Undocumented Immigration
Prince William County Mothers Against Immigrant Bashing
Cliché or not, the anthropologist Margaret Mead knew what she was talking about when she said "Never doubt that a few concerned citizens can change the world for indeed that is all that ever has." A group of stay-at-home moms in Prince William County who decided they've had enough of the anti-immigrant fervor boiling over in their community have begun to do just that as they organize around the issue of immigration. Today's Washington Post features Alanna Alameda, Elena Schlossberg, and Katherine M. Gotthard--describing some of what motivated them to get involved: Read More
A Man Who Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is
Robert Hildreth is an unlikely hero to immigrants. He is a multimillionaire who made his money trading Latin American Bonds. However, this year he started another kind of "bond fund" -one that helps undocumented workers who are swept up in immigration raids, post bail. His perspective as a relative immigration outsider has allowed him to see the holes in our approach to immigration enforcement and his prescription for incoming DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano is laid out in the Houston Chronicle this week. Also newsworthy is the nomination of Hildreth by the Boston Globe as "Bostonian of the Year." The public can log on and vote for him among many other Bostonians who accomplished great things in 2008. Read More
Arpaio Only One Smiling in Maricopa County
NOTE: This story first appeared in the Huffington Post. Video by America’s Voice. Smile, You’re Under Arrest”–that’s the name of a new reality TV show starring none other than Sheriff Joe Arpaio of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). Yet Maricopa County citizens aren’t smiling… Read More
Scrounging for Facts in FAIR’s Reporting Yet Again
Video by America's Voice. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) released another report claiming that undocumented immigrants cost states much more than they pay in taxes. This time the target was Colorado. As is the case for many restrictionist reports, FAIR's conclusions are based on dubious "evidence" and assumptions, and often relies upon national level data to estimate Colorado-specific numbers. FAIR claims to look at the costs of providing education, health care, and incarceration to undocumented immigrants. But are they really looking at the undocumented population? Read More
Big Brother DOJ Rule Expands DNA Collection to Immigrants
For immigrants helplessly entangled in our country's broken immigration system, Big Brother is watching. Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a shocking new rule requiring federal agencies to collect DNA samples from non-U.S. persons who are detained under the authority of the U.S in a vague attempt to catch criminals. Immigration and civil liberties groups are decrying the new rule, saying that it poses a direct threat to basic constitutional and privacy rights. Even the European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that a similar British DNA policy violated privacy rights. Previously, the federal government was authorized to collect DNA samples only from persons convicted of felonies, violent crimes, aggravated sexual abuse, or serious military offenses. Now, considering the likelihood of legal U.S. residents and citizens getting caught up in immigration raids, it's even possible that individuals who are legally in the U.S. with no criminal history will be subjected under this new rule to DNA testing without their consent. According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the rule: Read More
Immigration Remains Top-Tier Issue for New Administration
Gebe Martinez wrote in this week's Politico that "in presidential transition offices, immigration is cited as a top-tier issue that Obama will have to tackle early in his administration." While everyone knows the economy is the first order of business, even Michael Chertoff would agree that something needs to be done about immigration especially after it was revealed that undocumented workers were tidying up his suburban Maryland home. Chertoff would find himself in Conservative company. Leading Republicans have begun to publicly criticize the GOP's handling of the immigration issue following the Party's historic losses in November and the Republicans are rethinking their Hispanic strategy. Read More
Texas Driver’s License Policy Ill Substitute for Immigration Reform
Texas recently tightened its driver's license policy, making it more difficult for immigrants to get an original, renewal, or duplicate driver's license or state ID card. All applicants must now not only prove they are lawfully in the U.S., noncitizens will also receive a driver's license that is distinct from that of U.S. citizens. This has already resulted in discrimination and the denial of licenses to people who should have qualified. Texas already had strict identity requirements and prohibited undocumented immigrants from obtaining licenses. The new rules mean that noncitizens will get specially designed vertical licenses and anyone who has a visa scheduled to expire in less than six months will not be able to get a license. The special licenses expire with the expiration date of the person's visa. Read More
Restrictionist CIS Twists Facts on “Marriage Fraud”
In a report released on December 2, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) takes aim at what it views as an under-appreciated threat to U.S. national security and the integrity of the U.S. immigration system: the alleged ease with which foreigners married to U.S. citizens can become Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) and receive "green cards." CIS scrapes the bottom of the intellectual barrel in terms of relying upon anecdote rather than evidence to derisively claim that "if small-time con artists and Third-World gold-diggers can obtain green cards with so little resistance, then surely terrorists can (and have done) the same." Even the title of the report, "Hello, I Love You, Won't You Tell Me Your Name," suggests that it is intended more as mockery rather than a substantive analysis of immigration policy. Read More
Agriprocessors’ Rubashkin Faces Immigration and Wage Violation Charges
This week, former CEO Sholom Rubashkin of kosher slaughterhouse Agriprocessors pleaded "not guilty" in court to 12-counts involving undocumented immigrants, identity theft and bank fraud. When the kosher meatpacking plant was raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, authorities found not just undocumented workers at the plant, but child laborers, and an employer guilty of a host of crimes, including exploitation, abuse and illegal drug production. The New York Times reported, "Some [workers] said they worked shifts of 12 hours or more, wielding razor-edged knives and saws to slice freshly killed beef. Some worked through the night, sometimes six nights a week." Read More
Worried About the Mortgage Market? Don’t Blame an Immigrant
Anti-immigrant zealots, as part of their never-ending crusade to blame immigration for virtually every economic and social problem in the United States, continue to insist that the collapse of the subprime mortgage market was rooted in nefarious home purchases by undocumented immigrants. On November 18, a rambling post to the “Political Awareness and Responsibility” blog managed to blame the 1965 Immigration Act, Senator Ted Kennedy, and ACORN for unleashing hordes of undocumented home buyers with subprime mortgages upon an unsuspecting American public. The author follows in the footsteps of anti-immigrant columnist and commentator Michele Malkin, who helped kicked off this round of subprime immigrant blame-gaming back in September. Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
