ImmigrationProf Blog

ICE Raid in San Rafael, California

Thursday May 22, morning: It has been confirmed that ICE is terrorizing the Canal area in San Rafael. They have been seen in a white van and black car detaining people in their homes, in the streets and even detaining people that are driving.  If possible please visit this area soon so we can show some physical solidarity with the San Rafael community and our opposition to such actions.  The streets where ICE has been seen are
Charlotte, Fairfax, Kerner and Sonoma.

bh

Enforcement Without Reform: Success or Failure?

From the Immigration Policy Center:

12 Million Reasons to be Skeptical of Deportation-Only Policies
Two New IPC Fact Sheets Review Enforcement Build-Up

On Thursday, May 22, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism will hold a hearing on "The Border Security Challenge: Recent Developments and Legislative Proposals."  As lawmakers evaluate the border-enforcement initiatives that have already been implemented by the Bush administration, and the various enforcement proposals now on the table in Congress, they would do well to keep in mind that an enforcement-only approach to border security has been tried - and failed - for more than two decades.  In two new fact sheets, Money for Nothing: Immigration Enforcement Without Immigration Reform Doesn't Work and The Politics of Contradiction: Immigration Enforcement vs. Economic Integration, the IPC analyzes the escalating costs and fatal flaws of the enforcement-without-reform approach to border security.  The reports point out that the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States has increased dramatically at the very same time the federal government has poured billions upon billions of dollars into border enforcement.  Many U.S. taxpayers question the use of their tax dollars on failed deportation-only efforts, and are calling for fair and practical immigration reform.

Money Ill Spent: Since 1993, when the current border-enforcement buildup began, the annual budget of the U.S. Border Patrol has increased by 332 percent, to $1.6 billion, while the number of Border Patrol agents has grown by 276 percent, to 15,000. What has resulted from that build-up? The undocumented population has tripled in size over the past decade and a half, from roughly 3.5 million in 1990 to 12 million in 2006.

Border-Enforcement Backfire: U.S. border-enforcement efforts have accomplished the exact opposite of what they were supposed to achieve.  Immigrants who in the past might have returned home to build a house or start a business after a few years of work in the United States are settling permanently and bringing their families with them. In fact, the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that approximately one-third of undocumented immigrants have lived in the United States for 10 years or more, 1.8 million undocumented immigrants are children, and another 3.1 million U.S.-citizen children have at least one undocumented parent.
Control Through Immigration Reform:  The United States needs a legal immigration system for the 21st century that meets the needs of the U.S. economy and is consistent with U.S. values.  The most practical and realistic way to dramatically reduce undocumented immigration is to bring U.S. immigration policy in line with economic and social realities.  Only with comprehensive reform can the U.S. government effectively control, regulate, and monitor its borders.
Contact: Angela Kelley, Director
202-507-7511 (office)
202-441-5589 (cell)
akelley@ailf.org

Michele Waslin, Senior Policy Analyst
202-507-7521 (office)
Mwaslin@ailf.org

bh

Immiogrant of the Day: Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (Switzerland)

Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (1761–1849) was a politician, diplomat, Congressman, and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He was also a founder of New York University.

Born in Switzerland, Gallatin immigrated to America in the 1780s, ultimately settling in Pennsylvania. He was politically active against the Federalist Party, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1793, but was removed from office after a protest raised by his opponents suggested he had fewer than the required nine years of citizenship. In 1795, Gallatin was elected to the House of Representatives and served in the fourth through sixth Congresses, becoming House Majority Leader. He helped found the House Committee on Finance (later the Ways and Means Committee).

When Thomas Jefferson became President, Gallatin was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. Gallatin served in that post for thirteen years, the longest term in history for that office. During the first part of his tenure, he made great progress in balancing the federal budget. The U.S. was able to make the Louisiana Purchase without a tax increase in large part due to Gallatin's efforts.

Gallatin resigned as Secretary of the Treasury to head the United States delegation for negotiations in France and was instrumental in the securing of the Treaty of Ghent, which brought the War of 1812 to a close.

At war's end, Gallatin, preferring to remain in France, was appointed United States Minister to that country and held that post for another seven years. He returned to America in 1823.

In 1849, Gallatin died in what is now the Borough of Queens, New York.

KJ

Immigration Crime Convictions UP UP AND UP!

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reports that federal convictions in February 2008 resulting from immigration matters jumped to the highest point in recent history, according to data from the Justice Department. The total of 6,583 such convictions is nearly double what it was in the previous month, up an unprecedented 96 percent! The highly unusual spurt in the convictions of individuals charged with various immigration crimes appears to be the result of "Operation Streamline." Under this recently intensified administration policy, according to news reports and interviews with federal public defenders, the government has charged a rapidly growing number of undocumented immigrants with various federal criminal charges in selected districts along the Mexican border. "Operation Streamline" began as a pilot project in December 2005 in Del Rio, Texas.

For reports on the latest enforcement trends, click here.

In addition to providing counts of the immigration prosecutions and convictions that occurred in February, similarly timely information is available for many other categories of enforcement such as terrorism, white collar crime, official corruption, drugs, etc. Free reports are also available for major agencies such as the DEA, FBI, IRS and DHS. The February 2008 criminal data are available to TRACFED subscribers via the Express, Going Deeper and Analyzer tools. Go to http://tracfed.syr.edu for more information. Customized reports for a specific agency, district, program, lead charge or judge are available via the TRAC Data Interpreter, either as part of a TRACFED subscription or on a per-report basis. Go to http://trac.syr.edu/interpreter to start.

KJ

Something is Amok in Elm City!

The N.Y. Times states in an op/ed that

"Last year, in an act of considerable political courage, New Haven began offering a municipal ID card to all residents, including illegal immigrants. The reaction from anti-immigrant forces was predictably ugly. Protesters disrupted hearings, heckled and threatened city officials and tried to intimidate businesses that supported the program, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. The city has held firm. Now opponents are trying to use the state’s Freedom of Information Law to force New Haven to make public the names, addresses and photos of everyone who has an ID card. This would chill — even shut down — the program. The state’s Freedom of Information Commission, which is considering the request, should firmly deny it. The ID card — known as the Elm City Resident Card, from the city’s nickname — enables people to open bank accounts and is accepted by libraries and other municipal services. In the last 10 months, more than 5,600 people, from college students to undocumented workers have obtained them."

As Michael Olivas (Professor) says, this is an instance of the the law of immigration thermodynamics.

KJ

Proposed H-2B (nonagricultural season or peak load workers) Rule

We live in interesting immigration times!  Last week's ICE raid of immigrant workers at a slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa is getting much critical attention.  Well, now, the Bush administration is trying to streamline a temporary worker program to make it easier to bring nonagricultural seasonal or peak load workers to the United States.

Tomorrow, the administration will publish a proposed new H-2B (nonagricultural season or peak load workers) rule in the Federal Register.  Download proposed_h2b_regulations_52108.pdf Here is a summary of the intent of the proposed rule:

"The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) are proposing changes to modernize procedures for the issuance of labor certifications issued in connection with H-2B nonimmigrants admitted to perform temporary nonagricultural labor or services, and procedures to enforce compliance with attestations made by sponsoring employers. Specifically, the proposed rule re-engineers the application filing and review process by centralizing processing and by enabling employers to conduct pre-filing United States (U.S.) worker recruitment activities. In addition, the proposed rule makes changes that will enhance the integrity of the program through the introduction of post-adjudication audits and procedures for penalizing employers who fail to meet the requirements of the H-2B Program. In addition, through this proposed rule technical changes are being made to both the H-1B and the permanent labor certification regulations to reflect operational changes stemming from this regulation. Finally, although Congress has vested the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with the statutory authority to enforce the H-2B Program requirements and the Department possesses no independent authority for such enforcement, this proposed rule describes potential H-2B enforcement procedures the Department could institute in the event that DHS and the Department work out a mutually agreeable delegation of enforcement authority from DHS to the Department."

Supporters of the administration's recent immigration actions might find consistency in the fact that both the raids and the regs support legal migration to the United States.  However, both also show the need for immigrant workers by U.S. employers.  In all fairness, the administration is forced to take a piecemeal approach because Congress has failed to enact anything approaching a "comprehensive" immigration reform bill that the nation so desparately needs.

For L.A. Times commentary on the proposed regs, see here.

KJ

U Visa Webinar

Learn the Latest on the New U Visa for Victims of Certain Crimes Webinar (1.5 MCLE)   

2 dates to choose from:

June 4, 2008, 10:00 am - 11:30 am PDT                  

June 10, 2008, 10:00 am - 11:30 am PDT                

LOCATION: From your office                      

FEES: Regular $90, Non-profit $65, IOLTA $10

A webinar is a web conference system that allows you to join ILRC trainings from the convenience of your own office via the telephone and internet. You simply dial a conference call number and click on a web link provided by the ILRC, and you will be able to learn by listening to the instructor’s lecture and watching the computer screen simultaneously.

Learn the latest and the most accurate information to assist clients applying for U nonimmigrant status!  During this webinar, you will learn about: the new procedures and policies for applying for U visas; details on the definitions, changes, standards, and red flags included in the U nonimmigrant status interim regulations; where waivers are needed and how to apply for them; and strategies for helping clients apply despite prior immigration violations or criminal arrests.

Instructor:  Sally Kinoshita, Deputy Director/Staff Attorney, ILRC, co-author of the ILRC publications: The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants; Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for Children Under Juvenile Court Jurisdiction and Immigration Benchbook for Juvenile and Family Court Judges and principal author of How to Obtain U Interim Relief: A Brief Manual for Advocates Assisting Immigrant Victims of Crime.

To Register
Register online or download registration form at www.ilrc.org/seminars

Want to receive information about ILRC seminars, publications, and other educational activities?
Sign up for our Education Listserve, which sends announcements via e-mail!
Go to www.ilrc.org< and then click on “Join a Listserve.”

Additional Information or Questions?
Please visit www.ilrc.org/seminars or contact Sai Suzuki, Marketing Coordinator,
at 415-255-9499 Ext. 789 or ssuzuki@ilrc.org.

Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)
1663 Mission St, Ste 602
San Francisco, CA 94103
(t) 415-255-9499
(f) 415-255-9792
(e) ilrc@ilrc.org

bh

Hunger Strike at Capitol over Labor Trafficking

NEW ORLEANS WORKERS' CENTER FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

www.neworleansworkerjustice.org

Number of Indian hunger strikers more than doubles on Day Eight; first hospitalization expected

Indian families, 4 US cities fast in solidarity as workers appeal to US Congress

WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, May 21, at 12 noon EST, a hunger strike for justice on behalf of 550 Indian labor trafficking survivors will gain a new surge of strength as six more hunger strikers join the initial five at the steps of US Congress. Workers' families in India and a network of supporters in four American cities will also hold a 24-hour solidarity fast in support of the workers.

The hunger strike, which is aimed in part at gaining continued presence in the US for the workers to participate in a criminal investigation against the US-Indian trafficking ring, also took on a new urgency as the health of one of the original five hunger strikers took a dramatic turn for the worse on Tuesday.

Hunger striker Christopher Glory's blood pressure dropped dangerously low late Tuesday, leading a doctor monitoring the group to warn that he should be promptly hospitalized if his condition does not improve to avoid the risk of his slipping into a coma. Supporters were monitoring him closely Tuesday night.

The other hunger strikers continued to be in high spirits as Day Seven of the fast ended, the first to be spent at the foot of the US Capitol Building. "We believe in our cause. We will fight for justice to the end," said hunger striker Paul Konar.

Meanwhile, workers' families prepared to launch a Wednesday solidarity fast in Cochin in front of the office of Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vyalar Ravi. US labor rights group Jobs With Justice also rallied members in four US cities—Washington, DC; Providence, RI; Buffalo, NY; and Richmond, VA—to hold a one-day fast in support of the workers.

"We are proud to support these brave Indian workers," said Sarita Gupta, Executive Director of Jobs with Justice. "Their story is emblematic of the way that so-called guest worker programs are actually indentured worker programs."

The hunger strikers were among more than 550 Indian welders and pipe fitters who paid up to $20,000 apiece for false promises of green cards and work-based permanent residency in the United States. Instead they received 10-month temporary H2B guest worker visas starting in late 2006 and worked at marine construction company Signal International under deplorable conditions.

After spending the first three days in view of the White House in Lafayette Park, the hunger strikers moved on Saturday, May 17, to the Mahatma Gandhi statue in front of the Indian Embassy. Hundreds of American visitors who lined up outside the embassy that day for the first-ever Official Indian Cultural Day spoke to the workers and expressed shock that their own government had abandoned them in their fight to protect future workers. (See photos at www.flickr.com/photos/nolaworkerscenter)

After the rally on Wednesday, a delegation of workers will challenge two US senators who want to expand the H2B guest worker visa program to visit the hunger strikers and confront the abuses of the program.

"We are inviting US Congress to take a hard look at the realities of the guest worker visa program," said Saket Soni, director of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice. "Companies like Signal are using the program to replace well-paid US workers with exploitable, temporary guest workers. We invite the senators to come learn the truth from the workers who have lived it."

The workers are members of the Indian Workers' Congress and the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity, affiliates of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice.

bh

REFUGEE LAW IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION EMERGING ISSUES FOR THE TEACHING OF REFUGEE LAW

A Conference Hosted by The Refugee Law Reader

Call for Papers

A two-day seminar on Refugee Law in the Era of Globalization will be held in Brussels on November 12-14, 2008. Globalization has introduced a wide of range of transformations that have profoundly shaped contemporary refugee law and policy. We are seeking proposals for papers that explore some of the emerging legal issues that arise from one or several aspects of changes brought about by globalization. The analysis may be national, regional, or international in focus. The conference will be hosted by The Refugee Law Reader (www.refugeelawreader.org), an on-line living 'case-book' that is published by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and aims to meet the changing needs of scholars and teachers working in the rapidly evolving field of refugee law.

Proposals of between 200-400 words should be submitted by July 7, 2008 to reader@larc.info. Full funding for travel expenses, accommodation and conference registration is available for academics from EU Member States whose papers are accepted and who are either teaching or researching in the field of refugee law. Papers are also welcome from those coming from beyond the EU. For accepted papers from these scholars, the conference registration is free, but travel, accommodation and meal costs have to be covered by the participant.

Download refugee_law_reader_call_for_papers.doc

KJ

Immigrant of the Day: Herbert Marcuse (Germany)

Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979) was a philosopher and sociologist, and a member of the Frankfurt School. His best known works are Eros and Civilization and One-Dimensional Man.

Born in Berlin. Marcuse served in the German Army during the First World War. After completing his Ph.D. thesis at the University of Freiburg in 1922, he moved back to Berlin, where he worked in publishing. With his academic career blocked by the rise of the Third Reich, Marcuse in 1933 joined the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, emigrating from Germany that same year, going first to Switzerland before heading to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1940.

Although he never returned to Germany to live, Marcuse remained one of the major theorists associated with the Frankfurt School. In 1940, he published Reason and Revolution, a dialectical work studying Georg W. F. Hegel and Karl Marx.

During World War II, Marcuse first worked for the U.S. Office of War Information on anti-Nazi propaganda projects. In 1943, he transferred to the Office of Strategic Services. Marcuse next worked for the U.S. Department of State as head of the Central European section. In 1952, he began a teaching career as a political theorist, first at Columbia and Harvard, then at Brandeis University from 1958 to 1965, where he taught philosophy and politics, and finally at the University of California, San Diego.

Marcuse's critiques of capitalist society, especially his synthesis of Marx and Freud, Eros and Civilization (1955), and his book One-Dimensional Man (1964) resonated with the concerns of the student movement in the 1960s. Because of his willingness to speak at student protests, Marcuse soon became known as "the father of the New Left in the United States."  Many radical scholars and activists of the '60s were influenced by Marcuse, such as Angela Davis and Abbie Hoffman.

Marcuse's 1965 essay "Repressive Tolerance", in which he claimed capitalist democracies can have totalitarian aspects, has been criticized by conservatives.

For a commprehensive Marcuse website, constructed by one of his grandsons, with full bibliographies of his works, click here.

KJ

New Immigration Studies

Economic Impacts of Mass Deportations

The Houston Chronicle reports on a study that concluded that eliminating undocumented immigrants would cripple the national economy.  Here is the study, which was supported by Houston business leaders. Download lals_141_impact_of_undocumented_workforce_may08.pdf  it concludes that:

1. Removing the 8.1 million undocumented immigrants who work as bus boys, landscapers and other jobs, would cost nearly $1.8 trillion in annual spending.

2. Texas would be the second-hardest hit state after California if the state’s undocumented workers disappeared, removing $220.7 billion in spending within the Lone Star State.

The study was released Monday by the Americans for Immigration Reform, a group spearheaded by the Greater Houston Partnership.

Migration Policy Institute Report:  Mexican Immigrants in the United States By Jeanne Batalova

The 1980 census recorded the foreign born from Mexico as the largest immigrant group in the United States, and this group remains the largest today. In 2006, more than 11.5 million Mexican immigrants resided in the United States, accounting for 30.7 percent of all US immigrants and one-tenth of the entire population born in Mexico. While Mexican immigrants are still settling in "traditional" destination states like California and Texas, over the last 10 to 15 years, the foreign born from Mexico, like other immigrant groups, have begun moving to "nontraditional" settlement areas, such as Georgia and North Carolina, as well as Midwestern states, such as Nebraska and Ohio. This spotlight focuses on the foreign born from Mexico residing in the United States, examining the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics using data from the US Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey (ACS) and 2000 Decennial Census, and the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS).   Download MPI-Spotlight-on-Mexican-Immigrants-April-2008.pdf

KJ

CBP Reminds Travellers Of Documents Needed For Entry

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reminded international travellers that they will need to present documentary proof of citizenship while reentering the country.  The advisory further emphasizes, among other things, the following:  "Do not attempt to bring Cuban cigars in as they are a prohibited item."

Keep this in mind as you plan your Memorial Day travels.

KJ

Rest in Peace: Esequiel Hernandez, Jr.

On May 20, 1997, Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., an 18 year old U.S. citizen, (pictured left) was herding his family's goats 100 yards from his home on the US-Mexican border in Redford, Texas. Unknown to the residents of Redford, Marines were encamped just outside the small village along the Rio Grande River. After watering his goats in the river, Esequiel started on his way home when the Marines began following him from a distance of 200 yards. The four camouflaged Marines were outfitted with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment and weapons. Esequiel carried an antique .22 caliber rifle to keep wild dogs and rattlesnakes away from his goats. The autopsy showed that Esequiel was facing away from the Marines when he was shot and killed.

Esequel Hernandez Jr.'s tragic death act resulted from drug and border enforcement.  For more information about Hernandez and his death, click here.

KJ

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Nation's Immigration Policy is the "greatest case of national self-sabotage and attempted suicide"

The nation's restrictive immigration policy is the "greatest case of national self-sabotage and attempted suicide," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who previously has praised immigrants, told graduates of the University of Pennsylvania yesterday. "The key to innovation is immigration," he added as he launched into an attack on Congress for making it harder for "doctors, scientists, engineers and artists" to enter the United States.  For the full story, click here and here.

Thanks to Jill Family for the assist.

KJ

Detention of Italian Visitor

Anyone can be detained trying to enter the U.S. Nina Bernstein writes of one such incident in the NY Times:

He was a carefree Italian with a recent law degree from a Roman university. She was “a totally Virginia girl,” as she puts it, raised across the road from George Washington’s home. Their romance, sparked by a 2006 meeting in a supermarket in Rome, soon brought the Italian, Domenico Salerno, on frequent visits to Alexandria, Va., where he was welcomed like a favorite son by the parents and neighbors of his girlfriend, Caitlin Cooper.

But on April 29, when Mr. Salerno, 35, presented his passport at Washington Dulles International Airport, a Customs and Border Protection agent refused to let him into the United States. And after hours of questioning, agents would not let him travel back to Rome, either; over his protests in fractured English, he said, they insisted that he had expressed a fear of returning to Italy and had asked for asylum.

Ms. Cooper, 23, who had promised to show her boyfriend another side of her country on this visit — meaning Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon — eventually learned that he had been sent in shackles to a rural Virginia jail. And there he remained for more than 10 days, locked up without charges or legal recourse while Ms. Cooper, her parents and their well-connected neighbors tried everything to get him out.

Mr. Salerno’s case may be extreme, but it underscores the real but little-known dangers that many travelers from Europe and other first-world nations face when they arrive in the United States — problems that can startle Americans as much as their foreign visitors. Click here for the rest of the story.

bh

Fallout on Postville

Bill Hing has kept us up to date on the immigrtaion raid in Postville, Iowa.  NPR's All Things Considered had a report yesterday about the largest single-facility immigration raid in U.S. history. Last week, ICE and other federal agencies raided Agriprocessors Inc.'s Postville, Iowa slaughterhouse. Approximately 700 employees were detained or being sought for arrest. Because Postville is basically a company town, this amounted to about 10% of the towns' population. Most of the employees--who were allegedly undocumented, as well as some allegations of criminal activity--were being detained at a local fairgrounds. Hat tip to Jeffrey Hirsch of the Workplace Law Prof Blog!

Today, Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR) released a powerful video of interviews of Postville residents who have been impacted by the immigration raids and called on elected officials and the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to adopt a new approach to immigration policy based on respect for immigrant families and the human dignity of all people. This call comes on the heels of the recent raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville. One of the people in the video, Sister Mary McCauley of St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, spoke of the heartbreaking separation of children and their parents. When she asked a young boy named Pedro why he was sad, he responded, “They took my mother away.” She also noted that ICE justified its raid by saying they were upholding the integrity of the law. “My concern is, as they held up the law, they totally neglected the integrity of the person and the integrity of the family as families broke apart.” CCIR calls for a new and comprehensive approach to immigration issues in our country – an approach that bypasses persecution and raids in favor of emphasizing the common dignity of all humans and the universal importance of keeping families united. CCIR believes the entire faith community should stand in solidarity behind those most damaged by the Iowa raids.

On Tuesday, May 20, 2008, the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on immigration and workplace raids, chaired by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). The following is a statement by Douglas Rivlin, Director of Communication for the National Immigration Forum, a non-partisan, pro-immigrant advocacy group in Washington:

"This hearing could not come at a more critical moment in the national immigration debate. The front pages of America’s most important newspapers are detailing the deplorable conditions for immigrants in detention just as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is launching the largest workplace raid in U.S. history in Postville, IA. These are yet more heart-wrenching examples of the need for a rational and sensible immigration system. We will not deport our way out of our current immigration mess. We must craft policies that treat individuals and families humanely, address our need for immigrant workers, secure our borders, make sure everyone is playing by the same rules, and make sure that those rules are enforced evenly and professionally. In the meantime, we must be sure that the agency charged with enforcing the old, broken, and ineffective system is doing so in a way that is consistent with our values and our laws. Congress must ensure that standards of conduct are followed by our federal agents, due process is afforded, and that basic, humane conditions exist for those detained. The need for Congressional oversight to dial back the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and introduce some level of accountability for this Administration has never been greater."

No doubt, there is more to come.  We will keep you up to date!

KJ

Immigrant of the Day: Fareed Zakaria (India)

Fareed Zakaria (born January 20, 1964, Mumbai, India) is a journalist, columnist, author, editor, commentator, and television host specializing in international relations and foreign affairs. For a New York magazine profiile of Zakaria, click here.

Fareed Zakaria was named editor of Newsweek International in October 2000. He writes a weekly foreign affairs column for Newsweek, which appears biweekly in the Washington Post. In 2003, Zakaria published The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (Norton). On television, Zakaria hosted the weekly Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria news show for PBS. From 2002 until 2007, he was a regular member of the roundtable of ABC News's This Week with George Stephanopoulos and an analyst for ABC News. He joined CNN to host a weekly show on international affairs that will premier worldwide on June 1 2008.

Zakaria was born in India. He attended Yale where he was a member of Scroll and Key Society, President of the Yale Political Union, and a member of the Party of the Right. Zakaria received a B.A. from Yale and later graduated with a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard.

Before his current position with Newsweek, Zakaria was managing editor of the magazine Foreign Affairs. Prior to joining Foreign Affairs, Zakaria ran a research project on American foreign policy at Harvard. He has taught courses in international relations and political philosophy at Harvard, Columbia, and Case Western universities.

Zakaria's 2002 essay for The New Yorker on America's global role has been widely quoted, as have several of his Newsweek cover-essays. He is the author of the 1998 book From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role (Princeton University Press), his PhD thesis, and co-editor of The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World (Basic Books). His book The Future of Freedom, was published in the spring of 2003 and became a bestseller. Zakaria's most recent book, published in May 2008, is called the "The Post-American World", discusses America's role in a world where it is still the superpower in the political-military realm but where economic, industrial, financial, and cultural power is being dispersed around the world.

Zakaria has won several awards for his Newsweek columns, including for his October 2001 Newsweek cover story, "Why They Hate Us."

Zakaria currently serves on the boards of Yale University, the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, New America Foundation and Columbia University's International House. He currently resides in New York City with his family.

KJ

Children of Immigrants in the Big Apple Do Well!

A recent study reported on in the N.Y. Times tells us what really should not be news.  The study of adult children of immigrants to the New York region has concluded that they are rapidly entering the mainstream and doing better than their parents in terms of education and earnings — even outperforming native-born Americans in many cases. But the study also warned of problems that could block upward mobility for members of the “second generation,” including persistent poverty and poor school performance among Dominicans and racial discrimination against black immigrants from the Caribbean.

The study is published in “Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age.” It focused on five groups: Dominicans, Chinese, Russian Jews, South Americans, and West Indians. The researchers also interviewed native-born whites, blacks and Puerto Ricans in the New York area for comparison purposes. The study identified broad similarities among adult children of immigrants. They were overwhelmingly fluent in English; were less occupationally segregated than their parents; lived longer with their parents than native-born Americans; and were firmly rooted in the United States, with fewer personal and financial ties to their ancestral homeland than their parents.

KJ

NILC Job Opening

Director of Administration (Los Angeles, CA, office)

Position and Background
The National Immigration Law Center is seeking a Director of Administration to help direct and manage the nation's leading legal advocacy organization working on behalf of low-income immigrants. Since 1979, NILC's policy advocacy and impact litigation have resulted in significant victories promoting the fair treatment of low-income immigrants by courts and government agencies, and protecting immigrants' access to employment, health care, and other services. NILC has an annual budget of over $2 million and a staff of 22 located in offices in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Reporting to the Executive Director, this position maintains primary responsibility for oversight of the organization's management and operations.

Responsibilities

The Director of Administration will oversee all internal management and administrative functions at NILC. The Director of Administration will work in partnership with the Executive Director as a leader in the organization to maintain accountability to NILC's board of directors, funding partners, program partners, staff, and to its vision. This position will assist NILC's staff in meeting its programmatic goals. Specifically, this position will:
• Provide Leadership for NILC's Management. Convene and lead the Management Team at NILC to act as the internal board of the organization that resolves day-to-day issues and implements operational systems to improve NILC for its staff and for improved ability to complete its project goals. Implement the goals of the Management Team, such as improving professional development opportunities for staff, clarifying personnel and administrative policies, and providing training for senior and other staff. Participate on the Development Team to shape and evaluate the organization's overall development work and strategies. Provide guidance in the development of effective work plans for NILC's teams and staff. Help develop and implement a strategic planning process for NILC and support the Board of Directors.
• Provide General Oversight & Administration. Convene and lead the Administrative Team at NILC to ensure the organization's full compliance in all areas of local and national labor and employment law requirements. Maintain all necessary files; carry out Human Resource procedures including recruitment of staff positions, benefit administration, performance evaluations, and other personnel development projects. Support and coordinate the administration of NILC's Los Angeles office and remote offices; supervise administrative staff. Work with the Finance Department to ensure appropriate communication regarding financial and administrative information to all offices. Coordinate the IT and other communications systems. Participate in the development and coordination of NILC's budget processes.
Qualifications
• Minimum 5 years of management and supervisory experience. Nonprofit management experience strongly preferred.
• Strong planning and organizational skills with a demonstrated ability to vision, implement, and design complex and diverse projects.
• Detail oriented and highly organized, with the ability to manage several projects at once.
• Excellent communication skills; ability to write well and communicate effectively.
• Demonstrated commitment to social justice issues and familiarity with NILC's work.
• Background in nonprofit legal services, immigrant advocacy or other comparable public interest experience preferred. 
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work well with others; flexible and engaged work style.
Salary and Benefits: Excellent salary scale, DOE. Benefits include health, dental, vision, and 403(b) plan.

To Apply: By May 30, 2008, please send a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and three references to the National Immigration Law Center, Ref# DA08 by email to jobs@nilc.org or fax to 213-639-3911.  Position open immediately.  Please do not send duplicate materials.  Incomplete applications will not be considered.  No phone calls please.
bh

BAIRC Comedy Fundraiser

Support the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition: Help raise some big bucks and have the fun of your life on Friday, May 30, 2008 at the Women’s Building San Francisco!

BAIRC’s Comedy Night of Fun!

Performing:
Marga Gomez
Aundré the Wonderwoman
Ali Mafi
Mistress of Ceremonies: Lisa Gedildig

Friday, May 30, 3008, p.m.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7:00 p.m.
At The Women’s Building
3543 18th Street, San Francisco
(Between Valencia and Guerrero, a few blocks from the 16th Street BART Station)

Tickets: $20-50, sliding scale
Also available at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/31439

Or 1-800-838-3006

BAIRC’s website: www.immigrantrights.org

bh

Where Does Senator McCain Stand Today on Comprehensive Immigration Reform?

This morning, Senator John McCain addressed the 2008 National Restaurant Association -- Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago.  Interestingly, the Senator did not once immigration, even though the National Restaurant Association strongly supports comprehensive immigration reform. Although Senator McCain has supported comprehensive immigration reform in the past, what is his position today?  He did not vote on the DREAM Act the last time it came up and is a cosponsor on enforcement-only legislation pending in the Senate.

For the full text of the Senator McCain's remarks, see Download mccain_remarks.docx

KJ

More on the Effects of the Postville ICE Raid

ICE raids are not simply about rounding up undocumented workers. These raids have devasting effects on the social and economic fabric of communities. The raids do nothing to address the real problems of U.S. immigration policy--faciliating the flow of immigrants in the age of globalization and the interrelationships between countries--especially those that border each other.

Antonio Olivo reports for the Chicago Tribune:

The spacious new homes and pristine commercial strip that have transformed this northeastern Iowa town are a testament to the success of Agriprocessors Inc., the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant and the reason for a thriving local community of Hasidic Jews.

But a federal raid last week that exposed a seemingly tacit agreement between the plant and an illegal-immigrant workforce has residents worrying about the town's future.

This community fashions itself as a cosmopolitan center amid the plains, where long-bearded rabbis, Latin American immigrants and German Lutherans have learned to live side by side.

But everything has changed after the largest Immigration raid in U.S. history netted nearly 400 workers—including 18 juveniles—at the plant.

"At a time when America is trying to hold on to industries, you know what I see out of this? Kosher chickens coming from China," fumed Rabbi Aaron Goldsmith, a former city councilman who was among many who stood transfixed as Homeland Security helicopters and buses raced past the grazing cows toward their town a week ago. "These are hardworking families working there. This isn't a place that required helicopters and guns." Click here for the rest of the story.

bh

New Immigration Articles

Social Science Research Network (www.ssrn.com) has posted some new immigration articles:

'Streamlining' the Rule of Law: How the Department of Justice is Undermining Judicial Review of Agency Action Shruti Rana, University of Maryland - School of Law

Notes on the Multiple Facets of Immigration Federalism Rick Su, University at Buffalo Law School, SUNY

The Disruption of Marital EHarmony: Distinguishing Mail-Order Brides from Online Dating in Evaluating 'Good Faith Marriage' Brandon N. Robinson, Judicial Law Clerk - United States District Court

The Coercion of Trafficked Workers Kathleen Kim, Loyola Law School Los Angeles Being Here

Ethical Territoriality and the Rights of Immigrants Linda S. Bosniak, Rutgers University School of Law, Camden

Free Movement of Workers, EU Citizenship and Access to Social Advantages Mel Cousins, Glasgow Caledonian University

Here are some other new immigration articles:

Beety, Valena Elizabeth. Reframing asylum standards for mutilated women. 11 J. Gender Race & Just. 239-270 (2008).

Kopitsky, Karen S. Student note. How the scope of states' citizen's arrest statutes affects the activity level of vigilante groups on the U.S.- Mexico border. 11 J. Gender Race & Just. 307-336 (2008).

McFarland, Michael G. Note. Derivative citizenship: its history, constitutional foundation, and constitutional limitations. 63 N.Y.U. Ann. Surv. Am. L. 467-509 (2008).

KJ

Anti-Immigrant Violence Spreads Like Wildfire in South Africa

The N.Y Times reports on some scary events this weekend in Johannesberg, South Africa, a nation that has struggled to overcome the legacy of racial apartheid:

"Violence against immigrants, like some windswept fire, spread across one neighborhood after another here in one of South Africa’s main cities this weekend, and the police said the mayhem left at least 12 people dead — beaten by mobs, shot, stabbed or burned alive.

Thousands of panicked foreigners — many of them Zimbabweans who have fled their own country’s economic collapse — have now deserted their ramshackle dwellings and tin-walled squatter hovels to take refuge in churches and police stations.

This latest outbreak of xenophobia began a week ago in the historic township of Alexandra and has since spread to other areas in and around Johannesburg, including Cleveland, Diepsloot, Hilbrow, Tembisa, Primrose, Ivory Park and Thokoza."

The Times shows a picture of a policeman using a fire extinguisher to try to save a man who had been set on fire by an anti-immigrant mob.

KJ

Immigrant of the Day: Mother Jones (Ireland)

Mary Harris Jones (1830–1930), better known as Mother Jones, born in Cork, Ireland, was a prominent labor and community organizer. She was born Mary Harris, the daughter of a Roman Catholic tenant farmer, on the northside of Cork city, Ireland.

Forced to support herself, she became involved in the labor movement and joined the Knights of Labor, a predecessor to the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies"), which she helped found in 1905. Active as an organizer and educator in strikes throughout the country at the time, she was particularly involved with the United Mine Workers (UMW) and the Socialist Party of America. As a union organizer, she gained prominence for organizing the wives and children of striking workers. She became known as "the most dangerous woman in America", a phrase coined by a West Virginia District Attorney named Reese Blizzard in 1902, when she was arrested for violating a labor injunction.

In 1903, Jones organized children working in mills and mines in the "Children's Crusade", a march from Kensington, Pennsylvania to Oyster Bay, New York, the home of President Theodore Roosevelt with banners demanding "We want time to play!" and "We want to go to school!" The incident brought the issue of child labor to public attention. In 1913, during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike in West Virginia, Mother Jones was charged and kept under house arrest in the nearby town of Pratt and subsequently convicted with other union organizers of conspiring to commit murder. Her arrest raised an uproar and she was soon released, after which the U.S. Senate ordered an investigation into the conditions in the local coal mines. A few months later she was in Colorado, helping to organize the coal miners there. Once again she was arrested, served jail time, and was escorted from the State in the months leading up to the Ludlow Massacre. After the massacre she was invited to Standard Oil's headquarters at 26 Broadway to meet face-to-face with John D. Rockefeller, Jr., a meeting that prompted Rockefeller to visit the Colorado mines and introduce long-sought reforms.

Mother Jones remained a union organizer for the UMW affairs into the 1920s, and continued to speak on union affairs almost until her death. She released her own account of her experiences in the labor movement as The Autobiography of Mother Jones (1925).

During her lifetime, Mother Jones was known to working folk as "The Miners' Angel." Her fierce determination was vividly expressed in her famous declaration, "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living." When she was denounced on the Senate floor as the "grandmother of all agitators", she replied: "I hope to live long enough to be the great-grandmother of all agitators."

At present, many people know of Mother Jones because her name has been emblazoned for more than three decades on the cover of every issue of Mother Jones magazine.

In her later years, Jones lived with friends Walter and Lillie May Burgess of Silver Spring, Maryland. She celebrated her 100th birthday on May 1, 1930.

Mother Jones is buried in the Union Miners Cemetery in Mount Olive, Illinois, alongside miners who died in the Virden Riot of 1898. She called these miners, killed in strike-related violence, "her boys."

KJ

Australia Liberalizes Refugee Policy

TPS has been eliminated in Australia in favor of more permanent status for refugees:

Jane Cowan reports for ABC News:

The Budget contained some good news for refugees, with the Federal Government abolishing the previous government's controversial Temporary Protection Visa System (TPV).

The decision means hundreds of refugees whose residency status was previously uncertain will receive permanent residency, and they will be able to apply to bring their families to Australia.

Burmese refugee Maung Khin, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, came to Australia in fear of persecution in his home country.

He has been on a temporary protection visa but now he will be granted permanent residency and all the rights that come with it. Click here for the rest of the story.

bh

EU Crackdown on Undocumented Migration

According to Deutsche Welle, the EU is embarking on a new enforcement policy aimed at undocumented migration:

A European Union-led patrol mission against illegal immigration in the Mediterranean began on Saturday. The mission is scheduled to last 23 weeks in a bid to assist and possibly halt the voyage of hundreds of fleeing Africans reaching Europe by boat.

Malta, Italy, France and Germany will be the main EU states participating in the operation contributing various naval and aeronautic assets to cover the region, particularly the strait between southern Italy, Malta and Libya.

The start of this year's mission was postponed by almost a month following initial disagreement over who should take final responsibility for illegal immigrants saved in the search and rescue area off Libya. The North African country has once again refused to participate in the Frontex mission.

On Friday, a group of 28 would-be illegal immigrants were brought ashore to Malta after their boat capsized some 65 nautical miles off the island. Click here for the rest of the story.

bh

DHS Statistics

Regularly check the DHS statistical website for the department's most recent publications on immigration, demographic, and enforcement information.

bh

Lawsuit Over Border Fence

Construction of the border fence is facing more litigation. Suzanne Gamboa reports for the Associated Press:

Texas mayors and business leaders filed a class-action lawsuit Friday alleging Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff hoodwinked landowners into waiving their property rights for construction of a fence along the Mexican border.

Members of the Texas Border Coalition said Chertoff did not fairly negotiate compensation with landowners for access to their land for six-month surveys to choose fence sites. The coalition of mayors and business and community leaders is seeking an injunction to block work on the fence.

They also want a federal judge to rescind all the agreements with landowners and to order Chertoff to start again. The department has sought and won access from hundreds of landowners to determine where to build the fence and other barriers to illegal border crossings.

The coalition's attorney, Peter Schey, said Chertoff violated a 1996 immigration law that requires fair negotiation with landowners. Click here for the rest of the story.

bh

Razor Wire Added to Border Fence Near San Diego

The L.A. Times reports that the U.S. Border Patrol is installing razor-sharp concertina wire atop border fencing between San Diego and Tijuana. The triple-strand wire will stretch five miles when completed this summer -- the longest expanse of this type of wire ever used on the Southwest border. Federal authorities in the past have avoided using fortifications with such negative symbolism. Hundreds of miles of barriers going up in other areas have had to meet "aesthetically pleasing" federal design standards.

KJ

Resources on State and Local Immigration Laws

Following the failure of comprehensive immigration reform, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of anti-immigrant local ordinances and state laws proposed and enacted.

Here are resources on anti-immigrant local ordinances and state laws available through the Immigration Advocates Network (IAN) and partner organizations. On Immigration Advocates Network:

The podcast, "Anti-Immigrant Local Ordinances and State Laws: Creating Tension Among Neighbors and Usurping the Role of the Federal Government" by Lucas Guttentag, Jennifer Chang and Omar Jadwat of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, is available in the "Podcast" section of the website at http://www.immigrationadvocates.org/link.cfm?10014 (login required)

The "Raids and Immigration Enforcement Library" contains: -A financial analysis of local ordinances at http://www.immigrationadvocates.org/link.cfm?10019

-Sample of a positive ordinance to address racial profiling at http://www.immigrationadvocates.org/link.cfm?10016 (login required)

Other Materials on Anti-Immigrant Local Ordinances and State Laws:

ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project's website includes complaints filed in California, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas at http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/discrim/27848res20070105.html

American Immigration Lawyers Foundation provides reports and newsletters on local ordinances and challenges to them at http://www.ailf.org/ipc/special_report/sr_sept07.shtml and at http://www.ailf.org/lac/clearinghouse_120706.shtml

Catholic Legal Immigration Network's website includes a summary of various anti-immigrant state and local measures at http://www.cliniclegal.org/StateandLocal.html

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service's website contains a summary of the types of local ordinances at http://www.lirs.org/donateserve/advocate/cir/localanti%2Dimmiglawsbackgrounder.doc

National Immigration Law Center offers documents on local ordinances and state laws at http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/misc/affirmstatelocalmenu_2005-09-13.pdf and at http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/LocalLaw/locallaw002.htm and at http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/state_local/az_plaintiffs-appellants-opening-brief.pdf

KJ

ICE Sued Over Postville Raid

A lawsuit has already been filed against ICE for its raid in Postville, Iowa earlier this week. Amy Lorentzen reports for the Associated Press

Attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit requesting class-action status on behalf of an unspecified number of immigrant workers arrested this week during a raid at a meatpacking plant in Postville.

The lawsuit names the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division and several government officials including Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. It was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an estimated 147 detained immigrant workers and names three of the petitioners: Antonin Trinidad Candido, Roman Trinidad Candido and Maria del Refugio Masias.

The U.S. attorney's office said Monday's raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. meatpacking plant was the largest single Immigration raid in U.S. history, resulting in nearly 400 arrests. A spokesman for the office said he couldn't comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit alleges that government agencies and officials violated the immigrant workers' constitutional rights. Those rights include the right to due process, which includes protections from arbitrary prolonged and indefinite detention. The suit also states that their rights to consult with counsel have been violated, among other claims. Click here for the rest of the story.

bh

Is Sheriff Arpaio Out?

The Associated Press reports:

Gov. Janet Napolitano ordered the state to end an anti-illegal immigration contract with a high-profile sheriff Tuesday so she can pay for a larger effort to track down thousands of felons around Arizona.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Tuesday criticized the governor's decision as a maneuver to thwart his efforts against illegal immigrants.
''Dirty politics are at work right now,'' Arpaio said at a news conference.
Read more...

bh