SC senate passes bill calling for stricter immigration rules
Posted: 3:11 PM Feb 15, 2008 Last Updated: 3:10 PM Feb 15, 2008 Reporter: Tom Campbell Email Address: tom.campbell@wrdw.com
February 14, 2008
COLUMBIA, S.C.---The South Carolina Senate has approved a bill requiring public and private employers to check whether their employees are illegal immigrants.
Some Senators complained it gives private employers a large loophole.
The bill allows use of a Federal employment eligibility form for private businesses. Opponents say that's at the root of the problem because Federal law forbids any verification of the documents.
The House will now debate the Senate version. Earlier, the House passed a version that requires only businesses with public contracts to check for illegal immigrants.
The Senate is also looking at a bill that would limit payday loans to $500 at a time. It would also require payday lenders to check a database of borrowers before making any loan.
Boise, Idaho -- Immigration is a hot subject that isn't going away any time soon.
Now the Idaho Senate Affairs Committee will debate the issue.
The committee will consider sending Congress a message that the federal government should uphold its constitutional responsibilities on illegal immigrants.
While the sponsor says it will secure borders, a Latino leader says it's not a solution. Meridian Sen. Shirley McKague is the sponsor of the memorial they want to send to the president and congress.
"This merely asks them to abide by the oath of office that we all have taken and protect us from the invasion of illegal aliens," said McKague.
The formal message would include the request to secure the borders, end economic incentives to illegal immigration, to name a few.
McKague is amending the bill to drop birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens because it's unconstitutional.
"It needs to be addressed and not amnesty, but it's hurting our economy and our healthcare cost. It's just a drain and it's illegal," said McKague.
A Washington, D.C., based immigrant rights organization, The National Farm Worker Justice says undocumented workers don't receive a free ride with public services.
And lawmakers should be finding solutions to illegal immigration because the problem stretches beyond Idaho, saying it's a national issue.
"Waiting 14 to15 years, waiting in the back of the line to come into this country, doesn't work," said National Chairman of Farm Worker Justice Humberto Fuentes.
"We're not saying open the borders, we're saying we need to find a solution, a workable solution," said Fuentes.
Like avoiding a workforce shortage for farmers and other U.S. employers.
"There's still people in the country legally that will work, they're looking for work," said McKague.
But as some states, like Arizona, have discovered, employers are losing immigrant workers at a rapid pace.
"There is a very strong coalition of farmers in this country with groups and unions trying to find a solution," said Fuentes.
The Senate Affairs Committee is expected to hear the bill within the next couple of weeks.
Nearly 50 people charged with working for smuggling ring in Ariz.
Associated Press - February 14, 2008 7:14 PM ET
PHOENIX (AP) - Forty-eight people accused of taking part in an immigrant smuggling ring were indicted on criminal charges, Arizona authorities announced Thursday.
Authorities say the group, whose top leaders were among those who face charges, grossed as much as $130,000 a week moving people from Naco, Mexico, to Phoenix.
The case led to the discovery of 13 "drop houses" in Phoenix where human smugglers held customers until they paid up.
Phoenix police Lt. Vince Piano says the ring is believed to be 1 of the biggest operating in Arizona, the business illegal entry point into the country.
Authorities say other smuggling groups are believed to be operating in the state.
By Valarie Honeycutt Spears VHONEYCUTT@HERALD-LEADER.COM Posted on Sun, Feb. 17, 2008
Since Mayor Jim Newberry's new immigration policy went into effect Feb. 1, the Fayette County Detention Center has been sending the names of 13 to 20 people born outside the United States to federal immigration officials each day.
And in the last three weeks, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Kentucky say they have put deportation detainers on an estimated 40 foreign-born nationals who are booked into the Lexington jail.
However, determining exactly how many foreign-born nationals are affected by Newberry's policy could prove difficult.
Urban County Government officials, ICE, and local prosecutors are all gathering different numbers from different time frames that show how many immigrants are eligible for deportation.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Gail Montenegro said one thing is clear: "We have noticed an increase in activity in the past three weeks. As a result of Lexington's new policy, ICE anticipates a growing increase in detainers placed on criminal aliens at the jail."
Montenegro said the jail is faxing a daily list of foreign-born inmates to ICE -- by her agency's estimate more than 20 new arrests each day. That list includes people arrested for misdemeanors as well as felonies. The majority of those people eligible for deportation, Montenegro says, are felons.
Susan Straub, a spokeswoman for Newberry, said that jail records show lower numbers than the ICE estimates: an average of 13 names of foreign-born nationals sent each day and 21 detainers in the last three weeks. Part of the reason for the confusion, Straub says, could be that detainer orders can be issued by ICE at any time while inmates are in jail, not just when they are arrested.
Montenegro said that typically, her agency doesn't track numbers of the names they get from specific jails or how many detainers result from that. She said she gathered estimates solely because the Herald-Leader asked for them.
First Assistant Fayette County Attorney Brian Mattone said that when his office asked for numbers from the jail on Feb. 8, when the policy had been in effect for one week, he was told that 98 names had been sent to ICE from the jail and that only two deportation detainers had been filed since Feb. 1.
Meanwhile, Fayette Commonwealth Attorney Ray Larson has, since November, been asking ICE to review the names of all people charged with felonies who don't appear to have a legitimate Social Security number and who were born outside the United States.
From November until now, Larson said, he asked ICE to review the immigration status of 32 people who had been charged with felonies. One turned out to be a legal resident, and 31 were illegally in the United States, he said. ICE put deportation detainers against 22 of them. The other nine had already been released from the jail when they came to the attention of ICE, Larson said. Of the nine, scheduled court appearances have come up for two. They failed to appear and face additional charges as a result.
Larson said the charges include murder, first-degree rape, robbery and burglary, drug charges and charges related to having fake identification.
Under Newberry's new policy, the jail sends a report to the ICE office daily containing information about all people booked that day who were born outside the United States. ICE has the option of issuing a detainer order for an individual so that it can pursue possible immigration law violations.
If there is no detainer order by the time a person is eligible for release, the person will be released. If a detainer order is issued before the inmate would normally be eligible for release, the person can generally be held for up to 48 hours beyond the normal release date.
The policy has sparked controversy, particularly within Lexington's immigrant community. Lexington immigration attorney Rachel A. Newton said that advocates are not taking issue with sanctions against dangerous criminals.
"I don't know of anyone who would protest violent people being removed from the community as long as everyone got due process," she said.
Aaron Hutson, Program Coordinator for the Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said the numbers sent to ICE should be tracked carefully and that a written policy should be in place at the jail.
Hutson said he is concerned that foreign-born legal residents and U.S. citizens who are jailed for a minor offense might be deported by mistake, as has happened occasionally in other cities. In Lexington, he said, foreign-born legal residents and U.S. citizens both inside and outside of the Hispanic community are fearful.
Hutson said his group would like to implement a program in which volunteers would be trained to go into the Fayette Detention Center and monitor how the immigration policy works.
"Just to have an extra set of eyes and ears would make sure that people's rights are respected," Hutson said.
Reach Valarie Honeycutt Spears at (859) 231-3409 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3409.
Reported by Christina Mora nbc29.com Posted: Feb 16, 2008 05:00 PM EST Updated: Feb 16, 2008 05:00 PM EST
Immigration reform was a hot topic of discussion for Democrats in Central Virginia Saturday. Charlottesville and Albemarle Democrats gathered at the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) to discuss what can be done in Virginia to take on the issue.
Immigrants who live in the area dispelled some myths and offered insight into their community's contributions to the Commonwealth.
Sindy Benavides, a native of Honduras, was one of four speakers at the meeting. She came to the U.S. with her family when she was just one year old. Like many immigrant families, her parents worked hard so she could go to school.
"I went on to college, graduated valedictorian, got a full ride to do my masters and I'm doing something that I love now," she said.
Benavides now works for Governor Tim Kaine. She shared her story to those in attendance and dispelled some misconceptions people may have about immigrants.
"In Virginia, Latino citizens have higher education level than the overall population, higher income than the overall population," she said.
Peter Loach is the chairman of Creciendo Juntos, a group that deals with immigration rights in Central Virginia. He said he's surprised the Commonwealth hasn't been more vocal about this issue.
"Many of us from Virginia have been really shocked and appalled at some of the legislation in the General Assembly and some other things going on in the state that aren't just anti-illegal immigration, but they are anti-immigrant," he said.
Loach said 10 percent of the state’s population was born outside the U.S., and almost half of the jobs created in the past ten years have been created for those immigrants.
Benavides said losing such jobs could be detrimental to the economy.
"Immigrants across the state are contributing in aspects all across the board, from construction jobs to professional jobs. They're making our state move forward," she said.
There are more than 60 bills being proposed in the 2008 legislative session that are related to immigration.
Many of us from Virginia have been really shocked and appalled at some of the legislation in the General Assembly and some other things going on in the state that aren't just anti-illegal immigration, but they are anti-immigrant," he said.
But of course, Peter loach did not offer any examples of this. Just more stupid rhetoric to try to confuse illegal with immigrant bull c r apola.
Pensacola is Catching up And Checking for Records of Employee's
Records check at construction site sends workers scattering.
From staff reports Immigration News Daily Published - February, 16, 2008
Dozens of workers scattered Friday afternoon when Santa Rosa County deputies arrived at a construction site in Gulf Breeze.
"We went to do a records check, which we commonly do on a daily basis," Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Scott Haines said. "We did retrieve some records that we're going to go over."
Witnesses said three or four unmarked sport utility vehicles drove up to the future Publix site on U.S. 98 shortly before 1 p.m. When officers got out of the vehicles, people started to run.
Haines said no one chased the workers who ran, and no arrests were made.
Illegal immigration bill moves forward to punish employers
By Bill Ruthhart bill.ruthhart@indystar.com 12:04 PM February 18, 2008
The Indiana House Public Policy Committee voted this morning to approve one of the nation's toughest illegal immigration bills, but only after making a number of changes to the legislation.
The committee voted 7-4 to pass SB 335, which would punish employers for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.
Among the changes made by the committee was the addition of $1.5 million in funding to help the Attorney General's office and the State Police enforce the legislation. Previously, SB 335 included no money to fund enforcement.
Because the committee added a fiscal impact to the bill, it is now expected to move before the House Ways and Means committee for approval.
Lawmakers also changed SB 335 to apply to all employees. As previously written, the bill only would have applied to workers who worked a certain number of hours within a 12-month period.
The committee also changed the bill to place the responsibility of prosecuting employers from county prosecutor to administrative law judges in the state department of labor.
The bill also would require all employers to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm whether a potential employee is a legal citizen.
Under another change made to SB 335 this morning, the governor would be given the ability to review an administrative law judge's decision to revoke an employer's state license.
As previously written, if an employer was found guilty of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants three times within a 10-year period, the business would lose its state license. Under changes made today, that period was reduced to five years.
While Democrats argued the changes approved this morning made the bill stronger, Republicans pointed to other alterations they say made the bill weaker.
Among those was a change that allowed the State Police Department to choose whether to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with the federal government to enforce federal immigration law. As previously written, the bill required State Police to enter the agreement.
Democrats argued the State Police Department needed the option in case the terms of the agreement weren't favorable.
Another change in the bill dictated that the attorney general "may" inform the department of labor's administrative law judges about possible violations while the legislation previously required the attorney general to refer all cases to local prosecutors.
The bill's author, Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, did not attend the hearing. But its sponsor in the House, Rep. Vern Tincher, D-Riley, said he was optimistic the bill would move through the House Ways and Means committee and then pass the full House.
Bill would let police seize vehicles driven by illegal immigrants
If bill was passed, police could take vehicle if it was involved in a traffic accident and driven by an illegal immigrant
By MARY LOU PICKEL The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 02/18/08
A _proposal_ to allow police to seize cars from illegal immigrants prompted an emotional public hearing before a legislative committee Monday.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. James Mills (R-Gainesville), would allow police to seize any vehicle involved in a traffic violation or accident if it's driven by an illegal immigrant. That includes rented and leased vehicles if the owner should have known the driver was an illegal immigrant.
Stacey Malegni, a Cherokee County woman, spoke in favor of the bill, recounting through her tears the loss of her 5-year-old son and mother-in-law in a car accident in 2004. An 18-year-old illegal Mexican immigrant with no license plowed into the car Malegni's mother-in-law was driving.
Malegni argued the bill should be passed for safety reasons.
"I'm putting the memory of my son in your hands," Malegni told the House Special Rules Committee.
Other witnesses agreed, arguing that people can't violate traffic laws repeatedly if they don't have a car.
A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union opposed the bill, saying it would create an atmosphere of "seize first and ask questions later." It could also create an atmosphere for racial profiling in traffic stops, the spokesman said.
The racial profiling argument drew a strong denial from committee chairman Calvin Hill (R-Woodstock), who asked witnesses to stay on point. "I don't want misinterpretation . . . that this is about racial profiling," Hill said.
Opponents say the measure is unconstitutional because it doesn't provide due process for taking the car. Under the proposal, the vehicle seizure would work similar to property seizure in drug cases.
"This legislation is opening up a slippery slope to where the state is taking private property," said Jerry Gonza***, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. "Where do we stop? Next, should we take their homes, their businesses? If there's an immigration raid in a poultry plant, should we seize that?" Gonza*** asked.
Opponents say it would be difficult for a police officer to correctly ascertain a driver's legal status during a traffic stop.
The legislation is part of a package of proposals introduced this legislative session aimed at punishing illegal immigration in Georgia.
quote: Originally posted by Beverly: We might as well since all of our troops and national guards are stuck in Iran and Iraq.
With the numbers of illegals being what they are, we could feed the crocs for decades and still have some body parts to put in the freezer for future border feedings.
Take care
I knew you were ignorant, but please, please try to inform yourself. Thanks for proving my point: most bigots are blind, obsessed idiots... Posts: 211 | Registered: 01-20-2006
Ignored post by whknapp posted 02-18-2008 05:51 PM Show Post
Beverly Power Member
Posted 02-18-2008 06:18 PM Hide Post Wooooooo I made a mistake. I was typing so fast I said Iran instead of AFGHANISTAN.
Good catch Explora aka KNAPP um . . . not
STFU you stalking, sniveling, whiney crybaby. YOU LOSE AGAIN . . . .
Posted 02-03-2008 08:54 AM Hide Post
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Please don't duplicate newspaper articles into various threads of our ilw discussion board. No dupliques por favor los artÃculos periodÃsticos en los varios hilos de rosca de nuestro tablero de la discusión del ilw.
PHOENIX -- Parents are pulling students out of school. Construction workers are abandoning their jobs. Families are hastily moving out of apartments.
Two months after Arizona enacted a law punishing employers who hire illegal immigrants, the law is already achieving one of its goals: Scores of immigrants are fleeing to other states or back to their Latin American homelands.
Gaby Espinoza, who has been unemployed since November, is among those affected. She gave up looking for a job because of the law and may have to return to Mexico.
Espinoza's husband works here legally, but the law means that employers must ask her for papers, and she faces the daily fear of being deported.
"There's no work over there in Mexico," said Espinoza, who has three U.S.-born children. "People there live so poorly. Here, my kids have health insurance and Medicare. Over there, there's nothing."
Jose Perez Leon, a laborer in Phoenix who wants to return to his home in Mexico City, said jobs were plentiful when he came to Arizona about 18 months ago but began to dry up in the last three months.
"I don't like it here anymore because of everything that's happening," he said. "There's no work."
The Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano approved the law last summer out of frustration with federal efforts to curb illegal immigration. It took effect Jan. 1.
The law suspends or revokes the business licenses of violators and was intended to reduce the economic incentive for immigrants to sneak across the border. Illegal immigrants account for an estimated one in 10 workers in Arizona, which is the nation's busiest gateway for illegal immigration.
Business groups have challenged the law. While awaiting a ruling, prosecutors agreed to hold off bringing cases to court until at least March 1.
Republican state Rep. Russell Pearce designed the law to reduce spending on educating and providing health care for illegal immigrants and their families, and to encourage them to leave Arizona.
"Why in the world do (illegal immigrants) think they have a right to break the law? And we are the bad guys for insisting that the law be enforced? The public doesn't agree with that," Pearce said.
Many school officials believe the law has played a role in falling enrollment. The state's struggling economy and slumping housing market are other factors. Several districts reported losing more than 100 students at least in part because of the law.
The Isaac School District in central Phoenix, with a student body that is 96 percent Hispanic, lost 500 students, said district spokesman Abedon Fimbres.
The departure of so many students upsets people like Jackie Doerr, who is principal at Andalucia Primary School, which is in a separate district in west Phoenix. She said teachers had made progress teaching English to many of the children.
"They have to leave and start all over again. It's just so frustrating when you see how far they have come," Doerr said. "They are probably going to lose it, especially if they go back to Mexico. They are definitely going to have problems."
The law has also contributed to rising vacancies in Phoenix. The slow economy and a market overloaded with rental homes have exacerbated the problem, said Terry Feinberg, president of the Arizona Multihousing Association, a rental housing industry group.
Even so, property managers have reported that the law has also driven away Hispanics who are legally in the country, Feinberg said.
The construction industry says some of its workers are leaving, too, for California, Nevada, Colorado or Texas.
Veronica Avalos, an illegal immigrant who has lived in Arizona for 13 years, has been caring for her three children alone since January. Her husband's Arizona employer closed its doors. He now works in San Antonio building swimming pool decks.
Avalos and her children plan to join him in the coming months, but she worries how the move will affect her 11-year-old son, who is partially blind and has mild mental disabilities.
"We need to look for a school, services and programs for him. He has all those things right now," Avalos said. "But I don't know what will happen in Texas."
By Alyson Raletz/St. Joseph News-Press, Mo. Monday, March 3, 2008 8:30 AM CST
Other states that have cracked the whip on illegal immigration are invading Missouri discussions on a solution.
For good reason, said Carol Helm, founder of the grassroots citizens group, IRON (Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now), out of Tulsa.
A strict immigration law went into effect there in November that she credits for quieter Tulsa neighborhoods and less strain on state resources.
"In October, we saw a real exodus out of Oklahoma," she said, noting many of the illegal immigrants moved north, with many recently spotted in Wichita, Kan.
"So, they're headed your way," she told the News-Press.
The Oklahoma law prohibits illegal immigrants from obtaining government-issued driver's licenses or public assistance. Police can run immigration status checks on anyone they arrest. Also, the law makes it a crime to house or employ illegal immigrants.
Arizona is another state to recently crack down on illegal immigrants. English is the official state language there, and if employers hire undocumented workers, they lose their business licenses.
They're all ideas Missouri lawmakers have pitched this session, where the debate on illegal immigration has peaked.
Gov. Matt Blunt has pushed an effort to keep driver's licenses out of the hands of illegal immigrants.
A member of a House of Representatives immigration committee, Rep. Ed Wildberger, D-St. Joseph, said many legislators are modeling their legislation after Arizona and Oklahoma laws, including some of his own proposals.
"I don't think we're copycatting," Mr. Wildberger said. "I think we're just trying to come up with a bill that will be fair to taxpayers and help to secure jobs."
Mr. Wildberger recently filed HB 2179, which would revoke the business licenses of employers who hired illegal immigrants without checking their legal status on two available federal systems.
His bill also rewards whistle blowers with up to 10 percent of any money recovered by the state for violations.
Suspected illegal immigrants who can't prove their status when they appear in court for unrelated state or municipal violations would be held in jail until they are reported to federal authorities, under his HB 1767.
"All I want to do is to make it so people take the proper legislative steps to become citizens," he said.
Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City, is taking a slightly different approach. To take some of the burden off employers, he's requiring non-citizens to register with the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, under HB 2151, also called the Missouri Immigration Act.
The Labor Department then would issue photo IDs to immigrants once their status is deemed legal and create an online database for employers to cross-reference when hiring. Employers wouldn't be able to hire noncitizen workers who don't possess the card.
Also similar to other states, the act creates the crime of being an illegal immigrant in Missouri, which would be a Class D felony.
"Basically, the federal government has dropped the ball and kicked it to the states to handle it," he said of the recent strengthening of immigration law nationwide.
Rep. Jason Brown, R-Platte City, a co-sponsor of several bills involving illegal immigration, said that lawmakers have yet to identify one piece of Missouri legislation as the key solution. He said to expect an upcoming omnibus bill late in the session.
"I believe we ought to utilize and model what we do after the existing Oklahoma legislation," he said. "It's extremely comprehensive. I think that's where we're all headed."
Alyson E. Raletz can be reached at alysonraletz@npgco.com.
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Other states that have cracked the whip on illegal immigration are invading Missouri discussions on a solution. 
A strict immigration law went into effect there in November that she credits for quieter Tulsa neighborhoods and less strain on state resources. 
Arizona is another state to recently crack down on illegal immigrants. English is the official state language there, and if employers hire undocumented workers, they lose their business licenses. 
Gov. Matt Blunt has pushed an effort to keep driver's licenses out of the hands of illegal immigrants. 
His bill also rewards whistle blowers with up to 10 percent of any money recovered by the state for violations. 
"All I want to do is to make it so people take the proper legislative steps to become citizens," he said. 