Immigration Reform
Bush Regrets Not Pushing for Immigration Reform
This week, in an interview with Cal Thomas of the Washington Times, George W. Bush admitted that he regretted concentrating so much on Social Security and not pushing for immigration reform after his '04 reelection: Q: And biggest do-over? Knowing everything you know now, what would you have done over again? THE PRESIDENT: I probably, in retrospect, should have pushed immigration reform right after the ´04 election and not Social Security reform. Read More
Immigration Battle Rages on at State and Local Levels
It's not just Congress that's getting back to work. State legislators are also returning to state capitals for another year of lawmaking. This year immigration is likely to be a prominent issue, just as it has been in the past. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the number of immigration-related bills introduced in state legislatures has grown exponentially in recent years as the national debate over immigration reform has heated up. In 2005, 300 bills were introduced and 38 laws were enacted. In 2006, activity doubled: 570 bills were introduced and 84 laws were enacted. In 2007, activity tripled: 1,562 bills were introduced and 240 laws were enacted. In 2008, 1,305 bills were introduced in 45 states, and 205 laws and resolutions were enacted in 41 states. Read More
The GOP’s New Year Resolution on Immigration
By any measurement the GOP lost more than an election this year. Many Republican candidates who incorporated immigrant-bashing and nativism into their platforms lost sight of the kind of country the U.S. has become and, in doing so, caused the GOP to experience a defeat the likes of which they have not seen in years. The Arizona Republic laid out the GOP's challenge ahead: For only the second time since 1979, they control neither the White House nor a chamber of Congress...More troubling for the GOP: They have been pushed back to a regional base in the South and in the depopulating plains. Congressional losses in 2008 all but wiped out Republican House representation in the Northeast. Republican presidential candidates have not been competitive in the Pacific Rim of California, Oregon and Washington for two decades. Once-staunchly GOP Virginia and Indiana went to Obama. Read More
Task Force Calls for Federal Immigrant Integration Effort
While some fear that demographic shifts threaten American identity, yet another piece of research has come out showing that today's immigrants want to and are integrating into American society just like generations of immigrants before them. After more than two years of collaboration and initiatives among 20 federal agencies and a variety of stakeholders, the Task Force on New Americans delivered a report this past Monday. The Task Force was assembled in 2006 with a call to "strengthen the efforts of the Department of Homeland Security and federal, state, and local agencies to help legal immigrants embrace the common core of American civic culture, learn our common language, and fully become Americans." The Task Force's recommendations are based in the belief that immigrants can and do integrate into U.S. society and that integration is also a federal responsibility. Read More
Immigration May Make or Break NY Senate Seat Contenders
Caroline Kennedy's interest in taking over Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat for the state of New York is no secret. Her policy positions have been less obvious. However, this past weekend she began revealing "hints" of a platform-including immigration. On Saturday, Ms. Kennedy's spokesman provided written answers to 15 questions posed by The New York Times. On the topic of immigration, Ms. Kennedy shares the views of her uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy-supporting a path to citizenship for the undocumented. In fact, Kennedy's positions on immigration also line up pretty well with those of her potential predecessor, Hillary Clinton herself. According to Ms. Kennedy's aide: Read More
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
Scrounging for Facts in FAIR’s Reporting Yet Again
Video by America's Voice. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) released another report claiming that undocumented immigrants cost states much more than they pay in taxes. This time the target was Colorado. As is the case for many restrictionist reports, FAIR's conclusions are based on dubious "evidence" and assumptions, and often relies upon national level data to estimate Colorado-specific numbers. FAIR claims to look at the costs of providing education, health care, and incarceration to undocumented immigrants. But are they really looking at the undocumented population? 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
On this Human Rights Day, a World Made New for Immigrant Workers?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), considered the magna carta of human rights law, has a lot to say about the human rights of workers, beginning with "Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment." 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
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