1. Birthright to children of diplomats
2. Hezbollah and Iran may have presence
3. Schools complain about AL law
4. Boston Mayor threatens to quit program
5. AL churches against law

1.
Report: Children of Foreign Diplomats Enjoy U.S. 'Super Citizen' Status
By Elizabeth Robichaux Brown
FOX News, July 11, 2011

EXCLUSIVE: The Founding Fathers and drafters of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution may just turn over in their graves if they read a new report by the Center on Immigration Studies that says foreign diplomats are obtaining U.S. birth certificates and Social Security numbers for their newborn children – effectively becoming U.S. citizens. On top of their new status in the world, these children carry an additional perk that most Americans do not have – diplomatic immunity.

Just like their parents, most are immune to criminal jurisdiction of the United States, creating what CIS describes as a “super citizen.” “Children of diplomats who receive U.S. birth certificates and SSNs have greater rights and protections than the average U.S. citizen,” says Jon Feere, the author of the report called “Birthright Citizenship for Children of Foreign Diplomats?”

A State Department spokesman told FoxNews.com that under the law, children of foreign diplomats are entitled to these records. “Persons born in the United States, including a child of foreign diplomats, are legally entitled to an official birth record issued by the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the state in which the child is born.” The spokesman added, “whether a child born in the United States to a foreign diplomat acquires U.S. citizenship at birth pursuant to the 14th Amendment requires a fact-based analysis."

"If the child enjoys full diplomatic privileges and immunities, the child would not acquire U.S. citizenship at birth.” However, the CIS report highlights how easily a foreign diplomat’s child can indeed go from U.S. guest – to U.S. citizen.

How Could This Happen?

Most states have adopted the same birth certificate request form established by the National Center for Health Statistics’ Division of Vital Statistics. Hospitals present this form to parents requesting a birth certificate. A foreign diplomat or his wife, who has just delivered a child at a U.S. hospital, would get this same form. On the form, there is a section that asks for each parents’ Social Security number, but parents can skip that detail if they do not have one or have forgotten it, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Foreign diplomats would not have that nine-digit number, so they would more than likely leave it blank. Also included, a slot asking if parents would like a Social Security number for their child. It’s a simple “yes” or “no” answer.

Nowhere on this form does it ask a person to check “no” if they are a foreign diplomat. According to the CIS report, “state agencies do not instruct hospitals to differentiate between children born to foreign diplomatic staff and those born to U.S. citizens or temporary or illegal aliens. Birth certificates are issued to all persons born on U.S. soil and requests for SSNs are generally forwarded to the Social Security Administration without being second-guessed.”

The CIS report goes on to say, “the Social Security Administration does not investigate whether SSN requests are for children of foreign diplomats. Although the agency does recognize that U.S.-born children of foreign diplomats are not eligible to receive SSNs, there is no mechanism in place for preventing such issuance.”

Immigration attorney Toni Maschler says while it is possible this is happening, it is probably rare.

“It would be proper for them to apply for a green card, but in most cases that child doesn’t stay here long enough to be eligible to naturalize as a U.S. citizen because their parents would more than likely transfer to a different post,” says Maschler. Palma Yanni, immigration attorney and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, echoes Maschler’s statement and questions if these children would even ever consider becoming an American. “This is a tiny number and involves high-level diplomats who usually return to their country. This group would strongly identify with their nationality,” says Yanni.

Is it an Easy Fix?

With so many agencies involved in the road to citizenship – five mentioned in the CIS report – which would be best tasked to solve this potential problem?

Feere points to Congress. “I think Congress is the entity that needs to step up and provide guidance to the top agencies, which are the National Center for Health Statistics and the Social Security Administration,” says Feere.
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/11/children-foreign-diplomats-en...

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2.
Hezbollah and Iran south of the U.S. border, some experts say
By Robert Spoerl
The Daily Caller, July 9, 2011

While most American attention to Hezbollah has focused on the Middle East, the militant Islamic group with ties to Iran has been gaining a strong foothold in Latin America, experts said at a House hearing.

“I believe the Hezbollah and Iranian presence in Latin America constitutes a clear threat to the security of the U.S. homeland,” Roger Noriega, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said Thursday in front of the House Homeland Security Committee. “They have the motivation, and they have been steadily increasing their capacity to act.”

Formed in 1982 to oppose Israel’s presence in Lebanon during that country’s civil war, Hezbollah seeks to oust the Israeli state. The U.S. and three other countries – Israel, the Netherlands and Canada – label Hezbollah a terrorist group. The European Union does not. Members, who adhere to a radical interpretation of Islam, have been accused of masterminding several bombings in the early 1990s in Argentina that killed more than 100 people, as well as a string of bombings in the 1980s that killed hundreds, including Americans. The group denies plotting the attacks.

“We must remember that before September 11, Hezbollah, not al-Qaeda, was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization,” Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Patrick Meehan said.

Hezbollah is not just in Lebanon – members have been in Latin America for decades and some function near the U.S. border with Mexico, training drug cartels in military tactics, according to Janice Kephart of the Center for Immigration Studies, who was not at the House committee discussion. (Iran said to have cut Hezbollah aid by 40%)

Investigative journalist and Senior Fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center Douglas Farah said Hezbollah is establishing roots in parts of Latin America and blurring lines between terrorism and criminal activity. He noted the group’s alliance with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a congressional meeting Thursday.

Both Chavez and Hezbollah are “bound by a common aim of the asymmetric defeat of the U.S., and a shared view in favor of an authoritarian state that tolerates little dissent,” Farah said.

In April, the U.S. commander in charge of overseeing efforts in Latin America, Gen. Douglas Fraser, testified at another congressional hearing that he was concerned about Iran’s growing presence in the region. Hezbollah receives funding from Iran, and Iran works closely with Venezuela.

Iran built four more embassies in South and North America in the last five years – the country now has 10 in the Americas. It also has bilateral agreements with a number of American countries other than Venezuela.
. . .
http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/09/hezbollah-and-iran-south-of-the-u-s-bo...

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3.
New immigration law poses challenges for educators
By Jim Cook
Dothan Eagle, July 11, 2011

A new immigration law poses a number of thorny issues for educators, including conflicts with federal law and potential funding losses.

HB 56 was signed into law by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley in June. One of the provisions of the anti-illegal immigration law, considered one of the toughest in the nation, would require public school educators to collect data to determine whether students are in the U.S. legally and report that information to the state. The law says the information would be used to prepare reports on how much educating the children of illegal immigrants costs the state.

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a non-profit advocacy group that supports tougher immigration rules, educating the children of illegal immigrants is the largest cost of illegal immigration to taxpayers, costing government agencies throughout the U.S. nearly $52 billion per year. Almost all of those costs are absorbed by state and local governments, which provide the lion’s share of funding for public schools.

It’s hard to currently determine the number of illegal immigrants attending Alabama schools, but the state spends about $8,391 per pupil educating public school children, according to 2007 U.S. Census findings.

What the new law doesn’t do is require schools to ban students who are in the U.S. from attending school. A 1982 Supreme Court decision, Plyler v. Doe, bars public schools from denying children an education, regardless of their immigration status. Subsequent federal policy has prevented schools from inquiring into the immigration status of children. Also, students who are in English as a Second Language programs or who are homeless are not required to abide by state immunization rules that bar everyone else from attending school without proof of immunization, either.

Educators have expressed concerns that even though the law does not require them to bar illegal immigrants from schools, the tracking requirements may run counter to federal policy and put federal funding for schools in jeopardy. Another concern is the added work the new law will create for school systems, many of which have had to cut positions because of the current budget crunch.

Mike Manuel, Dothan City Schools CFO, said that the city schools receive about $10 million per year in federal funding. Manuel said whether the apparent conflicts between the new law and federal policy may result in funding losses is an important question that needs to be answered.

Allyson Morgan, Dothan City Schools director of secondary curriculum, said that the city schools serve about 137 students through its English as a Second Language program, and screened nearly 258 to determine whether they needed services from the program. Presumably, many of the students who are in the U.S. illegally will likely be ESL students. Morgan said the city schools have yet to receive guidance from the state concerning how the new law will be implemented. Morgan said the new law would increase the workload on school personnel in an already paperwork-intensive environment.

According to the Alabama Department of Education, the law does not go into effect until Sept. 1, and as such, students enrolled in schools prior to Sept. 1 won’t be affected by it in the 2011-12 school year. Alabama schools start in August.
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http://www2.dothaneagle.com/news/2011/jul/09/new-immigration-law-poses-c...

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4.
Menino threatens to quit plan targeting crime by immigrants
By Martine Powers and Stewart Bishop
The Boston Globe, July 11, 2011

In an abrupt turnaround, Mayor Thomas M. Menino has said he will withdraw Boston police from the federal Secure Communities program unless US federal immigration officials limit their deportation efforts to only those immigrants who have committed serious crimes.

In a letter to be delivered today to the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Communities task force, Menino said the program, which requires that fingerprints from arrests be cross-referenced with federal immigration databases, has caused a breakdown of relations between residents and law enforcement officials in Boston’s immigrant communities. The cross-referencing means that people picked up for relatively minor crimes can face deportation, along with the more serious criminals the program was meant to target.

“As operated now, Secure Communities is diminishing trust, an essential part of the neighborhood fabric and a vital public safety tool,’’ Menino wrote.

“Secure Communities must change substantially or be scrapped,’’ he wrote.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis will visit the Secure Communities task force in Washington, D.C., this morning to deliver the letter and make a statement outlining his and Menino’s concerns about the program, according to police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.

Boston piloted Secure Communities in 2006, and since the program’s official launch in 2008, it has expanded to cities and towns in more than 40 states.

Just over one month ago, Menino and Davis defended the controversial initiative after Governor Deval Patrick refused to expand the program to State Police.

At the time, Boston officials said they felt that Secure Communities was helping to fight crime - critical in a city that has been besieged by drug and gun violence.But Menino at that time also ordered Davis to review his files to ensure that the program was targeting criminals.

On Friday, Menino met with law enforcement officials and the heads of immigrant advocacy groups in a roundtable discussion to learn more about how the program was affecting local immigrant communities. Many of those at the meeting said the program has failed to make streets safer because it discourages immigrants from reporting crimes or talking to police for fear of deportation.

In his letter, Menino called on the Secure Communities task force to demonstrate more transparency in how it decides whose fingerprints are shared with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security must establish a “partition’’ that separates immigrants charged in felony crimes from those arrested on misdemeanors, he argued.

Otherwise, he said, Boston will no longer participate in the the program.

“Boston took part in Secure Communities as a pilot project, with the understanding that only the most serious criminals would be affected and the belief that our feedback would lead to improvements in the program,’’ Menino wrote in the letter. “It would be a further violation of the public trust if instead Secure Communities proves to be a knot that the federal government will not untie.’’

It is not clear what effect Menino’s threat to have Boston stop participating in the program will make: A senior official in the Department of Homeland Security told the Globe last month that the program will be rolled out nationwide by 2013, regardless of whether state or local leaders approve.

Brendan Ryan, a spokesman for Patrick, said the governor stands by his previous criticisms of the Secure Communities program.

“This doesn’t really change anything for us,’’ Ryan said.

Last month, Patrick said he would no longer support the program because he believed it caused more harm than good by fracturing relationships between police and community members. “We give up more than we get,’’ he said. Patrick became the third governor, after Andrew Cuomo of New York and Pat Quinn of Illinois, to refuse to enforce Secure Communities.

Chuck Jackson, a spokesman with ICE, said last night by e-mail that the organization will “respond directly’’ to any local officials who express concerns about the program. ICE, he said, has made plans to improve the Secure Communities program, including the creation of an advisory board that will determine ways to best target those who pose a threat to their community.
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Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank that favors stricter controls on immigration, said the mayor’s opposition to the program is akin to the establishment of so-called sanctuary cities where local authorities attempt to protect illegal immigrants from federal law enforcement.

“The fact is it’s not just a useful program, it’s almost a minimal prerequisite for a serious immigration control system,’’ Krikorian said. “If illegal immigrants are not identified when they are picked up by local authorities, how will federal law enforcement ever find them?’’

Krikorian said those opposed to Secure Communities are trying to make immigration status a secondary offense that a person cannot be initially cited for, like seat-belt laws in many states.

Part of the problem, he said, is the Obama administration has been ambivalent and inconsistent on immigration enforcement. “They talk up Secure Communities, but they don’t like it. They look at it like my 11-year-old looks at broccoli. They’ll eat just enough to get dessert.’’
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/07/11/menin...

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5.
Alabama Churches Mobilize Against Harsh Anti-Illegal Immigration Law
Fox News Latino, July 11, 2011

The movement against Alabama's harsh crackdown on undocumented immigrants is being led, in some respects, by the church.

The latest example was Sunday in Huntsville, where a few hundred people gathered in a downtown park for an interfaith prayer rally to protest the law.

Many participants wore white and carried candles; some pastors wore clerical garb.

The mobilization of the church, for some, is a chance for Bible Belt redemption.

During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and `60s, many state churches didn't join the fight to end Jim Crow laws and racial segregation. Some cross-burning Ku Klux Klan members took off their hoods and sat in the pews with everyone else on Sunday mornings, and relatively few white congregations actively opposed segregation. Some black churches were hesitant to get involved for fear of a white backlash.

Now that Alabama has passed what's widely considered the nation's most restrictive state law against illegal immigration, mainstream churches, faith-based organizations and individual members are at the forefront of opposition to the act. Some see their involvement as a way to avoid repeating mistakes of the past.

"I think what happened in the `60s may be a stimulus for the action that you have seen many of the churches taking on this," said Chriss H. Doss, an attorney and ordained Southern Baptist minister.

Matt Lacey, who is pastor of a United Methodist church once attended by Birmingham's infamous segregationist police commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor, said there are all sorts of reasons Alabama Christians are opposed to the law. Making amends for the past inaction of religious groups is among them, he said.

"For me, as pastor of a church that was engaged in that battle, it is very important," said Lacey. "If we take redemption very seriously, then it not only covers our sins but our past actions as a church. I think for some, there is a tendency to want to be on the side of right on this issue. ... I would like to think the church just wants to do what's right."

Supporters of the law say it's needed to limit the number of undocumented immigrants living in Alabama. Critics, including immigrant support groups and faith-based workers, sued last week to overturn the law.

After a prayer for wisdom, members of the Birmingham City Council unanimously passed a resolution recently calling for the repeal of the law. That same day, ministers and lay people gathered to discuss opposition to the law in the same church where, more than 50 years ago, white segregationists gathered to form a group to oppose white and black children going to school together.

Urged to come to a rally and candlelight march sponsored by churches and faith-based groups, a diverse crowd estimated around 2,000 marched quietly through downtown streets on a Saturday night near where police dogs snapped at black demonstrators two generations ago. And more than 100 United Methodist ministers many of them moderate to liberal, but some also on the conservative side signed an open letter to the governor criticizing the law.

Doss is struck by the differences between 2011 and 1963, when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" to seven white moderate ministers and a rabbi who were publicly urging him to go slower with the campaign to end legalized segregation. Many black churches also were slow initially to embrace the cause of civil rights in Birmingham, where Klan night riders roamed with bombs for years.

"There were a number of black ministers who took a more conservative position, that they were not going to get involved publicly. Their involvement greatly increased through the years," said Wayne Coleman, head of archives at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Churches had little to say about the bill as it moved through the Alabama Legislature, but that could be because they were overwhelmed for weeks providing food and other assistance to victims of the deadly tornadoes that swept across the state on April 27, killing more than 240 people.
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http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/07/11/alabama-churches-mo...