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1. Obama pitches amnesty agenda
2. White House to talk with Cuba
3. Nationwide sweep rounds up 476
4. MA Gov. calls for more funding
5. CA county seeks reimbursement

1.
President pitches immigration reform
By Gary Martin
The San Antonio Express-News (TX), January 28, 2010

Washington, DC -- President Barack Obama urged lawmakers in his State of the Union speech Wednesday to drop partisan divisions and pass immigration reform legislation.

“We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system,” Obama said, “to secure our borders, enforce our laws and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.”

The president supports earned legal status for the estimated 12 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, a contentious issue that has blocked reform legislation in the past.

Republicans oppose citizenship measures as an amnesty for lawbreakers who entered the country illegally. It remains the most politically divisive issue of immigration reform efforts.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he was ready to work on a bipartisan bill to fix the broken immigration system, but said the president must be an active leader to move any legislation forward this year.

“The president cannot be a bystander and expect immigration reform to just happen,” Cornyn said.

Immigration reform this year faces election-year hurdles that include an electorate angry about the economic recession. Obama’s nod to reform in his speech was noted by Democrats.

“I am going to give the president a lot of credit for broaching the subject in this particular environment of ‘Just Say No to Everything,’ ” said Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio.

But Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, said the electoral victories chalked by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, both Republicans, came on campaign platforms opposing earned legalization for undocumented immigrants.

“The message from voters is twofold: listen to us, and we oppose amnesty,” Smith said.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said politics shouldn’t “stall our progress in our efforts to achieve immigration reform,” adding, “I have faith in the president to see his promise through.”
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http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/82864492.html

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please view Mark Krikorian's blog on Obama's 2010 SOTU address.

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2.
Cuba, U.S. Set For Migration Talks Next Month
Reuters, January 27, 2010

Havana (Reuters) -- Cuban and U.S. negotiators will meet in February for a second round of talks on migration issues since the discussions were renewed last summer, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Wednesday.

He said no date was set for the meeting, which had been scheduled for December in Havana but was postponed for undisclosed reasons.

The United States has said since December that the talks would be reset for February, but Cuba remained silent about it until now.

Officials from the two countries met in New York in July, reviving talks last held in 2003 before they were canceled

under President George W. Bush.

The U.S. State Department described the renewal of negotiations then as part of U.S. President Barack Obama's desire to pursue a more constructive relationship with Cuba, after five decades of hostility.

The discussions cover agreements from the mid-1990s aimed at preventing an exodus of Cuban refugees to the United States such as the 1980 Mariel boatlift and a 1994 wave of boat people.

The United States agreed to repatriate Cuban migrants intercepted at sea, while Cuba said it would clamp down on illegal immigration.

The United States has pushed for access to a deepwater port so it can safely return migrants and to ensure that U.S. diplomats can track the welfare of those sent back.

Cuba wants Washington to abandon its immigration policy that gives preferential treatment to Cubans who reach U.S. shores. It says the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy encourages Cubans to abandon their homeland for the United States.
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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/27/us/politics/politics-us-cuba-u...

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3.
Hundreds Arrested in Drug Raids
By Julia Preston
The New York Times, January 27, 2010

A total of 476 people were arrested last week by immigration agents, who said those detained were members of international drug-trafficking gangs. The arrests took place in coordinated operations in 83 cities in what Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials called the largest antinarcotics operation ever undertaken by the immigration agency. Among those detained were 151 American citizens. The biggest roundup was near Charlotte, N.C., where 49 were arrested.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/us/28brfs-HUNDREDSARRE_BRF.html

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4.
$75m hike sought for health plan
Increase would offer coverage for more immigrants
By Kay Lazar
The Boston Globe, January 28, 2010

Despite last year’s battle with state lawmakers over health insurance for legal immigrants, Governor Deval Patrick is calling for a 25 percent funding increase for the program, a total of $75 million, in his new budget proposal.

Patrick, who has been a staunch advocate for the funding, said he is committed to the initiative for the group of 26,000 “hardworking, taxpaying’’ residents. Massachusetts does not receive federal reimbursement for the immigrants’ coverage, as it does for other health care programs.

“We worked out a pretty good solution’’ with lawmakers last year, Patrick said, but he acknowledged that the compromise reached after months of prickly negotiations was “bare bones, to be sure.’’

Last year, the immigrants lost their coverage in Commonwealth Care, the state-subsidized program for low-income residents, after lawmakers eliminated $130 million in funding to help balance the state’s budget. The Legislature ultimately restored about a third of the money, and the immigrants were given stripped-down health care plans, with significantly higher copayments for medications and other treatments.

A Patrick administration spokeswoman said the 25 percent increase requested would provide that basic coverage for an additional 8,000 legal immigrants who became eligible after enrollment in the program was capped last fall. Patrick said yesterday that he intends to restore full benefits when the state’s finances improve.

Immigrant and health care advocates applauded the governor’s budget request yesterday, but said they were girding for another tough fight.
. . .
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/28/75m_h...

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5.
County wants feds to cover cost of illegal immigrant incarceration
By Stephen Wall
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA), January 27, 2010

San Bernardino County wants the federal government to pick up the $21 million tab to incarcerate and provide probation services for illegal immigrants.

The funding request is contained in the county's 2010 priority list for state and federal funds, which was adopted by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

"Immigration is a federal responsibility," said County Supervisor Neil Derry. "Neither the state nor local governments should be required to bear the burden of the failure of the federal government to secure our borders."

The county wants the federal government to cover its full cost to incarcerate illegal immigrants who have at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions for violations of state or local law.

Since 2004, county taxpayers have spent about $54.5 million to jail illegal immigrants. Federal officials have reimbursed the county about $6.7 million since then through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.

In 2008, the last year for which figures are available, the county spent $15.8 million to jail illegal immigrants. The county only received $2.2 million in federal reimbursements that year, said Lance Larson, the county's legislative affairs director.

The county has sought full funding of the program for at least six or seven years. Members of Congress from both parties have supported the county's request, Larson said.

"No county has gotten full funding under this program," Larson said. "To make it worse, the Bush Administration and the Obama Administration over the last couple years have suggested to Congress that they zero out the program."

Both administrations proposed cutting or eliminating the program as a way to help balance the federal budget, county officials said.

The limited funding the county gets from the program is used to staff the jails with sheriff's deputies needed to handle the large influx of illegal immigrants in custody, said Undersheriff Richard Beemer.

"If we were to lose funding, we would have to take deputies out of patrol positions to staff the jails," Beemer said. "Obviously, it would hurt us not to get the meager funding that we get."
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http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_14281414