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1. Senate backs "no-match"
2. Senate okays security bill
3. CA may cut subsidies
4. CA authorities free 29
5. FL co. efforts questioned

1.
Senate votes to keep Bush era illegal worker rule
By Suzanne Gamboa
Associated Press, July 10, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate wants to force the Homeland Security Department to stick with a proposed Bush administration policy requiring employers to fire immigrant workers whose names don't match their Social Security numbers.

By voice vote Thursday, the Senate approved an amendment to stop the department's plan to dump the so-called "no-match" rule.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., sponsored the amendment to the Homeland Security Department spending bill. The measure forbids the department from using any money to cancel the rule.

The 2007 policy was designed to root out undocumented workers through so-called no-match letters, which the Social Security Administration sends employers when a worker's name and Social Security number don't match in the government's database.

There are various reasons for a mismatch: Records are not updated when a woman changes her name after marrying or after a person becomes a U.S. citizen, typos and errors, or a person submits a fake or someone else's Social Security number.

Vitter called the vote "a message to the Obama administration that we will not allow weak immigration laws." He called illegal immigration a serious concern for the country and said "we should be doing all that we can to fight this growing problem."
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h0Nj1myJrah-3nLEEpH18O...

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2.
U.S. Senate approves $42.9 billion homeland security bill
By Jeremy Pelofsky
Reuters, July 10, 2009

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Senate on Thursday approved a wide-ranging $42.9 billion measure to pay for improving U.S. border security, clamp down on illegal immigration and beef up cyber security in fiscal 2010.

The Senate voted 84-6 for the annual spending bill funding the Department of Homeland Security for the year starting October 1, and now lawmakers must work out differences with a $42.6 billion version of the bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last month.

Debate over the bills offered insight into deep divisions over how to address illegal immigration into the United States, beef up security on the U.S. borders, and what to do with the estimated 12 million people in the country illegally.

The Senate measure provides $10.1 billion for customs and border protection, including $800 million for bolstering security along the U.S. border with Mexico, where drug and weapons trafficking has spiked and sparked growing concerns.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE5690F420090710

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3.
Illegal immigrants again in the budget spotlight
The economic downturn has activists pushing for a measure that would limit the services Californians provide.
By Anna Gorman and Teresa Watanabe
Los Angeles Times, July 10, 2009

As California lawmakers struggle with a budget gap that has now grown to $26.3 billion, one of the hottest topics for many taxpayers is the cost to the state of illegal immigrants.

The question of whether taxpayers should provide services to illegal residents became a major political issue in California's last deep recession, culminating in the ballot fight over Proposition 187 in 1994. That history could repeat itself in the current downturn, as activists opposed to illegal immigration have launched a campaign for an initiative that would, among other things, cut off welfare payments to the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. Those children are eligible for welfare benefits because they are U.S. citizens.

State welfare officials estimate that cutting off payments to illegal immigrants for their U.S.-born children could save about $640 million annually if it survives legal challenges.

California has roughly 2.7 million illegal residents, according to an April 2009 report from the authoritative Pew Hispanic Center, accounting for about 7% of the state's population. State officials estimate that they add between $4 billion and $6 billion in costs, primarily for prisons and jails, schools and emergency rooms. Beyond those services, the illegal population adds to the overall cost of other parts of local government, from police and fire protection to highway maintenance and libraries.

On the other side of the ledger, illegal residents pay taxes -- sales taxes on what they buy, gasoline taxes when they fuel their cars, property taxes if they own homes. The total is hotly debated, although most researchers agree that the short-term costs to state and local government are bigger than the revenues.

Many companies that hire illegal workers also withhold Social Security and income taxes from their paychecks, based on workers' invalid Social Security numbers. That money goes mostly to the federal government, not to localities. The Social Security Administration estimates that in 2007, illegal residents nationwide contributed a net of $12 billion to the system.

The largest costs to California's budget from its illegal residents are in three areas:

* Education: The state has no official count of how many students are in the country illegally because school districts do not ask. But the state legislative analyst estimated, based on data from the Pew Hispanic Center, that the state's 6.3 million public school students include about 300,000 illegal residents. At an annual cost of about $7,626 each, the total comes to nearly $2.3 billion.

* Prisons: In fiscal year 2009-10, California expects to spend about $834 million to incarcerate 19,000 illegal immigrants in the state's prisons. In Los Angeles County, illegal immigrants add between $370 million and $550 million annually to criminal justice costs, including prosecution, defense, probation and jails, according to Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

* Healthcare: The expected state tab for healthcare in fiscal 2009-10 is $703 million for as many as 780,000 illegal immigrants. Of that, $486 million goes to emergency services. But low-income illegal residents are also eligible for some nonemergency health services, including prenatal and postpartum care, abortions, breast and cervical cancer treatment and certain types of long-term care, such as stays in nursing homes. Most of the nonemergency care for illegal immigrants was authorized by the Legislature in the 1980s.

Much of those costs are beyond the control of state officials. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that the Constitution forbids school districts to turn away children who are illegal immigrants. And federal law requires emergency rooms to treat everyone, regardless of citizenship.

How serious a problem those costs are is a subject of constant debate. "It is a catastrophic hit . . . on every level of government," Antonovich said.
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Many advocates say the ultimate solution is to reduce illegal immigration, not to cut off critical services that could jeopardize public health and safety.

"When people come into the U.S., even illegally, they cross more than a physical barrier; they cross a moral barrier," said Steven Camarota of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates immigration restrictions. "We don't like it if someone can't go to the emergency room. That's just our way."
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-illegal10-2009jul10,0,3398621.story

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4.
Illegals rounded up
Home held 29; suspects arrested
By Daisy Ratzlaff
Antelope Valley Press (Palmdale, CA), July 9, 2009

PALMDALE -- Twenty-nine illegal immigrants who had been kept locked in the upstairs bedrooms of an east Palmdale tract house were taken into custody Wednesday after a man who had been ransomed by his family several days earlier called 911 and reported that more people were being held captive in the house.

Two men and a woman, believed to be part of the smuggling group that brought the immigrants to the house, fled when sheriff's deputies arrived, but were quickly arrested after a short foot pursuit, sheriff's officials said.

"They were upstairs in different rooms, 12 or so in one room. Each door was secured either by a security screen or by the door being locked," Palmdale Sheriff's Station Sgt. Vince Burton said. "It is basically like a prison and the suspects - caretakers or guards, whatever you want to call them - took turns to guard them."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were called out to take custody of the immigrants, who ranged in age from 12 to 44. Because the people said they had not eaten for a day, deputies bought them sport drink bottles, water, chips, pastries and other snacks at a convenience store.

Besides giving the immigrants food, deputies also let them pick a new set of clothing - shoes, pants and a shirt for each - from a downstairs room they found packed with fake designer clothes. Deputies said one of the suspects apparently sold the clothes as a business.

The immigrants were still being questioned by ICE agents at the house in early evening. They were expected to be bused to a detention center.

The smuggling-suspects' names were not released.
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http://avpress.com/n/09/0709_s2.hts

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5.
Is it profiling? Lake County detains more than 200 suspected of being illegal immigrants
Lake County Sheriff Gary Borders denies his office profiles Hispanics
By Anthony Colarossi
Orlando Sentinel, July 10, 2009

TAVARES -- During the past two years, the Lake County Sheriff's Office detained more than 200 people solely because they were suspected of being an illegal or undocumented immigrant.

The arrest count is by far the highest of any other Central Florida county that could provide statistics from the same period, and the practice of detaining individuals without criminal charges is being called into question by civil-liberties and immigration advocates who suggest the Sheriff's Office is conducting racial or ethnic profiling.

"There's a reason why we are in contact with them," Lake County Sheriff Gary Borders said. "We're not profiling. We have very strict policies against profiling. I've got a federal law-enforcement agency telling me to detain them."

Although the Sheriff's Office does not have a formal agreement with federal authorities to enforce certain immigration laws, Borders said his deputies are on solid legal ground in detaining suspected illegal immigrants for the federal government. He said every case begins with a legitimate stop or inquiry by a deputy — a traffic violation, for instance.

According to arrest records in the 215 cases reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel, Lake County deputies customarily stopped vehicles, questioned occupants and then became suspicious about immigration status.

They then typically contacted the U.S. Border Patrol, which issued "detainers," and the individuals usually were then held at the Lake County Jail until they were picked up by federal authorities for deportation proceedings.

No criminal charges are listed on any of the booking sheets, records show.

Instead, deputies cited "Courtesy Hold for Border Patrol" or "Hold for Border Patrol" and a Florida civil statute regarding contempt of court.

Virtually all the cases involve individuals with Hispanic surnames.
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-locimmigration-arrests-070...