Immigration at the Border
The Aftermath of the Ellensburg, WA Immigration Raid and Lessons from Past ICE Enforcement Efforts
BY JUAN PEDROZA, THE URBAN INSTITUTE* On Thursday morning, January 20, ICE agents descended on mobile homes in the Ellensburg area, east of Seattle, WA. Federal agents drove in with 11 search warrants and a helicopter search light, making simultaneous arrests at 22 different locations. The coordinated effort followed an investigation involving eight federal, county, and local law enforcement entities. ICE agents arrested 14 Mexican immigrants for criminal charges (for instance, using false documents or falsely claiming U.S. citizenship) and then 16 others for non-criminal "administrative" violations. But the aftermath of the recent raid in Ellensburg replayed familiar scenes of trauma from past enforcement efforts—enforcement efforts upon which ICE can and should improve upon. Read More
The Rally Against State Immigration Legislation Continues
A Washington Post article this week highlighted what many state business groups, law enforcement officers and concerned legislatures have been cautioning for months—at a time of economic uncertainty, states simply cannot afford the costly legal battles and political backlash caused by Arizona-style immigration legislation. Over the past month, SB1070 copycat bills in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, have been met with considerable hesitation and criticism from constituents worried about the social and economic impact on their state. Some states, like Mississippi and Wyoming, have even rejected initial versions of copycat bills due to high costs. But as other states consider enforcement legislation (California joined the fray this week, as did Georgia’s state Senate), those worried about how enforcement legislation will cost their state feel they can no longer afford to be quiet. Read More
Study Shows 287(g) Program Fails to Prioritize Serious Criminals
This week the Migration Policy Institute released a new study on ICE’s 287(g) program, Delegation and Divergence: A Study of 287(g) State and Local Immigration Enforcement. The study, which assesses the implementation, enforcement outcomes, costs, community impacts of the program generally, and provides an in-depth study in seven jurisdictions: Cobb County, GA; Frederick County, MD; Gwinnett County, GA; Los Angeles County, CA; Prince William County, VA; Las Vegas, NV; and the state of Colorado, found that 287(g) program is not living up to its promise. In fact, the study finds that ICE’s allows jurisdictions to “operate the 287(g) program in fundamentally different ways across the country.” Read More
States Contemplating Enforcement Legislation Continue to Walk the Line
From Arizona to Florida, SB1070-style immigration legislation continues to rear its ugly head—as do a string of other restrictive immigration bills. Also on the rise, however, are the voices of opposition who continue to decry this legislation as bad for local businesses, a threat to community safety and a burden on state economies. This week, legislatures in Georgia, South Dakota and Tennessee introduced or contemplated Arizona-style legislation, while states like Virginia and Mississippi considered a wide range of restrictive immigration bills—not, however, without grave objections from members of the community whose lives and livelihoods stand to be harmed by these restrictive immigration laws. Read More
Will “Stepping on the Gas” of Immigration Enforcement Drive Us Into A Brick Wall?
Today, the newly re-named Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement held its first hearing on worksite enforcement, which, as expected, did not delve into important policy questions surrounding worksite enforcement. The Republican members of the subcommittee called on the usual suspects to minimize the Obama administration’s enforcement efforts, even though Deputy Director of ICE, Kumar Kibble, stated quite clearly that ICE has achieved record numbers of investigations, audits, fines, and deportations. One can't help but wonder if subcommittee hardliners would be satisfied had the Administration's enforcement numbers been doubled or even tripled. For that matter, after listening to the majority members, one wonders whether any amount of enforcement would be sufficient to meet their expectations. Read More
A One-Man Wrecking Crew: New Report Details the Costly Career of Kris Kobach
It is hardly surprising that the newly elected Kansas secretary of state, Kris Kobach, ran an election campaign which featured the baseless claim that “the illegal registration of alien voters has become pervasive” in the state. As a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) describes in detail, Kobach has built a long and varied career out of attacking immigrants; first in the Bush Administration, targeting legal immigrants from Muslim and Arab countries, and later as the architect of city ordinances and state laws targeting unauthorized, mostly Latino immigrants. Yet, while Kobach’s anti-immigrant initiatives have served to advance him politically and financially, virtually all of them have ended up being costly failures for which taxpayers ultimately foot the bill. Read More
After the Raid is Over: Marshalltown, Iowa and the Consequences of Worksite Enforcement Raids
For many years, large-scale worksite raids constituted a major element of federal immigration enforcement. While the large-scale and well-publicized worksite raids have tapered, immigration enforcement has continued to increase, and the number of deportations and detentions is at an all-time high. The ever-expanding arsenal of ICE enforcement policies, together with harsh state and local laws and policies, have harmful side effects that go far beyond the unauthorized population. Policies meant to target unauthorized immigrants also impact their family members, employers, and neighbors. A large number of the people affected are U.S.-citizen children. Latinos, Asians, and others who “sound” or “appear” to be foreign may be the victims of mistakes (such as the U.S. citizens who have been mistakenly deported), or may experience civil rights violations, discrimination, or profiling. In states and localities with anti-immigrant laws and policies, negative attitudes towards immigrants and nasty rhetoric might be enough to cause lawfully present people to leave. Read More
Are States Considering SB 1070-Style Bills Putting their Head in the Lion’s Mouth?
Last week, local law enforcement, religious and business groups in South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Florida spoke out against the introduction of Arizona-style immigration laws in their states, citing the harmful social and economic consequences of such laws. This week, another batch of state legislators in Nebraska, Indiana, Colorado and Texas dipped their toes in the enforcement-only waters, but found themselves facing an even louder chorus of opposition from their communities. Amidst budget crises and cutbacks, many local communities worry that the cost to implement and defend such laws, and the possible loss of tourism, consumer, and business dollars, is too high a price to pay. Some state lawmakers are even introducing countermeasures to Arizona-style bills, calling on local law enforcement to “focus on criminal activities, not civil violations of the federal code.” Read More
How Expanding E-Verify Hurts the Economy and American Workers
By Tyler Moran, National Immigration law Center. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report, Employment Verification: Federal Agencies Have Taken Steps to Improve E-Verify, but Significant Challenges Remain. GAO’s verdict on E-Verify (a program to verify the employment eligibility of new hires) is in: this program is not yet ready for prime time. According to GAO, risks posed by mandatory E-Verify range from encouraging employers to skirt the rules to job losses for native born and immigrant work-authorized people alike. Policymakers who want to roll out this flawed program as quickly as possible should heed the report’s warning that “significant challenges remain” with E-Verify. Read More
State Lawmakers Conflicted Over Immigration Enforcement Measures
South Carolina State House. Photo by Joe Shlabotnik. As many states begin their legislative sessions this week, some lawmakers are conflicted over whether to proceed with strict immigration enforcement measures, forcing them to balance immigration measures with other pressing state priorities. Understandably, state legislators want to see something done about our national immigration problems, but many are expressing concerns over the potential harm Arizona copycat laws could have on their state—including expensive court battles, racial profiling and backlash from religious, state law enforcement and business groups. Read More
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