister is still paying too much attention to the immigration department rather than trying to implement the cultural change that was promised," he said. Mr Karapanagiotidis said while it was too early to form a complete picture of Senator Evans' approach, it was looking as if the change in government had not brought change for asylum seekers.
Jack Smit from refugee advocacy group Project SafeCom called the figures "disturbing". The ASRC claims to be the largest provider of aid, advocacy and health services for asylum seekers in Australia.
Source
8 May, 2008
Hillary Clinton Won't Crack Down on Sanctuary Cities
Many conservatives disagree with Sen. Hillary Clinton's liberal policies and positions, but the New York Democrat was far from disagreeable in her two-part interview with Fox News's Bill O'Reilly. Clinton seemed comfortable and relaxed -- not shrill or stilted, as she's been described at times on the campaign trail. She gave ready answers to blunt questions as she and O'Reilly engaged in what amounted to a battle of wits.
In the second part of the interview, which aired Thursday night, the TV host and the presidential hopeful discussed topics ranging from the war on terror to torture to illegal immigration. "This is the most fun interview you've ever done, I know it is," O'Reilly joked with Clinton as their conversation drew to a close. "I was going to say it was the most fun interview you've ever done," Clinton smiled back.
It's no coincidence that Clinton appeared in O'Reilly's "No Spin Zone" just a few days before the May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. Clinton's spokesman was quoted earlier this week as saying that O'Reilly has a big audience -- and that Clinton wants to reach out, even to those voters who don't agree with her all the time -- O'Reilly's viewers, in other words.
On the issues, Clinton told O'Reilly, "There is no military solution to what we face in Iraq." She said the U.S. military has done what it set out to do there, and she said as president, she would begin withdrawing U.S. troops to force the Iraqi government to focus on "what they must do for themselves." Clinton said she would concentrate her efforts on winning the war in Afghanistan and supporting the "pro-democracy movement" in neighboring Pakistan.
Pressed on whether Clinton would crack down on sanctuary cities -- those that turn a blind eye to illegal aliens -- she said, "No," she would not. Clinton said illegal aliens should not be discouraged from reporting crimes. Clinton said she shares Americans' frustration with the "broken" immigration system, but she doesn't see any advantage to "forcing them into the shadows." "I'm one hundred percent in favor of tightening our borders, of enforcing the laws against employers, of going after the kind of abuses that we see in the job market." She blamed "partisan wrangling" for the federal immigration stalemate. Illegal aliens convicted of crimes "should be deported, no questions asked," Clinton said. But she also said the American people don't want deputized law enforcement officials going door to door at businesses and homes, looking for illegal aliens.
A conservative group is blasting Clinton's position on sanctuary cities. "Hillary's response should be frightening to American families, who are forced to live with frequent criminal activity committed by illegals in sanctuary cities," the Eagle Forum said in a news release.
The group used the murder of three Newark, N.J., teenagers last year as an example of what's wrong with sanctuary cities. Three teenagers were killed in a Newark playground last year, allegedly by a Peruvian man who had been released from jail, even though he was in the country illegally.) "It is an outrage that Hillary Clinton is running to become President of the United States, yet she is openly admitting that she will not enforce America's laws," said Eagle Forum Executive Director Jessica Echard. "If Hillary Clinton will not enforce the law against sanctuary cities, why should we believe she will enforce any other immigration laws or build the fence?" Echard asked. "She will simply continue the Bush open-border policies which she pretends to condemn and that have allowed our illegal immigration population to nearly double since 2000."
Source
Immigrants Feel Less Welcome in Frederick County, Maryland
In just over a decade, Frederick County has been transformed from a bucolic, timeless community of dairy farms and strawberry festivals to a fast-paced mosaic of high-tech firms and housing developments, Pilates classes and exotic eateries, mega-stores and McDonald's. The changes have also brought thousands of Hispanics, some legal immigrants and others not, who have migrated up Interstate 270 to meet the demand for construction and service jobs. Until now, the county has handled the influx with outreach classes in schools and community policing programs. Chic Hispanic restaurants flourish in downtown Frederick, and working-class Latinos have remained relatively invisible.
Suddenly, however, their presence is igniting a controversy that some fear could escalate into the kind of war over illegal immigration that has torn apart Prince William County. In the past month, the Frederick County sheriff has joined with federal authorities to identify and deport illegal immigrants, and county commissioners have proposed legislation to ban free translation of county business and require public schools to track down students who are in the United States illegally. "The single biggest threat to our country is the immigration problem. We cannot continue to absorb this population or we will end up in collapse like a Third World country," said Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, whose officers have identified 18 illegal immigrants in the past two weeks after traffic stops or other incidents. "We are not going out in a white van with a big net, but we are getting the criminal element of the illegal population out of Frederick County."
Local opponents of the measures, including black, white and Hispanic residents, say the crackdown and other proposed actions smack of racism and political grandstanding. They say Latinos have been welcomed by Frederick's businesses as a source of cheap labor. Since 1990, the county's Hispanic population has more than tripled, from fewer than 5,000 to more than 15,000, growing to about 5 percent of the county's inhabitants. "This is nothing but scapegoating," said Lydia Espinoza, a community mediator of Mexican American descent. "The immigrant community has been growing here for years, but now people are seeing more Latinos in public, speaking Spanish in stores. They hear about overcrowded houses or issues that can be resolved by the community. Instead, some people are stoking these emotional fires to create group feelings against immigrants."
Regional organizations on each side have joined the fray. CASA of Maryland, a nonprofit group that lobbies for immigrant rights, plans to present a report today that accuses Jenkins and his department of racial profiling, imprisoning "alarmingly high" numbers of Latinos and using crime fighting as a "subterfuge to deport immigrants."
Help Save Maryland, a rapidly growing citizens group that opposes illegal immigration, has supported the crackdown in group e-mails, radio interviews and newspaper columns. The coordinator of the Frederick chapter has accused opponents of "playing the race card."
In the Hillcrest neighborhood, where many of Frederick's Latinos live (often in households that include legal and illegal immigrants), residents describe growing anxiety. Priests say parishioners have stopped driving to church for fear of run-ins with the police. Check-cashing stores say people are closing their bank accounts. And everyone is asking whether Frederick will become the next Prince William. "I used to love Frederick, but now I don't feel comfortable here anymore," said Concepcion Ramirez, 20, a Mexican-born waitress. "I went to high school here, and everyone was so caring and nice. But people are scared of the police now. Every time you get in your car, you are thinking every single moment of what to do if they stop you."
Despite the contretemps, residents say there is little chance that Frederick will become as bitterly divided as Prince William, where officials approved a number of policies last year to drive out illegal immigrants. In Frederick, the recent proposals to halt public translation services and count illegal pupils are unlikely to become law, in part because they may conflict with state and federal statutes.
One reason for the difference is Frederick's diverse character, a blend of rural courtliness and urban worldliness. The county's economic mainstays include military research, dairy farms, high-tech industry and tourism. Its populace includes seventh-generation German Americans, a black middle class and young professionals who commute to Rockville or Washington. It has an active NAACP chapter and an annual Latino Festival.
More here
7 May, 2008
New British rules sound designed to keep out smart Indians
This is just political posturing. It is not skilled legal immigrants that are the problem but rather illegals and parasitical "refugees"
Britain tightened the rules to regulate entry of skilled non-European workers in the second phase of the biggest overhaul of immigration policy for a generation. The strict new criteria announced on Tuesday require British employers to prove they cannot fill skilled posts with resident or European workers. Non-European skilled workers will need to have a firm job offer in hand even before they apply for visas. Skilled non-Europeans would also need to speak fluent English and earn the equivalent of 24,000 pounds in their home country in order to have any chance of entering Britain legally to work. The new rules were announced by Immigration Minister Liam Byrne as a "system (that) means British jobseekers get the first crack of the whip and that only the skilled migrants we actually need will be able to come".
Tuesday's announcement comes barely eight weeks after Britain formally inaugurated an Australian-style points-based system in the hope it would have "one of the toughest borders in the world" by year-end. On February 29, rules governing the controversial, existing highly-skilled migrants programme were overhauled and a new licensing system put in place for employers wanting to recruit from overseas locations outside Europe.
The February changes dealt with Tier 1 of the immigrant worker category. Tier 2 is the second of five tiers due to be rolled out over the next 12 months. It will be introduced along with Tier 5, for temporary workers such as musicians, actors and sportsmen. Tier 4, which covers students, will follow at the beginning of 2009.
The government has already said that had the new rules been in force, 12 per cent fewer skilled non-European migrants would have entered the UK last year. The Home Office said that in the 12 months to September, 65,000 skilled workers from outside the EEA - the European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - entered the UK. The new criteria, it said, would have trimmed that figure by 8,000. The government's analysis also showed that its tighter rules could have shaved off skilled and temporary non-European migrants by roughly 20,000 people last year.
On Tuesday, it was also confirmed that low-skilled non-Europeans, officially categorized as Tier 3, would no longer be allowed to enter Britain to work. The UK said it would only ever allow entry to this tier of non-European worker if specific shortages are identified that cannot be filled from the domestic or European labour force.
The crackdown on immigration policy and implementation also includes some of the toughest penalties in the world for employers who break the rules and illegally hire non-Europeans. The government said that in the first 80 days of the new immigration regime, 137 British companies were issued with Notices of Potential Liability worth almost half a million pounds for illegally employing non-Europeans. This is more than ten times as much as the entire number of prosecutions last year for the same offence.
The minister said, in what is increasingly seen as a root-and-branch reform of Britain's so-called open-door immigration policy: "Illegal jobs are the root cause of illegal immigration... fines make up just one part of the biggest shake-up of the immigration system for a generation. With the introduction of compulsory identity cards for foreign nationals later in the year, there can be no excuse for not checking the identity of those applying for jobs."
Source
California -- where "minorities" are a majority
Immigration generates another demographic trend - California's evolution into a society with dozens, even hundreds, of ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The Census Bureau reported last week that 20.9 million Californians are nonwhite and that with its 57 percent "minority" population, the state trails only Hawaii, the District of Columbia and New Mexico.
Immigration, especially illegal immigration, is a hot political topic. Clearly, many Californians resent and resist the cultural change that immigration is creating, manifested in passage of ballot measures against illegal immigration, bilingual education and affirmative action by what has remained an overwhelmingly white electorate.
Resented or accepted, however, massive cultural change is an inescapable and unstoppable fact of California life. We are destined to become a state with both a diminishing, rapidly aging white population and a growing, much younger nonwhite population. One of the fascinating questions that arises out of that change is how it will affect the state's politics.
As noted earlier, the declining white population has been politically dominant, typically accounting for 70-plus percent of voters, who also tend to be substantially older and more affluent than the population as a whole. And the gap between voters and younger, mostly nonwhite, nonvoting adults has been a continuing headache for politicians because the two groups' priorities are markedly different.
Political pros, pundits and academics constantly mull over the possibilities of a surge of political involvement by the uninvolved - whether it would turn the state to the left, for example.
In a report released last week by a consortium of immigration-related foundations, Chicago-based demographic researcher Rob Paral contends that with 49 percent of California's adolescents having at least one immigrant parent, there's strong potential for a dramatic change in the makeup of voters during the next decade.
"It's jaw-dropping," Paral said. If demography is destiny, California's future will be, to put it mildly, a fascinating tableau of change.
More here
6 May, 2008
The latest from McCain
Like GWB, he figures that the GOP needs the Hispanic vote. And because conservatives are unlikely to stay home when the alternative is the far-Leftist Obama, he hasn't got to worry about them. It looks like the filibuster is the only thing now standing in the way of another amnesty. Interesting that the filibuster is nowhere written into the constitution but is nonetheless an important constitutional safeguard. That reflects America's British heritage. Their constitution was entirely "unwritten" until the EU came along. It is interesting evidence of what Judge Learned Hand said: "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it."
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Monday that the federal government’s failure to overhaul its immigration policies and secure the border has regrettably prompted some states and cities to enter the fight against the nation’s border woes. Some communities frustrated by federal border efforts are rejecting the long-held notion that immigration is an exclusive federal responsibility. Local efforts include denying some public benefits to illegal immigrants, training police officers in federal immigration law and trying to prevent businesses from hiring illegal border-crossers. “It saddens me to see these conflicting approaches toward the issue of illegal immigration, because we would not have this problem if the federal government had carried out its responsibilities,” McCain told reporters in Phoenix on Cinco de Mayo.
McCain said he’d return to the federal approach if he’s elected president by securing the border, deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in the United States, updating temporary worker programs and establishing tamper-proof IDs to let people determine whether new workers are in the country legally.
On a political front, the Republican from Arizona noted that the focus on immigration during the GOP primary season harmed his party’s image among Hispanics. Hispanic citizens want America’s borders secured because they are vulnerable to losing their jobs because illegal immigrants accept lower wages. They also want humane treatment for illegal immigrants who sometimes face exploitation and mistreatment, McCain said.
McCain, whose campaign launched its Spanish language Web site on Monday, said he was confident in his prospects for attracting Hispanic voters, whose values include respect for family, opposition to abortion, a sense of patriotism and a drive to work hard. “Everything about Hispanic voters is tailor-made to the Republican message,” said McCain, noting he received heavy Hispanic support during his last Senate re-election campaign. “I am confident that I will do very well. I will have to work at it.”
McCain said he didn’t know whether an aggressive local immigration crackdown in the county where he lives would hurt Republican chances to win over Hispanics. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has had 160 of his officers trained in federal immigration law, set up a hotline to report immigration violations and sent his deputies to three heavily Hispanic areas to conduct crime crackdowns. While the sheriff said the crackdowns were meant to suppress all manner of crime, civil rights groups and some elected officials say the patrols were thinly veiled immigration sweeps fraught with racial profiling.
Source
Illegals leaving Britain because of Britain's appalling socialized medicine system
ILLEGAL immigrants are sneaking OUT of Britain because they are sick of our weather and hospitals. Border officials yesterday revealed they are collaring a rising tide of failed asylum seekers who flee because life here is not cushy enough. Most escapees caught in the last few weeks are from hellholes like Iraq and Afghanistan - where temperatures rarely drop below 35øC. Many planned to head to balmy Italy after rumours of an amnesty for illegal immigrants. But they changed their minds when right-wing PM Silvio Berlusconi was re-elected and launched a clampdown.
Chief immigration officer Les Williams said: "We have recently noticed people trying to leave the country. Some said they wanted to go to a warmer country as they are fed up with the English weather and their treatment on the NHS."
A colleague told how he caught four Iraqis trying to sneak through Dover's port. He said: "They were sick of the rain and cold and wanted to go somewhere with a bit more sun. They also complained they could not get appointments to see a doctor or a dentist. It's all a bit rich really."
Three Afghans were arrested just weeks ago when they were injured trying to sneak out on a Polish timber lorry. The trio were formally deported. The Sun revealed in December how pregnant Polish immigrants were heading home to give birth because prenatal care was better in Poland.
Source
5 May, 2008
The "wisdom" we are up against
Post below recycled from Michelle Malkin.
The MSM focused on the diminished numbers of May Day protesters earlier this week, but those who did turn out were as militant as ever. Blog correspondents from across the country sent in their coverage.
Here’s a taste of what you missed–with thanks to all the bloggers, photographers, and readers who sent in their submissions.
From Pacific Northwest photojournalist Byron Dazey, reconquistadors are alive and well (or whatever) in Seattle:
Urban Infidel braved the moonbats in Union Square, NYC:
Freedom Folks has video of the open-borders tantrum in Chicago. Watch for the lovely use of the American flag as a stroller cover and the left-wing thug attack on Blogs 4 Borders reporter M.J. at around 4:30:
In Boston, intrepid Michael Graham went undercover to interview open-borders marchers.
Antihippies in Portland snapped photos of the May Day mayhem. Why can’t the nutballs leave our flag alone?
***
Moderate Risk has more Portland. More Chicago coverage from Flying Debris. More Denver coverage from Slapstick Politics.
Hazleton speech by "Digger"
Below is the text of a speech at the Voice of the People immigration rally in Hazleton, Pennsylvania on May 1, 2008
So what do you all think of good ole George W. Bush? Well no matter your opinion of the man there is one good thing that George W. Bush has done for this country. On April 30, 2003 George W. Bush made this proclamation: "The Congress, by Public Law 85-529, as amended, has designated May 1 of each year as "Loyalty Day," and I ask all Americans to join me in this day of celebration and in reaffirming our allegiance to our Nation." So I say to you now Happy Loyalty Day and long live the United States of America!
Unfortunately, there are others in this country today celebrating a different kind of Loyalty Day all across our nation. These people have come to our country illegally and are now marching through our streets making demands. These people have no loyalty to the United States and have no right to be here. No Right!
Speaking of rights, there is a current lie and deception being perpetrated on we, the American people. You will see it on signs today in their marches when you look at the pictures. This falsehood is being repeated over and over by groups that want illegal immigration to continue - groups like La Raza. That lie is that immigrants, both legal and illegal, in this country have or should be granted Civil Rights. They are directly trying to hijack the civil rights movement led by the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and cut it up in some absurd and bizarre pattern to fit illegal aliens. There is just one problem with this - Civil Rights by definition are rights bestowed on citizens by a nation.
They are one of the great benefits of becoming a citizen. Blacks in this country at the time had every right to march and demand equal Civil Rights in this country, for they were American citizens! THESE - PEOPLE - ARE - NOT! Remember that the next time you see them trying to hijack the civil rights movement with their deceptive words.
And as these illegal aliens and their supporters march through our streets demanding rights, they are also demanding more handouts from you, the American people. (As if they haven't taken enough from you already). Here's an example for you - I promise to keep it brief since it's a bunch of numbers.
A recent ESR Research Firm report found that in 2007 the government's estimate of 37 million immigrants, both legal and illegal in this country, cost the US taxpayer $9,000 per immigrant in costs and services. A total of $346 billion for 2007 alone. The study also found that the government's estimates of 12 million illegal aliens are well below the true numbers and that it is at least 20 million illegal aliens.
Now to my point. If these 20 million+ illegal aliens are granted amnesty, not only would it show a disregard for our laws and be a slap in the face to those waiting to come here legally, it will literally cost us hundreds of billions of dollars in additional services per year.
Now I have a question for you. How many of you enjoyed paying your taxes this year? I certainly didn't. But as any low wage earning family in this country can tell you, they usually receive a refund. Families usually receive one because of the Earned Income Credit or EIC. This can easily total thousands of dollars in refunds each year for a family.
If we bow to the demands of illegal aliens marching today imagine how much taxpayer money will be going to them in the form of tax refunds alone through EIC. All of the people of this country will suffer as the government either needs to punish Americans by cutting things like the EIC out of the tax code or raise taxes on everyone to cover it - because they surely are not going to cut spending overall.
This is just one single example of how giving into these extortionists - yes, I said extortionists! - will cost you and me and all citizens in the United States of America. Are you going to give in to these extortionists? Are you going to sit on your couch and ignore this?
Every night while you sleep Americans are being killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country. The list of victims is growing. The absolute sadness and heartbreak is spreading to families throughout this country. It absolutely angers me to see my fellow citizens killed by the lack of action of our leaders.
Does it anger you? How much more of this are you going to take? Are you going to continue being a victim? Are you going to spread the word far and wide that our country has been invaded? Are - you - going - to - fight - for - your - country? We are in the right on this issue and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
I close with this. we cannot give into the demands of a group of people who have illegally entered our country. A group of people who hold no loyalty to this country. A group of people who are only here to rape our wallets and leave our children destitute. We do not have to stand for this anymore! No to amnesty. No to sanctuary cities. No to the continued injustice we are being forced to accept.
Thank You, Happy Loyalty Day and Free Ramos and Compean!
Source
4 May, 2008
An Op-ed the New York Times Editorial Page Refused to Run
The following appears on the Dept. of Homeland Security website dated May 1. There are numerous links in the original
When it comes to illegal immigration, the American people are tired of thirty years of lip service. They want our laws enforced. As Secretary of Homeland Security, I have directed my department to pursue that mandate, using all the tools permitted by law. This involves a three-fold approach.
First, we stem the flow at the border by increasing the likelihood that illegal entrants - and smugglers of all types - will be detected, apprehended, and removed.
Second, we drive businesses to comply with laws against employing illegal workers.
Third, when we encounter those who are here illegally, we remove them.
Granted, we need a long-term solution involving a temporary worker program, legal immigration reform, and a fair policy to deal with illegal immigrants long-rooted here.
But the American people have demanded that we first demonstrate an effective commitment to enforce current laws. And even those who are sympathetic to the painful circumstances of illegal immigration question any change that might trigger new waves of entrants seeking to benefit from still-future waves of "reform."
Our policies respond to this demand and to Congress. They may be tough, yet they are fair, and they are succeeding. That success has now bred a firestorm of opposition. Opponents are driven by factors ranging from an ideological commitment to open borders to reliance on illegal workforces. Apparently, their strategy is to challenge every enforcement action with exaggerated or misleading cries of outrage. These challenges add up to a position that would forbid any effective enforcement. The New York Times editorial page is a case in point.
Regarding interior enforcement, a March 27, 2008 editorial ("A Foolish Immigration Purge") attacked our proposal that businesses receiving letters about workers whose names don't match Social Security numbers clear up the discrepancy within three months. Under this proposal, if a mismatch is caused by an innocent clerical mistake, the mistake is simply corrected. But if it's caused by an illegal worker carrying a forged identity, the employer must act. Ignoring this distinction, the Times falsely implied that businesses would have to fire workers even for innocent errors.
A December 18, 2006 editorial ("Swift Raids") protested earlier efforts at workplace enforcement. It was followed by an October 4, 2007 editorial ("Stop the Raids") which depicted our enforcement efforts on Long Island and elsewhere as trampling on localities. But an April 16, 2008 editorial ("New Jersey's Immigration Crackdown") castigated Garden State localities for their enforcement efforts.
Concerning border security, an April 3, 2008 editorial ("Michael Chertoff's Insult") condemned our exercise of legal authority to waive certain environmental regulations that would have stopped us from fulfilling the explicit mandate of Congress to put fencing, roads, and lighting in place this year in order to stem drug and human smuggling.
The editorial failed to mention that we had previously conducted multiple environmental reviews or that the Interior Department has complained that some border areas are so endangered by smugglers that visitors and employees are turned away.
Taken together, these examples suggest that in some quarters, no enforcement technique is acceptable. Of course, if none is acceptable, enforcing immigration law becomes impossible. Perhaps that's what some critics really want. In a March 4, 2008 editorial ("Border Insecurity"), this newspaper takes aim at the very propriety of defending our sovereignty and our laws: "From San Diego on the Pacific to Brownsville on the Rio Grande, a steel curtain is descending across the continent. Behind it lies a nation..that has decided to wall itself off.."
In this rewrite of lines from Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain address, the editorialists outrageously compare America's attempts to secure its own borders against smugglers with Josef Stalin's subjugation of Eastern Europe.
In the end, the debate is not about enforcement tactics. It's about enforcing the rule of law. Do our critics want a country where employers create economic incentives for people to come here illegally? Do they desire an America with open borders and uncontrolled illegal migration? Should federal officials tacitly allow this to happen by rejecting every meaningful effort to enforce the law?
In the end, two truths stand out. We need to continue to discuss reforms to our immigration laws. But we must continue to uphold our current laws by enforcing them.
Michael Chertoff
Source
CA: Immigration Raid Busts Deported Criminals
Fifteen undocumented immigrants illegally living in the North County after being deported for serious crimes were in custody again Friday following a two-day law enforcement sweep, authorities said. "Our mission is to rid our community of as many criminals as possible," said Escondido Police Lieutenant Bob Benton.
The criminal aliens, all of whom had been kicked out of the United States following felony convictions, were re-arrested Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday according to the Escondido Police Department. The raids were carried out with assistance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The detainees' criminal histories include such crimes as burglary, auto theft, felony domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon, Benton said. One is a documented gang member, and others were found in possession of methamphetamine and a loaded 9 mm handgun. "Many of these individuals return to the united states simply to commit more crime," Benton added.
Five immigrants were jailed in Vista to face prosecution for crimes they allegedly committed since unlawfully re-entering the United States. The others were turned over to ICE and likely will be deported again soon. "If they reenter, and we catch them," said Robin Baker, of Immigration and Customs enforcement, "they're going to be presented for prosecution. It's a federal crime to reenter this country after you've been deported."
"Criminals, without a doubt, should be behind bars, whether they're documented or not," said Enrique Morones, an immigration rights advocate, from the organization Border Angels. But Morones said Escondido is targeting its residents over and over again. "Whether its landlords acting as immigration agents, whether it's the police, and border patrol working together for racial profiling." Morones asked why other cities are not making the same efforts to target crimes. "It's always in Escondido. You don't hear that happening in La Jolla?"
The purpose of the effort was to rid Escondido of serious crooks, not to target people whose only offense is being non-U.S. citizens in the country without permission, according to Benton. "And a lot of times what we're finding is that (criminal aliens) are coming back into the country simply to commit more crimes," the lieutenant said. "... The important distinction is we're not targeting individuals simply because they're undocumented."
Benton said the city relies on undocumented residents to report crimes when they have been victimized. "Many of these criminals target these individuals simply because they're here illegally, and because they know they won't report
Source
3 May, 2008
Nearly 25 Percent of Children Younger Than 5 Are Latino, Census Says
A demographic change nobody was ever consulted about
Hispanics, the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group, now account for about one in four children younger than 5 in the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today. The increase from almost one in five in 2000 has broad implications for governments, communities and schools nationwide, suggesting that the meteoric rise in the Hispanic population that demographers forecast for mid-century will occur even sooner among younger generations.
"Hispanics have both a larger proportion of people in their child-bearing years and tend to have slightly more children," said Jeffrey S. Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center and co-author of a recent study predicting that the Latino population will double from 15 percent today to 30 percent by 2050. "So this means that in five years, a quarter of the 5- to 9-year-olds will be Hispanic, and in 10 years a quarter of the 10- to 14-year-olds will be Hispanic. It's just going to move up through the age distribution with each successive cohort being slightly more Hispanic," Passel said.
Hispanics account for more than half of children younger than 5 in New Mexico and California, where their share of the overall state population is 44 and 36 percent, respectively. In Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado, about one-third or more of children younger than 5 are Hispanic. The figures are less dramatic but still notable in Virginia and Maryland. In both states, Hispanics account for 11 percent of children younger than 5 -- and 7 and 6 percent of the overall population, respectively.
Although the census is not scheduled to release county-level data until later in the year, statistics compiled by Washington-area school systems indicate that the number of youngsters who are Latino is even higher in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. In Montgomery County, for instance, Hispanics make up 14 percent of residents and 22 percent of public school students. In Fairfax County, Hispanics account for 13 percent of residents and 17 percent of students.
The census figures showed a slight drop in immigration to the United States by Hispanics from July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007, vs. the previous 12-month period. That suggests that the U.S. economic slowdown might have had some impact on immigration. For almost a decade, U.S. births have accounted for a far greater share of the growth in the Hispanic population than immigration. Nonetheless, many researchers warn that the higher-than-average poverty rate of U.S.-born Latino children and the fact that many are raised by immigrant parents pose particular challenges to their education and integration.
"Based on what we know, many in this population may not be growing up speaking English in their homes," said Margie McHugh, co-director of the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. In a recent study, McHugh found that 75 percent of limited-English-proficient students in Los Angeles County elementary schools were born in the United States. Adding to the difficulties facing such children, McHugh said, is the fact that Latinos are increasingly moving to states and counties where they have not been historically concentrated.
"Because of the accountability requirements in the No Child Left Behind law, many of these states and localities have already been thinking hard about how to serve these children," she said. "But the gap between the services they have in place and what's needed is quite large."
More here
CIA Chief Sees Unrest Rising With Population
Swelling populations and a global tide of immigration will present new security challenges for the United States by straining resources and stoking extremism and civil unrest in distant corners of the globe, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said in a speech yesterday. The population surge could undermine the stability of some of the world's most fragile states, especially in Africa, while in the West, governments will be forced to grapple with ever larger immigrant communities and deepening divisions over ethnicity and race, Hayden said.
Hayden, speaking at Kansas State University, described the projected 33 percent growth in global population over the next 40 years as one of three significant trends that will alter the security landscape in the current century. By 2050, the number of humans on Earth is expected to rise from 6.7 billion to more than 9 billion, he said. "Most of that growth will occur in countries least able to sustain it, a situation that will likely fuel instability and extremism, both in those countries and beyond," Hayden said. With the population of countries such as Niger and Liberia projected to triple in size in 40 years, regional governments will be forced to rapidly find food, shelter and jobs for millions, or deal with restive populations that "could be easily attracted to violence, civil unrest, or extremism," he said.
European countries, many of which already have large immigrant communities, will see particular growth in their Muslim populations while the number of non-Muslims will shrink as birthrates fall. "Social integration of immigrants will pose a significant challenge to many host nations -- again boosting the potential for unrest and extremism," Hayden said. The CIA director also predicted a widening gulf between Europe and North America on how to deal with security threats, including terrorism. While U.S. and European officials agree on the urgency of the terrorism threat, there is a fundamental difference -- a "transatlantic divide" -- over the solution, he said.
While the United States sees the fight against terrorism as a global war, European nations perceive the terrorist threat as a law enforcement problem, he said. "They tend not to view terrorism as we do, as an overwhelming international challenge. Or if they do, we often differ on what would be effective and appropriate to counter it," Hayden said. He added that he could not predict "when or if" the two sides could forge a common approach to security.
A third security trend highlighted by Hayden was the emergence of China as a global economic and military powerhouse, pursuing its narrow strategic and political interests. But Hayden said China's increasing prominence need not be perceived as a direct challenge to the United States. "If Beijing begins to accept greater responsibility for the health of the international system, as all global powers should, we will remain on a constructive, even if competitive, path," he said. "If not, the rise of China begins to look more adversarial."
Source
2 May, 2008
This year's May Day rally in L.A. draws business support, but far fewer protesters
In numbers that appeared notably light, immigrant workers and their supporters gathered in downtown Los Angeles this afternoon for a May Day march to demand legislative reforms and an end to blanket raids on work sites.
Two years ago, the May Day march drew more than 500,000 supporters registering their protest of recently scuttled plans to make being an illegal immigrant a felony. Last year, the crowd was estimated at 35,000 and today it appeared to be smaller, although thousands from two main marches converged on City Hall in the late afternoon.
The May Day marches in cities across the U.S. were expected to be smaller than in the past -- about 20,000 were predicted in Los Angeles -- and quieter. Widespread fear of government raids was blamed for the lower turnout, along with the immigrant movement's shift in focus from marches to boosting citizenship applications and voter registration.
Pete Navarro, president of the Mexican American Bar Assn., said Spanish-language disc jockeys were not promoting the event as heavily as they did in previous years. And with immigration reform efforts stalled in Congress, there have been no urgent headlines inducing marchers to get out and show the flag.
Rick Oltman, spokesman for the anti-illegal immigration group California for Population Stabilization, said march organizers may have deliberately sought to avoid a big turnout. "They realized that all these numbers hurt them in terms of support," he said. "It is reminding the American people that there is this whole group of people, illegal aliens, who do not want our laws enforced."
Calling for a host of immigration reforms, marchers have found allies in local political leaders and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. In a news conference this morning, the chamber stressed the need for more worker visas and a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants. "This is a landmark moment," said Sam Garrison, the chamber's vice president of public policy. "Here you have labor, business, local elected officials, immigrant rights activists and leading educators all coming together to say this has to stop. "The raids are frightening workers. They are worrying employers," he said. "I think it's going to cause a lot of businesses to think twice about coming to Los Angeles."
By late afternoon, Thurday's event was proceeding without any significant confrontations between marchers and police. Last year, an otherwise peaceful march degenerated into a chaotic and violent episode at MacArthur Park. Officers clubbed protesters and media, fired non-lethal riot guns into the crowd, and ultimately generated more than 250 legal claims from people who said they were injured. In a scathing self-appraisal, the department said officers used excessive violence and suffered from a failure of leadership at the scene. This year, the LAPD mounted elaborate training measures to prepare for the May Day crowd.
Some of those who were injured last year told reporters at MacArthur Park this morning that they hoped for a more peaceful march. Planning to march at the front of the crowd, they wore red shirts and carried a banner that read "Fuimos golpeados. Seguimos luchando" -- "We were beaten. We keep fighting." "We want this year to be peaceful," said Henry Reyes, who said he was injured last year by a motorcycle officer. "We hope this year will be better than last year."
In the last two years, organizers have been split on the issue of boycotting work, school and consumer spending in honor of May Day. This year, they shelved the boycott idea, favoring instead a united front on comprehensive immigration reform, according to Angelica Salas executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles..
The issue of comprehensive reform has colored the presidential campaign, prompted hundreds of state and local legislative proposals, and brought tens of thousands of marchers into the streets across the nation every May Day for several years. As the rhetoric has ratcheted up, immigration raids have become more frequent. In the last fiscal year, some 4,900 websites were swept up in local work-site arrests, compared with just over 100 in 2001. In just one raid last February, authorities arrested more than 130 undocumented workers at a Van Nuys manufacturing company.
Continued raids could be bad for business, chamber officials said today, citing a study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. The report, released today, said tens of thousands of jobs could be lost if continued raids force businesses to flee the state. Enforcement efforts should focus on companies with a clear history of exploiting workers, it said. "The immigrant worker built Southern California and the L.A. economy," Garrison said. "At the end of the day, they benefit everyone, whether legal or not."
Source
Immigration laws give gang member a shot at staying in Canada, lawyer says
An El Salvador man's bid to seek refuge in Canada from the violent gang he once belonged to is among the scenarios covered under laws designed to protect people facing harm in their home countries, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer says. The case of Jose Francisco Cardoza Quinteros, who arrived in Canada in September 2007 and told border officers he had killed four people in El Salvador, has raised questions about why someone with an admitted criminal past would be allowed to apply for protected status.
But immigration lawyer Doug Cannon says while Cardoza Quinteros doesn't appear to meet the UN definition of a refugee, there is a section of Canadian law that offers protection to people facing unreasonable harm abroad. "What we're really talking about here are broader requirements to protect people who are at risk of life, cruel and unusual punishment or treatment, or torture," Cannon said in an interview Thursday. "The refugee division considers cases like this because it is part of protecting human beings from unfair treatment, wherever they may face it in the world."
Cardoza Quinteros later retracted his statements about his gang activities - which varied greatly during his original interview with border officers - and an immigration board member recently said she doubted he had ever killed anyone. Cardoza Quinteros claimed he was fleeing his former gang, the Mara Salvatrucha, which wants him dead because it believes he was an accomplice in the deaths of gang members during a 2004 prison riot. His refugee claim was denied in February because of his ties to a criminal organization and he was ordered deported, but he'll still be able to argue during the pre-removal risk assessment process that he will face danger if returned to El Salvador.
Cannon said Cardoza Quinteros isn't fleeing the justice system. "What he's really afraid of is a situation where he feels he has done no wrong yet his life is at risk and the authorities cannot protect him," Cannon said. "And that's the key issue in his case - can the authorities protect him from the harm that he fears?" Cardoza Quinteros's lawyer in Vancouver declined to comment about the case.
In the meantime, the federal government will ask the Federal Court on Friday to overturn an immigration board decision to release Cardoza Quinteros while the case moves through the immigration system. Federal lawyers will argue Cardoza Quinteros poses a danger to the public, but earlier this week an immigration board member ruled that Cardoza Quinteros is not a significant risk and that conditions placed on him were adequate. In ordering him released, refugee board member Daphne Shaw Dyck noted Cardoza Quinteros had been living free in Surrey for seven months without incident and has expressed a desire to turn his life around.
It's not clear how often claimants have used their criminal past to justify claims for protected status, as federal immigration officials don't compile such statistics. A similar example occurred last year, when a teenage gang member from Nashville facing extradition on charges of murder asked for refugee protection in Edmonton. Nasser Muhsin, 17, argued he might be hurt or killed by rival gangs if he was sent back to the United States. Muhsin was initially released by the refugee board in Edmonton, but in January a Canadian judge ordered him extradited.
The Cardoza Quinteros case in Surrey has prompted fierce criticism from local politicians in British Columbia who say such admitted criminals should never be released into the public, much less be allowed to apply for protection in Canada. "I think the vast majority of Canadians will have absolutely no sympathy with that claim (that Cardoza Quinteros deserves protection from his former gang)," said Liberal public safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh. "Fleeing political, religions, ethnic persecution and the like really bears no resemblance to running away from a criminal gang. Canada's refugee system should not provide you with a shield against your past or current sins."
Dosanjh said he supports Ottawa's fight to keep Cardoza Quinteros detained, but he said legislation should be changed to prevent such refugee claims from moving forward.
A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, who first applied to have Cardoza Quinteros held in custody, declined to comment on the case but said Ottawa wants to ensure anyone trying to enter Canada who poses a danger to the public is removed. "Our government is committed to detaining and removing foreign nationals who may pose a threat to national security or engaged in serious criminality," John Brent wrote in an e-mail.
Source
1 May, 2008
Recent Australian attitudes to immigration
Australia has a long history of encouraging immigration and a consensus of long standing about that. The consensus arose out of the fact that Australia is quite "empty" comparted with the billions of people in lands to our North. It was felt that a bigger Australian population was needed for defence purposes. For that reason, approval of immigration is unusually high in Australia. Approval has been kept high by the fact that most immigrants to date have been from Europe and Asia -- bringing people to Australia who assimilate very successfully to Australian society. Recent arrivals of significant numbers of Muslims and Africans seem likely to fray that happy situation in the future, however. The famous Cronulla riots were a reaction to perceived Muslim arrogance and hostility. Some statistics below and thoughts about prosperity and immigration. The years under the recently deposed Howard government were ones of high and rising economic prosperity
The long economic boom probably does much to explain another paradox. Under Howard, our immigration program was built up to record levels. The more the economy boomed, the more migrants he let in. But while all this was happening, public disapproval of immigration was falling, not rising. In the middle of last year only 35 per cent of respondents considered the intake to be too high, half the proportion feeling that way in 1996. Almost half the respondents considered the balance of immigration from different countries to be "about right".
It's true that only a third of people approved of government assistance to ethnic minorities to maintain their customs and traditions. But such spending is never popular - it's seen as benefiting select minorities, not the nation - and, if anything, approval is up a bit. Overall, almost 70 per cent of people agreed with the proposition that "accepting immigrants from many different countries makes Australia stronger". But agreement was higher among men than women, varied significantly between states, was higher in state capitals than the rest of the state, and tended to decline with the rising age of the respondents.
Agreement rose with the respondents' level of education. Predictably, it was higher among those born overseas than those born in Australia, and highest among those overseas-born from a non-English speaking background.
Of course, the degree of actual contact with immigrants varies greatly between city and country, as well as between capital cities. Overall, just under a quarter of the population was born overseas. But the proportion ranges from 35 per cent in Sydney, 34 per cent in Perth and 31 per cent in Melbourne, to 25 per cent in Adelaide, 23 per cent in Brisbane and 13 per cent in Hobart.
Why did Howard's reign see us become so much more relaxed about high and rising levels of immigration? Predominantly, I guess, because of our rising economic security. Historically, we've been leery of migrants when we feared they'd take our jobs or drive down our wage rates. As part of that, people may have found the move to a much higher proportion of immigrants with scarce skills - and so a lot less family reunion - less threatening.
But I suspect the very fact that Howard seemed so suspicious of immigrants - so tough on asylum seekers, so insistent that we will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come - has reassured many people that the Government's in control and can be trusted to protect our interests. So the era of Pauline Hanson has passed - partly because Howard, seeing his voter base under threat, promptly donned some of her clothes.
Rudd, of course, fully intends to keep the high immigration program going, although he's likely to be somewhat less punitive in his treatment of unauthorised immigrants and a lot less punitive in his rhetoric. It will be interesting to see whether, with a slowing economy and without all the waving of sticks, he can preserve the present retreat from xenophobia.
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Sex offender caught crossing into US illegally
Texas - U.S. Border Patrol Agents arrested a man convicted of sexual assault with a minor as he entered the country illegally through a drainage canal on Friday, near downtown El Paso. Agents from the Border Patrol entry team entered the Franklin drainage system and found eight individuals that illegally entered the United States approximately 1.5 miles west of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry. All eight were transported to the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry for processing.
During processing, record checks indicated that one of the men, a Mexican citizen, had been convicted of 2 counts of sexual assault with a minor in Florida, probation violation and faced deportation in the past. The man was identified as 50-year-old Victor Valenzuela-Guerrero, from Mexico
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English not first language for 800,000 schoolchildren in Britain
More than 800,000 schoolchildren do not speak English as their first language, official figures have disclosed. Almost 500,000 children in primary schools have English as a second language – an estimated one in seven – with a further 350,000 pupils in secondary schools.
It follows a significant rise in the number of school pupils from immigrant families. Their numbers have almost doubled in a decade to reach record levels in England's schools. In some areas, children without English as their first language account for more than half of all pupils.
Teachers warned yesterday that large concentrations of foreign pupils with a poor grasp of English were placing an increasing burden on their capacity to provide all children with a decent standard of education. They say more money is needed to cater for the dozens of languages spoken in some classrooms, amid fears that overall standards could suffer if they are forced to concentrate on the few struggling with their language.
Many Roman Catholic schools are now printing admissions forms in Polish and hiring foreign teaching assistants to cope with increasing demand for places from eastern European families.
According to figures published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families yesterday, 14.4 per cent of children aged five to 11 speak languages other than English in the home – compared with 13.5 per cent 12 months ago – making a total of 470,080 pupils. In secondary schools, there are 354,300 pupils with English as a second language. That proportion increased from 10.6 to 10.8 per cent. The figures disclosed that in 14 local authorities – almost one in 10 – English-speaking primary school pupils are in the minority.
In the London borough of Tower Hamlets, only 23 per cent of pupils speak English as their first language. In inner London primary schools, children with English as their first language are in the minority. One primary school – Newbury Park in east London – teaches children who speak more than 40 languages, including Tamil, Swahili, Bengali, Cantonese, Spanish, Japanese and Russian.
Jim Knight, the schools minister, admitted that "undoubtedly there can be problems" for schools with a high concentration of pupils speaking other languages as their mother tongue. Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, said: "This has happened because the Government failed to follow our policy of taking into account the impact of immigration."
The National Association of Head Teachers warned in November that the situation was "out of control" and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers called last month for extra funds to "meet the extra educational demands on schools brought about by the recent influx of children of refugee and EU migrant families".
According to official figures, the number of pupils speaking other languages has increased by a third since the main expansion of the European Union in 2004, from 10.5 per cent to 14.4 per cent this year. Last year, official figures disclosed that since Labour came to power in 1997, nearly four million foreign nationals have come to Britain and 1.6 million have left. It was also disclosed that increasing numbers of pupils were from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The proportion of primary pupils described as non-white British rose from 21.9 to 23.3 per cent. In secondary schools, the proportion increased from 18 to 19.5 per cent in 12 months.
Mr Knight said: "The gap in achievement between migrant children and English-speaking pupils has narrowed significantly in recent years."
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