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1. Admin. entertains amnesty
2. Census frets count
3. CA seeks more Fed. funds
4. VA crime stats released
5. Activists continue push

1.
Immigration reform on Obama's list
The Dallas Morning News, April 12, 2009

The decision to tackle immigration reform this year could be a smart move by the Obama administration. Or it couldn't come at a worse time.

It all depends which side of the issue you support.

The announcement this week that the president will move on comprehensive immigration reform and will seek ways to legalize many of the nation's 12 million undocumented immigrants has caught both supporters and opponents by surprise.

Opponents say the economy will take precedence over any attempt to reform immigration laws. Most Americans are now more concerned with holding on to their jobs and their own financial stability than advocating for those who may have no legal standing to be in this country.

Other analysts, such as Harold Stanley, also say getting Latinos mobilized and involved at the same level as they were when they marched in 2006 will be difficult.

"Back then, we had the Sensenbrenner [enforcement-only] bill, which was very effective at mobilizing mass marches," said Stanley, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. "This time, there's no such bill to galvanize Latino opposition. This is going to be hard."

But Andrew Hernández, an Austin-based scholar who has been studying Latino politics for more than 30 years, said President Barack Obama's advisers may believe that "his political capital is deep enough that he can take on something like health care and immigration reform, and win."
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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/moli...

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2.
Census concern: Immigrants may avoid the count
By Daniel González
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), April 13, 2009

With the 2010 census less than a year away, officials have launched a campaign to build trust with undocumented immigrants amid growing concern that millions of people in the country illegally will be afraid to be counted.

At the same time, some immigrant advocates are threatening to tell undocumented immigrants to boycott the census in retaliation for immigration crackdowns, a move that would deny recession-starved cities and towns much-needed federal tax dollars, which are allocated based on population.

The emerging political battle over the census is of particular concern in Arizona, where the huge undocumented population and an ongoing high-profile crackdown have resulted in the arrest and deportation of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants.

The state could lose millions of dollars in federal funding for roads, schools, redevelopment and other projects if large numbers of people are overlooked, said Vianey Celestino, an Arizona spokeswoman for the U.S. Census Bureau.

The census is also used to redraw congressional districts every 10 years. If the census accurately reflects a state's growing population, it could gain seats.

"We are trying to count everyone," Celestino said.

During the 2000 census, 63 percent of the state's residents returned forms. The national response rate was 67 percent, according to census officials.

Census officials estimate that nearly 75,000 Arizona residents were overlooked in 2000, including about 18,750 people in Phoenix, said Tammy Perkins, an official in the Phoenix City Manager's Office.

A similar undercount in 2010 would cost Phoenix $75 million in revenue over 10 years, Perkins said.

Hard-to-count groups

President Barack Obama has been accused of trying to politicize the decennial head count in favor of Democrats. Last week he nominated University of Michigan sociology professor and statistical sampling expert Robert Groves to run the Census Bureau, drawing criticism from Republicans who fear Obama wants to use sampling in addition to the person-by-person tally to calculate immigrants, minorities and other hard-to-count groups that tend to favor Democrats.

Census officials recently began contacting churches, schools and community organizations to help deliver the message that the census has nothing to do with immigration status.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, for example, plans to ask priests of Spanish-speaking congregations to urge parishioners to participate, said Hispanic Ministry Director José Robles.

The U.S. Constitution mandates that, every 10 years, the government count everyone who lives in the U.S. The Census Bureau does not care about immigration status and does not share the information it collects with enforcement agencies, Celestino said.

Beginning in mid-March, the Census Bureau will send questionnaires to every residence in the country. The forms will ask for the names, birth dates and other information of each person living at each residence. The forms do not ask about immigration status. If questionnaires are not returned by the end of April, Census workers will visit each residence up to six times to try to get a response.

Some community leaders are worried that immigrants in the country illegally will be afraid to answer the door if they confuse Census officials wearing federal badges with immigration agents. But officials said they need not worry about anyone showing up if they mail back the census forms.

"What we want to emphasize is increasing the response rate. That is what our energies are focused on," said Pamela Lucero, the Denver regional partnership coordinator for the Census Bureau. "Our message is: 'Send it back.' "
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/04/13/200904...

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3.
State seeks more federal aid for cost of keeping illegal immigrant inmates
A federal program pays less than 12% of the cost for noncitizen criminals. As California renews its bid for funding, some lawmakers are optimistic.
By Richard Simon
The Los Angeles Times, April 11, 2009

Washington, DC -- Fifteen years after Congress promised that Washington would help states pick up the tab for imprisoning illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, California is receiving but a fraction -- less than 12 cents on the dollar -- of its nearly $1-billion annual cost.

The unfulfilled promise is perhaps the most glaring example of the federal government shortchanging California.

Officials from states greatly affected by illegal immigration long have argued that their taxpayers should not have to bear the burden for Washington's failure to control the border.

But Congress this year provided $400 million nationwide to cover the cost of keeping illegal immigrants behind bars, less than what was provided a decade ago. In that same period, California's share of the federal money has declined from 68% to 39%.

"California's percentage of the total amount gets smaller and smaller each year as the issue of criminal aliens becomes more of a national problem," said Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village).

With states struggling to balance their budgets, California officials are stepping up their efforts to snag more money from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a letter to Washington lawmakers last week that boosting the funding the state receives under the program was his top priority for federal criminal justice funding.

This year, California officials may have reason to be hopeful.

Not only are several Californians in Capitol Hill leadership positions, but a number of high-ranking members of the Obama administration are on record as supporting increased funding.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, when she was Arizona governor, was a leading advocate of boosting the program's funding, telling Congress last year to "live up to its financial obligation."

"Secretary Napolitano understands the issue quite well," said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is among a bipartisan group of border-state lawmakers pushing for more money. A number of other Cabinet members in their former jobs also supported increased funding, including Labor Secretary Hilda E. Solis, once a California congresswoman.

Faced with a mounting federal budget deficit, the Obama administration has not committed to increasing funding to cover the costs of incarcerating illegal immigrants. But at the very least, President Obama is expected to be more supportive than former President Bush, who sought to eliminate such funding.

"I'm hopeful that we're going to get more," said Rep. Michael M. Honda (D-San Jose), a member of the House Appropriations Committee.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-illegal-felons11-2009apr11,0,567...

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4.
Arrest Data Add Fuel to Debate on Illegal Residents
Most Pr. William Cases for Minor Crimes
By Jonathan Mummolo
The Washington Post, April 12, 2009; C01

About 2 percent of the people charged with major violent crimes in Prince William County last year were illegal immigrants, but they were arrested for a larger portion of secondary offenses, according to newly released statistics and a Washington Post analysis that offer the first comprehensive look at criminal activity since the county implemented its controversial anti-illegal immigration measures.

The number of illegal immigrants charged with crimes was included in the county police department's annual report for the first time since Prince William's immigration policy took effect in March 2008. The policy was crafted after many residents blamed illegal immigrants for overcrowding in their neighborhoods and for general lawlessness.

Police officers are now required to check the immigration status of everyone taken into custody for an alleged state or local crime, and officers can look into someone's status even before making an arrest. Debate over the policy cast a spotlight on Prince William, as the county became a focal point in the national illegal immigration debate.

With the release of the new data, which cover the first 10 months of enforcement, people on both sides of the debate claim that the numbers prove their case. Advocates of the policy say the low numbers of illegal immigrants arrested show that it is working as a deterrent. Opponents say the statistics show that the rhetoric about the safety threat posed by illegal immigrants was overblown.

By one measure, critics said, the policy has failed: The county's crime rate rose last year for the first time since 2004. That increase was driven largely by a surge in property crime, including burglaries and larcenies. But the number of major violent crimes plummeted almost 22 percent from the year before -- more proof, advocates say, that the policy has worked.

"I think what the stats show is the effectiveness of the program," said Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), who fought hard for passage of the policy.

As evidence that the measure is working, Stewart pointed out that illegal immigrants were charged with several homicides in 2007, compared with none in 2008. Two men who were in the country illegally were charged with four of Prince William's nine homicides in 2007, police said.

"There were a series of very serious crimes, high-profile crimes committed by illegal aliens" before the policy, Stewart said. "Frankly, illegal immigrants have done one of two things: They have either left the county, or they simply are being very careful not to commit any crimes and end up in jail."

Nancy Lyall, legal coordinator of the immigrant advocacy group Mexicans Without Borders, said the numbers show that illegal immigrants are not a major problem concerning crime. She said they are an unlikely group of criminals because it is in their interest not to draw attention to themselves.

"This is what we have said all along, before the resolution was even passed," Lyall said. "We knew back then that this was just an excuse. The reality was these lawmakers needed an election issue. They needed something to get people riled up about."

Lyall also said the low arrest numbers show that the money budgeted for the police and jail to run the program -- about $10.5 million over five fiscal years, according to county spokeswoman Liz Bahrns -- could be better spent.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/11/AR200904...

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5.
Immigration rallies: Activists plan vigils, lobbying efforts to push immigration reforms
Lobbying efforts will include vigils, marches
By Antonio Olivo
The Chicago Tribune, April 13, 2009

Buoyed by recent promises from the Obama administration to push forward on federal Immigration reforms, activists in Chicago and other cities are planning a series of events this week to build more momentum for their cause.

On Monday, activists in Chicago Lawn plan to launch a "Get Informed, Get Organized, Get Mobilized" lobbying campaign. Groups around the country plan vigils to protest conditions in federal detention centers and news conferences to advance economic arguments for legalizing the nation's estimated 11.6 million illegal immigrants.

"President Obama has said that his promises were not just campaign promises, they were real," said Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Hoyt said his group is planning "spirited rallies" targeting legislators who've taken anti-Immigration stances.

"We want our president to know that he can count on us to do the work that needs to be done to move votes in Congress," he said.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-immigration-activities-13-a...