1. Gov., DHS head disagree
2. Rick Perry on immigration
3. AL law and self-deportation
4. AL law and school enrollment
5. AL car tag requirements

1.
Homeland Security head counters Patrick
By Kyle Cheney
Boston.com, October 6, 2011

Acknowledging a botched beginning to the federal Secure Communities program, the nation’s top homeland security official contradicted claims yesterday made by detractors and called the effort “the single best tool at focusing our immigration enforcement resources on criminals and egregious immigration law violators.’’

“Termination of this program would do nothing to decrease the amount of enforcement,’’ Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in remarks delivered at American University. “It would only weaken public safety and move the immigration enforcement system back toward the ad hoc approach where noncriminal [immigrants] are more likely to be removed than criminals.’’

Secure Communities, which has become the focal point of a heated debate over illegal immigration in Massachusetts, is a data-sharing program between the FBI and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency in the Department of Homeland Security. Under the program, the FBI crosschecks its fingerprint database - which includes prints collected from police departments across the country - with immigration databases to identify illegal immigrants arrested by State and local police.

At the heart of criticism lobbed by Governor Deval Patrick and advocates for the immigrant community are accusations that the program fails to distinguish between serious, violent offenders and those in the country illegally but who present no public safety threat. Napolitano described the assertions as unfounded and contrary to reality.

“It makes sense to prioritize our finite resources on removing a Mexican citizen who is wanted for murder in his home country ahead of a Mexican national who is the sole provider for his American citizen spouse,’’ she said. “It makes sense to remove a Costa Rican man convicted of sexual assault against a minor before we spend the time and money to send a mother back to her violent and abusive husband in Jamaica, separating her from her American-born children; finally, it makes sense to prioritize resources on the removal of a Chinese man convicted of aggravated assault and weapons offenses before removing a 10th-grade student who was brought to this country when he was a child.’’

Napolitano’s comments put her at odds with Patrick, who has argued the opposite: that Secure Communities’ focus on deporting arrested illegal immigrants would inadvertently net less serious offenders or those without criminal backgrounds.
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/10/06/napol...

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2.
Rick Perry walks tightrope on immigration issue
By Jae C. Hong
The Associated Press, October 6, 2011

The outcome of the conservative skirmish of the moment in the Republican presidential primary — a back-and-forth between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry on immigration — will have implications for either candidate should he make it to the general election, particularly in the battleground state of Nevada.

As Romney tries to woo conservative voters by taking a hard-line stance on immigration, he runs the risk of antagonizing Nevada’s growing Hispanic voting bloc, which is expected to be a key swing vote in the general election next year.

Conversely, Perry’s moderate approach to immigration as governor of a border state could antagonize conservative voters while appealing to Hispanics.

As governor of Texas, which deals with both border security issues and a large population of illegal immigrants, Perry adopted a fairly pragmatic stance on immigration, mostly eschewing the caustic rhetoric that has typified the immigration debate.

Even Democrats acknowledge that Perry’s record could be attractive to Hispanic voters who traditionally hew to their side.

“I don’t know if there’s a danger of (Democrats) losing the Latino vote (to Republicans), but he would definitely gain Latino support for his positions,” said Andres Ramirez, a veteran Nevada Latino activist and vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee’s Hispanic Caucus.

During his time as governor, Perry has opposed immigration policies popular with the conservative base he is now courting in his bid to become president:

• He’s described building a fence along the nation’s border with Mexico as preposterous and an idiocy.

• He supported a guest worker program for immigrant labor.

• He does not support an Arizona-style immigration law for Texas that would require police to investigate citizenship status when probable cause exists.

• And — in the move that has garnered the most recent attention in the primary fight — he signed a bill allowing in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants in Texas.

But he hasn’t always supported moderate immigration policy positions. This year, he pushed legislation that would outlaw “sanctuary” cities by allowing, but not requiring, local police to investigate immigration status.

Since entering the presidential campaign, Perry has toggled between taking a harder line on immigration and defending his moderate record as governor.

During a recent debate, Perry accused his critics of heartlessness for opposing in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants. He then distanced himself from the comment, describing it as inappropriate.

His latest talking points have included stressing border security before debating immigration reform and opposing amnesty.

“We need to mimic what the state of Texas has done,” said Perry’s spokesman Katherine Cesinger. “Texas has increased the boots on the ground, increased the aerial assets in the sky, increased the patrol on the water. He would take that to the next level (as president).”

Perry’s immigration record may antagonize the conservative voters he needs to win in the presidential primary, which could be particularly problematic given his strategy depends on positioning himself as a darling of the conservative right on each of the fronts they care about — both social and fiscal.

“Ticking off even a small percentage of them and letting them go to (Rick) Santorum, or Newt (Gingrich) or (Michele) Bachmann is problematic when you look at the math of it,” said one Las Vegas-based Republican strategist.
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http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/oct/06/rick-perry-walks-tightrope-i...

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3.
Alabama official says tough immigration law leading to ‘self-deportation’
The Daily Caller, October 6, 2011

Employers in Alabama’s Marshall County are hiring new workers following the stepped-up federal and state enforcement of immigration laws.

“It is amazing to see the effects” as undocumented workers leave town, said Chuck Ellis, a member of Albertville’s city council.

Immigration is a hot-button issue that is testing the skills of candidates as diverse as President Barack Obama and Texas Gov. Rick Perry. They’re being further tested by a wave of new state laws, and by some limited federal enforcement, which are giving voters real-world tests of rival policies.

On Monday, for example, the Wayne Farms chicken-processing plant in Marshall County held a jobs fair to fill slots that opened when many Hispanic workers left the county. The line “was probably equivalent to a couple of blocks … It was a largely Anglo and black group,” but also included Hispanics, said Ellis.

“It is tough work, very tough … my momma did it for a while, I’ve had friends who did it,” said Ellis, who also works as a local sheriff.

The new reform measures are also reducing classroom crowding in the 4,000-student school district, said Ellis. Roughly 150 kids of migrant workers have departed the district, and perhaps 500 more will leave as enforcement continues, he said. “It is tough on those kids,” but their departure will free up teachers to work with other Hispanic kids that need to learn English, he said.

“A large proportion of the illegal Hispanic community has moved … self-deportation is a real thing,” said Ellis. Because of the exodus, the county’s unemployment rate has dropped to from about 9.5 percent to roughly 9.3 percent over the last several weeks, he said.

The reforms in Alabama, and similar changes in Arizona and other states and cities that have begun enforcing immigration laws, have spurred furious opposition from the Hispanic ethnic lobby, and has put the administration in a political bind, said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which opposes illegal immigration and seeks to shrink legal immigration.
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http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/06/alabama-official-says-tough-immigratio...

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4.
Immigration law’s impact unseen in Georgia schools
By Jeremy Redmon
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, October 6, 2011

After Georgia enacted its tough new immigration law this year, proponents expressed hope that it would sharply reduce the strain illegal immigrants put on the state’s public schools and other taxpayer-funded resources.

School officials don’t track the immigration status of their students in Georgia but had been watching for significant losses in enrollment at the beginning of this school year. Instead, the combined enrollment for metro Atlanta school systems is up by more than 2,600 students from a year ago, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of state and local figures.

School officials say they will have more information to report later this month after they take a state-required count this week, breaking down enrollment figures by race and for students receiving special English-language lessons. But in Atlanta, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties, enrollment last month was higher compared with October of last year and even above projections for this year. In Cobb and Fulton counties, where Hispanics make up a fraction of the student population, enrollment is slightly down and below projections for this year.

In Georgia, school officials monitor enrollment figures closely because so much is at stake. Swings in enrollment counts, for example, can affect state and federal funding that schools receive per student. Enrollment also affects school staffing and construction plans.

Meanwhile, some illegal immigrants who said this summer they were considering pulling their children out of local schools and moving away because of Georgia’s crackdown have instead decided to stay. The reason: A federal judge has temporarily put on hold key parts of the state’s new law — called House Bill 87 — amid a court challenge.

Local school officials cited another factor that may be encouraging illegal immigrant parents to stay: The Obama administration announced this summer that it is tightening its focus on deporting violent criminals while giving special consideration to illegal immigrants who were brought here as young children and who are getting an education.

None of this is welcome news to supporters of Georgia’s new immigration law. But they are urging patience. They predict other parts of the law that are not tied up in the courts could have an impact on school enrollment when they start to take effect next year, including a provision that will require many businesses to use the federal E-Verify system to ensure newly hired employees can legally work in the United States. Immigration watchdogs say the No. 1 magnet for illegal immigrants in the United States is jobs.
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http://www.ajc.com/news/immigration-laws-impact-unseen-1193468.html?cxty...

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5.
Immigration law brings long lines to tag offices
FOX10tv.com, October 6, 2011

Baldwin Co., AL - The state of Alabama has extended the deadline for some people to renew their car registration. Implementation of the state's new immigration law has led to long lines at some tag offices.

People who were supposed to renew their tags in September will now have until October 20 to get it done.

This comes with new regulations requiring out-of-state license carriers to show proof of their citizenship with a passport or birth certificate when applying for or renewing their license.

"The biggest challenge for us is the 41,000 out of state licenses that we have and tags where were having to ask them to prove their citizenship because we can't use their drivers license." said Baldwin County Probate Judge Tim Russell.
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http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/baldwin_county/immigration-la...