1. Sen. Reid to try again
2. Jobs and illegal aliens
3. Interviewees debate H-1B
4. 287 (g) in GA town
5. CA student leader illegal

1.
Reid Trying Again on Immigration Bill
By David M. Herszenhorn
The New York Times, November 17, 2010

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said on Wednesday that he would try to bring up a bill that would create a path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as small children.

Mr. Reid tried to attach the legislation as an amendment to a big military policy bill before the midterm elections, but Republicans blocked the bill in part because they said the Democratic leader was using it as a political prop.

During his re-election campaign in Nevada, Mr. Reid said he would try again to pass the legislation, known as the Dream Act. And in a Twitter message on Wednesday evening, his office said he would try to do so in the current session as a stand-alone bill.

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, has been discussing the immigration measure with Democratic colleagues but has not yet scheduled a vote on it, a spokesman said.

The legislation would give legal residency to immigrants who arrived in the United States before age 16 and resided here for at least five years, graduated from high school and completed two years of college or military service. They would be subject to background checks, could not have a criminal record, and even if successful would still not be eligible for benefits like Pell grant scholarships.
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http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/reid-trying-again-on-immig...

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2.
Fieldwork, Housework, Kitchen Work, Construction: Whose Jobs Are They?
In Denial - Special Report - Part five of Seven
By Chris Collins
The Fresno Bee, November 18, 2010

Vanessa, an illegal immigrant, has harvested fruit in Kerman, Huron and Madera for four years. Until this summer, she had never seen a white face in the fields.

Then one day, four teenagers showed up at a cherry orchard. They didn't speak Spanish, and they didn't seem to know what they were doing.

"Everybody was surprised to see them there," Vanessa said.

It didn't go so well for the newcomers. Within an hour, all four had quit.

At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration is a question that burns as hot as the afternoon sun hovering over the San Joaquin Valley: Are illegal immigrants doing the work that no one else wants, or are they stealing jobs from U.S. citizens and dragging down their wages? To some extent, both are true.

As Vanessa's story shows, some jobs might go unfilled, even in tough times, without illegal immigrants.

But there are drawbacks. Illegal immigrants push down wages for legal workers in food processing, factory and service jobs, economists say. Because illegal immigrants will work for almost any wage, employers have little reason to pay other workers more.

Sometimes jobs that low-skilled citizens would be willing to do, such aswashing dishes and cleaning bathrooms, are instead taken by illegal immigrants.

Illegal immigrants help the nation's private-sector economy by providing cheap labor — something that is especially critical for the Central Valley. But their competition with low-skilled U.S. workers and their strain on local government budgets cancel that boost for the nation's overall economy, some economists say.

In the end, illegal immigration in the valley means businesses are big winners while many blue-collar workers lose out.

Farmworker groups have tried to prove that we need illegal immigrants. In 2006, as Congress was considering immigration reform, immigrant workers around the country stayed home or joined protests for the May 1 "Day Without Immigrants" boycott.

In the San Joaquin Valley, the United Farm Workers of America estimated that tens of thousands of fieldworkers didn't show up for work. Restaurants, landscape contractors, food manufacturers and growers all struggled to make it through the day with skeleton crews.

With immigration reform again on Congress' agenda, the UFW has tried to bring attention to the role of illegal immigrants, which it says account for half a million farmworkers. It launched a campaign in June called TakeOurJobs.org that invited anyone to sign up for a farming job.

More than 10,000 people registered on the Web site; only 11 people went to work in the fields.

Playing a key role

Economists say illegal immigrants play a key role in the nation's economy: Their willingness to work for low wages helps keep businesses competitive and lowers the cost of goods and services.

But their economic benefit is very small. One researcher estimated that it represents only the slightest fraction of the country's gross domestic product, 3 cents for every $100 the economy generates. That means that most businesses are only marginally more efficient thanks to illegal immigrants, although some businesses that rely heavily on them — including those in agriculture — benefit greatly.
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The Center for Immigration Studies found that one company had to raise its pay after being forced to fire illegal workers. In 2006, federal immigration agents arrested 1,300 employees at six meat-processing plants owned by Swift & Co., where an estimated 23 percent of the workers were illegal immigrants. Afterward, the company advertised heavily for new workers and paid employees bonuses if they recruited others.

Within five months, the plants were running at full capacity again, a sign that the company could operate without illegal immigrants, according to the report. Meanwhile, wages increased slightly at two of the plants and four offered signing bonuses.

Some experts say employers pay illegal immigrants less than other workers because they are less willing to demand a raise or draw attention to their legal status — and that drives down the wages for all workers. Researcher Anita Alves Pena, an economics professor at Colorado State University, found in a study earlier this year that illegal immigrant farmworkers earn 5 percent to 6 percent less in hourly wages than legal immigrant workers.
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http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/18/3194646/fieldwork-housework-kitchen-wor...

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3.
H-1B: The voices behind the visa
By Tracy Mayor
Computerworld, November 17, 2010

Twenty years into its existence, the controversial H-1B visa for foreign workers in specialty occupations shows no signs of inciting less discord as it ages.

This month alone, debate over whether foreigners are taking jobs from American high-tech workers drove election debate in several key states and framed coverage of Barack Obama's state visit to India, the chief exporter of H-1B workers to the U.S.

The H-1B discussion is always heated and sometimes worse -- racist, elitist, subjective or just plain ugly. Between the minutiae of federal immigration policy debate and the inflamed rhetoric from both proponents and opponents, what's often lost are the stories of real people whose lives have been directly affected by the guest worker visa program.

Computerworld took aim at that imbalance by seeking out IT workers, both international and domestic, who were willing to talk about how H-1B has influenced their livelihoods for better or for ill. To protect their jobs, most of our sources requested anonymity, which we granted after verifying their credentials independently.

What follows are their perceptions of their H-1B experiences, told in their own words. We condensed and edited their opinions for brevity and clarity but did not independently corroborate every claim.
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http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9196620/H_1B_The_voices_behind_th...

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4.
One year later, what the numbers say 287 (g)
By Josh Green
Gwinnett Daily Post, November 16, 2010

As of Tuesday, the controversial 287 (g) program meant to grease the deportation process had been active for a year in Gwinnett, and its impact appears to be significant.

Most telling among the fertile, statistical soil that 287 (g) has sown is this number: 28 percent.

That’s how much the total number of foreign-born jail bookings has dropped since 287 (g) was activated on Nov. 16, 2009. That’s 4,289 fewer inmates compared to the previous year. The cost to house an inmate is $45 per day, meaning the county saved roughly $130,000 for each day those inmates weren’t incarcerated.

“The program’s doing exactly what we wanted it to do,” said Sheriff Butch Conway, who championed 287 (g) before its local launch. “I think it’s had a profound effect on the population of illegal aliens in Gwinnett.”

But detractors say the program’s negative impact can’t be measured in statistics. Numbers can’t be applied to a collectively lower sense of security and fear of authorities among immigrant groups, they argue.

The crimes of the 3,062 inmates detained for federal immigration authorities have ranged from child molestation and rape (none have been charged with murder) to DUI and city ordinance violations.

Records show those immigrants hail from several African countries and other countries such as Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Jamaica, Honduras and Panama, among others. Roughly 2/3 are from Mexico. A handful come from westernized European countries like France (3 inmates) and Germany (2).

At its roots, 287 (g) is a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act passed in 1995 that allows state and local law enforcement agencies to be trained to identify illegal immigrants and turn them over to federal authorities.

Gwinnett is the largest of four Georgia counties participating; Cobb, Hall and Whitfield counties are the others.

Even prior to its activation, the program drew the ire of immigrant rights supporters who staged rallies and summits in Gwinnett decrying it. They contend it encourages racial profiling and discourages immigrants from reporting crimes, in fear of being deported.

Supporters, like Conway and other high-ranking government officials, hail the program as a means to ease jail crowding and save the county millions, while pulling law-breakers by the hundreds from streets and neighborhoods.

The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department had no means to determine which inmates were legal or not prior to 287 (g). But they did keep tally of foreign-born inmates arrested in Gwinnett, whose numbers rose steadily from 13,151 in 2007, to a high of 15,333 in 2009.
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http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/home/headlines/One_year_later_what_the_...

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5.
He's the Cal State Fresno student body president — and an illegal immigrant
By Diana Marcum
Los Angeles Times, November 18, 2010

The parents of popular Cal State Fresno Student Body President Pedro Ramirez always talked a lot about el sueño Americano — the American Dream.

He was to study hard, get good grades and claim the prize, but it wasn't until that night in their kitchen when the high school valedictorian was filling out university applications that they told him a missing detail — he wasn't a United States citizen. He was born in Mexico. He came to this country when he was 3 years old.

Now, an anonymous tip to the college newspaper has forced Ramirez to publicly expose his secret and has put this son of a maid and a restaurant worker into the thick of a debate on immigration and education that has reached a boiling point in recent weeks. Some have called for his resignation while others have rallied to his defense.

"In a way, I'm relieved," said Ramirez, a 22-year-old political science major from Tulare, Calif. "I don't want to be a liability or cost the school donations. I never really thought this was going to happen. But now that it's out there, I finally feel ready to say 'Yes, it's me. I'm one of the thousands.' "

Ramirez's critics say he wasn't honest with the student body about his immigration status when he ran for president and should resign.

"He misled the students … he should step down," Cole Rojewski, president of the campus' College Republicans and one of Ramirez's opponents in the race for president, said in a television interview.

School administrators said Ramirez broke no rules by running for president of Associated Students Inc.

"To our way of thinking he hasn't done anything wrong," said Paul Oliaro, vice president for Student Affairs.

"This is a very diverse region, agriculture is dominant, and this is going to cause a lot of controversy. But the reality is that these students are … here, they're legitimate students, and if anything, Pedro shows what they can contribute," Oliaro said, adding, "We'll see how this plays out."

Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for tougher sanctions on illegal immigration, characterized the situation at Cal State Fresno as a logical extension of what he called the state and federal government's lack of concern about enforcing immigration law in general.

"Why should he step down?" Camarota said. "He's very clearly gotten the message that immigration law doesn't matter — you can violate it with impunity."
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1118-illegal-immigrant-presiden2...