Please visit our YouTube and Facebook pages.

1. Obama to discuss immigration
2. Senator Schumer is confident
3. OK bill would deport criminals
4. AZ co. likely to release funds
5. NC comm. colleges fight ban

1.
Obama, lawmakers to discuss immigration issues
By Tyche Hendricks
The San Francisco Chronicle, June 25, 2009

President Obama plans to sit down today with congressional leaders for the first serious discussion about the thorny issue of immigration policy since he became chief executive.

The meeting is likely to cover the issues of legalizing illegal immigrants, enforcing immigration law, accommodating future immigrants and, some analysts hope, incorporating them into American society.

Obama has voiced support for comprehensive immigration reform, and aides say he hopes this initial conversation will lead to a more substantive debate later in the year.

Many analysts are skeptical that Congress will vote on an immigration bill this year but some believe this is a good time to assess the objectives of immigration policy and the broader question of how well immigrants are actually assimilating into American society.

When immigration reform has been debated in recent years, proponents have suggested that a comprehensive bill would be a "win-win-win" arrangement, said Noah Pickus, a professor of public policy at Duke University. Such a bill could include enforcement, a path to legal status for illegal immigrants, reduced waiting times for family reunification visas and more avenues for workers to enter the country legally, on either a permanent or temporary basis.

"The hard thing to do is to start a conversation that acknowledges the trade-offs and tough choices," said Pickus, author of the book, "True Faith and Allegiance: Immigration and American Civic Nationalism." "Paradoxically, when you have the economy we have right now it's easier to see the choices and the costs and benefits. When the economy is doing really well, who loses can sometimes be hidden in the overall gains."

The major pillars of current immigration policy, enacted under the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, are: eliminating restrictive country quotas that put immigrants from different nations on unequal footing; emphasizing family-sponsored immigration; and, to a lesser extent, certain employment preferences.

Today, the debate is over how many immigrants to admit and how to ensure that people don't come illegally, as well as whether to scale back the types of family members who can be sponsored. Another issue is whether to increase the proportion of employment-based visas and if so, whether to give them to high-skilled or low-skilled workers.
. . .
Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors reduced immigration, agreed that more should be done to help immigrants assimilate. She suggested that restricting the number of immigrants could help and would also aid unemployed U.S. workers and those competing with low-skilled recent immigrants for jobs.

Vaughan said she hoped Obama and the policymakers he meets with would review the 1995 findings of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, chaired by former Rep. Barbara Jordan. The commission, whose findings were endorsed by then-President Bill Clinton, recommended reducing immigration levels and increasing border enforcement.

"That should be on agenda," Vaughan said. "We don't need a new study."

With U.S. unemployment approaching double digits, support for reduced immigration may be gaining traction.
. . .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/24/MNED18CIC4.DTL

********
********

2.
Key senator sketches U.S. immigration reform plans
By Jeremy Pelofsky
Reuters, June 24, 2009

Washington, DC -- U.S. immigration laws can be overhauled this year despite a crowded legislative agenda, a key senator said on Wednesday as he outlined plans for putting 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship and boosting border security.

Senator Charles Schumer, who heads the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, said he wants illegal immigrants to quickly register with the government but acknowledged they were unlikely to do so until they see how they could stay in the country legally.

"The time for reform is now, our system is badly broken," Schumer told the Migration Policy Institute. "The road ahead will not be smooth and I can assure you it will not be straight."

Still, the Democrat expressed confidence that a bipartisan bill would reach the Senate floor soon.

Schumer's remarks come a day before President Barack Obama holds a closed-door meeting with lawmakers to discuss how to follow through on his campaign pledge to address illegal immigration and improve border security.

The White House has cast some doubt on the chances for immigration reform passing this year though Democrats who control Congress are plowing ahead. Obama has pressed lawmakers to first finish healthcare and climate change bills.
. . .
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE55N5T420090624

********
********

3.
Lawmaker favors deporting illegal immigrant inmates
By Tim Talley
The Associated Press, June 25, 2009

Oklahoma City (AP) -- An Oklahoma lawmaker who wrote one of the strongest state immigration laws in the nation is continuing his fight against illegal immigration with legislation that authorizes the deportation of illegal immigrant prison inmates.

A measure authored by Republican state Rep. Randy Terrill authorizes state prison officials to hand over nonviolent illegal immigrants in state prisons who have served at least one-third of their sentences to federal immigration officials for deportation.

Terrill said the program, crafted after successful programs in other states, will save the state millions of dollars in incarceration costs and free up prison beds for more violent offenders at a time when the state faces a $900 million budget shortfall and a prison population that is almost at capacity.

“I absolutely believe that the federal government has fallen down on its responsibility to protect our borders,” said Terrill, of Moore. “As a consequence of this they have functionally turned every state into a border state.”

The tide of illegal immigrants has forced states to pick up the tab for education, health care and public safety costs “that they should not have had to bear,” he said.

Since 2006, Terrill has championed legislation to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving state benefits and jobs.

Legislation written by Terrill that was passed in 2007 eliminated an illegal immigrant’s ability to obtain public benefits and gave state and local law enforcement the ability to enforce immigration law, including detaining illegals until they are deported.

It also imposed new requirements on employers to verify the immigration status and employment eligibility of their workers and penalized those who willfully hired illegal immigrants. A federal judge blocked employment provisions in the bill after they were challenged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a ruling that is on appeal.

In addition to the deportation measure, Terrill sponsored other bills passed this year to end Spanish-language driver’s license tests and require that all official actions of the state be conducted in English, measures that critics said targeted Latino immigrants.

“Illegal immigration is a huge and growing problem in the United States and Oklahoma,” said Terrill, whose legislation and frequent public appearances in other states where illegal immigration is being debated has made him a national figure in the immigration reform movement.
. . .
http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=99970

********
********

4.
County board slated to give Arpaio, Thomas state immigration money
By Mike Sunnucks
The Phoenix Business Journal, June 24, 2009

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors likely will vote late Wednesday to give Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio $1.4 million in state money to use for illegal immigration cases.

The board last week deadlocked 2-2 over the same money with Supervisor Max Wilson absent. Wilson is slated to be at Wednesday’s meeting and is expected to provide the third vote approving the money.

Arpaio and Thomas bristled at last week’s block of the money by Supervisors Mary Rose Wilcox and Don Stapley. The pair earlier this year tried to block $1.6 million in state immigration enforcement funds for Arpaio’s office.

The Wednesday vote marks another chapter in the battle between Thomas, Arpaio, Stapley and Wilcox.
. . .
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/06/22/daily34.html

********
********

5.
Community colleges fight illegal immigrant ban
By Rebecca Clark
The Shelby Star (NC), June 24, 2009

Shelby, NC -- Officials at Cleveland Community College believe all students deserve a chance to further their education. And, like many other North Carolina community colleges, they support reversing a ban restricting illegal immigrants from doing so.

A policy created in May 2008 by the N.C. Attorney General's Office restricts illegal immigrants from admission to all 58 community colleges in the state. According to the Associated Press, some members of the state Board of Community Colleges say they want the ban gone.

Cleveland Community College administrators say their doors are open to all students interested in an education.

"CCC has and continues to believe in an open-door policy for any student wishing to achieve their educational goals," said Margo Greene, public information and marketing coordinator.

Greene said undocumented students who were already enrolled at CCC prior to the ruling are allowed to continue their education.

Previously, CCC spokesperson Shannon Kennedy said there were roughly five illegal immigrant students enrolled at CCC over the span of five years.

Greene said that even one student who is denied an education opportunity is one too many.

At the state board's policy committee meeting last week, board member Stuart Fountain said the colleges shouldn't stand in the way of anyone who wants to attend.

"Without this option, we are creating a second-class citizenry, a group of people who have no option but to go ahead and join a gang," Fountain said.
. . .
http://www.shelbystar.com/news/community-39941-students-state.html