General Immigration Commentaries

[nineten]

The ugly Mexican-American immigration debate

Immigration debate filled with racism, says columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Debate needs more honesty, a ban on hypocrisy, Navarrette says

Columnist: Ugly tone of immigration discussion offends me as an American


By Ruben Navarrette Jr.


........Ruben Navarrette Jr.: "As a Mexican-American, I needn't choose between being Mexican and American. I'm both."..........

........ As a Mexican-American, that's how I feel when someone takes note of my support for comprehensive immigration reform, or my opposition to absurd "solutions" to the immigration problem, and concludes that I'm more Mexican than American. ......

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/14/navarrette.mexican/?iref=hpmostpop

[nineten]

Our View: Immigration enforcement proves costly

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/immigration_62801___article.html/illegal_county.html

[nineten]

Chertoff: Don't expect any changes in immigration enforcement. (Businesses)

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says he feels the pain of employers pinched by the federal government's intensified efforts to control illegal immigration. But until Congress enacts broad immigration reforms, businesses shouldn't expect any changes in enforcement.

http://www.fresnobee.com/384/story/521986.html

[nineten]

Immigration: Mexicans who want Mexicans to stay home

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2008/04/mexicans-who-wa.html

[nineten]

U.S. to Expand Collection Of Crime Suspects’ DNA

The U.S. government will soon begin collecting DNA samples from all citizens arrested in connection with any federal crime and from many immigrants detained by federal authorities, adding genetic identifiers from more than 1 million individuals a year to the swiftly growing federal law enforcement DNA database.

The policy will substantially expand the current practice of routinely collecting DNA samples from only those convicted of federal crimes, and it will build on a growing policy among states to collect DNA from many people who are arrested. Thirteen states do so now and turn their data over to the federal government.

The initiative, to be published as a proposed rule in the Federal Register in coming days, reflects a congressional directive that DNA from arrestees be collected to help catch a range of domestic criminals. But it also requires, for the first time, the collection of DNA samples from people other than U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who are detained by U.S. authorities..............


http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/us-to-expand-collection-of-crime-suspects-dna/3023/

[nineten]

Churches seek unity of black and Hispanic communities

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/apr/21/churches-seek-unity-of-black/

[nineten]

Perspectives: Why People Come

by Paul Apostolidis
Apr 25, 2008, 23:09 Email article
Printer friendly

On May 1, 2006, immigrants and their allies staged historic work stoppages and marches for justice across the United States and abroad. That day, I took the Whitman College students in my course on “Politics and Religion” to the main park in Walla Walla, Washington, where our college is located. As Mexican American teenagers shouted hip-hop riffs into a microphone, families spread out a pot-luck lunch, and community college students held break-out sessions on immigration reform, my students and I discussed contemporary Christian perspectives on immigration. We looked closely at two documents: the 2003 joint statement on migration by the U.S. and Mexican Catholic bishops, “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope,” and a recent speech by Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention..........

http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_11060.shtml

[nineten]

Judge dismisses claims related to Minnesota immigration raid in 2007

http://www.startribune.com/local/18094699.html

[nineten]

Orange trooper's sentencing postponed for birth of child

Graham man pleads guilty to fondling Hispanic women during traffic stops


-HILLSBOROUGH (north carolina????)

http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/trooper_12831___article.html/sentencing_client.html

[nineten]

New study builds on old one to track Mexican American Progress

After finding questionnaires from a 1965 survey in a UCLA basement, two professors followed up with about 700 of the participants and their children.

The news is good and bad.

By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 27, 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mexstudy27apr27,1,3434451.story

[nineten]

((Interesting to know immigration is being touched on in soap operas))

DAYS OF OUR LIVES (Soap Opera)

To save Bo, Hope and Kayla, Steve agreed to make love with Ava, until Kayla unexpectedly arrived in the room. Bo freed himself and overpowered the guards, as Abe and Roman arrested Ava. Later, a knife-wielding man abducted Stephanie. John intended to clear Paul’s reputation and use him against the Kiriakis family. As Chelsea battled a high fever, it was clear she has strong feelings for Daniel. EJ

*received a notice for his final immigration hearing and told Sami that her actions will determine his fate.*

Chloe was stunned by Nicole’s revelation that Victor has always known where Brady is.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/apr/27/all-my-children/

[nineten]

U.S. gets immigration right
France goes down the path to potential bigotry

By Ruben Navarrette
ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com
Sunday, April 27, 2008

SAN DIEGO — The United States does a better job with immigration than any other country in the world. That's right, even with its broken border, missed messages, recurring xenophobia and all the shouting on talk shows, other nations — particularly in Europe — are far worse in their treatment of immigrants.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/us-gets-immigration-right/

[nineten]

UFW to try to recruit Mexican laborers to work in U.S.

By Garance Burke
The Associated Press
Sunday, April 27, 2008

Gary Kazanjian / AP Simon Sangerman, a permanent U.S. resident, picks vegetables about 55 miles from Fresno. He and 14 other U.S. workers were laid off in March at the same time the company tried to bring in a foreign crew, according to a UFW official.

HURON — Weary of waiting for Congress to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, the United Farm Workers is marching forward with a plan to recruit Mexican laborers to pick crops on U.S. farms.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/ufw-to-try-to-recruit-mexican-laborers-to-work/

[nineten]

Daniel Griswold: Immigration law should reflect our dynamic labor market

12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, April 27, 2008

Daniel Griswold is director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute in Washington. His writings on immigration can be found at www.freetrade.org; e-mail him at dgriswold@cato.org.

Among its many virtues, America is a nation where laws are generally reasonable, respected and impartially enforced. A glaring exception is immigration.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-griswold_27edi.ART.State.Edition1.46527e0.html

[nineten]

Who Should Enforce Current Immigration Laws?

WHAT SHOULD STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS DO ABOUT IMMIGRATION, WHICH IS LEGALLY A FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY?

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1445144/

[nineten]

Christie: Illegal Immigrants Aren't Criminals

...While Christie told the audience it doesn't take a "genius" to see there's a "serious immigration problem" in this country, he stressed an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal unless that person re-enters the country after being deported...

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1209357345236870.xml&coll=1

[nineten]

Hispanic congressmembers attack CNN over Lou Dobbs

China isn't the only one mad at CNN.

Leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a coalition of 21 Latino congressmembers, dispatched a letter Friday...

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Hispanic_congressmembers_mount_attack_on_CNN_0428. html

[nineten]

Mexican Senate approves bill to end criminal penalties for undocumented migrants

The Associated PressPublished: April 29, 2008


MEXICO CITY: Mexico's Senate has voted unanimously to remove criminal penalties for undocumented migrants.

Some officials acknowledge that harsh immigration laws here have weakened Mexico's argument for better treatment of its own migrants in the United States.

Monday's measure must still be approved by the lower house, which passed a different version earlier.

Current law establishes punishments of one-and-a-half to six years in prison, but such penalties are seldom applied. Undocumented migrants are simply deported.

The proposed new law would make undocumented immigration a minor offense punishable by fines of about US$475 (€300) to US$2,400 (€1,540). Most of Mexico's undocumented migrants are from Central America.

((end of article))

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/29/america/LA-GEN-Mexico-Illegal-Immigration.php

[nineten]

Annual study finds Houstonians' attitudes sour toward immigration

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-04/ru-asf042908.php

[nineten]

U.S. payday is something to write home about

Immigrants send $1 billion a month to families still living in Mexico

Inside his little Western wear store tucked in a corner on East Riverside Drive, Francisco Javier Aceves can't help but feel a kinship with the angular young men who come in to buy jeans, cowboy boots, phone cards and cell phones. As sure as a regular payday, they come in also to wire money to their families back home in Mexico, in places such as Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas and Oaxaca.

http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/archive/1214payday.html

[nineten]

Filmmakers take immigration debate to YouTube

Prince William VA

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/05/01/immigration.lens/

[nineten]

Commentary: Marches won't bring immigration reformStory Highlights
Immigration activists again take to streets demanding to be heard

Marchers want comprehensive reform plan from next president, Navarrette says

Some blame Mexico for allowing inequities to occur, columnist says

By Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- They're baaaack.


Ruben Navarrette Jr.:

To achieve real change, illegal immigrants must become legal voting citizens.

Today, in a scene reminiscent of what happened on May 1, 2006, thousands of immigration activists in dozens of U.S. cities have once again taken to the streets to make their voices heard, to make demands on behalf of illegal immigrants, and to make a stand against what many see as a surge of anti-Mexican hostility in this country.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/01/navarrette/

[nineten]

Competing House bills use databases to check workers' legal status

Analysts say plans are election-year bids to tackle immigration

Washington - With little prospect of overhauling the nation's immigration laws before the presidential election, members of Congress are attempting to address the issue in a more piecemeal fashion.

These lawmakers also want to create a system that would allow companies to confirm the identities of job applicants through background checks and biometrics such as a thumbprint.

..."We think we've come up with a good solution that applies 21st-century technology, that looks out for the rights of individuals and that gives employers what they need in order to make sure they have a safe and secure legal work force," Ryan said.

Observers said neither bill is likely to become law this year. But they give lawmakers a chance to show voters supportive of stricter immigration policies that they are trying to do something on immigration.

...Supporters said the system would flag the use of valid Social Security numbers by multiple people, a tactic illegal immigrants often use to obtain jobs.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=748873