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05-29-2008
Judge Strikes Down Suburb's Immigration-Related Rental Ban
http://www.quorumreport.com:80/
POSTED: 3:55 pm CDT May 28, 2008 - UPDATED: 4:17 pm CDT May 28, 2008
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas -- A federal judge found a Dallas suburb's rule
prohibiting apartment rentals to illegal immigrants unconstitutional and
prevented it from being enforced.
In his decision Wednesday, the judge concluded Farmers Branch didn't
defer to the federal government in immigration matters. Instead, the
city tried to create its own classification to determine which
noncitizens could rent in Farmers Branch.
U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay also wrote that the city's attempts
to salvage the ordinance faltered because they would have required the
court to draft laws. That function is outside of the court's duties.
Council members passed the ordinance last year. It would have barred
apartment rentals to illegal immigrants and required landlords to verify
legal status. The rule made a few exemptions for minors, seniors and
some mixed-immigration status families.
Residents endorsed the law 2-to-1 in May during the nation's first
public vote on a local government measure meant to combat illegal
immigration. FARMERS BRANCH, Texas -- A federal judge
found a Dallas suburb's rule prohibiting apartment rentals to illegal
immigrants unconstitutional and prevented it from being enforced.
Border efforts criticized less
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 05/19/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
AUSTIN -- Texas has awarded nearly $20 million in grants this year to
local police and sheriff's departments to continue border security
operations that started more than two years ago.
In El Paso, where local departments have received more than $2 million
this year, the operations have received less criticism recently than
they did initially when some in the community alleged officers targeted
immigrant communities.
"Things are changing," said Fernando Garcia, executive director of the
Border Network for Human Rights. "It's been a long and a slow process,
but these things are changing in a very positive way."
Gov. Rick Perry began funding state-led border security operations 2006,
and so far has sent about $34 million in federal grants to local law
enforcement agencies for border-crime fighting, spokeswoman Krista
Piferrer said.
Last year, lawmakers approved another $110 million Perry requested in
state money for the operations. Much of it went to the Texas Department
of Public Safety. Some also was allocated for grants to pay local
officers overtime to patrol the border.
Piferrer said $19.9 million has been awarded to local police and
sheriff's departments.
Deputy Jesse Tovar, spokesman for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office,
said the focus of the department's border security efforts is not
illegal immigration.
Most of the $2 million the department has been awarded is set aside for
increased patrols that make officers more visible, deter crime and
improve response times.
www.fairus.com
Bush
Administration Proposes an Increase in "Temporary" Workers
On May 22nd, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed new rules for the
H-2B unskilled guest worker program. In a press release, the DOL claims
these rules would streamline the process for employers to certify and
acquire "temporary" and seasonal H-2B guest workers by implementing
technical changes for employer filing and worker protection. The DOL
argues the change will give the department, "additional tools to protect
workers and remove duplicative bureaucracy." ( Press Release , U.S.
Department of Labor, May 26, 2008)
The DOL, however, while insisting that the H-2B program is meant to
provide U.S. employers with "temporary work," failed to mention one of
the most important changes in the rule: redefining the term "temporary"
work from its current definition (10 months or less) to "less than three
years." (Federal Register / Volume 73 No. 100, P. 29952)
This measure drastically expands the
H-2B program and will significantly expand the number of H-2B workers
who may enter the U.S. Which just goes to show that if you can't pass
a bill through the legislative body, just change the regulations.
The move by the Bush Administration to revise the H-2B regulations
coincidentally occurred on the very same day that the Mikulski H-2B
amendment was pulled from the Iraq War Funding Bill.
http://seniorsleague.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2874&Itemid=92
1.5 Million Illegal Workers Enter Social Security Yearly
By Mary Johnson
When the Social Security Trustees delivered their grim news about
the Trust Fund recently, to the casual observer there seemed to be
little change from previous years. The Trustees noted, as they did last
year, that in about 9 years there would be more money going OUT of the
fund than coming INTO it – something that every senior should watch
carefully.
But what the Trustees did not say is that their forecast is based upon
assumptions about illegal immigration that may make the Trust Fund
appear to be in better shape than it really is. The Trustees’ estimate — as bad as it is — is made much worse by
the Trustees’ having credited the Trust Fund with the estimated
contributions from a substantially growing number of “other-than-legal”
immigrants, without deducting the cost of future Social Security
benefits that would be payable to many of those same workers who could
eventually become eligible.
The Trustees inexplicably assumed that “other-than-legal” immigrants
will do one of two things: (1) A large number will leave the
U.S.
prior to gaining legal status and becoming eligible for Social Security
benefits, OR (2) those remaining will become legal. But the Trustees
have no concrete data upon which to estimate how many currently illegal
immigrants would fit into either of those categories.
If Congress enacts immigration reform legislation, like it has done in
the past, that could ease the way for millions of these
“other-than-legals” to gain legal status and, thus, to become eligible
for Social Security benefits
www.eagleforum.org/
A
New Argument About Immigration
Phyllis Schlafly
Monday, May 26, 2008
Many arguments, pro and con, about how to deal with illegal aliens have
been passionately debated over the past couple of years, but there are
still other arguments that need public exposure. Mark Krikorian presents
a new argument in his forthcoming book called "The New Case Against
Immigration, Both Legal and Illegal."
The pro-more-immigration crowd
argues
that today's immigrants are just like immigrants of a century ago: poor
people looking for a better life who are expected to advance in our land
of opportunity. Krikorian's new argument is that while today's
immigrants may be like earlier ones, the America they come to is so very
different that our previous experience with immigrants is practically
irrelevant.
The essential difference between the two waves of immigrants was best
summed up by the Nobel Prize-winning advocate of a free market,
Milton Friedman.
He said, "It's just obvious that you can't have free immigration and a
welfare state."
The term "welfare state" does not just mean handouts to the nonworking.
Our welfare state encompasses dozens of social programs that provide
benefits to the "working poor," i.e., people working for wages low
enough that they pay little or no income taxes.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=122582
School's out forever ... for NC illegals
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 5/24/2008 6:00:00 AM
A North Carolina-based immigration organization is commending state
Attorney General Roy Cooper
for ruling that the North Carolina Community College System should bar
illegal immigrants from attending its colleges.
The ruling came following a lengthy debate that began in November of
last year when the North Carolina Junior College system announced it
intended to admit illegal aliens.
William Gheen is president of
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC
or ALIPAC. His organization played a key role in defeating in-state
tuition for illegal aliens in 2005. Gheen is pleased with what Cooper
determined.
05-22-2008
We all know
that the AgJobs amendment was taken out of the Iraq Funding bill -
however; there are very bad amendments still in that legislation.
Continue to Call.
-----
Original Message -----
From:
Federation for American Immigration Reform

Amnesty Amendments Set to Hit the Senate Floor Today
Call Your Senators NOW!!
As we reported last week, during the Senate Appropriations Committee
mark-up of the Iraq War Funding Bill, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
and Larry Craig (R-ID) successfully attached a version of AgJOBS onto
the bill. This special interest legislation is intended to protect
sources of cheap labor by granting 5-year amnesty visas to 1.35 million
illegal aliens plus their spouses and children. To see a summary of the
amnesty portion of the Feinstein-Craig amendment,
click here. THE SENATE IS SET
TO BEGIN DEBATE ON THE IRAQ WAR FUNDING BILL AS EARLY AS TODAY!!!! FAIR
is urging all members, activists and friends to call their Senators NOW
and urge them to strip all immigration amendments from the bill.
If that weren't enough, the Senate Appropriations Committee also
saddled the Iraq War Funding Bill with:
- An amendment authored by Senator Barbara
Mikulski (D-MD) that will dramatically expand the number of
unskilled H-2B guest workers entering the U.S. each year;
- An amendment authored by Senators Patty Murray
(D-WA) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) that will make approximately 218,000
more green cards available for multinational executives and
so-called "highly skilled workers" by "recapturing" visas from as
far back as 1994; and
- An amendment authored by Senator Patrick Leahy
(D-VT) that grants a 5-year extension to a program that helps
wealthy investors get green cards.
PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS NOW AND
URGE THEM TO STRIP ALL IMMIGRATION AMENDMENTS FROM THE IRAQ WAR FUNDING
BILL!!! As soon as you have called your own Senators, please also call
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY). These two leaders are the most
powerful, influential, and able to strip these disastrous amendments
from the Iraq War Funding Bill. When you call these Senators, please
tell them:
- The American people overwhelmingly rejected
amnesty for illegal aliens in 2007;
- You are outraged the Senate is once again
attempting to sneak amnesty and other immigration amendments aimed
at appeasing corporate interests into an unrelated appropriations
bill;
- The debate over the funding for the troops
fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan should not be held hostage by the
corporate cheap labor interests in Washington, DC!
To find your Senators' contact information,
click here.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
DC Office (202) 224-3542
District Office (702) 388-5020
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
DC Office (202) 224-2541
District Office (502) 582-6304
05-17-2008
MEMBERS OF CFIR
(and friends), IN CASE YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THIS ALERT, PLEASE ACT:
www.NUMBERSUSA.com
Because
the House of Representatives unexpectedly delayed the
Iraq supplemental spending bill late Thursday, the full
Senate won't be allowed today to vote on the amnesty bill that the
Senate Appropriations Committee unexpectedly took up and approved
Thursday.
It now looks like the full Senate won't be allowed to vote on the
amnesty for around 1.3 million illegal alien ag workers (plus their
families) until next Wednesday.
That gives us some time to beat this atrocity. Go to
WWW.NUMBERSUSA.COM
AND MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE CORK BULLETIN.
And ONLY if you enlist as many of your friends, relatives, neighbors and
colleagues as possible by forwarding this Alert to them.
Especially important is that you pick up the phone and make the calls to
your two Senators that we've requested.
202-224-3121 Toll
free Number is 1-866-340-9281
LOCAL NOS. FOR
Sen. Hutchison:
214-361-3500;
Sen. Cornyn:
972-239-1310:
Tell them you are against adding any amendments regarding amnesty to the
Iraq Supplemental Appropriations bill. Thanks.
Friends, perhaps you are thinking what I'm thinking: Don't these
Senators know that we are in an
economic recession,
or close to it? Don't they know that unemployment rates have been going
up and that industries across the country are shedding both skilled and
unskilled jobs?
If ever you doubted that U.S. Senators
live lives disconnected from ordinary Americans, you could see it
Thursday as 17 of them fell all over themselves to drastically increase
the number of foreign workers allowed to hold U.S.
jobs!
http://www.riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=18
Jacoby sets up
ImmigrationWorks USA to educate public on benefits of immigration
11 May 2008
Steve Taylor and Joey Gomez
McALLEN, May 11 -
A former fellow of the Manhattan Institute who has advised the Texas
Border Coalition on immigration issues in the past has set up a new
national organization to promote comprehensive immigration reform.
Tamar Jacoby says
ImmigrationWorks USA has two main goals: to educate the public about the
benefits of immigration and build a mainstream grassroots constituency
in favor of an overhaul. That constituency will likely be led by
business owners who are willing to speak out and demand that it gets
done, Jacoby told the
Guardian.
“I don’t think we
are going to get comprehensive immigration reform passed until the
business community steps up to the plate and makes its voice heard to
its members of Congress,” Jacoby said.
“It can’t just be
the lobbyists in Washington. It cannot just be the lobbyists at the
state capitols. It has to be ordinary guys willing to write and call
their members of Congress. Otherwise, the other side is fielding
hundreds of thousands of people and we do not have any soldiers on the
field.”
http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/16227755/detail.html
Juarez Police Chief Resigns After Assistant Chief's Execution
Angeeneh Adamain-
KFOX News Reporter
POSTED: 8:10 pm
MDT May 10, 2008
UPDATED: 10:17 pm
MDT May 10, 2008
EL PASO, Texas
--
Juarez's police chief resigns after his assistant is slain and hundreds
are killed in what is being called a turf war. Saturday Chief Guillermo
Preito announced his resignation from the Juarez Police Department. His
announcement comes as
six
high-ranking official have been killed in the last week.
Many speculate the death of the chief's assistant, 54-year-old Juan
Antonio Roman may be why.
According to
Mexican police, Ramon was shot nearly
50 times
outside his home while he stepped out of his marked police truck. He
died instantly.
Immigration
Tensions Evident at Hearing
http://www.texasinsider.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3569
Published:
05-13-08
A House hearing
Tuesday did little to relieve the tension between lawmakers on both
sides of the immigration debate, merely spotlighting differences over a
system to verify the legal status of workers and job applicants.
Rep. Heath Shuler
, D-N.C., told the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security that
Congress should act on his enforcement-oriented bill before the
Internet-based E-Verify system expires in November.
Shuler’s bill would make the program mandatory for all employers.
The system, which
allows employers to check employees’ work eligibility by verifying their
Social Security numbers, has been around since 1996, but it is voluntary
in all states except Arizona,
which enacted a state law Jan. 1 requiring all employers to use the
system.
www.fairus.org
Rep. Dennis Moore
(D-KS) and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
(D-AZ) testified in support of H.R. 5515, the New Employee Verification
Act (NEEVA), introduced by the Subcommittee's ranking member
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX). H.R. 5515 is an
employment eligibility verification bill endorsed by a number of
business interests including the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
and conglomeration of business interests called the H.R. Initiative for
a Legal Workforce. (Reuters,
Human Resource Experts Testify in Opposition to Mandated Use of
'E-Verify' in Kansas,
March 4, 2008.)
This bill requires
electronic verification of employment eligibility, but allows employers
to use one of two systems: The first system would be based on the
National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) database. NDNH is already in use
in the states to assist child support agencies in locating parents and
enforcing child support orders. The second eligibility verification
system allows employers use a government certified private sector
companies to certify employment authorization. Both systems would
interface with Social Security and
Department of Homeland Security databases to verify the accuracy of the
data.
http://www.riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=14
Hammond:
Comprehensive immigration reform crucial for future of Texas
9 May 2008
Joey Gomez
McALLEN, May 9 -
Comprehensive immigration reform is absolutely essential to growing the
Texas economy, business leaders said at a summit hosted by Texas
Employers for Immigration Reform on Friday.
That reform had to
address the future economic needs for future workers and undocumented
workers already in the United States, said Bill Hammond, president and
CEO of the Texas Association of Business. The event, held at the McAllen
Convention Center, was titled 'Rio Grande Valley Immigration Summit: A
Forum for Employers.'
“Essentially, we believe those who are already here, those undocumented
workers, should be given an opportunity to obtain legal status. Let’s
make sure they are given the protections they deserve,” said Hammond,
who is also a TEIR board member. “In terms of comprehensive reform,
what's necessary is that employers will have to have a system they can
rely on. Currently, they don't have one.”
More than 15
speakers participated in the Summit including U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar,
D-Laredo, former congressman and former House Agriculture Committee
Chair Charles Stenholm, McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez, and Dave Beckwith,
state director for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison, R-Texas, gave a pre-recorded message via teleconference.
05-10-2008
The Proof is
in! Majority of Americans oppose "Comprehensive Immigration Reform"
Amnesty!
http://www.alipac.us/article3165.html
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/immigration/article_2035598.php
Employment verification days are numbered
System to check work eligibility
needs to be renewed as Capitol Hill lawmakers continue to tread water on
immigration fixes.
WASHINGTON With the clock ticking on the life of a voluntary online
system that helps employers make sure they are hiring legal workers, a
House panel today heard from lawmakers, business owners and experts on
what to do next.
Few expect Congress to act this year on any comprehensive immigration
proposal or on the enforcement-only measures that have been introduced
on Capitol Hill. But unless lawmakers do something, the current E-Verify
workplace verification system will expire in November.
http://www.bibdaily.com/pdfs/USCIS E-Verify news 5-5-08.pdf
USCIS ANNOUNCES ENHANCEMENTS TO
E-VERIFY PROGRAM
Improvements Will Focus on Decreasing Mismatch Rates for Naturalized
Citizens
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
announced today improvements to the E-Verify employment authorization
program that will reduce an already low mismatch rate, while also
streamlining and increasing the effectiveness of the overall program.
Today’s announcement comprises the first two phases of an overall
three-part enhancement for E-Verify aimed at decreasing the mismatch
rate for naturalized citizens. “Less than one percent of all
work-authorized employees receive a tentative nonconfirmation through
E-Verify,” said USCIS Acting Director Jonathan Scharfen. “While this is
a very small percentage, we
believe every employee who is authorized to work in the United States
should be instantly authorized by the program. We’re confident that the
enhancements we’re launching today will help us achieve that
goal.”
Starting today, the E-Verify system will include naturalization data,
which will help instantly confirm the citizenship status of naturalized
U.S. citizens hired by E-Verify employers. . .
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR2008050602566.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Mexican Drug Cartels Making
Audacious Pitch for Recruits - Banners Taunt Military With Appeals to
Soldiers and Deserters
NUEVO LAREDO,
Mexico --
The job offer was tempting.
It was printed on a 16-foot-wide banner and strung above one of the
busiest roads here, calling out to any "soldier or ex-soldier."
"We're offering you a good salary, food and medical care for your
families," it said in block letters.
But there was a catch: The employer was Los Zetas, a notorious Gulf
cartel hit squad formed by elite Mexican army deserters. The group even
included a phone number for job seekers that linked to a voice mailbox.
www.fairus.org
Partnering of the ACLU and the Mexican
Government
The [Mexican] national ombudsman, José Luis Soberanes Fernández,
signed an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in
the U.S., to develop a program of counseling and legal defense for
affected migrants, called the Guardian Program. The [Mexican] National
Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) reported in a communiqué that the
agreement was formed in San Diego, California, and recalled that the
Guardian Program has among their objectives to indict immigration agents
that commit abuses...
...The president of the agency, upon signing the agreement, explained
that, with the legal team of the ACLU and the CNDH, strategies will
be explored and legal actions for fundamental rights violations cases
against migrants will be presented, before courts in the United States
"and, if necessary, before international courts".
http://www.aztlan.net/brown_berets_de_aztlan.htm
Brown Berets de Aztlan
are recruiting and forming new chapters
Los Angeles, Alta California - May 1, 2008
- (ACN) "The Brown Berets de Aztlan have undertaken an active campaign
to recruit more soldiers and form new chapters throughout Aztlan," said
Chairman David Rico yesterday. "We will be having a series of
presentations throughout the Southwest starting in San Diego on May 8,
2008," he added.
05-07-2008
http://www.firesociety.com/blog/100/25037/?src=111
Cinco de McCain!
On Cinco de Mayo, John McCain launched his Spanish-language website and
began what will likely be his steady march back to his original and true
position on illegal immigration. What is McCain's position today? In his
words from
yesterday's speech:
"I believe that the majority of Hispanics share our view that the
border must be secured, and the border must be secured first," McCain
said. "But they also want us to have an attitude, which I think most
Americans do, that these are God's children and they must be taken care
of, or the issue must be addressed, in a humane and compassionate
fashion. And I will continue to carry that message with the priority
that we must secure our borders first."
And I suppose those who disagree with McCain's amnesty record are
"inhumane" and "uncompassionate".
"Comprehensive" Once Again
Most significantly, McCain came back to his "comprehensive" (i.e.
amnesty) roots in a speech designed to cater to Latino voters. McCain
said, "We get in this kind of a circular firing squad on immigration
reform in the Congress of the
United States,
and the lesson I learned from it is we've got to have comprehensive
immigration reform"
Comprehensive" Once Again
Most significantly, McCain came back to his "comprehensive" (i.e.
amnesty) roots in a speech designed to cater to Latino voters. McCain
said, "We get in this kind of a circular firing squad on immigration
reform in the Congress of the
United States,
and the lesson I learned from it is we've got to have comprehensive
immigration reform"
Clearly, McCain was floating the combustible term "comprehensive" in a
measured way to see what reaction he gets. What this means is, "Amnesty
McCain" is back. Thus far, most in the media (except Lou Dobbs) barely
picked up on this very significant mention. Unless McCain gets feedback
from citizens across the nation objecting to his use of the word
"comprehensive" and his clear move back to his original amnesty
position, we can expect to hear more amnesty talk from the G.O.P.
standard-bearer in the coming months.
Action: Call McCain and let him know you object to his re-introduction
of a "comprehensive" (amnesty) into his campaign position on
immigratiion.
Senate office: 202-224-2235; Campaign office: 703-418-2008.
By
the way, as part of his big Latino-focused day,
the McCain campaign announced
that he will attend the National Council of La Raza ("The Race") annual
convention July 14 in
San Diego.
Send
an email:
http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/
Lou Dobbs video
http://www.audioacrobat.com/playv/WLffkRTK
05-03-2008
Plea Deal Made
in Texas License Scam
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/050308dntexlicensescam.bfd8205d.html
AUSTIN – The Dallas taxi driver who helped
hundreds of foreign citizens get fraudulent Texas driver's licenses
between 2003 and 2005 will not serve prison time or pay a fine, under a
plea agreement reached late last month.
Isaac Banai will cooperate with authorities
and plead guilty to federal mail fraud, a felony that could've cost him
up to $250,000 and 20 years in prison, as long as other charges of money
laundering and aiding illegal immigration are dropped.
. . .
Investigators determined Mr. Banai took
advantage of a major error — the state's failure to check if
visas were current — to help nearly 400 illegal immigrants come to Texas
to get identification.
(Another case of visa overstays which accounts for at least 50% of those
who are in this country illegally)
Revelations that these same immigrants used
the driver's licenses to get vehicle inspections and auto insurance
prompted a game of finger-pointing, as county and state authorities
failed to coordinate to clean the mess up.
www.project21.org/P21Index.html.
|
Supreme Court
Endorsement of Photo ID Election Rule Hailed by Black Activists |
|
Washington, D.C.
- Today's
U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding
Indiana's photo identification election law is hailed by black
activists from the Project 21 leadership network as a positive
move toward ensuring that future elections are less likely to be
corrupted by vote fraud.
Project 21 and
the Center for Equal Opportunity had presented an amici curiae
("friend of the court") brief to the
Supreme Court
in this case that said Indiana's law and other voter ID laws do
not suppress voter turnout, as claimed by the law's critics.
"The
Supreme Court
affirmed an essential tool in combating voter fraud and
improving the integrity of our elections," said Project 21
fellow Deneen Borelli. "Photo ID is a simple and cost-effective
way to validate voter identity and discourage corruption.
Additionally, this ruling is critical because it opens the door
for other states to follow Indiana's lead in ensuring honest and
fair elections." |
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRANTS_DISCRIMINATION?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Neb. AG refuses
to sue for immigrants' fair housing rights
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) --
Anne Hobbs was angry. The head of the
Nebraska
Equal Opportunity Commission had just learned of a Hispanic couple who
said their landlord asked for their driver's licenses - but didn't ask
the same of non-Hispanic tenants.
Hobbs said it sounded
like the couple were "treated differently than everybody else because of
national origin," and sent the case to the state's top prosecutor,
hoping he would sue on their behalf under fair housing laws.
When Attorney General Jon
Bruning received the case, he was angry, too - for a different reason
than Hobbs.
"I'm
not going to use taxpayer dollars to file lawsuits for illegal aliens,"
said Bruning after learning the couple was in the U.S. illegally.
"You're not going to get a free lawyer" from his office, he said, "if
you're not a citizen of this country."
Border crackdown,
US slowdown has Mexican migrants giving up sooner
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/01/news/Mexico-Migrants-Giving-Up.php
SASABE, Mexico:
The sandy streets of Sasabe are empty. Migrant smugglers have to hunt
for business at
border-town
shelters. Deported migrants give up after one try, taking their
government up on free bus rides home.
A U.S. crackdown is
causing the longest and most significant drop in illegal migration from
Mexico since the Sept. 11 attacks. Officials say the U.S.
economic downturn, tighter security and a more perilous and expensive
journey are persuading many who try to sneak into the U.S. to give up
sooner.
Mexico draws dire picture for migrants
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-21-mexico-comics_N.htm
MEXICO CITY — One migrant
gets his legs sliced off by a train's wheels. Another is shot by bandits
on the Arizona border. Others are beaten and robbed by crooked Mexican
police.
In a new effort to
dissuade people from crossing the border illegally, Mexico's top
human-rights agency has published two comic books packed with tales
about the horrors that migrants may face. The tone is very different
from previous government publications that focused more on travel and
safety tips.
One of the two
Migrantes comics is aimed at Mexicans, while the other focuses on
Central Americans traveling through Mexico on their way to the USA. The
National Human Rights Commission began distributing 20,000 of them this
month at migrant shelters and bus terminals.
"We could have made the
stories a little softer, but the (commission) asked us to be very
realistic," said Domingo Perea, editorial director of Comics and Visual
Arts, the firm hired to produce the comic books. "That was the
intention, to discourage people from migrating."
In the past, several
Mexican states have published booklets with advice for migrants. And in
2004, the Mexican Foreign Ministry published a comic-style Guide for
the Mexican Migrant that offered safety tips for those attempting to
cross the border, information on their legal rights and advice for
living unobtrusively in the USA. That booklet outraged U.S.
immigration-control groups, including the Federation for American
Immigration Reform, which said the comic style and frank advice
trivialized U.S. immigration laws.
|