A Failure to Protect Kids

By LISA FALKENBERG
July 30, 2007
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

There were flowers in the waiting room. Valentine decorations on the walls. A sign above the entrance read, "God bless this home and all who enter."

In the boys' rooms, plaid comforters sprawled over cozy wooden beds and posters of cars and soccer players papered the walls. Girls' rooms were softened by pink rugs and stuffed animals. The children watched the Discovery Channel and reviewed for tests in small classrooms. They smiled.

From my vantage point, as an outsider touring the halls of the privately run South Texas facility for unaccompanied immigrant youths, all seemed well. The children seemed safe.

How wrong I was. During that visit to the facility in the rural town of Nixon in February, there were no clues about the kind of abuse that raged behind closed doors.

Looks were deceiving
At the time, I was working on a story for the Houston Chronicle on the double standard of our government's treatment of undocumented children:

If they come with parents, they could end up in a prison-like environment, monitored by lasers, forced to wear uniforms and endure thrice-daily headcounts in the custody of Immigration Customs Enforcement, the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

If they came alone, they are usually sent to child-friendly shelters like the one in Nixon, which are licensed by the state and governed by federal regulations requiring special treatment for children. They were in the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, whose director vowed a commitment to protecting children regardless of their immigration status.

Nixon's 136-bed shelter, Texas Sheltered Care, owned by Away From Home Inc., contracted with ORR to house about 100 mostly teenage male undocumented immigrants from Central American countries while they awaited deportation or reunification with family members.

To an outsider, Nixon seemed like a model facility, a shining example of how the federal government was doing right by at least some immigrant children.

Staffer indicted
A few days after my visit, news broke that this supposed shelter from the storm for immigrant children had become a new kind of hell. These particularly vulnerable children, many of whom braved a scorching desert journey to escape poverty, abuse or a parentless existence in their homelands, were reportedly enduring sexual abuse from their would-be protector.
Last month, without much fanfare, Belinda Aguilar Leal, a former staffer at the Nixon facility, was indicted on four counts of sexual assault involving immigrant youths. According to the indictment, the 41-year-old Leal performed **** *** on two male youths and fondled the genitals of two more during various incidents in January and February.

Kevin Lashus, an Austin attorney and former federal prosecutor who represents more than one of the youths in the indictment, said he believed Leal's victims numbered more than 20. Leal allegedly abused certain youths repeatedly, in front of others, luring them with promises of release, food, video games or alcohol.

Arrest got little attention
Compared with the statewide *** abuse scandal that rocked the Texas Youth Commission earlier this year, the Nixon cases got little media attention. Like TYC, the system built to protect them was broken. Failures in communication, accountability and limitations in federal jurisdiction delayed and hindered justice.
"My kids were abused by everyone," says Lashus.

Although Nixon youths told counselors about abuse, their allegations weren't taken seriously until witnesses who hadn't been abused backed up the victims' claims, Lashus said.

A counselor reported the alleged abuse to Gonzales County law enforcement, but investigators with the FBI soon took over the case. Meanwhile, ORR officials complained about not having been notified about the *** abuse allegations sooner.

To make matters worse, after reviewing the FBI report, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton claimed he didn't have jurisdiction to prosecute and handed it back to Gonzales County, which began investigating anew. Leal was indicted, but she won't be subject to federal sentencing guidelines, which likely would have led to harsher punishment.

As it turned out, ORR, the federal agency charged with protecting the Nixon youths, had very little power to do so when it came to sexual abuse.

Loophole may be closed
Before 2003, the Department of Justice was the agency responsible for detaining immigrants, and prosecutors had the power to file criminal charges against those who abused detainees in the agency's custody. But when Congress transferred custody to other agencies, including Homeland Security's ICE and Health and Human Services' ORR, it neglected to transfer the authority to prosecute *** abuse cases.

The outdated law had created a loophole that left every immigrant man, woman and child in federal custody without a crucial layer of protection from sexual abuse.

Finally, last week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., moved to address the problem by restoring some protection to immigrants in custody. Her amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill, which passed the Senate but awaits a conference panel vote, promises to close the loophole by ensuring the prosecution of anyone who sexually abuses a child or adult in federal custody.

It won't help the Nixon youths. But it's a small start in in repairing the broken system that failed them.

lisa.falkenberg@chron.com

Mexican Officials Visit U.S. on Immigration Fact-Finding Mission

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

ROCK "” Mexican immigration experts visiting the United States to see how this country deals with illegal immigrants say the U.S. is not the only country with a porous southern border.

In Mexico, immigration officials struggle to handle a growing number of immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras and other countries who seek low-wage Mexican jobs that have been abandoned for better-paying jobs in the United States.

"Mexico is a country of both transit and destination," said Gabriel Perez Duperou, deputy director of Sin Fronteras, an immigrants rights group based in Mexico City. "But for Mexico, it's not logical to demand a policy from a country to respect human rights if we are not respecting the human rights of immigrants."

In part to learn and critique, a group of Mexican governmental officials and academics visited Arkansas as part of a three-city tour of how the United States handles immigration enforcement. The group traveled to El Paso, Texas, to see how officers patrol the border and to visit a jail for those arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The group also visited Washington, D.C., visiting with officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In Little Rock, the group met Tuesday with the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation to discuss a report it conducted about the economic benefits of Arkansas' burgeoning Hispanic immigrant population. Census estimates show more than 141,000 Hispanics now live in the state, which has one of the fastest rates of growth in the nation.

"It is a lot of immigration. But what is more "” the resources they use from the government or what they are making?" said Guadalupe Pena Trigueros, a professor of immigration studies at Mexico's National Autonomous University. "I see a positive result (here), that they are giving more to the state than what they are consuming."

Overall, most Mexicans see that positive effect and wonder why the U.S. Congress struggled in trying to pass a recent immigration package to create some form of a guest worker program.

However, Mexican President Felipe Calderon acknowledges the need to provide better treatment to the migrants, said Ana Cecilia Oliva Balcarcel, director of international affairs for Mexico's National Institute of Migration. Oliva acknowledged many of those migrants end up staying in Mexico's southern states, working construction jobs and other menial labor.

Mexico created a program to provide documentation for those working in the southern state and is working to decriminalize being an illegal immigrant, Oliva said. However, she said police and labor abuses do continue.

"We've been working to eliminate the corruption," Oliva said. "We still miss some."

Officials have pledged to improve Mexico's own detention centers for immigrants, responding to criticism that illegal Central American migrants are denied the respect Mexico demands for its citizens in the United States.

"It's important to regulate immigration through our country," Oliva said. "We can't put up walls. We're never going to put them up."
"”"”"”
On the Net:

Mexican Consulate in Little Rock: http://portal.sre.gob.mx/littlerock/

National Institute of Migration: http://www.inami.gob.mx/

Mexico Seeks Changes In U.S. Border Plan To Protect Migrant Species

By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY "” Mexico on Monday called on the United States to alter a plan to expand border fences designed to stem illegal immigration, saying the barriers would threaten migratory species accustomed to roaming freely across the frontier.

Ways to minimize environmental damage from the fences could include the creation of cross-border bridge areas so that ecosystems remain connected and "green corridors" of wilderness without roads that would be less attractive to smugglers, according to a report released Monday and prepared for the Mexican government by experts and activists from both nations.

The report also proposed "live" fences of cactuses, removable fencing, and more permeable barriers to allow water, insects and pollen to cross the border. Ecologists say species affected include Mexican jaguars and black bears, and the endangered, antelope-like Sonora Pronghorn.

On Monday, Mexico's Environment Department said the proposed fences would seriously hurt species that cross the 1,952-mile border and that the United States needs to alter or mitigate the barriers where necessary.

"The eventual construction of this barrier would place at risk the various ecosystems that we share," said Environment Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira, noting that the border is not just desert, but includes mountains, rivers and wetlands.

Mexico also wants Washington to expand its environmental impact study on the fences and will file a complaint with the United Nations' International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands if necessary.

The proposed fencing includes at least 370 miles of vehicle barriers and metal walls supplemented by "virtual" barriers of sensors, mobile towers packed with cameras, strong lights, radars and sensors and other technology.

The environmental report said the 700 miles of fencing could isolate border animals into smaller population groups, affecting their genetic diversity. The lights and radar could interfere with nocturnal species, and the construction and traffic along the walls could affect a wider strip of border land than just the fences themselves, activists say.

Environmentalists say construction of the fencing could wipe out endangered species like the Sonoran Pronghorn "” of which only about 100 still exist "” in the coming years.

Exequiel Ezcurra, director of research at the San Diego Natural History Museum, said the pronghorns are used to moving across the border in search of scarce grassland.

The pronghorn "is without doubt the species in the most desperate situation, the number one victim of all the tension and movement on the border," he said.

Foreign-Born Buyers Likely To Play Ever-Bigger Role
Immigrants Prop Up Wilting Housing Sector

Patricia Ortiz, left, plays with her daughter Valentina while her husband Sebastian works on a laptop in the couple's Billerica, Mass., home. The immigrants from Panama cut back on expenses to be able to afford their $389,000 house.
WILLIAM B. PLOWMAN: ASSOCIATED PRESS

By MARK JEWELL
Associated Press
July 30, 2007

BILLERICA, MASS. "” Patricia Ortiz and her husband, Sebastian, cut back on dining out, nights at the movies, and opted for a civil wedding ceremony instead of a big church affair so they could afford a $389,000 three-bedroom colonial.

In doing so, the Panamanian natives helped lift the nation's slumping housing market.

With rising purchasing power, the nation's growing number of foreign-born residents are keeping the bottom from falling out. Amid slow demand from an aging and slow-growing native population, immigrants are fueling predictions of a rebound.

Assuming Congress doesn't impose further restrictions, immigrants "” both legal and illegal "” and their native-born children are forecast to provide the bulk of coming years' growth in home-buying demand, nudging the market back up and aiding the broader economy.

Household growth from 2005 through 2015 is projected to reach about 14.6 million "” about 2 million greater than in 1995-2005 "” primarily because of greater numbers of immigrants, according to a recent analysis by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

"As we come out of this housing recession, immigrants will continue to have an ever-larger role," said Dowell Myers, a University of Southern California professor who studies immigrants' upward mobility. "If you were to stop immigration, it would be devastating, because it would eventually pull this huge chunk out of the housing market's foundation."

Patricia Ortiz and her husband took out an adjustable-rate mortgage to buy last year in the Boston suburb of Billerica, figuring the risk of seeing their current $3,000 monthly payments rise is offset by the value of having a place to call home.

"Once you take the jump, you find ways to make it work," said Ortiz, 31, a supervisor at a dental insurance provider and a naturalized citizen.

Immigrants formed more than 40 percent of the new households added from 2000 to 2005, up from a less than 30 percent share of net new households in the 1990s, the Harvard center found in its latest study.

"The number of new homes being built is sensitive to the number of households added, which is why immigration is so important to the housing market," said Eric Belsky, the center's executive director.

Looking more than a decade ahead, immigrants and their children are being counted on to buy up much of the forecasted glut of homes for sale when baby boomers enter their 70s "” an age when many will move to retirement communities and assisted living centers or die.

"We face this issue of a generational housing bubble," said Myers, the USC professor. "Immigrant home buyers are going to be much more important in the future. It's their kids that are going to be the ones who save us when the baby boomers are going to retire."

IMMIGRATION FEE HIKE WORRIES ADVOCATES

By Moises D. Mendoza
The Associated Press
07.31.2007

PHOENIX "” A new immigration fee schedule went into effect nationally Monday, boosting costs for applicants seeking permanent residency, naturalization or other services, in some cases by more than 100 percent.

Under the plan, which has been hotly contested by immigration-rights advocates, fees go up by an average of 70 percent, the government said.

The cost to apply for naturalized citizenship increased from $400 to $675. The application fee for a residency permit hops from around $300 to more than $1,000.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that deals with services to immigrants, said the fee increases are necessary to streamline their services and modernize infrastructure. The agency relies mostly on application fees for its operations and has been hampered by an inability to keep up with demand, officials said.

Officials project that the fee increases will nearly double the agency's revenue, bringing in an additional $1 billion in the next fiscal year.

By fiscal year 2009 the agency hopes to reduce application processing times by about 20 percent.

"We are required to recover our costs and we have not been recovering our costs," said spokeswoman Marie Sebrechts, who added that many immigrants will be able to apply for special fee waivers.

But some immigrant-rights advocates who have been fighting the fee increases since the government announced them earlier this year remain unconvinced.

"It raises the question of whether citizenship is being made inaccessible to people," said Kat Rodriguez, a coordinator with the Coalition de Derechos Humanos in Tucson. "Doing anything to make it harder for people to get citizenship is bad. These increases are not going to be any help to people who can't afford them."

Immigrants have raced to beat the increases, flooding the agency with applications. About 135,000 people filed naturalization applications in June compared with 71,288 in June 2006, according to government statistics.

Sebrechts, however, said some of increases were the result of better services by the government, the high visibility of immigration issues and natural fluctuations.

http://shusterman.com

3. Congress Switches From Comprehensive to Piecemeal Immigration Reform

With the demise of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) bill in the Senate in June, Congress has thrown in the towel on trying to secure the borders, creating a guest worker program and legalizing the immigration status of 10-12 million undocumented workers this year. Perhaps, Congress will revisit these issues again, but probably not until 2009.
There are a few immigration-related bills which may be enacted into law in 2007. Among them is the AgJobs bill, the DREAM Act, recapturing unused visas for shortage occupations like registered nurses and physical therapists, visas for Iraqis aiding the U.S. and a remote possibility that the quota for skilled workers will be increased.

We summarize each of these issues below:

AgJobs bill - We don't believe for a minute that the unemployed in the U.S. are going to break their backs picking strawberries and lettuce even if farmers raise the pay to $20 per hour and grant the pickers stock options. How can a bill that enjoys broad bipartisan support and is endorsed by farmers, unions and Latino organizations (70% of farm workers are Latino.) not be enacted into law? Soon, if no action is taken by Congress, crops will be rotting in the fields. The AgJobs bill would be the most significant improvement in the lives of those who put food on our tables in two decades. As Woody Guthrie sang in the 1940s, "Is this the best way we can harvest our orchards? Is this the best way we can harvest our crops?" The answer was "no" then, and it is about time that a law was passed to end exploitation of those who perform stoop labor to put food on our tables. We link to the complete text and explanation of the AgJobs Act from our "Immigration Legislation" page at

http://shusterman.com/toc-leg.html#6E

DREAM Act - Children who are brought into the U.S. by their parents and who succeed in mastering English, graduate from high school and go on to excel in college deserve better than to be hunted down and deported. I have a little experience with these students, especially the "AB540" students at my alma mater, UCLA. Think they are majoring in "ethnic studies"? Think again. Many are straight "A" students in science, math, engineering and business. Many were not told of their illegal immigration status by their parents until they were ready to go to college, and couldn't understand why they were denied financial aid. They are as "All-American" as they come, and they could make a huge contribution to our country if only we give them a chance. The DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act is co-sponsored by a bipartisan coalition of over 60 senators and representatives. Expect it to be introduced as an amendment to a piece of "must-pass" legislation during the coming month. We link to the complete text and explanation of the Dream Act from our "Immigration Legislation" page at

http://shusterman.com/toc-leg.html#6E

Nurses and Physical Therapists - In March, Senator Hutchison (R- TX) introduced legislation to "recapture" 61,000 lost green cards and distribute them to qualified registered nurses, physical therapists and their families. Our country is facing a shortage of 1,000,000 registered nurses by 2020, and we can't seem to find a way to properly fund nursing education in the U.S. Senator Durbin (D-Ill) amended the Hutchison proposal to charge U.S. employers $1,500 for each RN sponsored from abroad to help fund U.S. nursing education. Now, Senator Schumer is seeking to attach the Hutchison-Durbin Amendment to a piece of "must pass" legislation in August. For more information about the immigration of nurses and physical therapists, see our "Nurse" page at

http://shusterman.com/toc-rn.html

and our "Allied Health Professionals" page at

http://shusterman.com/toc-ahp.html

Iraqi Refugees - What happens to the Iraqis who have aided the U.S. during the Iraq War after the U.S. begins withdrawing troops from Iraq? Already on the books is a law which allows a few hundred Iraqi and Afghani translators to immigrate to the U.S. Since October 2006, the U.S. has admitted only 133 Iraqi refugees to the U.S. despite Administration assurances that 7,000 refugees would be processed by September 30th. The Iraq War has created not hundreds or thousands, but millions of refugees. On July 9, our Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, requested that the Bush Administration grant immigrant visas to all Iraqis employed by the U.S. government in Iraq: "Our [Iraqi staff members] work under extremely difficult conditions, and are targets for violence including murder and kidnapping. Unless they know that there is some hope of an [immigrant visa] in the future, many will continue to seek asylum, leaving our Mission lacking in one of our most valuable assets." DHS Secretary Chertoff has stated that he would like to see Iraqi refugees processed "as quickly as we can, because I think we have a responsibility there." Senator Kennedy has introduced a bill in the Senate which would grant green cards to persons who worked with the U.S. in Iraq. If there is a will, there is a way. In 1975, the U.S. admitted 140,000 Vietnamese refugees during an eight-month period.

Highly-Skilled Workers - Congressional leaders have begun to discuss a measure which would allow unused employment-based (EB) immigrant visas to be "recaptured". Almost 500,000 professionals and skilled workers have been waiting in line for up to six years for green cards. The measure being discussed would raise the cap on EB green cards from 140,000 to 240,000 or 280,000 annually. For more information regarding this proposed amendment, see our "Computer Professionals" page at

http://shusterman.com/toc-it.html#B

under "Skilled Workers May See Green-Card Surge (July 19)".
Of course, it is also easier to pass a bill "cracking down" on illegal aliens than it is to solve t***** immigration issues. On July 26th, the Senate voted 89-1 to add an immigration enforcement amendment to a homeland security bill that President Bush had already threatened to veto. The amendment would allocate an additional $3 billion to double the size of the Border Patrol, build additional fencing on the U.S.- Mexican border, increase detention beds to 45,000, increase the reliability of the employment verification system and mandate the deportation of people who have overstayed their visas. The sole dissenter was George Voinovich (R-OH) who called this expenditure of money "irresponsible and excessive". The House version of the homeland security bill does not include this amendment. Therefore, whether this amendment makes it into the final bill will be decided by a Senate-House Conference Committee.

Immigration and Customs Raid Businesses, Homes For Chips

By DAN CATERINICCHIA AP
Aug 1, 2007

WASHINGTON "” Federal customs agents Wednesday raided more than 30 businesses and homes, looking for devices that let pirated video games play on Sony's PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360, and Nintendo's Wii.

The alleged sale and distribution of illegal modification chips and copyright circumvention devices for the popular consoles and others included 32 search warrants in 16 states, said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE declined to release the names of those targeted or any other details.

The illegal chips and other devices used on gaming consoles violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Sales of counterfeit or illegally obtained games costs the industry about $3 billion a year globally, not including Internet piracy, estimates the Entertainment Software Association trade group.

"Illicit devices like the ones targeted today are created with one purpose in mind, subverting copyright protections," Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for ICE, said in a release. "These crimes cost legitimate businesses billions of dollars annually and facilitate multiple other layers of criminality, such as smuggling, software piracy and money laundering."

The federal raids came after a yearlong investigation conducted by ICE's Office of the Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Cleveland, which coordinated with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio and the Department of Justice's Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section.

ICE said it also received technical assistance from the software association and other industry members.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. issued a statement applauding ICE's efforts to reduce piracy and protect the gaming industry's intellectual property. A company spokeswoman would not divulge Microsoft's individual piracy losses.

Shares of Microsoft added 15 cents to $29.14 in afternoon trading, while Sony Corp. dipped 44 cents to $52.30.

ICE Might Have To Shift

By LISA FALKENBERG
Jun 14, 2007
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

It seems like a simple notion: Children who haven't committed crimes shouldn't be locked up in a converted medium-security prison, especially when there are alternatives.

Congress has advised U.S. immigration officials not to do it. A decade-old settlement between immigration officials and human rights advocates says not to do it. The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children has asked immigration officials to stop doing it. And the American Civil Liberties Union has sued the immigration officials to get them to stop doing it.

Yet "” until the last few weeks "” there's been no sign that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be forced to stop doing it.

Since May 2006, ICE has locked up immigrant children, about 200 at a time, at the T. Don Hutto "Family Residential Facility," a converted medium-security prison in the Central Texas town of Taylor.

The children are accompanied by parents, mostly from countries other than Mexico, who crossed our borders illegally or overstayed their visas. Many are asylum-seekers fleeing threats such as war, rape and political prosecution.

ICE officials maintain that Hutto is a humane alternative to separating immigrant families while they await asylum or deportation proceedings. The agency began detaining families after 9/11 when it scrapped the old "catch and release" method because many immigrants weren't showing up for court.


Good chance of winning
Detainees at Hutto, which is run by a private prison operator, have complained of a structured, prison-like environment complete with camera surveillance, inadequate medical care, substandard food and psychologically abusive guards. Children, the ACLU lawsuit claims, have suffered weight loss, bed wetting and nightmares as a result of the stress from incarceration.

In April, U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks ruled that the 10 child plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit were "highly likely" to prevail in arguments that immigration officials had violated legal standards for their treatment. The judge called the children's detention in "substandard conditions" an "urgent problem." The trial is set for August.

ICE officials claim reforms at Hutto, including changing the menu, allowing limited, supervised visitation and more hours of schooling.

Yet, just last month, when given a chance to show off their progress, they abruptly canceled a scheduled visit by a United Nations inspector. ICE officials later said "pending litigation" led them to deny access.

Meanwhile, the agency has largely refused alternatives to Hutto.

The Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, which involves electronic monitoring and telephonic reporting instead of detention, has resulted in an average 93 percent appearance rate at court proceedings for final orders of deportation. That's compared to 41 percent for other illegal immigrants. And it's a lot cheaper than operating Hutto, which costs $2.8 million a month.

Another alternative is for ICE to replace Hutto with a model similar to its Pennsylvania facility, the only other place in the country where ICE detains immigrant families. The Berks County Shelter Care Facility in Leesport is a converted nursing home. Refugee advocates say families at Berks seem to be treating families humanely.


Marching orders
But ICE may not be able to snub alternatives for much longer. Signs of progress are emerging, in the form of proposed congressional mandates.

Earlier this month, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., added an amendment mandating improv-ed treatment of asylum-seekers to the Comprehensive Immig-ration Reform Act of 2007.

"There are documented cases of serious abuses against asylum-seekers here in the U.S.," said Lieberman. " ... When they come to America, longing to breathe free, they are treated like convicted criminals. We allow DHS to detain them in harsh prison conditions with no due process."

The provision's future is brighter after senators agreed last night to revive the stalled immigration bill.


Pressuring ICE
A surer sign comes from the congressional committee that holds ICE's purse strings. In a Homeland Security spending bill being debated this week, the committee tells ICE to prioritize alternatives.

And, for the first time, the committee directs "” not advises or recommends "” but directs ICE, in cases where detention is necessary, to "house families together in non-penal, home-like environments."

The measure could be the push ICE needs to start treating all undocumented families with some dignity. Hutto, no matter how much razor wire is removed, how many coats of paint are added to the cinderblock, will never be home-like. It will never be humane. It will never be a place for children.

lisa.falkenberg@chron.com

Towns Targeting Illegal Immigrants
Failed Congressional Bid Spurs Crackdowns -- And Legal Fights.

By Susan Ferriss - Bee Staff Writer
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1

Against a backdrop of perceived federal inaction, a growing number of cities, counties and states are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to trying to reverse the trend of illegal immigration.

From the smallest town to an entire state -- Arizona -- governments are passing laws that target illegal immigrants in such indirect ways as preventing them from parking their cars to forcing city workers to decide who's legal and who isn't before someone can rent a home, use the library or get a job.

State attempts at targeting undocumented foreigners are nothing new and have raised constitutional questions for more than a decade. California's ill-fated Proposition 187, passed by voters in 1994, was one of the early attempts that sought to require health workers and teachers to card people.

But legal skirmishes are expected with greater frequency after the U.S. Senate's failure this summer to enact immigration revisions. The void has only emboldened opponents of illegal immigration whose stridency seems unlikely to fade.

"There's a great likelihood of mischief and trouble when local places get involved in immigration laws," said Kevin Johnson, a law professor at the University of California, Davis.

In Arizona, Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano reluctantly signed legislation on July 2 requiring all employers in the state to run new hires through a federal database operated by the Department of Homeland Security.

Although Napolitano said she generally does not agree with local and state governments regulating immigration -- which falls under federal jurisdiction -- she signed the law because Congress failed to take action.

The Senate bill would have legalized millions of illegal immigrants but also increased enforcement measures and ordered American employers to use Homeland Security's federal database.

Activists such as Marie Waldron, a City Council member in Escondido, about 30 miles north of San Diego, actually sought to topple the Senate bill, believing it treated illegal immigration too gently.

Waldron once led a failed attempt to create a California state border police. She also was the architect of a local law that would have made it illegal to rent housing to any illegal immigrants. The housing law cost the city $200,000 to defend in court, money that Waldron believes was well spent, even though the law ended up being scuttled last December.

"I wanted to see this all the way through court," Waldron said. "I was opposed to the city withdrawing from it. I also very much support training local police to be immigration officers."

Despite the setbacks, as long as the federal government fails to enforce current laws to their satisfaction, local officials say they're going to do it themselves -- using local power.

Waldron said she's now pursuing an indirect method to drive out illegal immigrants, whom she blames for degrading Escondido's quality of life. She wants to outlaw overnight parking on residential streets unless people can prove they live there and have valid California driver's licenses.

Before the Escondido City Council decided to abandon the legal battle to defend Waldron's housing ordinance, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against it, citing "serious questions" of due process and other constitutional issues.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, sued Escondido, as did a landlord. The civil rights groups continue to sue or try to persuade other cities that similar laws will end up struck down.

In addition to unlawfully assuming federal power, civil rights attorneys argue, ad hoc local immigration policing leads to discrimination and abuse, while raising the specter of vigilantism.

Even attorneys who support local efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants warn that laws have to be crafted carefully.

Statutes that call for businesses or city workers to check someone's legal status have to be applied across the board, said Sharma Hammond, an attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Reform Law Institute.

In other words, the rules should be obeyed whether a tenant or a job applicant is named Juan Sanchez or James Smith.

All laws, Hammond said she advises cities, should include anti-discrimination clauses, and due process clauses to avoid claims that the accused were given no opportunities to defend themselves.

Hammond's institute, a partner of the Federation for American Immigration Reform -- a group that wants less immigration -- has offered assistance to several jurisdictions, including Escondido and Hazleton, Penn.

Hazleton is waiting for a judge's decision on its sweeping "Illegal Immigration Relief Act," which also targets employers and landlords.

In Virginia, Prince William County is studying how to implement a law passed this month to block illegal immigrants from using public benefits and services. Officials are still uncertain which services would be denied -- and whether they will include a range as broad as access to health clinics to public recreation facilities to libraries.

Jurisdictions already have the right to ask for federal assistance to check eligibility for certain public benefits that illegal immigrants cannot receive, including subsidized housing and non-emergency health care.

Waldron said she thought she could use Homeland Security's database program to check tenants' documents. Not so, argued opposing attorneys. That system is limited to employers.

Hammond said she's convinced that local jurisdictions' quest to use federal ID databases to scrutinize someone's status will be granted in court, as long as the purpose is to regulate business licenses or other local permits.

"Yes, there are limits and boundaries," she said, "but I think there can be a lot of success in this area."

David Jones, CEO of the Arizona Contractors Association, one of the groups suing to block Arizona's new law, hopes not.

Employers, he said, accept that the federal government has the right to order them to use the Homeland Security system, which federal studies have found is promising, but still flawed.

The system needs upgrades and more funding to prepare it for use nationwide. It has been found to make mistakes, studies show, and a major shortcoming is it cannot detect if a job applicant is using a valid Social Security number on a forged card when supporting documents are offered, too.

Jones noted that Homeland Security offers the system at this time only to employers who volunteer to use it -- fewer than 20,000 nationwide.

If Arizona's law goes forward, county prosecutors will be required to investigate tips about suspected rogue employers. If employers are twice found in violation by hiring illegal immigrants, they will be permanently stripped of their licenses.

Jones said Arizona's economy has thrived with immigrant labor, and that he'd like to see a regulated guest-worker program for illegal immigrants and future foreign workers.

Although most homegrown laws targeting illegal immigrants are designed to be punitive, as in Arizona, some jurisdictions are taking a decidedly different approach.

New Haven, Conn., decided this month to issue local ID cards to immigrants, regardless of status, so they can prove their residency when dealing with police or city officials.

State Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, has tried for years to persuade state lawmakers to allow illegal immigrants working in California to obtain driver's licenses in the interest of improving highway safety.

"It's more constitutional than those other laws," Cedillo said.

About the writer:
The Bee's Susan Ferriss can be reached at (916) 321-1267 or sferriss@sacbee.com.

quote:

Originally posted by explora:
Towns Targeting Illegal Immigrants
Failed Congressional Bid Spurs Crackdowns -- And Legal Fights.

This is merely a natural consequence.

We thank you for your contribution to this thread. Every time you post, it brings it up to the front and center on this board. Keep up the good work!

MIGRANT REPORT CRITICIZES TEXAS
State Lags In Teaching Newcomers English, Researchers Say

Wednesday, August 1, 2007
By DIANNE SOLÍS / The Dallas Morning News
dsolis@dallasnews.com

While Texas may be a top destination for immigrants, it spends very little to assimilate them via English-language education, says a report released Tuesday.

Florida and California spend $8 and $7 for every federal dollar they receive, while Texas spends 30 cents, says the report by the Migration Policy Institute of Washington, D.C.

The study's authors call English acquisition "arguably the most important integration challenge and opportunity" for city, state and federal governments with large immigrant populations. In North Texas, that is particularly true. One out of four people in Dallas is foreign-born; in Irving, one out of three is foreign-born.

"Texas stands out for being a state for such large immigration and such low investment in immigrants," said Margie McHugh, one of the report's authors at the research organization. "Investing in immigrants' education has such a powerful payoff," the researcher said, ticking off such benefits as job productivity and increased pay.

Lori Ruiz, the policy coordinator for Texas Learns, the subcontractor for state adult education and family literacy, said the state program is "grossly underfunded, ridiculously underfunded."

In the last 20 years, when immigrants, legal and illegal, have swept through the state, funding has remained level, she noted.

Ms. Ruiz had no dispute with the California-to-Texas comparisons within the Migration Policy Institute report.

The report said more funding could come from three sources: employers, existing Social Security taxes, and the expansion of such federal programs as the family literacy-focused Even Start.

"Employers stand to gain the most from immigrants improving their English language skills," Ms. McHugh said. "Many are asking what is an appropriate contribution from employers."

In Dallas, restaurateur Tom Landis said he believes employers should shoulder the burden for workers. He provides English classes for workers.

"If it were an accounting issue, you would never turn it over to the government," Mr. Landis said.

The Migration Policy Institute proposes that funding for English classes come from Social Security taxes believed to be paid by illegal immigrants. For years, the Social Security Administration has kept track of wages that come from false or mismatched Social Security numbers.

Nearly $600 billion in wages were recorded from 1937 through 2004 on these numbers, the report notes. And, in general, about 6.2 percent in Social Security tax was paid on the wages. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that there is about $30 billion in Social Security contributions from illegal immigrants flowing into federal coffers.

In North Texas, scores of churches provide English classes. Among them is the Duncanville Trinity Church of the Nazarene, which opens its doors on Tuesday nights to immigrants. "We just want to help the cause and help the people learn our language," said Jim Farmer, a church layman. "Well, it is not our language. It belongs to the world."