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1. IN Gov. calls for bill's passage
2. GA leg. has day to pass bill
3. Advocates allege systemic abuse
4. Business groups oppose FL bills
5. MI groups seeks policy change

1.
Gov. Mitch Daniels calls for immigration reform
The State Column, April 14, 2011
http://www.thestatecolumn.com/articles/gov-mitch-daniels-calls-for-immig...

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels called on state lawmakers Wednesday to pass a proposal aimed at implementing immigration reforms in the state, adding that changes in the bill were necessary before passage.

Mr. Daniels says a bill aimed at implementing an Arizona-style law should focus more on Indiana employers and less on law enforcement. The Indiana governor is the latest governor to call on state lawmakers to implement immigration reforms.

“I think that legislation will be changed,” Mr. Daniels said Wednesday. “I support this, to drop the law enforcement provisions that have been the ones that have bothered most people.”

The Indiana Republican and potential Republican presidential candidate says he hopes the law enforcement provision is remove, refusing to note whether that provision would cause him to veto the bill.

“The idea I like is to deny them the tax deduction if they’re caught doing it,” he said. “It’s a fairly clean way to get at it, and really employment is the magnet that leads to the illegality.”

The comment comes just days after the the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction that stopped major parts of the Arizona immigration law. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill into law last year, sparking a national debate on immigration reform and border security.

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2.
Fate of immigration bill left to session's last day
By Jeremy Redmon
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, April 13, 2011
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/fate-of-immigration-b...

Lawmakers are poised to wrap up this year’s 40-day legislative session on Thursday debating one of their most politically divisive measures: House Bill 87.

Both supporters and opponents of the legislation predicted Wednesday the proposed Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration will pass in some form, but the question is how tough it will be.

House and Senate lawmakers were negotiating the details Wednesday. There are several sticking points, including whether to require many private businesses in Georgia to use a federal program called E-Verify to confirm their new hires are eligible to work in the United States.

The Senate stripped that requirement out of the bill Monday. The House put it back in Tuesday and sent the bill back to the Senate, where the legislation is now awaiting its fate.

“I would be surprised if it doesn’t pass,” said Republican Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, who voted for a version of the bill passed by the Senate on Monday.

Sen. Curt Thompson, D-Tucker, who has vigorously fought the measure, also predicted some form of legislation will pass despite opposition from him and others in the Senate: “Betting money is that something passes because there is so much pressure.”

That pressure on lawmakers has come from both sides. While supporters of HB 87 say the state needs to act because the federal government has failed to secure the nation’s borders, business sectors, including Georgia’s farming, landscaping and restaurant industries, have been fighting the legislation. Some opponents have threatened to challenge the measure in court or help organize economic boycotts aimed at Georgia if the measure is enacted.

At the same time, divisions have opened up among Republicans and Democrats in the Senate over the legislation. Some Republicans want to pass a stringent crackdown on illegal immigration. But other more rural Republicans are worried the legislation could harm the state’s $68.8 billion agricultural industry, which relies heavily on migrant labor.

Meanwhile, Gov. Nathan Deal, who campaigned last year on curbing illegal immigration, is refraining from offering any advice to lawmakers struggling with the issue. Speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, the Republican governor confirmed his staff has been “in consultation” with lawmakers, but he called the issue “primarily a legislative responsibility.” He has not yet taken a position on HB 87.

"The difficulty they have encountered reflects the complexity of the issue," Deal said of the lawmakers, "and certainly it's a very multifaceted issue and a difficult one to come to logical conclusions that will be meaningful."

Like the legislation passed in Arizona last year, Georgia’s HB 87 would authorize police to check the immigration status of certain suspects. It also would punish people caught transporting or harboring illegal immigrants or using fake identification to get a job here.

Proponents of HB 87 complain illegal immigrants are burdening the state’s public schools, jails and hospitals. Opponents say the legislation is unconstitutional and would promote racial profiling, invite costly court challenges and damage the state’s economy.

The Senate is expected to take up HB 87 Thursday. A few options are on the table. Senators could approve the bill as is and send it to Deal for his signature. Or they could object to it and call for a conference committee that would hash out the differences between the two chambers. Or they could amend it and send it back to the House.

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3.
Advocates allege systemic abuse of homosexual, transgender immigrant detainees
The Associated Press, April 13, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/advocates-allege-systemic-abuse-o...

For 22 hours a day, Alejandro Cortez-Reyna, who is transgender, was confined to a 5-by-9-foot cell in immigration custody. Eventually the time out of the cell was reduced to about 45 minutes.

When Cortez-Reyna once asked why dayroom time for gay or transgender immigrants at the Theo Lacy facility in California was cut to less than two hours, a guard responded, “Because you need to learn not to be a faggot.”

The guard’s response is part of a civil rights complaint filed Wednesday on behalf of Cortez-Reyna and 12 others. It alleges systemic abuse and neglect of gay and transgender immigrants while in custody at facilities owned or contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Chicago-based Heartland Alliance National Immigrant Justice Center filed the action with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Inspector General’s Office.

Alliance leaders said the allegations go beyond mistreatment by a few guards. They include blanket policies against the immigrants such as the rule at Theo Lacey that keeps all gay and transgender immigrants confined to their cells for 22 hours and the practice at a Santa Ana, Calif., jail that denies hormone treatments to transgender immigrants. The complaints were filed on behalf of men and women currently or recently detained in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Some have been granted asylum or have been released to pursue asylum appeals.

“It has become clear that the Department of Homeland Security is incapable of ensuring safe and nonpunitive conditions for sexual minorities,” said Mary Meg McCarthy, executive director of Heartland Alliance.

McCarthy says Heartland wants the Obama administration to investigate the allegations along with two pending complaints it filed alleging sexual assault against two detainees. One of those complaints goes back nine months.

A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Gillian Christensen, said the agency plans to review and investigate and address any claims.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes any allegations of mistreatment or abuse very seriously,” she said.

The agency has discussed detention reforms previously with Heartland Alliance and other groups it meets with regularly, Christensen said. As a result, the agency last month issued guidelines for the housing and care of “vulnerable and special needs populations,” she said.

Margo Schlanger, Homeland Security’s civil rights watchdog, said her office will investigate promptly.

Cortez-Reyna, who wants to be considered a woman goes by the name Alexis, said she and other gay and transgender immigrants were stripped to their underwear and searched in front of other immigrants who were not gay. Cortez-Reyna’s complaint says an officer frequently threatened Cortez-Reyna and other immigrants. Many kept silent about mistreatment because they feared retaliation or that it would affect their immigration cases, the complaint says.

“As a human, it really got to be really depressing. I didn’t choose to be homosexual, that’s who I am. They did not treat us like human beings,” Cortez-Reyna said in a phone interview.

In another case, a transgender detainee whose name was redacted from an affidavit released by Heartland Alliance was held in a McHenry, Ill., facility for nine months, an experience the immigrant called “living in hell.” The detainee was isolated except for officers who were verbally and physically abusive, the complaint said.

“I am treated very poorly compared to other prisoners ... I am not allowed to leave my cell ... the officers say the detainees can only talk to members of the same gender and say that I am not any gender,” the complaint says.

One of the Obama administration’s immigration initiatives has been to improve conditions at detention facilities. Early in Obama’s term, Immigration and Customs Enforcement promised to monitor and enforce contract performance standards. Advocates say the administration has fallen short of its promises.

The Homeland Security Department owns and operates its own immigration centers, which are privately run, and contracts with local law enforcement for another 33,000 beds. The administration planned to replace private contractors with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at 52 facilities where about 80 percent of the immigrant detention policy is housed.

Facilities named in the complaint are: Theo Lacy Facility, Santa Ana City Jail, Mira Loma Detention Center and El Centro Processing Center in California; Houston Processing Center, IAH Polk County Detention Center and Willacy County Processing Center, Texas; Florence Service Processing Center and Eloy Detention Center in Arizona; Otero County Detention Center, New Mexico; Kenosha County Detention Center, Wisconsin; McHenry County Jail, Illinois; La Salle Detention Center, Louisiana; and York County Detention Center, Pennsylvania.

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4.
Business groups oppose Florida immigration bills
The Associated Press, April 14, 2011
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/14/2166643/business-groups-oppose-flo...

Business groups say state legislation designed to curtail illegal immigration would hurt Florida's tourism and agriculture industries while reducing tax revenues.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida and Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association joined with a religious leader Wednesday to denounce the bills moving through the House and Senate.

Chamber Vice President Adam Babington said Florida is different than Arizona, the first state to pass such a law. He said Florida depends on foreign visitors and trade as well as immigrant workers.

Babington said such a law would scare away tourists and international investment. A chamber study shows Florida's immigrant workers contribute about $4.5 billion in tax revenues every year.

The bills (SB 2040, HB 7089) are set for committee hearings Thursday.

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5.
Groups seek changes to ICE agent search policies
The Associated Press, April 14, 2011
http://www.necn.com/04/14/11/Groups-seek-changes-to-ICE-agent-search-/la...

A coalition of organizations plans to demand changes in how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts searches in Detroit.

A member of Michigan's branch of the Alliance for Immigrant Rights & Reform and an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union are scheduled to address the issue Thursday during a news conference.

A man who says his home was raided by ICE agents without a warrant and another man saying he was detained for an hour are expected to speak.

ICE said last week that it was investigating claims that agents tracked Hispanic immigrants on Detroit's southwest side who were taking children to school. An agency spokesman says a preliminary review suggested parts of the operation may not have been consistent with the agency's policies.