SHERIFF REACTS TO DOCTORED PHOTO
ARPAIO HIRES EXTRA SECURITY DETAIL





UPDATED: 12:00 pm PDT August 16, 2007

PHOENIX -- "Garbage."

That's how Sheriff Joe Arpaio described a doctored picture e-mailed to several media outlets showing him dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit and holding a noose to a Hispanic man's head.

The picture was distributed to some media organizations by immigrant rights advocate Elias Bermudez of Immigrants Without Borders.

Bermudez said he didn't create the photo, but forwarded the image to 50 of his friends and colleagues in the Hispanic community.

The image depicts Arpaio as a member of one of the most hated groups in history -- the KKK.

"It is a picture in bad taste," Bermudez told CBS 5 News. "It is a picture that should not be remembered."

Bermudez said the depiction is what some people are feeling with the sheriff's new anti-immigration hotline.

"It is a true depiction of how our people feel," he said. "We are just waiting to be hung by a rope."

"I'd rather have my community put out a bad tasting picture than to go out and riot and burn cars and destroy property," Bermudez said.

READ: 7/22/07 - Foes Nix Sheriff's Hotline

Arpaio said he is fearful the picture could lead to rioting and violence against him or his family.

"This is going a little too far what these people are doing," the sheriff told CBS 5 News.

"If they think they're going to scare me and take that hotline down, I don't back down," Arpaio said.

While he wouldn't elaborate on what, if any, threats have been made against him, he said for the first time he has hired an extra security detail.

Copyright 2007 by KPHO.com. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

quote:

"There are certain factions that would like me to go away," Arpaio said. "The more they go after me, the more I'm going to lock up the illegals."

So logical! The more those activists want Arpaio to lock up illegals the more they should 'go after' him. What else did they expect by doctoring a fake picture and distributing it all around?

ARKANSAS


BEEBE: IMMIGRATION INFORMATION NEEDED

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
rmoritz@arkansasnews.com

LITTLE ROCK "” Gov. Mike Beebe praised lawmakers Tuesday for tackling the illegal immigration issue in Arkansas but said more information is needed before any decisions can be made.

The House and Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committees began a dialog on the issue Monday, meeting jointly to begin laying the groundwork this summer for 2009 legislation to curb what some believe is a surge of illegal immigrants into the state.

"I think it's healthy for us to be discussing this and I think it's healthy for the committee to be providing the information, and I think it will provide a road map for what, if any, legislative changes need to be brought forth," Beebe told reporters after addressing a United Steelworkers union conference Tuesday at the Peabody Hotel.

State officials told lawmakers Monday that public secondary education and other services to immigrants, both legal and illegal, cost the state about $170 million annually.

They said state courts and police departments spent $14.7 million on immigrants, and that the state Department of Correction spent $1.8 million on illegal immigrants last year.

Beebe said Tuesday he wants to know more about those costs, acknowledging the information may be difficult to obtain.

"We've got to distinguish between legal and illegal," the governor said. "Those that are here illegally are in a different category than those that are here legally."

Officials told lawmakers Monday it is often impossible to tell whether immigrants benefiting from state services are legal or illegal.

Rep. Rick Green, R-Van Buren, suggested education officials begin checking the Social Security cards of students to determine their legal status, an idea the governor said the state should consider.

"I think that's an option to look at," Beebe said. "Apparently, currently most of the information should or would be available."

Green said Tuesday he was "thrilled that the governor is satisfied with what we are doing."

"We need the attention from the executive branch as well as the legislative branch," he said.

Green said the state agencies committees planned to meet again next month to continue their discussion on illegal immigration in the state. He said officials with the state Department of Human Services are expected to brief members about the health care costs associated with immigrants in Arkansas.

Also expected to attend the meeting and testify are officials with the state police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

CONNECTICUT, NEW HAVEN


IMMIGRANT GROUP TAKES FEDS TO COURT




Melissa Bailey Photo/In attempt to force federal immigration authorities to disclose information on the June 6 raids in New Haven, two immigrant rights groups have filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

New Haven Independent
by Melissa Bailey
August 10, 2007

On behalf of JUNTA for Progressive Action and Unidad Latina en Acción, Yale Law School attorneys filed the suit under the Freedom of Information Act in New Haven U.S. District Court Friday. Click here to read the suit.

JUNTA and ULA said they are concerned the raids were a "retaliation" against the city:
Less than two days after the city approved an immigrant-friendly ID plan, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents swept through Fair Haven on June 6, arresting 29 undocumented immigrants. Mayor John DeStefano expressed similar concerns at the time, lashing out against the feds for "targeting" New Haven and allegedly violating immigrants' civil rights. Raids were subsequently suspended.

In the suit, JUNTA and ULA say DHS has failed to respond in a timely manner to two Freedom of Information requests filed on June 26: One sought records regarding the planning of the raids; the other sought any agency correspondence mentioning the municipal ID program. Under the federal FOIA act, agencies have 20 days to respond to requests, with a possible 10-day extension.

The raids "greatly shook the stability and safety that we strive to create in New Haven," said JUNTA's Laura Huizar (pictured above at right). The information requested would allow the groups to "ensure that the rights of our immigrant neighbors were not violated," she said at a press conference outside New Haven's federal courthouse Friday.

"If we live in a democracy, there has to be complete transparency as to how the government acts in relation to the community," said John Jairo Lugo (pictured above at left), director of ULA.

In a June 29 letter, ICE acknowledged receipt of one of the FOIA requests and pledged prompt response: "ICE currently has a FOIA backlog, however, we are working expeditiously to eliminate this backlog," the letter reads. "Due to the multi-track processing, your case will not fall within this backlog." But over 30 days passed and JUNTA and ULA never received a further response from ICE.

In the lawsuit, JUNTA and ULA call for the federal court to step in and order ICE to hand over the information.

ICE spokesman Michael Keegan declined comment on the suit, saying only "ICE's policy is not to comment on pending litigation or the review process of a FOIA request."

ID Plan Attacks Continue

Meanwhile, anti-illegal immigrant activist Paul Streitz Friday called for the state to take illegal immigration into its own hands.

Undocumented immigrants charged with a felony should be held without bail until deportation, suggested Streitz -- click here to read his letter to the governor and state legislators.

Streitz' letter also included this New Haven reference: "Inducing any illegal alien to enter, reside or work in the United States--ID Cards for illegal aliens and creation of pick-up zones for illegal workers will be deemed such an inducement--shall be a felony in the State of Connecticut."

Asianjournal.com


CRACKDOWN ON UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS BEGINS


Joseph Pimentel
Asianjournal.com
August 13, 2007

LOS ANGELES - The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency are stepping up efforts to enforce work-site violations. Employers face stiffer penalties if found hiring undocumented workers.

Under a new federal guideline, an employer is obligated to re-verify an employee's work authorization and identity if they receive a "no-match" letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) questioning the employee's name and/or tax records, or a notice from DHS that the employee does not match its records.

If within 60 days, the no-match is not resolved and the employer cannot verify the work authorization and identity of the employee, the employer must choose to either fire the employee or face penalties assessed by DHS.

An Associated Press report stated that employers who don't comply could face fines of $250 to $10,000 per illegal worker and incident.

ICE could also use the receipt of either of these letters as evidence that the employer has "constructive knowledge" that an employee is unauthorized to work and is therefore, in violation of immigration laws, according to the National Immigration Law Center (NILC).

"If the employees Wage and Tax statement [W-2 form] do not accurately match what the social security administration has on their record, they will generate a no-match," said Sarah Sadhwani, Asian Pacific American Legal Center's (APALC) Immigration Director. "What these new regulations are saying is that it lays out the scenario that employers can fire an employee that receives a no-match letter."

Flawed System

Sadhwani said the current employment verification system is flawed.

An unreported change of name, typographical errors, misspellings, Latino and Filipino immigrants having two surnames,

Asians like Chinese or Korean having an American and a foreign name, clerical errors, and other reasons are among the problems that a no-match letter can be given to anyone.

"Sometimes, your work authorization papers will have one name, social security will have a different name, and/ or driver's license will have something else," she added.

Sadhwani is concerned that these new regulations open more power for employers without creating the proper protection for the employee.

"This is the pattern that we have seen. Employment verification leads to discrimination in the workplace."

"Another concern is it sets up a very unfortunate and somewhat scary relationship between the DHS and SSA to be sharing information," she said. "That is a very bold step in a very unfortunate direction."

For years, privacy laws have protected employers and employees from sharing the information with government agencies, particularly in the event that a no-match letters is sent by the SSA.

However, DHS and ICE officials said a no-match letter might be one of the only indicators to an employer that one of its employees may be an unauthorized worker.

"Most employers want to comply with our nation's immigration laws," said Julie Myers, ICE Assistant Secretary in a prepared statement. "Yet, everyday they are confronted with illegal aliens attempting to secure jobs through fraudulent means, including the presentation of counterfeit documents and stolen identities. Employers are not trained or obligated to be document detectives."

DHS also created a "Safe Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter" to safeguard employers in the event they receive one. Employers who do not follow it will face prosecution.

DHS & ICE Go Tough

"ICE is going to be tough and aggressive in the enforcement of the law," said Russ Knocke, a DHS Spokesman in the Associated Press report. "You are going to see more work site cases. And no more excuses."

Although the new regulation is not a federal law, the DHS is an administrative body through which the executive branch implements the regulations. The DHS is given free rein on how it carries out the law in accordance with an Act of Congress that mandates employee verification.

Introduced in June 2006, the new DHS regulation lay in the backburner as Congress continued efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill for the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the US. When the bill died in the Senate, provisions like the temporary worker program and employer verification went down along with it.

Consequence of Immigration Reform Bill's Breakdown

Critics see this new regulation as a reaction to the failure of the US to pass the comprehensive immigration reform bill.
Jon Melegrito, National Federation of Filipino-American Association (NAFFAA) Executive Director, said this regulation impacts the estimated 500,000 undocumented Filipinos living and working in the US.

"This is something that we [NAFFAA] are opposed to," said Melegrito. "This is just another extension of the Bush Administration targeting minorities. This is a reaction from the failure of the US government to not pass comprehensive immigration reform."

Melegrito said the ICE's effort to increase work-site raids "will create more tension in the minority community and continue to feed to the public's xenophobic frenzy."

"The government's failure to fix our broken immigration system has led to these draconian measures."

(www.asianjournal.com)

IMMIGRATION AGENTS PUT HEAT ON EMPLOYERS
BUT WITH CRACKDOWN, SOME WORRY WHERE NEW WORKERS WILL COME FROM


U.S. News & World Report
By Emma Schwartz
Posted 8/14/07

Congress tried and failed to pass immigration reform. But that hasn't stopped the Department of Homeland Security from pushing ahead with its own plan to deal with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants inside the United States.

The department's focus: employers. New rules that go into effect in the next month increase the burden"”and penalties"”for companies that continue to employ illegal immigrants.

The heightened enforcement activity targeting employers is part of a broader DHS effort to crack down amid growing concern nationwide over the flood of migrants in recent years"”and the failed congressional attempt to revamp the system. But the new rules could hurt companies in a wide range of industries as many are forced to lay off workers in the coming months"”a move that could stir up tensions between business, law enforcement, and immigration advocates.

Since the creation of DHS, the number of workplace raids has soared. Last year alone, the department arrested 300 percent more workers and employers than in the previous year. DHS plans to continue these raids but the new rules forcing employers to take pre-emptive action are an acknowledgement that raids alone cannot reach all migrants.

The most significant concern for employers is the no-match letters, which the Social Security Administration sends out to companies if their employees' Social Security numbers appear inaccurate. The agency is expected to send out many new notices in the coming months; the new rules boost penalties by 25 percent for employers that fail to fire such employees"”or validate their status"”within 90 days. The rules also require that government contractors sign up for the Basic Pilot Program, a system that verifies whether a prospective employee's work documents match a legitimate Social Security number.

For DHS, the focus on employers is crucial tool to address the root cause of what draws illegal migrants to the United States: higher-paying jobs. "These guidelines will make it more difficult for illegal aliens to use a fraudulent Social Security number to get a job," Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said at a recent press conference. "And it will help employers take appropriate action to protect themselves."

Chertoff acknowledged that the department's enforcement options remain limited because of Congress's failure to pass immigration reform. But he said that the agency was trying to help businesses find legal labor by looking into ways to make the agricultural guest worker program less cumbersome.

That is little consolation to companies that could be forced to lay off a significant number of workers when the letters arrive; it is widely acknowledged that a hefty percentage of workers in industries like agriculture and hospitality are illegal. Immigration lawyers say companies are worried that it will be difficult to replace these workers with U.S. citizens or migrants here legally.

And they note that getting names checked through the Basic Pilot Program hasn't stopped all problems. Swift & Co., a meatpacking company that had 1,200 of its employees arrested in December, had already participated in the program before the raid.

"Until we get to the age of Jack Bauer and we have retina scans, there is no way for the employer to tell you who exactly is standing in front of them," says Eileen Scoefield, an immigrant attorney in Atlanta. "Employers still hold this vulnerability."

To understand the fear facing employers, just ask Maureen Torrey, an 11th-generation farmer in western New York. One morning last fall, her farm was raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. She says they arrested 27 of her 400 farm workers. She wasn't able to rehire new workers for the harvesting season and lost an estimated $2 million in crops"”20 percent of her usual revenues.

The raid worried local banking officials like James Fulmer, chairman of the Bank of Castile, based in Batavia, N.Y. Now that more farms could be forced to lay off more workers, he says he's going to require that companies create a backup plan in the event they receive no-match letters. But he's concerned rehiring won't be easy.

"We have very low unemployment here, so the fact is: Where are these people going to come from?" he says.

CRIMINALIZING IMMIGRANTS MAKES THEM EASIER TO DEPORT

New America Media
Commentary
Paromita Shah
Aug 10, 2007

Editor's Note: The current spate of immigration raids and harsh ordinances did not come out of the blue but is the fruition of the careful build-up of an immigration law enforcement infrastructure for over a decade. Paromita Shah is associate director of the National Immigration Project (NIP) of the National Lawyers Guild. NIP is a member of Detention Watch Network, a national coalition working to reform the U.S. immigration detention system. IMMIGRATION MATTERS regularly features the views of the nation's leading immigrant rights advocates.

Immigration reform is dead – at least for the time being – but more raids, detentions and deportations continue.

But we also face a new emerging "deportation" strategy – one from local and state governments that seek to pass laws that essentially "deport" immigrants from the towns and the states in which they live.

The concept is simple: pass laws that make the lives of immigrants so miserable that they will be forced to leave, turning them into internal deportees in the United States.

According to the Washington Post, state and local governments have filed over 1,000 such bills. While most empower local police to act as immigration agents, a significant number obstruct immigrants' ability to obtain jobs, use necessary medical services, send children to public schools, find housing, get driver's licenses and receive many other government services. For example, the notorious Hazelton town ordinance required tenants obtain an occupancy permit from the city before renting a unit. One had to prove lawful residence or citizenship to get the permit. The town imposed hefty fines, $1,000, for violation of the ordinance.

The analogy to Jim Crow laws is inescapable. Towns like Hazelton complain of overcrowding, crime and strained resources, much like proponents of Jim Crow laws did when they oppressed and discriminated against African-Americans. Fortunately, late last month, a federal judge declared the Hazelton ordinance unconstitutional because it would have violated due process and interfered with federal law. It also fragmented a community and polarized it along color lines, not immigration ones. The 200-page decision contained excruciating detail about how U.S. citizen Latinos were harassed by Hazelton residents with the introduction of these ordinances.

Did all this come out of nowhere? Not really. In Operation Endgame, ICE's national strategic plan, collaboration and memoranda of agreements (MOAs) with local law, enforcement comprises a major role in immigration enforcement. Since the 2002 MOA with Florida State Police, at least a dozen police departments have signed MOAs with ICE and dozens more are asking for information. These partnerships have fostered sentiments that local and state governments should control immigration and immigrants. The Hazeltons of the country seek to take advantage of the vast immigration enforcement structure assembled over the past decade by enmeshing immigrants in the criminal justice system. By turning more immigrants into criminals, immigration authorities can deport them more easily.

Any advocacy plan must include an education around the detention and deportation system. Understanding it provides critical tools for fighting threats of deportation or deportation itself. Organizations around the country knowledgeable of deportation defense advocacy and the detention system have created resources and trainings precisely for this purpose. Some of them include Families for Freedom Detention Watch Network, the National Immigration Law Center, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, National Day Laborers and Organizing Network, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Rights Working Group.

At this very moment, federal counterparts of local anti-immigrant ordinances percolate in Congress –tacked on to an unrelated DHS appropriations bill. The fear of deportation and discrimination underlie the desperation within communities facing anti-immigrant ordinances. There is no doubt that the fight against anti-immigrant ordinances has a direct impact on the national advocacy and dialogue on enforcement and immigration reform in the future. But that desperation alone should not become the starting point of the debate around immigration reform.

AP ENTERPRISE: US CENSUS BUREAU TO ASK IMMIGRATION AGENCY TO HALT RAIDS DURING 2010 TALLY



The Associated Press
August 16, 2007

WASHINGTON: The Census Bureau wants immigration agents to suspend enforcement raids during the 2010 census so the government can obtain an accurate count of illegal immigrants.

Raids during the population count would make an already distrustful group even less likely to cooperate with government workers who are supposed to include them, the Census Bureau's second-ranking official said in an Associated Press interview.

The Constitution requires a head count of U.S. residents every 10 years. The government uses the figures to apportion each state's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and to appropriate billions of dollars in federal spending each year. House representation is based on population, but each state has two senators.

Deputy Director Preston Jay Waite said immigration enforcement officials did not conduct raids for several months before and after the 2000 census. He said, however, that today's political climate is more volatile than then on illegal immigration.

Enforcement agents "have a job to do," Waite said. "They may not be able to give us as much of a break" in 2010.

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An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman would not say whether immigration officials were willing to halt raids. "If we were, we wouldn't talk about it," Pat Reilly said.

"For us to suspend that enforcement would probably take a lot more than one meeting," Reilly said. "We would have to discuss this at the highest levels of both agencies."

The Constitution requires the Census Bureau to count everyone, including illegal immigrants, in the census.

The problem arises as the United States struggles to resolve the fate of an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. After Congress failed to pass an immigration overhaul sought by President George W. Bush, the Bush administration said last week it would step up efforts to enforce immigration laws.

One Republican lawmaker said she thinks "it's nuts" for the Census Bureau to ask for a break in enforcement.

"I don't know what country the Census Bureau is living in," Rep. Candice Miller said in a telephone interview from her district in Michigan, a state that borders Canada. "I can tell them the American people have grown sick and tired of their immigration laws not being enforced. They are not going to tolerate enforcement being suspended for any amount of time."

Miller has introduced a constitutional amendment that would apportion seats in Congress based only on the number of U.S. citizens in each state.

The Census Bureau plans to approach all federal agencies for help in getting an accurate count, Waite said.

Illegal immigrants are notoriously hard to count, although outside experts estimate that census workers count 85 percent to 90 percent of them.

Census workers ask immigrants if they are citizens; they do not ask if they are in the country legally.

"We're supposed to count every resident. If you go out and ask, 'Are you here illegally?' they are going to run," said Kenneth Prewitt, who directed the Census Bureau during the 2000 census.

Prewitt said the public already is suspicious of government workers knocking on their doors and asking personal questions. Those suspicions are amplified among illegal immigrants, even though personal information collected by Census Bureau is private by law.

Prewitt said immigration officials informally agreed to cooperate with the Census Bureau during the 2000 census by not conducting large-scale raids.

"If they had a reason to think it was important to carry out an action, they would have done so," Prewitt said. "But they did offer to cooperate as much as possible so they didn't create a climate of fear. They did not carry out any major raids."

Reilly, the immigration enforcement spokeswoman, said she could not confirm any informal agreements to scale back enforcement during the 2000 census.

She said the agency "continued to perform its duty to enforce the nation's immigration laws by continuing to investigate, pursue and arrest criminal and other egregious violators."

Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, said the intense debate over immigration has made immigrants even more suspicious of the government today.

"The Census Bureau has a job to do," said Vargas, who belongs to a committee that advises the bureau on the 2010 census. "They need to convince people that they need to report themselves to the federal government and that it's going to remain confidential. That's a hard sell."

Supporters of stricter immigration laws said the whole discussion of suspending raids shows that the immigration system is broken.

"If you don't enforce your laws, this is what you are going to get, one agency asking another agency to subvert the law," said Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

ILLEGAL WORKER PLAN HAS HOLES
BUSH CRACKDOWN TOUGH TO ENFORCE

By Javier Erik Olveraand Lisa Friedman
MediaNews
Article Launched: 08/17/2007

A week after unveiling a major crackdown on businesses that hire illegal immigrants, the Bush administration is now conceding that its most heavily touted weapon in pursuing employers - an assault against Social Security fraud - will be nearly useless.

That's because when the Social Security Administration warns employers about bogus identification numbers, it remains barred from also alerting the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that's supposed to hand out penalties.

In addition, federal promises to hold companies responsible for hiring illegal immigrants could potentially be stymied by several other issues: Employers are still not required to check a new employee's Social Security number against a free federal database; there could be long gaps between when an employee is hired and when the warnings are issued each year; and there is no way to follow up on employees who have been fired. In many cases, illegal workers could still hop from job to job without being caught.

The only way authorities can punish an employer - with fines or criminal charges - is if someone first tips them off about potential fraud and then, during the course of the investigation, they discover evidence that Social Security warnings have been ignored.

"There are a number of people who do come forward and tell us an employer is not conforming with the law," said Veronica Valdez, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. "While we don't get information

directly from the Social Security Administration, we do see that we get a lot of tips."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the department's investigative branch, will aggressively work off such tips - using, among other tactics, raids - with an eye for those who are knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said.

Although immigration authorities and some lawmakers say the enforcement may make a difference, those who have been up in arms over the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the country say they feel bamboozled.

`I don't believe it'

Jeff Wilson, a Bay Area resident clamoring for tougher immigration enforcement, was skeptical when he heard last week about the boosted enforcement, which calls for higher fines for employers who don't fire employees within 90 days if the workers are caught using bogus Social Security numbers.

"When I hear about anything the Bush administration is going to do, I don't believe it," said Wilson, who operates an anti-illegal-immigration Web site. "I think it was simply to look good. I believe in action - not words."

Advocates for immigrant rights also have taken issue with the crackdown, calling it a "scare tactic" to encourage people to return to their home countries or risk being found out by their employers.

"A lot of people may not think it's not worth staying here," said Salvador Bustamante, Northern California director of Strengthening Our Lives, which encourages civic participation among immigrants. "I think it's just a scare tactic."

Within the next few weeks, the Social Security Administration nationally will send out about 140,000 warnings - or so-called "no match" letters - to businesses with at least 10 employees whose numbers can't be verified. About 35,000 of those will go to employers in California.

The envelopes will include a separate letter from the Department Homeland Security informing companies that they may be in violation of immigration law and have 90 days to verify the employees' identities.

If they do not, the letter warns, the agency may "determine that you have violated the law by knowingly continuing to employ an unauthorized person." A first-offense fine was increased to $2,200 for each employee.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced that the agency will clamp down on employers who knowingly and willfully violate the law. Left untouched, however, was Section 6103 of the IRS code - a privacy provision the government has long interpreted to mean that the Social Security Administration is forbidden from sharing tax information with other agencies.

Attempted fix

Several members of Congress, including Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, have tried to amend the provision. Most recently the failed Senate immigration bill, which also would have granted eventual citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants, sought to fix it.

"It would make it a lot easier," Valdez said.

Still, leaders of California industries that rely heavily on illegal labor, like agriculture and restaurants, say they aren't taking any chances. Trade groups that represent the sectors said they have strongly recommended that employers follow the new rules, regardless of the government's ability to trace its own threats.

"This is another tool in their kit," said John ***, top lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association. The group represents about 1.4 million estimated employees in California, though it claims not to know how many are illegal immigrants. "It's easier to establish a violation with these rules."

Tom Nassif, president of the Western Growers Association, said he believes the new rules will cripple California's $32 billion agricultural industry. About 70 percent of the state's estimated 450,000 farm workers during the peak harvest season are illegal immigrants, and Nassif believes most if not all will be fired by fearful employers.

"With that dramatic a loss, I think people stop producing," he said.


Contact Javier Erik Olvera at jolvera@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5704.

BUSH IMMIGRATION PLAN CALLED USELESS
EMPTY THREATS

SECTION 6103 IRS CODE LEFT UNTOUCHED

Lisa Friedman, Washington Bureau
Article Launched: 08/17/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

WASHINGTON - Days after unveiling a major crackdown on businesses that hire illegal immigrants, the Bush administration has quietly acknowledged that its most heavily touted weapon in pursuing employers will be virtually useless.

At the heart of the new rules announced this past week is toughened Homeland Security Department enforcement of so-called "no match" letters - which the Social Security Administration sends to companies when employees have questionable identification numbers.

But Homeland Security Department officials acknowledged that a privacy provision in the IRS code prevents immigration officials from actually knowing which employers have received "no match" letters, which have complied with the regulations and which have not.

"While we don't get information directly from the Social Security Administration, we do see that we get a lot of tips. There are a number of people that do come forward and tell us an employer is not conforming with the law," said Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Veronica Nun Valdez.

In addition to working with informants, Valdez said immigration officials plan to step up investigations and raids, which will likely yield sanctions against violating companies.
But illegal-immigration hardliners said they feel bamboozled.

Many noted that working with tips and increasing raids is nothing new, and they said they had assumed that the government had resolved the longstanding data-sharing issue.

Bob Dane said that without the Homeland Security Department being able to get information directly from the Social Security Administration, the new rules are just "empty threats."

"Good God, if they're going to spend money on postage and send out threatening letters, which are long overdue, they need to have some practical enforcement at the end," he said.

Since 1994, the Social Security Administration has sent out the annual letters to companies when a large number of W-2 forms submitted for employees don't match the name or Social Security number the agency has on file.

While there can be several reasons for a "no match," activists note it is often a red flag that a worker is an illegal immigrant.

In the past, companies have largely ignored the letters and "thrown them in the circular file," as Dane describes it.

But the new immigration rules the White House rolled out last week promised serious changes.

Starting next month, Social Security officials will send out about 140,000 "no match" letters, with about 35,474 going to employers in California.

The envelopes will include a separate letter from Homeland Security Department officials informing companies that they may be in violation of immigration law and have 90 days to correct the Social Security inconsistencies.

If they do not, the letter warns, the agency may "determine that you have violated the law by knowingly continuing to employ an unauthorized person."

A first-offense fine was increased to $2,200 per employee.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff proclaimed the move means the agency will "clamp down on employers who knowingly and willfully violate the law." Editorial pages across the country proclaimed a new day for immigration enforcement.

Left untouched, however, was Section 6103 of the IRS Code - a privacy provision the government has long interpreted to mean that Social Security officials are forbidden from sharing tax information with other agencies.

Several members of Congress, including Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, have tried to amend the provision. Most recently the failed Senate immigration bill, which also would have granted citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants, sought to fix it.

"It would make it a lot easier," Valdez said.

But without that change - like traffic cops with a stack of tickets but no map to the highway - the Homeland Security Department can only ask Social Security officials to insert its warnings into the "no match " letters.

"So the most meaningful part of this new initiative may not be so meaningful," said Steven Camarota, research director for the Center of Immigration Studies, which advocates restriction of all immigration.

"That's not surprising," he said. "The administration has never shown a great desire to enforce the law."

Still, leaders with California industries - such as agriculture and food services, which rely heavily on illegal labor - said they aren't taking any chances.

Trade groups that represent the sectors said they have strongly recommended employers follow the new rules, regardless of the government's ability to trace its own threats.

"I think this is viewed as more of a self-enforcing thing," said John ***, top lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association, which represents about 1.4million employees in California.

"This is another tool in their kit. It's easier to establish a violation with these rules," *** said.

Tom Nassif, president of the California Growers Association, pointed out that any "no-match" letters a company receives will come out during a civil trial if that business is ever cited for immigration violations.

And if the company has not complied, it could face the tough new financial and prison penalties.

"We could be targets for these investigations. It behooves us to do what we can to follow them," Nassif said.

Nassif said he still believes the new rules will cripple California's $37billion agricultural industry. About 70 percent of the state's estimated 500,000 farmworkers are illegal immigrants, he said, and he believes most will be fired by fearful employers.

"With that dramatic a loss, I think people will stop producing," he said.

Camarota said he suspects the Bush administration hopes that the business community, whose division over the recent Senate immigration compromise bill helped lead to its failure, will be galvanized into action by the threat of economic upheaval.

"They don't really want to upset the apple cart, they just want to tip it back and forth, and act like they're doing something," Camarota said of the administration's rules.

"What they really want to do is get the business community off the dime," he said.

Nassif agreed, but called it a risky gamble with the country's economy.

"I think they want the public to be so damaged and so fearful that they raise a clamor," he said.

But, Nassif added, "This is playing Russian Roulette. If that gambit doesn't work, then the blood will continue to flow."

HUMOR

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION SPREADS SOUTHWARD TO MEXICO


This man is not pedaling

Southeastern Mexico (Scientific UnAmerican) -

The influx of undocumented Mexicans to the US is actually vacuum-dragging other illegal immigrants into Mexico.

"It's quite a simple process," explained physicist Carl Say-Again. "A lower pressure area develops as less mass is present, thereby creating a suction effect that pulls poor, loose people from Central America, Cuba and Jamaica into Mexico. Allow me to demonstrate."

Mr. Say-Again then went on to show the phenomenon step-by-step as a hapless Guatemalan on a bicycle was involuntarily relocated to Mexico.

"Don't worry. He will be fine. As soon as he gets his bearings he should have no problem finding a new family and a new life for himself."

Mexican authorities refused to comment on-the-record (but off-the-record they said that they are looking into numerous Chinese-made tire puncture products).

ARKANSAS


ARK. LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE CONSIDERING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Associated Press - August 13, 2007

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Laws targeting illegal immigrants in Oklahoma have Arkansas lawmakers considering the issue.

In Oklahoma a sweeping immigration bill denies jobs and public benefits to illegal immigrants. And in Tennessee a new law makes it a crime to transport illegal immigrants into the state and would revoke business licenses for companies that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

Now Arkansas state Representative Rick Green says if his state doesn't pass similar laws Arkansas could become a haven for illegal immigrants.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

ICE

ARKANSAS



ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION HEARING MONDAY

August 12, 2007
Today's THV
Mike Duncan

Arkansas members of the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs hold a hearing tomorrow at the state Capitol. They are seeking information from state agencies on the impact of illegal immigration on Arkansas. Arkansas' Hispanic population is growing at one of the fastest paces in the nation.

State Representative Rick Green says simply doing nothing could leave Arkansas vulnerable.

Oklahoma and Tennessee passed strict laws this year tightening down on illegal immigrants, while the Arkansas Legislature passed a measure aimed only at state contractors.

The hearing tomorrow will include testimony from state officials on illegal immigration's effect on schools, prisons and the work force. Union officials also are scheduled to testify.


Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved


Mike Duncan, Reporter, Weekend Anchor
Created: 8/12/2007 3:47:25 PM
Updated: 8/12/2007 3:52:16 PM

Humor or not

On a macro-scale scale, well known principles and forces of Newtonian physics can be observed anywhere, in anything you look at.
From the apple falling to the ground through this non-pedaling Guatemalan bicyclist, all moved by the same forces

AT LOCAL PRESS CONFERENCE, VOICE OF PEOPLE USA URGES KANJORSKI, CARNEY TO INVESTIGATE



Voice of the People USA chairman of the board Frank Scavo talks about federal inaction on illegal immigration at a press conference outside the West Hazleton Borough Building on Tuesday. Other organization officials who spoke are, left to right, Daniel Smeriglio, Greg
Griffin and Renee Butts. Steve Mocarsky
The Times Leader


By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
August 17, 2007

WEST HAZLETON – Officials of an immigration reform group on Tuesday called for two area congressmen to investigate the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in light of recent local events related to illegal immigration.

"Our elected officials failed to act on our request and our demands ... to stop amnesty," Voice of the People USA founder and president Daniel Smeriglio said during a press conference outside the borough building.

"All we can do is try to lobby our elected officials to do the job they were elected to do. And if they fail to do so, if they fail to hear the voice of the people that voted them into office ... they will hear our voices again come election time," Smeriglio said.

Officials chose the borough for the press conference because an illegal immigrant charged in the stabbing death of a New York City police officer's brother was apprehended there on Aug. 8.

Greg Griffin, legislative director for Voice of the People, provided copies of letters that he sent to U.S. representatives Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, and Chris Carney, D-Dimock Township, on July 27.

He said neither congressman has yet responded to the letters.

The letter to Kanjorski states that members of the group were troubled by the dismissal of murder charges against two illegal immigrants suspected of shooting to death 29-year-old Derek Kichline in Hazleton in May 2006 partly because a witness – Cesar Ariel Jacquez – was inadvertently deported.

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta has said the Kichline homicide was "the straw that broke the camel's back," prompting him to propose the city's Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which a federal judge last month struck down as unconstitutional. The act would have fined landlords and suspended the licenses of businesses that rent to or hire illegal immigrants.

Griffin noted that immigration officials deported Jacquez despite notification from local law enforcement that he was a witness in the murder case.

"We can logically conclude that the (Bureau of Immigration and) Customs Enforcement has failed to responsibly carry out its duties and we are asking your office to initiate an investigation and even conduct congressional hearings if necessary," the letter states.

The group asked that Kanjorski find out if the bureau is properly staffed and funded and has the necessary resources, and what plan of action the bureau has for "conducting additional raids at work sites employing illegals."

"As far as Congressman Kanjorski goes, he claims to have all the right answers and do this and do that. But he's failed to prove (or) provide anything. ... On behalf of the people, we're demanding answers. ... We're asking for justice ... safety (and) real homeland security, which has been lax and non-existent," Smeriglio said.

Gretchen Wintermantel, Kanjorski's press secretary, said the congressman was away on vacation.

Neither Kanjorski nor anyone from his office returned a call to comment on the letter or statements made at the press conference.

Kanjorski told a reporter on July 9 that his office was "looking into" Jacquez's deportation, but that an investigation at that point would have been "premature."

The letter to Carney states that Voice of the People was gratified that Carney asked for investigations and hearings into why the federal government was not hiring enough border guards and because Carney advocated training of local law enforcement to help with the apprehension of illegal immigrants.

"Yet since these announcements in the newspapers, there has been no action taken. Why?" the letter asks.

Griffin goes on to state that as chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee for Management, Investigations and Oversight, Carney is aware of the dangers of illegal immigration and unsecured borders, and asks him to "act now."

April Metwalli, Carney's chief of staff, said his subcommittee held hearings about six weeks ago and looked into the need for hiring more border guards and taking measures to prevent the loss of such guards to private security contractors.

She said a "great first step" was passage of a bill in June that provides a nearly $800 million increase in funding for customs and border protection and a $322 million increase above 2007 levels in funding for the bureau.

"Progress is being made. Obviously, there's more to be done. The congressman continues to push for that," Metwalli said.

Frank Scavo, chairman of the board of Voice of the People, said that since U.S. District Judge James Munley said in his opinion striking down Hazleton's illegal immigration ordinance that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, Carney and Kanjorski should "take the lead in protecting our citizens."

He urged them to push for the establishment of an ICE field office "here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, in Hazleton."

Renee Butts, executive secretary for Voice of the People, said the group wants the federal government "to start addressing its employers – the citizens of the USA, who we're here speaking on behalf of."

"We want to know what ICE is doing and we need to know what our local representatives are doing. If our welfare isn't their concern, they're not going to be reelected. People are not fools, and we're done being played for fools," she said.

TO LEARN MORE
Check out video clips from the press conference at www.timesleader.com. Learn more about Voice of the People at www.voiceofthepeopleusa.com.
IF YOU GO
Voice of the People USA has immigration reform rallies in support of Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta and the Illegal Immigration Relief Act scheduled for noon on Aug. 26 at Freeland Public Park and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sept. 1 on the steps of the state Capitol building in Harrisburg.


Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 459-2005.

NORTH CAROLINA




FEDERAL IMMIGRATION PRISON
POINT OF DETENTION FOR MOST OF THE SOUTHEAST

08/14/2007 09:59 PM
By: Shawn Flynn

Prison help
Cumberland County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph and Rep. Sue Myrick are working on the deal that could alleviate the jail overcrowding crisis and not cost a single local tax dollar.

CHARLOTTE -- Cumberland County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph and Rep. Sue Myrick are working on the deal that could alleviate the jail overcrowding crisis and not cost a single local tax dollar.

"We have about 550 inmates sleeping on the floor at night," said Pendergraph.

Twenty percent of the entire Mecklenburg County jail population are illegal immigrants. News 14 Carolina learned a plan is in the works to build a 1,500-bed facility to house the illegal immigration population in the southeast.

"This facility would not only be used for Mecklenburg County the way we have it planned or North Carolina. It's going to be large enough to be a point of detention for most of the southeast," said Pendergraph.

Sheriff Pendergraph made the initial presentation to the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday night.

The best part, according to the Sheriff, is local taxpayers won't pay a dime.

"Some private contractor would build the facility. We would lease it from them and lease it back to the federal government to pay for it and the staff."

Currently the federal government pays $110 a day to house an illegal immigrant or federal prisoner. If you multiply that by 1,500 prisoners, that's more than $60 million a year. That's nearly the cost of building a similar type facility in Texas.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, already wrote a letter expressing major interest in this concept. Commissioners were excited about the plan.

"It'll be built quickly, inexpensively, has a long life," said Republican Commissioner Dan Bishop.

"Certainly we need the bed space and if we can have a partnership with the federal government, we can do it in a way that's not only correctional sound, but fiscally sound," said Democratic Commissioner Parks Helms.

The sheriff said this new facility is desperately needed.

"If we get the facility built here that we're planning, it'll definitely ease our overcrowding situation in that area," said Pendergraph.

The idea for this first-of-its-kind facility in the country is in a preliminary stage. The hope would be the immigration court, scheduled to open next January, would be housed in the same facility to make it easier and faster to process the immigrants.

AGRICULTORES ALARMADOS POR LEYES INMIGRATORIAS ESTRICTAS



AP Photo/Gary Kazenjian






16 ago, 19:22 EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Mientras la fruta se pudre en los campos, las vacas sin ordeñar padecen en los establos y algunas granjas cierran, los agricultores pintan un panorama sombrío sobre su actividad a causa de las nuevas políticas federales inmigratorias.

Después que el gobierno de George W. Bush anunció que los empleadores que contraten a sabiendas a trabajadores indocumentados serán pasibles de sanciones, muchos agricultores dijeron que se verán muy afectados.

Particularmente vulnerables serán los cultivos frutales que en estos momentos están contratando miles de trabajadores temporales en preparativo para las cosechas de julio a septiembre. La medida entrará en vigencia a mediados de septiembre.

Andy Casado Jr. es un contratista agrícola con casi 800 trabajadores que también cultiva y empaca fruta.

"Calculo que el 80%, el 90% de la fuerza laboral agrícola es ilegal", afirmó. "Poner en vigencia esta regla será catastrófico".

Aunque desde hace tiempo es ilegal contratar a alguien no autorizado a trabajar en Estados Unidos, los agricultores se arriesgan a que los documentos presentados por los 1.600.000 trabajadores agrícolas en el país no sean válidos, dijo Howard Rosenberg, de la Universidad de California.

Las organizaciones que se oponen a la contratación de inmigrantes ilegales saludaron la medida en la esperanza de que desactive el imán que ha atraído a nuevos inmigrantes.

Pero los trabajadores agrícolas lo ven sólo como un esfuerzo más del gobierno por quedar bien a expensas de la gente que ejerce los trabajos más duros y peor pagos en el país.

"Siempre hay más presiones sobre la comunidad inmigrante", dijo uno de los trabajadores, Gerardo Reyes, de Immokalee, Florida. "Estamos asegurándonos de que los alimentos lleguen a las mesas de todos".

Tanto los agricultores como los trabajadores coinciden en que las medidas más enérgicas podrían perjudicar a todos.

"Vamos a enfrentarnos a la posibilidad de despedir empleados, ya sea que los documentos sean válidos o no, sin que nadie ocupe sus puestos", se lamentó J. Allen Carnes, presidente de Winter Garden Produce en Uvalde, Texas.

Carnes dijo que ya ha padecido escasez de trabajadores en los últimos años debido a una vigilancia más estricta en la frontera.

Steve Pringle, director legislativo de la Oficina Agrícola de Texas, dijo que la medida del gobierno de Bush coloca a los empleadores en una situación imposible.

"O bien obedecen la ley y ven pudrirse sus cultivos, o intentan cosecharlos arriesgándose a ser castigados por el gobierno federal", precisó.

Debido a que una aplicación más estricta de la ley podría afectar la agricultura, el secretario de comercio Carlos Gutiérrez ha dicho que el Departamento de Trabajo procurará hacer más eficiente el actual programa de trabajadores temporales que permite a los agricultores solicitar trabajadores extranjeros.

Pero los agricultores manifiestan dudas sobre lo que pueda lograrse con un programa que consideran burocrático y costoso.

Casado, el contratista californiano, recientemente cursó un seminario sobre el programa. "Aprendí mucho, pero una de las cosas que aprendí es que no puedo hacerlo por cuenta propia", dijo.

Unos 70 cultivadores se reunieron esta semana en Fresno, en el valle agrícola del centro de California, para debatir opciones, compartir experiencias y expresar su frustración.

El estado recoge, empaca y despacha la mitad de los vegetales, nueces y frutas cultivados en Estados Unidos cada año. Los cultivadores dependen de 225.000 empleados de todo el año y el doble en el verano.

Seguir el rastro de quienes presentaron documentos cuestionables semanas o meses antes en un sector laboral con tanta movilidad va más allá de lo que debería esperarse de los agricultores, dijeron.

"Nos endilgan la tarea policial", se quejó Russel Efird, que cultiva almendras, nueces, uvas y otras frutas y dirige la Oficina Agrícola del Condado de Fresno. "Esto nos dificultará mucho cumplir nuestro trabajo".

------

En la internet:

National Immigration Forum: http://www.immigrationforum.org

American Farm Bureau: http://www.fb.org

© 2007, La Prensa Asociada.

Copyright 2006, Gaceta Tropical. Uso de este sitio significa que usted esta de acuerdo con nuestras Condiciones del Servicio y Politica de Privacidad,
Actualizado Junio 7, Copyright 2005.

IMMIGRATION REFORM DRAWS MIXED REACTIONS FROM GROWERS, FIELD WORKERS: PART 2





VANESSA BURCH
FALLON STAR PRESS
Posted: 8/17/2007

Editor's Note: Part 1 of this two-part story appeared in the Aug. 10 issue of the Fallon Star Press. The following is Part 2:

Salvador Alanis, a local field worker whose wife and nine children live in Mexico, said that in the United States, he earns three times the amount of money for the same work he does in Mexico.

Salvador, who works at Workman's Farms, spends four to six months working in the U.S., and returns to Mexico to perform the same work for the duration of the year.

"I miss my family and would like to be with them but I can't," said Salvador."They have to eat."

The money he makes in the U.S. supplements his income from Mexico, allowing him to help his family get by each year.

Salvador works seven days a week while in this country and stays in the Workman's Farms H-2A approved bunkhouse with another fieldworker.

"It sleeps about 21 people and there are several bathrooms and a big kitchen," said Wade Workman, co-owner of Workman Farms.

According to Workman, many field workers in Fallon live in trailers around town with their families. The employees contracted through H-2A visas live in housing provided by the farm owners.

"It's a good house and there's enough space," said Salvador. The only thing missing in Salvador's life here is his family.

Workman said some of the workers who live in these trailers may not have permission to work legally in the U.S. but run the risk of having their families here anyway because they cannot spend several months without them.

In the mid-1980s, Workman's Farms recognized not only the economic but social problems these workers experienced. They also knew first-hand the legal pressures surrounding contracting migrant workers.

"Workman's Farms helped all their workers get legalized in 1986," said Rick Lattin, co-owner of Lattin Farms. This was the same year the H-2A program began.

1986 also marked the year of the Immigration Reform and Control Act signed by President Ronald Reagan. Among other reformations, this act offered the legalization of migrant workers who entered the U.S. before Jan. 1, 1982 and applied within 18 months for such status (http://thomas.loc.gov/).

Unfortunately for Workman's Farms, several of the field hands to whom they helped grant citizenship left, said Workman. "As soon as they got the papers they were gone."

Workman's Farms did not just lose that round of workers over 20 years ago; they continue to lose more to fields like construction even today.

"We can't compete," he said, in regard to the higher wages paid in fields like construction.

Lattin agreed. "We can't afford to pay what construction pays and it makes it difficult for agriculture," he said since "our work is seasonal and it's very difficult labor."

Lattin also attributes the lack of money available for growers to pay their employees to the fact that, "The American public does not value agricultural products," he said.

In June of 2007, it was estimated that Americans spend 9.9 percent of their income on food, which may be the lowest percentage of any country worldwide (http://www.time.com/).

Fortunately for Lattin, in staying competitive in today's market, "The 1986 bill worked," he said, "because most workers working for us were legalized. We have three generations from that (act)."

The first of these three generations was Refugio Alanís, who worked as Lattin's crew chief for many years and returned to his own farm in Mexico during slower seasons.

Refugio's daughter Concha was second generation. She "grew up in Mexico, came to the U.S. for a better life," said her son and Refugio's grandson Cuquito Alanis.

Cuquito, who recently graduated from Churchill County High School, has worked at Lattin Farms since he was about 12. He helped gather the harvest with his grandfather who passed away last year. The families and workers Cuquito knows come to this country to work because "they need it," he said.

"They have families to take care of. The laws are different over there (in Mexico) and the pay is bad--it's terrible there. It's better living here," said the 18-year old.

The Alanís family's work ethic is something that Lattin has a hard time finding in U.S. workers when it is time to harvest produce. "No one else wants to work in the fields," he said. "I don't think the United States realizes that we're raising a generation of people not capable of doing the work."

"In a society where we haven't been taught that work ethic, some feel they (the migrant workers) are stealing their jobs," said Lattin. "I think there's some resentment," he added in regard to some U.S. citizens' opposition to granting migrant workers citizenship.

Stemming from U.S. opposition was the passage of The Secure Fence Act of 2006 which is currently underway. This act allows for hundreds of miles of additional fencing along the U.S./Mexican border (www.whitehouse.gov).

There are mixed feelings about the construction of this wall.

"There are a lot of good, honest people who lose their lives in the desert or the swamps," said Cuquito's father Adrian Alanis, of those trying to cross the border. "We need something better for them and the government can change that by giving permits to work."

Adrian, who owns Esperanza Maintenance in Fallon, feels people coming to this country to work should be "given the chance," but that the wall will help keep "bad people" out.

Cuquito agrees with his father, and mentioned specifically the increasing amount of Mexican drug lords. As far as keeping these people out, Cuquito said the wall "could be a good thing, but it's going to be hard on the people trying to work here."

"A lot of farmers need more workers. People need to be here because they need work and money," Cuquito said. The U.S. government "should tell them they can work here for a certain time and after a couple of years, give them a permanent visa or a temporary visa."

"I think it would be better for the U.S. because there would be a lot more workers," said Cuquito.

Salvador is an example of a worker who would appreciate the visa Cuquito mentioned. As much as he misses his family, he said he would still be interested in living and working permanently in the U.S. "When we cross the border, Immigration said someday we'll get residency, but we still haven't," he said.

"I would prefer to be a resident," said Salvador, who "would have to return to see my family during vacations."

Lattin said that he personally sees the migrant workers in the U.S. falling under one of two groups.

"There are the people who want to work here, send money home and go back and there are the folks that want to migrate here," said Lattin. "We've got to provide a path for legality for them."

In Lattin's opinion, it boils down to this. "We have to decide if we need them as citizens or (just) legal to work," he said.

"Bringing them out of the shadows and controlling the border--knowing who's here by having a way to track them," and if necessary "return them home" is what Lattin said may be a solution to the current immigration problems.

He also said that any laws that are to be passed, should be done so "for the right reason and not because we're a bunch of xenophobic racists."