NDN Blog

Obama and Calderon Seek To Ease Tensions

Mexican President Felipe Calderon and President Barack Obama met this week and their talks have been mostly focused on a strained relationship between the two countries:

Matt Spetalnik of Reuters has the full story here:

President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon vowed greater cooperation to combat drugs and arms smuggling and ease trade tensions as they sought to smooth over cross-border differences. Long-simmering problems between the United States and Mexico have slipped down Obama's agenda as he has been distracted by Middle East unrest, a budget fight in Congress, a fragile U.S. economy and his looming 2012 re-election bid. But Calderon's visit has been a chance to refocus Obama's attention on bilateral ties, and the leaders announced an agreement on a way to resolve a long-haul trucking dispute that has hurt trade between the two countries, whose two-way commerce surpasses $1 billion a day.

$1 Billion dollars a day between our two countries is a huge deal, while the two presidents focused on some of the positive aspects of our countries relationship, they also touched upon the border and concerns that President Calderon raised about the destabilizing forces of America's insatiable desire for drugs and lax gun laws:

But Obama made clear he had heard Calderon's appeal to do more to crack down on U.S. drug consumption and illegal arms shipments and cash flow to Mexican gangs, which the Mexican government says is fueling violence south of the border. While insisting that Washington had already ramped up its efforts in those areas, Obama told reporters: "We have to take responsibility just as he's taking responsibility ... We're putting more and more resources into this."

What is important about this meeting is that President Obama has now publically acknowledged that America's consumption of drugs and lax gun laws have contributed to the destabalization of the region. What is even more telling is that he was willing to awknowledge that the United States has stepped up by providing resources and fostering co-operation.

The full read out of the speech can be read HERE, with quotes from both presidents below:

President Obama on the shared responsiblity between the United States and Mexico on drug violence in Mexico:

I reiterated that the United States accepts our shared responsibility for the drug violence. So to combat the southbound flow of guns and money, we are screening all southbound rail cargo, seizing many more guns bound for Mexico and we are putting more gunrunners behind bars. And as part of our new drug control strategy, we are focused on reducing the demand for drugs through education, prevention and treatment.

President Obama on immigration reform:

We have also discussed immigration, an issue on which both countries have responsibilities. As I told President Calderón, I remain deeply committed to fixing our broken immigration system with comprehensive reform that continues to secure our borders, enforces our laws -- including against businesses that break the law -- and requiring accountability from undocumented workers. And we have to conduct this debate in a way that upholds our values as a nation of both laws and immigrants. So I’m eager to work with Republicans and Democrats to get this reform done, which is vital to the U.S. economy.

President Calderon on the border:

Secondly, in terms of the border, both President Obama and I agree that we must turn this area into the land of opportunities and not of conflict. Last year we adopted a declaration on the administration of a 21st century border, which we want both for the United States and Mexico. And since then, the bilateral executive committee entrusted with that implementation has agreed to a plan of action in addition to issuing a joint declaration to prevent border violence, so as to enable us to avoid tragic events such as those that we've seen on both sides of the border.

President Calderon on immigration reform:

Thirdly, in terms of immigration, President Obama has always recognized, invariably recognized the contributions of immigrants to the economy and society of the United States, and I recognize and value his clear and determined support for the adoption of a comprehensive migratory reform in this country, as well as his firm commitment to the human and civil rights of communities, regardless of their point of origin. I've expressed to him my concern for the proliferation of local initiatives that are against the interests or the rights of immigrant communities.

 


 

Black Lawmakers Accuse GOP of "Manufacturing Tension" Between African Americans and Immigrants

The fallout from the House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy Enforcement Committee hearing "Making Immigration Work For Minorities," continues today.

Some Black lawmakers have expressed frustration that the Republican controlled committee is trying to "manufacture tension" between Hispanics and African Americans.

Suzanne Gamboa of the Associated Press has the full story up HERE, with quotes from law makers below:

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus: criticized the hearing's premise in a statement. Several other Democratic lawmakers echoed that argument, saying Republicans were ignoring their lack of support for job training, affirmative action, college financial aid and other programs more critical to employment of minorities.

"I am concerned by the majority's attempt to manufacture tension between African-Americans and immigrant communities. It seems as though they would like for our communities to think about immigration in terms of 'us versus them,' and I reject that notion," Cleaver said in his statement.

Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, issued a warning at the start of the hearing against any attempts to pit blacks against Latino immigrants, a notion that he said he found "so abhorrent and repulsive."

The article also notes the political calculations by the GOP in putting on this hearing:

The GOP has been trying to balance its immigration enforcement agenda with its need for greater Hispanic voter support to win the White House in 2012. Republicans hoped to show some minorities support deporting immigrants and oppose granting legal status to those who are in the country illegally.

But not all of the minorities present were willing to play ball, Wade Henderson, chairman and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights noted that there were far more problems facing the African American community in regards to employment than undocumented immigrants:

Henderson said high unemployment among blacks has a wide variety of causes. Unemployment rates for more than 50 years have been almost double what they are for white Americans, he said, even as the population of foreign-born people in the U.S. has increased.

Denial of equal opportunity in education, criminal justice, housing and jobs "continues to contribute more directly to the high unemployment rate that African-Americans endure and not the issue of illegal immigration as has been cited by virtue of this hearing," Henderson said.

Invite: Fri, March 4th - 21st Century Border Initiative Webinar: The Government's Border Plan is Working

In a recent major address on Border Security, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano emphatically stated that the border is safer now then it has ever been.

Despite this, there is still a pervasive national narrative that the border is out of control. Not only is this a false statement, but it completely ignores all of the positive steps that have been taken by the United States Government to create a safer border.

This Friday NDN is Proud To Announce An Encore Presentation: The Government's Border Plan is Working this Friday, March 4th at 2:00pm ET.  RSVP HERE.

This webinar will explore what the government's strategy on the Border means for immigration reform in the future. Border Security has long been a component of a comprehensive plan to reform our broken immigration system. This webinar will contextualize how the governments actions along border may move a legislative overhaul of our immigration system forward.

This webinar will also present statistics highlighting the positive economic impact of our border region as well as and first hand accounts on the positive steps in making the the US/Mexico Border safer. By presenting information in a clear way, NDN hopes to facilitate a conversation about the positive evolving relationship between the United States and Mexico on the border region.

In order to recieve the information on the Webinar you must RSVP HERE, Before the call be sure to check out some of the work we have done on the 21st Century Border Initiative:

NDN Report: The Government’s Border Strategy Is Working

Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano's Speech On The Borde - "State of America's Homeland Security, Making The Border More Secure."

Video of Border Mayors Talking About How Safe Their Regions Are - VIDEO: Southwest Border Mayors Proud of the Progress Being Made Along the Border

VIDEO: Southwest Border Mayors Proud of the Progress Being Made Along the Border

With Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Washington D.C. this week, the border is sure to be a hot topic of conversation between him and President Barack Obama. While NDN has certainly written alot about the border and the fact that it is a safe and economically prosperous region, it is important to note that there is also a group of mayors in border states who are also weighing in on what is happening along the border.

Below are several videos of border mayors commenting on the positive economic realities of the border, and the fact that their cities are safe:

U.S. Mexico Border Mayors Roundtable On The Safety of The Border Region

Arturo Garino, Mayor of Nogales Arizona

Mayor of El Paso, Texas John F. Cook

Mayor of Yuma, Arizona Alan L. Kriege

Vice Mayor of Tucson, Arizona Richard Fimbres


HEARING: “Making Immigration Work for American Minorities” Misses Key Evidence That Shows No Impact On Wages By Undoc Immigrants

Today, the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement held a hearing entitled, "Making Immigration Work For Minorities," which sought to tie undocumented immigration to the unemployment and low wages of other American minorities.

Chairmen of the Judiciary Lamar Smith released the following statement, which can be read in full Here, with excerpts below:

Chairman Smith: With unemployment at or over 9% for 21 months, jobs are scarce.  And that is especially true in minority communities across the U.S. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in January the unemployment rate for blacks was 16% and for Hispanics was 12%.  These unemployment rates are well above the national average. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, seven million people are working in the U.S. illegally.  These jobs should go to legal workers, many of whom would be minorities.  Virtually all credible studies show that competition from cheap foreign labor displaces American workers, including legal immigrants, or depresses their wages. 

The above statement is artfully worded and makes some very broad observations about the American workforce, but in the end, no not all credible studies show that competition from cheap foreign labor displaces American workers. In fact the Immigration Policy Institute recently released a report showing that not only do undocumented immigrants not hurt American job's but they help grow them. The full report can be read here, with excerpts below:

Immigrants are not the cause of minority unemployment.

  • If immigrants took jobs away from large numbers of minority workers, one would expect to find higher minority unemployment rates in those parts of the country with larger numbers of immigrants.  Yet data from the 2009 American Community Survey, analyzed for the IPC by Rob Paral and Associates, indicate that there is no correlation between the size of the foreign-born population and the African American unemployment rate in U.S. metropolitan areas {Figure 1}.

So, going back to Chairmen Smith's statement, while it is true that the Black population of the United States does have a higher level of unemployment rate there is no correlating data to show that this is because of undocumented immigration in the country.

I highly recommend reading the report in full as there are also a number of studies that show that wage disparities are not to be blamed on undocumented immigrants. Additionally NDN's own Robert Shapiro wrote a paper last year that showed that American wages were not affected by undocumented immigration.

That paper The Impact of Immigration and Immigration Reform On the Wages of American Workers showed two important things:

High levels of immigration have not slowed overall wage gains by average, native-born American workers. Most studies suggest that recent waves of new immigrants are associated with increases in the average wage of native-born Americans in the short-run and with even larger increases in the long term as capital investment rises to take account of the larger number of workers.

The Wage Impact of Reforms to Provide a Path to Legal Status for Undocumented Immigrants Would Lift Wages of Everyone: The largest effects of such reforms would be felt by immigrants themselves: After the 1986 immigration reforms, wages rose by 6 percent to 15 percent for previously-undocumented male immigrants and by 21 percent for previously-undocumented female immigrants. Those reforms also increased wages of previously legal immigrants. Research also suggests that those reforms led to modest wage gains by native-born Americans.

Nuff Said

Tea Party Patriots National Conference In Arizona Signals Shift In Immigration Debate

The Tea Party Patriots have recently wrapped up their national conference in Arizona, while this may not seem related to immigration, it is. Marc Lacey of the New York Times has the full story here, with quotes below:

The Tea Party Patriots chose Arizona as the site of its first policy conference — a meeting that was part strategy session, part pep rally — to show support for a state that has been boycotted by many groups because of its crackdown on illegal immigration.

The Tea Party Patriots showing solidarity with Arizona in their battle with the federal government is not shocking, but more then anything else this event is a perfect example of how moderate conservativism which had once had a sensible, cautious support of broader reform of immigration has been co-opted.

Which is to say that the current debate over immigration, in Arizona in particular, has become not so much about a realistic discourse on how to solve problems associated with undocumented immigration but a staring contest between states and the federal government.

Arizona's recent anti-immigrant omnibus is a perfect example of legislation that has been designed more to provoke a federal lawsuit then any sort of realistic legislative proposal.

Arizona picking a fight with the federal government, at first glances seems like a good fit for the Tea Party's view of a Constitutionally Limited Federal Government.

Yet upon further reflection, as we have seen with the debate over state passed laws that would revoke birthright citizenship, many state legislators have noted that the reason they are filing these laws is not so that states can actually police immigrants, but to highlight that the government has failed to enforce federal immigration laws and that more then anything they want the government to do more.

Which is to say that the Tea Party's tacit support of Arizona's state government is only a further indication that this is more about political posturing than taking a hard look at how our countries immigration system can be improved.

In an Associated Press article from last year on a Tea Party rally on the border,  Sherriff Joe Arpaio gave the following assessment on what to do about the problems of undocumented immigrants in the country:

“Don’t just say border enforcement, that’s a cop-out,” he said. “Let’s say lock them up in the interior.”

People are entitled to say whatever they like about immigration, yet this sort of commentary falls far short of engaging in an actual debate about what can be done to not just secure the border but to find better ways to fix our current broken immigration system. Which even Sherriff Joe, can acknowledge should be fixed.

 

New Report Shows That Crime In Arizona Border City Nogales Has Dropped By 11%

Just  a quick hit to before everyone heads off to the weekend, the Nogales Police Department has released a report showing that serious crimes have fallen by 11% over the last year.

This is big news given the rhetoric coming from the state capitol in Arizona. Governor Jan Brewer has repeatedly said that the border is out of control. Going so far as to sue the federal government for not enforcing immigration laws.

The reality, as we can see in Nogales, AZ an actual border city, is quite different. The Nogales International has the full story:

A new report shows that serious crimes fell by 11 percent in Nogales last year, a decline that the city’s mayor and police chief say reaffirms Nogales’ credentials as an especially safe community. According to the report, issued by the Nogales Police Department and released to the public this week, 459 major felony offenses were committed within city limits in 2010, down from 515 in 2009.

The full story can be read HERE.

New Arizona Immigration Omnibus More A Test Of Federal Government Authority Than Practical Enforceable Law

Arizona is pushing an unprecedented new type of state passed Anti-Immigrant legislation forward this week, what is becoming increasingly clear is that SB1611 is designed not so much to regulate immigration in Arizona but to pick a fight with the federal government.

Alia Beard Rau, Dan Nowicki and Ken Alltucker of the Arizona Republic has the full story here:

Some Arizona lawmakers are tired of the federal government telling the state what to do. They don't believe federal requirements, Supreme Court rulings or decades of precedent are good reasons to require state taxpayers to pay to educate illegal immigrants or provide them with health care. And, this year, they're doing something about it.

And by doing something about it.... The state legislature intends to pass a state law which will almost certainly face a lawsuit from the federal government and advocacy organizations:

...many of these efforts, if they become law, will likely face federal lawsuits challenging their constitutionality. But that threat didn't deter the Legislature from passing Senate Bill 1070 last year and doesn't seem to be slowing momentum for these bills this year. Many of the bills have passed their first legislative-committee hurdle.

Fortunately it is possible that this bill will not have the votes necessary to pass:

Several of the more moderate Senate Republicans have voiced dislike for the bills, saying they are a distraction from the more important efforts to bring jobs and restore the state's economy. And once they leave the Senate - where President Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, helped move them through - their chances diminish. House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, has made it clear that the budget and jobs are his priority. And, in the House, he will decide which committee, if any, hears the immigration bills.

More on this as it develops.

Arizona Legislature Introduces Immigration Omnibus Dubbed "SB1070 On Steroids"

Today, Russell Pearce unleashed his latest Anti-Immigrant legislative juggernaut, which according to the Arizona Republic has been dubbed "SB1070 on steroids."

The legislations bill number is SB1611, and can be found on the Arizona State Legislature website here. The bill is making its way thru the state Senate Appropriations committee today, below are just a handful of the legislative proposals in the legislation seek to deny immigrants access to the following:

Public Benefits

  • Requires documentation demonstrating lawful presence in the U.S. for all federal public benefits, including those that do not require participants to be U.S. citizens, legal residents or otherwise lawfully present.

Public Housing

  • Requires a public housing authority, city, town or county (PHA) to require that a person who is applying for public housing provide verification of U.S. citizenship or documented verification of qualified alien status.
  • Requires a PHA to evict all residents of a dwelling unit in rental housing accommodations owned, operated, managed or contracted for by the PHA if a resident of that unit allows a person who is in the U.S. illegally to reside in that unit.

Unlawful Vehicle Operation by an Alien

  • Specifies that it is unlawful for a person to operate a motor vehicle in Arizona if the person is unlawfully present in the U.S.

Schools

  • Removes the requirement for a school or school district to notify a person enrolling a pupil that within 30 days the person must provide a certified copy of the pupil’s birth certificate or other reliable proof of the pupil’s identity and age.

E-Verify

  • Requires the Attorney General (AG) to provide a notice of noncompliance to any employer who does not provide proof that the employer is registered with and is participating in the E-Verify Program.

Each one of these sections contains more subsections which essentially create more stringent enforcement standards on the area they effect.

What is more notable is that this legislation takes federal laws that are already more or less in effect and makes them more punitive. Which is to say that these proposed laws are nothing if not more invasive for everyone. This legislation would give the Arizona government an opportunity to ask everyone in the state for not only their citizenship status but a whole host of other documents.

For example if someone were to move from California to Arizona, they would be required to at a minimum provide one of the following documents:

a) a birth certificate or delayed birth certificate issued in any state, territory or possession of the U.S. b) a U.S. passport or certificate of birth abroad c) a foreign passport with a U.S. visa d) an I-94 form with a photograph e) a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employment authorization document or refugee travel document f) a U.S. certificate of naturalization or certificate of citizenship g) a Tribal certificate of Indian blood h) a Tribal or Bureau of Indian Affairs affidavit of birth; i) an Arizona driver license issued after 1996 or an Arizona non operating identification license.

All in the name of cracking down on undocumented immigrants of course... More on this legislation to come. Stay tuned.

Dispute Over Border Security Spending Moves To The Senate

As the Continuing Resolution passed in the House moves to the Senate this week, the debate over cuts in border spending is beginning to heat up.

Julia Preston of the New York Times has the full story here, essentially Democrats are saying that they will not sign the budget passed this week because there are cuts in spending on border security:

Preparing for the fight next week in Congress over federal spending legislation, Democratic leaders in the Senate said they will not support a bill with $60 billion in budget cuts that passed the Republican-led House on Saturday because it reduces funding for border security.

Democrats are arguing that the cuts to border funding would undermine the Emergency Border Security funds that passed with complete bi-partisan support last year:

In a letter sent on Monday to House appropriations leaders, Senator Charles Schumer of New York and two other Democrats said the House bill would shrink the Border Patrol by 870 agents and cut $272 million in funds for surveillance systems to monitor the border with Mexico. They said those cuts would cancel gains from a bill adopted last August, with virtually unanimous bipartisan support, that increased border funding by $600 million, adding 1,000 new agents to the Border Patrol. “This magnitude of reduction is simply dangerous,” wrote Mr. Schumer, who is chairman of the Senate judiciary subcommittee on immigration. Also signing were Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Jon Tester of Montana.

The full letter can be read HERE, The other really important thing that Preston notes is that in the current Congress both Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on the importance of Border Security.

Tough border security is a mantra for both Democrats and Republicans in Congress this year, with each party trying to outdo the other. Republicans have accused the Obama administration of slowing border enforcement, allowing illegal immigration and drug violence to run out of control.

GOP refusal to accept that the Government has poured unprecedented amounts of resources at the border is especially frustrating, given that they are currently trying to cut funds to secure the border. Lamar Smith, (R-TX) Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, gave the following as a reason for GOP cuts:

“Even with all the money in the world, the administration would not succeed in securing the border because they are not serious about it,”

To these ears, the statement above sounds a lot like politics with little in the way of policy to back it up.

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