Monthly Archives: November 2011

Huffington Post: New Data Indicates Mexican Migration Decline; A Separate Report Predicts Immigrant Integration

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“At a time when statistics suggest that fewer Mexicans are setting out on the perilous journey across the border, a new study projects that newer immigrants, particularly Latinos, are expected to learn English, buy homes and acquire citizenship at high levels in the coming decades.

The data on declining immigration from Mexico along with the projections on integration patterns for newer immigrants appear at a particularly contentious moment in the national immigration debate, with many sectors calling for tighter border controls and more deportations.

The new report from the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan think tank, offers a portrait of integration patterns that seem to counter the popular notion that Hispanic immigrants are not assimilating to life in the U.S.

The study tracked immigrants that arrived during the 1990s and found that while only 25.5 percent of them owned their home in 2000, 70.3 percent are projected to be homeowners by 2030.”  Read more …

NYT Opinion : On the Rise in Alabama

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Alabama’s ruling class has dug in against the storm it caused with the nation’s most oppressive immigration law. Some of the law’s provisions have been blocked in federal court; others won’t take effect until next year. But many Alabamans aren’t waiting for things to get worse or for the uncertain possibility of judicial relief or legislative retreat. They are moving to protect themselves, and summoning the tactics of a civil rights struggle now half a century old.

The law was written to deny immigrants without papers the ability to work or travel, to own or rent a home, to enter contracts of any kind. Fear is causing an exodus as Latinos abandon homes and jobs and crops in the fields. Utilities are preparing to shut off water, power and heat to customers who cannot show the right papers.  Read more …

Boston Globe/AP: NY immigrant advocates criticize Border Patrol

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“BUFFALO, N.Y.—Immigrant rights advocates and the New York Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday accused the Border Patrol in upstate New York of abusing its authority by questioning the citizenship of train and bus passengers, as well as people going about their business in towns miles away from any international crossing.

A report based on a Freedom of Information request suggests agents charged with securing the U.S.-Canadian border have taken advantage of their 100-mile area of jurisdiction to snare and deport illegal immigrants who have been in the country for years, using police-state tactics that allow them to boost arrest rates and justify increased funding.” Read more …

NYT: Recall Election Claims Arizona Anti-Immigration Champion

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“MESA, Ariz. — For years, Russell Pearce, Arizona’s most powerful legislator and the architect of its tough immigration law, has sought to make life so uncomfortable for illegal immigrants in the state that they pack up and go.

But Mr. Pearce, known for his gruff, uncompromising manner, was the one sent packing on Tuesday after disgruntled voters in this suburban neighborhood outside Phoenix banded together to recall him from the State Senate and replace him with a more moderate Republican.”  Read more …

Think Progress: Apple Crops In Washington At Risk Because Of Other States’ Extreme Immigration Laws

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“Washington apple growers could have had one of the best apple harvests in the state’s history — if not for the lack of workers. Orchard owners say a federal immigration crackdown and extreme anti-immigrant laws in states like Alabama and Arizona have scared off many of their workers.

Some farmers have tried to hire domestic workers. Orchards have “pickers wanted” signs, and growers have asked neighbors for extra workers. But their efforts have been unsuccessful to replace the immigrant farm workers they typically hire. So just like farmers inAlabama and Georgia, their crops will go to waste without without the experienced workers to pick the apples by hand:” Read more …

Texas Observer: The Other Side of the Dream

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“Many Central Americans ride on the roofs of trains through Mexico on the first leg of their journey to the United States. Some migrants say they have lost arms and legs to “The Beast,” as the train is called. Others have been victims of assault, rape, corruption and kidnapping by crime gangs. For many, the journey ends in Mexico, not the U.S.

Begun in 2008, The ‘Other Side’ of the Dream is a series of portraits of migrants, depicting the price they pay to find work and build a future for their families.”  See photos …

The Georgia Bulletin: Church’s role in helping immigrants indispensable, says Texas bishop

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"SAN ANTONIO (CNS) — A Catholic bishop told a San Antonio audience that 'as a leaven in the wider community of peoples' and the bearer 'of conscience and of hope,' the church must work in favor of the immigrant, preach the Gospel and focus on the youths. After outlining the changing dynamics of immigration and violence and addressing some of the effects on the local communities, Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville offered his 'pastoral perspective and some thoughts about the indispensable role of the church in facing the current reality on the border.'" Read more …

Washington Post Editorial: How Alabama’s immigration law is crippling its farms

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"FARMERS IN ALABAMA are in revolt against the state’s over-the-top immigration law, which is designed to hound illegal immigrants so that they move elsewhere. As it happens, a substantial portion of farm workers there, as in other states, are undocumented. In the farmers’ view, the law is depriving them of steady, experienced labor — and threatening to deal a lethal blow to crops throughout the state.

The uproar has exposed political fault lines within the Republican Party, whose vows of support for business have run headlong into its crusade to drive away illegal immigrants, on whom agribusiness relies. It’s also laying bare the nation’s hypocrisy over unskilled immigrants, whose legal entry into the country is blocked in most cases even though their labor remains much in demand." Read more…

 

Washington Post: In D.C. region, more immigrants seeking public office

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"Their journeys began in places as disparate as Colombia and Pakistan. They arrived in the United States speaking Hindi, Korean or Spanish. They worked their way up through engineering school or accounting jobs, keeping their heads down and their names out of the news.

Now, a small but growing number of foreign-born residents in the greater Washington region — home to more than 1 million immigrants from every corner of the globe — are coming out of their cocoons to enter electoral races and public office."  Read more…

 

 

Gotham Gazette: Bill Curtails City Role in Deportations

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"With states such as Arizona and Alabama passing immigration laws that go far beyond those of the federal government, the New York City Council weighed in on the issue yesterday and took a decidedly different stand.

By an overwhelming majority, the council passed a bill sponsored by Melissa Mark-Viveritoof Manhattan that would end the Department of Correction's policy of cooperating with federal efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. The bill, said by supporters to be the first of its kind in the country, will end two decades of cooperation between the city jail system and federal immigration authorities, now called Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

This bill, Intro 656, Mark-Viverito said shortly before its passage, 'sends a strong message we will no longer be complicit in this country's broken immigration system.'

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn cited another message as well. 'When signed by the mayor,' she said, 'the entire government of New York will send a message the city of New York is supportive of, friendly to and welcoming to immigrants.'"  Read more.