A survey conducted by the National Statistics and Geography Institute reveals that Mexican emigration has dropped 42 percent over the last two years. The study indicates that the economic downturn combined with increased enforcement has made the United States less appealing.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement teamed up with local officials in Kenosha, Wis. to arrest 11 illegal alien gang members from Mexico. "Operation Community Shield" is a national initiative where ICE officials work with local authorities targeting the threat posed by transnational street gangs.
The apparent choice of Arizona Gov. Napolitano to be Pres. Obama's head of Homeland Security is a very mixed signal. But Napolitano has witnessed how a mandatory workplace verification law in her state has performed like a charm with no significant disruption of the state's businesses. She should make her DHS job a lot easier by persuading Obama to endorse Rep. Shuler's (D-N.C.) SAVE Act which essentially would make the Arizona law a federal law.
A joint effort between state and federal officials has resulted in the deportation of violent sex offenders who were also identified as illegal aliens in Virginia. “Operation Cold Play” allowed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to place 171 convicted alien sex offenders into deportation proceedings.
The State of Arizona has one of the toughest laws against employers who hire undocumented workers, but a recent poll shows that the law has had little impact on small businesses in the state. Three-quarters of the respondents said Arizona's employers sanctions law -- which imposes tough penalties on employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens -- has had little effect on their businesses.
Still, with job losses continuing across the country, the timing of such efforts could backfire on advocates, said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a Washington group seeking to curb immigration.
"I would think it would not be good for them to have a big loss at the beginning of an Obama administration," he said. "These are almost the worst possible conditions for them to push for this."
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), running for the No. 2 GOP leadership post in the U.S. House, says Republicans need to change a lot of things -- but not their insistence on enforcing immigration laws.
Considerable national media attention is being given to a disgusting murder of an Ecuadorian man in Long Island, New York, allegedly by a group of seven teenagers who in the middle of a drinking binge decided to go "beat up a Mexican." My guess is that these teenagers are opportunistic thugs who would have found somebody else to beat up if they hadn't had some animus toward Latin Americans, but it is incumbent on all of us who fight for lower immigration to emphasize the importance of not allowing our language about the problems of immigration policies to stir up hatred, and especially not violence, against immigrants or people who may look like immigrants.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that Federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to begin using E-Verify starting Jan. 15, 2009 to check their employees’ eligibility to work in the U.S. Companies awarded a contract thereafter will be required to enroll in E-Verify within 30 days and begin using the employment verification system to verify that all new hires and current contract-related employees are work eligible.
Bradford General Contractors is being sued by the family of slain actress Adrienne Shelley for hiring the undocumented worker that attacked and killed her. Diego Pillco was doing renovation work for the company in the same building Shelley was working in.
