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31 October, 2007

Why was this menace still in the USA?

Court records show that a Durham man who is accused of going the wrong way on Interstate 540 Thursday morning was convicted of driving while impaired in 2006 - at the first of at least five appearances in court that year. Authorities on Friday charged Eblin Fabiel Ocampo Cruz, 22, of U.S. Highway 70 West, with one count each of DWI, reckless driving, failure to reduce speed and possession of a revoked license. He also faces charges involving driving the wrong way on the highway. "We're dealing with a person who's got some serious issues going on," Lt. Everett Clendenin, spokesman for the state Highway Patrol, said.

Authorities said Cruz was driving westbound on eastbound I-540 between Creedmoor and Six Forks roads around 2:45 a.m. when he collided head-on with a Ford Mustang. Both drivers had to be removed from their vehicles and remained hospitalized on Friday evening. The driver of the other vehicle, Bettie Coates, 42, of Wake County, was listed in serious condition Friday afternoon, troopers said.

Cruz was wanted by the Department of Correction for probation violations, and had been listed, as of Oct. 8, as an absconder. "He had not reported to his probation officer and was not complying with the terms of his probation," said Keith Acree, a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Correction. "In fact, we lost track of him. We didn't know where he was and had a warrant out for his arrest." Court records show Cruz was on probation for several different offenses. In February 2006, he was convicted in Durham of DWI. A month later, he was convicted of misdemeanor unauthorized use of a vehicle and misdemeanor breaking and entering. In May 2006, Cruz pleaded pleaded guilty to reckless driving and passing an emergency vehicle. "That's why he shouldn't be out on the highway. He should be behind bars, from what I'm hearing," Clendenin said.

Charges continued to follow Cruz: resisting an officer in October 2006 and possession of stolen goods in December 2006. Officials said they belive he may also be behind some more serious crimes. Cruz went by several names, and one of those aliases is wanted for second-degree kidnapping and assault on a female in Orange County. "It's putting people in danger," Clendenin said.

Immigration agents said they are investigating the status of Cruz, who was born in Honduras. Troopers said they will be waiting when Cruz is released from the hospital, where he is being treated for internal bleeding and a fractured leg. "He's being monitored, and when it comes time for him to be released, there will be a trooper there to take custody of him," Clendenin said.

Source



300,000 invisible people in Britain suddenly revealed

Peter Hain was forced to apologise last night after admitting that the number of foreign citizens working in Britain had increased by 300,000 more than he told MPs earlier this month. Mr Hain, the Welfare Secretary, also admitted that a claim that Britons had taken 2 million of the extra 2.7 million jobs created since Labour came to power could not be proved by official statistics.

In a letter to the Speaker and other MPs, Mr Hain said that the errors had been made in good faith. The upward revisions are certain to further fuel the debate about the Government’s ability, and willingness, to assess levels of migration accurately. Mr Hain told MPs on October 8 that 800,000 extra foreign nationals were working in Britain in comparison with ten years ago. “Following further careful analysis of the Labour Force Survey, this figure has been revised upwards by 0.3 million. This revised analysis shows that there are an extra 1.1 million foreign nationals in employment in the UK since 1997,” Mr Hain states in his letter of apology. He continues that his claims on the number of new jobs being taken by British citizens is also not technically accurate.

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said that the revision had been made partly because of “a more rigourous definition of foreign national workers to include, among other things, those who were in the country before 1997 who have subsequently taken up jobs”. The spokesman also claimed that about half the new jobs had been taken by EU nationals. The Home Office will confirm tomorrow that restrictions on low-skilled workers from Bulgaria and Romania will stay in place.

Ministers admitted recently that the Government was revising estimates for the net number of migrants to Britain from 145,000 a year to 190,000. It emerged that the 25-year projections included estimates of up to 240,000 in the initial years, close to record levels.

Chris Grayling, the Shadow Welfare Secretary, described the statistical revisions as farcical. “It is difficult to see how we are supposed to have confidence in Labour’s policies if they cannot have confidence in their own figures,” he said.

Source





30 October, 2007

British Conservatives to cut immigration

Tory leader David Cameron pledged to cut net immigration into the UK, to ward off "unsustainable" pressure on the country's public services and infrastructure. In his first major speech on immigration, Mr Cameron set out his "modern Conservative population strategy" to slow the rate of growth in the numbers of people living in the UK. A Tory administration would set annual limits on economic migration from outside the EU "substantially lower" than the current rate, set up a Border Police Force with powers to track down and remove illegal migrants, and impose transitional controls on the right of nationals of new EU states to work in the UK.

And Mr Cameron said he would raise the minimum age for spouses coming to Britain to 21 and demand that they are able to speak English. A failure to reduce net immigration would "make it more difficult for a Conservative government to deliver its vision of opportunity, responsibility and security", he warned.

The Conservative leader also cautioned: "The promises that Gordon Brown makes - whether on improving the NHS, the education system or housing provision - will quite simply be overwhelmed by his failure to deal with the root causes of our demographic challenge."

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest, on current trends, the UK's population will rise from 60.6 million to more than 71 million by 2031, increasing pressure on housing, healthcare, schools, the transport system, energy and water supplies. Some of the increased pressure comes from Britain's ageing population, as well as the "atomisation" of society through divorce, family break-up and later marriage, which means more single-person households, said Mr Cameron. But with 190,000 more people coming to the UK from abroad than leave the country each year, the bulk of the population rise - around 70% - is driven by immigration.

"Of course we should recognise that in an advanced, open economy there will be high levels of both emigration and immigration," said Mr Cameron in his speech in central London. "But what matters is the net figure, which I believe is currently too high... It is time for change. We need policy to reduce the level of net immigration. And we need policy to strengthen society and combat atomisation."

Immigration minister Liam Byrne accused Mr Cameron of "rehashing platitudes". "He talks of a limit on immigration numbers but nowhere does he say what this would be," he said.

Source



A "three-tier license system" that fingers lawbreakers?

Post below lifted from Dinocrat. See the original for links

Newsday reports that New York is about to adopt a three-tier driver's license scheme, the lowest tier of which virtually identifies the holder as being in the United States illegally:

The Bush administration and New York cut a deal Saturday to create a new generation of super-secure driver's licenses for U.S. citizens, but also allow illegal immigrants to get a version.The deal comes about one month after New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced a plan whereby illegal immigrants with a valid foreign passport could obtain a license. Saturday's agreement with the Homeland Security Department will create a three-tier license system in New York.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he was not happy that New York intended to issue IDs to illegal immigrants. But he said there was nothing he could do to stop it. "I don't endorse giving licenses to people who are not here legally, but federal law does allow states to make that choice," Chertoff said. "It's going to be a big deal up in Buffalo, it's going to be a big deal on the Canadian side of the border," Chertoff said. The governor made clear he is going forward with his plan allowing licenses for illegal immigrants.

Under the compromise, New York will produce an "enhanced driver's license" that will be as secure as a passport. It is intended for people who soon will need to meet such ID requirements, even for a short drive to Canada. A second version of the license will meet new federal standards of the Real ID Act. That law is designed to make it much harder for illegal immigrants or would-be terrorists to obtain licenses. A third type of license will be available to undocumented immigrants. Spitzer has said this ID will make the state more secure by bringing those people "out of the shadows" and into American society, and will lower auto insurance rates.

Those licenses will be clearly marked to show they are not valid federal ID. Officials, however, would not say whether that meant local law enforcement could use such a license as probable cause to detain someone they suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

Perhaps we're missing something, but this sounds even zanier than Spitzer's first harebrained scheme to "allow illegal immigrants to obtain the same kind of driver's licenses as other New Yorkers." The new third-tier driver's license would appear to specifically identify the holder as a person in the United States illegally.

Therefore, the likely outcomes are that (a) illegal aliens will not apply for the license; and (b) advocacy groups will file suit and take other measures to ensure that a card that screams that the holder is a lawbreaker must be ignored by authorities. Is that an intended or unintended consequence of this nutty scheme?





29 October, 2007

Spitzer backs down -- partly

In a dramatic move to quiet opposition, Gov. Spitzer is expected to announce a major revision - but not an abandonment - of his plan to let illegal immigrants obtain driver's licenses. Spitzer will appear Saturday morning with Homeland Security officials in Washington to discuss his new plan, sources said. His original plan had sparked criticism that it would not comply with the federal Real ID Act. His new plan will set up two types of licenses - a Real ID-compliant license available to U.S. citizens and others legally in the country, and another license both illegal immigrants and citizens would be eligible to get, sources said.

Spitzer has faced enormous opposition to his plan from Republican opponents, the electorate, and even county clerks upstate who have vowed not to grant the licenses. A Siena College poll this month found an extraordinary 72% of New Yorkers opposed licenses for undocumented immigrants.

Spitzer had hinted at possible flexibility during an appearance earlier this month at NYU Law School. He noted that some states had opted out of Real ID, but that he did not see New York doing so. When Real ID takes full effect in 2013, that will be an issue critical not just for security but for the convenience of any New Yorker who uses a driver's license as proof of identity to board an airplane. Real ID was passed after the attacks of Sept. 11 and intended to provide a uniform, secure form of identification for U.S. citizens and those living here legally.

Spitzer said at NYU that because of Real ID, "People in many states will have a two-tiered structure, where there will be a license that will satisfy" federal law. The other document available under such arrangements would be a no-frills state license, he said then.

Spitzer's opponents, including Republican legislators in both the state Senate and Assembly, say giving illegal immigrants licenses opens a door to terrorism. Opponents also argue that noncitizens shouldn't get citizen privileges, and may use the documents to gain other privileges, like trying to vote.

Source



Immigration reform: Not with a bang

Open borders advocates and immigration amnesty enthusiasts long have argued that draconian raids and inhumane mass deportations are the only alternative, should America take seriously national sovereignty and the rule of law. The straw man vision of convoys of thousands of busses being necessary to convey illegal immigrants out of the country, along with the expectation that restaurants, construction, agriculture being crippled owing to the rule of law has convinced many to oppose actual enforcement of existing laws.

Such a vision betrays a mind accustomed to thinking that nothing ever happens unless some government official takes action and requires it to happen. The old command and control mentality at work. There is accumulating anecdotal evidence that, owing to better law enforcement and a downturn in the construction industry, large numbers of illegals are self-deporting. On October 19, Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit noted:

You don't seem to see as many Mexicans around Knoxville as a few months ago, and I noticed that the landscaping outfit that does the common areas in my neighborhood -- whose workers were all Mexican as recently as this summer -- became kind of scarce for a few weeks and is now back with workers who are all quite obviously non-Mexican. Could this be related to the jailing of a local businessman for immigration violations? See here. Probably. It suggests that even modest enforcement efforts might have a real impact.

Elisabeth Malkin of the International Herald Tribune writes an article headlined, "Mexicans miss money from relatives up north."

For years, millions of Mexican migrants working in the United States have sent money back home to villages like this one, money that allows families to pay medical bills and school fees, build houses and buy clothes or, if they save enough, maybe start a tiny business. But after years of strong increases, the amount of migrant money flowing to Mexico has stagnated. From 2000 to 2006, remittances grew to nearly $24 billion a year from $6.6 billion, rising more than 20 percent some years. In 2007, the increase so far has been less than 2 percent.

Migrants and migration experts say a flagging American economy and an enforcement campaign against illegal workers in the United States have persuaded some migrants not to try to cross the border illegally to look for work. Others have decided to return to Mexico. And many of those who are staying in the United States are sending less money home.

In the rest of the world, remittances are rising, up as much as 10 percent a year, according to Donald Terry of the Inter-American Development Bank. Last year, migrant workers worldwide sent more than $300 billion to developing countries - almost twice the amount of foreign direct investment. But in Mexico, families are feeling squeezed.

Sound inhumane? Dig a little deeper into the article, and the victim-centered prose that charafcterizes a New York Times-owned publication begins to be supplanted by some data that confirms the power of ordinary people reacting to incentives:

Some of the men are back and need cash for seeds and fertilizer to plow long-neglected fields. At the microcredit association operated by a local nonprofit group, the Baj¡o Women's Network, loans for agriculture, which barely existed last year, now account for 11 percent of all borrowing.

Imagine! Able and hard-working Mexicans, unable to violate our borders with impunity, are instead reinvigorating the moribund local economy. To be sure, the corruption and heavy hand of government in Mexico may well stifle these efforts, but if easy escape to the El Norte is no longer an alternative, perhaps there might be more interest in reforming Mexico, a country many have remarked is blessed with abundant natural resources, two long and beautiful coastlines, and a hard-working populace.

There is no reason beyond bad governance why Mexico must be poor. American open borders offer a safety valve relieving pressure for reform in Mexico!

Meanwhile, the grape harvest here in California is in, and there were no reports of fruit rotting on the vines for lack of picking crews. Similarly, I have spotted no fast food restaurants closed for lack of help, and no construction sites closed down for lack of labor.

Simple measures, like getting serious of about enforcement at the border combined with employer sanctions, provide the signals individuals need in order to make their plans. As one Mexican interviewed by Ms. Malkin put it:

"It's really tough to go back," he said. "Now they lock you up. Before, they grabbed you and sent you back. The laws were never this tough."

Source





28 October, 2007

Thompson: Immigration stance defines me

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson today discussed his new immigration proposal which, he said, distinguished him from his key rivals on the hot-button issue. “This does draw a distinction between myself and others,” Thompson said in a Des Moines Register interview before attending the Iowa GOP’s annual Ronald Reagan dinner in Des Moines.

Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, said he would end the policy of sanctuary cities, where illegal immigrants can obtain government benefits without fear of deportation. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who also is seeking the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, has been criticized by some Republican candidates for New York’s status as such a city during Giuliani’s term in office.

Thompson also appeared to be subtly criticizing GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has been critical of bipartisan legislation in Congress to allow illegal immigrants to stay in the country. But Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has not proposed an immigration plan. And his promise to allow no amnesty was a shot at Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate who led the failed effort on the bipartisan bill last year.

Thompson’s plan also would double the number of immigration agents, increase border patrols to 25,000, prosecute illegal workers and their employers, and make English the official language of the United States. “It’s strong on enforcement and it basically addresses what needs to be our commitment and that is to secure the borders and enforce the law,” Thompson said.

Iowa Republicans rate immigration as a top priority. A Des Moines Register poll in May showed 27 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers considered immigration extremely important, closely behind the war in Iraq. Fighting terrorism and values were the only two issues to rank higher.

Thompson had previously said rounding up the estimated 12 million people in the country illegally was unrealistic. He said Saturday the number could shrink quickly through enforcement of existing law. “I think that we would have attrition if we had enforcement,” he said. “Over a period of time, we would begin to see the system rectify itself.”

Source



That evil bureaucracy again

Some of you may have noticed the absence of Rick Giles from this forum for the last month or so. He is not on vacation; he has not given up, or left in a huff. He is in jail, and has been since the 26th or 27th of September. He has been in prison, without arrest, without trial, without legal recourse or appeal, for almost a month. And why? What heinous crime, you might ask, warrants being thrown into jail with no rights, no information, and no idea how long he’ll be incarcerated? Well, the combined crimes of not being a US citizen and misreading the date on his tourist visa.

Rick was asking directions to the bus station, as pedestrians aren’t allowed to cross the border into Canada, on the 26th of last month. Instead of helping, the policeman took his ID, checked his visa, and found that instead of expiring on the 27th, as Rick believed, it expired on the 20th. He was taken into custody, and has been there ever since.

The INS, which is supposed to notify the New Zealand embassy whenever a NZ citizen is arrested, did not. His social worker, whom he requested get the address and phone number of the NZ consulate, got him the contact information for the embassy in New Zealand. If he hadn’t written my phone number on his arm during the few moments he had alone with his stuff, nobody would have any idea where he is. He used his one phone-call to call me, and I have harassed, begged, and bluffed my way to getting his address, inmate number, and all the information I can get, which is woefully little.

I have made contact with the NZ consulate in Chicago, and the Embassy in Washington DC. I informed them that one of their citizens had been summarily tossed into prison for the smallest offense imaginable. You’ll be glad to know that they are using their full diplomatic might on his behalf. They are making a file. They faxed him a letter informing him of his rights, which amount to nothing. They are very friendly and courteous, and try to be helpful. However, unless the US starts to torture Rick, there’s nothing they can do. Apparently the US government can hold him as long as they want, for whatever reason (or lack thereof) they choose.

This is a plea, dear SOLOists, from me. If anyone has any experience with dealing with the INS, or with the US Justice system… if anyone knows anything or anyone who can help, or even give advice, please contact me. I have done everything I can think of, and he’s still there, no court date, no rights, and no expectation of release. I can write letters to him, and send him books, writing materials, and stamps. However, I don’t even know where to begin to get him free.

Source





27 October, 2007

Britain: A country wrecked by unlimited immigration

One of the most telling points in the excellent piece in yesterday's Daily Telegraph by my colleague Jeff Randall, on the dishonesty of government statistics, was to do with immigration. Slough says it has so many immigrants it needs more money: the Government says it hasn't. For decades, bare-faced lies have been told by our rulers about immigration.

When Enoch Powell was vilified in the late 1960s for drawing attention to the problem, the then social services secretary, Dick Crossman, ordered officials to conceal what he and they knew to be the true figures. Is this deceit still going on? Perhaps. But - and this may be even worse - the difference between the statistics and reality may be down to sheer incompetence. The truth is that we have no idea how many people are in this country. That is a scandal.

We have no idea because this Government decided, when it came to power in 1997, that it would be a good idea to stop proper enforcement of border controls. Jack Straw, our smug so-called Justice Secretary, was home secretary at the time, and was responsible for this. His successor, David Blunkett, boasted continually about getting tough on illegal immigrants, promising round-ups and deportations of those with no right to be here. It never happened.

The result is that parts of the country, notably in and around London, are suffering from terrible overcrowding. Coupled with the Government's insane decision to allow unfettered rights of access to Britain by the 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004, this has put a crippling strain on housing, the health service, schools and the police.

Immigration is not a racial problem: it is a problem of numbers, and one the Government not only refuses to admit, but will not even attempt to quantify. This week, we were told there were 11,000 foreigners in our prisons - one in seven of those inside - and the Government, with typical incompetence, is struggling to negotiate deals to have these people serve their sentences back home.

Yesterday, an independent body called the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit said that the Government's plans to build three million new homes by 2020 were not nearly adequate. Of course they are not, because of the state's determination to allow unlimited immigration and, with it, the end of the indigenous cultural identity. The tensions of what used to be called "multi-culturalism" are dangerous enough: but so are the practical issues.

Large parts of England will be concreted over to accommodate all these new people. There will have to be new roads, railways and airports. And since we are already full up, and our public services buckling, where are we going to put everyone?

Labour has covered up its failure to control our borders by saying that our economy needs immigrants. Well, if you are determined to have a welfare state that tolerates about eight million economically unproductive people of working age - the unemployed, those in "training" and those on various benefits because they believe they are unfit for work - then of course you will. It is time someone got serious.

The present Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has hardly put her head above the parapet on this one. Between now and the next census in 2011, she might like to do a little housekeeping. That means locating and deporting all those with no right to be here. It would not be that difficult.

More here



Va: Local legislation working

Supporters of the anti-illegal immigration measure adopted in Prince William County last week have argued that its most important purpose is to send a powerful signal to the county's mostly Latino illegal immigrants that they are no longer welcome. It appears the message has already been received: Terrified that new policies will lead to mass deportations, illegal immigrants and the many legal immigrant relatives and friends who live with them have been moving out of Prince William ever since July, when county supervisors first approved the plan's outline.

The size of the migration is difficult to measure, particularly during a year when slumping housing prices and skyrocketing foreclosures have led many residents to move for purely economic reasons. Still, signs of the growing climate of fear are everywhere. At the Freetown Market, a convenience store in a heavily Latino section of Woodbridge that offers U-Haul trucks for hire, one-way rentals have jumped from between 10 and 20 a month just before July to about 40 a month today.

In the same strip mall, at a money-transfer store where the customer line to pay utility bills once snaked out the door, business has slowed so dramatically the past three months that one clerk has been let go and the remaining one spends most of her time on the computer, e-mailing gloomy updates to relatives back home in Guatemala.

A few doors down, staff workers at the IMA English language academy will soon be taking the American flag decorations off the walls and moving to a smaller space, because the number of students has plummeted from 350 to about 60 since July. "There is a mass panic," said the academy's owner, Roberto Catacora. "Those who haven't already moved away don't dare step outside their houses."

Although one of the new measures directs county police to check the immigration status of only criminal suspects, many immigrants think that all Latinos will be subject to random sweeps, Catacora added. The effect on his once-bustling academy was palpable on a recent weeknight, when all but one of the six classrooms were deserted. Among the absent students was Jose Luis Pubeac, 42, a day laborer who sneaked into the country 18 months ago. He was busy preparing for his flight back to El Salvador on Saturday. "I was already thinking of going home, because I was having such a hard time finding work," said Pubeac, speaking on his cellphone as he raced around picking up presents for his five children back home. "But this law convinced me it was time. [They] hate us so much here."

More here





26 October, 2007

French crackdown approved

The French Parliament has passed a bill that will make immigration laws tougher for foreigners hoping to join their family members working in France. The controversial law requires prospective immigrants to pass tests in French and respect what it calls ''the values of the republic''.

What is causing a furore is that the law allows DNA tests to prove family links. Critics say the use of genetics for the selective immigration policy of the Sarkozy government stirs up memories of the Nazi occupation. ''What is serious is that this law is trying to say that immigrants can't have basic rights and the right to have a family life has been criminalised with this law that supports DNA tests,'' said Moulud Aounit, President, Movement Against Racism.

Most immigrants fear that this law will add fuel to the anti-immigrant sentiment making it even harder for them to find jobs and housing. Presuming that most immigrants provide fraudulent documents, the DNA tests, they feel, are a derogatory way to ask for proof of their family links. ''It's ok to ask immigrants to be well integrated and law abiding but these conditions are not human,'' said an immigrant.

While some have gone to the extent of calling this law xenophobic propaganda, others feel it's just an additional bureaucratic procedure. The fact that the law has already been passed in Parliament proves that even though the French have broad notions of how a family can be composed, for immigrants waiting to unite with their families the laws of genetics and descent will rule.

Source



Rudy Giuliani vows to curb illegal immigration in 3 years

If elected president, Rudy Giuliani wants to do for illegal immigration what he did for crime in New York City - reduce it dramatically within as little as three years. "It can be done. It is not impossible," Giuliani told an Iowa town hall-style meeting on Wednesday night. "You can do this, you can stop them at the border." To get the job done, Giuliani said he would boost the number of border patrol agents to 18,000 from the current 12,000 - much like he increased the size of the NYPD as mayor - and build a physical and "technological" border along the U.S.-Mexico border. "If you do this for two or three years, you'll change behavior," Giuliani said. "If people come to the border and figure they can't get in, they'll stop."

Giuliani has been touting his illegal immigration plans since last summer, but his pledge to put a time-limit on dealing with the problem - considered among the most complex on the domestic front - is a more recent addition. It comes as immigration continues capture the attention of GOP voters - and roil the Republican field - in ways few other issues have this election.

Rival Sen. John McCain supported a failed immigration bill that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for the roughly 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. That stance cost him backing of party conservatives who view that as granting amnesty.

On Tuesday, rival Fred Thompson proposed stripping some federal grant money from cities and states that do not report illegal immigrants to federal authorities. Thompson also called for stronger border security.

Giuliani said the nation needs first to stop illegal immigration before it can turn its attention to the legal immigration it needs to fill certain jobs. His plan includes issuing tamper-proof ID cards to all non-citizen workers and students, and a national data-base that would track the arrival and departure of every foreign visitor. Giuliani - who as mayor was considered among the most immigrant-friendly executives in the country - has stopped short of calling for the deportation of all illegal immigrants, saying deporting 12 million people is an unrealistic goal. But he has called for the immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

Source





25 October, 2007

Big effort halts DREAM bill -- fails cloture

But Reid says he will try again soon -- maybe just bluster. Senators were flooded with faxes and calls against this deceptive bill

Legislation to give some children of illegal immigrants a path toward legality failed a crucial Senate vote Wednesday, probably dooming any chance of major changes to the immigration system this year. Supporters needed 60 votes to advance the proposal, but the tally was 52-44. The measure would have allowed illegal immigrants who plan to attend college or join the military, and who came to the United States with their families before they turned 16, to move toward legality.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act _ DREAM Act for short _ was a popular part of a broad immigration plan that would have legalized as many as 12 million unlawful immigrants and fortified the border. That larger bill failed in the Senate in June. But proponents of the DREAM Act wanted to see if it would pass on its own. "Children should not be penalized for the actions of their parents," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "What crime did these children commit?" added Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate's No. 2 Democrat. "They committed the crime of obeying their parents and following their parents to this country. Do you think there was a vote in the household about their future? I don't think so." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said by blocking the bill, "Senate Republicans prevented a critical first step to address our nation's broken immigration system."

But Republican opponents of the bill said the plan was the first step to amnesty, which they said the Senate rejected in June. "I do not believe we should reward illegal behavior," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said. "This would be the wrong direction," added Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. "This would be to signal that once again we're focused on rewarding illegality rather than taking the steps necessary to create a lawful system."

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., saw a different problem. "I have grave reservations about seeing a part of comprehensive immigration reform going forward, because it weakens our position to get a comprehensive bill," he said. The White House opposes the legislation, but did not threaten to veto it. While sympathetic to children brought into the country illegally by their parents, the White House said in a statement the bill falls short by "creating a special path to citizenship that is unavailable to other prospective immigrants _ including young people whose parents respected the nation's immigration laws."

The immigration issue brings out passion from those on both sides of the issue. On Tuesday, GOP Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado called for an immigration raid on Durbin's news conference in the Capitol. Tancredo, who opposes the bill, said he suspected there might be illegal immigrants at the senator's news conference in favor of the bill. No one from immigration showed up, Durbin said later. There were no illegal immigrants there anyway, he said.

Source



GOP Finds Hot Button in Illegal Immigration

Special Election in Massachusetts Could Be Indicative of Democratic Weak Spot

When Republican Jim Ogonowski launched his long-shot bid for Congress, he prepared for an upbeat campaign in his Democratic, working-class district of Massachusetts, based on a winning r¨sum¨: affable hay farmer, former Air Force lieutenant colonel, and brother of an American Airlines pilot whose hijacked plane slammed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. But by last month, although opinion polling showed that he was well liked, he was still running 10 points behind Democrat Niki Tsongas with just weeks to go before a special election. The campaign needed a way to go beyond biography, to persuade Northern Massachusetts to vote Republican. They found it in illegal immigration.

On Tuesday, Ogonowski still fell short, but Tsongas's 51 to 45 percent victory was a shocker in a district where both John F. Kerry and Al Gore took 57 percent of the vote, and where liberal Democratic Rep. Martin T. Meehan served comfortably for eight terms. The underwhelming victory of the wife of deceased former senator Paul Tsongas has rekindled Democratic concerns about an immigration issue they had hoped had been put to rest. "This issue has real implications for the country. It captures all the American people's anger and frustration not only with immigration, but with the economy," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and an architect of the Democratic congressional victories of 2006. "It's self-evident. This is a big problem."

Republicans, sensing a major vulnerability, have been hammering Democrats, forcing Congress to face the question of illegal immigration on every bill they can find, from agriculture spending and housing assistance to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). House Democrats are so concerned that they have resumed talks on a new legislative push, even though the collapse of an immigration deal in the Senate this spring has left virtually no chance that a final bill can be passed in this Congress.

But even in the early stages of this renewed effort, negotiations have only underscored the party's problems. Some Democratic leaders want what they call a "mini bill," emphasizing border control, penalties on firms that employ illegal immigrants and stronger efforts to deny illegal immigrants government benefits. But Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), the point man on the bill, said he will never accept a measure that does not include a pathway to citizenship for the 12 million undocumented workers in the country. "I think the Democrats are on the wrong side of this issue, and if they continue down this path, they are going to lose a lot of seats," said Matt Wylie, a strategist for the Ogonowski campaign.

The issue has shifted since concerns about illegal immigrants triggered angry calls for border fences and deportation two years ago. Now, voter anger appears to revolve around the belief that illegal immigrants are unfairly consuming government benefits, a fear that stems more from economic uncertainty than culture clashes, Democratic and Republican pollsters say. Those concerns are not everywhere. But they are glaring in some of the white, working-class districts in Kansas, Indiana, North Carolina and New Hampshire that gave the Democrats control of the House last year. And they were on clear display in Lowell, Mass.

"Immigration played into the economic issue," said Francis Talty, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell who followed the Tsongas-Ogonowski contest. "Do you want illegal immigrants to get in-state [university] tuition? Do you want them to get driver's licenses? Do you want their children to get benefits under SCHIP? It was the benefit side that has real resonance, not the deportation thing."

A new national poll for National Public Radio, conducted by the Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, and the Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies, found that voters are more likely to side with Democrats than Republicans on war, taxes and spending, the economy, health care and health insurance for children, often by wide margins. On immigration, the Republicans hold a 49 to 44 percent lead.

More here





24 October, 2007

DREAM Act Offers Amnesty to 2.1 Million

New Estimate Shows Another 1.4 Million Family Members Could Also Stay

The Senate is currently considering the DREAM Act (S.2205). Some have argued that only 60,000 illegal immigrants would be granted amnesty annually under the Act, but a new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies of 2007 Census Bureau data shows millions of potential beneficiaries.

# An estimated 800,000 illegal immigrants under age 17 have been here long enough to qualify for legalization under the DREAM Act. There are a total of 1.7 million illegal aliens estimated to be under age 17.

# There are an estimated 900,000 parents of illegal aliens under age 17 who qualify. It is unclear whether the government would deport these parents.

# The DREAM Act is also unclear as to what will happen to the siblings of legalized illegals who are themselves illegal, but do not meet the Act's requirements. There are an estimated 500,000 of these siblings.

# The DREAM Act also allows illegal aliens ages 18 to 29 to legalize if they claim to have arrived prior to age 16. We estimate 1.3 million meet this requirement. There are a total of 4.4 million illegal aliens in this age group.

# Thus the total number of potential amnesty beneficiaries is 2.1 million (assuming no fraud). This does not include 1.4 million siblings and parents of qualifying illegals who may end up receiving a de facto amnesty.

# Prior legalization programs have been plagued by fraud. One-fourth (700,000) of those legalized in the 1986 amnesty are estimated to have done so fraudulently.

# Given the difficultly in determining whether an applicant meets the DREAM Act's amnesty requirements, coupled with the overworked nature of the immigration bureaucracy, fraud could be a significant problem.

Methodology: These estimates are based on a Center for Immigration Studies analysis of the March 2007 Current Population Survey (CPS) collected by the Census Bureau. No estimate is definitive, of course, but the Urban Institute, the Pew Hispanic Center, and the INS have all used the March CPS to estimate the size of the illegal population. We estimated that the survey included more than 11 million illegals in 2007. This is entirely consistent with prior research. The above numbers do NOT include those illegal aliens missed by the Census Bureau's survey. The Department of Homeland Security and other researchers have estimated that 10 percent of illegals are likely missed in Census Bureau surveys of this kind. Thus, the actual number of potential beneficiaries is almost certainly higher than the numbers discussed above.

We use the demographic characteristics of respondents to distinguish legal and illegal immigrants in the survey. We combine this with the estimated number of legal immigrants in the country. This method is based on some very well-established facts about the characteristics of the legal and illegal population and is consistent with other research that employs the same approach to estimate the illegal population.

Source



Background to the recent Swiss vote

The crime rate in cases of bodily harm, serious injury, and rape has risen by multiples over the past two decades. At the end of 2005, in which 29,952 convictions were made, only 48.8% of convictions were of Swiss nationals while the rest were foreign residents or illegal aliens, despite comprising only 20% of the population. And by the end of 2006, with 5888 people being interned in Swiss prisons, a whopping 69% were foreigners, mostly young males. Yet I have not seen these figures cited by such institutions of credibility like Reuters, unless used in a quote by an official who they've spent an entire article actively trying to discredit.

Violent crime is so rare in Switzerland that when it occurs, the community is shocked. It's simply un-Swiss. This is not to say that violent Swiss don't exist, but when the majority of such crimes are committed by immigrants while they only represent 20% of the population, the effect can only be magnified. A Turkish man who stabbed his wife to death in public a few years ago in Basel totally rocked the city.

What the SVP aims to do is introduce by either legislation or referendum a law that would deport immigrants who commit such serious offenses after they've served their jail terms. After all, they aren't Swiss citizens who have integrated into Swiss society, who obviously do not represent or profess their loyalty to the nation or its values, so why should they be allowed to stay? One of the more radical measures they aim to introduce is the deportation of an entire immigrant family for the most grievous crimes that a minor, under the wing of his parents, can commit. Yet this is not a one-size-fits-all formula; it would only apply in the most horrible of situations and would have to be approved by the judiciary. Things like murder, not traffic violations, would see this rule used.

The American press especially seems to look at the election in terms of its own majoritarian politics. Just because the SVP won the most seats with 29% of the votes doesn't mean anything in Swiss politics. The Federal Council, the country's executive branch, is made up of seven cabinet ministers who are chosen by the parliament. For decades, the Federal Assembly has used a "magic formula" to choose the ministers, assigning two portfolios to the three biggest parties and one to the fourth. This ensures that decisions are made by deliberation and consensus among all the parties, so with the SVP's only marginally better showing, this formula will likely not change. This ensures that any policy initiatives the SVP brings to the table will be watered down or met with opposition.

All in all, this Sunday didn't change Switzerland very much. The major difference was that rather than walking by the Rhein, voters brought their dogs to the voting booths instead. And like before, what they voted for above all else was a vote for Switzerland and Swiss-ness. If the press and international NGOs consider that to be abhorrent and xenophobic, well, who cares what they think? Switzerland is a patriotic nation even more so than just a country, and that nation wants its newcomers to fit in, not break the law, and be just as proud of being Swiss as they are.

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23 October, 2007

Immigration to increase British population from 60 to 75 milion

The number of people living in the UK is likely to exceed 75 million by the middle of this century, a population expert said. Oxford University professor of demography David Coleman has predicted the population will expand by at least 15 million by 2051, up from last year's figure of 60 million. Prof Coleman, who based his calculations on an updated model for counting migration adopted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said even that figure was likely to be an "underestimate". His projections are expected to be confirmed by Government population experts this week.

The ONS said last month their estimates for the number of people migrating to the UK had increased to 190,000 a year compared with 145,000 in calculations issued two years ago. It was thought the review was mainly due to higher numbers of eastern Europeans coming to Britain since their countries joined the EU.

Prof Coleman's calculations, disclosed in a memo to the House of Lords economic affairs committee, predict the UK population will reach 69 million in 2031 and 75 million in 2051. He has also told peers that the proportion of the UK population classed as non-white was on course to grow from 9% at the last census in 2001 to 29% in 2051.

The projection on population figures represents a significant adjustment to figures released in 2005 predicting the UK population increasing to 69 million by 2051. He said he used the updated ONS model for his calculations but did not factor in improvement in survival "so my figures are probably underestimates by one or two million".

He said: "The absent-minded commitment into which we have drifted, to house a further 15 million people, must be the biggest unintended consequence of government policy of almost any century. As it is by no means unavoidable, being almost entirely dependent upon continued immigration, it might be thought worthy of discussion. In official circles, there has been none."

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Swiss approve immigrant crackdown

A self-made billionaire who compares himself to a legendary hero who was impaled while repelling unwanted invaders led his right-wing party to victory in Swiss elections last night after a campaign marred by rows over racism. Christoph Blocher, the 67-year-old leader of the Swiss People's Party (SVP), is likely to push for a turn as president in the next four-year parliament after his strident anti-immigrant tone won widespread support in the Alpine republic.

As the votes were counted into the night, Mr Blocher's party and the left-wing Greens were the significant winners of an election that polarised normally consensual Switzerland and may threaten to shatter its cosy style of coalition government. An early exit poll predicted that the SVP will have the highest number of MPs, mainly because of a big drop in support for the Socialist Party. The SVP were put on 61 seats, up six, and the Socialists 43, down nine. The forecast gave the SVP 28.6 per cent of the vote, up two points on its 2003 showing.

Mr Blocher made an estimated SwFr3 billion (1.2 billion pounds) fortune by reviving a flagging chemicals company and is equally reviled and admired by the country's 7.5 million inhabitants. His fervently nationalistic speeches are peppered with references to heroes of Swiss history. Mr Blocher likens himself to Arnold Von Winkelried, a knight who reputedly threw himself on Austrian lances to create a hole in their defences, the crucial turning point in the 1386 Battle of Sempach. "Winkelried sacrificed himself for the community. A good politician must also be prepared to sacrifice himself for his country," Mr Blocher said.

Born into a poor family in Schaffhausen, in the north, Mr Blocher was the son of a Protestant pastor. His humble roots made him an outsider in the secretive world of Swiss banking and industry but being shunned by the Establishment seemed to spur his ambitions. Taking control of a struggling company that made plastics for the car industry, he turned it into a multi-national giant. As his business profile rose, so did his political career.

Mr Blocher made his name fighting proposals by successive Swiss governments that were put to the country under its referendum system for major national decisions. He said "no" to everything, campaigning successfully against United Nations membership in 1986, abolition of the Swiss Army in 1989, sending Swiss troops on armed peacekeeping missions in 1994 and EU membership in 2001. But he could not block a second vote on UN membership, which was carried in 2002.

His chosen political vehicle was the Swiss People's Party. Zurich, in the German-speaking sector of Switzerland, became the party's powerbase and criticism of immigration has been a constant theme. The main talking point of the election - a poster showing three white sheep booting a black sheep off a Swiss flag - was withdrawn before polling day. The SVP maintains that it was illustrating its policy of ejecting foreign criminals, while political rivals described it as clearly racist.

But there are signs of a backlash from within Mr Blocher's party. Adolf Ogi, the popular former President, said that the personality cult around the party leader was "completely unSwiss". "You do not solve the problems of the future with polarisation and naysayers," he said on the eve of polling.

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22 October, 2007

Immigrant crackdown coming in Switzerland?

The right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) is set to consolidate its position as the alpine nation's most popular grouping in a parliamentary election on Sunday, outstripping its rivals after a provocative campaign. Polling booths in Switzerland are due to close around midday (11 a.m. British time). A large proportion of Swiss ballots are cast by mail in advance of election day. The first estimated national result is due at around 1900 local time (6 p.m. British time).

According to the last opinion poll conducted before the election, the People's Party are expected to win 27.3 percent of the vote, a slight increase over 2003 when they raced to the top of the polls amid accusations of xenophobia. The SVP has again run a controversial campaign calling for the extradition of foreigners who commit serious crimes. It has been criticised by opponents and has ruffled the usually smooth waters of Switzerland's consensus-based politics.

Opposition to the SVP's campaign, which used posters calling for the "black sheep" of Swiss society to be booted out, spilled over into a rare outburst of violence on the streets of Berne earlier this month when police and left-wing activists clashed.

The SVP's nearest rivals, the Social Democrats, are expected to take around 21.7 percent of the vote, a decline from 2003, with the Christian Democrats seen winning 15.4 percent and the Free Democrats on 15.5 percent....

The country's approximately 4.5 million voters cast their ballots to fill 200 seats in the National Council, the lower house, on a proportional basis. They also elect 46 cantonal representatives to the Council of States, the upper house.

Analysts do not rule out the SVP and its pugnacious leader Christoph Blocher using its showing in Sunday's election to justify calls for a change in the composition of the Federal Council, the seven-seat National Executive. This would upset the so-called "magic formula" which in the past has given the three largest parties two seats each, with one for the smallest. This has traditionally ensured decisions are made by consensus. Those with two seats on the Council, which is elected by parliament, are the SVP, the Social Democrats and the Free Democrats. The Christian Democrats have one seat.

Source



The British National Party solution to high immigration into Britain is non-racial

Despite the common Leftist accusation that they are "Nazis"

Are you happy with the way London is changing? Are you happy about the increase in violent crime, or the shortage of affordable housing, or the congestion, or the shortage of doctors and dentists and the long hospital waiting lists, or the Muslim terrorists, or the change in London's population, or the failing schools, or the falling living standards, or the increases in taxation or the discrimination faced daily by the indigenous, white, British people? These are the changes brought to you, to London and to Britain as a whole, by the Labour and Conservative parties. These are the reasons that more and more people are turning to the British National Party as their only hope for a decent future for them and their children.

The BNP's message - that immigration is out of control and is damaging British society - is now becoming accepted by everyone. Even the government's own report has recently had to admit to the tip of the iceberg. But only the BNP has the courage and the honesty to propose solutions that are sensible, fair and workable. The other parties will make mealy-mouthed weasel-worded promises at election time but they will do nothing.

Excessive immigration is responsible for the housing shortage that has resulted in council housing not being available for British families, while immigrants are allowed to jump the queue because they are deemed to be in greater need; the politically correct politicians seem to have missed the point that these immigrants could have stayed at home in their own countries rather than coming here in the first place.

Immigration has also caused a greater demand for rental accommodation, which has pushed up rents and house prices. It was recently reported that four out of ten homes built in the last 10 years are needed just to house the most recent wave of immigrants.

Excessive immigration has led to increased crime levels. In February a police study identified 169 different gangs operating in London. Some of these gangs have over 100 members. In August it was reported that the number of gangs had increased to over 250! The police have admitted that the largest number of gangs are those made up of Afro-Caribbeans, followed by those made up of members who are Asian. Scotland Yard has also admitted that immigration is fuelling gang crime in London. Gun and knife crime have become daily occurrences. So far this year almost 20 teenagers - some as young as 14 - have been shot or stabbed to death on the streets of London.

Excessive immigration has placed a strain on the health service. The increase in AIDS and TB in Britain is due to immigration, and health tourists cost the NHS up to 2 billion pounds per year. Of course there are lots of doctors and nurses who have come from abroad, but there are also lots of British doctors and nurses, trained at public expense, who cannot get jobs. We do not need to import foreign medical staff - many of whom are poorly trained or cannot communicate easily in English. The pretence that we do is simply designed to con the public. It is also very unfair on those poor third world countries where these staff are genuinely needed.

Excessive immigration is damaging education standards in our schools. The flood of children who do not speak English is placing schools under enormous strain and means that teachers are diverted from teachers native children. Larger class sizes and more disruptive behaviour also reduce the quality of education to British children.

Excessive immigration reduces our quality of life. Congestion on the roads, buses and tubes is increased, homes are built over green land, our neighbourhoods are changed and our traditions are lost.

Excessive immigration increases our taxes. Britain is now officially recognised as one of the highest taxed countries in the world. Are you happy at having to pay ever more income tax, council tax, excise duties and stealth taxes? The pro-immigration fanatics in the LibLabCon parties and in the media realise that the British people are fed up of unrestricted, unlimited immigration and now try to pretend that immigration is good for the economy. We are told that migrant workers add up to œ6 billion to Britain's GDP (Gross Domestic Product), but this is utterly misleading garbage. Let's look at the truth.

Immigrants and ethnic minority communities send vast amounts of money back to their families in their home countries. These monies are known as `remittances' and are estimated to amount to around œ5 billion a year. This is money sucked out of our economy and lost. This means there is less money for local businesses and less money for local workers. These remittances are never included in the government's lies about the `value' of immigration.

The government says that immigration increases GDP, but in any normal economy an increase in population will always lead to an increase in GDP - this is meaningless. It is like saying that Africa's GDP is greater than that of Switzerland, so Africans must be better off - of course they're not! Official figures show that foreign workers make up over 12% of the workforce, but if they only add 6 billion pounds to GDP that means they are only increasing our GDP by less than 0.5%! [The UK's GDP is around 1,250 billion pounds].

Anyway, even if they do increase GDP by 6 billion, this doesn't take into account the cost to the taxpayer of immigration. A quick tally by one newspaper estimated the cost of immigration in terms of crime, healthcare, education and administration as over 8 billion pounds. Since this estimate was produced using official statistics it is likely that the true costs are much higher.

Furthermore, the use of GDP as a measure of economic or national well-being is utterly barmy. Consider this: crime increases GDP - is crime a good thing? If a criminal scumbag smashes your car window and steals your stereo you must then spend money on repairing your car and replacing your stereo. You are therefore injecting money into the economy, employing workers and raising manufacturing output. But has this improved your quality of life? Of course not! GDP is an extremely crude economic measuring tool, and it is next to worthless in telling us about our quality of life.

Excessive immigration increases unemployment and reduces wage levels. There are now over 5 million people in Britain receiving benefits instead of working, and the normal laws of supply and demand result in wages being depressed by the availability of more workers willing to do the jobs for less.

Of course we don't blame or hate the immigrants themselves and we hope nobody does, but the fact is that the current flood of uncontrolled immigration is BAD for Britain, BAD for London and BAD for YOU. Just think about it and you will see this is true. How has the vast number of immigrants flooding into Britain improved YOUR life?

Only the BNP will STOP all further immigration

Only the BNP will stop all further immigration - regardless of race. Only the BNP will target the TWO MILLION illegals in Britain and deport them - regardless of race. Only the BNP will deport all foreign criminals - regardless of race. Only the BNP will make sure that those granted British citizenship in recent years obtained this legitimately - regardless of race. And only the BNP will offer financial help to those immigrants here legally who want to make a better life for themselves in their home countries - regardless of race. These policies are fair, sensible and workable. These policies will improve the quality of life for everyone in Britain.

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21 October, 2007

One third of 'Londoners' born abroad

One in three people living in London was born abroad and at least another 10,000 foreign-born citizens are settling in the capital each month. Figures released today show that out of a total Greater London population of 7.4 million, about five million were born in Britain. The number of foreign-born Londoners increased from 2.3 million in June last year to almost 2.5 million 12 months later.

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, show the biggest foreign-born communities include Indians (almost 200,000), Bangladeshis (115,000), Irish (113,000) and Jamaicans (108,000). There are now just over 100,000 Poles living in London and there are also large Nigerian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan populations.

Merrick Cockell, chairman of London Councils, said the true figures could be even higher and called for more funding to help pay for essential services. "London boroughs are struggling to meet the increasing population's demands for services such as social care and waste, while central government reaps all the economic benefits from international migration," he said. "The Government must distribute these benefits in a fairer way." Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Jeremy Browne stressed cultural diversity brought huge benefits to the capital.

"London is a truly international city with a constantly evolving population," he said. "The success of our financial markets and business climate are attracting a wide range of entrepreneurs and workers. "That is creating a social vibrancy but the Government needs to respond to legitimate concerns about pressure on public services in some areas."

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said the amount of foreigners moving to Britain was "completely unacceptable" and called for an annual limit on the number of non-European Union migrants.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We know migration added about œ6billion to our economy last year and London has shared in the benefits." He said the independent Migration Impacts Forum would advise the Government on how migration affects public services and communities, both impact and benefits. A new points system, based on the Australia model, for immigration will be introduced next year.

Source



UK whites a minority in London classrooms

White British-born children are now the minority in many London schools, official figures showed today. In Tower Hamlets, 15 per cent of primary school pupils are classed as white British, while 63 per cent of their classmates come from Bangladeshi families. Tories said the figures, released by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, showed the changes were putting pressure on schools, which had to make sure those who did not speak English learned as soon as possible. Conservative immigration spokesman Damian Green said: "If they can't, and they are being taught in overcrowded classrooms, this makes it much harder for teachers to do their job."

While Asians now make up the majority of young children in several areas of London, others remain overwhelmingly white. In Newham, just under 12 per cent of primary pupils are white British, while the figure in Brent's secondaries is seven per cent, compared with 36 per cent who are classed as Asian, and 24 per cent black. Outside London, areas with the highest concentrations of ethnic minority pupils included Bradford, where 53 per cent of the primary school children are classed as white British.

In Blackburn and Manchester, less than 60 per cent of primary pupils were white British and in Birmingham the figure was 43 per cent. In Leicester, 41 per cent were white British, compared with 38 per cent of primary pupils who were Asian. Nationally, 21.9 per cent of primary school children were from ethnic minority backgrounds, up from 20.6 per cent last year. There was a similar rise in secondary schools.

In rural areas, the school population was almost entirely white. In Devon, 95 per cent of primary pupils were white British. The number of primary school pupils who do not speak English as their first language increased by about seven per cent on last year's figures to 447,000, or about one child in seven. Figures at secondary level showed a similar rise in pupils not speaking English as their first language to 342,000 in total.

When special schools are included, 798,110 pupils in England's state schools do not speak English as their first language. This is out of a total of 7.3 million children attending state schools. Schools minister Jim Knight said teachers were being given help to cope with children whose first language is not English.

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20 October, 2007

Thompson Raps Rivals on Immigration

Fred Thompson accused Republican campaign rivals Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney of being soft on illegal immigration Thursday, dismissing them as latecomers to the issue as they strive for the presidency. "I was walking the walk when others weren't even talking the talk yet," Thompson said at an appearance with supporters in Georgia.

He said he voted in 1996 to outlaw sanctuary cities, where city employees are not required to report illegal immigrants to federal authorities. "Along about that same time, Mayor Giuliani was supporting the concept of sanctuary cities," Thompson said. "Governor Romney certainly didn't say anything against sanctuary cities until recently."

Romney, who was campaigning in South Carolina, answered back, arguing that as Massachusetts governor he authorized state police to enforce federal immigration law and threatened to veto a measure allowing undocumented immigrant students to pay the same in-state tuition at state colleges as residents. "I've been running for president a lot longer than he has," Romney said derisively of Thompson. "I've been talking about sanctuary cities and illegal immigration from the very beginning. I welcome Fred Thompson into the race, but he needs to get in a little longer and look at the records of those of us who have been talking about these issues for some time."

Thompson, who has spent little time on the campaign trail since a GOP debate in Michigan Oct. 9, is planned a four-day trip to Florida beginning Saturday. In a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, he acknowledged he was caught off guard during his last visit to Florida when he responded to a question about oil drilling in the Everglades by saying, in part, "I'm not going to start out by taking this, that or the other off the table." His answer prompted Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to later say, "I wasn't completely overjoyed" with what Thompson had to say about Florida issues.

Thompson said, "I didn't think there was a serious proposal out there with regard to the Everglades and I probably treated it as such, but it's certainly not something that I would be for." In 2002, when Thompson was in the Senate, President Bush agreed to spend $120 million to buy oil and gas rights on 390,396 acres of federally protected land in the Everglades. The move prevented drilling on the land. "It's a national treasure and it's not to be messed with and I can't imagine anybody doing so," Thompson said.

In Georgia, Thompson said that to know where he would be on bedrock conservative issues, people need only look at his record. "I was a conservative then, I am a conservative today and I will be a conservative tomorrow," he said. The Giuliani camp responded by saying Thompson had voted as a senator against a stricter employment verification system and a measure that would have blocked illegal immigrants from receiving certain benefits. "Senator Thompson's missing a few pages from his screenplay," Giuliani spokesman Elliot Bundy said, a reference to Thompson's career as an actor as well as his years as a senator from Tennessee. Giuliani is a former mayor of New York.

Source



Securing the U.S. border is patriotism, not racism

By AL GARZA

I am Hispanic. I am an American. I am a Minuteman. These terms are not contradictory. During my youth, I served this country proudly in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, along with some great Americans. I now have that opportunity once again to serve my country with other great Americans, through my role with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. We are a volunteer organization filled with patriots who stand watch on our nation's borders in support of the brave men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol.

We are motivated by the rule of law and the need to secure the borders of the United States for the sake of our children and our grandchildren. Like our Founding Fathers, we are willing to sacrifice our lives and fortunes "in order to form a more perfect union," even when we are discouraged by the actions of our elected leaders in Washington. Minuteman Civil Defense Corps volunteers do not engage in hate speech, bigotry, violence, vigilantism or launch unjust personal attacks against law-abiding citizens. In fact, we are commissioned to witness to the injustice of the "we hate America crowd" led by the National Council of La Raza, which has exposed its true motives when it threatens Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser for refusing to fire Frances Semler from her appointed post on the park board without cause.

I urge the citizens of Kansas City to question the actions of the National Council of La Raza, a group that claims to stand for civil rights but extorts your mayor with threats of defamation and boycott if their demands are not met - demands that a grandmotherly civic leader be terminated for her affiliation with a patriotic organization. I find their actions demeaning to all Hispanic Americans, and undermining of our civil liberty and patriotism.

Our Minuteman mission is peaceful and responsible for saving the lives of hundreds who entered our country illegally and were left to die in the desert, be forced into prostitution or otherwise exploited for their cheap labor.

Securing the borders is pro-immigrant. Minutemen volunteers are showing the national security effectiveness that will result from the construction of a double-layered physical fence, and a simple increase in the number of Border Patrol agents and National Guard troops on our borders.

As citizens, we have a moral obligation to provide immigrants a safe passage - by our rules - while also protecting the citizens of the United States from invasion, disease and criminal behavior. The immigration problems we face can be resolved when employers, elected officials, the judicial system and law enforcement agencies at the local, state and national levels work together to enforce all immigration laws.

Minuteman activities are inclusive, conducted by men and women, naturalized as well as native-born citizens, college students and members of the Granny Brigade, who fill a void on a mission that continues to receive strong support from millions of Americans.

Our volunteers will travel from all over America to the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canadian borders next month for our national muster. They will observe and report illegal activity to the proper authorities. Furthermore, they will call, write and fax their members of Congress to voice their opposition to the ongoing lobbying campaigns advancing amnesty legislation.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps conducts our activities for the "general welfare" of all legal citizens of the United States and the protection of all innocent human life. Can La Raza really claim it does the same thing?

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19 October, 2007

Britain: Veteran Leftist slates 'open door' immigration

The economic benefit of immigration is miniscule compared to the cost argues Frank Field as he lays into Labour's 'open door' policy

The Government's open door policy on immigration has led to an unprecedented level of new arrivals. Over the last three years alone, something like two million newcomers have moved to these shores. Two reports out yesterday showed that the economic benefits are small, compared with the extra costs imposed on social services. While there is no doubt that most recent migrants have come here to work, the beneficial effects on the economy are less certain. A report by the Home Office claims that migrants add 6 billion pounds a year to the nation's income.

But, as MigrationWatch point out, the benefit is miniscule when you consider that this amounts to half a percent of total production and that new arrivals add at least half a percent to the population. So the effect on GDP per head is tiny. Importantly, the Home Office report didn't focus on the effect migration is having on the Government's welfare to work programme. The drive to get British unemployed into work is clearly being hampered by migration. What else can account for the fact that while three million new jobs have been created since 1997, the number of British people on out of work benefits has only fallen from 5.65 to 5.4 million? Most of the new jobs have been taken by immigrant workers. Why should a business bother to recruit and train the young British unemployed when they can get cheap and already qualified labour from abroad?

The second report from the Migration Impacts Forum, established to look at the social costs of migration, re-stated what everybody from the Local Government Association to the Head of Cambridgeshire police have said time and again. Eight different regions took part in a consultation and of these, five reported increased difficulties on crime, six experienced growing pressures with health services and seven drew attention to growing housing problems resulting from immigration.

Everybody is now agreed, after years of mis-management, that the level and rate of immigration needs to be checked and brought in line, not only with the particular business needs, but also with the resources available to deliver high quality social services. The open door policy on immigration should be over. But the Government will be unable to make this work under current EU agreements because new members of the EU have full rights to travel and reside in this country, and apart from temporary restrictions imposed on Bulgaria and Romania, to work here too.

Given that living standards in the old Eastern block are around one third of our own, it is no surprise they want to come here in large numbers. They will continue to do so until their economies catch up. But this will take decades. The Government must therefore begin talks on renegotiating the free movement of labour in the EU.

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An evil immigration bureaucracy

Almost bad enough to justify illegal immigration. What sort of bureaucracy admits that it "did not understand" what it was doing? "Don't care" would be more accurate. They had all the data they needed to understand. All they needed to do was look at it. Are they deliberately trying to discredit immigration control?

Three days after a 24-year-old college graduate spoke out on her immigration plight in USA TODAY, U.S. agents arrested her family - including her father, a Vietnamese man who once was confined to a "re-education" camp in his home country for anti-communist activities.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who chairs the House immigration subcommittee, on Tuesday accused federal officials of "witness intimidation" for staging a pre-dawn raid on the home of Tuan Ngoc Tran. The agents arrested Tran, his wife and son, charging them with being fugitives from justice even though the family's attorneys said the Trans have been reporting to immigration officials annually to obtain work permits.

Lofgren said she believes the family was targeted because Tran's eldest child, Tam Tran, testified before Lofgren's panel earlier this spring in support of legislation that would help the children of illegal immigrants. On Oct. 8, Tam Tran was quoted in USA TODAY. Her parents and brother were taken into custody Thursday. The family was released to house arrest after Lofgren intervened. "Would she and her family have been arrested if she hadn't spoken out?" Lofgren said of Tran, who was not at home for the raid but has been asked to report to Immigration and Customs officials next week. "I don't think so.

Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the Tran family's arrest "absolutely, unequivocally had nothing to do" with Tam Tran's advocacy. She said ICE agents began working on the case Sept. 28 and will now try to send the family to Germany, where the Trans lived for several years before coming to the United States. In the past, the German government refused the family's permission to return; Nantel said the U.S. government will now make an official request.

The raid marked the latest chapter in the Tran family's complex immigration odyssey. The family arrived in the USA 18 years ago from Germany, where the elder Trans ended up after the German navy rescued them at sea when they were escaping Vietnam. Both Tam Tran and her brother, Thien, 21, were born in Germany, but they have lived in the USA since they were young. Tam Tran received a bachelor's degree with honors in American literature and culture in December from UCLA. She has lobbied for the DREAM Act, which would give children of illegal immigrants a chance to obtain citizenship if they earn a high school degree and complete two years of postsecondary education or two years of military service.

In 2001, the Board of Immigration Appeals said the Tran family could not be deported to Vietnam because Tam's father had been persecuted there for his political beliefs. The board left open the possibility that the family could be sent to Germany, but German authorities wouldn't give them a visa.

Nantel said there are more than 324,000 people living in the USA who have been ordered deported but who can't be sent away because no country will accept them. It's ICE's job to find ways "to effect the judge's order," she said.

Bo Cooper, a Washington-based immigration attorney who this week agreed to take the Tran family's case free of charge, said he's puzzled that "the U.S. government would go and try to deport someone who doesn't have a criminal record and who has been given formal protection" because of his treatment at the hands of the Vietnamese government.

Nantel acknowledged the Tran family had been reporting to immigration officials regularly. Asked why they were arrested and charged with being fugitives, she said agents "did not understand the complexity of the case." She said ICE agents removed the family's electronic ankle bracelets Tuesday.

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18 October, 2007

Va. County OKs Immigration Crackdown

One of the nation's toughest local crackdowns on illegal immigration was unanimously approved by Prince William County lawmakers early Wednesday after a 12-hour hearing marked by emotional testimony and scuffles. The measures would deny certain county services to illegal immigrants, including business licenses, drug counseling, housing assistance and some services for the elderly. The county Board of Supervisors also gave police some funding to help them check the immigration status of anyone accused of breaking a law if an officer suspects the person is an illegal immigrant.

A group of 22 plaintiffs has already filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block the measures. They claim the measures violate equal protection laws and that immigration enforcement is a federal matter.

Nearly 400 residents and immigrants spoke for and against the measures during the 12-hour session that extended past 2 a.m. Wednesday. Supporters and opponents scuffled in the street before the meeting began Tuesday afternoon. More than 1,200 people crowded into the county government center for the emotional hearing. Some children of immigrants asked board members not to hurt their parents, and one woman ran out of the hearing in tears, saying the policy would separate her from her daughter.

The supervisors added a resolution with provisions addressing cost, fairness and public confusion on the issue. The resolution calls for the county to implement a public education campaign for immigrant communities and directs it to partner with a university or consulting group to study the fairness of the measures. "We don't want to be the kind of community that even allows the image that racial profiling is taking place," said Republican Supervisor Martin E. Nohe, who said he was concerned the measure would invite discrimination.

Supporters of the measure said illegal immigrants are breaking the law. "Where do you get off demanding services, rights and mandatory citizenship?" said Manassas resident Robert Stephens. "Who invited you? You cry for your rights? You have none."

Source



Migrant workers earn more than British

As a group, the Brits are a conspicuously lazy lot by U.S. or Australian standards so it would not be hard to work harder than them and earn more money. What the report below ignores, of course, is WHICH group earns the big money. At a guess I would put Australians, Americans and Germans at the top and Arabs and Africans way down

Immigrant workers are both higher paid and more reliable than their British counterparts and contributed £6 billion to economic growth last year, a Government study said yesterday.

However, a separate paper issued together with the study by the Home Office admitted there were complaints about the impact of immigration on housing and other public services. Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, said the research showed that ''in the long run, our country and Exchequer are better off with immigration rather than without it".

The report found that in 2006, record immigration pushed the number of foreign workers up to 12.5 per cent – or one eighth – of the labour force, compared to 7.4 per cent a decade ago. Since average output growth over this period was 2.7 per cent a year and migration contributed an estimated 15 to 20 per cent of this, the study estimated a contribution of 6 billion pounds from foreign workers – or 700,000 a day.

However, the figure does not take account of the costs of a growing population, for instance the impact on public services such as health, education and transport. But the overwhelmingly positive findings were last night challenged by academics.

Robert Rowthorn, an emeritus professor of economics at Cambridge University, warned that as well as putting pressure on services, large-scale migration would "undermine the labour market position of the most vulnerable sections of the local workforce". The study, the first official attempt to establish the economic and fiscal impact of the record levels of immigration seen in recent years, states that ''in the long run, it is likely that the net fiscal contribution of an immigrant will be greater than that of a non-immigrant". It also claims there is no evidence of foreign workers pushing British people out of jobs, although it presents no firm evidence for this.

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: ''Labour are being disingenuous again. "They are equating the effect of migration on aggregate GDP with its effect on GDP per head. They are also ignoring the fact that relying on immigration to boost the economy is a short-term answer. "What will they do for the million economically inactive under-25s in the country?" [Cut off their government dole?]

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17 October, 2007

Spitzer's Plan to Give Driver's Licenses to Illegal Aliens Compromises Homeland Security and Burdens New Yorkers

Charges FAIR in Testimony to the New York State Senate

In testimony submitted to the Standing Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs and the Standing Committee on Transportation, Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), urges legislators to reject Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposal to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Stein charges that the governor's political pandering to vocal interest groups and cheap labor employers would endanger the security of all Americans, while adding to the already significant burden that New Yorkers bear as a result of mass illegal immigration.

FAIR, the nation's leading immigration reform organization, represents some 12,000 members across New York State. Gov. Spitzer's plan, according to polls, is strongly opposed by a large majority of New Yorkers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and by county many county clerks who run local DMV offices.

"No Americans have suffered more and paid a greater price than the people of New York for lax attention to homeland security," says Stein. "All but one of the 9/11 terrorists who killed thousands of Americans -- the majority on the southern tip of Manhattan -- boarded flights without drawing unwelcome attention using valid U.S. driver's licenses. Investigators, including the 9/11 Commission, have all concluded that obtaining valid driver's licenses was critical to the terrorists' ability to carry out their mission. If Gov. Spitzer's plan is implemented, future terrorists in need of a valid U.S. identity document will be able to get one simply by proving that they can parallel park."

Stein dismisses Gov. Spitzer's contention that giving illegal aliens driver's licenses is necessary to ensure road safety in New York. "Gov. Spitzer's rationalization is essentially the same one President Bush used in seeking amnesty for illegal aliens," says Stein. "Rather than enforce laws against illegal immigrants, President Bush argued that we must give in to them and grant them legal status. Similarly, rather than enforce laws that New York uses punish other people for driving without licenses or without auto insurance, Gov. Spitzer is seeking to reward illegal alien scofflaws with the privilege of driving and a U.S. identity document. The American public rejected the idea of amnesty for illegal aliens, and New Yorkers firmly reject the notion of licenses for people who have no right to be in the country."

Issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens is likely to serve as a magnet for illegal aliens, warns FAIR. According to a 2006 report by FAIR, The Costs of Illegal Immigrants to New Yorkers, the state spends $5.1 billion annually to provide education and health care to illegal aliens, and to incarcerate criminal illegal aliens. "We have seen evidence of illegal aliens leaving states that have elected to enforce laws against illegal immigration in recent years," observes Stein. "If New York begins issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens, we are likely to see the reverse phenomenon as illegal aliens flock to New York. Greater risk to security and even heavier burdens on taxpayers is not most New Yorkers' idea of sound public policy."

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Time to Bring an End to the DREAM Act

The American people rose up out of their usual apathy and soundly defeated the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 that would have given amnesty to illegal immigrants. Now, some senators are trying to get Congress to pass a backdoor amnesty by calling it the DREAM Act, and it's really a nightmare for Americans. The cutesy title DREAM, which is meant to be a double-entendre, is an acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors.

The DREAM Act would allow any illegal immigrant of any age who entered the United States before age 16 and has a high school diploma or equivalent to enroll in any state university and pay only the in-state tuition rate. Being an illegal immigrant is the prerequisite to getting this preferential treatment, which is denied to legal aliens with valid student visas.

In-state tuition can amount to a taxpayer subsidy of up to $20,000 a year, depending on what the university charges students from the other 49 states. The illegal immigrant also becomes eligible for taxpayer-paid federal student loans and federal work-study programs, for which lawful foreign students are ineligible. There is no upper age limit; any illegal immigrant is eligible for this preference by declaring he entered the U.S. illegally before his 16th birthday. The illegal immigrant doesn't have to prove when he entered the U.S.; he can simply make a sworn statement.

But that's not all. The illegal immigrant would be rewarded with conditional lawful permanent resident, green card, status, which can be converted to a non-conditional green card. The immigrant can use his new legal status to seek green cards for the parents who brought him into the United States. The student has six years to convert his green card from conditional to non-conditional. He just needs to complete two years of study at a college or serve two years in the military, and if he has already had two years of college, he can convert his green card to non-conditional immediately.

The illegal immigrant who applies for the DREAM Act can count his years under conditional green card status toward the five years needed to attain citizenship. That's a fast track to citizenship that is not available to aliens who are lawfully present in the United States.

Section 4(f) provides that, once an illegal immigrant files an application, the government cannot deport him. A federal officer who shares with another federal agency any information on the illegal immigrant's application, such as admission of illegal entry, can be fined $10,000.

Giving in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants is so unpopular with many Americans that the only way a Congressman could support this bill is by hoping it passes before the public discovers how bad it is. Arizona's Proposition 300, which specifically bars Arizona universities from giving in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants, passed in 2006 with a majority of 71.4 percent. Support for in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants was the No. 1 issue that caused the upset defeat of former U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb. (the former University of Nebraska football coach) in his campaign for governor of Nebraska in 2006. He fumbled and endorsed in-state tuition for illegal immigrants while his opponent, Republican Gov. Dave Heineman, vetoed it and ran campaign ads against it.

The DREAM Act would give amnesty not only to illegal immigrants, but also give amnesty to 10 states that have been flagrantly violating federal law. The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act expressly forbids a state to give in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants unless that subsidy is also granted to all U.S. citizens nationwide. The DREAM Act would retroactively repeal that law, thereby saving the 10 states from punishment and equal-protection lawsuits filed by out-of-state U.S. citizens and law-abiding foreign students. The 10 states that have been engaging in a 21st century use of the 19th century theory called nullification, defying a federal law the state doesn't like, are California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington.

We are indebted to professor Kris W. Kobach of the University of Missouri-Kansas City for publicizing how the DREAM Act treats illegal immigrants more favorably than U.S. citizens and legal aliens. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has not been successful in attaching it to a defense authorization bill, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says he will bring it up in November. Tell your U.S. senators the DREAM Act must be defeated.

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16 October, 2007

States' Immigrant Policies Diverge

In Differences, Some See Obstacles For a National Law

In New York, state officials are about to offer driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and already have extended limited medical coverage to those battling cancer. In Illinois, the state legislature just passed a law forbidding businesses there from using a federal database to check the legal status of employees.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, recently passed some of the toughest immigration laws in the nation, including one making it a felony to "transport" or "harbor" an illegal immigrant -- leading some to fear that people such as school bus drivers and church pastors may be at risk of doing time. Tennessee's legislature this year revoked laws granting illegal immigrants "driving certificates" and voted to allow law enforcement officers to effectively act as a state immigration police.

As the Bush administration and Congress sit gridlocked on an immigration overhaul, states are jumping into the debate as never before. In the process, they are creating a national patchwork of incongruous immigration laws that some observers fear will make it far more difficult to enact any comprehensive, federally mandated bill down the line.

The number of states passing immigration-related bills has skyrocketed this year. No fewer than 1,404 pieces of immigration-related legislation were introduced in legislatures during the first half of 2007, with 182 bills becoming law in 43 states. That is more than double the number of immigration-related state laws enacted during all of 2006, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Some observers are alarmed by the trend, calling the widely divergent laws further evidence of America's cultural divide and saying they could pose new hurdles in reaching a national consensus on immigration. Piecemeal policymaking is opening the door to a flurry of legal battles -- the Department of Homeland Security, for instance, is suing Illinois for banning businesses there from confirming an employee's legal status through the federal E-Verify database, which state officials have called flawed and unreliable.

Others argue that the inability to reach a national solution has left states no choice. Governors are grappling with cities and towns that, in the absence of a national or state policy, have taken it upon themselves to pass local immigration laws either protecting or cracking down on illegal immigrants. This has occasionally lead to radically different regulations within individual states.

Still others assert that the rush of state activism has created an unforeseen opportunity. By viewing states as laboratories and studying the successes and failures of their various policies, Americans may find useful information, even a road map, for developing a national strategy. Perhaps the most compelling current example is Oklahoma, where a package of tough new laws will not only make it a crime to transport or harbor illegal immigrants, but will also strip such immigrants of any right to receive most health care, welfare, scholarships or other government assistance; penalize employers who hire illegal workers; and force businesses to verify the legal status of new hires.

That "comports with my philosophy that illegal aliens will not come to Oklahoma or any other state if there are no jobs waiting for them," said Randy Terrill, a Republican state legislator and the author of the bill. "They will not stay here if they know they will get no taxpayer subsidy, and they will not stay here if they know if they ever come into contact with one of our fine law enforcement officers, they will stay in custody until they are physically deported."

Hispanic business groups, citing school enrollment losses and church parish figures, say the laws, which start going into effect later this year, have caused as many as 25,000 undocumented workers to flee the state in recent months. The loss is being decried by the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association. "In major metro areas we are seeing people leave based on the perception that things are going to get bad for them and that this state doesn't want them here," said Mike Means, executive vice president of the association. "Now we're looking at a labor shortage. I've got builders who are being forced to slow down jobs because they don't have the crews. And it's not like these people are going back to Mexico. They're going to Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas, anywhere where the laws aren't against them."

Means said that while construction wages haven't yet gone up in Oklahoma, they are likely to do so if the shortage worsens. Advocates of such laws say that is precisely how strict regulations on illegal immigration can help American workers -- by forcing wages higher. But construction industry leaders counter that a wage increase in Oklahoma, where builders are already paying $15 to $20 an hour for labor in a state with low unemployment, would lead to a net loss of jobs as some businesses are forced to close, particularly if other states allow less stringent hiring practices.

More here



A need to tell the whole story about Mexican illegals

Post below lifted from Van der Galien. See the original for links

Ruben Navarrette says that Americans cannot blame immigration on Mexico and that country's economic policies.

Oh, it's true that the United States is a country of immigrants. But in this case, what matters is that this also happens to be a country full of people who hire illegal immigrants. There is only one reason why so many Mexicans want to come to the United States: because there are so many jobs waiting for them here. Some Americans still prefer to blame Mexico for illegal immigration. Of course, why wouldn't they? That sure beats taking their share of responsibility for it.

This is a great point. Like drugs, the other illegal import problem the U.S. has with its southern neighbors, the demand for labor creates the northward flow, at least when viewed from a simplistic economic model. More:

These people are here illegally, and yet you hire them to clean your toilets, reserving the right to bellyache about them and what they're costing you. It's the first act - hiring illegal immigrants - that sets the rest of the story in motion. I have a solution: Clean your own toilets, or at least make sure that those who clean them for you are in the country legally. Or, shut up already.

Strong medicine, tastes bad. And this would be good advice except for one little detail - the Bush administration's new plan to require employers to verify their workers' Social Security numbers was recently blocked by Federal Judge Charles Breyer of California, a ruling that caused a justifiably exasperated California congressman to wonder:

"What part of `illegal' does Judge Breyer not understand? " asked Representative Brian P. Bilbray, Republican of California and chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus. "Using a Social Security number that does not belong to you is a felony. Judge Breyer is compromising the rule of law principles that he took an oath to uphold."

Navarette is correct in saying it's not that simple, especially when a judge like Bilbray decides to take the law into his own hands. How are we supposed to enforce the laws of the land with lawbreakers like this individual sitting on the bench? While feeling sympathy for the plight of illegal aliens - many of whom have given up everything for the chance at success here - is admirable, it is inappropriate for the judiciary branch to dictate immigration policy with the gavel. Breyer's justification for his ruling?

Judge Breyer chastised the Department of Homeland Security for making a policy change with "massive ramifications" for employers, without giving any legal explanation or conducting a required survey of the costs and impact for small businesses.

His concern is for American business' compliance costs? Right. The ruling makes me suspect that Judge Breyer's sympathies are more closely aligned with those of former Mexican President Vincente Fox than the American people's. Fox, who is currently traveling the U.S. to promote his memoirs, said:

"The xenophoblics, the racists, those who feel they are a superior race.they are deciding the future of this country [the United States].".. "What I perceive here is fear in this nation."

So it has nothing to do with the fact illegal workers driving down wages and creating communities of non-citizens that cannot integrate with American society? It's all about race? Hardly.

And when queried about what Lou Dobbs says are the 50% of Mexicans who live in poverty - a number disputed by Fox - and why Mexico has a policy of exporting workers, Fox denied that Mexico has such a policy, saying: "We need that talent, that productivity in Mexico."

That's very true, as I've said before. But that talent has to have opportunity and hope in order to flourish. Mexico's corrupt leadership and high tax rates are a bad combination that make entrepreneurs' lives miserable. Defending Fox, Navarrette said:

It's not that simple. Mexico has now had just seven years of democracy under the rule of Fox's National Action Party - following on the heels of more than 70 years of corrupt governance at the hands of the Institutional Revolution Party. The United States has had more than 200 years to get democracy right, and it still has to work out the kinks now and then.

Also true. What Navarrette leaves unsaid is that the PRI's corruption is still alive and well in Mexico. Until this feature of the government is rooted out Mexico will be unable to provide real economic opportunities for its people.

All of this brings us back to Navarrette's assertion that illegal immigration is caused by the U.S.'s demand for low cost labor. This is true, of course. But it's not so simple, Ruben. Mexico's failure to create a functional economy means the pay rate in Mexico is unbelievably low (even Fox admits that 18% of Mexicans subsist on < $2 per day). This fact forces Mexican workers to flee their homelands and brave the unknown here in the U.S. in spite of the hazards involved. Both supply and demand create the problem and it's time that Mexico's leaders tell the truth about that.





15 October, 2007

Denmark allowing increased LEGAL immigration

The need for opening up for foreign working power is turning the Danish Immigration Service upside down. Today the agency, that used to be a brake block for immigration, is to help qualified foreign labour entering the Danish labour market as quick as possible.

Labour is in short supply in Danish companies. "I am afraid that some companies give up trying recruiting from abroad because they think that it will be to difficult to get a work permit and that it takes to long. That is an image that we want to get rid of by explaining how easy it actually is, states managing director Henrik Grunnet the Danish Immigration Service.

"We no longer focus so much on stopping immigration. There is another need and we have another mission today. We simply have to centre of attention more on service," he says.

Head of department Erling Brandstrup from the Business Office at the Danish Immigration Service explains that the Service will pay a visit to a number of business organisations in order to inform about the regulations on recruiting from abroad: i. e. the time schedule for the casework, and the aims of the Service.

Source



The changing Irish scene

After more than a century and a half of emigration, Ireland began to become a nation of immigrants in the mid-1990s. Its ongoing economic boom triggered the influx of people from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as the return of former Irish emigrants. Now, 10 percent of the Irish population was born elsewhere, including actor Bisi Adigun, the founder of Arambe Productions, Ireland's first African theater company.

Now, it's very common to see people of different creeds and ethnicities," he says by telephone from his home in Dublin, where he has lived for 11 years. "Things have changed very quickly in the last decade, culturally, politically." ...

"Without any doubt, the discourse about immigration has been going on for 10 years," Adigun says. "There were Irish who said, 'They will dilute our culture.' Others said, 'Don't forget, we're travelers, too.' People left their family for a better life elsewhere."

That was the case with Adigun, who left Nigeria when he was 25. "I was in my prime," he says. "I had just finished my degree, but I didn't think I could fulfill my dreams. ... People immigrate because they have to." Adigun left Nigeria in 1993 and moved to London for three years and then to Dublin in 1996.

"I just fell in love with it, really, and I've been here since," he says. "Basically, the hustle and bustle of London was too much for me. I was very busy, and London is a very big city. I had a very isolated feeling." In Ireland, Adigun says, he found a sense of humanity in the people and the way life is lived. "I found London very regimental," he says. "I liked the looseness (of Dublin). Things have changed, of course."

Source





14 October, 2007

Texas city thrust into U.S. spotlight by many ICE arrests

Mayor calls it 'example' for others; opponents see racial profiling

Irving's Heritage District, City Hall and police headquarters are getting a lot of national face time these days. All for a federal program that's not new and far from unique to the richly diverse city. But ever since the Mexican consul warned immigrants to avoid Irving, city officials haven't been able to keep the satellite trucks away. In recent weeks, national networks and news shows such as CNN, Good Morning America and ABC World News have used the city as the backdrop for one of the nation's most divisive topics - illegal immigration. "I would characterize us as being held up as an example for other cities to follow," Mayor Herbert Gears said. "This national debate is raging on all over the country."

Other cities have previously found themselves in the national spotlight on illegal immigration - Farmers Branch, Hazleton, Pa., and Riverside, N.J., among them. But unlike those cities, Irving isn't getting recognition for drafting ordinances aimed at keeping illegal immigrants away. The attention is focused on Irving's use of the Criminal Alien Program, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiative that's long been open to any municipality wishing to participate.

And Irving isn't the only city in the nation - or even in North Texas - using the program. But Mr. Gears said his city - which has turned over more than 1,600 arrestees since last year - leads the nation in the number of people in jail on whom ICE places detainers under CAP. Local ICE officials said the agency does not track numbers nationally by individual law enforcement agencies.

A recent spike in the number of detainers placed on Irving arrestees has drawn the ire of the Mexican consul and former Mexican President Vicente Fox and sparked a City Hall protest. "Immigration as a domestic issue is one of the hot topics of the day," said Carl Rusnok, spokesman for ICE in Dallas.

Irving's use of the program has divided Hispanic and community activists over how best to voice their concerns with city officials. And groups on opposite sides of the debate will converge at City Hall today in dueling rallies. But the program has also united a City Council that a year ago quarreled over how to combat illegal immigration. "It has been a tumultuous year of pretty heavy debate," council member Beth Van Duyne said. "But now I think we're all on the same page and supporting each other. And I'm really proud that we're doing that."

Irving police began using CAP last year. Its purpose is to detain illegal immigrants who have been accused of a crime. The program provides for around-the-clock communication with federal authorities. Supporters call the program a reasonable way to deal with a problem created by decades of lax enforcement and federal attention. Opponents say police are racially profiling in their arrests, and effectively handing over for deportation people who have committed minor traffic offenses.

Ms. Van Duyne said that with their unproven claims of wrongful arrests, activists unfairly drag police through the mud and shift blame to those who uphold the law rather than those who break it. "It's deplorable," she said of the claims. Police "are following the law. They are enforcing the law. That's their job."

The heightened attention to Irving has surprised many residents and officials. "That's the biggest shock about the news media - we didn't start something new. We're just enforcing the laws we already have," council member Allan Meagher said.

But to Irving resident Dar Hackbarth, it's not surprising that a city with Irving's demographic makeup would be in this position. Mr. Hackbarth moved to the city in 1999 because it was home to the Dallas Cowboys and Las Colinas, a leading urban center with corporate goliaths. But he also fell in love with Irving's diversity - one-third of the city's population is foreign-born, and nearly two-thirds are minorities. "One of the reasons this makes such an interesting news story is because we are a diverse community," he said. "We have residents of many cultures who have been here for many years. You have an interesting mix of opinions."

Anthony Bond, a minority leader and member of the new activist group Irving Forward, said the publicity is creating false impressions about Irving. "It's giving the city a black eye," he said. "It's making us seem like a community full of hate, and that's the furthest thing from the truth." Jan Killen has lived in the city for more than 40 years. She hopes outsiders will see Irving as a city grappling with a divisive issue that the entire nation faces. "If we can continue to tweak this CAP program and do it well and try to get dialogue going - and I know there already is some of that - we can maybe start being an example of a city that's working through this," she said. "Because it's not easy."

Source



US Chamber of Commerce CEO calls for increased legal immigration

I don't think many Americans would deny that immigration can be beneficial -- as long as America gets the choice about who comes. LEGAL immigration is the way to go

The president and chief executive officer of the US Chamber of Commerce has called for an increase to legal American immigration to keep the economy growing, reports the Arizona Republic newspaper. In a conference speech to business leaders in Phoenix, Thomas Donohue insisted the US Congress must readdress the issue after failing to pass immigration reforms earlier this year.

The president and chief executive officer of the US Chamber of Commerce has called for an increase to legal American immigration to keep the economy growing, reports the Arizona Republic newspaper. In a conference speech to business leaders in Phoenix, Thomas Donohue insisted the US Congress must readdress the issue after failing to pass immigration reforms earlier this year.

"If we take a hard look at the reality of immigration on our economy, we can reach consensus. We don't have any choice. The US is creating more jobs than workers, and we need immigrants to balance the equation. "We can either force companies to move offshore. We can either make the US dependent on other countries for our food supply, just like we are for oil or we can have a system of bringing the workers into our country," he explained.

Anyone applying for an American visa should begin by taking the American Visa Bureau's online American visa application to see if they meet the basic legislative requirements.

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13 October, 2007

Gang Members Illegally in U.S. Are Arrested in Federal Sweep

About 1,300 violent gang members who are in this country illegally were arrested in a three-month summer crackdown, federal officials announced Tuesday. "We've arrested quite a number of very serious criminals - individuals who frankly have worn out their welcome by coming into this country illegally and committing more crimes when they got here," said Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary of homeland security for immigration and customs enforcement.

Of the 1,313 individuals arrested this summer, 939 will be charged with immigration violations, and 374 were detained for criminal prosecution in federal, state or local courts. The operation also led to the arrests of 261 people who officials say were not affiliated with gangs but were in the country illegally. "If we can't prosecute them criminally, or they are here in the country illegally, we will have them deported," Ms. Myers said.

There were 205 arrests in New York City and Long Island, and 27 in Newark. Agents also arrested 160 people in Miami, 128 in San Diego and 121 in Dallas. The crackdown, led by federal agents from the immigration and customs agency, is part of a larger program called Operation Community Shield that was begun in February 2005 to dismantle street gangs. The Department of Homeland Security said the program had led to about 7,500 arrests involving violent gangs, including Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, whose members are from El Salvador, Honduras and other Central American countries.

The announcement on Tuesday of the arrests followed a request last week by a Long Island official, Thomas R. Suozzi, asking Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, to investigate "serious allegations of misconduct and malfeasance" by federal agents in executing arrest warrants in several raids in Nassau County on Sept. 24 and 26. That complaint by Mr. Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, said the agents did not properly inform local law enforcement agencies of their suspects, relied on outdated addresses and engaged in undisciplined conduct.

Ms. Myers said Tuesday that agents worked with the "best available evidence" to identify gang members and were cooperating with the government of El Salvador to share intelligence.

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California landlords must not ask about immigration status

California has become the first state to prohibit landlords from asking tenants about their immigration status, drawing sighs of relief from property owners who were concerned they might have to be "de-facto immigration cops." The law signed this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger prevents cities from punishing landlords who rent to illegal immigrants. More than 90 communities nationwide have tried to curb illegal immigration by proposing crackdowns on property owners who rent to them or businesses that employ them, among other measures.

Supporters of tighter immigration control said the California law would prevent local governments from acting on an issue where the federal government has failed. "It's clear that Washington, D.C., doesn't want to deal with this problem," said Rick Oltman of Californians for Population Stabilization. "You have cities that want to deal with the problem and this bill would stop them."

California's law "certainly adds salt to the wound for mayors who are trying to protect their legal residents and their budgets from the burden of illegal immigration," said Mayor Lou Barletta of Hazleton, Pa., which passed an ordinance last year penalizing landlords and employers who do business with illegal immigrants. The rule was struck down in federal court as unconstitutional. The city is appealing.

California, which has more immigrants than any other state, is home to as many as 2.8 million illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Landlords were concerned that, without the law, they could be forced to take on the cost and liability of enforcing federal immigration laws. "We have huge anti-discrimination obligations," said Nancy Ahlswede, executive director of the Apartment Association, California Southern Cities. "We understand the frustration, but that burden shouldn't be placed on landlords." If the law had failed, she said, property owners were worried they might have to serve essentially as immigration agents, policing their properties for illegal tenants.

Immigrant-advocacy organizations argued that any rule requiring landlords to pry into their tenants' immigration status would infringe on privacy and the federal government's authority. "If the federal government wants to go after someone, they can do that, but a city can't," said Kristina Campbell, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, who helped sue Escondido, Calif., after it passed an ordinance punishing landlords who rent to undocumented immigrants. The lawsuit was later settled out of court, city officials said.

Advocates also said any proposition that orders landlords not trained in immigration law to determine a tenant's immigration status could risk discrimination. A property owner trying to hazard a guess about someone's immigration status could rely on that person's appearance or accent, said Reshma Shamasunder, director of the California Immigrant Policy Center. Greg McConnell, who has two rental properties and helped organize landlords in Berkeley to support the bill, said he's just glad to be out of the "bitter and inflammatory" immigration debate. "It's not a question of where landlords stand on the immigration issue. It's a question of who's to enforce those laws," he said.

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12 October, 2007

Judge delays key attack on illegal immigration