News

Recession Hits Immigrants Hard

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The number of foreign-born residents of the U.S. declined for the first time since at least 1970, as a recession and tight labor market dented America's image as the land of opportunity.

A decline in construction jobs lured fewer immigrants from their home countries, especially those from Mexico, according to the Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125356996157829123.html

By Conor Dougherty and Miriam Jordan -- The Wall Street Journal

Number of Immigrants Applying for U.S. Citizenship Is Down 62%, Study Finds

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The number of immigrants applying to become U.S. citizens plunged 62 percent last year as the cost of naturalization rose and the economy soured, according to an analysis released Friday by the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy organization.

In late 2007, the application cost increased from $330 to $595, plus an $80 fee for computerized fingerprinting. Partly in anticipation of the price increase, 1.38 million people filed applications in 2007, creating a backlog that nearly tripled the average processing time.

Caribbean islands crack down on illegal immigrants

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As jobs vanish in the global financial crisis, Caribbean governments are cracking down on undocumented migrants seeking work. The increased enforcement highlights deep economic divisions in a region where poor Dominicans, Haitians and Jamaicans seek better lives on more affluent islands such as the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbados.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ik13eXOJ5P7pbhUFYFT3VG6FJgIgD9AGVQEO0

By Mike Melia -- Associated Press

Our view on visa overstays: 1 in 3 illegal residents arrives legally and just stays

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In 1996, Congress decided that it needed a way to track people who overstay their visas — a huge and understated part of the nation's illegal immigration problem. So it authorized a program to verify that visa holders who arrived in the country eventually left it.

Money for Illegal-Immigrant Emergency Care Running Out

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But the question of providing emergency care for those in the country illegally is a tricky one. Currently, illegal immigrants can receive health services at hospital emergency rooms. “Hospitals are required by law to assess and stabilize anybody who walks through the emergency-room door," say Richard Coorsh of the Federation of American Hospitals, referring to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986. Hospitals simply aren't allowed to refuse treatment in emergency situations, regardless of the patient's immigration status.

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