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1. Obama to overhaul detentions
2. Republican backs amnesty push
3. USCIS investigates H-1B fraud
4. NC lawmakers punt on enforcement
5. TX parents balk on accusations

1.
Obama aims to overhaul immigration jail system
The reforms would send detainees without criminal records to less-restrictive sites that would be under more federal oversight.
By Anna Gorman
Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2009

Pledging more oversight and accountability, the Obama administration announced plans Thursday to transform the nation's immigration detention system from one reliant on a scattered network of local jails and private prisons to a centralized one designed specifically for civil detainees.

The reforms are aimed at establishing greater control over a system that houses about 33,000 detainees a day and that has been sharply criticized as having unsafe and inhumane conditions and as lacking the medical care that may have prevented many of the 90 deaths that have occurred since 2003.

"With these reforms, ICE will move away from our present, decentralized jail-oriented approach to a system that is wholly designed for and based on our civil detention needs," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary John Morton told reporters. "The population that we detain is different than the traditional population that is detained in a prison or a jail setting."

The federal immigration agency plans to review the use of 350 local jails, state prisons and private facilities, including more than a dozen in California. Within five years, officials said, detainees without criminal records probably would be held in fewer, less-restrictive locations with more federal oversight.

Morton also announced that the agency would stop sending families to the controversial T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility in Texas and instead hold them in the agency's only other family facility, which is in Pennsylvania. The Texas facility, which will continue to house women, opened in 2006 and faced lawsuits over substandard living conditions. A settlement resulted in changes to how children were treated.

Immigrant rights advocates welcomed the changes but said there was still no clear policy on how detention facilities would be penalized if problems were found.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig-detain7-2009a...

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2.
Immigration Effort Draws GOP Backer
By Cam Simpson
The New York Times, August 7, 2009

Washington -- Senate Democrats have found a Republican in Sen. Lindsey Graham to help them push for passage of a comprehensive immigration overhaul this year.

But the lag in getting prominent support from a Republican -- more than two months after Democrats first announced their push -- shows how complicated prospects for passage could be this year, as immigration remains a wedge inside an increasingly divided GOP.

Democrats and Republicans say Mr. Graham of South Carolina is working behind the scenes with Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) to gain support from other GOP members. Mr. Schumer is quarterbacking this year's campaign for an overhaul.

The bill is still taking shape, but it is expected to include key features of unsuccessful 2006 and 2007 immigration proposals, including a path to legal status for many of the illegal immigrants already inside the U.S. and measures to strengthen border security. The proposal to allow illegal immigrants to achieve legal status has drawn opposition from those who see it as an unwarranted reward for breaking the law.

A new Gallup poll this week showed Americans less favorable to immigration than they were a year ago, which could make the climate for legislation even tougher. Now 50% of those surveyed say immigration should be decreased, which is up significantly from the 39% who said the same a year ago.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124957962686211693.html

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3.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services investigate H-1B fraud
Allan Wernick
The Daily News (New York, NY), August 6, 2009

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is investigating H-1B employers to check for fraud.

H-1B status is available to a professional worker defined as someone in a job requiring a particular four-year college degree or the equivalent in education and experience. The employer need not prove that no U.S. workers are available. However, the employer must pay the H-1B worker the wage paid to other workers in the area or at that company, whichever is higher.

According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, USCIS has hired outside contractors for this work. Investigators will want to make sure that employers and employees aren't filing fraudulent petitions and applications.

If you are working in the position consistent with the H-1B petition filed by your employer and earning the wage noted in the petition, you and your employer need not fear the investigation. If you have doubts about your status, get expert advice.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2009/08/06/2009-08-06_us_citiz...

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4.
Immigration check for workers sputters
The Ashville Citizen Times (NC), August 7, 2009

Raleigh -- Lawmakers are unlikely to move this year to crack down on employers hiring workers in the country illegally.

Sen. John Snow, D-Cherokee, on Thursday tried to push through the Senate his bill requiring employers to use the “E-verify” system. He hoped to move it to the House for more work next year.

But senators from both sides of the aisle said although they agreed with Snow's goal - to require employers to use a federal database to check immigration status - the legislation has too many problems.
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http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090807/POLITIC...

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5.
Parents fail to provide evidence of poor treatment by school
By Ashley Meeks
El Paso Times (TX), August 7, 2009

Las Cruces -- A news conference was scrapped Thursday after a group of upset south county parents failed to provide evidence of their claims against a school principal.

Parents at Loma Linda Elementary School in Anthony, N.M., told the League of United Latin American Citizens this week that the school administration barred 200 students from registering for class and threatened families would be reported to immigration services, according to a letter LULAC's state director, Pablo Martinez, sent Gadsden Independent School District leadership Wednesday.

But documentation of the alleged abuses was largely second-hand, he said, and reports that the school district wouldn't meet with parents were false.

"I saw a petition with 40 to 50 signatures but they don't give specific times and dates," Martinez said. "They haven't showed me who, specifically, was denied enrollment or that (school employees) were going to call immigration on them."

This summer, because parents were upset not enough school employees spoke Spanish, the district hired a new assistant principal, parent ambassador, social worker and three new office workers - all bilingual, said Deputy Superintendent Efren Yturralde.
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http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_13012354?source=most_emailed