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1. Admin presses for inmate checks
2. $100m for to border tech
3. Bill rescinds some of REAL ID
4. Virtuosos benefit from O-1 visa
5. Captain charged with smuggling

1.
Obama: Check more immigration status of inmates
By Spencer S. Hsu
The Washington Post, May 19, 2009

Washington, DC -- The Obama administration is expanding a program initiated by President George W. Bush aimed at checking the immigration status of virtually every person booked into local jails. In four years, the measure could result in a tenfold increase in deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes, according to current and former U.S. officials.

By matching inmates' fingerprints to federal immigration databases, authorities hope to pinpoint deportable immigrants before they are released from custody. Inmates in federal and state prisons already are screened. But authorities generally lack the time and staff to do the same at the nation's local jails, which house up to twice as many illegal immigrants and where inmates come and go more quickly.

The effort is likely to significantly reshape immigration enforcement, current and former executive branch officials said. It comes as the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress vow to crack down on criminals, rather than illegal immigrants who otherwise abide by the law.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano "has made that very clear" that her top priority is deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes, said David J. Venturella, program director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"We mean this, we're serious about it, and we believe we need to put in an all-out effort to get this done," said Rep. David E. Price, D-N.C., chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee for homeland security, who has led calls to remove illegal immigrants convicted of crimes after their sentences are served.

The program began as a pilot effort in October and now operates in 48 counties across the country. This year, it will screen fingerprints from 1 million local jail bookings. It is operating in Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Boston and Phoenix, according to ICE, and will expand to all local jails by the end of 2012.

Under the new program, the immigration checks will be automatic: fingerprints that already are being run through the FBI's criminal history database also will be matched against immigration databases maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. The effort would not catch people who have never been fingerprinted by U.S. authorities.

Based on the pilot program so far, the agency estimates that if fingerprints from all 14 million bookings in local jails each year were screened, about 1.4 million "criminal aliens" would be found, Venturella said. That would be about 10 times the 117,000 criminal illegal immigrants ICE removed from the country last year. There are more than 3,100 local jails nationwide, compared with about 1,200 federal and state prisons.

The program, known as Secure Communities, "presents an historic opportunity to transform immigration enforcement," said Julie Myers Wood, who launched the program last year as head of ICE under Bush.

In his proposed 2010 budget, President Barack Obama asked Congress last week for $200 million for the program, a 30 percent increase that puts it on track to receive $1.1 billion by 2013.

The program could help answer for the first time a question that has been intertwined with debates over immigration policy: What portion of the illegal immigrant population in this country has committed non-immigration crimes?

But even some supporters of the program are skeptical about whether it can be implemented smoothly and if there will be sufficient funding. A surge in deportation cases, noted Stewart Baker, former DHS assistant security of policy, would require more prosecutors and immigration judges, detention beds and other resources.

Venturella also acknowledged that integrating federal, state and local databases is complex and that the capabilities of local jurisdictions vary across the country. Some counties may take several years to be linked in.

"It's a good program. It's a very expensive program," said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that advocates tighter immigration controls. "I don't know if it's feasible or sensible for all state and local governments."

Venturella said ICE will give priority to deporting the most dangerous offenders:national security risks or those convicted of violent crimes. Based on initial projections, the agency estimates that there are about 100,000 of these "Level 1 offenders" and that deporting them would cost $1.1 billion over four years. Removing all criminal illegal immigrants would cost $3 billion, ICE said last year.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/18/AR200905...

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2.
CBP to spend $100M on SBInet
By Alice Lipowicz
Federal Computer Week, May 18, 2009

The Homeland Security Department plans to spend $100 million in economic stimulus funding to install border surveillance technology and improve tactical communications, according to a planning document published online.

The stimulus law Congress passed in February restored money to Customs and Border Protection’s strategic border technologies, which had been redirected to border fencing.

CBP plans to spend $50 million on the SBInet electronic surveillance system being built on the border between the United States and Mexico and $50 million on tactical communications. The SBInet system includes cameras, radar and communications devices strung on towers and linked to border patrol operations centers.

“The funding will be applied equally to two of CBP’s highest operational needs: deployment of surveillance and associated command and control technologies, and deployment of [Project 25] tactical communications,” states the planning document, which was posted online at Recovery.gov on May 15. Project 25 is a suite of technical standards for interoperable communications equipment.
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http://fcw.com/articles/2009/05/18/cbp-to-spend-100m-on-sbinet.aspx

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3.
Officials draft changes to Bush-era mandate on ID cards
By Chris Strohm
The Congress Daily (Washington, DC), May 18, 2009

Federal and state officials have drafted legislation to replace a controversial 2005 law that set national standards for driver's licenses and identification cards, but critics say the proposal would not guarantee enough security.

The legislation is expected to be introduced by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and would repeal requirements set by the REAL ID law. Under the bill, the Homeland Security Department would conduct a nine-month rulemaking process, with states then having five years to comply, according to a draft obtained by CongressDaily.

But in a significant departure from the existing law, the bill would not bar people from boarding a commercial airplane solely for failing to have a state-issued ID card that met federal standards. State governments are expected to back the bill because many of its key provisions originated with the National Governors Association. The proposal also appears to have the backing of the Obama administration, which has been working with NGA on it. The Homeland Security Department declined to comment.

Some of the biggest differences between the law and the proposed alternative deal with information-technology requirements, aides said. They cautioned that the bill is still in draft form and key lawmakers are determining whether to co-sponsor it. The law was an initiative of the Bush administration that has been roundly criticized as an unfunded mandate imposed on states.

The bill would eliminate a mandate for states to create a national information-technology system for sharing data. Instead, state departments of motor vehicles would have to "take appropriate steps" to determine a person does not have a license from another state. And a test program would be established to determine the feasibility of creating a national information-sharing system.

The bill also eliminates a requirement that states scan and store identification documents, such as birth certificates, electronically. But Janice Kephart, national security director at the Center for Immigration Studies, said in an interview that the law mandated the creation of a national database to ensure that people could not get multiple driver's licenses from different states, as did some of the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Requiring records to be digitized is essential to security, Kephart added. Eliminating the requirement to verify identification documents would create a loophole through which someone who has falsified or stolen identity records could get a driver's license, she said.
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http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090518_4120.php

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4.
Immigration: When Only 'Geniuses' Need Apply
Top artists, writers, and musicians are among those awarded O-1 visas each year to add to U.S. culture and the economy
By Moira Herbst
Business Week, May 17, 2009

In the coming weeks, President Barack Obama will begin his push to overhaul the U. S. immigration system, and almost every aspect of the effort will prove controversial. Millions of undocumented, low-skill immigrants and their supporters will square off against groups like the Minutemen, who want to close the border with Mexico and expel people who are in the country illegally. Technology companies such as Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM), and Google (GOOG) will argue to make it easier for high-skill workers to come to the U.S., while tech workers will lobby fiercely to restrict such programs.

Far away from these debates lies one quiet corner of U.S. immigration policy: the program for what are known as "genius" visas. These visas are awarded to immigrants with extraordinary abilities in the arts, sciences, education, business, or athletics. The program, for what are officially called O-1 visas, began in 1990 as lawmakers sought to separate these applicants from the pool of those seeking H-1B visas, the visa program for skilled immigrants used by many technology companies. While H-1B applicants must hold at least a bachelor's degree and possess some specialized skill, O-1 visas are allotted to a more elite crowd: those who can prove to U.S. immigration officials that they are the very top in their fields. Peter F. Asaad, an immigration attorney and adjunct professor of law at American University, calls the recipients "Nobel prize quality or equivalent."

The awards aren't that rare, but they do go to a small group. According to the U.S. State Dept.—which makes the grants to successful applicants—9,014 O-1s were awarded in 2008, up 40% from 2004. Among current O-1 visa holders are Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, Canadian author Jennifer Gould Keil, Israeli concert pianist Inon Barnatan, and members of the New York dance companies Merce Cunningham and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane.

There's no annual limit on the number of O-1 visas, as there is with the H-1B program, and no minimum education level. Still, labor groups in the U.S. often have to weigh in on whether they consider an applicant exceptional. From 2004 to 2008, approvals averaged 94%, according to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services.

Because so many recipients of an O-1 are artists, it's known in some circles as the "artists' visa." It's that nickname that piqued the interest of Analia Segal, an Argentine visual artist. After 10 years of working in Buenos Aires, Segal was ready for a change. The artist had had a taste of New York City when she'd come to show her work at the Argentine consulate in 1996. Experiencing the city's vibrant arts scene, she felt it was a place where she could evolve personally and professionally. After inheriting some money from her late grandmother, that dream became possible: In 1999, at age 32, she began an MFA program at New York University on a student visa. "I came to New York to prove myself," says Segal. "I wanted to become the best version of myself." a rigorous application process
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http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/may2009/db20090517_8...

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5.
Boat captain charged with migrants' deaths off Palm Beach County
The captain of a migrant boat was charged in the alleged smuggling attempt that left nine dead.
By Jennifer Lebovich
The Miami Herald (FL), May 19, 2009

Less than a week after a failed smuggling operation left at least nine people dead in the ocean off Palm Beach County, federal authorities moved swiftly on Monday in charging the boat's captain with alien smuggling resulting in death.

The captain, Jimmy Metellus, 33, told authorities he was hired by four men in the Bahamas and agreed to make the trip for free to escape hardships in Haiti.

The smugglers were allegedly paid thousands of dollars for the journey, which was supposed to go from Nassau to Bimini and then to the shores of Miami.

But on the way from Bimini, the boat carrying more than two dozen people capsized and sank in the waters off Boynton Beach. Nine people died and 16 survivors were pulled from the Atlantic.

The quick action taken against the suspected smugglers is no surprise. Over the past two years, federal authorities have stepped up prosecutions of migrant smugglers, especially those operating between Cuba and South Florida. They've also gone after those working in Haiti and the Bahamas, points of origin typically used to shuttle Haitian migrants to South Florida.
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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/v-fullstory/story/1054842.html