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How should America handle immigration?
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- ENDS: 26/10/2008 01:00 AM GMT
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Aliens Rock The Vote
One in ten people in America are silently screaming right now. They’re surrounded by election fever but cannot vote for our next president. They care about our country –– passionately enough to leave their own behind –– but are frozen out of the electoral process.
Aliensvote.net is giving this massive minority a voice. It’s a site where the estimated 29.1 million aliens residing in America can cast a vote. Their votes won’t count in the election, but at least their wishes can be heard. After all, they pay taxes, have homes, businesses, children, and futures here, and contribute to our society in a myriad of ways. One in ten people in America are silently screaming right now. They’re surrounded by election fever but cannot vote for our next presi... more -
Vietnamese Security Police Again Active in Poland
Its functionaries are arresting Vietnamese dissidents in Poland. And they are again being helped in this by the Polish border police. (An article about controversies over immigration issues versus human rights)
The Vietnamese act on the basis of a bilateral agreement signed in 2004. The readmission agreement provides for the two countries to cooperate in handing over their citizens to each other. Warsaw has taken advantage of it in just a few cases to date, for instance, to help persons who've lost their documents while on vacation. Hanoi has turned the agreement into an instrument for hunting down dissidents on emigration in Poland. It is in the regime's favour that the émigré dissidents often don't have Polish residence permits.
The first visit by the officers of Section A18 of the People's Militia, whose job is to keep Vietnamese immigrants under surveillance (Poland is an important centre of anti-regime Vietnamese opposition), took place in February. It was preceded by a round-up that the Polish Border Guard carried out in Wólka Kosowska near Warsaw. About a hundred Vietnamese nationals had been apprehended. During interrogations conducted by the A18, they were pressed to become informers under the pain of immediate deportation. In May, the A18 returned. In a detention centre in Przemyśl in south-eastern Poland, they interrogated 120 of their compatriots brought by the Polish border police from all over Poland.
The third visit has just taken place. Wioletta Paprocka, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, says, 'Its purpose was to verify identities and issue travel documents'.
This time too the Border Guard rounded up several dozen Vietnamese. Even before the arrival of the A18, they were told to fill detailed questionnaires.
'These had been sent from Vietnam and contained typically nosy questions about addresses, contacts, and details about friends and acquaintances', says Robert Krzysztoń, a civil-liberty activist from Stowarzyszenie Wolnego Słowa, a pro-freedom of speech association. Its functionaries are arresting Vietnamese dissidents in Poland. And they are again being helped in this by the Polish border police. ... more -
Woman in Limbo After Tragedy
Jissela Cabello's future is uncertain after her husband killed their four-year-old daughter, before killing himself. Cabello is in danger of being deported, according to her lawyer. Originally from Paraguay, Cabello has lived in the U.S. for seven years but her petition for citizenship was put in by her husband and with his death is now lost. Cabello’s only option now is applying for a U visa, which gives a permanent residence permit to domestic violence victims. However, according to her lawyer, this application requires the signature of the authority that investigated her husband and daughter's deaths. "We don't know if we will get that signature," said Cabello 's lawyer, Jorge Rivera. "Sometimes you can't find the exact person who worked on the case, they don't have time or they don't want to sign an undocumented immigrant's petition." Jissela Cabello's future is uncertain after her husband killed their four-year-old daughter, before killing himself. Cabello is i... more
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City Admits Violating Immigrants Civil Rights
The Latino community has reached an agreement with the city of Manassas, Va., the city has agreed to pay $775,000 and also cover legal expenses of the Latino immigrant families whose civil rights were violated by public school officials. As Washington Hispanic reports, those schools shared their students' confidential information with authorities when the school suspected irregularities in their addresses. On October 2007, 11 residents of Manassas and the Equal Rights Center reported the city for violating dozens of families' civil rights. The Latino community has reached an agreement with the city of Manassas, Va., the city has agreed to pay $775,000 and also cover legal... more
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Latinos, Obama & McCain – From “The Immigrant Nation”
As the Latino vote becomes a more and more powerful force in the Presidential election cycle, the parties have started spending more and more time and effort trying to woo Latinos. What does the Latino community want? This pod follows Wendy Carillo, a registered democrat who hosts a radio show and works on registering young people, and Noe Rivera a McCain supporter who works on the front lines of the campaign. The two of them offer insight into why they’re voting the way they are and how their background contributes to this decision.
Our next Collective Journalism special, The Immigrant Nation, airs Monday 10/13 at 10:30pm EST. This show takes an in depth look at illegal immigration and the power of the (legal) Latino vote in the 2008 election. In this show we explore what it means to be an immigrant in the United States with perspectives from Oregon, California and New York, look at a heated immigration debate in the small town of Hazleton, hear from immigrant construction workers who are rebuilding New Orleans, speak with Democrat and Republican Latino voters, and show short, personal opinions from people like you.
Collective Journalism, Current's citizen journalism program, works by combining perspectives from contributors like you around the world. All month until Election Day, CJ will be airing special investigations into the most important issues of this election. As the Latino vote becomes a more and more powerful force in the Presidential election cycle, the parties have started spending more a... more -
(Video) Goodbye, Sanctuary
As San Francisco's sanctuary policy comes under attack, ICE steps up its arrests of suspected undocumented families.
Since 1989, San Francisco has adopted a sanctuary policy that shields undocumented workers, political and economic refugees from federal deportation. Yet, in the wake of increased federal scrutiny and a high profile triple homicide allegedly committed by a 21-year-old undocumented man, the city's policy has come under fire.
This week, statewide immigration raids throughout California resulted in 1,157 arrests. As San Francisco's sanctuary policy comes under attack, ICE steps up its arrests of suspected undocumented families. ... more -
Mexicans deported from US face shattered lives
The towering black gate opens silently to an alley with walls of corrugated metal. Scrawled in large white letters on one wall is: "The End."
For those deported from the United States, the words are an unnecessary reminder. Nearly every hour of the day, guards unlock this gate that leads back into Mexico, clicking open the padlocks hung on each side, in each nation.
Every time the gate slams shut, it wipes out a dream, divides a family, ends a life lived in the shadows of the law.
On average, 700 Mexicans expelled from the United States walk through this gate daily, according to Mexican government figures. They include farmers, construction workers, prisoners, nannies, children, entire families.
U.S. deportations have jumped by more than 60 percent over the past five years. Mexicans accounted for nearly two-thirds of those deportees, helping to roll back one of the biggest migrations of recent history. All along the border, shelters once full of people trying to cross into the United States are now home to thousands of deportees who sleep on mattresses strewn inches apart on cement floors.
In a week spent at the Tijuana gate, The Associated Press watched busload after busload of deportees arrive, some in a daze, still stunned over their sudden expulsion. Many stumbled over the Mexican official's question, "Where are you from?" after spending decades in the United States.
The faces of those who stream through reflect how tough and far-reaching the U.S. crackdown on illegal immigration has become.
Among them are young people. There were more than 18,000 repatriations of children under 18 to Mexico this year, and in more than 10,000 cases they were alone, according to the Mexican government.
There are also criminals. The U.S. does not break down figures by country, but it has deported about 55,000 prisoners so far this year. One man walked through the gate in slippers with 80 cents in his pocket, after being picked up by police during a violent fight with his wife in their backyard.
And there are women, with more than 40,000 repatriations since January — about 13 percent of all cases, according to the Mexican government. Sometimes the women are dropped off alone, at night. The U.S. Border Patrol in Washington says the safe repatriation of women is a major concern, but acknowledges there is no overall policy along the 2,000-mile border.
Mexico must now deal with a population that it has long ignored. And those returning must deal with Mexico, a land that for many now seems foreign. The challenge starts the day they walk through the gate the U.S. Border Patrol calls Whiskey II, military code for west of the port of entry. The towering black gate opens silently to an alley with walls of corrugated metal. Scrawled in large white letters on one wall is: �... more -
200,000 ID documents in the UK may be false
There could be as many as 200,000 fraudulent identity documents (driving licences and passports) in circulation in the UK, according to this Guardian article.
The problem at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) threatens to undermine increasingly elaborate border security systems and is forcing both organisations to upgrade procedures and develop automated facial recognition systems.
The Home Office admits that nearly 5,400 fraudulent passports were probably issued last year alone. For the previous year the figure was 10,000. Similarly, the DVLA admits that "tens of thousands" of its licences are suspect. The Guardian has been told that there may be around 100,000 "duplicate" driving licences in the system and nearly as many fictitious passports. The Home Office maintains the scale of the problem is impossible to quantify.
The DVLA believes biometric checking measures will help to prevent drivers from creating new identities, evading disqualification or passing off penalty points to others. The automated facial recognition system will help purge photographic records of fraudulent identities and clerical errors. There could be as many as 200,000 fraudulent identity documents (driving licences and passports) in circulation in the UK, according t... more -
Emmanuel's Story--A Journey from Burundi to Atlanta
Meet Emmanuel, a refugee from Burundi who's now resettled in Atlanta thanks to help of Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA).
Video filmed and edited by Dan Goldgeier, with help from Laura Dobson and Rachele Meaders.
See other videos at www.dangoldgeier.com Meet Emmanuel, a refugee from Burundi who's now resettled in Atlanta thanks to help of Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Servi... more -
Gardasil
Last year, the HPV vaccine was recommended for girls in the US, but it's not required. It is required for females age 11-26 seeking to immigrate to the US. Last year, the HPV vaccine was recommended for girls in the US, but it's not required. It is required for females age 11-26 seek... more
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Student visa fraud rampant
Canada places so few restrictions on foreign students and the schools that attract them that it has left the student-visa system open to widespread abuse and fraud, according to an internal government review obtained by The Vancouver Sun. Canada places so few restrictions on foreign students and the schools that attract them that it has left the student-visa system open ... more
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Global Border Battle
While the U.S. builds walls and implements new ID requirements on its borders, Europe and Canada are moving in the opposite direction. Vanguard reports on different approaches to immigration around the globe. While the U.S. builds walls and implements new ID requirements on its borders, Europe and Canada are moving in the opposite direction.... more
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New HPV Vaccination requirement for immigrants raises concerns
Federal immigration authorities now require immunization against human papillomavirus for female immigrants ages 11 to 26 who are seeking permanent residence.
The mandate by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services went into effect July 1, but advocacy groups were largely left in the dark about the new requirements, said Priscilla Huang, Reproductive Justice Project director and women's law fellow at the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.
The vaccine cost tacks on about $375 to the status change fee of $1,410. It is also gender specific and the only vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease, leading some women's rights groups to believe the mandate is discriminatory.
The vaccine has been controversial since it was introduced to market two years ago. In February 2007, Gov. Rick Perry wanted to make the shot mandatory for all sixth-grade girls in Texas. The executive order was shot down.
Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Services in Dallas, said the vaccines are in no way meant to deny or deter people from the application process.
She said Citizenship and Immigration Services is simply following recommendations given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is funding for the vaccine through the CDC's Vaccines for Children program, but adult women may find it harder to pay for the shots.
"I think the public would agree that people who are coming into this country to adjust their status, if they have a contagious disease, we don't want that disease to be spread around," Ms. Garcia-Upson said.
Ana Correa, executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, said the cost of the vaccine will be another barrier for women seeking legal status. She said that application fees for immigrants have recently risen.
"What we have noticed is that applying for citizenship decreases as the fees go up," she said. "I don't think it's a coincidence that they're pushing for a policy that would provide a burden on immigrants."
Members of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices confirmed that they recommend the vaccine for women, but the recommendation was not necessarily for a particular group.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is a CDC committee. Vaccine requirements are part of the Immigration and Nationality Act last amended by Congress in 1996, according to the CDC.
"ACIP makes vaccine recommendations based on scientific information using criteria such as burden of disease, efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness," said Dr. Dale Morse, the committee's chairman. "However, ACIP does not mandate the use of vaccines."
Nearly half of all sexually active men and women acquire HPV, according to the CDC. There are about 20 million Americans infected, and about 6.2 million people become newly infected yearly. Federal immigration authorities now require immunization against human papillomavirus for female immigrants ages 11 to 26 who are seek... more -
Gurkhas win right to stay in UK
A group of retired Gurkhas fighting for the right to settle in Britain have won their immigration test case at London's High Court. They were challenging immigration rules which said that those who retired from the British Army before 1997 did not have an automatic right to stay. A group of retired Gurkhas fighting for the right to settle in Britain have won their immigration test case at London's High Cour... more
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More than 1,100 arrested throughout California in immigration raids
Billing a series of raids as the largest sweep of its kind in California, federal immigration authorities Monday announced more than 1,100 arrests throughout the state this month, part of a three-week effort that saw teams from the Bay Area and beyond knocking on doors in search of fugitive immigrants.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 1,157 men and women — 436 in Northern California — the latest splash in a five-year push targeting immigrants who have ignored deportation orders or returned to the United States illegally after being deported. The sweep, which concluded Saturday, also produced 420 arrests in the Los Angeles area and 301 in the San Diego area. Those arrested came from 34 countries.
And although ICE officials hailed the sweep as a success, particularly because of the number of arrests, they said it was only the scale of the effort that was remarkable.
"This is something we do on a daily basis," said Craig Meyer, ICE's assistant field office director in San Francisco. "This was just a big surge to get as many boots on the ground as we could."
Teams from Northern and Southern California worked together to rove the state, turning up 595 immigrants with outstanding deportation orders and 346 with criminal convictions. In Northern California, which includes the Bay Area, 185 were fugitives and 92 had criminal convictions, ranging from petty theft to more serious crimes. A arrests by municipality and county was not available, Meyer said.
In one case, ICE agents apprehended a Fremont woman who had been ordered deported after convictions for voluntary manslaughter and threatening a witness. The onetime legal resident, whom authorities did not identify, was sent back to her native Portugal shortly after her arrest, officials said.
The sweep marked the first large-scale operation for ICE's months-old San Jose team, one of a handful added this year in California, as ICE continues its five-year crackdown against immigrants who ignore deportation orders. In patrolling Northern California, it joins two teams in San Francisco and one each in Sacramento, Fresno and Bakersfield.
"It spreads us out a little more, gives us a little more reach," Meyer said of the new South Bay crew. "They know the area better and they can get out there quicker and be on the ground more often."
Nationwide, there are now 95 teams in operation, ICE officials said, with more than 100 expected by the end of the year. In 2003, when ICE's Fugitive Operations Program was created, only 17 teams were in place.
That expansion, along with the establishment of a federal investigation center in Vermont, has led to a surge in arrests. Last year there were 30,407 arrests nationwide, nearly double the year before. This year, ICE agents are well on their way to topping that number, with 26, 945 arrests logged as of Aug. 1.
The crackdown has continued to cut into the number of immigrants nationwide who have standing deportation orders. In 2007, for the first time, the suspected number of fugitive immigrants in the United States declined. The backlog is now down to fewer than 560,000, about 34,000 fewer than on Oct. 1, 2007. Billing a series of raids as the largest sweep of its kind in California, federal immigration authorities Monday announced more than 1... more -
Lampedusa, Italia. La Frontiera
Da Gennaio ad Agosto 2008 a Lampedusa sono sbarcati 18mila migranti, molti altri non ce l’hanno fatta. Anche se non è possibile avere una stima certa si calcola che nello stesso periodo siano almeno 600 i morti e i dispersi in mare.
Il video mostra le operazioni di soccorso a bordo di una motovedetta della Capitaneria di Porto e cerca di tracciare l’identikit di questo esercito di persone che dopo avere attraversato il deserto, sfida il mare per cercare una vita migliore o per scappare dalla propria terra.
Prequel di O Scia’, un documentario di prossima uscita su questi e molti altri temi. Da Gennaio ad Agosto 2008 a Lampedusa sono sbarcati 18mila migranti, molti altri non ce l’hanno fatta. Anche se non è possibile avere ... more -
Child Immigrant
Actor Laz Alonso immigrated to the US as a child. Here he shares his perspective on the hotly contested immigration debate.
"Miracle at St. Anna" is in theaters now. Actor Laz Alonso immigrated to the US as a child. Here he shares his perspective on the hotly contested immigration debate. ... more -
Bailout: Not $700 billion; More like $5 trillion.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion plan to buy devalued assets from financial companies is “a joke” because it doesn’t go far enough to calm markets, said Kenichi Ohmae, president of Business Breakthrough Inc. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion plan to buy devalued assets from financial companies is “a joke” because it doesn’t go... more
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America see Immigration slowdown
The wave of immigrants entering the United States slowed dramatically last year as the economy faltered and the government stepped up enforcement of immigration laws.
The nation added about a half million immigrants in 2007, down from more than 1.8 million the year before, according to estimates being released Tuesday by the Census Bureau. The wave of immigrants entering the United States slowed dramatically last year as the economy faltered and the government stepped up ... more -
Don't Open the Door: A First Person Account of ICE Arrests
ICE agents arrested six undocumented immigrants at a private home in San Francisco. Three of them spoke with New America Media after being released with electronic monitoring devices. Josue Rojas is a producer for New America Media. Elena Shore is an editor for New America Media.
Read the article:
The Knock at the Door: San Francisco’s Sanctuary Status Under Fire
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?... ICE agents arrested six undocumented immigrants at a private home in San Francisco. Three of them spoke with New America Media after b... more
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