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1. State laws face challenges
2. Enforcement may raise ID-theft
3. GA Gov. to sign bill
4. CA Latinos hope for bills
5. BP agents killed in chase

1.
State immigration laws may never be constitutional
The Associated Press, May 13, 2011

Utah legislators passed an immigration law that they were confident wouldn't end up the same way Arizona's version did last year: tangled up in the courts.

But 14 hours after Utah's law went into effect this week, it, too, was before a federal judge.

As the case goes through the courts, other states grappling with illegal immigration are paying close attention. Georgia is waiting for the governor's signature on a comprehensive immigration bill that includes an enforcement measure very similar to Utah's version.

Alabama has one, too, and it is moving close to passage in the Legislature.

The halting of Utah's law could give them pause. After all, state lawmakers worked at length with attorneys to try to eliminate constitutional issues a federal judge raised with Arizona's law.

Despite those refinements, the bottom line remains the same, legal scholars say. Immigration is enforced by the federal government, and any state attempting to tell the federal government how to enforce immigration laws is stepping into potentially unconstitutional territory.

So far, courts have agreed with that assessment. The hold placed on parts of Arizona's law by a district court judge was upheld in April by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and earlier this week Gov. Jan Brewer said she plans to appeal the rulings to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The main reason the Arizona statute is bad is because it's the state taking over immigration law," said Arizona State University law professor Paul Bender. "The Utah law is unconstitutional for the same reason."

While Utah's law may still be overturned because it usurps federal authority, the state did narrow its law significantly and made it not as "blatantly unconstitutional" by trying to fix two other issues the courts have taken with Arizona's law, Bender said.

One change made by Utah and Georgia was the elimination of a clause found in the Arizona law that would compel police to check the citizenship status of anyone who they have "reasonable suspicion" to believe is in the country illegally — whether a crime has been committed or not. Because police would have been forced to determine immediately whether a person was potentially illegal, racial profiling was almost guaranteed, Bender said.

Alabama's proposed law contains the reasonable suspicion clause, but state Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, has maintained the bill is constitutionally sound.

Utah police will be required to check the citizenship status of anyone arrested for a major crime. For minor offenses, such as traffic violations, the police can check at their discretion, but only if the person stopped doesn't have valid identification.

Georgia police would be given the power to check citizenship for all state offenses, but not required unless a person is booked into jail.

Another change both states made was focusing enforcement on people committing a crime, instead of the Arizona approach that allowed police to check almost anyone they legally encounter, Bender said.

When coupled with a program beginning in 2013 that will allow illegal immigrants with jobs to live and work in the state, Utah finds itself cast as the considerate northern neighbor to Arizona.

Protests in Utah have been minor. The death threats and widespread boycotts that followed the passage of Arizona's law in 2010 are non-existent. Georgia, on the other hand, has seen multiple protests with thousands of people participating and national groups are threatening boycotts, despite the two laws being almost identical.

Utah lawmakers credit their public relations success to the Utah Compact, a set of principles drafted by religious and business leaders.

Supporters of Utah's overhaul package claim it uses the compact's ideals to balance compassion and enforcement. Most of the criticism of the package has focused on the guest worker program, which opponents describe as amnesty.

But the missing outrage in Utah doesn't diminish the constitutional hurdles, especially since the federal ruling on Arizona's law focused on federal control of immigration.
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gqzVgU37O-pEz3xLQOi2IF...

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2.
Immigration crackdown raises identity-theft risk
Reuters, May 13, 2011

In 2008, California tax authorities sent Miguel Chavez a letter saying he failed to file a return on income earned at Ashley Furniture Industries. But Chavez never worked there.

Chavez since discovered at least 12 occasions when people used his name and Social Security number to get work, and his plight may be a cautionary tale.

Employers, increasingly double-checking would-be workers because of a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration, may inadvertently be fanning demand for stolen documents -- with all the consequences that befall victims of identity theft, from tax and credit problems to trouble with the law.

"People who are here without status and are desperate to work have resorted to co-opting documents that are legitimate," said Michael Wildes, an immigration attorney and a former federal prosecutor.

Chavez, 46, is all too familiar with the havoc identity theft creates. Three years after the discovery, he is still trying to clear his name. His credit is in a shambles and he worries that the people using his information could get in serious legal trouble, putting him at risk of arrest.

"At first I was upset, then I was worried, then I was frustrated and overwhelmed," said Chavez, a Mexico-born, legal U.S. resident.

SECURITY BREEDS INSECURITY

Stricter immigration enforcement -- along with tighter post-Sept. 11 national security -- is making it harder for undocumented workers to use their real names and a fake or stolen Social Security number to get a job.

U.S. immigration agents have been targeting employers rather than workers since 2009, and high-profile crackdowns like the probe at Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N) have prompted more employers to adopt E-Verify, a government database recommended, but not required by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). [ID:nN20201127] [ID:nN20183536]

Beyond that, Arizona and a few other states require all employers to use E-Verify to vet prospective employees.

While E-Verify will flag names and Social Security numbers that do not match, it is not very effective at ferreting out workers who assume the identity of a legal worker.

Brock Nicholson, the ICE special agent in charge of Georgia and the Carolinas, said an increase in identity theft "will probably be a logical outcome" of increased verification.

"People learn what we look for and they do things to try to avert that," Nicholson said.

An ICE investigation in his area last month resulted in the federal indictment of managers at a McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) restaurant franchise in Savannah, Georgia. They were accused of selling stolen identities of U.S. citizens to illegal workers, whom they then hired.

In March, county sheriffs in Arizona arrested more than two dozen people as part of an identity theft bust at Pei Wei (PFCB.O) restaurants in the Phoenix area.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/12/immigration-idUSN1224487920110512

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3.
Governor to sign Arizona-style immigration bill into law
By Jeremy Redmon
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, May 13, 2011

Gov. Nathan Deal is preparing to sign an Arizona-style immigration enforcement bill into law at the state Capitol at noon Friday.

Like a law Arizona enacted last year, Georgia’s House Bill 87 would empower police to question certain suspects about their immigration status. It would also penalize people who transport or harbor illegal immigrants in Georgia.

Much of Georgia’s bill would start taking effect July 1.
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http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/governor-to-sign-ariz...

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4.
California Latinos hope Gov. Brown will sign farm, immigration bills
By Jim Sanders
The Sacremento Bee, May 13, 2011

Latino leaders who went to bat for Jerry Brown in last year's campaign are now counting on the governor to help them pass bills supporting farmworkers and illegal immigrants.

Latino census growth, the pending redrawing of political districts and the election of a Democrat for the state's top office create a confluence of opportunity not seen in years, activists say.

"We are turning back the ugliness of a previous period, piece by piece," Nativo Lopez of the Mexican American Political Association said of the 1990s, when voters approved a ban on public benefits to illegal immigrants that later was deemed unconstitutional.

The latest action on a Latino bill came Thursday, when the Assembly passed a measure inspired by Pedro Ramirez, student body president at Fresno State University, that would allow undocumented immigrants to receive a stipend, grant or scholarship for serving in student government at a state university or community college.
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http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/13/2215257/california-latinos-hope-go...

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5.
Border Patrol agents killed during chase
United Press International, May 13, 2011

Two U.S. Border Patrol agents pursuing suspected illegal immigrants were killed when their vehicle was struck by a freight train in Arizona, officials said.

A Border Patrol spokesman said Hector Clark, 39, and Edward Rojas, 34, were assisting other agents in the chase near Gila Bend Thursday when they were crossing the tracks as the Union Pacific train was coming, the Los Angeles Times reported. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

The unmarked vehicle was struck broadside and pushed more than a half-mile before the train finally stopped, The Arizona Republic reported.

The crew aboard the train saw the vehicle driving on a frontage road by the tracks when it suddenly moved onto a private crossing in front of the fast-moving train, Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt said.

Kenneth Quillin, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman, said Clark and Rojas were with a federally funded interagency task force formed to intercept marijuana runners.
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http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/05/13/Border-Patrol-agents-killed-du...