Elections
2,000 Approved Naturalization Applicants Blocked from Voting
Red tape and a tightfisted judge blocked nearly 2,000 people who should've been able to vote this past Election Day from receiving their naturalization oath in time to register for November's general election. Lawful permanent residents with approved naturalization applications must take the oath of allegiance to become a U.S. citizen. According to a new government report and immigration analysts, federal judges in some parts of the U.S. may be refusing USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) requests for oath ceremonies and delaying the swearing-in of new citizens. Some USCIS district offices administer naturalization oaths themselves. But in a few districts-including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit-only federal district courts have power to so and are then reimbursed by USCIS for all oath ceremonies they perform. Los Angeles itself received $2.4 million for the 169,799 oaths it administered in 2008. According to the Washington Post, the ombudsman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Michael Dougherty, stated: Read More
Immigration Remains Top-Tier Issue for New Administration
Gebe Martinez wrote in this week's Politico that "in presidential transition offices, immigration is cited as a top-tier issue that Obama will have to tackle early in his administration." While everyone knows the economy is the first order of business, even Michael Chertoff would agree that something needs to be done about immigration especially after it was revealed that undocumented workers were tidying up his suburban Maryland home. Chertoff would find himself in Conservative company. Leading Republicans have begun to publicly criticize the GOP's handling of the immigration issue following the Party's historic losses in November and the Republicans are rethinking their Hispanic strategy. Read More
Napolitano’s DHS Move: Lucky Country, Poor Arizona
Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Obama's pick for head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a border governor who's been in the eye of the immigration storm. Time and time again, she's proved that she understands that it is in our nation's interest to not only secure our borders, but also to provide for a realistic and practical immigration system that is in tune with our country's economic needs. Yet what does the Napolitano pick mean for Arizona? --"Lucky country. Poor Arizona," says a New York Times editorial. Read More
Republicans Rethinking Hispanic Strategy
Photo by AP. Yesterday a research group in Texas released extensive polling data among registered Lone Star voters, Beyond Bush, Texas Republicans in an Obama era. The report warns the Texas GOP that, "Hispanic voters won't affiliate with the GOP simply because we insist they really have nothing to complain about and ‘should' since they are socially conservative too; we need to actually listen to their concerns, tone down the rhetoric and attitude, find common ground on immigration/assimilation, and take concrete steps to make them feel welcome." Read More
Virginia Seeks to Help, Not Penalize Immigrants
It looks like someone is getting the message that being anti-immigrant isn’t a winning strategy. The Virginia Commission on Immigration plans to send Gov. Tim Kaine 24 recommendations, “most of which would help immigrants instead of penalizing them.” The recommendations include creating an immigration assistance office, allowing more legal immigrants to qualify for health benefits, offering in-state tuition to immigrants who meet specific criteria, and increasing the number of English classes available. The Commission will also call upon the federal government to increase the number of visas for foreign workers and pass comprehensive immigration legislation. Commission chairman Sen. John C. Watkins, a Republican from Chesterfield, echoed the frustration that states and localities are feeling across the country and stated that, “This is really a federal issue. They have pushed it down toward the states, and the time has come for them to deal with it. We have no jurisdiction.” Read More
Border Governor Janet Napolitano Favored for DHS Post
There’s no one better than a border governor to lead an office in charge of securing our borders and heading immigration enforcement and services. Recent reports indicate Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) is emerging as the front runner for the position of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the new Democratic administration. DHS is responsible for protecting the U.S. from terrorism, responding to natural disasters, as well as heading customs and border enforcement, citizenship and immigration services, and the secret service. In choosing Napolitano, the incoming administration is tapping someone who has experience with a variety of enforcement measures, while at the same time signaling their desire to have a strong advocate for immigration reform running the agencies that manage and execute immigration policy in America. Read More
Data Shows Americans Support CIR, Discredits Restrictionist’s Claims
Immigration restrictionists don’t know what to do with themselves. First off, none of the vehemently anti-immigrant candidates for president got their party’s nomination (or a great deal of public support), and both presidential candidates agreed on the need for comprehensive immigration reform – including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Restrictionist poster child Lou Barletta failed to win his election for Congress in Pennsylvania and Libby Dole in North Carolina along with other enforcement-only candidates across the country lost to candidates who supported enforcement PLUS some kind of immigration reform. In the National Review Online, Mark Krikorian--Director of restrictionist organzation Center for Immigration Studies, apparently unable to find any other light at the end of the tunnel, hopes that President Obama will continue the heavy handed enforcement measures initiated by the Bush Administration, including a vast expansion of the flawed E-Verify employment verification system. Without doing so, Krikorian claims, Obama will lose his credibility in the eyes of Americans. Read More
Latinos a Reason to Hold Your Breath for Immigration Reform
One can only hope that columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. of the San Diego Union-Tribune is just being pessimistic when he tells readers “don’t hold your breath” waiting for President-elect Barack Obama to pursue comprehensive immigration reform. In July, Obama pledged at the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference to make immigration reform “a top priority” of his administration during his first year in the White House. But Navarrette suspects this pledge will be sacrificed upon the altar of realpolitik as the electoral debt that Obama owes to Latino voters collides with the debt he owes to organized labor. In previous years, proponents of immigration reform have proposed the creation of a new temporary worker program as part of the comprehensive reform effort, but labor leaders have opposed the idea. Navarrette fears that, if Obama is forced to choose between Latinos and labor, Latinos will lose. Read More
Long Island Immigrant Dies from Brutal Hate Crime
After living in the U.S. for 16 years, Marcello Lucero, an Ecuadoran immigrant living in Long Island, was senselessly stabbed to death by a group of seven teenagers, who Police say were looking to kill a Hispanic - any Hispanic. According to the blog Long Island Wins, [The assailants] said that they were on patrol to go "Beaner jumping". "Beaner" is a derogatory word for Mexican. The attackers told police that they said 'Let's go find some Mexicans to -- -- up,' Marcello Lucero fell victim to a startling rise in anti-Latino and anti-immigrant hate crimes in the U.S. Just last month, the FBI released a report showing a 40% increase in anti-Latino hate crimes. The report's findings are consistent with the swelling nativist movement that has become larger and more vitriolic in recent years and its impact undeniable as anti-Latino hate crime incidents reach unprecedented levels. Read More
GOP Senator Admits Immigration Debate Tarnished Republican Brand
This past Sunday, on Meet The Press, RNC Chair Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) acknowledged that the current climate of undeterred public immigrant-bashing along with an immigration policy of "attrition through enforcement" has put Republican candidates at a disadvantage when it comes to the Latino vote. Sen Martinez urged all of his fellow GOP colleagues to take a rational stance on immigration reform and to cease all anti-immigrant, anti-Latino rhetoric. MR. BROKAW: Senator Martinez, as you know, politics is about keeping score. I know this is tough for you to hear, probably, but you were 0-for-3 last Tuesday. You're a Republican; you are from Florida, that went to the Democrats; and you're Hispanic, or Latino in some parts of this country, and the Hispanics went overwhelmingly for the Democrats this time. Jill Lawrence wrote in USA TODAY: "`If the Republicans don't make their peace with Hispanic voters, they're not going to win presidential elections anymore. The math just isn't there.'" That's according to Simon Rosenberg, head of the NDN, a Democratic group that studies Hispanic voters." How do you get back to the Hispanics? SEN. MARTINEZ: Governor Jeb Bush--former Governor Jeb Bush last week made a comment that if Republicans don't figure it out and do the math that we're going to be relegated to minority status. I've been preaching this for a long time to my colleagues within my party. I think that the very divisive rhetoric of the immigration debate set a very bad tone for our brand as Republicans. The fact of the matter is I think in Florida there was not a great ideological shift, but I think there was plenty of room for improvement in how that state was looked upon. Read More
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