News

National parks feel the effects of human, environmental threats

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Following a pair of recent studies that exposed man-made and climate-caused deterioration at those two iconic American attractions, environmentalists are raising new concerns about the future health of all 58 U.S. national parks in a time marked by barren budgets, rising energy cravings and warming skies.http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38883753/ns/travel-active_travel/

By Bill Briggs -- MSNBC.com Contributor

Fewer day laborers on Phx. streets

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Day laborers, mostly illegal immigrants from Mexico, also had proliferated in other areas of metropolitan Phoenix, including Guadalupe, west Phoenix and Fountain Hills.

But drive by any of those locations now, and only a handful of day laborers are left. And no longer do they rush up to vehicles en masse, waving their hands in a desperate bid to get hired. Now, they are more likely to keep a lower profile, leaning against a tree or sitting on a milk crate.

Missouri sheriffs' group endorses immigration enforcement efforts by border states

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Missouri sheriffs are giving their support to law officers in states along the Mexican border seeking to enforce immigration laws.

The Missouri Sheriffs' Association this week approved a resolution backing states that have approved their own legislation on immigration enforcement. The resolution specifically mentions Arizona, where part of a new law on the subject has been blocked by a federal judge.

AP Enterprise: More immigrants getting licenses

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Three states - Washington, New Mexico and Utah - allow illegal immigrants to get licenses because their laws do not require proof of citizenship or legal residency. An Associated Press analysis found that those states have seen a surge in immigrants seeking IDs in recent months, a trend experts attribute to crackdowns on illegal immigration in Arizona and elsewhere.

Birthright of a Nation

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DESPITE persistent calls for comprehensive immigration reform, the hot debate today is about an old issue: birthright citizenship.

The citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868, provides that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States...” This language has traditionally been interpreted to give automatic citizenship to anyone born on American soil, even to the children of illegal immigrants.

Opinion on Virginia immigration checks was a matter of duty

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When a Virginia legislator asks for my office's official opinion on a matter of law, I answer it. I am obliged as attorney general to do so. I do not choose the timing of a request as it relates to court rulings in Arizona or crimes committed by illegal aliens in Virginia. The fact that there was a request would seem to indicate that there was a need for clarification.

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