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1. Amnesty push seen in Senate
2. Issue threatens health care
3. CA Congressman blasts GPS
4. NE legislature mulls care
5. Activists to descend upon DC

1.
Immigration Reform Effort Re-Emerges With New Senate Bill
By Trish Turner
The Fox News, March 10, 2010

Three years after efforts by Congress to reform the immigration system went down in flames, the issue is slowly re-emerging on the national stage, as two senators from the opposite sides of the political aisle work on crafting another bill.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. are set to appear Thursday at the White House for a meeting with President Obama in which they are expected to seek his guidance on charting a path forward.

The reform effort blew up in 2007 after more than a year of work when Republican critics branded the effort as "amnesty" and the tide of public opinion turned strongly against the bill.

Graham, in fact, was booed at a Republican gathering in his state in 2006 for his work on comprehensive reform with Ted Kennedy and John McCain. Sen. McCain is conspicuously absent from the current talks; Graham remains at the table as the lone Republican supporter.

Schumer said comprehensive immigration reform is closer to reality than it appears.

"We only have a couple more things to get done," he said Wednesday. "They're hard. One is to get another Republican on the bill; one is to finally deal with the issue -- to get business and labor on the same side on future flow on low-wage workers."

A senior Senate Democratic leadership aide close to the debate said of the White House meeting, "They're giving the president an update on where they stand, but they're also reaching out to get support on securing that second Republican and for help in dealing with business and labor."

Organized labor, in 2006 and 2007, fought any robust guest worker program, also called "future flow," as Kennedy's bill sought to create with the support of President George W. Bush.

Though a GOP aide with knowledge of the process told Fox News the effort is far from complete, Schumer maintained, "We're getting real close. I'm optimistic."

Immigrant rights groups have pushed to get a bill, even without another Republican joining, but Schumer said Wednesday, that's not going to happen. "Senator Graham has been very good and generous and courageous in helping us move that bill forward. ... He has always said he wants a second Republican."

Anxious to avoid the explosive failure of the last effort, Schumer said emphatically, "We will not pass an immigration bill unless it's bipartisan. Everyone agrees with that."

Schumer said it has been a tough slog to get a second Republican, particularly since pro-reform GOP Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, himself a Cuban immigrant, recently retired. "It's been difficult finding a second Republican," he said. "We have four or five prospects we're working on now. But if we can't, we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. But we're not giving up."

One Republican senator who is thought to be in play is the newest member of the body, moderate Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts. While Brown didn't slam the door on a compromise, he did not sound anxious to deal with this issue now with the unemployment rate hovering near 10 percent.

Brown told Fox News he has not yet been contacted by either Schumer or Graham, but he is willing to take a look at their bill, even though he suggested now is the time for Congress to focus on jobs, not immigration.
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/10/immigration-reform-effort-eme...

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2.
Immigration provision has Hispanic Caucus threatening ‘no’ health vote
By Jared Allen
The Hill (Washington, DC), March 10, 2010

A group of Hispanic lawmakers on Thursday will tell President Barack Obama that they may not vote for healthcare reform unless changes are made to the bill’s immigration provisions.

The scheduled meeting comes as Democratic leaders and the White House are struggling to craft a final bill that will attract 216 votes in the lower chamber.

Unlike abortion, immigration has flown beneath the radar, and almost seemed to vanish altogether as House Democrats have wrestled with how to accept a Senate healthcare bill far different from the one they passed in November.

But immigration remains just as explosive an issue and carries the same potential to derail the entire healthcare endgame, a number of Democrats said.

“It’s still one of those issues that’s out there,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra (Calif.), the Democratic Caucus vice chairman and the only Hispanic member of House leadership.

Since last fall, Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) members have kept quiet, at least publicly, about their objections to the immigration provisions in the Senate bill.

The Senate language would prohibit illegal immigrants’ buying healthcare coverage from the proposed health exchanges. The House-passed bill isn’t as restrictive, but it does — like the Senate bill — bar illegal immigrants from receiving federal subsidies to buy health insurance.

Hispanic Democrats say they haven’t moved from their stance that they will not vote for a healthcare bill containing the Senate’s prohibitions.

They claim that while it may be politically popular in some parts of the country to ban illegal immigrants from using their own money to buy coverage, it is not good policy. Illegal immigrants will, one way or another, need medical attention in the United States, and it would be cheaper and more humane to provide them coverage if they pay for it. Otherwise, they will seek treatments in the nation’s emergency rooms, effectively increasing medical costs.

“I don’t think the landscape has changed dramatically from where it was before,” Becerra said.

Every CHC member voted for the House bill last November.

On Wednesday, members of the CHC privately acknowledged they’ve told their leaders that anyone who is assuming they’ve backed away from their position is in for a rude awakening.

“The [Hispanic] Caucus didn’t want to raise it as an issue too early,” one Hispanic Democrat said Wednesday. “But it’s real. It’s a problem.”

Those alarm bells have apparently been heard. CHC Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) said she and others have, on behalf of two dozen Hispanic Democrats, been in discussions with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other leaders about how to resolve the matter.

“And we will continue having discussions,” Velazquez said.

However, it is unlikely that the Senate will be able to change the immigration provisions under reconciliation rules. And even if it is deemed possible, there may not be enough support in either chamber of Congress to do it.

Not every member of the CHC would stand in the way of healthcare over the immigration issue. As a House leader, it would be unlikely for Becerra to vote against the president’s signature domestic policy priority. And centrist Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said the Senate language is “not a deal-killer” for him.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/house/86125-hispanic-caucus-threat-to-vote-n...

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3.
Critics Blast Transborder Immigrant Tool as 'Irresponsible' Use of Technology
By Joshua Rhett Miller
The Fox News, March 10, 2010

A cell phone application that will help illegal immigrants find water and key landmarks as they cross into the United States is an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds and an irresponsible use of technology, critics say.

The Transborder Immigrant Tool (TBT), the brainchild of three faculty members at the University of California-San Diego and a colleague at the University of Michigan, is a software application that can be installed into a GPS-enabled cell phone. In addition to helping immigrants locate water and landmarks, it also could alert them to Border Patrol checkpoints. And to make the trek a little less arduous, it also plays recorded poetry.

“I don’t think it’s an appropriate use of technology,” U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told FoxNews.com. “If other governments did this and tried to tell people ways to sneak into the U.S., I’m sure the Department of Defense would take issue with that. But because American universities are doing it, there’s not a whole lot of outcry about it.”

Hunter said he found the project to be a poor use of taxpayer money, particularly doing a recession.

Joe Kasper, Hunter’s spokesman, accused the universities of “functioning as a platform” for a system that could potentially help human smugglers and illegal immigrants enter the United States.

“It’s amazing to think that university professors, whose salaries are funded by taxpayers, are actually designing a GPS application intended to facilitate illegal entry across the U.S.-Mexico border,” Kasper said in a statement to FoxNews.com. “In this case, the university is functioning as a platform for a system that would ultimately help smugglers, other criminals and illegal immigrants navigate the border.”

The faculty members behind the project — UCSD’s Micha Cardenas, Ricardo Dominguez and Brett Stalbaum and the University of Michigan’s Amy Sara Carroll — declined comment for this story.

“As a collective, we have decided that we would prefer not to be interviewed by Fox News,” Carroll wrote in an e-mail. “Our aesthetic diverges so much from your network's that we question the possibility of genuine dialogue in an exchange with you.”

But in an editorial that appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the group defended using taxpayer funds for their project.

“Compare the escalating economic costs of waging two wars and upgrading a border wall ($65 billion) to those of saving lives and exercising freedom of expression,” the editorial read. “We submit that the latter two options are ‘priceless’; but, we’re open to competing cost-benefit analyses and nonviolent dialogue about the project.”

The four university employees — part of Electronic Disturbance Theater/b.a.n.g. lab, a UCSD and University of Michigan artist-based research group — said the TBT will be distributed by Mexican nongovernmental organizations and churches that deal with potential border-crossers.

The “work-in-progress,” according to the editorial, represents both a “conversation piece” and an ethical intervention.

Steven Cribby, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told FoxNews.com that border officials are aware of the technology — and aren’t particularly fazed.

“It’s not something that we’re overly concerned about,” said Cribby, adding that smuggling operations have long used technology to cross the border. “Our fear is that instead of saving lives, a tool like this could give someone a false sense of confidence and perhaps encourage people to cross illegally into the unforgiving terrain. That’s one of our concerns. We take safety very seriously.”
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588752,00.html

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4.
Nebraska Prenatal Bill Stirs Fight Over Immigration
By Women's eNews Contributors
Womens eNews, March 11, 2010

Should a state be required to provide prenatal care for women with undocumented status?

A bill under contention in Nebraska proposes joining 14 states and the District of Columbia in providing prenatal care for all pregnant, low-income women regardless of immigrant status under CHIP, the children's health insurance program.

It is authored by Republican Sen. Kathy Campbell, a long-time advocate for women and children, who says the bill is "morally right because all children deserve to be born healthy." Republican Gov. Dave Heineman opposes it, saying taxpayer-funded benefits should not reach people without legal citizenship.

The bill is also backed by organizations that span the spectrum of opinions on fetal and maternal rights.

Nebraska Right to Life argues that providing prenatal care improves the chances that a woman will choose to give birth rather than seek an abortion.

The organization said it would consider legislators' votes in making campaign endorsements.

Heineman told the state's bishops on March 4 that although he respected their view that denying coverage might lead some women to seek abortion, he would not support the bill. Roman Catholics represent one-third of voters in the state.

The bill is also backed by organizations such as Voices for Children in Nebraska, which advocates for pregnant women and children, the Nebraska Medical Association and every medical organization in the state, many of which support a woman's right to choose.

However, many individuals spoke out against the bill at a hearing of the Health and Human Services Committee Feb. 25, urging the legislature to create an environment that would force expectant mothers to return to their native lands by denying them prenatal care, jobs and housing.
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http://www.womensradio.com/articles/Nebraska-Prenatal-Bill-Stirs-Fight-O...

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5.
Immigrants prep for march on D.C.
By Albor Ruiz
The New York Daily News, March 11, 2010

Talk is cheap. That's what immigrants and their supporters - fed up with empty promises about reform - are ready to tell to President Obama on March 21.

Carrying signs reading "Friends make good on their promises," thousands will rally in the nation's capital to demand immigration reform.

"One year and three months into the Obama administration, who would've ever imagined that tens of thousands of immigrants would march on Washington to protest its destructive immigration policies?" asked Chung-Wha Hong, the New York Immigration Coalition executive director.

Two days ago, on the steps of City Hall, several City Council members and dozens of leaders from community, faith, and labor organizations joined the NYIC to denounce the Obama administration's repressive tactics and declare support for the march. They also committed themselves to organize 10,000 New Yorkers to participate in the demonstration.

"I have never seen so many people so angry and so determined," said Norman Eng, communications director for the NYIC.

The reasons for anger and disillusionment are plentiful. Under Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record number of immigrants in 2009.

According to the Washington-based Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a national coalition of grassroots community groups, an average of 32,000 immigrants were detained each day in the first year of the Obama administration, and more than 380,000 were deported in just one year, an increase of more than 60% over the Bush years.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/03/11/2010-03-11_immigrants_pre...