Thursday, September 30, 2010
Stuck with ICE's Secure Communities
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 30, 2010; 10:59 PM
The Obama administration is making it virtually impossible for Arlington County, the District and other jurisdictions to refuse to participate in a controversial immigration enforcement program that uses fingerprints gathered by local law enforcement agencies to identify illegal immigrants.
Thursday, September 30, 2010; 10:59 PM
Participation in the program, called Secure Communities, was widely believed to be voluntary - a perception reinforced by a Sept 7 letter sent to Congress by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. This week, Arlington joined the District, San Francisco and Santa Clara County, Calif., in voting to opt out of the program.
But the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency now says that opting out of the program is not a realistic possibility - and never was.
Secure Communities, which operates in 32 states and will soon be running nationwide, relies on the fingerprints collected by local authorities when a person is charged with anything from a traffic violation to murder. The fingerprints are sent to state police, and then to the FBI, for criminal background checks.
Under the two-year-old program, ICE is able to access the information sent to the FBI. If the fingerprint matches that of someone known to be in the country illegally, ICE orders the immigrant detained as a first step toward deportation...more
In Spanish: Rupert Murdoch and Michael Bloomberg support Immigration Reform
In Spanish:
El magnate de los medios de comunicación y presidente del grupo NewsCorp, el australiano Rupert Murdoch (dcha), y el alcalde de Nueva York, Michael Bloomberg. EFE
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Dos de los hombres más ricos de Estados Unidos defendieron hoy los beneficios económicos de los inmigrantes y de legalizar a los indocumentados. “La deportación masiva costaría al país 5 mil millones de dólares en 5 años”, dijo el dueño de la cadena Fox, Rupert Murdoch.
Su testimonio fue entregado, junto al del alcalde de Nueva York Michael Bloomberg, en una audiencia del Comité Judicial de la Cámara de Representantes. La segunda en dos semanas relacionada con inmigración...mas
Su testimonio fue entregado, junto al del alcalde de Nueva York Michael Bloomberg, en una audiencia del Comité Judicial de la Cámara de Representantes. La segunda en dos semanas relacionada con inmigración...mas
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| Josefina Lopez by Robert Gauthier/NYT |
LA Times
Immigration debate takes to L.A. stages
Like In the new 'Detained in the Desert' and the old 'La Victima,' the plays revolve around current and historic views on undocumented workers and residents and their experiences in the U.S.
Dying of thirst and stripped to their underwear, the headstrong Latina and the immigrant-bashing talk-radio host are staggering through the northern Mexican desert. How they got there is a story of karmic comuppance involving a brutal kidnapping, a vicious hate crime, a romantic betreayal and the unappeased ghosts of guilt and shame that haunt both characters.Like trails in a dusty landscape, those narrative lines converge in Josefina Lopez's two-act satirical drama "Detained in the Desert," which opens Friday at the tiny Casa 0101 theater in Boyle Heights.
Set in summer 2010, "Detained" derives much of its passionate point of view from America's current immigration debate, including the fierce polemics surrounding Arizona's pending immigration-related statute...more
Banned Books Week: 25 titles you won't believe got banned
Los Angeles Times
Where there are books, there seem to be people who want to ban them. Why? Sometimes it's because there's language they don't like, or ideas they're uncomfortable with. And sometimes... well, it's because people seem to be able to take offense at just about anything. Check out this list of 25 books that have been banned for all sorts of bizarre reasons.
Ever heard of alumni legacy preferences?
A different form of Affirmative Action:
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Op-Ed Contributor
Elite Colleges, or Colleges for the Elite?
By RICHARD D. KAHLENBERG
Published: September 29, 2010lo- New York Times
Among selective research universities, public and private, almost three-quarters employ legacy preferences, as do the vast majority of selective liberal arts colleges. Some admissions departments insist they are used only as tie-breakers among deserving applicants. But studies have shown that being the child of an alumnus adds the equivalent of 160 SAT points to one’s application (using the traditional 400-to-1600-point scale, and not factoring in the new writing section of the test) and increases one’s chances of admission by almost 20 percentage points....more
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
In Spanish: ICE "Secure Communities" Program Expands
Charlotte/EFE — El programa migratorio Comunidades Segura, que identifica a indocumentados en las cárceles, se expande rápidamente en las Carolinas aunque algunos servicios policiales prefieren al controvertido 287g.
En lo que va de 2010, 35 departamentos del orden público en Carolina del Norte -de 48 que actualmente operan en el estado- y tres en Carolina del Sur, han firmado acuerdos con el Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) para aplicar la medida.
Esto corresponde a un aumento de casi 80 por ciento en ambos estados, cuya población indocumentada supera los 330.000, según estadísticas recientes del Centro Hispano Pew.
El sistema biométrico (IDENT) de Comunidades Seguras permite el análisis de las huellas dactilares de una persona detenida por cualquier delito, las cuales son cotejadas instantáneamente con las bases de datos de ICE y la Oficina Federal de Investigaciones (FBI) para conocer su récord migratorio y delictivo...mas
ICE Secure Communities Plan
Immigration Issues in France
The U.S. is not the only country experiencing immigration problems. It is hard to say if France really has a problem, or President Sarkozy is making immigration look more problematic than it is.
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France24
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France24
A debate begins on Tuesday in France's lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, on a bill proposed by French Immigration Minister Eric Besson (photo) that would strengthen the government’s hand against immigrant and travelling communities.
Monday, September 27, 2010
In Spanish: Looking for POWER - Go Vote
Dicen que los Latinos estan submisos abajo de un sistema de govierno que no nos toma en cuenta. Es verdad... pero el poder que tenemos es el VOTO! Aunque muchos de nosotros no somos cuidadanos, nuestros hijos, amistades, vecinos, y maestros si pueden - apoya los votantes, diles que tienen que votar. Si nos juntamos a votar todo el pais puede cambiar. Mientras no votamos, no somos nada.....
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Las abuelas dan el ejemplo de votantes
Mujeres de la tercera edad ayudan a inscribir a ciudadanos más jóvenes
- Róger Lindo/ roger.lindo@laopinion.com |
- 2010-09-27
- | La Opinión - Los Angeles
Dos voluntarios de la organización Cuéntame trabajan juntos en la Placita Olvera para registrar nuevos votantes. Suministrada
"Es importante votar, porque ahorita, si no votamos, al ratito nos pasa lo que a Arizona; ya andan corriendo a ciudadanos y discriminando, y no es justo".
Irueste se inscribió gracias a una iniciativa conjunta de jóvenes y personas de la tercera edad, que ayer se instalaron a la salida de la Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles, en la histórica plaza. Su objetivo es hacer crecer las listas de votantes latinos para las próximas elecciones nacionales y estatales, que tendrán lugar en la primera semana de noviembre...mas
When was saving a life considered a crime?
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| Photo by Joshua Lott for the NYT |
New York Times
Water Drops for Migrants. Kindness, or Offense?
Beware LIFELINE Systems - alert systems for older people
So this is just a warning. For one, watch out for those companies like LIFELINE that keep billing you every month. They don't care what you are doing with their little box, even if you aren't using it... And also, keep an eye on your mother if she is over 80 --- there are lots of things she doesn't tell you!
Friday, September 24, 2010
I don't know if its good to laugh with him, or be insulted. At least he got the attention of Congress, for the moment...
Colbert storms Capitol Hill for migrant workers
Click here to watch video
September 24, 2010 1:07 p.m. EDT
Washington (CNN) -- There's nothing funny about the issue of migrant farm labor -- unless Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert is discussing it.
Colbert, accompanied by a media swarm, sarcastically testified on Capitol Hill Friday about the conditions facing America's undocumented farm workers. The popular host of "The Colbert Report" told members of a House Judiciary subcommittee that he hoped to bring attention to the workers' hardships.
"I certainly hope that my star power can bump this hearing all the way up to C-SPAN 1," he joked.
"America's farms are presently far too dependent on immigrant labor to pick our fruits and vegetables," he told the subcommittee, keeping in character with the arch-conservative he plays on television.
"Now, the obvious answer is for all of us to stop eating fruits and vegetables. And if you look at the recent obesity statistics, many Americans have already started."
Colbert told the panel that "we all know there is a long tradition of great nations importing foreign workers to do their farm work.".
"After all," he said, "it was the ancient Israelites who built the first food pyramids. But this is America. I don't want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan, and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian."
"My great-grandfather did not travel across four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this nation overrun by immigrants," he declared. "He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That's the rumor."...more
UK Immigration
Legal challenge to immigration cap
Friday, 24 September 2010
PA
Immigration Minister Damian Green has expressed his confidence in the policy
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Book on Immigration - How it all changed after 9-11
"The Accidental American vividly illustrates the challenges and contradictions of U. S. immigration policy, and argues that, just as there is a free flow of capital in the world economy, there should be a free flow of labor. Author Rinku Sen alternates chapters telling the story of one "accidental American"--coauthor Fekkak Mamdouh, a Moroccan-born waiter at a restaurant in the World Trade Center whose life was thrown into turmoil on 9/11--with a thorough critique of current immigration policy. Sen and Mamdouh describe how members of the largely immigrant food industry workforce managed to overcome divisions in the aftermath of 9/11 and form the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY) to fight for jobs and more equitable treatment. This extraordinary story serves to illuminate the racial, cultural, and economic conflicts embedded in the current immigration debate and helps frame the argument for a more humane immigration and global labor system."
In Spanish: Students Feel Used
Estudiantes se sienten utilizados
- CATALINA JARAMILLO/EDLP |
- 2010-09-23
- | El Diario NY
Estudiantes recibieron el apoyo ayer de líderes locales durante un acto en Manhattan. Foto: HUMBERTO ARELLANO/EDLP
Francisco Curiel, mexicano de 18 años que participó en la Universidad de los Sueños en Washington y ha trabajado con Se Hace Camino Nueva York por el acta de los sueños dijo sentirse decepcionado por los congresistas y senadores que les dieron esperanzas.
"Nos sentimos usados de saber que vienen las elecciones y siempre apoyan una propuesta y uno los apoya a ellos como senadores, como congresistas, y cuando llegan al congreso simplemente hacen que no escuchan nada", dijo Curiel.
A Curiel le parece triste que esto pase una y otra vez, y también le parece triste que los congresistas no se quieran arriesgar o meterse en problemas hablando sobre inmigración.
Los jóvenes se reunieron en las escalas de la alcaldía para demandar por el Dream Act junto con el comité de educación superior y el comité de inmigración del Concejo de la Ciudad.
"Me parece muy tonta la decisión que tomaron", dijo Oscar Chico, de 18 años. "Sinceramente, nosotros merecemos más porque nosotros contribuimos con este país", agregó.
Los concejales Daniel Dromm, Ydanis Rodríguez y Melissa Mark Viverito estuvieron apoyando a los jóvenes y sostuvieron una audiencia para escuchar a los estudiantes.
"Los vamos a hacer pagar por esto", dijo Jennifer Cariño, de New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC), refiriéndose a quienes votaron en contra de la propuesta. "Honestamente creo que vamos a ser lo que estaremos en el congreso y tomando decisiones en estas organizaciones", agregó... mas
"You should have voted with your heart, spoken your mind and gone out with a bang. "
For those in Congress who are so afraid they will not be re-elected... Unless they are people made of stone, they have to be experiencing some type of remorse, sadness, guilt... for voting against the DREAM Act and Don't Ask Don't Tell. For the life of me can't figure out John McCain who used to be considered a "maverick" - now talks like immigrants are beings from hell. Maybe he has developed some dementia.... because it is surely clear to everyone that he is talking from the wrong side of his mouth. Remember, he used to be one of the supporters of the DREAM Act! As Gail Collins said in the NYT "Senator John McCain, for instance, was nearly apoplectic about the fact that Reid was attaching unrelated amendments to the defense appropriations bill" -
Sometimes doing the right thing means losing your Senate job. For most people losing their jobs is a terrible loss. But for Senators its not such a bad thing, since most of them make lots of money from side investments they are able to arrange because of their "high positions." Senators are not your average Joe....
But I guess to be a politician you have to develop some type of obsession for power, especially if you get as high as the Senate. Such a shame.
So, the question is, do the Senators have hearts? If so, where are they?
NEW YORK
NYT
Sometimes doing the right thing means losing your Senate job. For most people losing their jobs is a terrible loss. But for Senators its not such a bad thing, since most of them make lots of money from side investments they are able to arrange because of their "high positions." Senators are not your average Joe....
But I guess to be a politician you have to develop some type of obsession for power, especially if you get as high as the Senate. Such a shame.
So, the question is, do the Senators have hearts? If so, where are they?
NEW YORK
NYT
Don’t Ask, Don’t Debate
On Mexican Immigration in New York
Mexican New Yorkers Are Steady Force in Workplace
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Grief
Things must be getting worse because this week the Border Conference of Governors only had one U.S. Governor (Richardson - New Mexico) show up, even though the Mexican Governors came. Used to not be that way. They say that the Governator was ill. Rick Perry was too busy combing his hair. The meeting was scheduled originally in Arizona, but if I was the Governor of Nuevo Leon, I would have been afraid to go there, they might arrest me for being Mexican. So Richardson gave an invite to everybody.
It is truly a hard time for these types of things. Doesn't help that so many people have lost their jobs and their homes. Three friends I went to high school with were laid off, hard working competent people, who had been at their jobs 20 plus years.....it has been months and they still haven't found anything.
If the Senators were scared to go out on a limb before, they are surely afraid these days. You can tell things are crazy with the things some of the Senators are saying. I never thought I would hear Lindsay Graham say that Birth Right Citizenship should be taken away. If you want to know about that, look what has happened in Germany with the Turkish population that can't get citizenship.... it truly creates a really unfortunate and volatile situation. It sets up a real war between the groups when you keep one group from having a reasonable stake in the country they have lived in for years...
As for the DREAMERs... they will continue fighting... and eventually something will happen. Not today, but soon. Maybe what we should wish for first are some lawmakers that are not so chicken.
Protest in Los Angeles
Immigration rights activists protest outside L.A. courthouse
About 100 people demonstrated Wednesday morning outside a downtown Los Angeles courthouse where 33 immigrant rights activists face charges of civil disobedience for their protests against Arizona's immigration law.
The charges stem from three demonstrations held earlier this year after the passage of Arizona's law, which requires police to determine the immigration status of people they arrest for other reasons if officers have reason to believe those arrested are in the country illegally.
Wednesday's protest was held outside the central arraignment court near the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown.
The charges stem from three demonstrations held earlier this year after the passage of Arizona's law, which requires police to determine the immigration status of people they arrest for other reasons if officers have reason to believe those arrested are in the country illegally.
Wednesday's protest was held outside the central arraignment court near the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown.
Paulina Gonzalez, 36, was among those arrested May 6 at a protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. She said Wednesday morning that she had not yet been arraigned but had been told she and other protesters would face charges for resisting arrest, failure to disperse and blocking a public sidewalk.
Gonzalez leads the immigrant-rights group We Are All Arizona, which organized Wednesday's protest. She said she felt it was her duty to protest the Arizona law. "My parents are immigrants from Mexico," she said. "I just couldn't stand by and not do anything. If that meant civil disobedience, if that meant risking criminal charges, that's what we had do."
Some of those being arraigned had been arrested at two other protests. One was staged May 20 outside the federal building in Westwood in support of the so-called Dream Act, a measure that would give some illegal-immigrant students the chance to earn permanent residency.
The other was on July 29 outside the headquarters of a private prison company that demonstrators said did business in Arizona.
Gonzalez leads the immigrant-rights group We Are All Arizona, which organized Wednesday's protest. She said she felt it was her duty to protest the Arizona law. "My parents are immigrants from Mexico," she said. "I just couldn't stand by and not do anything. If that meant civil disobedience, if that meant risking criminal charges, that's what we had do."
Some of those being arraigned had been arrested at two other protests. One was staged May 20 outside the federal building in Westwood in support of the so-called Dream Act, a measure that would give some illegal-immigrant students the chance to earn permanent residency.
The other was on July 29 outside the headquarters of a private prison company that demonstrators said did business in Arizona.
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
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MORE on the DREAM from the LA TIMES
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MORE on the DREAM from the LA TIMES
After defeat, Democrats vow to keep fighting 'don't ask, don't tell'
Senate Republicans block defense bill, ending Democrats' push to legalize immigrant youth
AP Interview: GOP Senate candidate Kirk talks up honesty, takes cautious line on most issues
GOP blocks repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'
On the DREAM: What the NY AND DC Papers are saying the Day after....
NEW YORK
Editorial - New York Times
Military Equality Goes Astray
Published: September 21, 2010
Republicans, with the aid of two Arkansas Democrats, unanimously voted to filibuster the Pentagon’s financing authorization bill, largely because Democrats had included in it a provision to end the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Another vote to end the policy could come again in the lame-duck session in December, but now there is also a chance it will be put off until next year, when the political landscape on Capitol Hill could be even more hostile to gay and lesbian soldiers.
The decision also means an end, for now, to another worthy proposal that was attached to the Pentagon bill: the Dream Act, which permits military service and higher education — as well as a chance for citizenship — for young people whose parents brought them to this country as children without proper documentation..link
WASHINGTON DC
DREAM Act dies with rejection of defense bill
| |
PART I
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
The Associated Press Tuesday, September 21, 2010; 9:42 PM
Democrats failed to get a single Republican to help them reach the 60 votes needed to move forward on the defense bill and attach the DREAM Act as an amendment. The vote was 56-43. Arkansas Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor voted with Republicans. Majority Leader Harry Reid also voted to block the bill in a procedural move that allows the defense bill to be revived later.
The DREAM Act allows young people to become legal U.S. residents after spending two years in college or the military. It applies to those who were under 16 when they arrived in the U.S., have been in the country at least five years and have a diploma from a U.S. high school or the equivalent.
Several young people who would have benefited from the legislation watched the vote from the gallery, some wearing graduation caps and gowns. Many sat stone-faced when the vote tally was read. A young woman dressed in a gold cap and gown wiped away tears.
Most of the young immigrants knew victory was unlikely, but in the hours before the vote they walked the hallways of a Senate office building trying to drum up support.
"I was kind of speechless. It's something that hurt, but we are not stopping. They only gave us a chance and more time to get even bigger," said Diana Banderas, who graduated from high school in May and plans to go to community college after earning the money she needs to attend.
Republicans accused Democrats of playing politics with the defense bill and the DREAM Act. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has supported legislation legalizing illegal immigrants in the past, said Democrats were trying to galvanize Hispanics and energize their voters by trying to tack the DREAM Act onto the defense bill.
The bill also included a measure to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.
"I don't think anyone in the country will hold it against us for voting against their way of doing business," Graham said.
Reid, D-Nev., said Republicans were "putting partisan politics ahead of the best interests of the men and women who courageously defend our nation" by blocking the bill, which would have authorized $726 billion in defense spending, including a pay raise for troops.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the majority whip, said repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and passing the DREAM Act were a matter of justice and fairness.
"We do not in this country hold the crimes and misdeeds of parents against their children," Durbin, D-Ill., said in reference to the DREAM Act. He has been trying to pass the legislation for about a decade.
The DREAM Act allows young people to become legal U.S. residents after spending two years in college or the military. It applies to those who were under 16 when they arrived in the U.S., have been in the country at least five years and have a diploma from a U.S. high school or the equivalent.
Several young people who would have benefited from the legislation watched the vote from the gallery, some wearing graduation caps and gowns. Many sat stone-faced when the vote tally was read. A young woman dressed in a gold cap and gown wiped away tears.
Most of the young immigrants knew victory was unlikely, but in the hours before the vote they walked the hallways of a Senate office building trying to drum up support.
"I was kind of speechless. It's something that hurt, but we are not stopping. They only gave us a chance and more time to get even bigger," said Diana Banderas, who graduated from high school in May and plans to go to community college after earning the money she needs to attend.
Republicans accused Democrats of playing politics with the defense bill and the DREAM Act. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has supported legislation legalizing illegal immigrants in the past, said Democrats were trying to galvanize Hispanics and energize their voters by trying to tack the DREAM Act onto the defense bill.
The bill also included a measure to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.
"I don't think anyone in the country will hold it against us for voting against their way of doing business," Graham said.
Reid, D-Nev., said Republicans were "putting partisan politics ahead of the best interests of the men and women who courageously defend our nation" by blocking the bill, which would have authorized $726 billion in defense spending, including a pay raise for troops.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the majority whip, said repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and passing the DREAM Act were a matter of justice and fairness.
"We do not in this country hold the crimes and misdeeds of parents against their children," Durbin, D-Ill., said in reference to the DREAM Act. He has been trying to pass the legislation for about a decade.
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DREAM ACT DIES...
PART II
Earlier Tuesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said he sent a letter to Reid and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., backing the DREAM Act.
"America is the only country they know ... they deserve every opportunity to go further in life. Our country needs the benefits of their skills, their talent and their passion," Duncan said.
Congress has failed to take up a comprehensive immigration bill the past two years. President Barack Obama has been under fire in the Hispanic community for failing to keep his promise to tackle immigration reform in the first year of his presidency. Some have feared Latino voters will stay home in November because of the inaction.
Graham had been working with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to draft an immigration reform bill but dropped out of the process as he took criticism in his state. Democrats were unable to persuade any other Republicans to take his place.
In April, Obama said Congress lacked the "appetite" to take on immigration, essentially removing it from the legislative agenda.
As the prospects for a sweeping immigration bill looked bleak, young activists began lobbying Democrats to separate the DREAM Act from the immigration reform package and try to pass it on its own.
The students, risking deportation, protested at lawmakers' offices and tangled with immigration reform advocates who did not want the comprehensive immigration bill divided.
The Obama administration has deferred the deportation of some of the young people while the politics of the bill played out, drawing heavy criticism from some Republicans.
Graham said laws should be followed in regard to deportation of the students.
"What am I going to tell people in South Carolina when I legalize 2 million people here, when we haven't secured the border?" he said.
This summer, Obama signed a bill providing $600 million to pay for the deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops to the border and to beef up other border and immigration enforcement.
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Associated Press Writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
Washington Post on the delayed DREAM Act Vote
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday stalled a Senate measure to allow children of undocumented immigrants to get on a path to citizenship, and accused the Obama administration of seeking amnesty for illegal immigrants through administrative changes within the Department of Homeland Security.
The so-called Dream Act to grant permanent residency to immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and who have completed some time in college or in the armed forces has been a sought-after goal for Democrats, who attached the measure to an important defense spending bill. Republicans used a procedural vote to block the bill. Immigration advocates accused Republicans of sacrificing the well-being of thousands of young people to cater to nativist sentiment.
Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the vote showed that the Republican party had "once again proven that when Latinos need support, they support a different constituency even when the constituency they are supporting does not have a dog in the fight. If my kids are legal and they are going to college, why would I want to stick it to my neighbor's kids?"
Senate Democrats vowed to reintroduce the Dream Act, but odds of the measure becoming law this year are slim to non-existent.
In a day of fast-moving action, Republicans released a draft of a memo they said was composed by Department of Homeland Security staff to explore ways to create a more lenient immigration system, with expedited approvals for visas and family reunification, and measures to head off deportations of undocumented immigrants.
"Done right, a combination of benefit and enforcement-related measures could provide the Administration with a clear-cut political win," the draft memo, dated Feb. 26, 2010, read. The draft, released by Republican senators to the media, did not list an an author. A Republican congressional staff member who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter said the final memo was sent to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.
The idea that the department was seeking to administratively accomplish what Democratic lawmakers had failed to deliver legislatively was ludicrous, said Matt Chandler, a DHS spokesman.
"As we have said repeatedly, DHS will not grant deferred action or humanitarian parole to the nation's illegal immigrant population," he said in an e-mail, as he explained that the agency welcomed policy proposals from staff, but rejected bad ideas. Already, he added, immigration authorities' "record-breaking enforcement statistics speak for themselves - removing more aliens in 2009 than in any prior year in the agency's history and already surpassing records for criminal alien removals in 2010 - and demonstrate that we are doing more than ever before to enforce U.S. immigration laws. To be clear, we are not engaged in a 'backdoor' amnesty and are on pace to place more people in immigration proceedings this year than ever before."
vedantams@washpost.com
Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the vote showed that the Republican party had "once again proven that when Latinos need support, they support a different constituency even when the constituency they are supporting does not have a dog in the fight. If my kids are legal and they are going to college, why would I want to stick it to my neighbor's kids?"
Senate Democrats vowed to reintroduce the Dream Act, but odds of the measure becoming law this year are slim to non-existent.
In a day of fast-moving action, Republicans released a draft of a memo they said was composed by Department of Homeland Security staff to explore ways to create a more lenient immigration system, with expedited approvals for visas and family reunification, and measures to head off deportations of undocumented immigrants.
"Done right, a combination of benefit and enforcement-related measures could provide the Administration with a clear-cut political win," the draft memo, dated Feb. 26, 2010, read. The draft, released by Republican senators to the media, did not list an an author. A Republican congressional staff member who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter said the final memo was sent to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.
"We would need to give the legislative process enough time to play out to deflect against charges of usurping Congressional authority," the 10-page memo said. Referring to the hopes for passing comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), it added, "announcement of such measures would have to wait until it was evident that no legislative action on CIR was possible by the current Congress. This is likely to mean the best time for administrative action will be late summer or fall -- when the midterm election season is in full swing."
The idea that the department was seeking to administratively accomplish what Democratic lawmakers had failed to deliver legislatively was ludicrous, said Matt Chandler, a DHS spokesman.
"As we have said repeatedly, DHS will not grant deferred action or humanitarian parole to the nation's illegal immigrant population," he said in an e-mail, as he explained that the agency welcomed policy proposals from staff, but rejected bad ideas. Already, he added, immigration authorities' "record-breaking enforcement statistics speak for themselves - removing more aliens in 2009 than in any prior year in the agency's history and already surpassing records for criminal alien removals in 2010 - and demonstrate that we are doing more than ever before to enforce U.S. immigration laws. To be clear, we are not engaged in a 'backdoor' amnesty and are on pace to place more people in immigration proceedings this year than ever before."
vedantams@washpost.com
In Spanish: La Opinion on the Postponement of the DREAM Act
Un sueño que no logra concretarse
Tras no aprobarse la medida en el Senado, se discuten opciones para retomar el tema
- Antonieta Cádiz/Antonieta.cadiz@laopinion.com |
- 2010-09-22
- | La Opinión
La frustración invade a dos jóvenes activistas del Dream Act momentos después de anunciarse que la medida se colgó. José A. Rivera/EDLP
Por 56 votos contra 43, la Cámara Alta fracasó en el intento; un voto que contó con todos los legisladores republicanos en contra, a los que se sumaron dos demócratas del estado de Arkansas, Blance Lincoln y Mark Pryor.
La cara del senador Richard Durbin (D-NV), uno de los mayores impulsores de Dream Act, lo decía todo. Incluso antes del voto, realizado a las 2:30 pm, el legislador levantó la vista hacia los cerca de 30 jóvenes que se encontraban en la audiencia del pleno del Senado, con sus trajes y gorros característicos.
El voto sirvió como instancia para que republicanos y demócratas se atacaran enfáticamente, incrementando el ambiente de animosidad en el Capitolio. Luego del resultado, los senadores John McCain (R-AZ) y Lindsey Graham (R-SC) se reunieron con la prensa donde describieron la votación como "un intento cínico para galvanizar al electorado hispano y energizar a los grupos en apoyo de los homosexuales".
Específicamente, respecto a los jóvenes que apoyan Dream Act y que han mantenido una intensa campaña para presionar a los senadores en lugares públicos y privados, Graham dijo que "simplemente los están utilizando" con fines políticos.
A su vez, los demócratas acusaron a sus oponentes, de "obstruccionistas" y descartaron la veracidad de sus argumentos para oponerse al voto. Una de las razones estuvo basada en la limitación de enmiendas al proyecto de ley...link
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