Immigration

Daily Border Bulletin- Sheriff Joe Arpaio Goes to Federal Trial, Border Officers Try New Interrogation Machine, and more

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Arizona's Sheriff Joe Arpaio faces trial on racial profiling complaints- A class action lawsuit in federal court in Phoenix against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio begins Thursday in a case that will test whether this sheriff can target the undocumented in immigration “sweeps” without racially profiling Latino citizens.

Border officers try new interrogation machine- Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are experimenting a new machine to interrogate travelers on the border in Nogales, Arizona.

Mexico has big plans for its aerospace industry- More than 260 aerospace companies operate in Mexico, exporting some $4.3 billion in aircraft and parts last year, but the Mexican government has set a target of $12 billion in such exports by 2020, a figure that would surpass aerospace exports from Brazil and Spain.

 

Daily Border Bulletin- States want access to DHS database to purge voter rolls, Mexican visa applications go up, and more

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

States want access to immigration database to purge lists of voters- Several presidential battleground states are moving quickly to reach agreements with federal officials to access a U.S. immigration database to purge noncitizens from voter rolls.

Tourist visa applications from Mexico increase 36 percent- China and Mexico are the only two U.S. Missions that process more than one million visa applications each year, according to a State Department’s press release.

Border crossing are at the lowest level- The government says apprehensions of people for federal immigration violations have dropped to the lowest level in 40 years, reflecting a decline in the northbound traffic of undocumented immigrants from Mexico.

 

Rethinking Immigration Reform: Experts Say That Political Landscape Is Ready To Solve Our Broken System

Participants in the first of a new series Rethinking Immigration Reform at NDN were optimistic on the prospects of a solution to our broken immigration system in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision regarding Arizona anti-immigrant law SB 1070 and President Obama’s bold decision to grant deferred action to DREAM Act eligible youth. Frank Sharry, president of America’s Voice; Thomas Saenz, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF); and Tamar Jacoby, president and CEO of Immigration Works discussed what has changed in the political landscape around the immigration debate at NDN headquarters on Wednesday, July 18th.

The pro immigration movement has become strong enough to compel politicians to action, said Frank Sharry. As an example, President Obama granted relief from deportation to undocumented immigrants who arrived to the U.S. before the age of 16 and who complete high school on June 15.

Panelists recognized this presidential measure as an enormous step towards fixing the immigration system. “Most of the debate was around whether the president had the authority to do it not a discussion on whether he should or not do it,” explained Thomas Saenz. In his opinion, there is a critical stabilization of the political debate around immigration issues in which public opinion recognizes that undocumented immigrants would eventually get legal status and continue contributing to the U.S. economy. Immigrants like DREAM Act eligible youth have become agents and subjects of the debate and changed the framework from victimization to an inspirational militancy, according to Sharry. "But they are also the face of their parents," he said.

As a result, there are more bills to fix the legal immigration system in Congress, said Tamar Jacoby. Currently, U.S. Congress discusses visas for entrepreneurs, for graduate students in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and for agricultural workers. Jacoby also recognized that some Republicans endorsed Obama’s decision on the DREAM Act eligible students but that a true solution should be approved through the U.S. Congress in a bi-partisan effort.

Panelists considered the decision by the Supreme Court on federal preemption of several provisions of Arizona’s SB 1070 as a victory for immigration activists. States who pursue their own legislation on immigration issues will face expensive attorney fees, a decrease in tourism and a potential economic crisis while “it would be impossible if not difficult to implement the ‘papers, please’ provision,” said Saenz.

At the end of the panel, Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, highlighted the increasing safety levels in the U.S. border communities and the decline of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. as an opportunity to fix the immigration system. “Rehabilitating Mexico’s image in the U.S. as a fast growing economy and not a crime ridden country is key to any immigration reform,” Rosenberg said.

Rethinking immigration reform: experts say that political landscape is ready to solve our broken system

Participants of the first panel of the series Rethinking Immigration Reform at NDN were optimistic on the prospects of a solution to our broken immigration system in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision regarding Arizona anti-immigrant law SB 1070 and President Obama’s bold decision to grant deferred action to DREAM Act eligible youth. Frank Sharry, president of America’s Voice; Thomas Saenz, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF); and Tamar Jacoby, president and CEO of Immigration Works discussed what has changed in the political landscape around the immigration debate at NDN headquarters on Wednesday, July 18th.

The pro immigration movement has become strong enough to compel politicians to action, said Frank Sharry. As an example, President Obama granted relief from deportation to undocumented immigrants who arrived to the U.S. before the age of 16 and who complete high school on June 15.

Panelists recognized this presidential measure as an enormous step towards fixing the immigration system. “Most of the debate was around whether the president had the authority to do it not a discussion on whether he should or not do it,” explained Thomas Saenz. In his opinion, there is a critical stabilization of the political debate around immigration issues in which public opinion recognizes that undocumented immigrants would eventually get legal status and continue contributing to the U.S. economy. Immigrants like DREAM Act eligible youth have become agents and subjects of the debate and changed the framework from victimization to an inspirational militancy, according to Sharry. "But they are also the face of their parents," he said.

As a result, there are more bills to fix the legal immigration system in Congress, said Tamar Jacoby. Currently, U.S. Congress discusses visas for entrepreneurs, for graduate students in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and for agricultural workers. Jacoby also recognized that some Republicans endorsed Obama’s decision on the DREAM Act eligible students but that a true solution should be approved through the U.S. Congress in a bi-partisan effort.

Panelists considered the decision by the Supreme Court on federal preemption of several provisions of Arizona’s SB 1070 as a victory for immigration activists. States who pursue their own legislation on immigration issues will face expensive attorney fees, a decrease in tourism and a potential economic crisis while “it would be impossible if not difficult to implement the ‘papers, please’ provision,” said Saenz.

At the end of the panel, Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, highlighted the increasing safety levels in the U.S. border communities and the decline of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. as an opportunity to fix the immigration system. “Rehabilitating Mexico’s image in the U.S. as a fast growing economy and not a crime ridden country is key to any immigration reform,” Rosenberg said.

Generational Cycle Is Turning on Immigration

This article originally appeared in the National Journal

Americans have been of two minds about immigration almost since the founding of the Republic. On the one hand, we swell with pride at the welcoming words of Emma Lazarus’s Statue of Liberty sonnet: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free,” and coverage of the swearing in of new citizens from around the globe has become a staple of July Fourth television newscasts.

By contrast, each new large wave of newcomers has led to the emergence of nativist groups and to laws designed to minimize immigration. The arrival of millions of German and Irish immigrants before the Civil War led to the creation of the anti-immigrant Order of the Star Spangled Banner and the electoral successes of the American (or Know Nothing) Party in 1854 and 1856. The waves of Eastern and Southern European immigrants in the late-19th and early-20th centuries produced a revival of the Ku Klux Klan and the passage of a 1924 law, which imposed low nationality quotas on immigrants from that part of Europe as well as Asia and Africa. 

But history also indicates that, although mixed attitudes about it may endure, concern with immigration and fear of immigrants rises and falls as new generations with different attitudes emerge. 

A February national survey of nearly 1,500 Americans between the ages of 18 and 64, conducted by communication research firm Frank N. Magid Associates, suggests that the United States is about to enter a period in which the debate about immigration should become less contentious, primarily because of the increasing presence within the electorate of the tolerant and diverse millennial generation, a cohort now in its teens and 20s. Millennials will represent one out of every three eligible voters by the end of this decade.  

According to Magid, about three in 10 Americans are completely opposed to all immigration—legal and illegal—while an identical number perceive a need for even undocumented immigration, believing that “the United States needs illegal immigrants to do work others won’t.”

The attitudes of other Americans fall between these extremes. The majority agree that “immigration has made America a great country” and that “immigration is an American legacy worth keeping.” About 43 percent would favor making their community “immigrant friendly.” At the same time, 71 percent say that while they favor legal immigration, “illegal immigration is out of control.” Just over 40 percent agrees that “immigration is making America worse,” while only 30 percent disagrees.

Millennials, on the other hand, tend to be more positive about immigrants. For most millennials, immigration is not an abstract or academic matter. It is as up close and personal as their parents, their friends, their classmates, and their next-door neighbors. Nearly one out of five of them have at least one immigrant parent, and almost 30 percent of millennials are Hispanic or Asian—groups containing large numbers of recent immigrants.

As a result, millennials agree more strongly than older generations that “immigration is an American legacy worth keeping,” 57 percent to 52 percent. The majority, 51 percent, also agrees that their community should be “immigrant friendly,” compared with 39 percent of older generations.

They are also less likely to believe than their elders that “illegal immigration is out of control,” 67 percent to 75 percent. Millennials are also likely to accept the proposition that the country “needs illegal immigrants to do the work others won’t,” 37 percent to 22 percent of older generations.

Generational theory says it is the historic role of “civic” generations, such as today’s millennials and last century’s GI generation, to be the cohort in which the acculturation and toleration of newcomers to America reaches its apex.

A major theme of GI generation writers ranging from novelist Herman Wouk, (Marjorie Morningstar), to playwright Neil Simon (Biloxi Blues , Brighton Beach Memoirs) and sociologist Will Herberg (Protestant, Catholic, Jew) was the depiction of the way in which GIs of various ethnicities emerged from their immigrant homes and neighborhoods to achieve acceptance within the larger society.

In 1965, it was a GI generation-dominated Congress and GI president, Lyndon Johnson, that passed immigration-reform legislation overturning the nationality quotas established in 1924. Now, as a new ethnically diverse civic generation emerges in large numbers, American politics will renew its cyclical rhythm and return to policies that once again tolerate and include immigrants from every part of the globe.  

Full disclosure: Michael D. Hais retired in 2006 as vice president of entertainment research from Frank N. Magid Associates after a 22-year career with Magid and continues to do occasional work for the firm.

 

Daily Border Bulletin- International visitors' spending goes up, Michelle Obama advocates for immigration reform, and more

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International visitors spent $13.9 billion in May in the U.S.- New data released by the U.S. Commerce Department shows that international visitors spent nearly $13.9 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States in May—$1 billion more than was spent in May 2011.

First lady advocates for an immigration reform- First lady Michelle Obama advocated for an immigration reform and to pass the DREAM Act during her visit to Florida in which she met with Latina women and she had an interview with Spanish-language TV station Univision.

Immigrant seeks legal status through same-sex marriage- An immigrant from the Philippines filed a lawsuit seeking legal right to stay in the United States based on her same-sex marriage to an American citizen.

Daily Border Bulletin- Research center studies legal cross-border issues, Chicago and D.C. against Secure Communities

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University of Houston creates research center for Mexico-U.S. law- The state of cross-border legal services between the United States and Mexico is the subject of the first research project of the new Center for U.S. and Mexican Law at the University of Houston Law Center.

Chicago Mayor proposes to bar immigration status checks- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he would propose an ordinance that would bar police officers from turning over undocumented immigrants to federal agents if the immigrants do not have serious criminal convictions or outstanding criminal warrants.

D.C. approves bill against Secure Communities- In a unanimous vote, the D.C. Council approved a bill on Tuesday that will limit the ability of the federal government to enforce immigration laws by restricting the circumstances in which individuals can be held in the custody of local law enforcement at the request of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Daily Border Bulletin- The need to protect foreign guest workers, Americans say that immigration is a national issue, and more

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U.S. needs to do more to protect foreign guest workers-  After allegations of violations of workplace standards in a seafood plant in Luisiana, there is a need to approve new rules protecting workers’ rights that have been blocked after business owners sued the Department of Labor and a group of senators from both parties shamefully voted to deny the department funding to enforce them, according to an editorial piece published in The New York Times.

Undocumented immigrants fight their right to work as attorneys- Three undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, and who later graduated law schools in California, Florida and New York, are trying to gain entry to their state bars so they can work as attorneys.

Americans support immigration policy at national level- Nearly 8-in-10 (77 percent) Americans say that immigration policy should be decided at the national level, while 1-in-5 (20 percent) say it should be left up to the states, according to Public Religion Research Institute’s June Religion & Politics Tracking Survey.

 

Daily Border Bulletin- California bans status checks on immigrants, Mexican border city attracts medical tourism, and more

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California passes bill to ban status checks on immigrants- The California Senate passed a bill on Thursday that blocks local police from referring a detainee to immigration officials for deportation unless that person has been convicted of a violent or serious felony, reported news agency Reuters. The California Trust Act is now called “Anti-Arizona” bill because it shields immigrants from status checks by local police and challenges Republican-backed immigration crackdowns in Arizona and other states in the United States.

Immigrants produce the majority of U.S. patents- A recent study found more that immigrants were involved in three-quarters of patents from the United States top 10 universities, including MIT, Stanford and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mexican border city attracts medical tourism- The Mexican border city of Mexicali has adopted medical care as its primary tourist lure, and it has been attracting a growing number of health care commuters from California and other nearby states.

 

Daily Border Bulletin- Ciudad Juarez celebrates four days without murders, Obama calls for immigration reform, and more

Ciudad Juarez celebrates four days without murders- The first days of July have passed with no homicides in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

President Obama calls for immigration reform on Independence Day- President Barack Obama used an Independence Day ceremony in which immigrants serving in the U.S. military became citizens on Wednesday July 4th to renew his election-year call for new immigration laws popular with an important part of his political base.

Mexican actor Diego Luna directs film about Cesar Chavez- Mexican actor Diego Luna is directing the first feature film about Cesar Chavez, the Mexican-American union leader who organized farm workers in California and across the southwestern United States and led two historic grape boycotts aimed at drawing attention to harsh conditions in the fields.

 

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