News

CLOSE TO HOME: One child, one more reason to pass the Dream Act

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"Imagine being brought into Sonoma County as an undocumented child. Imagine going from kindergarten through your senior year of high school being a star student and graduating at the very top of your class. And finally imagine contributing hundreds of hours as a community volunteer and being chosen as the Youth Volunteer of Sonoma County— only to discover that as you apply to colleges and universities, that no state or federal student aid funds are available to you.

Hispanic Community Prepares for New Immigration Law

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"Salt Lake City's Hispanic community is gearing up for the implementation of Senate Bill 81, a controversial immigration reform that has many concerned about how it will be enforced. Archie Archuleta with the Utah Coalition of La Raza said people share Police Chief Chris Burbank's concern that the law encourages racial profiling.

Iowa: Personnel Manager at Meat Plant Pleads Guilty

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A former personnel manager arrested after a large immigration raid at a slaughterhouse pleaded guilty to federal immigration charges. The ex-manager, Elizabeth Billmeyer, 48, of Postville, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants for profit and one count of knowingly accepting counterfeit resident alien cards. She faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Ms. Billmeyer was working at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, once the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse, when federal agents arrested 389 people in an immigration raid in May.

Judge Halts Investigation Into ID Theft in Colorado

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A state judge here ordered a halt Monday to a controversial identity theft investigation that has implicated more than 1,000 suspected illegal immigrants, ruling that the search at the start of the investigation was unlawful and violated privacy rights.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/us/14greeley.html

By Dan Frosch -- New York Times

Immigration Reform and Hard Times

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The Obama administration said last week that it would begin a major push for immigration reform this year. The country’s two big labor federations just announced that they are joining forces to support that effort, which includes a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. That’s double good news.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/opinion/14tue1.html

New York Times Editorial

Arrest Data Add Fuel to Debate on Illegal Residents

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About 2 percent of the people charged with major violent crimes in Prince William County last year were illegal immigrants, but they were arrested for a larger portion of secondary offenses, according to newly released statistics and a Washington Post analysis that offer the first comprehensive look at criminal activity since the county implemented its controversial anti-illegal immigration measures.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/11/AR2009041102122.html

State seeks more federal aid for cost of keeping illegal immigrant inmates

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Fifteen years after Congress promised that Washington would help states pick up the tab for imprisoning illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, California is receiving but a fraction -- less than 12 cents on the dollar -- of its nearly $1-billion annual cost.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-illegal-felons11-2009apr11,0,5676455.story

By Richard Simon -- Los Angeles Times

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