Illegals Today

Legal immigration benefits our society

2012-02-19T08:13:00.002-05:00

Alexander Boldyrev and colleagues at Utah State University, Logan, working with Lai-Sheng Wang and colleagues at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island have synthesized a planar boron compound that has the highest coordination number of any flat molecule, squeezing ten spoke-like bonds to boron atoms into a wheel. This astounding feat of engineering not only breaks previous records for such compounds but offers new insights into bonding, coordination and the development of boron chemistry. (Alchemist Newsletter)

Naturalized U.S. citizen Alexander Boldyrev, professor of Theoretical Computational Chemistry at University of Utah, Salt Lake City did his undergraduate and master’s level work at Novosibirsky University and PhD at Moscow State University, and his Dr. Science (highest degree in USSR) at Institute of Chemical Physics, USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow, in 1987.

Lai Sheng Wang received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Wuhan University in 1982 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 1990. His current Vita shows 322 publications where he is the first author.

Obama appoints an advocate for illegals

2012-02-16T16:41:00.000-05:00

Victor Davis Hanson writes: "President Barack Obama recently assured El Salvador that the United States would not deport the more than 200,000 Salvadorans residing illegally in the United States. As the election nears, and the president looks to court Hispanic voters, he has also created a new position of “public advocate” for illegal immigrants, whose duties would appear to be advocating that millions circumvent, rather than follow, current federal law.

So who are the victims, and who is pushing this agenda to bring in more illegals?

Read here.

"Under some convoluted logic, the administration appointed a public advocate for illegal immigrants and their lobbyists. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, touted the appointment as a positive move for the “stakeholders.”

Andrew Lorenzen-Strait was appointed as the public advocate to handle questions and issues regarding the “stakeholder community involved in immigration policy and enforcement...Engaging stakeholders and building partnerships to facilitate communication, foster collaboration and solicit input on immigration enforcement initiatives and operations.” (ICE press release)

The “stakeholder community” who entered the country or reside here illegally now have their very own public advocate. The agency that is supposed to enforce the laws of the land against them gave the stakeholder community an ombudsman."

Washington Times article

Lorenzen-Strait has been with ICE since 2008, and last year made over $112,000. This job will probably be at a much higher salary. Many jobs depend on illegals.

BLM targets smugglers on public lands

2012-02-07T19:00:00.000-05:00

"Who abandoned these areas to drug smugglers?

That these warning signs are all over the federal lands is a testament to America’s failed border security strategies and the absence of enough Border Patrol agents at the border to stop illegal entry and drug smuggling.

It should also be noted that there is a lot of conflict between the various federal land management agencies and the Border Patrol regarding fence construction, road building, and access to federally managed lands.

On top of that environmentalsists are more interested in protecting critters that live on these federal lands than supporting federal efforts to stop the flow of illegal entrants and drugs through federally managed lands. Thus they have attempted to impede the implementation of border security efforts on federal lands near the border.

So if the drug cartels have free run over federal lands, there are many reasons why this has happened.

One being the Border Patrol isn’t at the border."

BLM targets smugglers on public lands - CBS 5 - KPHO

View from baja Arizona

The answer to low pay for illegal immigrants

2012-01-31T13:03:00.000-05:00

The author of an article in the Law Journal of La Raza (Berkeley, CA)says that undocumented illegals need stronger rights and should be paid the same salaries as documented legal immigrants to prevent employers with legal employees from being under bid by the bad guys. This is because. . . well, the federal laws against employers hiring them aren't being enforced, and the borders aren't secure, so it naturally follows that the workers need higher pay!

Hey--I never said academics made sense!

Learning from RICO

"Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada." Translation: For the Race (Mexicans, Latin Americans, and others of mixed Spanish/European and Indian ethnicity) everything. For those outside the Race, nothing.

Rick Santorum's specifics on immigration

2012-01-19T18:59:00.002-05:00

•Secure the border first, and then tackle other aspects of immigration reforms to solve an urgent national security challenge and gain credibility with the American people first.

•Streamline the legal immigration system to avoid unnecessary bureaucratic delays and burdens.

•The key to a safer America lies in an approach to border security that includes the following enforcement measures:
Expand the border fence fully where needed and enhance physical border security;
•More law enforcement resources and border agents;
•The increased use of and access to cutting-edge technology; and
•Enforcing immigration and labor laws including through employer verification including an E-Verify system that is simple, reliable, and protects businesses.

•Oppose amnesty as unlawful, unfair to legal immigrants, and expensive to taxpayers.

•Oppose other rewards for illegal immigrants at taxpayer expense such as in state tuition rates.

•The efficacy and success of border security efforts should not be measured by outputs, but rather by outcomes.

•Support and partner with state and local authorities to address illegal immigration rather than suing them and support them with the resources necessary to do the job.

•Make English the official language of government, not to penalize but to promote opportunity and a common culture for new immigrants.

•Deport immediately all illegal immigrants involved with criminal and drug trafficking activity unless a specific individual would create a security concern because they may be released in country of origin.

•Coordinate all relevant policy areas and government agencies and functions relevant to securing the border and eliminate duplication.

•Prioritize admittance of legal immigrants by what is good for our country rather than lottery system.

Redefine metrics for successful border security. Goals should be based on tangible results based directly upon actions, such as:
•Decreased border violence;
•More apprehensions of illegal immigrants and criminals at the border; and
•Increased seizure of contraband and illicit drugs.

•Stop the federal government from requiring states to provide government services to illegal immigrants and oppose provision of government benefits not available to all citizens such as in-state tuition.

•Promote legal immigration for highly educated and entrepreneurs from around the world.

•Create a workable guestworker program for America’s farmers.

•Acknowledge the historic and ongoing contribution of legal immigrants to our country as President of the United States.

•Encourage States and local school systems to teach more American history.

•Partner with States to address and prevent discrimination against recent immigrant communities.

From his website.

Some of these points are vague and poorly thought out. Teach more American history? Yes, but probably not because of this issue. What about states arresting illegals knowing they'll get speedy action? Because of the economy, I haven't heard a lot about illegal labor--maybe they can't find work either and have gone home?

Camera network will focus on jaguars

2011-11-30T20:21:00.000-05:00

Homeland security is tracking jaguars roaming between Mexico and the U.S. Who knows? The cameras just might pick us other creatures roaming without permission. But then, what would they do with them? Governor Brewer is not happy with the cost to the taxpayer.

Camera network will focus on jaguars

The latest census on immigration--from Newsmax report

2011-11-13T12:03:00.000-05:00

U.S. Immigrant Population at All-Time High: 40 Million
The number of foreign-born residents in the United States — including legal and illegal immigrants — reached 40 million last year, the highest figure in American history, new Census Bureau figures disclose.

Nearly 14 million new immigrants came to America from 2000 to 2010, making it the highest-ever decade for immigration.

The increase came even though there was a net decline of jobs during the decade, showing that immigration remains high even during periods of economic weakness.

“This does not mean that immigration is entirely unconnected to the U.S. job market,” observes Steven A. Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, who analyzed the new Census figures for the Center.

“But these figures are a reminder that immigration levels are not as tightly linked to the economy as some have imagined. Such factors as the desire to access public services or to enjoy greater political freedom or join relatives in the United States significantly impact migration.”

Of the 40 million foreign-born residents in the country, from 10 million to 12 million are likely illegal aliens, the Bureau reports.

Other findings from the newly released American Community Survey conducted by the Census Bureau include:

America’s immigrant population has doubled since 1990 and nearly tripled since 1980.
Although the number of immigrants in the U.S. is at an all-time high, the immigrant share of the population, now 12.9 percent, was higher in 1910 (14.7 percent) and 1920 (13.2 percent).
While the total immigrant population grew 28 percent between 2000 and 2010, it grew by at least 60 percent in 11 states, including Alabama (92 percent), South Carolina (88 percent), Tennessee (82 percent), Arkansas (79 percent), and Kentucky (75 percent). The lowest rate of growth was in New York, 11.1 percent.
States with the largest numerical increases during that decade were California, Texas, Florida, New York, and New Jersey.
27 percent of the population of California is foreign-born, followed by New York (22 percent), New Jersey (21 percent), Florida (19 percent), and Nevada (18.8 percent). In West Virginia, just 1.2 percent are immigrants.
Countries in Latin America accounted for 58 percent of the growth in the immigrant population from 2000 to 2010.
Mexico was by far the origin of the most immigrants during that decade, nearly 12 million, followed by China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, 2.16 million; India, 1.78 million; Philippines, 1.77 million; Vietnam, 1.24 million; and El Salvador, 1.21 million.
In Montana, 58 percent of foreign-born residents are citizens; in Hawaii, 57 percent are citizens; and in Maine, 56.6 percent. Just 27.7 percent of immigrants in Alabama are citizens.

Camarota concludes: “Absent a change in policy, new immigration will likely continue at very high levels.”

Alabama's Law Tops Arizona's On Immigrants - Investors.com

2011-06-06T19:39:00.000-04:00

"Alabama has suddenly become the leader in comprehensive immigration reform, passing up Arizona, whose laws have had so much news coverage. By large margins, the Alabama state legislature passed a bill, known as HB56, that covers most areas of abuses by illegal aliens.

HB56 requires proof of citizenship or residency before voting, a giant protection against vote fraud. It prohibits aliens not lawfully present in the United States from receiving state or local financial benefits."

Alabama's Law Tops Arizona's On Immigrants - Investors.com

Quakers help Defeat illegal immigration bill in Florida

2011-06-06T16:55:00.000-04:00

From their viewpoint:

"Thanks to nonstop protests, vigils, petitions, phone calls, songs and picketing, Florida’s immigration advocates won a victory this week when two anti-immigration bills collapsed in the state legislature. The campaign by the We Are Florida coalition pressured even the bill’s Senate sponsor to vote against it.

From the start, AFSC’s Herman Martinez and Paul-Andre Mondesir actively worked in the coalition’s effort against the bills, which aimed to force local police to act as immigration agents which leads to distrust and increased tension between residents and local law enforcement."

AFSC Helps FL Defeat Anti-Immigrant Bills | American Friends Service Committee

Letter From Mexico: Amid the Drug Wars, a Stunning Economic Boom

2011-06-06T06:15:00.001-04:00

"Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 5.5 percent in 2010, and it is on track to grow 4.5 percent this year. . . The result has been an invigoration of Mexico’s middle class. Given the sluggishness of the U.S. economy, Mexicans professionals—once lured to the U.S. by Fortune 500 companies— are seeking opportunities in mid-size Mexican cities. This, in turn, is fueling new economic activity and encouraging domestic demand."
Letter From Mexico: Amid the Drug Wars, a Stunning Economic Boom - New America Media

Italian police save 400 migrants after boat crashes against rocks at Lampedusa port - The Washington Post

2011-05-08T09:10:00.000-04:00

The U.S. isn't the only country with illegal immigration problems. I don't know what the African version of "coyote" is, but he should be found and jailed for life for taking their money and putting them on the open sea.

Italian police save 400 migrants after boat crashes against rocks at Lampedusa port - The Washington Post

True hope and change for America

2011-05-02T10:28:00.000-04:00

Adryana Boyne speaks at the Republican TX convention. She's the official Latina Spokesperson for the Republican Party of Texas. This was filmed at the Texas Republican Party State Convention, June 11th, 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kL_w9b6Pag

Herman Cain on immigration reform

2011-04-13T08:33:00.001-04:00

On March 26, 2011, Cain spoke at the Conservative Principles PAC Conference in Iowa, where he said: “We have an immigration crisis. The reason that no progress has been made is quite simple. There's not one problem, it's four problems. We must secure the borders, enforce the laws that are there, promote the path to citizenship that's already there. We just need to clean up the bureaucracy; we don't need a new path to citizenship. Use the one that we already have.”

Herman Cain

Controversial Muslim cleric arrested crossing into U.S. illegally

2011-02-01T17:38:00.000-05:00

Although I heard several stories about the guy from California arrested in Detroit on suspicion of attempted mosque bombing, I don't think this one got much coverage.

It's really not that hard for terrorists to cross the border. They've got money, which often the peasants who want a job don't.

Muslim cleric arrested: Controversial cleric arrested crossing into U.S. illegally - latimes.com

Fenway food vendor Aramark hires illegals

2010-12-01T16:08:00.000-05:00

Workers pretend to be legal, and employers pretend to believe them. No problem getting work despite illegal status.

Video: Fenway Park Food Vendor Hit with Immigration Fine

Migration as a Factor in Development and Poverty Reduction

2010-09-25T09:26:00.000-04:00

Although this article is from 2003, the information on the economics of migration is still valid. Most can agree that the individual migrant can benefit--sometimes earning in a day what would take a week or month back home. But how does the receiving country benefit? How does the country of origin benefit? Not everyone is picking tomatoes or nailing shingles.

•About 30% of all highly educated Ghanaians and Sierra Leoneans live abroad
•12% of Mexico's population with higher education is in the United States, and 30 percent of its PhDs
•75% of Jamaicans with higher education are in the United States
•Albania lost one-third of its qualified people in the decade after the fall of communism
•Half of all foreign students who get PhDs in the United States are still there five years later

Migration Information Source - Migration as a Factor in Development and Poverty Reduction

Let's Abolish the Casino Visas – a Bit of Targeted Immigration Reform | Center for Immigration Studies

2010-09-23T12:59:00.000-04:00

"Casino Visas, every year the croupiers at the State Department run a high-tech drawing for green cards. To qualify you must be an alien, a high school graduate or equivalent, and be a citizen of a country that routinely does not send us lots of immigrants. You can't use it if you are from Mexico, or China, or 17 other listed countries.

You can use it, however, if you are from, for instance, Nepal, or Chile, or, most pertinently, Ireland."

So what's so special about Ireland. Read up on it.

Let's Abolish the Casino Visas – a Bit of Targeted Immigration Reform | Center for Immigration Studies

Migration Information Source - Taiwanese Immigrants in the United States

2010-09-16T10:53:00.000-04:00

Over 75% of Taiwanese immigrants are home owners, higher than other immigrants and more than native born population, and they are better educated than other immigrants and the general population. They also have a lower poverty rate. Let's take a look at Taiwanese culture and family values and see what they are doing right. And we better hurry. Immigration is slowing and many Taiwanese-Americans have returned to Asia as the political climate clears somewhat.

Migration Information Source - Taiwanese Immigrants in the United States

Behind the Pew Study on Illegal Immigration, Part III: Estimating Illegal Immigration - The Basic Model and Its Limitations | Center for Immigration Studies

2010-09-08T18:50:00.000-04:00

The recent Pew report on the decline of the illegal population in the United States has created a lot of buzz. Does anyone really know how many illegals reside in the United States? . . .

Behind the Pew Study on Illegal Immigration, Part III: Estimating Illegal Immigration - The Basic Model and Its Limitations | Center for Immigration Studies

What is an anchor baby?

2010-09-05T16:29:00.000-04:00

According to Newsmax.com: "Due to birthright citizenship, the undocumented immigrant families of anchor babies can qualify for welfare benefits they would otherwise not be entitled to receive.

Also, a child born into those families has the ability “when he grows up, to legalize his parents, and also to bring into the United States his foreign-born spouse and any foreign-born siblings,” according to CIS Legal Policy Analyst Jon Feere.

“The sponsored spouse can, in turn, sponsor her own foreign-born parents and siblings, and the siblings can, in turn, sponsor their own foreign-born spouses, and so on, generating a virtually never-ending and always-expanding migration chain.”

The child born in the U.S. to illegal aliens thus forms an anchor for the legal immigration of a number of relatives — hence the term “anchor baby.”

The anchor baby phenomenon has led to the growth of “birth tourism” — pregnant women traveling to the United States to give birth on American soil.

Pew reports a decrease in illegal immigration

2010-09-04T19:12:00.000-04:00

I should think so! With Americans not finding work, where is the hope for illegals?

"The number of illegal immigrants in the United States, after peaking at 12 million in 2007, fell to about 11.1 million in 2009, the first clear decline in two decades, according to a report published Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center." New York Times

Do environmentalists care about destruction of Arizona's federal lands?

2010-07-03T13:03:00.000-04:00

Litter. Abandoned cars. Human waste. Rape trees to terrorize women. Homeland Security blocking these videos?

Amnesty didn't solve the problem in the 80s and 90s, so let's do it again

2010-07-03T12:48:00.000-04:00

An INS report issued in 2000 (link no longer available--I wonder why) revealed that "Amnesties clearly do not solve the problem of illegal immigration. About 2.7 million people received lawful permanent residence ("green cards") in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a result of the amnesties contained in the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. But these new INS figures show that by the beginning of 1997 those former illegal aliens had been entirely replaced by new illegal aliens, and that the unauthorized population again stood at more than 5 million, just as before the amnesty. . . Figures in the report itself show that illegal immigration surged more dramatically from countries other than Mexico."

Center for Immigration Studies, 2000

"Other than Mexican" crossings at our border and drug cartels

2010-06-22T11:53:00.000-04:00

"On a single day in April, in a special cell block deep inside the Pinal County Jail, nearly 400 inmates sat awaiting trial or extradition after being detained trying to cross the Arizona border from Mexico.

Only about half of them were actually from Mexico."
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/202995.php

I wonder why Ms. Solis doesn't do public service announcements in Arabic or Farsi? After all, maybe those guys are being paid under the table and not getting a fair wage. Does she only care about Mexican illegals?

Illegals fired. Guess what! Americans do want those jobs at Chateau Elan!

2010-06-17T12:49:00.000-04:00

Gwinnett County Sheriff records show a Chateau Elan supervisor was arrested for driving without a license in March and turned over to immigration authorities because he wasn't in the United States legally. Sheriff office documents show nearly a dozen others who claimed to work at Chateau Elan were not United States citizens when they were arrested from 2000 to 2010.

"I liked working at Chateau Elan," said Barbara Schindler. The 14-year employee was terminated in January 2009. She believes she was replaced with cheaper illegal labor.

"It's wrong. It's hard to find work," said Schindler.

Chateau Elan management would not agree to an on-camera interview.

The tragedy of the Palestinian diaspora

2010-06-08T20:56:00.000-04:00

The Palestinian Arabs who live and have citizenship in Israel have a wonderful life compared to those who have the misfortune to live in an Arab country.

An estimated 4.6 million Palestinians live in Arab countries; how's that working out?

Some 250,000 Palestinians were chased out of Kuwait and other Gulf States to punish the Palestinian political leadership for supporting Saddam Hussein.

Tens of thousands of Palestinian residents of Iraq were similarly dispossessed after the second Gulf war.

In 2001, Palestinians in Lebanon were stripped of the right to own property, or to pass on the property that they already owned to their children – and banned from working as doctors, lawyers, pharmacists or in 20 other professions. Their living standard has been deemed "catastrophic" by both UNRWA and by the Lebanese government which created it.

The systematic refusal of Arab governments to grant basic human rights to Palestinians who are born and die in their countries – combined with periodic mass expulsions of entire Palestinian communities – recalls the treatment of Jews in medieval Europe.

In Jordan they face the threat of losing their citizenship as tensions build with Jordanians.

Millions of Palestinians live in refugee camps; they can't own land or participate in normal economic life. The only governing authority that Palestinians living in the camps have ever known is UNRWA – the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. They have no ties to a "homeland" and are a recruiting ground for al-Qaeda.

Palestinian refugees and their descendants inside Syria are not allowed to vote or hold Syrian passports, but they are free from the overt discrimination that has turned Lebanon into a recruiting ground for al-Qa'ida.

Read the entire article by Judith Miller No way home: The tragedy of the Palestinian diaspora - Middle East, World - The Independent

Nearly Half of Voters Want an Arizona-like Immigration Law in Their States

2010-06-02T11:51:00.000-04:00

The story led with a lesser known poll with lower approval of Arizona's new law (Quinnipac). But here's Rasmussen:

Rasmussen Reports has found similar results in state polls it has done where it began asking voters whether they wanted an Arizona-like law. So far, those results include Georgia (55 percent in favor), Kentucky (63 percent), New Mexico (55 percent), Oregon (53 percent), South Dakota (62 percent), Washington state (52 percent) and Wisconsin

Nearly Half of Voters Want an Arizona-like Immigration Law in Their States

Criminal alien incarceration hurts states' budgets

2010-05-23T16:06:00.004-04:00

Maybe Obama and Calderone could have discussed how to reimburse the state governments for incarceration of Mexican citizens instead of criticizing Arizona.

"It is estimated the federal cost of incarcerating criminal aliens — Bureau of Prison's cost to incarcerate criminals and reimbursements to state and local governments under SCAAP — totaled approximately $5.8 billion for calendar years 2001 through 2004. BOP's cost to incarcerate criminal aliens rose from about $950 million in 2001 to about $1.2 billion in 2004 — a 14 percent increase. Federal reimbursements for incarcerating criminal aliens in state prisons and local jails declined from $550 million in 2001 to $280 million in 2004, in a large part due to a reduction in congressional appropriations. At the state level, the 50 states received reimbursement for incarcerating about 77,000 criminal aliens in fiscal year 2002 and 47 states received reimbursement for incarcerating about 74,000 in fiscal year 2003.For the 5 states incarcerating about 80 percent of these criminal aliens in fiscal year 2003, about 68 percent incarcerated in mid-year 2004 reported that the country of citizenship or country of birth as Mexico, the Dominican Republic, or Cuba. Four of these 5 states spent about $1.6 billion to incarcerate criminal aliens reimbursed through SCAAP during fiscal years 2002 and 2003. Estimates are that the federal government reimbursed these four states about 25 percent or less of the estimated cost to incarcerate these criminal aliens in fiscal years 2002 and 2003."Criminal alien incarceration hurts states' budgets

State Dinner Menu for Mexican President Calderon: Oregon Wagyu Beef in Oaxacan Black Mole

2010-05-23T15:26:00.001-04:00

I don't know the cost of Wagyu steak, but a hamburger is $40.00 for half a pound. It's over the top that Obama so lavishly entertains a "neighbor" who is so critical of us, when Calderone's own immigration policy is much more harsh than ours.

State Dinner Menu for Mexican President Calderon: Oregon Wagyu Beef in Oaxacan Black Mole. Briefing Memo - Lynn Sweet

An immigrant who becomes a naturalized Mexican citizen can be stripped of his Mexican citizenship if he lives again in the country of his origin for more than five years, under Article 37. Mexican-born citizens risk no such loss.

Foreign-born, naturalized Mexican citizens may not become federal lawmakers (Article 55), cabinet secretaries (Article 91) or supreme court justices (Article 95).

The president of Mexico, like the president of the United States, constitutionally must be a citizen by birth, but Article 82 of the Mexican constitution mandates that the president’s parents also be Mexican-born citizens, thus according secondary status to Mexican-born citizens born of immigrants.

The Mexican constitution forbids immigrants and naturalized citizens to become members of the clergy. Article 130 says, “To practice the ministry of any denomination in the United Mexican States it is necessary to be a Mexican by birth.”

The Mexican constitution singles out “undesirable aliens.” Article 11 guarantees federal protection against “undesirable aliens resident in the country.”

The Mexican constitution provides the right of private individuals to make citizen’s arrests. Article 16 states, “in cases of flagrante delicto, any person may arrest the offender and his accomplices, turning them over without delay to the nearest authorities.” Therefore, the Mexican constitution appears to grant Mexican citizens the right to arrest illegal aliens and hand them over to police for prosecution.

The Mexican constitution states that foreigners may be expelled for any reason and without due process. According to Article 33, “the Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action.”

http://www.c4ads.org/files/waller_csp_apr2006_mexico.pdf

People in Glass Houses--the President of Mexico

2010-05-23T15:01:00.000-04:00

Center for Security Policy J. Michael Waller
1920 L Street NW, Suite 210 • Washington, DC 20036 • (202) 835-9077 • www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org

"Mexico certainly has every right to control who enters its borders, and to expel foreigners who break its laws. The Mexican constitution is designed to give the strongest protections possible to the country’s national security. Mexico’s internal immigration policy is Mexico’s
business.

However, since Mexican political leaders from the ruling party and the opposition have been demanding that the United States ignore, alter or abolish its own immigration laws, they have opened their own internal affairs to American scrutiny. The time has come to examine Mexico’s
own glass house."

http://www.c4ads.org/files/waller_csp_apr2006_mexico.pdf

My letter to Mayor Coleman of Columbus, OH

2010-05-19T14:51:00.000-04:00

This morning thousands and thousands--maybe millions--of Americans heard SB1070 read aloud on the Glenn Beck radio show. I realize you have no love for him because he embarrassed our city a few years ago over that student sexual assault. However, can you say you have read it and understand that it is absolutely in line with federal laws on illegal immigration? That it absolutely forbids racial profiling (does Columbus do that?). That it really comes down hard on human trafficking (does Columbus do that?). Think again, Mr. Mayor. Let's not have Glenn embarrass the city again by pointing out your behavior. He might say you are soft on drug lords or human trafficking because you don't support a sister state closer to the problem.

Costa Mesa, CA is not a sanctuary city

2010-05-18T19:56:00.000-04:00

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor wants to declare that his Orange County city not only doesn't welcome illegal immigrants but doesn't want them and is, in fact, a "rule-of-law city" that will enforce immigration laws strictly.

Mayor wants Costa Mesa to be a "Rule of Law City" | immigration, city, mansoor - News - The Orange County Register

Napolitano Admits She Hasn't Read Arizona Law But Says She Wouldn't Sign It

2010-05-17T21:26:00.000-04:00

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano admits she hasn't read the Arizona immigration law, but passed judgment on it anyway. "That's not the kind of law I would have signed," she declared.

RealClearPolitics - Video - Napolitano Admits She Hasn't Read Arizona Law But Says She Wouldn't Sign It

Holder never read the law

2010-05-16T06:38:00.000-04:00

"Holder has denounced the Arizona law. He has said that the federal government would be closely watching its implementation and will consider suing to keep it from going into effect. All without actually reading the bill."

We have a bunch of idiots running the country.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2010/05/15/20100515arizona-immigration-law-robb.html#ixzz0o5SR8DHW

AUDIO: AZ Sheriff says 64 High-Speed Pursuits Last Month, Not One Perp a US Citizen

2010-05-13T18:24:00.000-04:00

Why the Arizona law is necessary.

AUDIO: AZ Sheriff says 64 High-Speed Pursuits Last Month, Not One Perp a US Citizen | National Policy Institute

Lou Dobbs on Immigration Law SB1070

2010-05-13T06:14:00.000-04:00

Arizona-Style Rebellions Over Immigration Spread

2010-05-06T14:28:00.001-04:00

Article by David A. Patten--"Legislators in nearly a dozen states are considering tough new laws against illegal immigration that mimic the Arizona measure that has triggered a firestorm of controversy nationwide. . . A plethora of polls suggesting state-level legislation, in the absence of stiffer federal enforcement and border control, would be very popular with voters."

Newsmax - Arizona-Style Rebellions Over Immigration Spread

Jorge Bustamante--let him live within 30 miles of the border

2010-05-04T10:44:00.002-04:00

Things are probably pretty quite in Indiana, at Notre Dame where he teaches and over reaches. Let him live inside of Arizona--close to the Mexican border and see how long he remains an "expert" and an authority on the human rights of migrants.

Mershon Center Announcement

These people were NOT illegal

2010-05-04T09:35:00.004-04:00

Neither were they loyal, truthful, and brave, nor did they love America.

"More than a dozen people with American citizenship or residency, like [Faisal] Shahzad, have been accused in the past two years of supporting or carrying out terrorism attempts on U.S. soil, cases that illustrate the threat of violent extremism from within the U.S.

Among them are Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, a U.S.-born Army psychiatrist of Palestinian descent, charged with fatally shooting 13 people last year at Fort Hood, Texas; Najibullah Zazi, a Denver-area airport shuttle driver who pleaded guilty in February in a plot to bomb New York subways; and a Pennsylvania woman who authorities say became radicalized online as "Jihad Jane" and plotted to kill a Swedish artist whose work offended Muslims." Link

According to reports I read Faisal Shahzad (accused in the NY planned SUV bombing of Times Square) became a citizen last year and his wife still lives in Pakistan.

An Arizona Senator speaks out

2010-05-04T09:20:00.001-04:00

From the Tucson Citizen, Sylvia Allen:

"The border patrol is not on the border. They have set up 60 miles away with check points that do nothing to stop the invasion. They are not allowed to use force in stopping anyone who is entering. They run around chasing them, if they get their hands on them then they can take them back across the border. Federal prisons have over 35% illegal’s and 20% of Arizona prisons are filled with illegal’s. In the last few years 80% of our law enforcement that have been killed or wounded have been by an illegal. The majority of people coming now are people we need to be worried about. The ranchers told us that they have seen a change in the people coming they are not just those who are looking for work and a better life.

The Federal Government has refused for years to do anything to help the border states . We have been over run and once they are here we have the burden of funding state services that they use. Education costs have been over a billion dollars. The healthcare cost billions of dollars. Our State is broke, $3.5 billion deficit and we have many serious decisions to make. One is that we do not have the money to care for any who are not here legally. It has to stop.

The border can be secured. We have the technology and we have the ability to stop this invasion. We must know who is coming and they must come in an organized manner legally so that we can assimilate them into our population and protect the sovereignty of our country. We are a nation of laws. We have a responsibility to protect our citizens and to protect the integrity of our country and the government which we live under. I would give amnesty today to many, but here is the problem, we dare not do this until the Border is secure."

Will the media call these protesters violent?

2010-05-01T19:18:00.002-04:00

It sounds a lot more violent than the Tea Party groups.

"Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has said the law is necessary because the federal government has failed to enforce border security with Mexico, allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to move into the state. She said changes to the law she approved Friday, which clarify that police could only stop suspected illegal immigrants while enforcing some other law or ordinance, should eliminate concerns about racial profiling."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/01/immigration.rallies/

Have any of the protesters read the law?

2010-05-01T19:12:00.000-04:00

"Has anyone actually read the law? Contrary to the talk, it is a reasonable, limited, carefully-crafted measure designed to help law enforcement deal with a serious problem in Arizona. Its authors anticipated criticism and went to great lengths to make sure it is constitutional and will hold up in court. It is the criticism of the law that is over the top, not the law itself.

The law requires police to check with federal authorities on a person's immigration status, if officers have stopped that person for some legitimate reason and come to suspect that he or she might be in the U.S. illegally. The heart of the law is this provision: "For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency…where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person…" "

Byron York, A carefully crafted immigration law in Arizona | Washington Examiner

Hepatitis A endemicity

2009-12-23T13:22:00.006-05:00

This item isn't about illegals, but is about tiny immigrants and a serious disease.

On Feb. 25, 2009, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended routine hepatitis A vaccination for household members and other close personal contacts of adopted children newly arriving from countries with high or intermediate hepatitis A endemicity.

Hepatitis A virus can produce either asymptomatic or symptomatic infection in humans after an average incubation period of 28 days. Peak infectivity occurs during the 2 week period before onset of jaundice or elevation of liver enzymes, when concetration of virus in stool is highest.

During 1998-2008, approximately 18,000 children were adopted annually from foreign countries by families in the US. Approximately 99.8% of these children came from countries where hepatitis A is considered to be of high or intermediate endemicity and approximately 85% of [?] were aged <5 years. . . in the late 1990s, and currently, the largest numbers of adopted children come from Guatemala, China, Russia and Ethiopia. It is estimated the risk for hepatitis A among close personal contacts of international adoptees is estimated at 106 per 100,000 household contacts of international adoptees within the first 60 days of their arrival in the U.S. In the general population in 2007 is was 1.0 per 100,000 population. So, the ACIP is updating its guidelines on vaccinating persons who anticipate close personal contact with an international adoptee. Story from JAMA Dec. 16, 2009, pp. 2546-48.

If you hire an immigrant as a gardener, carpenter, babysitter, maid, household worker, restaurant waiter or busser, dish washer, janitor etc., and you don't know their health status because you don't know their immigration status, be aware of the symptoms and the risks. Beginning in January 2010, the U.S. is going to stop screening immigrants for HIV--apparently because it isn't spread through "casual" contact.

Ohio’s governor named in lawsuit

2009-11-24T15:26:00.001-05:00

"A Latino group is asking a judge to prevent state officials from canceling the registrations of more than 40,000 vehicles apparently driven by undocumented immigrants.

The League of United Latin American Citizens filed the lawsuit against state officials in Franklin County Common Pleas Court this morning.

The legal action comes two weeks before the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles plans to revoke the potentially fraudulently obtained license plates of those who cannot provide proof of legal U.S. residency.

. . . The policy had been scheduled to take effect Aug. 1, 2008, but former Public Safety Director Henry Guzman delayed the changes after meeting with largely Latino business owners worried about financial losses." See whole story in the Columbus Dispatch.

Robert Schoch

2009-10-14T15:29:00.001-04:00

DebbieSchlussel.com has learned that Robert Schoch, the Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for Los Angeles, is under investigation for alleged embezzlement and/or misuse of ICE funds used in undercover operations. Read the story at her web site.

Ratio of blacks to hispanics in the USA

2009-10-14T10:59:00.003-04:00

But not in the west.

Seen at the web site of William H. Frey.

Committed no crime at all

2009-10-07T19:45:00.000-04:00

"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday that she is pursuing plans to remove some captured illegal aliens from “prison-like or jail-like circumstances” and put them in converted hotels and nursing homes . . . Our detention system has some who have committed crimes, others whose crimes under federal law is a misdemeanor, others who have as I said before not committed a crime at all,” Napolitano said, apparently not including being arrested from breaking federal immigration law as a crime." CNS News

Information on sanctuary cities

2009-10-07T15:08:00.002-04:00

Just browse this web site devoted to sanctuary cities.

" Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that the claim by some conservative activists that illegal immigration is to blame for all of the state’s fiscal problems is ignorant and bigoted.I've never seen anyone conservative or not, activist or slug, blame illegal immigration for ALL of California's problems, have you?

Illegal immigration bill returns

2009-10-03T16:36:00.002-04:00

From the Middletown Journal, September 22, 2009.

Link

Emergency room care is expensive

2009-08-28T18:13:00.002-04:00

"Democrats are right that uncompensated emergency care for the uninsured is driving up costs. What they don't say is it's illegal immigrants who are bankrupting ERs, and the federal government is encouraging them."

"Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, hospitals can't even ask for a patient's immigration status or ability to pay prior to delivering treatment."

IBD

Americans getting tougher on immigration

2009-08-09T14:08:00.001-04:00

Read the whole story here--Republicans, Democrats and Independents are all tougher on immigration than in 2008.

Gallup finds Americans less favorable toward immigration than they were a year ago. Half (50%) say immigration should be decreased, up from 39% last year. A third (32%) say immigration levels should be kept the same, down from 39%, and 14% say they should be increased, down from 18%.

Security first--for now

2009-06-14T18:52:00.001-04:00

"On the thorniest of political issues, President Obama has embraced the enforcement-first position on immigration that he criticized during last year's presidential campaign, and he now says he can't move forward with the type of comprehensive bill he wants until voters are convinced that the borders can be enforced.

Having already backed off his pledge to have an immigration bill this year, Mr. Obama boosted his commitment to enforcement in the budget released Thursday. The spending blueprint calls for extra money to build an employee-verification system and to pay for more personnel and equipment to patrol the border." Story in the Washington Times

Illegals in Italy--tragedy hits

2009-03-31T15:54:00.002-04:00

[March 31, 2009] Hundreds of migrants from Africa are missing and believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean over the weekend.

More than 30,000 migrants are believed to have crossed the Mediterranean in 2008, a 75 percent increase on 2007. The majority end up in detention centers, and are eventually deported. In Libya, there are between 1 million and 1.5 million African irregular migrants, drawn by the need for unskilled labor and hoping to move on to Europe. Story here

Border agents released

2009-02-20T15:45:00.001-05:00

After serving two years in federal prison in solitary confinement for shooting a fleeing Mexican drug smuggler who had brought 750 pounds of marijuana into the U.S., Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean are being released into home confinement until March 20. Link

Not the whole problem with the California budget, but here’s an estimate

2009-02-12T19:48:00.001-05:00

Illegal immigrants are a factor in California's budget math Complete article.

* There were 2.8 million illegal immigrants living in California in 2006, the last year for which there are relatively good figures, according to the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. That represented about 8% of the state's population and roughly a quarter of the nation's illegal immigrants. About 90% of California's illegal immigrants were from Latin America; 65% from Mexico.

* There are roughly 19,000 illegal immigrants in state prisons, representing 11% of all inmates. That's costing $970 million during the current fiscal year. The feds kick in a measly $111 million, leaving the state with an $859 million tab.

* Schools are the toughest to calculate. Administrators don't ask kids about citizenship status. Anyway, many children of illegal immigrants were born in this country and automatically became U.S. citizens.

If you figure that the children of illegal immigrants attending K-12 schools approximates the proportion of illegal immigrants in the population, the bill currently comes to roughly $4 billion. Most is state money; some local property taxes.

* Illegal immigrants aren't entitled to welfare, called CalWORKs. But their citizen children are. Roughly 190,000 kids are receiving welfare checks that pass through their parents. The cost: about $500 million, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

Schwarzenegger has proposed removing these children from the welfare rolls after five years. It's part of a broader proposal to also boot off, after five years, the children of U.S. citizens who aren't meeting federal work requirements. There'd be a combined savings of $522 million.

* The state is spending $775 million on Medi-Cal healthcare for illegal immigrants, according to the legislative analyst. Of that, $642 million goes into direct benefits. Practically all the rest is paid to counties to administer the program. The feds generally match the state dollar-for-dollar on mandatory programs.

So-called emergency services are the biggest state cost: $536 million. Prenatal care is $59 million. Not counted in the overall total is the cost of baby delivery -- $108 million -- because the newborns aren't illegal immigrants.

The state also pays $47 million for programs that Washington does not require: Non-emergency care (breast and cervical cancer treatment), $25 million; long-term nursing home care, $19 million; abortions, $3 million.

Schwarzenegger has proposed requiring illegal immigrants to requalify every month for Medi-Cal benefits, except pregnancy-related emergencies.

There also are other taxpayer costs -- especially through local governments -- but those are the biggies for the state. Add them all up and the state spends well over $5 billion a year on illegal immigrants and their families.

Trafficking in Persons Report

2008-12-08T15:25:00.005-05:00

"The International Labour Organization (ILO)— the United Nations agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues—estimates that 12.3 million people throughout the world are enslaved in forced labor, bonded labor, sexual servitude, and involuntary servitude at any given time. Millions of these victims are trafficked within their own national borders. According to the State Department’s 2005 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, approximately 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders each year; of these, about 80 percent are female, and up to half are minors. The majority of transnational victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation." (Asian Transnational Organized Crime and its impact on the United States, National Institute of Justice, January 2007)

"In FY 2006, the U.S. Government obligated approximately $74 million to 154 international anti-trafficking in persons (TIP) projects in 70 countries and $28.5 million to 70 domestic anti-TIP projects. These projects are working to ensure human trafficking is prevented, the survivors are protected, and the traffickers are put in jail. They are funded through the coordinated efforts and program funds of the Departments of State, Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services, and USAID. See the corresponding fact sheet at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/fs/07/83371.htm for a visual overview of the FY 2006 TIP project obligations. " Link

Koreans happy with Obama selection

2008-11-18T17:03:00.002-05:00

Although I've never thought of Barack Obama as an African American, Koreans, particularly those with dark skins and who are immigrants do:

Even North Korean defectors are pleased.

"OBAMA'S WIN INSPIRES HOPE FOR N. KOREANS, IMMIGRANTS IN S. KOREA." AsiaPulse News, 05-NOV-08. from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-35721073_ITM

Undocumented Koreans--230,000

2008-10-28T18:26:00.002-04:00

LOS ANGELES -- Approximately 230,000 undocumented Koreans were residing in the United States as of January 2007, reports the Korea Times. The figure is based on the report Illegal Alien Resident Population by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The number of undocumented Koreans has decreased by some 20,000 from the year earlier, yet Korea ranks number seven in countries with the largest number of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Mexico is the leading country of undocumented immigration, with 7 million, or 59 percent of the U.S. undocumented population. El Salvador came next with 540,000, followed by Guatemala with 500,000, and the Philippines and China, each with 290,000. Koreans made up 2 percent of the U.S. undocumented population.The United States has seen a growing number of undocumented immigrants - 11.8 million last year, up from 11.3 million in 2006 and 8.5 million in 2000. Brazil, India and Guatemala showed the biggest increase in undocumented immigration to the United States. By state, California had the most undocumented residents, with 2.8 million, or 24 percent of the state's immigrant population, followed by Texas with 1.7 million and Florida with 1 million. (See 230,000 undocumented Koreans, New America Media)

A grateful American for McCain-Palin

2008-10-27T16:33:00.001-04:00

We can expect Team Obama to look into his background as they did Joe the Plumber, violating Ohio's law.

Hispanic Television Update

2008-08-09T09:30:00.002-04:00

B&C website (Broadcast and Cable) has a special newsletter called Hispanic Television Update. I had no problem reading it. It's published in English. So who is B&C? Well, it's just one of the many, many publications (over 80) of Reed Business Information

It pretty much owns the library market, both in professional journals and as a member of Reed Elsevier without which libraries would close.

When huge conglomerates give you the warm fuzzies of liberalism and minority business, you can follow the money. It's a good way to put the little guy out of business and take over the market.

What Mexico can do

2008-04-28T15:21:00.002-04:00

"Mexico benefits when America acts. By securing the border, both countries can focus on the serious problem of drug trafficking and its deepening cycle of violence and criminality. Border agents require infrastructure at the border to successfully carry out that mission—and the less time they spend looking for illegal immigrants, the more time they can fight violent crime.

Economic reform is key to resolving the immigration issue. By creating new, private-sector jobs in Mexico, the "supply push" that drives illegal immigration to the United States can be reduced. Mexican President Felipe Calderon must make the Mexican economy more competitive by challenging its private sector monopolies and duopolies."

From "The United States and Mexico: Helping One Another, Helping Ourselves" here.

What FAIR says about Ohio's immigration

2008-04-01T10:19:00.001-04:00

Legal and illegal immigration. The stats from FAIR, The Federation for American Immigration Reform, "a national, nonprofit, public-interest, membership organization of concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation's immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest."

Left and Right talking and listening to each other

2008-03-27T10:26:00.002-04:00

Manhattan Institute's Civic Bulletin #50 concerns immigrant integration and assimilation.

"If you look at Census data regarding the number of people who are here both as lawful permanent residents and people who are unauthorized, we need to provide several billion new hours of English- language instruction over the next seven years. To learn English it requires somewhere between 300 to 600 hours per person, depending on the profile of person you’re talking about. On the left, you have proposals that represent what I call the “fire hose” approach. They say, “Let’s throw a few hundred million dollars a year at this problem.” The left basically makes this money a giveaway of formula grants to states, so that just by having a body that needs to learn English in your state you get money. The right makes proposals for things like a $500 fee that the immigrant would pay, and then that becomes a voucher to go look for classes. You can imagine how little someone will get with $500."

Immigrants in suburban DC

2008-03-26T06:12:00.002-04:00

Byline: The Daily Record Staff via Access My Library

"A new book on the explosion of immigrants in suburban communities, "Twenty-First Century Gateways," released Monday [Mar 17] by the Brookings Institution, shows that one in five residents in the Washington area is now foreign born. Mary Price, co-author of the section on the Washington region and chairwoman of George Washington University's geography department, says the area has recently become a hub for immigrants from a wide variety of cultures. There are now more than 1 million immigrants in the area -- four times the amount in 1980. Montgomery County in Maryland and Virginia's Fairfax County are leading the region's demographic change."

Brookings Institution blurb about the book here.

Maryland not feeling so friendly

2008-03-25T17:50:00.003-04:00

What surprised me about this story on bills being introduced in the state legislature in the Washington Post on March 25 is that the journalists actually used the term illegal immigrants.

"Public anger against illegal immigrants, already entrenched in parts of Northern Virginia, is seeping into Maryland. With legislators facing unprecedented demands to take action, fears of a crackdown are spreading among illegal immigrants in a state that has been more tolerant of them."The Democrats control things in MD, so the bills probably won't get anywhere, but they are a reflection of the growing concern.

"Activists against illegal immigration said the legislature is out of touch with public frustration and concern. During hearings in the past two weeks, residents have testified that illegal immigrants are inundating schools, hospitals and suburban neighborhoods and warned that they might bring disease and terrorism."

Why the DREAM Act was a nightmare

2008-03-17T17:06:00.001-04:00

Abstract: The Senate's immigration reform bill's DREAM Act repeals federal law that prohibits any state from offering in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens unless the state also offers in-state tuition rates to all U.S. citizens. The DREAM Act would retroactively change federal law to pardon ten states which have enacted laws in violation of that policy. This Backgrounder argues that allowing in-state tuition for illegal aliens encourages the violation of federal immigration law and is unfair to legal aliens and out-of state U.S. citizens. It shows how the DREAM Act would create another type of amnesty for illegal aliens who entered the country before the age of 16 and concludes that the Rule of Law can be fully restored only if all levels of government are working to uphold it. Read the article here.

"The Senate Immigration Bill Rewards Lawbreaking: Why the Dream Act is a Nightmare"
KRIS W. KOBACH, University of Missouri at Kansas City - School of Law, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, No. 1960, August 14, 2006.

Chagas Disease

2008-01-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

"Traditionally confined to Latin America, Chagas disease is becoming an important health issue in the United States and Europe. First, due to the continuous influx of immigrants from disease-endemic countries in Latin America, a proportion of whom are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, an increasing number of infected subjects are seen in clinical practice, whether, for example, through routine screening of US blood and organ banks [3] or physicians' offices in Europe [4]. The appearance of T. cruzi in US blood banks led to the implementation of the first Food and Drug Administration–approved diagnostic blood screening test for Chagas disease earlier this year [5]. Second, an increasing number of autochthonous Chagas disease cases have been reported in the US [6,7], which may mirror the increased reporting of T. cruzi infection in domestic animals and wildlife. Recognizing that Chagas disease can no longer be considered an “exotic” disease in the US, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene held a clinical course in Chagas disease prior to its 2007 annual meeting (http://www.astmh.org/meetings/premeeting.cfm#clinical)."

Challenges of Chagas Disease, Rick L. Tarleton*, Richard Reithinger, Julio A. Urbina, Uriel Kitron, Ricardo E. Gürtler, PLoS Medicine, 4(12): e332, December 27, 2007.

New I-9 rules

2008-01-07T19:01:00.000-05:00

According to a story in Crane Communications [Access My Library], "an immigration form with which every U.S. employer must be familiar has just been revised after functioning substantially unchanged for almost 16 years.

On Nov. 7, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released the most recent version of the "Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification."

While the revised I-9 is available at www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf and it should be used now, it will not become required until Dec. 26, according to the Federal Register."

You can download a pdf copy of the 47 p. Handbook for Employers at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/m-274.pdf

I would challenge anyone who is not an expert in employment law or IRCA to read the government's instructions on the I-9 form and understand it or comply! For instance, the "green card" apparently isn't green, but it is permanent, but the proof can expire!

"The terms Resident Alien Card, Permanent Resident Card, Alien Registration Receipt Card, and Form I-551 all refer to documentation issued to an alien who has been granted permanent residence in the U.S.. Once granted, this status is permanent. However, the document that an alien carries as proof of this status may expire. Starting with the “pink” version of the Resident Alien Card (the “white” version does not bear an expiration date), and including the new technology Permanent Resident Cards, these documents are valid for either two years (conditional residents) or ten years (permanent residents). When these cards expire, the alien cardholders must obtain new cards. An expired card cannot be used to satisfy Form I-9 requirements for new employment. Expiration dates do not affect current employment, since employers are neither required nor permitted to re-verify the employment authorization of aliens who have presented one of these cards to satisfy I-9 requirements (this is true for conditional residents as well as permanent residents). Note: Even if unexpired, “green cards” must appear genuine and establish identity of the cardholder."

Other countries' citizens . . .

2008-01-07T18:48:00.000-05:00

UPI (Dec 29) reports that "increasing numbers of immigrants in the United States are helping push up the nation's population by one person every 13 seconds.

The U.S. Census Bureau said that based on the growing influx of other countries' citizens, in addition to domestic births, the U.S. population should reach 303,146,284 on New Year's Day, The Washington Times reported Saturday. That would represent an increase of 0.9 percent from the same date in 2007."

Irish Immigration

2008-01-06T17:50:00.000-05:00

When we were in Ireland in September we noticed 1) the booming economy, and 2) the booming immigration. We visited a Catholic church and the newsletter was in Polish and Portuguese. William over at Atlantic Blog is an American living in Ireland, and he comments that they are undercounted in the Census (although obviously, it's a lot harder to sneak into Ireland than Texas or Arizona).

The other night, my wife and I went out to dinner with another couple we know. Here is how the nationalities stacked up. We, an American born couple, got a French born babysitter for our Vietnamese born daughter to go out with a Polish born couple who left their two Polish born children with their Polish born au pair. We went to a Spanish restaurant, where the waitress was Polish and the only other group in the restaurant were English. We did not encounter one Irish born person that evening.

Demographic profile

2007-11-18T16:25:00.000-05:00

Hispanic Americans are the fastest growing demographic group in the United States. According to Census 2000, their number increased by 58 percent since 1990—a gain of about 13 million people. Hispanics made up 12.5 percent of the population in 2000. Large numbers of Latin American immigrants and robust fertility rates have caused this growth.

The summaries

Dream Act is a nightmare for the rest of us

2007-10-24T11:53:00.000-04:00

"The Democrats are promoting legislation known as the Dream Act, which would give permanent residency status to certain children of illegal immigrants, but only if they came to the country before age 16 and had graduated from high school. Supporters say the measure, which will see a vote tomorrow in the Senate (Oct. 24), is very narrowly tailored." Full article here. Sure. And no one would possibly lie about that in order to get state tuition, would they? President Bush and the Democrats were roundly defeated on amnesty, so now they will try nibbling us to death, sneaking it in line by line. Time to e-mail and phone your representatives--yet again.

Dick Durbin (D-IL) was going to have a press conference and invite the illegals. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) said, "I call on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to detain any illegal aliens at this press conference. Just because these illegal aliens are being used for political gain doesn’t mean they get immunity from the law."

Go get 'em, Tom. Somebody's got to save the country, and on this issue, it won't be Bush.

This position is for legals only

2007-06-20T18:48:00.000-04:00

Preferably with first class English skills. Why does Columbus, OH need a full time "Mexico Solidarity Network – Activist?" Hmmm. Solidarity. Where have we heard that term before? I was just browsing the OSU publication Que pasa (translation: wha's happening bro?) and saw this job opening for a position that reports to the "Executive Director," and "Maintains regular communication between the Commission and the vast array of Hispanic/Latino-serving community based organizations (CBO’s) statewide." I'm not sure which "commission" is referred to, but there is a link to Amnesty International for the application materials.

"The Mexico Solidarity Network struggles [oh yeah] for democracy, economic justice and human rights on both sides of the US-Mexico border [you need to try a little harder in Mexico]. Civil society must take the leading role in fomenting [we hear ya] social change by developing democratic spaces [i.e. the southwestern USA then north to Ohio] and empowered communities that are outside of party/establishment structures, but always interacting with those structures. The Mexico Solidarity Network is a grassroots-based organization [I'll bet!] dedicated to profound social change [you mean like in Russia and China in the 20th century?] that challenges existing power relationships [US government] and builds alternatives."

This isn't the only job opening with Marxist red flags (no pun intended) listed in Que Pasa, but you can check it out for yourself.

Cross posted at Collecting my Thoughts.

Line in the Sand

2007-06-12T16:25:00.001-04:00

There is an important report available on the internet titled, "Line in the Sand; Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border," prepared by the Majority Staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Investigations, Michael T. McCaul, Chairman.(2007?) It concludes that in order to stop the criminal activity at the border, we need:

Greater control of the border can be achieved by:

Achieve some of these goals, Mr. President, and then maybe we can talk about reforming our immigration policies. Show us you are as serious at home as you are in Iraq.

Why did the immigrants come?

2007-06-12T15:14:00.000-04:00

My ancestors came to the USA in the 1730s and before. Their reasons (if I understand history and genealogy) were religious freedom (Swiss Mennonites), land ownership (some religious groups in Europe were not allowed to own property) and to get away from the hated British (Scots-Irish). In another hundred years the reasons were 1) cheap sea passages, 2) food shortages and bad weather in Europe, 3) the huge tax burdens and internal customs and duties killing the little guy, and 4) cheap land.

"The bad weather of 1816, and the appalling winters of 1825-6, 1826-7, and 1829-30, the last one of the coldest ever recorded, produced real hunger. . . Then there was the tax burden. . .all Europe groaned under oppressive taxation . . . on the backs of poor peasants and tradespeople. . . By comparison, America was a paradise. Its army was 1/50th the size of Prussia's. The expense of government per capita was 10% of that in Britain. There were no tithes because there was no state church. . . There were virtually no poor. Europeans could scarcely believe their ears when told of such figures. . . No conscription. No political police. No censorship. No legalized class distinctions. . . The President's annual addresses to Congress were reprinted in many Continental newspapers until the censors suppressed them. . . But the most powerful inducement was cheap land. . . During the first 11 years of the 19th century, nearly 3,400,000 acres were sold to individual farmers in what was then the Northwest, plus another 250,000 in Ohio. . . The tendency was for the land price to come down--in the 1820s it was often as low as $1.25 an acre (the price my great grandfather paid in the 1850s in Illinois). The system worked because it was simple and corresponded to market forces. A history of the American People, by Paul Johnson, (HarperCollins, 1997) p. 289-293

Bald Chick on illegal immigration

2007-05-28T14:25:00.000-04:00

She answers the question, "Who is responsible?"

Today she is visiting Forreston, IL which is dedicating its Veterans' Memorial.

How to count Hispanics

2007-05-23T08:03:00.000-04:00

Last week there was a lot of hoop-la in the news about the number of minorities in the USA. Keep in mind, millions and millions are not citizens, and many more are here illegally. Then ask, just how are Hispanics counted? In my previous entry I recorded where the catch-all term came from.

I was reading two back to back articles in JAMA, one on HIV/AIDS and one on AORC (arthritis and other rheumatic conditions). Hispanics, this non-specific, non-racial group based on surname, were counted differently. For the HIV/AIDS article, "Persons identified as white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native or other unknown race are all non-Hispanic. Persons identified as Hispanic might be any race." So a 4th generation New Yorker, black Puerto Rican-American or Guatamalan Indian-African-American whose grandfather slipped over the border in 1986 during the last amnesty bungle is Hispanic because grandpa spoke Spanish?

For arthritis, however, which incidently costs the USA $128 billion a year, or 1.2% of GDP, you are either white or non-white, Hispanic or non-Hispanic. I think this allows all the studies to be done over in 5 years because they weren't "diverse" enough.

How "Hispanic" became a racial category

2007-04-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

"With the beginning of large-scale non-European immigration in the late 1960s as a result of the 1965 Immigration Reform Act, entrants from Europe fell from over 50%, 1955-64, to less than 10% in 1985-90, while Third World entrants rose rapidly. This opened an opportunity for lobbies to create new categories of 'disadvantaged minorities.' Thus the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a powerful interest-group in alliance with the Democratic Party, succeeded in establishing a racial category known as 'Hispanic,' which included latin mestizos, people of predominantly European, black, and American Indian descent, descendants of long-assimilated Californios and Tejanos, and other groups who once spoke Spanish--almost anyone in fact who found it advantageous to belong, so long as they could not be accused of being 'Caucasian' or 'Aryan.' This pseudo-race came into existence as the result of statistical classification by bureaucrats." Paul Johnson, A history of the American people, Harper Collins, 1997, pp. 956-57

The Richest Mexican

2007-04-15T18:32:00.000-04:00

is the second richest man (behind Bill Gates) in the world.

" Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man is now worth 53.1 billion, and has thus replaced Warren Buffet (52.4 billion) as the world’s second richest man. This puts Slim less than four billion dollars away from the world’s richest man Bill Gates, at 56 billion."

Story here.

How to save on taxes and health care--become an illegal

2007-04-05T15:45:00.000-04:00

This letter is supposed to be real--from a real Iowan, Donald Ruppert. There is such a person listed in the phone book in Burlington, but I picked it up at radio-nerd.net, then googled it and see I'm a bit late to the party. But it's pretty good.

The Honorable Tom Harkin
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Phone (202) 224 3254
Washington DC, 20510

Dear Senator Harkin,

As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.

My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill's provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen
is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out. Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.

Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.

Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as "in-state" tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son.

Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.

If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative.

Thank you for your assistance.

Your Loyal Constituent,
Donald Ruppert

No wonder we've got such a mess!

2007-03-24T19:30:00.000-04:00

"Guidelines issued by top federal prosecutors in Texas showed that most illegal immigrants crossing into the state had to be arrested at least six times before federal authorities would prosecute them, according to an internal Justice Department memo."

Story here.

As usual, Tom Tancredo gets it.

"Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, who advocates a crackdown on illegal immigration, said the Texas guidelines underscore a lax enforcement attitude. He said the federal government should contract for more jail space, perhaps with local governments.

"If you made it a priority of the department, you would see a reduction," Tancredo said."

US-VISIT

2007-03-13T18:57:00.000-04:00

Biometric identifiers? Isn't that racial profiling? This system looks terribly techi-sophisticated and let's face it, rather invasive, for a country with such poorly guarded and porous borders.

"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a program--the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)--to collect, maintain, and share information, including biometric identifiers, on selected foreign nationals who travel to the United States. By congressional mandate, DHS is to develop and submit for approval an expenditure plan for US-VISIT that satisfies certain conditions, including being reviewed by GAO. GAO was required to determine if the plan satisfied these conditions, follow up on recommendations related to the expenditure plan, and provide any other observations. To address the mandate, GAO assessed plans against federal guidelines and industry standards and interviewed the appropriate DHS officials.

Report is here. You can read abstract, highlights, or text, or the report pdf which is 143 pages.

La Vida Loca

2007-03-01T05:22:00.000-05:00

When we deport undocumented immigrant criminals to their home countries, we are exporting gangs and crime.

$6.5 million wrongful death suit

2007-02-28T09:39:00.000-05:00

In September 2004 there was a horrible tragic fire on Columbus' west side in which seven adults, all illegal immigrants and three children, all U.S. citizens died. At least, that's my recollection from the way the story was covered then. At the time we were told that the fire got out of control because the residents were fearful of being discovered, couldn't speak enough English to let 911 know what was wrong, were living several families in one small apartment, and were probably victims of an arsonist, perhaps a rival or disgruntled fellow-immigrant (don't remember if the theory was sex, drugs or bad debts).

Today's report says nothing about that, only that "Columbus lawyers working with colleagues in Texas and Mexico agreed to the terms of a $6.5 million lawsuit" against the property owners and a security firm.

"Most of the 10 people who died had traveled to the United States to work as landscapers. All were killed by burns and carbon-monoxide poisoning as the fire, set in a mattress in a hallway on the lower level, quickly spread and blocked their escape. Apartment owners were aware of an arson fire in the same building 90 days before the fatal fire but failed to increase security, lawyers said."

So who is at fault here? Not the people who smuggled them into the country; not the people who hired them; not the people who supplied false documents; not the other illegals who invited them to live 10 people to an apartment; not the liberals, Hispanic advocacy groups or church groups who do everything to keep them here; not the immigrant men who didn't allow their women outside to learn English; not the Congress who didn't supply the funding to protect the borders; and certainly not the Mexican government who refuses to clean up their mess at home, preferring to drain all it can from our economy. In 2004, our own emergency call service was blamed because they didn't speak enough Spanish and they all had to take crash courses.

No, through the shenanigans of lawyers who get their 1/3 of the settlement and the Mexican government (don't know how much they get, except perhaps they get to tax that portion that goes to Mexican citizens), the security company and the landlord are at fault for not providing enough security.

Several years ago my son lived in a lovely almost new apartment complex on the east side--off street parking, some garages, a pool, party house, gym, great access to major highways and shopping, etc. Young Hispanic men (if there were women we didn't see them) were jammed into some of these apartments, having fights, looking not at all anxious to be noticed outside the building, with a variety of junky cars littering the parking lots. As soon as his one year lease was up, he moved. It was a scary place.

How long will there be landlords willing to invest in Columbus and keep up property if they have to increase security to handle illegals, or be sued for not doing so? How long will we know the problems in these immigrant communities if our newspapers push the details under the rug? How many more children and parents will need to die at the hands of our homegrown enablers?

Cross posted at Collecting My Thoughts.

The American Dream or Nightmare?

2007-02-28T05:31:00.000-05:00

Banks have been offering home mortgages to undocumented workers using a taxpayer ID instead of a Social Secuity number, and it's not illegal to do so. You don't have to be an American citizen to own property here. Think about all the rich European rock stars and middle eastern oil magnates who buy multi-million dollar homes that eat up our coastlines and forests so they can drop by a few weeks of the year. They are actually cheap tax shelters because their own property taxes are confiscatory.

Now a new bill has been introduced (H.R. 480) by John T. Doolittle R-CA to amend the Truth in Lending Act to make such mortgages to illegals difficult (I was going to say "illegal" but we know that there is an army of lawyers out there working for advocacy groups that will find the loophole, so I downshifted to "difficult").

When there is a practice or law so clearly working against the average, tax paying, law abiding citizen, I always say the trite and true: FOLLOW THE MONEY. Who benefits when undocumented workers buy homes? MurrayT has a home in Florida and the recent tornado wiped out some of those homes. He says FEMA is trying to find the home owners to give them aid--but they have fled fearing arrest for being in the country illegally and are afraid of the INS. Property owners paying taxes in that county and paying high insurance premiums and the rest of the nation (me) who donate to the very inefficient Homeland Security Department are paying.

But the banks with their fees and the real estate industry (now in sort of a slump) and all their linked industries like home inspectors, title examiners, insurance companies are not innocent. Local taxing districts probably don't care as long as the county or township gets its share. Nor are advocacy groups innocent, like La Raza, who normally would turn up their noses at a so-called American value. But they'll preach it brother, oh yes, "the American dream," how could you deny this to hard, working immigrants? Read their own material. They intend to "retake" the southwestern U.S. which Mexico lost in a 19th century war.

The sovereign Mexican government is the big bandito behind all this. And we have so many trade treaties with Mexico it would be hard to sort through. How about that latest one allowing Mexican truck drivers to deliver Mexican goods within the U.S. when we can't even inspect our own trucking industry. But our banks are doing lunch with their bancos you can be sure. Illegal immigrants sending money home, supporting (destroying?) villages and towns left with no young men, is the second highest source of income in Mexico, with oil being number one and tourism number three. The quasi-American left who will weep bitter tears over the 5% rich in this country who pay most of our taxes (but never enough, right?), have no problem turning a blind eye to the inequities in Mexico with the richest Spanish-Mexicans (they have very restrictive laws regarding citizenship) at the top of the government and industries and the poorest Indian-Mexicans at the bottom. Why should Mexico ever clean up its act and be responsible for its own poor and unemployed and create some upward mobility if we're willing to support them with the jobs and social benefits?

Cross posted at Collecting My Thoughts.

Government contributes to locals' woes

2007-02-25T14:39:00.000-05:00

When the government paperwork blocks business owners efforts to determine if a worker is legal, the immigrants flood the area causing housing, education and health problems in counties that don't have the resources to police the problem. This report is from South Carolina.

"Reid Ringer of Saluda said his county has been overrun by illegal immigrants who came to work in agriculture and poultry processing.

"Saluda County is currently in a state of chaos," Ringer said, showing photos of the living conditions of immigrants who are stuffed into decrepit trailers reconfigured to house more than one family.

Marti Coleman-Adams, also of Saluda, said the town now looks shabby because of the dilapidated housing cobbled together for the influx of immigrants and longtime residents' taxes are rising steeply to pay for extra services. Michele Beasley of Charleston said she sees similar things happening in her area. Beasley said Medical University Hospital is supplying free health care to immigrants. With such volumes of newcomers, "we can only assume the majority of these people are illegal," she said. Lem Dillard, a peach farmer, said he tries to make sure all his workers are documented but the government paperwork is difficult to work with and people are often fined for simple mistakes."

Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, sponsored several bills dealing with illegal immigration. Story here in the Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC) 02/15/2007

$1.2 billion in Arizona to education children of illegals

2007-02-21T11:00:00.000-05:00

"Fewer than 10 percent of Lindbergh students were Hispanic in 1980. Today, the figure has swelled to more than 75 percent. But Jennifer Kill, a sixth-grade teacher at the school, said she has never asked if any of these students are illegal immigrants or the children of illegal immigrants. Her job is to teach children, not to guard the border. "As a teacher, you get the students that come to your door," Kill said. "You don't concern yourself with where they're from, what they look like." People who do track immigration trends estimate that 125,000 to 145,000 children of illegal immigrants attend public elementary and secondary schools in Arizona. That figure comes from the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C., which is quick to point out that about half of these students are likely U.S. citizens born in this country. The Pew estimate nearly equals the enrollment of the Scottsdale, Mesa and Chandler unified school districts combined."

Story from Tribune (Mesa, AZ),15-FEB-07

You can find this article by going to Access My Library, where some articles are free and others will require that you type in the number on your public library card and you will have access to a number of newspapers, magazines, and data sources. I used the search term, "illegal immigrants." It's a very nice service.

Tortillas and soft drinks

2007-02-16T10:54:00.000-05:00

On January 18, the government of Mexico announced an agreement to fix tortilla prices. This move, according to my sources, shows President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa is not afraid to take action. In 2006, tortilla prices rose by 14% compared to inflation of 4.05%.

Also, the Mexican government is not afraid to take its citizens to task for drinking too many sugary soft drinks. They are getting hit with a 5% tax. The purpose of this tax is 2 fold--to generate revenue from the booming consumption of soft drinks (Mexico is second only to the US in per capita consumption of carbonated drinks) and to discourage drinking of them because of health problems (I hope we all know how silly this left hand/right hand trick looks). I'm assuming the government is also subsidizing the Mexican sugar industry.

All this leads me to a suggestion. If the Mexican government would just call its people home with good jobs, infrastructure, health care and education, they could stop all that soft drink consumption by Mexicans going on north of the border, and get tortilla prices under control by keeping their citizens in Mexico where they have more access to them.

Source: Latin American Economy & Business, January 2007.

A good job and benefits causes restricted empathy?

2007-02-09T13:22:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure I understand all the anthropological gooble-de-gook in this article, but I'm thinking these authors (the et al were almost all Hispanic surnamed) believe something in evil capitalism is keeping Hispanic border guards from siding with the Mexican illegals. I wonder--did anyone blame capitalism when German surnamed 3rd and 4th generation young men were fighting Germans in WWII?

"U.S. Immigration Officers of Mexican Ancestry as Mexican Americans, Citizens, and Immigration Police" by Josiah McC. Heyman and others, Current Anthropology, volume 43 (2002), pages 479–507

Summary
"U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officers of Mexican ancestry do not identify with Mexican and other Latin American immigrants. Instead, they understand themselves as U.S. citizens who reject both domestic racism and ethnic loyalties that cross national borders. Their self-understandings emerge from processes that include U.S. citizenship ideology and social mobility into primary-labor-market jobs with stability, benefits, and progressive careers. These processes insulate them from the experience of immigrants in casual and insecure labor markets devoid of social benefits. Thus they differ from immigrants not only in being on opposite sides of the bureaucratic encounter but also in being at opposite poles of bureaucratized social citizenship. This suggests that a cause of opposition to immigration in advanced capitalist societies is that citizenship-based job and benefit systems restrict the scope of empathy."

Border guards and van drivers

2007-02-08T09:10:00.000-05:00

While my power steering fluid was dripping out yesterday (I didn't know it), I was driving along and listening to someone report that the border guard who was sentenced to a minimum security prison but sent to a medium security instead and placed in the general population where he was badly beaten by other prisoners. And now it has come out that the government may have lied at their trial. If Bush doesn't shape up on border protection for us, he's going to lose his support from conservatives for his plan to help Iraqis protect their borders.

"In the high-profile case of two U.S. Border Patrol officers imprisoned after shooting and wounding a Mexican drug smuggler, two Department of Homeland Security documents apparently contradict the version of events put forth by the U.S. attorney who successfully prosecuted the case.

The internal Department of Homeland Security memoranda – which have been denied Congress despite repeated requests by two House members – show that within one month of the shooting incident involving Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, government investigators had identified the smuggler as Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila.

But this seems to contradict U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's claim that Aldrete-Davila came forward through a Mexican lawyer who offered to identify his client in exchange for immunity." Jan. 31 report. Update here

Then reaching back a few years, I thought I'd check on the "Mexican national" as he was called then in the MSM news reports, who alledgely let his 23 sick and elderly passengers die when he abandoned his van accident during the Rita hurricane. Apparently, the transportation company has had to pay (as it should) a few million in damages and shape up their falsified log sheets for drivers (they're still in business?). Juan Robles Gutierrez was an illegal alien with no driver's license. Not sure what happened to him, but looks like both the U.S. and Mexico were looking out for his civil rights. If it's like the border patrol agent case, he probably got immunity for testifying against the van company and a green card.

It's too discouraging to even track him down on the internet. Sort of like losing the power steering fluid.

Training for NC deputies

2007-02-06T14:25:00.000-05:00

Beginning January 23, 2007, 13 deputies and jailers from Alamance County, NC "started about a month of training in Charlotte to become federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. In September, the Department of Homeland Security formally approved an agreement with Alamance County to train and deputize the officers. The agreement came about, in part, with the approval of the Alamance County commissioners, in particular through the efforts of Commissioner Tim Sutton, an outspoken immigration reform advocate.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is part of the Department of Homeland Security. It was created in March 2003 from two former federal agencies -- the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Customs Service. A 1996 federal law, known as the Immigration and Nationality Act, authorizes training and deputizing local officers to be federal agents. According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Web site, to qualify for the program, local officers must: Be U.S. citizens. Pass a background check. Have two years' experience on their current job. Have no pending disciplinary actions." Source: Times-News (Burlington, NC), 01/23/2007, available through Access My Library.

Here's another story on Sutton's efforts from last fall, which appear to have been successful.

Infectious, drug resistant diseases

2007-02-02T15:18:00.000-05:00

In the United States tuberculosis was declining until 1985. Then in 1986 it increased 1.1% and by 1993 it was up by 18.4% over the 1985 figures. The population groups with TB were primarily homeless, prisoners, men with HIV, migrant farm workers and immigrants. Then the rate of infection started to go back down. Even so, in 2003 the CDC estimated that 10-15 million people in the U.S. were latently infected with TB and increasingly it is drug resistant.

I'm just thinking here--don't have the answers yet--just trying to connect the dots.

I wonder what happened in the mid-1980s and the early 90s to change the infection rate? In 1986 Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and there was a mass legalization of illegal immigrants which had the effect of bringing even more illegals into the country as they joined relatives and hoped for a similar opportunity (like many of the proposals currently being floated). Meanwhile, by 1993, many of the HIV population were surviving due to the drug cocktails and they were no longer immune compromised and so susceptible to TB, so their numbers decreased even as more illegals with the disease entered the country.

Instead of seeing rational measures to keep out people with TB who will be working in our restaurants, nursing homes, and schools, we will see more proposals by the medical community that we create a friendlier environment, so the illegals won't be afraid of medical treatment.

Here's the template, and it appeared in JAMA in 2005:

"More than half of US multidrug-resistant strains occur in foreign-born individuals who reside in the United States. Control measures require intensive case finding, appropriate treatment programs, and the willingness of foreign-born residents to comply with treatment. The latter is a difficult task because cultural and language barriers along with fears about the US legal system hamper public health efforts. As shown in the study by Granich et al, some foreign-born residents may just disappear into society without completing therapy." "Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis," JAMA. 2005;293:2788-2790.

.

Sweet Land

2007-01-28T11:18:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to see Sweet Land at the Grandview Drexel (Grandview Heights, OH). That's my third movie in three weeks--twice to see Dream Girls and then this low budget indy which has been slowly building in popularity since its release in 2005. It is based on a 1989 short story by Will Weaver. "A Gravestone Made of Wheat" and is about a Norwegian immigrant farmer in southwestern Minnesota who receives a mail-order bride from Norway, only to discover she's a German who had recently moved to Norway. It is not a "Hollywood" product, and is a beautiful love story of Olaf and Inge as they struggle against the community's prejudice against the Germans and the moral standards of that era. Younger viewers won't remember how hated and feared the Germans were, and probably didn't even get that in their social studies classes. My grandfather was 44 with 4 children in 1918, and had to register for the draft--that's how afraid the country was.

The movie begins with Inge's death as an old woman in the 80s, reflects back to the Viet Nam era when Olaf dies, and then starts over with them as young strangers who fall in love around 1920. They encounter prejudice and suspicion in Olaf's strongly Lutheran Norwegian community (it takes place shortly after WWI) and can't marry because her papers are not in order.

Although it's an exceptionally well done film with a wonderful love story and beautiful photography depicting lush farmland and warm friendships, I can't help wondering if there will ever be a film made for commercial release that depicts Christians or even Americans in a positive light? The rural Minnesotan Lutheran congregation insists on speaking only English, even though many of them know Norwegian and the pastor can speak German. As I've come to expect in any film or TV production, everyone but the Christians exhibit Christ's love. There is one very minor character who appears at the beginning and the end whose heart is in the right place--he's of course, an outspoken Socialist.

Inge and Olaf's love story starts and ends with war--WWI and VietNam. The land struggle shows the two of them, both immigrants, harvesting acres of corn by hand, pitted against the modern age of machine farming just developing as farm markets inflated by the war collapse. Yes, and the big, bad commercial interests gobbling up the little guys--and the banker is a relative, a Lutheran sharing the pew on Sunday with the man whose farm he'll auction on Monday.

In what must be the tiniest of sub-plots, there are even two Native Americans, probably from a near-by reservation, helping the banker displace the farmer with 9 children about to be auctioned off his land. The director, Ali Selim, is of Arab parentage doing a xenophobia film when suspicion of Arabs is high, and it's a carbon neutral film (for environmentalists). Ah, the feelgoodiness of it. The producer is also bi-national, his mother being Norwegian. Oh, it's a good story, absolutely, a story of love and overcoming, and change as the community eventually comes to their aid, but sometimes I just get so tired. . .

Sweet Land
movie reviews
Ali Selim
Minnesota

With minor changes, this is from my other blog, Collecting my thoughts.

Columbus' first baby of 2007

2007-01-02T13:25:00.000-05:00

is Miguel Angel Naranjo. His parents Maria and Rodriguez left Mexico four months ago. Fearing a birth defect that runs in the family, they wanted the good care their infant would get in the the USA.

No word on legal or illegal entry, or whether they are married, or how they made their way to Columbus, Ohio. On the plus side, the child didn't have the defect, so we've been saved that cost.

On the list of banished words

2007-01-01T06:44:00.000-05:00

Lake Superior State University list of proposed banished words includes, and I agree:

UNDOCUMENTED ALIEN -- "If they haven't followed the law to get here, they are by definition 'illegal.' It's like saying a drug dealer is an 'undocumented pharmacist.'" -- John Varga, Westfield, New Jersey.

Has anything changed in 30 years? Yes! It's worse.

2006-12-13T11:32:00.000-05:00

In the International Migration Review, Vol. 9, No. 4, 1975, Professor W. Tim Dagodag of California State University summarized the "socio-economic disequilibriums" of illegal immigration endemic to the southwest.

1. Domestic labor patterns--domestic underemployment or unemployment in the region is exacerbated by availability of a large illegal labor force which is regularly employed in agriculture, marginal industrial, and service occupations. The only change here is they have moved into the skilled trades--see the story about a black businessman being put out of business in today's WSJ.

2. Labor law violation--unskilled illegal aliens work for less than legally prescribed federal, state, or local minimum wages. The biggest change here is they are now being recruited and hired by labor unions, at much higher than minimum but lower than journeymen.

3. Loss of revenues--wages paid to illegals have not been subjected to either federal or state taxation procedures. Because of cash exports to Mexico, a sizable portion of wages paid to illegals does not enter into the regional economy. Only change here is the word "regional," because now it is national.

4. Health--Tuberculosis, typhoid, hepatitis, veneral diseases and dysentery have been linked to the presence of illegal immigrants. Food service workers are particularly putting the population at risk. Does spinach or green onions come to mind?

5. Welfare--contrary to state and local laws, illegal aliens are receiving public assistance, diverting resources from domestic recepients. Now apparently that has been solved by making assistance legal.

6. Law enforcement--manpower drainage of federal and local law enforcement agencies, and now drug importing with 80% of the drugs seized coming from illegal alien apprehension. Not much new here.

Dagodag's article (he was Dept. of Geography) goes on to pinpoint the areas of Mexico where the aliens were born and raised. Not terribly useful information, as it turns out.

"Source Regions and Composition of Illegal Mexican Immigration to California," W. Tim Dagodag, International Migration Review, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Winter, 1975), pp. 499-511. Twenty years later the author was chair of the urban planning department; I didn't pursue it any further. But he might want to revisit this article and come up with some better ideas.

Population growth in rural midwest areas

2006-12-11T11:36:00.000-05:00

is primarily due to immigration, according to the USDA ERS, Rural America at a Glance.

"Nonmetro population growth since 2000 has been evenly divided between natural increase—an excess of births over deaths (541,000)—and net inmigration (545,000).

Three-fifths of the inmigration (322,000) is accounted for by immigrants from abroad. The rest (223,000) originated from metro areas, as more people have moved to rural and small-town places than away from them.

Between 2000 and 2005, population growth in the Midwest resulted entirely from international migration, because population growth from natural increase (births minus deaths) was completely offset by domestic outmigration of mostly young adults.

In addition, international migration contributed between 18 and 28 percent of total nonmetro population growth for the West, South, and Northeast.

Indiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, and New Mexico had the largest percentage gains in nonmetro population from international migration between 2000 and 2005.

The largest nonmetro population increases between 2000 and 2005 occurred in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. The fastest growth rates were in Delaware, Nevada, Florida, and Hawaii."

This needs more study

2006-11-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

World Net Daily reports: "Though no federal statistics are kept on murders or any other crimes committed by illegal aliens, a number of groups have produced estimates based on data collected from prisons, news reports and independent research.

Twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens, according to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. If those numbers are correct, it translates to 4,380 Americans murdered annually by illegal aliens. That's 21,900 since Sept. 11, 2001."

Illegal sex offenders probably don't reregister

2006-10-29T05:10:00.000-05:00

Don Surber has a post on the TX database that scrubbed out the offenders after they were deported. Who knew there was a public record so up to date--there's a guy here in Ohio still paying child support to his deceased wife months after her death and the children are living with him. Anyway, deported offenders are now back on the list--after a policeman was killed.

Surber's article with link to AP (ABC channel 7) story.

An elephant and a band

2006-10-13T16:04:00.000-04:00

When Raj Bakhta wanted to point out border security problems, he videos himself chasing a guy across the Rio Grande. Then he gets an elephant and a mariachi band and crosses it himself (around min. 4 on the video), with no one stopping him. This is going around the internet, and I first heard it on the radio. This YouTube is great. Did you hear Google is buying it for $135 billion?

Raj Bhakta with elephant

HT Florida Cracker.