Exactly OldE!

quote:

Originally posted by Rough Neighbor:
But that's characteristic of how editorials or blogs are written, pro or con, writers have got to be opinionated. That's where the beauty lies in our system. You can express freely your criticism simply because the yardstick of being free is when you can criticize, as long as it's not malicious, libelous, defamatory, or feeds the prurient interests.

An editorial writer or a blog author doesn't have the same onus on them as a journalist to be factual, state sources, or even be completely honest. They can say what they like to a great degree.

While most clear-thinking people are well aware of the differences between an editoral/weblog and actual investigative journalism, several still have difficulty deciphering the difference. The issue then becomes people who take editorials and weblog articles as fact and base their own opinions around them.

IMHO, editorials should come with a clear statement that the contents are solely the author's opinion.

quote:

While most clear-thinking people are well aware of the differences between an editoral/weblog and actual investigative journalism, several still have difficulty deciphering the difference. The issue then becomes people who take editorials and weblog articles as fact and base their own opinions around them.

*glares at iperson*

These people are also known as sheep.

USCIS to Issue Two-Year Employment Authorization Documents

WASHINGTON— U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that beginning on June 30, 2008 it will issue Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) valid for two years.

The new two-year EAD is only available to individuals who have filed to become a lawful permanent resident (LPR) using a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, and filed for employment authorization under Section 274.a.12(c)(9) of Title 8, Code of Federal Regulations (8 C.F.R.) but are unable to become an LPR because an immigrant visa number is not currently available.

USCIS will decide whether to renew an EAD for either a one or two year validity period based on the most recent Department of State Visa Bulletin. A link to these bulletins is available under the related links section of this page.

For applicants who have an available immigrant visa number and who are filing for employment authorization under 8 C.F.R. Section 274.a.12(c)(9), USCIS will continue to grant EADs that are valid for one-year. USCIS may issue a two-year renewal EAD if the applicant’s immigrant visa availability date retrogresses (when actual demand for visa numbers exceeds forecasted supply) after the Form I-485 is filed.

If an individual requests to replace an EAD that has not expired, USCIS will issue a replacement EAD that is valid through the same date as the previously issued EAD. However, if the previous EAD has expired, USCIS will process the request for a renewal EAD and determine the appropriate validity period based on the applicant’s priority date and the Department of State Visa Bulletin.

For more information on Employment Authorization Documents, please contact the USCIS National Customer Service Center at (800) 375-5283

Link to USCIS source


Fact Sheet

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/US_Supreme_Court_ea...icleshow/3138733.cms

US Supreme Court eases visa rules
17 Jun, 2008, 2001 hrs IST, IANS

WASHINGTON: In a development that could help green card seekers, the US Supreme Court has made it easier for some foreigners who overstay their visas to seek to remain in the country to seek legal status.

The top court ruled 5-4 Monday that someone who is in the US illegally may under "some circumstances" withdraw his voluntarily agreement to depart and continue to try to get approval to remain in the US.

The decision essentially embraced a proposed Justice Department regulation governing the treatment of similar cases in the future. The ruling, jurists said, would particularly benefit those married to American citizens

The decision came in the case of Samson Dada, a Nigerian citizen, who stayed beyond the expiration of his tourist visa in 1998. He married an American the following year and soon began trying to obtain a visa as an immediate relative of a citizen.

But Dada and his wife apparently failed to submit some documents, causing immigration officials to deny the visa. He then agreed to leave voluntarily, which would allow him to try sooner to re-enter the country legally than if he had been deported.

The court's task was to decide whether he could withdraw his voluntary agreement to leave the country and continue to try to adjust his status while in the US.

Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, joined by his four liberal colleagues. The four conservative justice dissented.

Justice Antonin Scalia said, "The court lacks the authority to impose its chosen remedy."

The federal government had earlier taken a position that intending immigrants who left the US would no longer be eligible for a "green card" and if they stayed in the US longer than authorised, they would be disqualified".

"The Supreme Court rejected the government's hard-line approach to immigrants and to lawful immigration options," said Nadine Wettstein, legal director of the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF), which filed a "Friend of the Court" brief in the case.

"The court correctly held that immigrants' rights under the law must be respected," Wettstein added.

"This decision should send a message to the government," added Beth Werlin, AILF's litigation clearing house attorney and co-author of AILF's Amicus Curiae brief.

"The government should have reached this conclusion on its own years ago, rather than fighting through the courts."

The decision resolved majority of visa-related conflicts in the lower courts and involved two parts of the immigration law. One allows people to avoid being deported by agreeing to leave the country voluntarily and the other allows immigrants, who overstay their visas, make their case to immigration officials.

Federal prosecution of illegal immigrants soars
The White House lauds the dramatic increase, but critics cite higher priorities.

By Nicole Gaouette, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 18, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has sharply ratcheted up prosecutions of illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border in the last year, with increases so dramatic that immigration offenses now account for as much as half the nation's federal criminal caseload.

In the widening crackdown, administration officials prosecuted 9,350 illegal immigrants on federal criminal charges in March, up from 3,746 a year ago and an all-time high, according to statistics released Tuesday. Those convicted have received jail sentences averaging about one month.

The prosecutions are among the most visible steps in a larger effort that includes work-site raids, increased border patrols and the use of technology and fences. Often controversial, the patchwork of measures represents the administration's response to failed congressional attempts last summer to overhaul federal immigration laws.

Administration officials and conservative groups have lauded the increase in prosecutions. But critics say data show illegal immigrants are still trying to enter the country. And some lawyers argue that the push is overwhelming a federal court system with limited resources and higher priorities.

Even so, administration officials announced this month that they would be funneling more resources toward the effort, called Operation Streamline.

"The results of this criminal prosecution initiative have been striking," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Chertoff's agency and the Justice Department, which oversee the effort, recently announced a plan to assign 64 attorneys and 35 staff members to prosecutions along the Southwest border.

The program began as a pilot around Del Rio, Texas, in 2005 and spread to other areas. Officers and prosecutors participating in it practice "zero tolerance," and jail times can range from two weeks to six months.

"The reason this works is because these illegal migrants come to realize that violating the law will not simply send them back to try over again but will require them to actually serve some short period of time in a jail or prison setting, and will brand them as having been violators of the law," Chertoff said. "That has a very significant deterrent impact."

The statistical analysis released Tuesday was compiled by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, considered an authoritative source for such figures. It called the increase "highly unusual."

Operation Streamline's larger aim is to give the administration another tool to use in its crackdown on illegal immigration, said Susan B. Long, a TRAC co-director and Syracuse University professor.

"This is an effort to use the federal criminal justice system in immigration enforcement," Long said. "What it means is that immigration cases are dominating the federal court system these days. The volume of cases is really huge. This is a big deal."

Of 16,298 federal criminal prosecutions recorded nationwide in March, immigration cases accounted for more than half, Long said. The next-highest number, 2,674, was for drug offenses, followed by 702 for white-collar crime.

TRAC researchers found that all but 142 of the 9,350 new federal immigration prosecutions in March occurred in certain areas along the border with Mexico. Texas was most active, followed by Southern California.

California is not formally a part of the program. But prosecutions of people who smuggle illegal immigrants across the state's border have increased sharply in the last five years, nearly doubling to 118 cases in March.

The deluge of prosecutions is overwhelming some lawyers involved in the process.

Heather Williams, a federal public defender in Tucson, said the operation had a crushing effect when it was begun this year on a limited basis.

Defense attorneys fear for clients who are hustled into court, en masse, after spending days crossing the desert.

"We have to be concerned our clients are competent to plead, that they understand what's going on," Williams said.

Other immigrant advocates were critical of the increase in federal prosecutions.

"It doesn't mean we have an end to illegal immigration or a way of dealing with it," said Angela Kelley, director of the Immigration Policy Center.

A recent study showed that would-be border crossers were more concerned about heat and harsh conditions than border enforcement, she said. The study, by Wayne A. Cornelius, director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UC San Diego, found that 98% of immigrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca were eventually able to enter the U.S.

But groups that want to see immigration tightly controlled applauded the new statistics.

"It sounds like very good news," said Roy Beck, director of NumbersUSA, which advocates stricter immigration controls.

"It's part of a pattern we've seen since last August where the administration, on the border and in the interior, seems almost monthly to be tightening the vise," he said.

nicole.gaouette@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la...un18,0,6011114.story

Immigration Raids Lead U.S. to a Moral, Legal Crisis


Postville, Iowa has been turned into a ghost town. Nearly a third of its residents, mostly undocumented workers from Guatemala and Mexico, sit in jail convicted of identity crimes or awaiting deportation. Hundreds more hide in fear. Their children, too scared to go to school, have left the town’s classrooms nearly empty. For this, Postville should thank their local police, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), and a failed immigration policy.

Aided by local law enforcement, ICE arrested 389 workers during the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history at the Postville meatpacking plant, the area’s major employer. In an unprecedented move, ICE criminally charged 302 of these workers with aggravated ID theft and/or using false social security numbers. Within days, ICE resolved their fate: 297 men and women pled guilty and were sentenced to prison and subsequent deportation. Only a few await criminal trials or immigration hearings.

Postville is one of the latest in a series of immigration raids that have intensified in the past three years. These raids are leading our nation to a moral, legal and humanitarian crisis.

ICE’s heavy-handed enforcement against undocumented workers in the wake of failed immigration reform is shameful. Under current immigration laws, no more than 10,000 of the backlogged visas for unskilled workers and 66,000 temporary visas for seasonal workers are available each year. In contrast, an estimated 2,000 persons cross the Southwest border into the U.S. daily and an estimated 12 million undocumented persons live in the United States.

Global economic realities push willing workers out of their nations, where they have no means to earn even a subsistence living and pull them into low-wage jobs in the United States, where the lack of labor protection leaves them vulnerable to exploitation. U.S. employers and we as consumers benefit from their cheap labor, but these workers and their families bear the brunt of a broken immigration system.

Few employers face civil and criminal sanctions for violating immigration and labor laws. So far, no one from Postville plant has been charged despite overwhelming evidence that the company helped workers procure false documents, paid substandard wages, failed to pay overtime, and seriously mistreated its workers. All the while, Congress continues to kill proposals granting even temporary legal status to agricultural workers, while doling out large subsidies to U.S. farmers without regard to their effect on future migration of rural workers from developing nations into the United States.

Legally speaking, ICE and federal prosecutors overstepped their powers when they criminally charged the workers. Congress specifically exempted from prosecution workers who use false Social Security numbers to engage in otherwise lawful conduct, such as to procure jobs.

This unprecedented criminalization of undocumented workers also has not been accompanied by a comparable infusion of constitutional guarantees in the handling of these cases. ICE conducted the investigation leading to the Postville raid with easy access to immigration databases and employee documents. ICE then executed the raid with easily-procured administrative, not criminal, warrants.

Thus, the protection of stricter Fourth Amendment search and seizure, Fifth Amendment due process, and Sixth Amendment right to counsel constitutional guarantees available to most criminal defendants were unavailable to these workers. Nearly all waived any rights they might have had under extreme prosecutorial pressure. The uncharacteristic speed and efficiency of the Postville raid left workers without adequate opportunity to consult with defense counsel, and none or few had access to immigration lawyers to learn about the immigration consequences of their pleas.

The involvement of local law enforcement in these raids is also worrisome. Distrust of police keeps many immigrants from reporting crime. This increases their vulnerability as victims. Moreover, the drain on limited resources from these additional responsibilities on local police takes away from their primary duties as community caretakers.

The courts must be vigilant in protecting the rights of workers and their families and insist on stricter constitutional guarantees when criminal charges are involved.

These raids should be halted immediately. The prospect of future raids should certainly create a sense of urgency for the United States to adopt immigration policies that allows employers to hire migrant workers, and include strong labor protections that offer a path to legalization for workers and their families. If workers are legal, we are all better off.

source

Did a quick fact check on the above article. It said nearly a third of the residents are in jail.

That sounded a little fishy when those charged amounted to 302. If this first statement is true then the population should be no more than about 900. The population is actually recorded at 2314 as of 2006. I would venture a guess that many of these people also arrested did not participate in the census. Add to that not everyone caught is living within the city limits. Worse case is the actual percentage of the population is at 13%. The reality is probably about half that.

What they also didn't elaborate on were those arrested who were aiding and abetting. Part of the 302 charged but not illegal aliens themselves.

Here are some statistics from the area.

Races in Postville:

* White Non-Hispanic (76.9%)
* Hispanic (20.6%)
* Other race (17.0%)
* Two or more races (2.1%)
* American Indian (1.0%)

Even if every hispanic were illegal and caught in the raids it still doesn't come close to the 1/3 advertised. If they want sympathy truth should be given first consideration.

Immigration Raids Lead U.S. to a Moral, Legal Crisis

quote:

Postville, Iowa has been turned into a ghost town. Nearly a third of its residents, mostly undocumented workers from Guatemala and Mexico, sit in jail convicted of identity crimes or awaiting deportation. Hundreds more hide in fear. Their children, too scared to go to school, have left the town’s classrooms nearly empty. For this, Postville should thank their local police, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), and a failed immigration policy.

Failed immigration policy is to blame for the illegal workers? So it is the US fault that there were not 12 million visa available eh. These type articles just are too stupid to even try to fathom. then the author ends with "these raids need to be halted immediately"... and once more attacks US policy.

This author has given his blessing for identiy fraud. a thump/brick on the head to the author

Boy George denied U.S. visa for planned tour By Mitchell Peters
Mon Jun 23, 7:44 PM ET



LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Culture Club frontman Boy George has been forced to cancel his North American summer tour after U.S. authorities refused to issue him a visa, citing looming legal issues overseas.

George's 24-date North American trek was scheduled to begin July 11 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, and wrap August 23 at the House of Blues in Dallas.

"At the moment, Boy George cannot come to the United States of America because he has been refused permission to enter by the USA Administration," read a statement from the artist's management. "This is not in respect of anything he has done in the past but because he is facing a trial in November in London for something that happened in April last year."

George was arrested last year after a 28-year-old male escort from Norway accused the singer/DJ of false imprisonment and assault. George later denied the allegations and was released on bail.

"George's lawyers in London have absolutely forbidden us to speak about the facts of that case and all I can say is that George is astounded at the decision and is having lawyers here in the States look at it in the hope that someone will change their mind," the statement continued. "George really would love to come to America and repay his American fans loyalty and that is why we are asking the US Authorities to reconsider their decision."

In 2001, George supported the release of his "Essential Mix" collection with a brief DJ-tour of the U.S. George has also toured and performed DJ sets in Australia, Asia, Europe and Canada.

Commentary: How to fix our broken immigration system

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/23/navarrette/?iref=mpstoryview

Story Highlights
Immigration system needs to have employer sanctions with teeth, Navarrette says

ID card needed for all U.S. workers to tell employers who is eligible to work, he says

Navarrette: "This isn't brain surgery"

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080624/NEWS/806240318

Paputchis' 18-year immigration ordeal is over


The Paputchi family, from left, Zekri 'Zack,' Rukie, Elise, 5, and Hasim, 14, outside the Little Red Barn Daycare in Snydersville.

By PAULA HEESCHEN
Pocono Record Writer
June 24, 2008

PHILADELPHIA — Local pizzeria owners Zekri and Rukie Paputchi's 18-year immigration ordeal has ended happily. An immigration judge ruled Monday morning in their favor, making them de facto lawful, permanent residents.

"It's unbelievable," Zekri "Zack" Paputchi said Monday afternoon from Philadelphia. He had taken his wife, Rukie, and their two children, 14-year-old Hasim and 5-year-old Elise, to the Philadelphia Zoo to celebrate. "Me and my wife, we still can't believe it."

The Paputchis have been on tenterhooks since Jan. 7, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Rukie at her home in Sciota and placed her in Pike County jail pending deportation to her native Bulgaria.

The arrest was a critical turning point in the family's long struggle to obtain legal status here and galvanized them, their lawyer and friends and supporters to rally to their side and push the case to a decision.

The Paputchis own Old Mill Pizzeria on Route 209 in Sciota. They came to the United States in 1990, Turkish Muslims who were ethnic minorities in Bulgaria and who had experienced persecution there. Rukie returned home that year to care for her sick mother, but Zack applied for political asylum that November. Rukie rejoined him in 1992 and applied for asylum in 1993.

Both the Paputchis' children were born in the United States and, despite several years of back-and-forth paperwork on their immigration status, they stayed in Pennsylvania, bought the pizzeria and became active members of the community.

Unknown to them, President Clinton signed into law an act regarding extending permanent residence to those who fled civil wars in Central America or communism in Eastern Europe. The act would have allowed the Paputchis to stay in the country legally — but they did not know about it, and their cases remained in limbo.

Over the years, the Paputchis have presented paperwork to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Board of Immigration Appeals and four separate government agencies.

Then Rukie was arrested Jan. 7 and released on March 5 by a temporary stay of deportation. On Monday their case ended up before immigration Judge Robert P. Owens. After all the testimony and written evidence, Owens granted the Paputchis a suspension of deportation.

"What that means is they become lawful, permanent residents as of today," said Theodore Murphy, the Paputchis' attorney. "So it's all done. Zack Paputchi's 18-year saga is over, and happily."

Dozens of supporters from the pizzeria and various community groups the Paputchis had supported in Monroe County had gone to bat for the family, writing and calling government officials and encouraging them to recognize the Paputchis' contributions over the years.

Among those who responded was U.S. Sen. Robert P. Casey. "The Paputchi family and the patrons of the Old Mill Pizzeria have real cause to celebrate today," Casey commented in a written statement on Monday. "My staff and I have worked with Mr. Murphy on behalf of the Paputchi family and I am pleased that those efforts have paid off. The Paputchi family will now be able to remain in the United States and continue being productive members of the community."

Zack Paputchi said Rukie had been unable to sleep pending Monday's hearing, which had initially been scheduled for last week, then postponed to November because of the judge's illness. Murphy was able to get the case transferred to Owens and scheduled for today.

"My attorney is a great attorney," Zack Paputchi said. "We can commend him to anyone who has this kind of particular problem."

Paputchi also acknowledged the many area residents who had helped the family make it through the last few months.

"We say thank-you and appreciate all our supporters again," he said. "We're happy now."

There's a big front page spread in USA Today this morning about the ICE immigrations raids.

Citizens sue after detentions, immigration raids:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-24-Immigrat...loc=interstitialskip

Good! I hope the plaintiffs are successful in their pursuit of justice. These raids are dehumanizing scare tactics being used by our government who can't figure out how to enact fair immigration legislation. They should be going after the source of the problem (the employers), not the people.

On another note, there was an article in The Washington Post yesterday regarding Prince William County's efforts to curb illegal immigration. They passed legislation last year to check the status of anyone stopped for a traffic violation who appeared to be 'questionable' as to legality. Now, they are revamping this to question EVERYONE stopped for traffic infractions so racial profiling cannot be cited. So, I guess even citizens will now have to carry their birth certificates/passports on them at all times. What a crock.

Well Prince William County made their bed so now they'll have to lie in it. They could of course, get rid of that law

As to the ICE tactics, drop the big show is all they need to do. I think it's mostly a law enforcement attitude of "I've got a big vest that says "ICE" on the back and I'm gonna wear it!"

Softly, softly does it

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIxQr1Olghv868n1NrDtWzvgs8AQD91HO6T00

LAPD won't ask about immigration status

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD – 1 hour ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California judge blocked a lawsuit that sought to enlist Los Angeles police officers in weeding out illegal immigrants.

Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu on Wednesday rejected arguments that the ci