ARIZONA

LAWYERS: HUNDREDS IN JOBS ILLEGALLY ARE FIRED; I-9 FORM CHECKED

The Associated Press

PHOENIX - Immigration lawyers say hundreds of illegal immigrants have been fired as a result of Arizona's employer-sanctions law.

The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, already has some businesses reviewing eligibility forms of their employees. Workers who can't provide missing information or have admitted they're in the country illegally have been fired.

It's unclear how many people have been fired, but the numbers are at least in the hundreds, possibly the thousands, said Julie Pace, a Phoenix lawyer who is performing I-9 audits for companies and represents businesses against the sanctions law.


Rebecca Winterscheidt, a Phoenix immigration lawyer, said some employees are telling employers they're in the country illegally and are asking for their help.

She said when that happens, employers have no choice but to fire the worker.

The employer-sanctions law, signed by Gov. Janet Napolitano in July, prohibits businesses from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and will require them to use a federal database to check the employment eligibility of the people hired after the law takes effect.

Eligio Medina Roldan, an illegal immigrant from Mexico City, had been working at a Phoenix warehouse for the past four years, using fake documents.


But earlier this month, a supervisor from the company's corporate headquarters in Texas questioned him about some of the information he provided on the I-9 form. Roldan said he was given eight days to prove he was legally eligible to work in the country or he would lose his job.

"I don't have papers that show I can work legally, so I won't be able to work," he said. "And I can't work, then I've lost the reason for being here. My only option is to go back."

Businesses caught knowingly or intentionally employing illegal workers under the law face a 10-day business license suspension for a first offense and having their licenses revoked permanently for a second offense

MICHIGAN, WAUKEGAN

WAUKEGAN IMMIGRANTS WARY OF CITY'S EFFORT TO ENFORCE FEDERAL LAW

Hispanics represent more than half of city's 88,500 residents

Associated Press

WAUKEGAN --Sailboats bob on Lake Michigan just a few blocks from the sales center for a new downtown condominium development -- a welcome addition in a town that has struggled with the loss of thousands of industrial jobs.

It also fits with city officials' vision of remaking this blue-collar suburb 30 miles north of Chicago by promoting its historic downtown and lakeside location as a destination for jobs, housing, shopping and entertainment.

But other redevelopment already has taken root: Mexican groceries, a currency exchange advertising "Se habla Espanol" and other businesses that cater to the city's burgeoning immigrant population. Hispanics now represent more than half of the city's 88,500 residents, according to recent Census figures, and a third of its residents are foreign-born.

Despite their numbers, the newcomers feel anything but welcome.

Coexistence has been uneasy at best ever since Waukegan officials applied last summer for a program that would train two local police officers to enforce federal immigration law. The proposal prompted a massive downtown demonstration by immigrant rights' groups and a boycott of businesses that didn't post signs opposing the application.

City leaders say the measure would speed up the deportation of people who commit violent crimes or break drug laws, and make Waukegan a safer place for everyone.

"It's a tool we can use to rid ourselves of serious criminals, and we have to use every avenue that we can," said Police Chief William Biang.

But some Latinos say the measure will just deepen the community's distrust of the police, and scare away those who could be the backbone of a vibrant, diverse Waukegan.

"You have thousands of people who are hardworking, who came and invested in this city. They're being chased away," said Yolanda Torrez, an attorney born in Waukegan whose practice handles criminal, traffic and real estate cases.

She said Latino residents are understandably skeptical. A decade ago, the city settled a lawsuit with the Justice Department over a housing code that federal authorities alleged was aimed at Hispanic families. And, she said, Hispanic residents now feel targeted by a city
ordinance that allows vehicles to be seized and a $500 penalty imposed if the driver lacks insurance or a license.

The federal immigration enforcement program was created in 1996, but the first agency didn't join until 2001. Now, about 28 municipal, county or state law enforcement agencies currently take part, and the Department of Homeland Security has applications pending from approximately 75 more.

In the Charlotte, N.C., area, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph said he joined the program out of frustration: "I knew there were many illegal immigrants, some with felony convictions, who were posting bond and walking out of my jail daily," he wrote this year in a trade magazine aimed at sheriffs.

Attorney Jennifer Nagda of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which opposes Waukegan's application, sees the increased interest in the program and other immigration-related measures passed by local governments as a symptom of "frustration over the federal government's inaction or inability to act on immigration."

"You have this patchwork of different ordinances popping up regarding immigrant communities, and this is precisely why immigration is something that needs to be dealt with at the federal level," said Nagda. "You can't have different measures each time you pass over a city or county line."

Under the immigration enforcement program, local officers receive training and supervision from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, then have access to a federal database with photos, fingerprints and information on past arrests and convictions. They also can check the validity of documents and start deportation proceedings.


Critics say procedures already are in place for deporting criminals through ICE and giving that power to local officials could lead to racial profiling and increase distrust of police among illegal and legal immigrants, as well as U.S. citizens of Latino descent.

They envision scenarios where an undocumented immigrant refuses to report her husband's physical abuse for fear of getting deported herself, or witnesses to crimes reluctant to talk to police for fear they would ask questions about their immigration status.

While Waukegan has not yet been accepted into the federal program, some say the fallout of the city's decision is already being felt.


Torrez said she's heard of Latinos who have broken their leases and moved away, and of stores that cater to immigrants that have seen sales slip.

"I think sometimes they're nostalgic for a Waukegan that never existed," Torrez said of the city's leaders.


Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde and Biang have pledged that the city's new authority won't be used for immigration raids, and that illegal immigrants stopped by police for minor infractions, such as not wearing a seat belt or a broken tail light, won't get caught up in the measure.

Instead, they say they want to ensure that immigrants convicted of felonies -- such as rape, murder, drug and gang crimes -- are on the deportation path as soon as possible.

"I don't think even people here illegally, just getting by, doing their jobs, are going to object to that," Biang said. "It's their kids who are going to be the victims of drug dealers and drive-by shootings, along with everybody else's children."
-

MARYLAND, GLEN BURNIE


9 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BUSTED AT VIVA LA RAZA RESTAURANT/BAR

By LISA BEISEL, Staff Writer
Published November 19, 2007

Tipped to allegations of fights, underage drinking, drugs and prostitution, county police began slipping undercover detectives into a Glen Burnie bar three months ago.

Last week, they announced the results. Working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, police arrested nine undocumented immigrants Nov. 11 during an after-hours raid at Viva La Raza, Mexican Restaurant & Bar.

Cpl. Mark Shawkey, a police department spokesman, hailed the cooperative effort between the two agencies.


"This is a positive experience for us, and we're looking forward to working closely with ICE in conducting more operations such as this," he said.

The arrests, which included drug charges against one man, come as County Executive John R. Leopold has made illegal immigration a focus of his first year in office.

"As part of this administration's priority interest in helping federal immigration officials to crack down on crime by illegal immigrants, this joint effort by county police and ICE in this instance is a significant accomplishment," Mr. Leopold said in announcing the arrests Thursday.

Police began investigating the business after receiving complaints from area residents and feedback from officers dispatched to deal with fights outside the bar.

On Nov. 11 at about 12:30 a.m., a task force consisting of county police Special Enforcement and Special Operations sections, state police, investigators from the Board of License Commissioners as well as immigration and customs agents entered Viva La Raza, well after closing time under the restaurant's 11 p.m. license.

Detectives said they interrupted a sale of crack cocaine and found about 30 people being served drinks.

Officers found additional violations, including three underage drinkers and no management on the premises. Although police said the undercover detectives saw women being brought to the bar on Friday and Saturday nights for entertainment and possible prostitution, no prostitution charges were filed. An investigation is continuing.

Nine people were taken into custody by immigration enforcement officials on immigration violations, police said.

Of the nine, Carlos Cortez Hernandez, 20, of 133 Warwickshire Lane, Apt. D, in Glen Burnie, was charged by county police with drug possession.

Police haven't filed any charges against the bar or bar owners, Cpl. Shawkey said. But the case will be referred to the liquor board.

A spokesman for Mr. Leopold identified the owner of Viva La Raza as Kwak S. Nan of Lorton, Va. The license is held jointly by Mr. Kwak and Suk C. Lee of Millersville. Neither could be reached for comment.


As part of Mr. Leopold's emphasis on illegal immigration, a county police officer will be assigned full-time to the ICE task force in Baltimore. Additionally, one officer at each district will be trained in immigration and custom-enforcement law and will work the task force member, Cpl. Shawkey said.


Mr. Leopold said the collaboration between police and federal immigration officials will help employers weed out fake IDs and other documentation and identify who's legal and who's not.

In August, Mr. Leopold signed an executive order warning companies that if they employed illegal workers, they could lose their contracts with the county.

The order came just three months after Mr. Leopold slashed $115,000 of county funds to two nonprofit groups both of whom help Hispanic county residents regardless of their immigration status.

SAN FRANSISCO SUPERVISORS OKAY ID CARDS FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

By Javier Erik Olvera
Mercury News
Article Launched: 11/20/2007 03:02:36 PM PST

San Francisco will begin issuing municipal identification cards to illegal immigrants next year, becoming the second city in the country to create such a program in the wake of stalled immigration reform efforts in Washington.

The board of supervisors Tuesday gave the final OK needed to create the ID card program, systematically legitimizing the city's estimated 40,000 illegal immigrants.

The cards will be available to anyone living in the city next August and used as proof of identity when it comes to most facets of city business, from library service to police stops. Although immigrants are the prime target for the ID program, the cards will available to anyone who wants them.

The program becomes the most significant piece in San Francisco's efforts to offer a safe haven for illegal immigrants, which includes prohibiting city employees and police from asking anyone about their immigration status. Many other cities in the Bay Area, including San Jose offer such protections to immigrants.

Developing the program took on new urgency for San Francisco leaders this summer after Congress' inability to enact immigration reform and as the Bush administration made moves to more stringently enforce current immigration laws.

"This will recognize contributions of people who are part of the community," said Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who led the push for the cards.

The full extent of how the cards can be used remains to be hashed out, but

San Francisco leaders are trying to develop a plan that would incorporate both an identification card and public transportation pass.

The cards - complete with cardholders' addresses and photos - would cost $15 for adults and $5 for youths. Discounts will be offered to considered low-income.

Ammiano estimates the program will cost San Francisco about $500,000, most of that expected during the program's first year. Although some officials predict it could cost as much as $3 million.

"If people have to live in the shadows, it affects you, me and everyone," Ammiano said, adding leaders are also working with banks so the IDs could be used to open checking and savings accounts.

He said the cards also will offer some solace to illegal immigrants who have shied away from reporting crimes committed against them for fear of being found out.

The move didn't surprise Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Washington D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, an organization calling for tighter border enforcement.

"It's San Francisco being San Francisco," said Mehlman, noting that the move is far different from a controversial - and now-scrapped - plan by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to offer driver's license to illegal immigrants.

Mehlman likened San Francisco's cards to "high school identification cards" that can't be used outside of the city and "it seems like an act of defiance" because supervisors "don't support stepped up enforcement."

Ammiano got the idea for the cards from New Haven, Conn., where leaders began to talk about a city ID card for residents - specifically illegal immigrants - around summer 2005.

At the time, the city of roughly 127,000 was experiencing some growing pains as its illegal immigrant population grew to about 15,000.

Robbers called illegal immigrants, who routinely carry cash because they don't have bank accounts, "walking ATMs," said Kica Matos, New Haven's community services director.

New Haven began issuing cards July 24 with a $236,000 grant, expecting to hand out 5,000 cards during the first 12 months.

But in less than four months, leaders have nearly surpassed their estimates, issuing 4,670 cards as of Monday, Matos said.

Ammiano said his plan doesn't only acknowledge illegal immigrants, but gives them a voice to speak up.



When it comes to basic human rights, he said, "it's not a good idea to keep your head in the sand."


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

quote:

If people have to live in the shadows, it affects you, me and everyone," Ammiano said, adding leaders are also working with banks so the IDs could be used to open checking and savings accounts.

Current bank policies do not allow to open without a tin or soc sec.. Do they intend to bend the rules
[quote]He said the cards also will offer some solace to illegal immigrants who have shied away from reporting crimes committed against them for fear of being found out.

The cards are not going to change their status. or protect them from removal proceedings if caught.

The U visa is a much more valuable incentive to report crimes, as the end result can be a green card.


[quote]The board of supervisors Tuesday gave the final OK needed to create the ID card program, The board of supervisors Tuesday gave the final OK needed to create the ID card program, systematically legitimizing the city's estimated 40,000 illegal immigrants..[quote]

What planet is this writer from to think that this will legitimize???? it will make them stick out more when they present the card.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM "GOOD HEARTED, HARD WORKING ILLEGAL ALIENS"



Happy Thanksgiving to all. Despite all the c r a p going on in the world it’s great to have a few days to remind ourselves how great life is and to yes, give thanks to what we have, our family, loved ones and friends.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hRQ-MCmzDs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

This message has been edited. Last edited by: explora,

wраги сожгли родную хаты, спалили всю его семью,
нунебладили???

What enemies? Whose house and family did they burn?

VIRGINIA BEACH

IMMIGRATION BUST

PEMBROKE TOWN CENTER APARTMENTS

Posted: Nov 20, 2007 01:00 PM EST

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents raided a Virginia Beach Apartment Tuesday morning to execute search warrants related to identity documents. About 8 agents swept in to building 4604 unit 204. They left with at least four men in custody and one woman and a child were taken in for questioning.

A neighbor called immigration because she had seen 10-15 men leave the apartment every day between 5:30 and 6:00 in the morning. She also witnessed men coming in from out of state throughout the night. She didn't want us to use her name because she's afraid of the others who still live in Pembroke Town Center Apartments. She said they have cousins in two other units.

Tiffany Coulombe lives two doors down from the raided apartment. "This morning I heard a bunch of banging noise on the door so I looked out my peephole and I saw a bunch of cops about six of them had went inside. I went down to the bus stop and when I came back upstairs I saw three young guys got arrested and were put into a van next to my car."

Coulombe said she never had any problems with the neighbors but confirmed that a lot of people lived in 204.

Agents were inside the apartment for about an hour and a half. They left with several computers, and boxes and bags of evidence.

As of noon US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents had not released the names of the men who were taken into custody or the charges.

Government Revising Plan on Illegals

The Associated Press
Sunday, November 25, 2007; 7:05 AM


WASHINGTON -- The government says it will rewrite rules for penalizing employers of illegal immigrants to try to satisfy a federal judge in San Francisco who put the crackdown on hold.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer stopped the Bush administration last month from going ahead with enforcement of regulations requiring employers to fire workers if their Social Security numbers did not match records and the discrepancies could not be addressed in 90 days. In issuing the temporary injunction, the judge said the Social Security database contained errors that could have cost many legal workers their jobs, and the government did not properly study the effect of the rules on business.

Late Friday, Breyer agreed to a request from the administration to put the case on hold while it reworks the regulations _ a process bound to put off enforcement until the spring. The judge stayed proceedings until March 24, when the government thought it could have new rules ready on how to enforce immigration laws in the workplace.

Business, labor and civil liberties groups had sued to stop the "no match" rules, arguing the plan would trap companies and workers in a costly bureaucratic nightmare.

In its motion, the administration acknowledged that the judge had found "serious questions on the merits" raised by the case. "A stay will prevent the waste of judicial resources in litigating over a rule that is in the process of being revised," the administration's brief said. "Defendants hope and anticipate that the amended rule will fully address the Court's concerns."

The plan is meant to expose illegal immigrants who get jobs by giving out fake Social Security numbers and penalize companies that employ them. Nothing in the brief suggested the government would ultimately back away from a "no match" plan as it looked for ways to make enforcement pass legal muster.


In September, a month after the plan was announced, the government had about 140,000 letters ready to be sent to employers, each identifying 10 or more employees with mismatches in their records. But the case stopped enforcement from proceeding. Breyer issued the injunction Oct. 10.

CALIFORNIA JUDGE STOPS IMMIGRATION PLAN UNTIL MARCH 24

Web Editor: Suzanne Lawler
Last Update:11/25/2007 4:49:35 AM

The government is revising a plan for
penalizing businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

The first rules would have required employers to fire workers if their Social Security numbers didn't match records and if the discrepancies couldn't be resolved within 90 days.

But last month, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary injunction to stop the Bush administration from enforcing the rules.

The judge said errors in the Social Security database could cost many legal workers their jobs.

And he said the government hadn't properly studied the effect of the rules on
businesses.

The government has told the judge it can have new rules on enforcing immigration laws in the workplace ready by spring.

He's giving the administration until March 24th.

Hopefully, this "no-match" initiative should totally find its rightful "six-foot" underground abode even beyond March 24, 2008. A sniping guerrilla tactic like this one shows how no-match the government is to an invincible enemy. This humongous problem must rightfully be addressed squarely from all sides through Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Here's the full text of the filed motion.

Rough Neighbor, thanks for the link. How gullible the Court is? This injunction should be made permanent, in my opinion. The Defendants admit here that they did not complete the regulatory process as required by law:

"...2. DHS intends to conduct additional rulemaking proceedings to address the issues raised by
the Court. This will include preparing a Regulatory Flexibility Act analysis..."

This should have been done before the rule was issued. I'd be surprised if the Court granted the stay.

That, my friend, is at least one thing that we can be sure of. That our jurisprudence remains to be the ultimate bastion of fairness and reason. And its continuing immunity from the push and pull of vested interest and self-serving politics.

Well ... they tie the hands of judges more and more every day, e.g. mandatory sentencing, , domestic violence laws, "third strike" laws - people disappeared in prisons for life for the crime of stealing a few dollars. Talk about "unintended consequences." The legislature wants to legislate every aspect and detail of life. Living by the statue... Give me the common law and law of equity back!

It's my turn to say, well... the legislative branch legislates, while the judiciary interprets, and most of the time, the latter does a pretty good job at it. Look at the numerous "case laws" born out of such interpretations (not only word for word of laws passed by Congress but sometimes the implied spirit or intent of the framers which are well beyond those "politicians" could fathom) that stand the test of time, mold the lives of individuals, and even shape the destiny of the nation. The way I look at it, it's just balanced, yes, more than so. I grew up in another country where justice is being bought, where those who have more in life also have more in law. It's a far cry, my friend, at least the US courts remain to be consistent. And we should be proud of this fact.