Tampa Bay Times -- By Derek Tsang
There have been nine proposals related to the 2008 law from Republicans in the Senate and the House. And, according to Grant Newman of immigration research group NumbersUSA, all of these proposals involve amending the 2008 law, albeit in different ways. There have been no formal proposals, Newman said, for repeal.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data show that 65 percent of unaccompanied alien minors’ asylum applications were immediately approved by asylum officers in Fiscal Year 2014, according to a press release from the House Judiciary Committee. And most unapproved cases are later approved by an immigration judge. This means that the vast majority of aliens who seek asylum are now successful in their claims despite the fact that an internal Department of Homeland Security report says that 70 percent of asylum cases contain proven or possible fraud.
In the wake of President Barack Obama’s pledge to implement additional executive amnesty measures, illegal alien advocates called on him to give work permits to most illegal aliens while House Republicans said his actions would lead to more illegal immigration.
Hundreds of illegal-alien children continue to cross certain sectors of the U.S. southern border each day, often with their mother. In an effort to stop them from coming, the Obama Administration is claiming they are subject to deportation but immigration attorneys say the vast majority of children may be given the legal right to stay under current immigration and asylum laws.
The Obama administration has issued new exemptions to federal immigration law for asylum and refugee seekers that could allow individuals with ties to terrorists into the United States. The exemptions were published to the federal register on Wednesday and would narrow the ban on refugees and asylum seekers who had provided limited material support to terrorists.
According to a recent Congressional Research Service report, the number of people granted temporary asylum jumped from 13,931 to 36,026 in the last fiscal year. This tripling of claims has lawmakers worried that illegal border crossers, including members of drug cartels, may be filing fraudulent claims to slow their deportation.
For every four non-European Union migrants in the U.K., one Briton is displaced from the labor market, according to the Migration Advisory Committee. The report, which is the first of its kind to look at the impact of immigration in the U.K., found that immigration has kept resident workers out of jobs.
During the past year, untold thousands of illegal aliens have crossed into Texas from Mexico. And immigration officials don't know why. Even more troubling, they are often released to disappear into America.
Drug gang violence in Mexico that has been leaking over the U.S./Mexican border has caused Pres. Obama to consider deploying troops there to contain it. Texas Gov. Rick Perry made an urgent call earlier in the week to add 1,000 more troops to deal with the growing violence.
Increased enforcement and the declining U.S. economy have contributed to the lowest levels of border arrests since the 1970s according to Border Patrol Statistics. From October 2008 through February 2009, agents arrested 195,000 trying to cross the Mexican/U.S. border, which is a 24 percent decrease from the same period a year ago.
On the first day of Congress, Senate Majority Leader Reid introduced the "Stronger Economy, Stronger Borders Act" (S. 9), suggesting his intention in the first months of the new Congress to push through some version of amnesty and immigration increases.
The federal government has completed 500 miles of the 670-mile planned fence along the Southwest border. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expects another 100 miles to be completed by the time Barack Obama takes office on January 20.
"Two tunnels were discovered in Nogales over the weekend by Nogales police officers, making a four-day total of three tunnels found in the border city.
Elsewhere, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped 17 people from entering the United States using fraudulent Canadian citizenship cards at the Douglas port of entry."
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/271867A Texas county filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court this week in the latest bid to stop construction of hundreds of miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In asking the court to review a lawsuit previously dismissed by a federal court judge, lawyers for El Paso County contend that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff overstepped his legal authority when he waived 37 federal laws that could have slowed or blocked construction of fencing along the border.
Most have heralded President-elect Barack Obama’s appointment of Arizona governor Janet Napolitano to head the Department of Homeland Security. As someone who has experience leading a border state, the pick seemed to make sense. But recent analysis has begun to expose her mixed approach to the issue of border protection and immigration.
Apprehensions decreased by 67 percent in southern Luna County in New Mexico thanks to the construction of a border fence and increased resources. Also, the completion of a pedestrian fence in Santa Teresa has allowed for the re-deployment of agents to other areas.
New numbers suggest that individuals are being deterred from crossing into the United States illegally. Chief Patrol Agent Robert Gilbert credits his agency's hard work and wise planning.
At a news conference held last week to detail his agency’s recent achievements, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff discussed how the economy, along with increased enforcement, are reducing the number of inbound illegal aliens and increasing departures home. He cited certain “metrics,” such as fewer illegal-alien apprehensions at the borders, and pointed to illegal-alien population studies as evidence of a reversing migratory trend.
A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies shows that America's refusal to secure our borders has fueled a marked increase in the level of gang violence.
Rep. Don Cazayoux (D-LA)
"The changes started coming slowly to this small town where the U.S. border with Canada runs across sleepy streets, through houses and families, and smack down the middle of the shared local library.
First was the white, painted lettering on the pavement on three little side streets -- "Canada" on one side, "U.S.A." on the other. Then came the white pylons denoting which side of the border was which. After that, signboards were erected on some streets, ordering drivers to turn back and use an officially designated entry point.
ARIZONA/MEXICO BORDER -- "We're seeing a lot more babies crossing through here now," Barbara Barnett told me, as we sat on her patio looking out over her and her husband Roger's geologically dramatic, sprawling desert cattle ranch.
During today’s markup of the FY09 Department of Homeland Security spending bill (no bill number yet), the House Appropriations Committee voted to cut and remove funding for proven enforcement measures such as the 287(g) program, which enables local police and sheriffs to enforce immigration laws, and workplace enforcement activities. The measure will, among other things, require ICE to spend $800 million to identify and deport illegal aliens who have committed serious crimes.
With men and women dying in the armed services of our country every day, the question of national community loomed large for me this Memorial Day.
Did all those who died in foreign lands this last year, as well as in America near our own borders, accept the possibility of the supreme sacrifice for just some vague concept of a country? For virtually open borders? For a government that only some times puts its citizens' interests ahead of those of citizens of other countries?
Rosemary Jenks, director of governmental relations at NumbersUSA, a group that promotes reduced immigration, both legal and illegal, said the concept of a virtual fence isn’t necessarily bad, but it could work only in conjunction with other border security enforcement measures.
“Some folks in the administration see this as a panacea. It is not,” said Jenks
She also questioned whether a virtual fence makes fiscal sense.
NumbersUSA Director of Government Relations Rosemary Jenks discusses fraud and loopholes in our immigration enforcement agencies can be exploited by terrorists with CNN's Lou Dobbs.
