1. WH cracks down on overstays
2. Perry takes heat on issue
3. Arrests on border drop
4. CA considers Dream Act
5. IL co. ends detainers

1.
Broader security checks to reduce visa overstays
By Eileen Sullivan
The Associated Press, September 13, 2011

The Obama administration is cracking down on immigrants in the U.S. who have overstayed the terms of their visas by using a system that automatically checks multiple national security, immigration and law enforcement databases at the same time, a senior Homeland Security Department official said.

The common practice has been to make manual checks of individual databases. The new system has already identified dozens of investigative leads, said John Cohen, deputy counterterrorism coordinator at the Homeland Security Department.

The immediate focus is on identifying people who have overstayed their visas and who pose a potential threat to national security or public safety, Cohen said.

Some of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were in the U.S. in violation of their visas, in some cases because they did not attend a school they said they would on their application for a student visa, or their visas had expired.

The 9/11 Commission saw the visa system as a major vulnerability and recommended completing a biometric system that would log immigrants out as they left the U.S. This program, however, was never fully implemented. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said the exit system called for by the commission is expensive, and the government has put other policies in place since 2001 to address the same issue for a lot less money.

Automating these checks is the latest of those policies. Until now, if an investigator wanted to vet a visa applicant, it would require manual checks of many databases. This policy left room for mistakes, such as someone entering the wrong spelling of an immigrant's name, which might not turn up critical national security information.

It took years for the government to effectively connect the various terror watch lists held by different government agencies after 9/11 exposed major holes in national security caused by keeping all of these lists separate. Now that those systems are interconnected and have greater search capabilities, DHS is taking it a step further to do immigration checks which will automatically scan all variants of immigration status — be it refugee or asylum — while at the same time check other criminal and national security databases and run searches on variations of names.
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gAK06mhrfq4BhUP8l-z3Zc...

See More of Author: Janice Kephart

Releated Event: Our Borders a Decade after 9/11

Related Topics: 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, US EXIT System

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2.
On immigration, Rick Perry takes heat for Texas DREAM Act
By Robin Abcarian
Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2011

In a debate that's already been fiery, the temperature rose further, even a little uncomfortably, when the subject of immigration came up.

The candidates on this stage have repeatedly said they won't elaborate on their plans for dealing with the 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country until the border with Mexico is secured.

Perry, who signed a Texas version of the DREAM Act (which allows young people in the country illegally to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities) drew several rounds of boos when he defended the policy.

"If you've been in the state of Texas for three years, and working toward citizenship, you pay in-state tuition," said Perry. "It doesn't matter what the sound of your last name is. That's the American way."

The point, he said several times, is to allow immigrants to become "contributing members of our society, rather than be on the dole."

As he has often done, Perry reiterated this evening that he does not believe a fence along the entire border is feasible.

"The idea you're going to build a wall from Brownsville to El Paso and go left to Tijuana is not reality," said Perry to booing. "What you gotta have is boots on the ground … the aviation assets in the air. We understand and know how to secure that border, but the federal government needs to step up and do their constitutional duty and secure the border with Mexico."

Huntsman, who has tried repeatedly to get traction with sarcasm or over-the-top statements tonight, seemed to stun the audience when he said, "For Rick to say you can't secure the border is pretty much a treasonous comment. We can secure the border." (Huntsman was alluding to Perry's controversial remark that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's policies amount to treason.)

Romney piled on Perry (a recurring theme of the evening).

"Of course we build a fence, and of course we do not give in-state tuition credits to people who have come here illegally."
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http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-debate-immigration-20110912,0...

Related Topic: 2012 Republican Primaries

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3.
Arrests of Immigrants on U.S. Southern Border at 40-Year Low
EFE, September 13, 2011

The number of immigrant arrests on the border with Mexico stands at its lowest level in 40 years, undermining conservative claims that the zone is "out of control" and leading activists to insist the time is right for comprehensive immigration reform.

So far in fiscal year 2011, which ends on Sept. 30, 447,731 immigrants have been arrested along the southern border, a figure that represents a significant decline in the average of about a million arrests annually in the 1980s and '90s.

Figures compiled by the Border Patrol show that after peaking at 1.5 million in 1999, arrests of undocumented immigrants have declined every year beginning in 2006.

Although in the 1990s it was estimated that for every arrested undocumented immigrant two others managed to avoid the Border Patrol, now thanks to aerial monitoring, the greater number of Border Patrol personnel in the region and technological advances, calculations are that in the sectors of El Paso, Texas; Yuma, Arizona; and San Diego about 90 percent of all those who cross the border illegally are captured.
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http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/09/13/arrests-immigrants-on-u...

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4.
California weighs college aid for illegal immigrants
By Alan Gomez
USA Today, September 13, 2011

Nearly 20 years ago, California became the first state to crack down on immigration when voters approved a measure that cut off education, health and other benefits to illegal immigrants and their children.

Now, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown is considering signing a bill that would grant financial aid to some illegal immigrants attending state colleges and universities. That would be in addition to laws that allow some illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition and let them accept privately funded college grants.

As states such as Arizona, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina push hard stances against illegal immigrants, the turnaround in the Golden State is viewed as either a Democratic-controlled Legislature ignoring the will of Californians, or a path that other states will soon be following.

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Republican, is convinced that people in his state are opposed to the state's move toward acceptance of illegal immigrants. When Californians approved Proposition 187 — the voter referendum that cut benefits to illegal immigrants — in 1994, it passed with 59% of the vote.

He's confident that voters still feel that way, so he's prepared to push for another voter referendum to overturn the college financial aid bill if Brown signs it into law.

"Why is an illegal's dream more important than an American's dream?" asked Donnelly, who founded a Minuteman group to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border before being elected to office. "There's a tsunami of discontent with this bill. Outrage isn't even a strong enough word."

The bill, passed Sept. 2 by the Legislature, would give illegal immigrant students about $40million in financial aid and fee waivers.

Anti-immigration groups says it makes even less sense when considering California's financial plight.

"With a state that's billions of dollars in the red — our own version of Greece in the United States — the idea of giving additional taxpayer money to illegal immigrants is surreal," said Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates lower levels of immigration. "It's hard to believe."
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-12/california-illegal-...

See More from Author: Mark Krikorian

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5.
Illinois County Defies Feds On Immigrant Detentions
By CHip Mitchell
NPR, September 12, 2011

One of the nation's largest jails has quit holding inmates for an extra period of time when requested by immigration officials.

Disregarding those federal requests is the new policy of Cook County, Ill. The county enacted the measure even though the jail holds sometimes help officials deport dangerous illegal immigrants.

And some other counties may soon follow suit.
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Republican Timothy Schneider represents a suburban Chicago district.

"Under this ordinance, gangbangers and people involved in drug-dealing, sex trafficking and criminal sexual assault will be released back into our communities," he says.

ICE spokesman Greg Palmore says preventing his agency from deporting inmates just doesn't make sense.

"Jurisdictions who ignore detainers bear the risk of allowing that individual back into the public domain before they were thoroughly vetted to ensure that this individual doesn't have anything outstanding that warrants us to move further in that particular case," Palmore says.

ICE isn't saying whether it will take Cook County to court to compel compliance with detainers. Without a court ruling on ICE's side, the agency may see other jurisdictions taking a similar stand.

"For a long time, we felt like we were in this alone," says Juniper Downs, lead deputy counsel for Santa Clara County in California. "Cook County's bold policy may affect the direction of the policy we develop."

Over the past year, at least three counties have limited the sorts of inmates they'll hold for immigration officials. So far, Cook County is the only jurisdiction openly disregarding all immigration detainers.
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http://www.npr.org/2011/09/12/140407306/cook-county-ill-bucks-immigratio...