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1. Admin's position draws scrutiny
2. CA birth certificate initiative
3. AZ city PD against enforcement
4. Advocates call for Census boycott
5. CA group to monitor center

1.
Both Sides of Immigration Debate Search for Hints on Obama's Position
President Obama has not listed immigration reform among the ambitious programs he is pushing this year but has said he still supports "comprehensive immigration reform."
By Jim Angle
The Fox News, April 15, 2009

President Obama doesn't plan to begin pushing his agenda on immigration until May, but many are looking for clues about his intentions in what he's already said.

Immigrants' supporters can point to Obama arguing for a mechanism to give longtime residents a way "to get out of the shadows."

Anti-immigration groups can point to Obama stating that they depress wages because "they're often pitted against American workers and can't join a union."

Obama has not listed immigration reform among the ambitious programs he is pushing this year but has said he still supports "comprehensive immigration reform."

Perhaps most telling for those searching for hints on how Obama will approach this issue was the first immigration raid under his administration, which took place in Bellingham, Wash., in late February.

Nearly 30 illegal immigrants were arrested. But then they were allowed to stay and work so they could present evidence against the employers, who seem to be the administration's chief target.

"In my view, we have to do workplace enforcement," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said. "It needs to be focused on employers who intentionally and knowingly exploit the illegal labor market."

Children of illegal immigrants who are born in America automatically become U.S. citizens. And a top Democrat sharply criticizes the idea of arresting their parents.

"We must stop the raids," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said. "They're un-American. Just the idea of the stories we've heard of people kicking in the doors in the middle of the night and deporting fathers, separating them from their children. It's un-American."
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/15/immigration-fans...

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2.
Initiative targets U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants
Opponents say having two different kinds of birth docs is against the law
By Edward Sifuentes
The North County Times (Escondido, CA), April 15, 2009

A statewide initiative now being circulated would create two kinds of birth certificates: one for the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants and one for everyone else.

The measure also would deny publicly funded health benefits to the children of illegal immigrants.

Opponents say that would be discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The initiative, drafted by anti-illegal immigration activists, was endorsed by several former officials, including former state Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside, and former U.S. Attorney Peter Nunez.

A spokesman for Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, said the congressman is supportive of the effort, but has not officially endorsed the initiative.

By taking aim at the children of illegal immigrants, the initiative raises the specter of the controversial Proposition 187, a 1994 measure that would have denied a public education to illegal immigrant children. It was approved by the state's voters, but declared largely unconstitutional in federal court.

The new initiative takes a slightly different approach by focusing on children whose parents are undocumented.

Nunez, now a professor at the University of San Diego, said Monday that the initiative was needed to help deter illegal immigrants from coming to the U.S.

"Anything we can do to make it clear who is here legally and who is here illegally hopefully will discourage people from coming," Nunez said.

But those who argue that illegal immigrants should be given a chance to become legal residents say the initiative would be overly intrusive.

"I can't think of anything more Orwellian," said Dan Siciliano, a research fellow with the Immigration Policy Center, an immigration policy research organization that favors creating paths for illegal immigrants to become legal residents.

Supporters must collect 433,971 valid signatures from registered voters by Sept. 8 to put the initiative on the June 2010 ballot, according to the secretary of state.

If approved by voters, the initiative would require that parents show proof of legal residency before receiving their child's birth certificate.
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http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2009/04/15/news/sandiego/z3a7cb...

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3.
Mesa chief: Immigration enforcement drains resources
By Nathan Gonzalez
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), April 16, 2009

Mesa Police Chief George Gascón used a press conference about felony arrests to call the use of officers to enforce immigration laws a waste of resources.

The intent of the news conference was to highlight the arrests of 173 felons, including 12 on suspicion of homicide.

Gascón said because the department has kept its focus on local crime instead of illegal immigrants, the city's violent crime has seen a steady decline since 2006.

But it might not be able to continue that trend if officers are diverted to immigration duties, he said.

The conference was Gascón's first since April 2, when he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee discussing the 287(g) program, which allows police to enforce immigration law.

Although Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wasn't invited to testify, his office's strict enforcement of the law was center stage at the congressional meeting.

"I did not go to Washington to testify against Sheriff Joe Arpaio," Gascón said Wednesday.

The chief defended the trip and said that forcing local agencies to enforce immigration law is siphoning dwindling resources nationwide.

"We have a finite level of resources, and that number is increasingly becoming less," Gascón said. "I'm also very concerned about having local police engage in activities that can detract from our ability to work effectively with every community."

Gascón said that for the first three months of 2009, violent and property crimes have decreased 13 percent compared with the same three-month period last year, according to police figures.
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http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2009/04/15/20090415want...

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4.
Hispanic groups call for Census boycott
By Haya El Nasser
USA Today, April 14, 2009

Some Hispanic advocacy groups are calling for illegal immigrants to boycott the 2010 Census unless immigration laws are changed. The move puts them at odds with leading immigrant rights advocates and creates another hurdle in the Census Bureau's quest to count everyone in the USA.

The National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders, a group that says it represents 20,000 evangelical churches in 34 states, issued a statement this week urging undocumented immigrants not to fill out Census forms unless Congress passes "genuine immigration reform."

Similar grass-roots campaigns are unfolding in Arizona and New Mexico to protest state and local crackdowns on illegal immigrants. Asking immigrants to be counted without giving them a chance to become legal residents counters church teachings, says the Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of the Latino religious coalition.

When the Census counts growing numbers of Hispanics, the counts are often used to support crackdowns on illegal immigrants, he says. About 38% of the churches' 3.4 million members are undocumented, he says. The Census Bureau does not ask people if they are here illegally.

"Our job is to count every single person," says Raul Cisneros, Census spokesman. "We are disappointed that any organization would urge anyone to not participate in the 2010 Census."

Federal funding and apportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are based on a Census of the population every 10 years. Not counting the estimated 12 million immigrants who are here illegally would send less money to states and cities that have large numbers of undocumented residents and could shift political clout elsewhere.

"We know it will hurt a lot of cities," Rivera says.

That's the bargaining chip boycott supporters are using to lobby lawmakers to issue temporary work visas for undocumented workers and give them a way to become citizens.
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2009-04-15-census_N.htm

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5.
Conservative law group watching Day Worker Center
By Diana Samuels
The San Jose Mercurcy News (CA), April 16, 2009

A conservative legal organization is making a visit to Mountain View this week, observing the practices of the Mountain View Day Worker Center.

Judicial Watch's presence comes as the Mountain View City Council plans to decide next month whether they'll allow the Day Worker Center to move to a new permanent location at 113 Escuela Ave.

The center's move is opposed by many of its new neighbors, who say it will bring down property values and doesn't belong in a residential neighborhood.

Day Worker Center leaders contend that the center has been successful in other locations, and they'll improve the neighborhood by rehabilitating the abandoned building they've bought.

The Washington D.C.-based Judicial Watch has worked to shut down day labor centers elsewhere, and fights against cities and other entities "that deliberately act to undermine immigration law," said Christopher Farrell, director of investigations and research. Farrell gave a presentation about illegal immigration Wednesday night at the Residence Inn in Los Altos, and also spoke at the Mountain View City Council meeting Tuesday. About 40 people from around the Bay Area were at the Wednesday presentation.

The group has been following Mountain View for more than a year, Farrell said. Mountain View residents concerned about the Day Worker Center had "sent us a significant amount of material on it and asked us to help," he said.

Since then, they've been doing "interviews, investigating, research, and public records requests," Farrell said, though he wasn't prepared to announce what his group's future plans are in Mountain View. "Sometimes all we can do is this — we can talk about it," Farrell said during his presentation. "Sometimes we can get some public activism going on. Sometimes we can file a lawsuit."

During his presentation, he said Day Worker Centers encourage a "soft racism" that allows Americans to get cheap labor. He said he's also seen day labor centers promise to keep their workers inside the center, but many workers just wait on nearby streets to avoid registering and find work more easily.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_12154347