ImmigrationProf Blog

Cal Supreme Court: Fundamental Right to Same-Sex Marriage

A divided 4-3 California Supreme Court ruled today that there is a fundamental constitutional right to same-sex marriage, and that creating civil unions as an alternative for same-sex couples amounted to a violation of the state equal protection clause. (Full text of decision available here.)

California is the first court since Massachusetts in 2003 to rule that marriage laws constitute unconstitutional discrimination. While other courts have rejected that argument, I look forward to the day when same-sex marriages are recognized nationwide and ultimately for immigration purposes.

bh

E-Verify and Arizona

From the Immigration Policy Center:

E-Verify and Arizona: A Rough Road Ahead for Employers, Employees, and the Economy
Immigration OnPoint: Facts at Your Fingertips for Frequently Asked Immigration Questions
On January 1, 2008 the Legal Arizona Workers Act went into effect, which requires all employers in the state to enroll in and use the E-Verify system to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires.  While not yet fully implemented in Arizona, E-Verify is already showing significant signs of trouble - including its negative impact on Arizona workers and employers, as well as the state's economy.  This week, Immigration OnPoint highlights Arizona's experience with E-Verify and suggests Congress should heed the warning signals as they contemplate a national EEVS.

E-Verify and Arizona: Early Experiences for Employers, Employees, and the Economy Portend a Rough Road Ahead (Immigration Policy Center - May 2008) - This fact sheet covers the experiences of Arizona's employers and employees with E-Verify, and early signals of its impact on the state's economy

bh

San Diego Bakery Raid

According to the Associated Press, ICE conducted a raid on a French Bakery in San Diego yesterday:

Federal immigration officials have detained about a dozen people at a French bakery and catering company in San Diego.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack says agents executed a criminal search warrant Thursday morning at the French Gourmet, a local institution in a Pacific Beach neighborhood known for its wedding cakes.

Workers in chef's whites and floppy toques were searched in a delivery area behind the restaurant before being taken to a different location for questioning.

Mack says she does not know the nationalities of those detained and declined further comment because the investigation is ongoing. Click here for the rest of the story.

bh

Immigrant of the Day: Max Reinhardt (Austria-Hungary)

Max Reinhardt (1873-1943) was an influential theatre and film director and actor. He was born Maximilian Goldmann in Baden bei Wien, Austria-Hungary. From 1902 until the beginning of Nazi rule in 1933, he worked as a director at various theaters in Berlin. From 1905 to 1930, he managed the Deutsches Theater ("German Theatre") in Berlin and, in addition, the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna from 1924 to 1933.

By employing powerful staging techniques, and harmonising stage design, language, music and choreography, Reinhardt introduced new dimensions into German theatre. The Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, which is arguably the most important German-language acting school, was installed implementing his ideas.

Siegfried Jacobsen wrote Max Reinhardt in 1910. In 1920, Reinhardt established the Salzburg Festival with Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. He directed an annual production of the morality play Everyman about God. In 1938, he immigrated first to England, then to the United States, where he had already successfully directed his own play The Miracle in 1924, and a popular stage version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1927.

Reinhardt also opened the Reinhardt School of the Theatre on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood Several notable stars of the day received classical theater training, including Nanette Fabray. Reinhardt followed that success by directing a film version of Everyman About God in 1935 with a different cast, including James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Joe E. Brown and Olivia de Havilland. The Nazis banned the film because of the Jewish ancestry of both Reinhardt and Felix Mendelssohn, whose music (arranged by Erich Korngold) was used throughout the film.

In 1940, Max Reinhardt became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He died in New York City in 1943. His son Gottfried Reinhardt was a well-regarded film producer. His grandson, Stephen Reinhardt, is a labor lawyer is one of the most liberal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

KJ

More on the Senseless Tragedy in LA

We previously have blogged about the tragic killing in April of an African American teen by an allegedly undocumented gang member in Los Angeles.  The death has led to public debate over the possible repeal of LAPD Special Order 40, which limits police from inquiring about immigration status of witnesses and crime victims in criminal investigations.  It was not really at issue in the April killing but some still have vociferiously demanded Special Order 40's repeal.

The N.Y. Times has picked up on the story and offered some interesting insights:

"[I]n the context of contemporary immigration politics, [Special Order 40] is now perceived in black neighborhoods and beyond as a roadblock to using immigration laws as a tool against Latino gang violence. A push to reverse the procedure, . . . viewed by many as a symbol of deeper racial conflicts in South Los Angeles, has inflamed tensions between many blacks and Hispanic immigrants, groups long resentful of each other as shifting demographics and a smattering of racially motivated killings have racked South Los Angeles.

“I think you can assume the resentments are pretty widespread,” said Connie Rice, a civil rights activist and lawyer. “There has been a huge turnover in a 20-year period, and so the tensions get expressed in a lot of other ways. The African-American community is feeling under siege, and it is always easier to strike out at the ‘other.’ “

KJ

New Immigration Articles

Carrubba, Jared. Note. A Catch-22 for the twenty-first century. (Banda- Ortiz v. Gonzales, 445 F.3d 387, 2006.) 27 Miss. C.L. Rev. 265-288 (2007- 2008).

Pham, Huyen. The private enforcement of immigration laws. 96 Geo. L.J. 777-826 (2008).

Schrock, Hannah Whitney McMurry. Note. An emerging civil rights movement: immigrant populations in need of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. 34 N. Ky. L. Rev. 749-773 (2007).

Allen Chair Symposium 2008. Immigration in the Twenty-First Century: Perspectives on Law and Policy. Preface by Justin W. Curtis, Allen Chair Editor; articles by Rep. Virgil H. Goode, Jr., Jorge A. Vargas and Leticia M. Saucedo; commentaries by John C. Eastmen and James C. Ho; comments by Jonathan G. Goodrich and Lindsay M. Pickral. 42 U. Rich. L. Rev. 831-1040 (2008).

KJ

Kevin Johnson is New Dean at UC Davis

Some of you have already heard the rumors, and today the UC Davis Chancellor made the official announcement: my co-blogger Kevin Johnson will be the new dean at UC Davis School of Law. I am so proud of Kevin. He has been an incredible colleague, and I know he will be a magnificent dean.

Here's the official announcement:

University of California, Davis
May 14, 2008

KEVIN JOHNSON: NEW LAW SCHOOL DEAN

Kevin R. Johnson, associate dean for academic affairs and a noted international expert on immigration, race, and civil rights law, was confirmed today as dean of the UC Davis School of Law by the UC Board of Regents.

Johnson, 49, will be the first Latino to lead a law school in the University of California system. He will assume his new responsibilities at King Hall on July 1, replacing Rex Perschbacher, who has led the school since 1999 and will return to the faculty.

"Kevin's academic credibility is the essence of his popularity among our faculty and students, but those of us who know him well recognize much more," said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "Most notably, he cares deeply about those who need, but have no access to, legal assistance. He pays special attention to the first-hand experience our students receive in their free clinics."

Vanderhoef added, "The law school is certain to flourish under Kevin's guiding hand."

Established in 1965, the UC Davis School of Law currently enrolls approximately 600 students, has 36 faculty members and more than 6,000 alumni. The school, housed in Martin Luther King Jr. Hall, is noted for its emphasis on social justice and human rights, environmental and natural resources law, international law, intellectual property, and business law.

It maintains one of the highest bar-passage rates in the state.

"UC Davis School of Law has an excellent faculty, staff, and student body. Dean Perschbacher has done a truly outstanding job in overseeing an intellectual renaissance at the law school, hiring an extraordinary group of the most diverse faculty in the United States," Johnson said.

My modest hope is to build on his achievements while maintaining the King Hall community that we all know and love," Johnson added. "Specifically, we must do all within our power to remain a top public law school in times of tight budgets and increasing fees.

I am committed to doing what it takes to keep the best and brightest faculty and students from a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. In my mind, this is what a public law school should strive for."

Johnson, who also is the Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, joined the UC Davis law faculty in 1989 and was named associate dean for academic affairs in 1998. He has taught a wide array of classes, including civil procedure, immigration law, refugee law, and critical race theory. In 1993, Johnson was honored with the law school's Distinguished Teaching Award.

Johnson currently serves as president of the board of directors of Legal Services of Northern California, the largest legal services provider in Northern California. He also is on the board of directors of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the nation's leading Latino civil rights organization. He is serving on the Immigration Policy Group of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Along with Professor Bill Hing, Johnson co-manages the ImmigrationProf blog, which analyzes issues of immigration law and policy. With more than 300,000 visits, it is among the most popular legal blogs at <http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/>.

Johnson's book How Did You Get to Be Mexican? A White/Brown Man's Search for Identity, was published in 1999 and was nominated for the 2000 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.

He also has published Race, Civil Rights, and American Law: A Multiracial Approach and Mixed Race America and the Law: A Reader and The "Huddled Masses" Myth Immigration and Civil Rights (2004). Johnson's latest book, Opening the Floodgates: Why America Needs to Rethink Its Borders and Immigration Laws, was published by NYU Press in 2007. He is co-author of two amicus curiae briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in immigration cases.

A 1983 graduate of Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review, Johnson earned his undergraduate degree in economics from UC Berkeley. After graduation from law school, he clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and worked as an attorney with the international law firm of Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe in San Francisco.

Johnson has held leadership positions in the Association of American Law Schools. He also has been honored with many awards, including the 2008 National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Scholar of the Year and the 2006 Professor of the Year from the Hispanic National Bar Association.

In 2003, Johnson was elected to the American Law Institute.

bh

Blog Discussion of Peter Spiro Book

Next week, Opinio Juris is hosting a discussion of Peter Spiro's new book Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization (Oxford University Press). Among others, Alex Aleinikoff (Georgetown), Cristina Rodriguez (NYU), and Jon Weinberg (Wayne St.) are participating.

KJ

An Educator's View on Postville ICE Raid

Earlier this week, we reported on the ICE raid in Postville, Iowa. Mary Ann Zehr of Education Week has sent this:

The Des Moines Register broke a story yesterday about how, prior to a raid by federal immigration authorities on a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, on Monday, the Postville Community School District was given a subpoena to turn over detailed information about students to the Iowa Division of Labor Services. The subpoena included a mandate to provide the names of students working at two apartment buildings that had been owned by a Postville school guidance counselor and sold to the CEO of Agriprocessors Inc., the same company that owns the plant that was raided this week.

I was curious if there was a connection between the subpoena and the immigration raid. In other words, did any information provided by school district officials, when they complied with the subpoena, get into the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents? And is this another incident where educators have been dragged into an area of federal law that is murky? What steps should school officials take in such situations to ensure that undocumented students get the free public education in this country guaranteed by the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe? (I've written about this issue in a Sept. 12, 2007, article for Education Week, "With Immigrants, Districts Balance Safety, Legalities.")

I followed up with my own interviews of Gail Sheridan-Lucht, an attorney for Iowa Labor Commissioner David Neil, and David Strudthoff, the superintendent of the Postville school system, to write a story about the immigration raid and the subpoena, which you can find here.

Ms. Sheridan-Lucht said she issued the subpoena to the school district as part of a joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Iowa Division of Labor Services into various labor practices of the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville. The investigation included the possible violation of state and federal child labor laws, Ms. Sheridan-Lucht said. (In fact, 12 minors were arrested at the plant during Monday's raid, according to federal officials.)

Mr. Strudthoff said he wasn't told about the impending immigration raid at the time that he was handed the subpoena in early April—and he doesn't know if information about Postville students, such as addresses and telephone numbers, was turned over to federal immigration authorities. Ms. Sheridan-Lucht said she couldn't comment on the issue because the labor investigation was still going on. Click here for the rest of the piece.

bh

Immigrant of the Day: Rena Inoue (Japan)

Rena Inoue (born October 17, 1976 in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo, Japan) is a figure skater. With partner John Baldwin, she is the 2004 and 2006 U.S. National Champion.  Inoue previously competed for Japan as both a single skater and pair skater.

Inoue originally competed as a single and pair skater for Japan. She competed for Japan as a pair skater with Tomoaki Koyama at the 1992 Olympics and as a single skater at the 1994 Olympics. Inoue was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998. However, it was detected early, and after six months of chemotherapy, she was cancer-free.

In 2000, Inoue teamed up with John Baldwin. She became a U.S. citizen in 2005.

At the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Inoue and Baldwin became the first pair to successfully perform a throw triple Axel in competition, and then made Olympic history by landing it again at the 2006 Winter Games.

Taking their bows after their Free Skate at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Baldwin proposed marriage to Rena on the ice and she accepted.

KJ

The Efforts to Crack Down on "Voter Fraud," i.e., Latino Voters

The N.Y. Times talks tough on efforts of various states to tighten up on voter fraud:

"Missouri and at least 19 other states are considering passing laws that would force people to prove their citizenship before they can vote. These bills are not a sincere effort to prevent noncitizens from voting; that is a made-up problem. The real aim is to reduce turnout by eligible voters. Republicans seem to think that laws of this kind will help them win elections, but burdensome rules like these — and others cropping up around the country — pose a serious threat to democracy and should be stopped."

"Driving while brown (or black)" has been a punishable offense for many years.  Now, it appears that some states want to make it a crime for  "voting while Mexican."  In LULAC v. Perry, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state of texas's redistricting scheme that discriminated against Hispanic voters.   It looks like Mizzou and some other states are looking for a Plan B.

KJ

Chapter 1001: Immigrants Assimilate!

On May 13, 2008, the Manhattan Institute's Center for Civic Innovation was proud to release its first annual index of immigrant assimilation. Authored by Duke University Professor Jacob Vigdor, the index provides the most detailed estimates to date of the assimilation levels of immigrant groups in the United States. The Washington Post did a story on the new report, which it states shows that "immigrants of the past quarter-century have been assimilating in the United States at a notably faster rate than did previous generations . . . . Modern-day immigrants arrive with substantially lower levels of English ability and earning power than those who entered during the last great immigration wave at the turn of the 20th century. The gap between today's foreign-born and native populations remains far wider than it was in the early 1900s and is particularly large in the case of Mexican immigrants . . . ."

The report measured the degree of similarity between the United States' foreign-born and native-born populations. These included civic factors, such as rates of U.S. citizenship and service in the military; economic factors, such as earnings and rates of homeownership; and cultural factors, such as English ability and degree of intermarriage with U.S. citizens. The higher the number on a 100-point index, the more an immigrant resembled a U.S. citizen.

KJ

Immigration and Texas Town Politics

According to the Dallas Morning News, immigration played a key role in several recent Texas local elections:

Tim O'Hare, who made a name leading Farmers Branch's efforts to drive out illegal immigrants, was elected mayor of the Dallas County suburb Saturday.

Tim O'Hare celebrated his mayoral win on Saturday. The Farmers Branch City Council member made a name leading efforts to pass a ban on apartment rentals to illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, Irving's incumbent mayor and a city council member beat challengers who wanted more immigration enforcement in the city – where campaigns were highly heated and often personal.

In Carrollton, Mayor Becky Miller lost in an election day onslaught by challenger Ron Branson.

While Mr. Branson had made a tougher stance on immigration the centerpiece of his campaign, the race appeared to turn in his favor over questions about statements Mrs. Miller had made about her past. On election day, Mr. Branson polled almost 700 more votes than Mrs. Miller.  Click here for the rest of the story.

bh

Bob Barr on Immigration

Former Republican Congressman Bob Barrr has announced that he will seek the Libertarian Party nomination for the presidency. Many news reports on Barr note that as a former U.S. Attorney, he would strictly enforce immigration laws. However, anti-immigrant pundits claim that Barr's positions on immigration are no different from the other major candidates.

Barr was interviewed by Neal Boortz in April. Part of the conversation involved immigration matter. He implies that he supports a form of legalization for undocumented immigrants as long as they passed a background check, would get to remain. He doesn't specify whether that would be as a "guest" worker or whether they'd get on the "path to citizenship". Asked about this, he says:

    "I think as a practical matter, that makes a lot of sense. I'm not sure how you would go about rounding up millions of people and trying to deport them. The key here is security..."

bh

Immigrant of the Day: Geraldine Fitzgerald (Ireland)

Geraldine Fitzgerald (1913–2005) was an Academy Award-nominated actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Fitzgerald was born in Greystones, County Wicklow, south of Dublin, Ireland. Her father was Catholic and her mother a Protestant who converted to Catholicism. Inspired by her aunt, the actress/director Shelah Richards, Geraldine Fitzgerald began her acting career in 1932 in theatre in her native Dublin before moving to London in 1934 to appear in British films. She quickly came to be regarded as one of the British film industry's most promising young performers and her most successful film of this period was The Mill on the Floss (1937).

Dark Victory (1939) marked one of Fitzgerald's earliest appearances in American films. Her success led her to Broadway in 1938, and while appearing opposite Orson Welles in the Mercury Theatre production of Heartbreak House, she was seen by the film producer Hal B. Wallis who signed her to a film contract. In 1939, Fitzgerald received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Isabella Linton in Wuthering Heights and had an important role in Dark Victory. She appeared in Shining Victory (1941), Watch on the Rhine (1943), and Wilson (1944).

Fitzgerald became a U.S. citizen during World War II. In 1946, shortly after completing work on Three Strangers, she left Hollywood to return to New York City. She returned to Britain to film So Evil My Love (1948). In 1951 she appeared in The Late Edwina Black before returning to America. Among Fitzgerald's successful films inn the 1960s were Ten North Frederick (1961), The Pawnbroker (1964) and Rachel, Rachel (1968). Her other films include The Mango Tree (1977) (for which she received an Australian Film Institute "Best Actress" nomination), Arthur (1981), Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) and Arthu2 2 (1988). From the 1940s she began to act more on stage and she won acclaim for her performance in the 1971 revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night. Fitzgerald also achieved success as a theatre director, becoming one of the first women to received a Tony Award nomination for directing (1982) for the production Mass Appeal. She also appeared frequently on television in such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Robert Montgomery Presents, Naked City, St. Elsewhere, and Cagney and Lacey. In 1983, she played Rose Kennedy in the mini-series Kennedy. Fitzgerald received an Emmy Award nomination for a guest role playing Anna in The Golden Girls Mother's Day episode in 1988. Fitzgerald won a Daytime Emmy award for her appearance in the episode 'Rodeo Red and the Runaways' on NBC Special Treat. In 1990 she began a career as a cabaret singer with the show Streetsongs which played three successful runs on Broadway.

Geraldine Fitzgerald has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She died at age 91 in New York City following a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease.

KJ

Trafficking Victims Launch Hunger Strike

[Indian Guest Workers, Survivors of Labor Trafficking Launching Hunger Strike in Front of White House to Demand Protection Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act]

CONTACT:
Stephen Boykewich, Media Director, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice: (504) 655-0876, spboykewich@gmail.com

On Wednesday, May 14th, at 10 a.m., a group of Indian guest workers who broke an 18-month US-Indian labor trafficking chain earlier this year will launch a hunger strike to demand that the US government grant them Continued Presence in the United States under the Trafficking Vicitims Protection Act to participate in an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into alleged labor trafficking by Northrop Grumman subcontractor Signal International and US and Indian recruiters.

Six of the more than 500 workers will launch a water-only hunger strike in Lafayette Park in view of the White House on Wednesday with a press event including allies from US labor unions and civil rights organizations. Approximately 30 more workers will be joining the hunger strike over the next two weeks. The workers are members of the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity, a grassroots project of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice [NOWCRJ] (www.neworleansworkerjustice.org).

WHAT: Launch of hunger strike by Indian labor trafficking survivors
WHEN: 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
WHERE: Lafayette Park, 16th Street and Pennsylvania Ave, north of White House

bh

Another ICE Raid in Iowa

ICE is conducting a raid in Postville, Iowa, today. Last year, the ICE raids on Swift Meatpacking included one plant in Iowa as well. According to the Associated Press:

Immigration officials raided the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville on Monday as part of an investigation into identity theft.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered the plant at about 10 a.m. looking for evidence of identity theft, stolen Social Security numbers and for people who are in the country illegally, said Tim Counts, an ICE spokesman.

Counts said all those arrested would be interviewed by ICE agents to determine if they should be detained. If someone raises questions based on humanitarian grounds, they could be released pending a detention hearing.

"Usually, it's medical or if someone is a primary care giver to a child," Counts said.

He also said a toll-free telephone number had been set up to assist family members of those arrested who have questions about their detention status and the removal process.

A news conference was scheduled for 2 p.m. at the U.S. attorney's office in Cedar Rapids.

Sister Mary McCauley, a Roman Catholic nun at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, told The Associated Press that family members of plant workers were coming to the nearby church in tears.

"The people right now are hearing and seeing the helicopters," McCauley said. "They are just panic-stricken and very frightened and some of them are coming to the church as a safe haven."

The church is about five blocks from the plant, she said.

She said rumors began swirling around the community on Friday about an upcoming raid, leaving many people worried.

She said Immigration officials arrived with buses, vans and two helicopters.  Click here for the full story.

bh

ICE Fights Gangs; Gangs Grow in Numbers?

Matthew Quirk has an article in The Atlantic about the efforts in recent years by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement to remove criminal gang members.   Deportations will set a record this fiscal year.  "Latino gang members have been targeted for particularly aggressive action. "  Quirk suggests that the problem is not being solved, but may in fact be getting worse, by the mass removals: 

"[T]he U.S. continues to repeat the mistakes it made in the ’90s. Most ICE arrests have been for immigration-related offenses, not criminal offenses. Suspected “associates” are lumped in with gang members, which only reinforces gang ties; with dabblers and minor offenders, experts agree that anti-gang intervention programs are better at preventing gangs’ growth. For hard-core gang members, quickie deportations on immigration charges are often no more than short-term fixes; lengthy American prison sentences would be more effective."

KJ

New Immigration Articles from SSRN

Here are some great new immigration articles from the Social Science Research Network (www.ssrn.com).  Note that three of them deaal with the hote issue of local regulation of immigration:

A Localist Reading of Local Immigration Regulations" Buffalo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2008-10 North Carolina Law Review, Vol. 86, 2008 RICK SU, University at Buffalo Law School, SUNY

The conventional account of immigration-related activity at the local level often assumes that the "local" is simply a new battleground in the national immigration debates. This article questions that presumption. Foregrounding the legal rules that define local governments and channels local action, this article argues that the local immigration "crisis" is much less a consequence of federal immigration policy than normally assumed. Rather, it can also be understood as a familiar byproduct of localism: the legal and cultural assumptions that shape how we structure and organize local communities, provide and allocate local services, and define the legal relationship of local, state, and federal governments. From this perspective, local immigration regulations are not unprecedented forays by local governments into uncharted and unfamiliar territory; instead, they reflect a natural extension of how we've traditionally used legal rules to organize our local communities to deal with demographic and socioeconomic diversity and change. Recognizing this not only allows us to develop a more accurate descriptive account of the framework within which localities act with respect to immigration, it also reveals the limitations of national- or federal-oriented immigration proposals and highlights the possibilities of local legal reforms as an alternative.

The Slow Death of Citizenship Rights, King's Law Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1 SATVINDER JUSS, King's College London This article explains how the shift from birthright principle to parentage citizenship, which the 1960's legislation came to epitomize, was bound to lead to difficulties for citizens and state alike. The argument will be advanced that legal machinations in citizenship laws are to date an unedifying spectacle of a departure from what was once a classic principle of law. Indeed, such is the opprobrium that attaches to the event that Kevin Wilson has cautioned the United States against using anti-immigrant sentiment as a basis for migration law policies. The article will re-visit the East African Asians Case, including the events leading up to it, because, as will be argued, the full lessons of this case have still not been entirely learned by governments and lawyers alike. The East African Asians Case became a cause célèbre amongst human rights lawyers, in part because it highlighted how issues of race and culture can distort the policy-making process, destroying a person's legal and civil status in a community. Legal policy on an issue of such fundamental importance should not be distorted in this way. Principle should not be sacrificed to ill-conceived expediency.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Landlords, Latinos, Anti-Illegal Immigrant Ordinances, and Housing Discrimination Vanderbilt Law Review, Vol. 62, No. 1 University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2008-16 RIGEL CHRISTINE OLIVERI, University of Missouri School of Law In the face of federal inability to effectively police our national borders and to remove unauthorized immigrants, many local governments have recently sought to take measures into their own hands by passing anti-illegal immigrant ("AII") ordinances. These ordinances usually contain a combination of provisions restricting housing, employment, and public benefits for unauthorized immigrants, among other things. This Article focuses on AII provisions that are targeted at private rental housing, which typically take the form of sanctions against landlords who rent to unauthorized immigrants. Faced with penalties for renting to unauthorized immigrants, landlords have the clear incentive to screen their tenants' immigration status. However, given the difficulty of ascertaining legal status (and the absence of any reliable mechanism for doing so), landlords are instead likely to resort to short-cuts, such as refusing to rent to "foreign-seeming" people and discriminating based on accent, surname, appearance, or other ethnic markers. As a result, these restrictions are likely to (1) cause landlords to violate the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin, and (2) lead to discrimination against all ethnic minority groups whose members look or sound "foreign," regardless of their immigration or citizenship status. In addition to the violations of federal fair housing law that are likely to occur, there are significant public policy arguments against immigration-related housing restrictions. Federal intervention is therefore necessary. Congress must act to prevent municipalities from enacting and enforcing such restrictions. Moreover, Congress must itself resist pressure to enact immigration-related housing restrictions as a matter of national policy. But this is not enough. Historic and current levels of housing discrimination against national origin minorities and immigrants indicate that these groups are already in need of greater protection, yet the law contains significant gaps in coverage. Both alienage and legal status remain permissible bases for discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. As long as this is the case, discrimination against national origin minorities who are citizens and legally present non-citizens is encouraged to continue. Thus, the Fair Housing Act should be amended to contain explicit protection for both alienage and legal status.

"The Private Enforcement of Immigration Laws" Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 96, No. 3, 2008 HUYEN PHAM, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law In the immigration policy debate, the question of who enforces our immigration laws can be as significant as what those policies are. And on that question, a significant and startling trend in immigration law has emerged: the shifting of enforcement responsibilities once held exclusively by government officers to private parties such as employers, landlords, and public carriers. These laws obligate private parties to ensure that they provide their goods and services only to those with legal immigration status; private parties who fail to do so face civil and criminal penalties. This article maps the expansion of private enforcement laws and weighs their costs and benefits. On the benefit side, private enforcement has strong intuitive appeal. According to advocates, the laws reduce illegal immigration by eliminating the pull factors that draw immigrants here; moreover, this additional enforcement is provided at little cost to our national and local governments. These touted benefits have motivated Congress and local legislatures across the country to consider expanding the obligations of private immigration enforcement to educators, medical care providers, and even charities. But the reality is that private enforcement laws do not make effective immigration policy. Drawing on the nation's 21 year experience with federal employer sanctions, I observe that private enforcement laws have not reduced illegal immigration. Rather, these laws have been plagued by enforcement problems that undermine their effectiveness: enforcer confusion about their legal obligations, fraudulent documents that threaten the verification process, and political ambivalence about enforcement. Moreover, the laws have resulted in substantial discrimination against those who look or sound foreign. The laws have succeeded in conveying a symbolic message of tough immigration policies, but in the final analysis, the real costs of private immigration enforcement outweigh this symbolic benefit and counsel against their use.

KJ

Immigrant of the Day: Alma Adamkienė (Lithuania)

Alma Adamkienė (born February 10, 1927) is the wife of the President of Lithuania. She also holds U.S. citizenship.

In 1944, when the Soviet Army returned to Lithuania, Alma Nutautaitė fled with her family to the West. She finished high school in Germany and later studied Philology at Erlangen University in Nuremberg.

Alma Nutautaitė emigrated to the United States in 1949. She first worked as a laboratory assistant at a steel factory. Later, she took a position with an insurance company. She also organized and participated in Lithuanian émigré activities. Alma Nutautaitė married Valdas Adamkus in 1951, and took her husband's surname (she is known as Alma Adamkus in the United States).

During the Presidential election held in Lithuania in 1997, Valdas Adamkus campaigned for the

Presidency and won. After Adamkus became President, Alma Adamkienė became involved in various Lithuanian social programs. She opened a foundation called the “Alma Adamkienė Charity and Support Fund” in 1999. It is an activity in which she is still currently involved.

KJ

May Day 2008 International Workers Day and Immigrant Mobilization Report

A report entitled the "May Day 2008 International Workers Day and Mobilization to Support Immigrant Rights! Reports from Around the World" can be found here.  Some videos can be found at ownload Link: We thanks the local activists who send us articles/links to help us compile the report. Some May Day 2008 videos at Activist Video.  The materials were prepared by the National Immigrant Solidarity Network.

KJ

Washington Post Series: Careless Detention: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4

Since immigration reform in 1996, the detention of immigrants has greatly expanded.  Mark Dow's book American Gulag (University of California Press, 2004) documents the goings-on of this secret prison system.  Over the last week, the Washington Post has published a series on immigrant detention that -- combined with a 60 Minutes segment -- hopefully will bring this travesty of justice to national attention.

Last week, we announced that the Washington Post would begin a four part series on immigrant detention ("Careless Detention").  Day 1 of the special 4-day Post report, includes links to documents, videos, and more:

"They are locked in a world of slow care, poor care and no care, with panic and coverups among employees watching it happen, according to a Post investigation. The investigation found a hidden world of flawed medical judgments, faulty administrative practices, neglectful guards, ill-trained technicians, sloppy record-keeping, lost medical files and dangerous staff shortages. It is also a world increasingly run by high-priced private contractors. ... Some 83 detainees have died in, or soon after, custody during the past five years. The deaths are the loudest alarms about a system teetering on collapse."

Based on confidential medical records and other sources, the Washington Post identified 83 deaths of immigration detainees between March 2003, when the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was created, and March 2008. The Post found that 30 of the deaths were questionable.  Morethan two-thirds of the questionable deaths were of immigrants from Mexico and other nations in Latin America.

For ICE's icy response, click here.  (Thanks to Cappy White for the assist on this.).

In Custody, In Pain Day 2 | This installment tells of the case of legal U.S. resident who is facing deportation and who may be suffering from cancer.  It offers a glimpse into a medical system that often fails those who need it most.  60 Minutes did a powerful segment on immigrant detention in connection with the Post investigation, with a focus on the poor medical care provided immigrants.  ImmigrationProf had reported on one horrible medical treatment case a while back.

Careless Detention: Part 3 of 4:  "Many immigration detainees endure substandard medical care, but people with mental illness are relegated to the darkest and most neglected corners of the system." Washington Post, May 13, 2008.

Detainees Sedated for Travel Day 4: Federal immigration officials have called sedation of deportees rare and "an act of last resort." Neither is true, records and interviews indicate. The U.S. government has injected hundreds of foreigners it has deported with dangerous psychotropic drugs against their will to keep them sedated during the trip back to their home country, according to medical records, internal documents and interviews with people who have been drugged. The government's forced use of antipsychotic drugs, in people who have no history of mental illness, includes dozens of cases in which the "pre-flight cocktail," as a document calls it, had such a potent effect that federal guards needed a wheelchair to move the slumped deportee onto an airplane.

KJ

North American Legislators: Renegotiate NAFTA

Time to Renegotiate NAFTA, Not Expand It
By Representative Marcy Kaptur (United States), Senator Yeidckol Polevnsky (Mexico), and Peter Julian, Member of Canadian Parliament

When President Bush meets his counterparts Felipe Calderon of Mexico and Stephen Harper of Canada in New Orleans this week for the fourth summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), NAFTA itself will not be on the agenda. Nevertheless, the reinvigorated debate over that landmark trade and investment deal in our three countries—which became highly visible during the recent dust up between Prime Minister Harper's office and both U.S. Democratic presidential candidates—ensures that it will be an elephant in the room.

Rather than attempting to handcuff the new administration and the people of our three countries to NAFTA-plus, it is time to chart a fair trade future for North America that fosters democratic governance, growing economies, rising standards of living for all, and puts the interests of working people and the environment over those of global corporations.

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur represents Ohio's 9th District and is the sponsor of a recently introduced congressional resolution calling for NAFTA's renegotiation. Yeidckol Polevnsky Gurwitz is the vice president of the Mexican Senate and former president of Canacintra, Latin America's largest chamber of commerce. Peter Julian represents Burnaby-New Westminster, British Columbia in the Canadian Parliament and is a member of the Standing Committee on International Trade. Together the three are leading a tri-national legislative task force that seeks the renegotiation of NAFTA.

See full article online here.

bh

Laura Carlsen on Trilateral Summit

Laura Carlsen of Americas Policy Program in Mexico City provides some excellent insight on U.S.-Canada-Mexico discussions:

Dissecting the North American Summit Joint Statement: Bush's Last Stand
By Laura Carlsen

On April 22, Presidents George W. Bush, Felipe Calderon, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper concluded a trilateral summit in New Orleans. Check out the analysis "between the lines" that reveals what they are really talking about.

The summit marked the fourth meeting of the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), which has drawn fire in all three countries since its proceedings are not open to public participation or congressional oversight and working groups are made up only of government and large business representatives. The leaders' Joint Statement and press conference targeted the U.S. electoral process by responding directly to Democrats' recent criticisms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the proposed Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The three leaders reiterated their unconditional support for NAFTA and the SPP, urged passage of the Colombia FTA, and argued for passage of the Plan Mexico aid package.

Laura Carlsen (lcarlsen(@)ciponline.org) is director of the Americas Policy Program in Mexico City (www.americaspolicy.org), our Mexico Blog is available at www.americasmexico.blogspot.com.

See full article online at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5178

bh

Undocumented Workers at Courthouse Construction

Pamela Constable reports in the Washington Post:

Federal immigration agents raided the construction site of a new federal courthouse in Richmond on Monday, arresting 33 workers on charges of violating federal immigration laws and being in the United States illegally, officials said yesterday.

Ernestine Fobbs, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said the 29 men and four women who were arrested were from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. All were found to lack documents that would allow them to live or work in the United States, Fobbs said.

Officials had received information that illegal immigrants were working at the site, Fobbs said. The investigation is ongoing, and no information was available about the employers, she said. Those arrested were being processed for deportation.

According to radio reports, federal agents and Virginia State Police officers surrounded the work site about 8 a.m. and rounded up about 50 workers while others attempted to hide inside the half-built complex. The reports said that officials were still searching the site hours later and that the remaining workers were required to wear wristbands showing that their IDs had been found valid.  Click here for the rest of the story.

bh

Child Status Protection Act

From Nora Privitera of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, with many thanks from USCIS (and also CLINIC) for forwarding this information to us.  This is very good news for people whose visa petitions were approved before the Child Status Protection Act’s effective date of 8/6/02, but who had not then filed for adjustment or consular processing:

USCIS Update      
May 6, 2008   

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Office of Communications

USCIS ISSUES REVISED GUIDANCE ON CHILD STATUS PROTECTION ACT (CSPA)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today issued guidance that will modify its earlier interpretation of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) which permits applicants for certain immigration benefits to retain classification as a child even if he or she has reached the age of 21. The guidance, effective today, changes how USCIS interprets the applicability of the CSPA to aliens who had aged out prior to the enactment of the CSPA on August 6, 2002.

Under prior policy guidance, USCIS considered an alien beneficiary of a visa petition that was approved before August 6, 2002 to be covered by the CSPA only if the beneficiary had filed an application for permanent residence (either adjustment of status or an immigrant visa) on or before August 6, 2002, and no final determination had been made on that application prior to August 6, 2002. This new policy extends CSPA coverage to aliens who had an approved visa petition prior to the enactment of CSPA but who did not have a pending application for permanent residence on the date of enactment of the CSPA.

Aliens who were ineligible under the prior policy and who subsequent to the enactment of the CSPA never filed an application for permanent residence may file an application for permanent residence to take advantage of this new interpretation. Aliens who filed an application for permanent residence after the enactment of the CSPA and who were denied solely because they had aged out may file motions to reopen or reconsider without a filing fee.

For detailed information on this issue, see the accompanying Fact Sheet with questions and answers and also review the guidance issued to USCIS field leadership at http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/CSPA_30Apr08.pdf or call the National Customer Service Center at (800) 375-5283.

– USCIS –

Fact Sheet                                                         
May 6, 2008

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Office of Communications

USCIS ISSUES REVISED GUIDANCE ON THE APPLICABILITY OF THE CHILD STATUS PROTECTION ACT (CSPA)

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) amended the Immigration Nationality Act by changing how an alien is determined to be a child for purposes of immigrant classification. The Act permits an applicant for certain benefits to retain classification as a “child,” even if he or she has reached the age of 21.

Since its enactment on Aug. 6, 2002, USCIS provided several field guidance memoranda regarding the adjudication of immigration benefits in accordance with the CSPA. Today, USCIS has revised its guidance that modifies a prior interpretation of certain provisions of the CSPA.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)?
A: CSPA changes who can be considered to be a child for the purpose of the issuance of visas by the Department of State and for purposes of adjustment of status of aliens by USCIS.

The Act provides that if you are a U.S. citizen and you file a Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) on behalf of your child before he or she turns 21, your child will continue to be considered a child for immigration purposes even if USCIS does not act on the petition before your child turns 21. Children of lawful permanent residents also benefit if a Form I-130 is filed on behalf of their children (see below).

Q: Who benefits under the new CSPA guidance?
A: The new guidance allows aliens who had an approved immigrant visa petition prior to the enactment of the CSPA, but had not yet applied for permanent residence (either an application for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa) on the date of enactment to benefit from the CSPA. Under prior guidance, the CSPA did not apply to such applicants. The new guidance includes many aliens who, subsequent to the enactment of the CSPA, never filed an application for permanent residence and aliens who filed an application for permanent residence but such application was denied solely based on the applicant’s age.

Q: Are there other considerations impacting eligibility requirements?
A: Yes.

    * The new guidance does not include aliens who, prior to Aug. 6, 2002 (date CSPA was enacted), had a final decision on an application for permanent residence based on the immigrant visa petition upon which the applicant claimed to be a child.
    * If an alien filed an application for permanent residence after the enactment of the CSPA, and the application was denied, that denial must be ‘solely based’ on a finding that the applicant was not a child because the CSPA did not apply. An I-485 can be denied for various reasons; if your I-485 denial was based for a reason other than for CSPA, then this revised CSPA guidance does not apply to you. 

Finally, if you had an approved immigrant visa petition before August 6, 2002, and did not file an I-485 after the enactment of the CSPA, you could still benefit if (1) you are filing as an immediate relative or (2) your visa became available on or after Aug. 7, 2001, you did not apply for permanent residence within one year of petition approval and your visa becoming available.

Q: How do I know if I was denied solely based on CSPA?
A: The written denial decision you received from USCIS will state the basis for the denial.

Q: Will it matter whether the child reaches the age of 21 before or after the enactment date of the CSPA to benefit from this revised policy?
A: No, provided the applicant did not have a final decision prior to Aug. 6, 2002 on an application for permanent residence based on an immigrant visa petition upon which the applicant claimed to be a child.

Q: Please explain the differences of benefit for an immigrant petition filed by a U.S. citizen and a Lawful Permanent Resident.

A: Immigrant Petition as a child filed by a U.S. citizen:

·   If the child is under the age of 21 on the date of the filed immigrant petition, he/she will not ‘age out’. He or she will be eligible for permanent residence as an immediate relative, provided that no final decision was reached prior to Aug. 6, 2002 on an application for permanent residence based on the immigrant visa petition upon which the applicant claimed to be a child.

Immigrant Petition as a child filed by a Lawful Permanent Resident:

·         If the immigrant petition was approved and the priority date becomes current before the applicant’s ‘CSPA age’ reaches 21, the child will not ‘age out’, provided that no final decision was reached prior to Aug. 6, 2002 on an application for permanent residence based on the immigrant visa petition upon which the applicant claimed to be a child. In order for CSPA coverage to continue, the child must apply for permanent residence within a one-year of the date the priority date became current.

Q: How do I calculate my ‘CSPA age’?
A: For preference category and derivative petitions, your ‘CSPA age’ is determined on the date that your visa, or in the case of derivative beneficiaries, the principal alien’s visa, becomes available. Your CSPA age is the result of subtracting the number of days that your immigrant visa petition was pending from your actual age on the date that your visa becomes available. If your ‘CSPA age’ is under 21 after that calculation, you will remain a child for purposes of the permanent residence application.

Q: If my child is a derivative of a petition filed on my behalf, can my child benefit under CSPA?
A: Yes, so long as the child also meets CSPA eligibility requirements previously discussed and applies for permanent residence within one year of the priority date being current.

Q: If I was previously denied because of ‘aging out’, can I file a motion to reopen or have my I-485 reconsidered? If so, is there a filing fee incurred?
A: Under the new policy, USCIS will accept, without a filing fee, a motion to reopen or reconsider a denied I-485 application if the following criteria are met:

·    A visa petition was approved prior to Aug. 6, 2002 and the I-485 was filed after Aug. 6, 2002;

·    The applicant would have been considered under the age of 21 under applicable CSPA rules;

·    The applicant applied for permanent residence within one year of visa availability; and

·    The applicant received a denial solely because he or she aged out.

Q: Is there a deadline for filing a motion to reconsider my I-485 if the original was denied solely for ‘aging out’? Where should I file the motion?
A: No deadline. Applicants should apply at their local USCIS field office.

Q: I did not have an application for permanent residence pending on Aug. 6, 2002 and did not subsequently apply for permanent residence? Am I still eligible for CSPA coverage?
A: Yes, provided the applicant meets the following criteria:

    * The applicant is applying for permanent residence as an immediate relative; or
    * The applicant’s visa became available on or after Aug. 7, 2001; and

The applicant did not apply for permanent residence within one year of the petition approval and visa availability, but would have qualified for CSPA coverage.

bh

A Farmworker Story from 2008, Not 1938

An action alert from the UFW reminds us of the plight of farmworkers in modern American agriculture:

"Yesterday more than 100 migrant farm workers were living in an orchard. Tonight they have no place to go. Why, you ask? These Washington state cherry pickers came to Shafter, California after being told by company representatives to come to Califronia for a job in the cherries. Consequently workers and their families traveled from Washington State to work at the Kyle Mathison Orchards. Kyle Mathison is part of the Wenatchee, Washington based Stemilt Growers Company—which, according to its web site, is the largest shipper of fresh-market sweet cherries in the world. When these farm workers reached California, things were not as expected. A number of the workers were hired, but other workers were told to just wait and see if jobs were available. According to KERO 23 news, a farm worker said, "I came from Washington state. We came here to work, but they haven't treated us like they should and we're a little worried because we may not have enough money to go back to Washington." While in Washington, some of the workers were informed that housing would be available to them when they got to California. However, when they got here there was no housing. They had no choice but to sleep in the fields. Some stayed in tents, others in cars and still others slept on cardboard or simply the dirt. Workers complained of rashes from having to bathe in irrigation water. The KERO 23 news report quoted another worker as saying, "I asked where do we shower? And he said 'There's the water hole.' ... and there's ducks and fish! I asked, 'We shower there?! Where do the women shower?!' He said the same place." When workers went public about being left out in the cold, things only got worse. Last night Bakersfield area television stations showed the workers’ bleak situation. Today, Stemilt company representatives' called the sheriffs to have the 100 plus workers and their property evicted from the orchard. The workers who are currently working were told they would still be allowed on Monday—however they now have no place to live. The others have no place to live and no job—the company told them to still wait and see. Stemilt says their core values include treating workers, growers and customers fairly. How is this fair? Take action now. Tell Stemilt to provide housing for these out of state workers tonight, pay reasonable travel expenses and immediately hire the rest of the Washington workers instead of forcing them to wait and see."

KJ

MALDEF angry at Rush Limbaugh

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is angry at talk radio maven Rush Limbaugh. The group this week condemned the conservative radio host for saying on his radio show that he thought Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, was “a shoe shine guy” or a Secret Service agent when he met him at an event last year. the two. For more on this story, click here. KJ

Punishing (Legal) Immigrant Soldiers

When Congress passed an economic- stimulus package giving rebates to most taxpayers, it made sure that undocumented immigrants did not get any of the cash. But lawmakers also penalized at least a million legal U.S. residents - and tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed overseas - simply because their spouses lack a Social Security number.  For more, click here. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9186416?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

KJ

U.S. Government: Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, a Terrorist!

USA Today reports that Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela is on U.S. terrorist watch lists and needs special permission to visit the United States. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls the situation "embarrassing," and some members of Congress vow to fix it. The requirement applies to former South African leader Mandela and other members of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC), the once-banned anti-Apartheid organization. In the 1970s and '80s, the ANC was officially designated a terrorist group by the country's ruling white minority. Other countries, including the United States, followed suit.

KJ