Lawmakers push for enforcement of ban for illegal immigrants
The Associated Press
Saying a voter-approved mandate has been ignored in some cases, legislators moved Thursday to prod state courts to deny bail for illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes.
The House gave preliminary approval to a Republican bill (SB1265) to require courts to consider defendants' admissions, immigration holds, indications from law enforcement agencies and any other evidence or "relevant information" that show a defendant is in the United States illegally.
The bill also would specify a standard of evidence for courts to use and require that the no-bail determination be made during a person's initial appearance. In addition, a defendant would have to be asked about his or her citizenship within 24 hours of being taken into custody and the information provided to courts and prosecutors for bail determinations.
The Arizona Supreme Court's chief justice has ordered judges to hold evidentiary hearings for Proposition 100 bailing decisions, and some Superior Court commissioners in Maricopa County reportedly have ignored or rejected as insufficient some information about immigration status.
The issue surfaced with disclosure that an illegal immigrant was sought in a fatal stabbing that occurred following his release on bond. The man had been arrested on charges of kidnapping and assault, deported to Mexico but then reportedly returned to Arizona before the stabbing occurred in Mesa.
Also, the East Valley Tribune reported April 1 that a Maricopa County court official had told staff in e-mails to stop asking defendants for their immigration status. "Why we have to pass laws to enforce laws is amazing to me," said Rep. Russell Pearce, a Mesa Republican who promoted Proposition 100 and who helped sponsor the new bill. "The public says no bond and that's what it ought to be."
The Arizona Constitution includes a general right of bail with certain exceptions, but Proposition 100 added an exception for illegal immigrants charged with serious felony offenses.
The bill, which was amended to replace its original contents with the bail issue, now awaits a formal House vote. Passage would send it to the Senate for consideration of the no-bail measure.
The House rejected a Democratic amendment to set a higher evidence standard for courts to use in deciding whether a defendant charged with a serious felon is in the country illegally.
Under the bill, some U.S. citizens would be victims of racial profiling and denied bail "simply because they speak Spanish or have dark hair," Rep. Pete Rios, D-Hayden. Pearce and Republican Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, said the door for legislative action was held open for lawmakers by the state's top judge when she said in an April 3 letter that lawmakers could consider setting a standard of proof and directing police to obtain and provide relevant information.
Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth V. McGregor's letter also said the court system hadn't tried to thwart Proposition 100's intent but there was "some inconsistencies and confusion" among courts, law enforcement personnel and defense and prosecution attorneys.
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has said some cases in which bail was allowed involved commissioners disregarding admissions by defendants and information provided by law enforcement officials.
Presiding Superior Court Barbara Mundell wrote in a newspaper commentary published Monday by The Arizona Republic that her court was obeying both Proposition 100 and an April 3 implementation order by McGregor. Accusations to the contrary are false, Mundell wrote.
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Mexican nationals let go after mistake at N.M. traffic stop
The Associated Press
SANTA FE - Ten Mexican immigrants were mistakenly released at a drunken driving checkpoint on Interstate 25 due to a miscommunication, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman says.
New Mexico State police officers at a roadblock last Friday near Algodones stopped a sports utility vehicle with 10 people inside. Officers determined the driver had a valid out-of-state license, but that the passengers did not have permission to be in the country.
The officers said they called the Albuquerque ICE office and were told there was no space for the immigrants. But ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said Wednesday there was space, and blamed a miscommunication. "The reference to the lack of space was erroneous," she said, adding: "Our special agents didn't effectively communicate our policy to state police officers." She said the agency is taking steps to make sure something similar doesn't happen in the future.
Senior Patrolman Jose Salazar said at the time that he had no choice but to let the immigrants go, and said ICE had no record of the driver running illegal immigrants. "At that point we have to cut them loose; there's nothing we can do," he said.
The immigrants in the group were from different states in Mexico and said they were headed to Santa Fe from Phoenix for work in restaurants and construction. Some said they had been to New Mexico before.
State police officers typically have no problem getting ICE to detain immigrants stopped by officers, Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson said.
WASHINGTON -- An impassioned Sen. Mel Martinez said late Thursday he was disappointed after the immigration bill stalled in the Senate, but he said he planned to continue to do ''all that I can do'' to see that the Senate revisits the issue. He suggested the issue was only on ``hiatus.''
''It would be incredibly easy to walk away from this,'' said the Florida Republican, who was criticized from the right and the left for his role in forging the compromise. 'It's awfully easy to say, `This won't work, this is wrong . . . this is a mistake.' ''
Martinez said he hoped the proposal's loudest critics would develop a plan of their own, ``doing something other than tearing down those that have been put together.''
He said he had hoped for more time to tackle the bill, but acknowledged growing frustration with the pace of debate.
''In the blame game of Washington, there's plenty of blame to go around, and I'm not going to dwell on that,'' he said. But he said he remained committed to the legislation, ``because I believe we owe it to the American people to tackle this very important problem.''
Martinez invoked immigrant workers in Central Florida's sprawling theme parks and blamed Congress for the uncertainty he said was sure to be felt by undocumented workers as well as by those who wanted only border-only enforcement.
''I'm more disappointed for the families, wondering what is going to happen to them,'' he said. ``The people who fix the cars, mow the lawns at the golf club, the people that make the hotel beds in Central Florida for the tourists to go to Disney World. . . . Those are the people that come to me and say, `Are you doing something about immigration?'
''The United States Senate, with its long and storied history, today, bipartisanly, failed the American people,'' he said. Then added, ``We have a chance to recover and recoup. We have a chance to come back together, to try again to bring this issue to a close and do something for the American people in a way that will bring honor to this institution.''
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, called the bill's apparent collapse in the Senate a ``missed opportunity.''
''Although not a perfect bill, had it become law, so many people could have come out of the shadows and earned a decent living legally,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. ``. . . It's so easy to be a critic. So easy to blame immigrants for our nation's ill.
''I am saddened for the folks who had so much hope for its passage,'' she said.
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session (2007)
[b]Vote Date Question Result Description/b] Vote Date Issue Question Result Description
00206 07-Jun S. 1348 On the Cloture Motion S.Amdt. 1150 Rejected Upon Reconsideration, Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Kennedy Amdt. No. 1150, As Amended; In the nature of a substitute.
00205 07-Jun S. 1348 On the Motion Agreed to Motion to Instruct Sgt. at Arms; Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
00204 07-Jun S. 1348 On the Cloture Motion Rejected Motion to Invoke Cloture on S. 1348; Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
00203 07-Jun S. 1348 On the Cloture Motion S.Amdt. 1150 Rejected Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Kennedy Amdt. No. 1150, As Amended; In the nature of a substitute.
00202 07-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1311 Rejected Coburn Amdt. No. 1311, As Modified; To require the enforcement of existing border security and immigration laws and Congressional approval before amnesty can be granted.
00201 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1316 Agreed to Dorgan Amdt. No. 1316; To sunset the Y-1 nonimmigrant visa program after a 5-yer period. ______________________________________________ 00200 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1202 Rejected Obama Amdt. No. 1202, As Modified; To provide a date on which the authority of the section relating to the increasing of American competitiveness through a merit-based evaluation system for immigrants shall be terminated.
00199 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1339 Rejected Vitter Amdt. No. 1339; To require that the U.S. VISIT system- the biometric border check-in/check-out system first required by Congress in 1996 that is already well past its already postponed 2005 implementation due date- be finished as part of the enforcement trigger.
00198 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1151 Agreed to Inhofe Amdt. No. 1151; To amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the national language of the Government of the United States, and for other purposes.
00197 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1384 Agreed to Salazar Amdt. No. 1384; To preserve and enhance the role of the English language.
00196 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1374 Rejected Ensign Amdt. No. 1374; To improve the criteria and weights of the merit-based evaluation system.
00195 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Motion S.Amdt. 1183 Rejected Motion to Waive CBA Re: Clinton Amdt. No. 1183, As Further Modified; To reclassify the spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents as immediate relatives.
00194 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1460 Agreed to Kyl Amdt. No. 1460; To modify the allocation of visas with respect to the backlog of family-based visa petitions.
00193 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Motion S.Amdt. 1194 Rejected Motion to Waive CBA Re: Menendez Amdt. No 1194; To modify the deadline for the family backlog reduction.
00192 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1234 Agreed to Sessions Amdt. No. 1234; To save American taxpayers up to $24 billion in the 10 years after passage of this Act, by preventing the earned income tax credit, which is, according to the Congressional Research Service, the largest anti-poverty entitlement program of the Federal Government, from being claimed by Y temporary workers or illegal aliens given status by this Act until they adjust to legal permanent resident status.
00191 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1331 Agreed to Reid Amdt. No. 1331; To clarify the application of the earned income tax credit.
00190 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1250 Agreed to Cornyn Amdt. No. 1250; To address documentation of employment and to make an amendment with respect to mandatory disclosure of information
00189 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1267 Rejected Bingaman Amdt. No. 1267 As Modified; To remove the requirement that Y-1 nonimmigrant visa holders leave the United States before they are able to renew their visa.
00188 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1197 Rejected DeMint Amdt. No. 1197; To require health care coverage for holders of Z nonimmigrant visas.
00187 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1184 Rejected Cornyn Amdt. No. 1184, As Modified; To establish a permanent bar for gang members, terrorists, and other criminals.
00186 06-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1333 Agreed to Kennedy Amdt. No. 1333, as Modified; To increase the immigration-related penalties associated with various criminal activities
00185 05-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1176 Agreed to Feingold Amdt. No. 1176; To establish commissions to review the facts and circumstances surrounding injustices suffered by European Americans, European Latin Americans, and Jewish refugees during World War II.
00184 05-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1170 Rejected McConnell Amdt. No. 1170; To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require individuals voting in person to present photo identification.
00183 05-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1231 Agreed to Durbin Amdt. No. 1231; To ensure that employers make efforts to recruit American workers.
00182 05-Jun S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1189 Rejected Allard Amdt. No. 1189; To eliminate the preference given to people who entered the United States illegally over people seeking to enter the country legally in the merit-based evaluation system for visas.
___________________________________________ 00180 24-May On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1157 Rejected Vitter Amdt. No. 1157; To strike title VI related to Nonimmigrants in the United States Previously in Unlawful Status).
00179 24-May On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1223 Agreed to Sanders Amdt. No. 1223; To establish the American Competitiveness Scholarship program.
00180 24-May S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1157 Rejected Vitter Amdt. No. 1157; To strike title VI (related to Nonimmigrants in the United States Previously in Unlawful Status).
00179 24-May S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1223 Agreed to Sanders Amdt. No. 1223; To establish the American Competitiveness Scholarship Program.
00178 24-May S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1181 Rejected Dorgan Amdt. No. 1181; To sunset the Y-1 nonimmigrant visa program after a 5-year period.
00177 24-May S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1158 Rejected Coleman Amdt. No. 1158; To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to facilitate information sharing between federal and local law enforcement officials related to an individual's immigration status.
00176 24-May S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1186 Agreed to Akaka Amdt. No. 1186; To exempt children of certain Filipino World War II veterans from the numerical limitations on immigrant visas.
00175 23-May S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1169 Agreed to Bingaman Amdt. No. 1169; To reduce to 200,000 the number of certain non-immigrants permitted to be admitted during a fiscal year.
00174 22-May S. 1348 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1153 Rejected Dorgan Amdt. No. 1153; To strike the Y nonimmigrant guestworker program.
00173 21-May S. 1348 On the Cloture Motion Agreed to Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to Consider S.1348; Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
[/QUOTE]
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Another inmate held too long in prisonSpanish-speaking man victim of clerical error in Prince William County jail
Carol Guzy / Washington Post
Jose Luis Duarte Flores was left in Prince William jail five days after he should have been released, the second time this has happened at the Prince William Jail in a year.
By Theresa Vargas
Updated: 4:28 a.m. CT June 8, 2007
For five days recently, Luis Duarte sat in the Prince William County jail, not knowing that he should be released, not realizing that because of someone else's mistake, he was sitting there, scared, confused and forgotten in a system that had lost someone like him before.
"I had never been in jail," Duarte said in Spanish. "It was horrible. There's so many people, and you're scared of everyone you see, because you don't really know who you are living with."
For the second time in a year, a Hispanic immigrant who does not speak English remained in the jail after his release date. The first time, Fernando Antonio Cruz, a 25-year-old from Mexico, lingered behind bars for two months after he should have been freed. This time, it was Duarte, a 21-year-old from El Salvador who has lived legally in the area on a work visa since he was a teenager.
How Duarte ended up slipping into the same bureaucratic crevice as Cruz -- and why he was told he would not be released until June, even though a court declared him free in April -- is being looked into by the Virginia attorney general's office. Jail officials said that it should not have happened and that the county has been trying to improve communication between the judicial branches.
Duarte's attorneys, meanwhile, say his case illustrates a larger problem.
"What we have here is clearly a serious equal-protection issue for the entire population that does not speak English," said Alexandria-based lawyer Victor M. Glasberg. "They are dramatically more at risk of getting lost in the abyss."
* * *
Before Luis Duarte stepped into the jail, his life was one of carefully coordinated days. Seven days a week, from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., he worked cutting trees, and from 5 p.m. until 10:30 p.m., he stocked shelves at a Manassas grocery store. In the few hours in between, he slept in a rented room at a friend's house.
While he was in jail, he said, he watched helplessly as it all slipped away.
He was fired from the tree job when he didn't show up, he said. Then the grocery store job was gone. He gave up the room to someone else after jail officials told him he wouldn't be released until at least June 14, the date that jail records listed as his next court appearance.
What jail officials didn't know -- because it had not received the proper paperwork from General District Court -- is that the charges against Duarte had been settled and he was free to go, his attorneys said. The case was settled April 27, and the June court date was no longer on the docket.
"He would have sat there," his criminal attorney, Cindy L. Decker, said. "June would have come. June would have gone."
Decker, who made the calls that got Duarte out of jail, said this is what happened:
On April 12, Duarte was charged with driving under the influence, a misdemeanor, and forging a public document, a felony. Decker said the latter had been a misunderstanding because of his name: Jose Luis Duarte Flores. When police questioned him, he signed two documents "Luis Flores" and then signed a copy of his warrant "Luis Duarte," according to the criminal complaint.
Decker said that when she realized the felony charge was a mistake, she had his court date moved up and asked prosecutors to amend the charge to obstruction of justice, which they did, according to court documents. On April 27, Duarte pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge, for which he was fined $200, and to DUI, for which he was sentenced to 90 days in jail with all but five suspended.
He should have been allowed to go home that day. But five days later, a lawyer in Decker's office, Mark Voss, got a call from Duarte's friend asking how much more money it would take to get him out, not understanding how the U.S. justice system works
Senators Hope to Revive Immigration Bill in Future
Friday, June 08, 2007
WASHINGTON — A widely-criticized immigration reform bill died on a procedural motion in the Senate on Thursday night, but key negotiators are suggesting that it may live to see another day.
Republican Sens. Arlen Specter, Jon Kyl, Lindsey Graham and Mel Martinez were all upbeat after a vote to end debate failed 45-50, failing to reach the 60-vote threshold to move toward final passage.
Despite the fact that it was primarily Republicans who voted against the maneuver, all the GOP lawmakers who spoke with FOX News were upbeat that the legislation could be revived soon — even within a matter of weeks, with one negotiator noting that last year's bill was first pulled from the floor by then-Majority Leader Bill Frist before it was brought back up again and passed.
Graham said he talked extensively with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and is confident the bill will return for senators to take another crack at developing a comprehensive plan to legalize millions of foreigners living unlawfully in the United States.
"I know where the votes are for final passage. ... We're going to get this done," Graham said, adding that the topic is not going to go away. "All I can say is, if you name a post office, you're going to be talking about immigration."
"There are ways we can do this," Reid said later. "There can be an agreement on the number of amendments. Hopefully we can do that in the next several weeks. We're very close."
Reid said support for the bill exists across the country despite repeated polls showing growing opposition to the thrust of the bill and many of its specifics — particularly on the issues of legalization for illegals here now, a guest worker program and chain migration.
"There are a lot of good things in this bill," Reid said. "I'm a creature of the Senate. I understand we live by the rules that govern this body. I accept that. We're going to do everything we can to pass this bill as soon as we can. When is that? I don't know, but we're going to work hard and try to put aside the hurt feelings that we have. The country needs and the Senate needs to do this."
In the meantime, Reid said, President Bush, who champions the comprehensive reform bill, needs to work harder to get Republicans in line.
"Where are the president's men?" Reid asked. "Where are the president's people. I want to finish this bill. But I can't do it alone, we (the Democrats) can't do it alone. We need some help. And I would hope the president understands....he has a relatively short period of time to help us with this piece of legislation."
The legislation up for debate included a temporary guest worker program and a pathway to legalizing the estimated 12 million or more illegal immigrants in the U.S. It also offers provisions to tighten borders and institute a new system to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers.
As the Senate drew closer to a vote on the bill, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff lobbied lawmakers to pass the bill, spending nearly three hours in negotiations in a back room off the Senate floor.
Upon leaving, both men shook bill sponsor Kyl's hand and showered him with praise and encouragement, saying the bill would get done. Gutierrez promised, "We're going to get there. No problem."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed that the Senate was close to passage of this bill. McConnell, R-Ky., said the bill failed because Democrats tried to rush it, not allowing Republicans to offer key amendments — like tougher border security measures and legalization process for illegal immigrants — that could win over opponents. All but seven Republicans voted against ending the debate.
"Both of us desire the same result, which is to get a bipartisan immigration bill that would be an improvement over the disastrous status quo we have now," McConnell said of himself and Reid.
"I think we were very close to getting there," McConnell added. "We could have finished this bill in a couple of more days in my judgment. We're giving up on this bill too soon. I think we are within a few days of getting to the end of what many would applaud as an important bipartisan accomplishment of this Congress."
Eleven Democrats also voted against ending debate, even though many who supported it had complained that the bill created a class warfare scenario that locks temporary workers into second-class citizen status and rips apart families by favoring employability over blood ties in the approval of future immigrants.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called the death of the bill, "a disappointment" but held out hope the measure would survive.
"This issue isn't going away," Kennedy said. "Doing nothing is not an option."
Specter, one of the negotiators in what had been dubbed the "grand bargain," condemned the death of the bill, arguing there was opposition on both sides of the aisle but that Republicans did more to hopelessly stall the bill than did Democrats.
The Democrats were wrong but the Republicans were wronger, to use a word that doesn't exist."
Specter also said the Senate was diminished by the debate and its inability to pass the bipartisan compromise.
"To listen to the debate the last several days, I think people wonder just what is going on," Specter said. "We crafted a bill, bipartisan...and as of this moment we have not succeeded. I believe we will yet succeed. Accusations have been made that it is amnesty but the fact is if we do nothing we have silent amnesty. This matter is on life-support but it is not dead. It is not moribund."
While Reid insists the bill is not dead, a crowded Senate calendar complicates its prospects. Reid immediately moved onto energy policy after the vote.
FOX News' Major Garrett and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
Good morning. This week I am traveling in Europe, where I am meeting with world leaders to discuss ways to address challenges like climate change, to work together to combat diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS and help advance freedom throughout the world.
Back at home, America is engaged in an important discussion about immigration. Most Americans agree that the 1986 immigration law failed. It failed because it did not secure our border, it did not include tough worksite enforcement, it did not help people assimilate, and it encouraged more people to come here illegally. Today, illegal immigration is supported by criminal enterprises dedicated to document forgery, human trafficking, and labor exploitation. This is unacceptable, and we need to fix it in a way that honors our finest traditions.
People have strong feelings on this issue. I believe we can express our feelings, disagree on certain elements, and still come together on a solution. We can accomplish that through the bipartisan Senate bill. It is based on months of negotiation. The result is legislation that puts border security first, establishes a temporary worker program to meet the legitimate needs of our growing economy, sets up a mandatory system for verifying employment eligibility, and resolves the status of the estimated 12 million people who are here illegally. If this bill becomes law, America will finally have in place a system that addresses all these problems -- and can be adjusted to address future problems that may arise.
I understand the skepticism some members of Congress have regarding certain aspects of this legislation. Like any legislation, this bill is not perfect. And like many Senators, I believe the bill will need to be further improved along the way before it becomes law. In the heat of the debate, critics and supporters can sometimes talk past each other. So I want to speak to members about some of the concerns I have heard.
I know some of you doubt that the Federal government will make good on the border security and enforcement commitments in this bill. My Administration is determined to learn from the mistakes of the past decades. And that is why we are now committing more resources than ever before to border security, doubling the number of Border Patrol agents, building hundreds of miles of fencing, and employing advanced technology, from infrared sensors to unmanned aerial vehicles. The bill builds on this progress by requiring that we meet border security objectives before certain other provisions can take effect.
This bill also addresses other problems with the 1986 reform. Unlike the 1986 law, this bill includes a temporary worker program to ensure that those who come here to work do so in a legal and orderly way. Unlike the 1986 law, this bill gives honest employers the tools they need to ensure that they are hiring legal workers -- beginning with a tamper-resistant identity card. Businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens will be punished. Workers who come here illegally will be sent home. And unlike the 1986 law, this bill does not grant amnesty for those who are already here.
Amnesty is forgiveness with no penalty for people who have broken our laws to get here. In contrast, this bill requires illegal workers to pay a fine, register with the government, undergo background checks, pay their back taxes, and hold a steady job. And if at the end of eight years they want to apply for a green card, they will have to pay an additional substantial fine, show they have learned English, and return to their home country so they can apply from there. In short, they will have to prove themselves worthy of this great land.
I also want to say a word to those in Congress concerned about family unification. This bill will create a merit-based point system that recognizes the importance of family ties by granting points to some applicants who have family members here legally. More than half of new green cards will go to family members, immigrants will be allowed to bring in their spouses and minor children, and we will clear the backlog for millions of people who have been waiting patiently in line.
Securing the border and upholding family values are not partisan concerns. They are important to all Americans. They must be addressed, and this bill is the best way to do it. I urge Senator Reid to act quickly to bring this bill back to the Senate floor for a vote, and I urge Senators from both parties to support it. The immigration debate has divided too many Americans. By coming together, we can build an immigration system worthy of this great Nation -- one that keeps us safe and prosperous, welcomes dreamers and doers from across the globe, and trusts in our country's genius for making us all Americans -- one Nation under God.
Thank you for listening.
END
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In order for true immigration reform to happen, there needs to be two bills. One bill should focus on the legal immigration problems that plague the system. This would include changing the how we process employment visa to a merit point system while easing the backlogs of family immigraton including fiancees, marriage, and sibling visa. The other bill should focus on the illegal immigration problem where we must balance enforcement to prevent future illegal immigration to how to incorporate the illegals who live and work currently in the US. Then the bills can be combined into a single package and voted on in Congress.
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams on Defense of the boston Massacre
I agree with Hudson 100%. All the talk seems to be about guest workers and legalized aliens, but little attention is being paid to the actual problems within the law itself.
People talk a lot about sanctuary cities, but the current system has created entire "sanctuary circuits" and most people seem to ignore that reality. The DHS Secretary has correctly pointed out that such extreme complexity is hindering the applicability of the law, but the versions of CIR we've seen so far tend to increase the complexity potentially triggering even more severe circuit splits, more confusion and more disparities in the application of a federal law that, by definition, should be applied uniformly across the land.
WASHINGTON, June 9 — Helped by the fight over immigration, Democratic presidential candidates are counting Hispanic voters like never before, prompted by a string of early primaries in states with sizable Hispanic voting blocs.
David B. Parker/Reno Gazette-Journal, via Associated Press Hillary Rodham Clinton in April in Nevada, a state with a large Hispanic population. Her campaign has a team focusing on Latino votes.
Andy Barron, Reno Gazette-Journal, via Associated Press Barack Obama in Nevada last month. He has courted members and leaders of a culinary workers’ union there, most of whom are Hispanic. It has forced candidates to hire outreach consultants, to start Spanish-language Web sites and to campaign vigorously before Hispanic audiences.
The battle for Hispanic voters is a result of the decision by several states with large Hispanic populations to move their presidential primaries to early 2008, including California, Florida and New York. Roughly two-thirds of the nation’s Hispanic residents live in nine of the states holding Democratic primaries or caucuses on or before Feb. 5.
Republican and Democratic strategists, as well as independent analysts, say the influence of Hispanic voters is likely to be amplified next year because of an unusually intense response in many Hispanic communities to immigration policy. Conservative Republicans, with the help of some left-leaning Democrats, teamed up on Thursday to derail an immigration bill in the Senate that would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
It is in the new early primary states where Democrats hope the outreach efforts bear fruit. In the last presidential election, Hispanic voters accounted for a significant part of the overall Democratic primary electorate in California (16 percent), New York (11 percent), Arizona (17 percent) and Florida (9 percent), all states that will hold primaries by Feb 5.
Sergio Bendixen, a pollster hired by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign to study Hispanic voting trends, said: “The Hispanic vote has never been all that important in the presidential primary process in the United States. But that will change in 2008.â€
At this early stage, Mrs. Clinton, a New York Democrat, appears best poised to benefit from the heightened Hispanic role in the primary process. She has already captured a prized endorsement, of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, one of the nation’s most prominent Hispanic politicians.
Mrs. Clinton is also well known and liked by many Hispanics, with several national New York Times/CBS News polls from the past few months showing that about 60 percent of registered Hispanic voters who identify themselves as Democrats have a favorable view of her, while a quarter do not.
Meanwhile, Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, remains a blank slate to many Hispanic voters, polls show, with 40 percent having no opinion of him. But his aspirational biography could prove a draw as more Hispanic voters get to know him.
Former Senator John Edwards is even less well known among Democratic Hispanic voters. While a third have a positive view of Mr. Edwards and fewer than 10 percent have an unfavorable view of him, 6 in 10 are unable to offer an opinion.
The only Hispanic in the race, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a Democrat, is working to build a base and establish a political identity beyond the Southwest.
Many Democrats were as troubled by the Senate immigration bill as were Republicans, but for decidedly different reasons. Mrs. Clinton expressed concerns about the legislation, particularly a provision that makes it harder for legal immigrants in the United States to bring relatives from abroad. Mr. Obama said that he would have supported the bill, but that he too had similar concerns about the provision, according to his aides.
On the Republican side, two of the main candidates, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney, opposed the immigration bill, while Senator John McCain played a main role in drafting the legislation, only to face a huge backlash from conservative Republicans raising alarms about what they call a flood of immigrants.
The bill’s setback — a major defeat for President Bush — could complicate Republican efforts to win over the fast-growing Hispanic electorate and help Democrats solidify their hold on these voters, an electoral prize expected to increase in importance in coming decades. Surveys showed that Hispanics were a small part of the Republican primary vote in 2000, with their greatest influence being in California, where they made up 9 percent of the vote.
The debate over immigration has spurred Hispanic leaders and voters to mobilize like few issues in recent memory have. The National Association of Latino Elected Officials has joined with the Hispanic television network Univision on a national campaign to help Hispanic residents fill out citizenship applications and to help those who are already citizens register to vote.
Stephanie Pillersdorf, a spokeswoman for Univision, said the number of Hispanic residents who had applied for citizenship in Los Angeles County alone had gone up 146 percent since the campaign started several months ago.
The scramble for Hispanic support is evident both within the campaigns and out on the trail.
On Friday, Mrs. Clinton spoke to Hispanic leaders in the Bronx, where she accused Republicans of undermining the immigration bill in the Senate. “The bill was mostly killed by people who don’t want any immigration reform and don’t want a path toward legalization,†she said. “There’s a very big anti-immigrant feeling that is influencing the problem right now, particularly on the Republican side.â€
Mr. Edwards, who hopes his populist appeal will draw support from Hispanics, is dispatching his political director, David Medina, to meet with members of Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida. Mr. Richardson alternates between English and Spanish on the campaign trail. Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, also often likes to display his fluency in Spanish, including when he announced his candidacy on CNN en Español.
Republicans have been making similar efforts. Mr. McCain has been making appearances before Hispanic audiences around the country, including in Miami, where he recently gave a speech on immigration. He also has access to a deep bench of prominent Hispanic leaders who fill in for him on Spanish-language radio and television programs, including Representatives Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, all of Florida. The senator himself has also made appearances on Univision and Telemundo. Mr. Romney, in turn, announced on Friday the creation of a steering committee to help him attract Hispanic voters.
Strategists for several Democratic campaigns say the new calendar has set the stage for Hispanic voters to have much more influence in picking the parties’ presidential nominees than they did when states like Iowa and New Hampshire were essentially alone among the early states in the nominating process.
In fact, in the 2004 race, Senator John Kerry did not assemble a Hispanic outreach and media operation until about five months before the general election.
By contrast, the Clinton campaign has already put in place a driven Hispanic outreach team that, among other things, issues press releases in Spanish on a regular basis and has a stable of Spanish-speaking surrogates to fill in for Mrs. Clinton at events that focus on Hispanics. It has also assigned a prominent role to its campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, a woman of Mexican descent who has been one of Mrs. Clinton’s most trusted advisers and friends since her days as first lady of Arkansas. Mrs. Doyle, who played a crucial role in getting the recent endorsement from Mr. Villaraigosa, has made herself available for interviews with Hispanic organizations of all sorts.
Democrats are optimistic about their prospects of making large gains among Hispanic voters, mindful of the progress they made in the 2006 midterm elections, when only 26 percent of Hispanics voted for Republican Congressional candidates. That was down from 44 percent in 2004, when Mr. Bush was at the top of the ticket, according to nationwide exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky.
While Mr. Bush’s popularity with Hispanics had been a factor in drawing large numbers of them to the Republican Party, many Hispanics appear to be returning to the Democratic fold as conservative efforts gained momentum last year to restrict immigration and build a wall along the Mexican border.
Democrats are doing what they can to encourage that return. Mr. Obama has traveled to Nevada several times to meet with members and leaders of a culinary workers’ union, most of whom are Hispanic women who work in Las Vegas hotels and casinos. The Obama campaign says the union could play a decisive role in generating voter turnout when the state holds its caucus next January.
The campaign is also sending dozens of volunteers this weekend to pass out Spanish-language literature in heavily Hispanic cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Houston and San Antonio, and is making videos available on its Web site with closed captioning in Spanish.
Mr. Edwards, in turn, is betting that his antipoverty campaign of the last few years, including helping unions organize in industries with large numbers of Hispanic workers, will give him an edge.
Earlier this year, he met with Arturo Rodriguez, the president of the farm workers’ union, and several hundred union members in Fresno, Calif. Mr. Edwards’s campaign has also sent prominent Hispanic supporters to act as surrogates for him on the campaign trial, including Patricia Madrid, the former attorney general of New Mexico, who recently went to Nevada to meet with Hispanic politicians and activists.
If any candidate can appeal to the ethnic pride of Hispanic voters, it is Mr. Richardson, the New Mexico governor, who often points to his Mexican roots (his mother is a native of Mexico) when appearing before Hispanic audiences.
The main problem for Mr. Richardson is that he is a relatively unknown figure among Hispanic voters, as well as the general electorate. To raise his profile among Hispanics, Mr. Richardson has turned to prominent Hispanics, including Gloria Molina, a Los Angeles County supervisor, who introduced him at the rally where he recently announced his candidacy.
David Contarino, Mr. Richardson’s campaign manager, predicted that his candidacy would become a matter of “interest and pride†among Hispanic voters once they learned of his record and roots.
“His name is Bill Richardson; that does not necessarily communicate his background,†Mr. Contarino said dryly.
WASHINGTON, Mich., June 8 — The undoing of the immigration bill in the Senate this week had many players, but none more effective than angry voters like Monique Thibodeaux, who joined a nationwide campaign to derail it.
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Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times Monique Thibodeaux, who lives in suburban Detroit, made phone calls and wrote senators to express her opposition to the immigration measure.
Andy Manis for The New York Times Representatives Steve King, left, and Ed Royce with Steven Elliott, second from left, and Ron Dejong, right, of Grassfire.org, which presented a petition signed by nearly 700,000 opponents of the immigration bill. Mrs. Thibodeaux, an office manager at a towing company here in suburban Detroit, became politically active as she never had before. Guided by conservative Internet organizations, she made calls and sent e-mail messages to senators across the country and pushed her friends to do the same.
“These people came in the wrong way, so they don’t belong here, period,†Mrs. Thibodeaux, a Republican, said of some 12 million illegal immigrants who would have been granted a path to citizenship under the Senate bill.
“In my heart I knew it was wrong for our country,†she said of the measure.
Supporters of the legislation defended it as an imperfect but pragmatic solution to the difficult problem of illegal immigration. Public opini
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