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Immigration News Blog

Monday, April 30, 2007

Conference looks at possible immigration reform

Conference looks at possible immigration reform
Arab American News, MI -
WASHINGTON — Leading immigration experts, policymakers, and advocates gathered in Washington on Tuesday, April 25 to discuss prospects for comprehensive ...

 

Among black students, many immigrants

Among black students, many immigrants
NEW YORK -- Something in the crowd made Shirley Wilcher wonder. As a college graduate in the early 1970s, her black classmates were like herself - born in the United States, to American parents.

 

Analysis: Immigration haunts French vote (UPI)

Analysis: Immigration haunts French vote (UPI)
Immigration will play a central role in persuading French voters which of the two finalists they will cast their ballots for in the second and decisive round of the French presidential elections May 6.

 

Operation Return to Sender

Operation Return to Sender
By Peter Rousmaniere
The New York Times reports on ICE raids in California as part of a nationwide sweep. I have already posted on earlier raids. The sweep is called “Operation Return to Sender, in which more than 23,000 people have been arrested nationwide, including more than 1,800 in Northern and Central California.”

 

Friday, April 27, 2007

High-Skill Immigration Trends Across U.S. States

High-Skill Immigration Trends Across U.S. States
Despite much national attention on low-skill immigrants, high-skill immigration has significant consequences for the U.S. economy.Immigration has received a lot of attention recently, grabbing headlines and keeping legislators busy at both the state and

 

Employer claims he didn't grasp immigration law

Employer claims he didn't grasp immigration lawNew Haven Register (subscription), CT -
-NEW HAVEN — Jose Calhelha may have been misinformed about US immigration law, but he is not a human smuggler, even though he pleaded guilty to bringing ...

 

Ireland - McDowell publishes Immigration Bill

McDowell publishes Immigration Bill
Irish Times, Ireland -
The Immigration Bill, published by Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, outlines the basis upon which foreign nationals can lawfully reside ...

 

Immigration bill triggers Asian American uproar

Immigration bill triggers Asian American uproarManila Mail, DC -
President Bush will reportedly move for the elimination of all family based immigrant visas as part of "draconian measures" to reform the Immigration Reform ...

 

Foreign-born grads stymied by work visas quota

Foreign-born grads stymied by work visas quota
By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff
Kuanysh Batyrbekov, 22, will soon graduate from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in economics, and he has lined up a job with the prominent investment bank Lehman Brothers . But he won't be spending much time on Wall Street.

 

Murder in Monterrey Mexico of Farm Labor Organizer

Murder in Monterrey
Nation
On April 9 Santiago Rafael Cruz, a labor organizer for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), was found beaten to death in the union's office in Monterrey, Mexico.

 

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Mayor of London accuses Heathrow airport immigration staff of being 'racist'

Ken brands airport staff 'racist'
Ken Livingstone has launched a scathing attack on immigration staff at Heathrow Airport after accusing them of treating foreign travellers in a racist manner.

 

Electing to Forget History? The Politics of Immigration in the ...

Electing to Forget History? The Politics of Immigration in the ...History News Network, WA -
French citizens may not personalize the immigration story the way Americans do, but the present electoral campaign nonetheless proves they are asking ...

 

Australia: English standards for skilled migrants

English standards for skilled migrants
Skilled migrants will be required to have a minimum standard of English and employers will face stricter penalties for underpaying workers, under changes to skilled temporary visa laws. Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said employers with good

 

Immigration Folly at the Lege (Austin Chronicle)

Immigration Folly at the Lege (Austin Chronicle)
Sweeping immigration reforms passing through the Texas House could severely affect the way the city does business. On April 16, the House State Affairs Committee discussed eight bills that covered such issues as banning local government from accepting consular documents as ID and auditing how much is spent by each agency on providing services to undocumented migrants.

 

Hearing on immigration raids underway (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)

Hearing on immigration raids underway (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)
A team of lawyers are asking a federal judge in Minneapolis today to stop immigration agents from using the kinds of aggressive tactics that characterized a multiday raid in Willmar earlier this month. Attorneys for about two dozen of the Willmar residents whose houses were searched are charging that government agents failed to show search warrants, forced their way into homes and engaged in ...

 

Americans Assess Illegal Immigration

Americans Assess Illegal Immigration
Angus Reid Global Monitor - More people in the United States think the government is not securing the country's borders effectively, according to a poll by TNS

 

'Immigration does not solve problems for Mexico'

'Immigration does not solve problems for Mexico'
Daily Astorian, OR -
According to Sam Quinones, a reporter for The Los Angeles Times and author of two books on Mexican immigration, Carrillo was looking for something a lot of ...

 

Africa: Brain Drain Costs Continent $4bn, Says UN

Africa: Brain Drain Costs Continent $4bn, Says UN
United Nations Development Programme has said brain drain has cost the African continent over $4 billion in the employment of 150,000 expatriate professionals annually.

 

Migrant 'underclass' to be probed

Migrant 'underclass' to be probed
In UK
The government is to investigate evidence from the BBC that migrant workers are being trafficked into Britain.

 

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Britain: Illegal migrants' right to work wins support of public in poll

Illegal migrants' right to work wins support of public in poll
Illegal workers in Britain to be given the official right to earn a living would have popular support, according to findings in an opinion poll. The plight of illegal immigrants who are denied any right to work has been called 'modern-day slavery'.

 

Migrants boost British economy but worry voters

Migrants boost British economy but worry voters
LONDON (Reuters) - Britons' concern over an influx of Eastern European immigrants is a mounting theme in the run-up to local elections in May, even as some argue people are overlooking the economic benefits immigration has brought. Immigration Minister

 

U.S. immigration movement divided as May 1 boycott, rallies approach

U.S. immigration movement divided as May 1 boycott, rallies approach
PETER PRENGAMAN Associated Press Writer (AP) - LOS ANGELES-A year after attracting more than a million protesters in solidarity, the immigration reform movement in the United States has grown increasingly divided as it approaches another national day of...

 

Immigration studies: a key to understanding

Immigration studies: a key to understanding
StateHornet.com, CA -
The class is Sociology 122: Immigration Studies, taught by Professor Manuel Barajas. Current debate on the issue of immigration, more specifically, ...

 

U.S. retirees fuel real estate boom in Panama

U.S. retirees fuel real estate boom in Panama
Sharyn and Reuben Bronstein are witnessing a building frenzy from the balcony of their 22nd-floor apartment. Towering cranes and more than a dozen residential skyscrapers under construction obscure the couple's view.

 

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

California: City Won't Aid Immigration Officials (New York Times)

California: City Won't Aid Immigration Officials (New York Times)
Police officers and other city employees will not help federal immigration authorities seeking to round up and deport illegal immigrant workers in San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom said Sunday.

 

San Francisco / Mexico's health czar seeks better care for Mexicans in California / 'We can build a new model' for insurance

San Francisco / Mexico's health czar seeks better care for Mexicans in California / 'We can build a new model' for insurance
By Tyche Hendricks
Mexico's new secretary of health visited San Francisco on Monday to learn about the health needs of the millions of Mexican immigrants living in California and to further collaborate with state officials to meet those needs. "We can build a new model...

 

Italy: Government Approves Reform of Immigration Laws

Italy: Government Approves Reform of Immigration Laws
AKI, Italy -
Rome, April 24 (AKI) - The Italian government on Tuesday approved a decree easing strict immigration laws approved by the previous conservative government ...

 

Republicans easing immigration stand, seek compromise

Republicans easing immigration stand, seek compromise
WASHINGTON - Searching for a bipartisan deal on immigration, Republicans are backing off from strict conditions they floated earlier this year for allowing illegal immigrants a crack at citizenship.

 

Monday, April 23, 2007

Cities Confront Clusters of Day Laborers

Cities Confront Clusters of Day Laborers
NPR audio:
Local governments are taking two basic approaches to day laborers -- some of them undocumented workers -- who wait on public streets for jobs. Some try to drive them away. Others offer work centers where potential employers can find them.

 

Records Show More Illegal Immigrants Paying Taxes

Records Show More Illegal Immigrants Paying Taxes
NPR audio:
It appears that many illegal immigrants are trying to get right with the IRS. The number of filers using ID numbers instead of Social Security numbers jumped between 2004 and 2005. It's assumed that most filers who use "I-10" numbers are undocumented workers.

 

Guest-Worker Debate: Human or Mechanical Labor?

Guest-Worker Debate: Human or Mechanical Labor?
NPR audio:
American growers who say they need more workers to pick crops are pushing lawmakers to pass an agricultural guest-worker program. Business leaders and even some unions endorse the idea. Critics say giving farmers a low-wage, imported workforce will stifle modernization.

 

Libraries boost collections, programs for immigrants

Libraries boost collections, programs for immigrants
OWATONNA, Minn. - Suleyman Mohamed stops by the downtown library nearly every day, browsing for books about his native Somalia or picking up DVDs that can help him brush up on his English skills. For him, there's no other place to turn.

 

Bush’s Immigration Ideas Worry Mexicans ‘Looking for a Future’

Bush’s Immigration Ideas Worry Mexicans ‘Looking for a Future’
The NewStandard, NY -
You’ve heard from politicians, pundits and anti-immigration activists. But what do people aspiring to live and work in the United States and their advocates ...

 

National Conference of State Legislatures : Overview of State Legislation Related to Immigration and Immigrants in 2007

Overview of State Legislation Related to Immigration and Immigrants in 2007
As of April 13, 2007, state legislators in all of the 50 states had introduced at least 1169 bills and resolutions related to immigration or immigrants and refugees. This is more than twice the total number of introduced bills (570) in 2006.

 

Industries see threat in immigration bills

Industries see threat in immigration bills
The State, SC -
Industry leaders say the federal government needs to fix a broken system and state and local governments need to steer clear of immigration legislation. ...

 

Western Growers Announces Final Drive for Ongoing Immigration Reform

Western Growers Announces Final Drive for Ongoing Immigration Reform
PR Newswire (press release), NY -
The concentrated effort will seek to achieve passage of immigration reform prior to the adjournment of Congress for the 2007 summer recess. ...

 

Progress on Immigration reform law

Progress on Immigration reform law
By Peter Rousmaniere
The New York Times says that a bill is closer to reality than appeared just a few weeks ago. It credits both parties as coming to a compromise over to provisions insisted on by Republicans – (1) triggers, or milestones in tightening up border controls first, and (2) a touchback provision, requiring illegal immigrants to leave the country and then return.

 

House and White House proposals compared

House and White House proposals compared
By Peter Rousmaniere
The Migration Policy Institute issued the other day a comparison between proposals. The Strive Act, proposed by Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in March, is the only bill being actively promoted in either the House or Senate at this time. The White House proposal is known only through a Powerpoint presentation which was leaked.