1.CIS finds illegal population down
2.Fed authorities seek self deportation
3.Congress may allow E-verify to stall
4.NE court rules on compensation
5.CO state police complete first year
6.ACLU probing Fed. immigration raid
7.Charges unlikely in slaying case

1.
Study: Illegal Alien Population Dropping
By Bradley Vasoli
The Philadelphia Bulletin, July 31, 2008
http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=19880473&BRD=2737&PAG=46...

A report released yesterday by a nonprofit research group estimates that the number of illegal aliens in the United States dropped significantly in the past year after a steep increase.

The D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) said Census Bureau data indicate the number of unlawful residents fell 11 percent by May 2008 after peaking the previous August. While the CIS report Homeward Bound: Recent Immigration Enforcement and the Decline in the Illegal Alien Population attributes some of this decline to a slowing economy, it says increased enforcement seems to have had an impact.

CIS research director Steven Camarota and demographer Karen Jensenius write that the illegal population, which they now estimate at 11.2 million, dropped 1.3 million since last August from 12.5 million. If the decline continued for another five years, they write, that population would fall by one half.

As the number of illegals drops, the number of legal immigrants is still rising, suggesting to CIS that the economy alone hasn't reduced the illegal population. The report also says the number of illegals in America began dropping before their jobless rate rose substantially in early 2008.

Unlawful residents have declined in number during past economic slowdowns, but the decline CIS recorded during the current downturn exceeds the 7-percent drop during the more severe recession from Mar. 2001 to Nov. 2001.

Enforcement efforts the researchers point to as having lowered the number of illegals include fencing more of the U.S.-Mexico border over the past 18 months, doubling the number of border patrol agents to 16,500 over the last few years and increasing worksite arrests fivefold since 2004.

The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported deportation of 176,000 immigrants from the U.S. between Sept. 2007 and Jul. 2008, accounting for only a small part of the decline the illegal population during that time. Dr. Camarota said this indicates many illegals respond to stepped-up enforcement and leave on their own.

"It challenges directly the argument that we have to legalize folks because there's no other choice," he said. "You don't have to deport everyone."

He and Ms. Jensenius write that Congress's failure to amnesty nearly all of the illegal aliens in America in July 2007 likely factored into the decision many immigrants made to return home. President George W. Bush and other lawmakers' clamoring for a mass legalization probably enticed many illegal immigrants to enter in the months leading up to the bill's defeat.

Dr. Camarota said that the enthusiasm presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have shown for amnesty could compromise the headway the government has made in reducing the number of illegal aliens.

"The biggest threat is the public pronouncements of political candidates," he said.

Many open-borders advocates argue for legalizing unlawful residents and expanding opportunities to immigrate lawfully on the logic that immigrants are not only economically and culturally beneficial to America but difficult to remove in large numbers.

Tamar Jacoby, president of ImmigrationWorks USA, said she doubts the CIS study gives enough weight to economic factors and doesn't expect sustained enforcement at the current level to reduce the illegal population dramatically.

"In the long haul, sure, with an absolutely draconian immigration policy nationwide we could squeeze these workers out of the economy," she said. "But why would that be good for us?"

EDITOR'S NOTE: The CIS study, 'Homeward Bound: Recent Immigration Enforcement and the Decline in the Illegal Alien Population,' by Steven A. Camarota and Karen Jensenius is available at: http://www.cis.org/trends_and_enforcement

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Illegals Heading Back Across the Border
New government figures suggest more illegal immigrants seeing opportunities in the U.S. dry up, and are heading home.
By Will Sterrett
By KTRH News (Houston, TX), August 1, 2008
http://www.ktrh.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=121300...

Illegal Immigrants Down 11 Percent
by Matt Purple
Townhall.com, July 31, 2008
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MattPurple/2008/07/31/illegal_immigra...

Illegal Immigrants Heading Home: Report
NewsroomAmerica.com (New Zealand), July 31, 2008
http://www.newsroomamerica.com/usa/story.php?id=426626

Illegal immigrant population declining, study finds
By Hanna Scott
The KTAR News (Phoenix), July 31, 2008
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=919844&r=1

Study: Illegal Immigrants In U.S. Down By 11 Percent
By Vittorio Hernandez
The All Headline News, July 31, 2008
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011791463

Experts Slam Report Claiming Undocumented Are Leaving America
By Wendy Feliz Sefsaf
The New America Media, July 31, 2008
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=afbc17...

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2.
Illegal immigrants asked to leave voluntarily
By Edward Sifuentes
The North County Times (Escondido, CA), July 31, 2008

Immigration officials in San Diego say they will start a pilot program Tuesday asking people who are in the country illegally to leave voluntarily, a plan that advocacy groups on both sides of the issue said probably will not work.

The program was designed to give illegal immigrants who have been ordered to leave by an immigration judge an opportunity to work with officials to ease their deportation, said Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego.

San Diego is one of five enforcement offices around the country that will be taking part in the trial program, which is scheduled run through Aug. 22. The other offices are in Santa Ana; Phoenix; Chicago and Charlotte, N.C.

The program will give people up to 90 days to make arrangements to leave the country, Mack said. It also will help people avoid the expense of being arrested and deported by immigration agents, which some immigrant rights groups say can be traumatic for families.

"It's a program designed to invite any immigration fugitive with a final deportation order and no criminal record to come into our office and work with us," Mack said.

One benefit of the program is that financially strapped illegal immigrants from anywhere in the world may be eligible to get plane tickets paid for by the agency, Mack said.

There are about 550,000 people in the country who have been ordered deported but have not left, Mack said, adding that about 5,700 of those people are in San Diego and Imperial counties.

Pedro Rios, an immigrant rights advocate with the human rights group American Friends Service Committee in San Diego, said he does not expect a big rush of people turning themselves in.
. . .
http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2008/07/31/news/sandiego/z7ef37...

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3.
Fed program used to check legal status threatens S.C. immigration law
By Tim Smith
The Greenville News (SC),August 1, 2008

Columbia -- A federal immigration database that is the lynchpin of South Carolina’s recently passed immigration law is in congressional trouble.

The E-Verify system, used by almost 80,000 employers nationwide to verify new employees’ legal status, is caught in a Senate dispute, officials said Thursday, that could prevent a vote there before Congress’ August recess.

Since members of Congress are only expected to be in session a few weeks after they return the week of Sept. 8, supporters of the system fear the program could die.

Without any congressional action, the Web-based system would expire by November, throwing many states’ immigration laws into turmoil, including South Carolina’s.

State Sen. Larry Martin of Pickens said not having the E-Verify system would be "like having a gun with no ammunition."

"It will about cut the legs out from under our bill," he said.

"It’s a key component of our immigration law," said Joel Sawyer, a spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford. "We would hope Congress would recognize its value and reauthorize it. If E-Verify wasn’t reauthorized for some reason, we would certainly have to address that legislatively because it’s such an important part of it."

Created in 1996 and run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the system allows employers to tap DHS and Social Security databases to verify the legal status of new workers.

According to immigration officials, 1,000 new employers voluntarily sign up to use the system each week. President Bush issued an executive order this year requiring all federal contractors to use it.

Not all officials are thrilled with the program. Illinois passed a law prohibiting employers in that state from using the system. The federal government has challenged that decision in court.
. . .
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080801/NEWS...

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4.
Employer told to pay illegal immigrant's bills
By Cindy GOnzalez
THe Omaha World Herlad (NE), August 1, 2008

German Andrade for about 15 years lifted, loaded and carried out other physically demanding jobs as an illegal immigrant.

Then came the bucket.

It crashed from a skid loader onto Andrade's left foot at a landscaping work site. Fractures led to a lingering limp, which led to back problems and, said a judge, a 45 percent loss of earning capacity. At the time of the accident, Andrade, a husband and father in his early 30s, was earning $12 an hour.

Andrade's case took a public twist when his Sarpy County employer balked at forking over injury-related workers' compensation — and Andrade took the business to court.

Sun Valley Landscapes argued that because Andrade is an illegal immigrant, he was not covered by workers' compensation benefits.

However, a three-judge review panel of the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court has disagreed.

In a ruling affirming a trial judge's 2007 decision, the panel said that public policy favors the inclusion of illegal immigrants as covered "employees." The judges ordered Sun Valley to cover Andrade's medical bills and lost wages.

The ruling is believed to be Nebraska's highest judicial review of the question of undocumented workers and job-related medical bills and wage loss compensation.

It also represents one of the rare times that both sides of the polarizing illegal immigration debate are on common ground.

Bryan Griffith of the Center for Immigration Studies said his organization — which opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants and favors more restrictive immigration policy — supports the panel's decision. So does the Immigrant Rights Network of Nebraska and Iowa.

Griffith said shady employers would be more inclined to hire an exploitable, illegal work force at lower wages if they knew they weren't going to be held accountable for workplace injuries.
. . .
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10395307

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5.
State patrol marks successful first year in illegal immigrant arrests
42 human-smuggling arrests have been made
By Ashley Dickson
The Summit Daily News (Keystone, CO), July 30, 2008

Denver -- As an unmarked van speeds 80 m.p.h. in a clearly marked 50 m.p.h. zone, a Colorado State Trooper switches on the sirens on his patrol car and prepares to make a routine traffic stop.

Pulling up behind the vehicle, the trooper calls in the lisence plate numbers to dispatch, approaches the vehicle and asks the driver for a license and registration.

When he discovers that the van driver has no license, and the occupants crammed into the back seat are in the county illegally, the routine traffic stop has turned into a human-smuggling bust.

This is a scenario that troopers are now prepared for when they patrol Colorado’s highways.

It has been a little over a year since Colorado State Trooper Rob Hampton underwent training to enforce U.S. immigration laws, an added authority that has already proved successful during statewide highway patrols.

“We go out like any other state trooper to enforce traffic laws,” Hampton said. “But if we come across any cases we suspect to be human smuggling, we have the authority to take them in.”

The Interstate 70 mountain corridor has seen numerous cases of human smuggling in recent years and, although there have been no arrests made in Summit County, so far in 2008 Eagle County has reported three incidents involving the smuggling of illegal immigrants.

The Colorado State Patrol’s immigration-enforcement unit was formed in July 2007, after new legislation provided funding for troopers to undergo special training from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The new unit is comprised of 19 troopers, three sergeants and one section commander spread across Colorado.

“From an ICE standpoint, it is an extremely productive partnership,” ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said. “It acts as a force multiplier for us, because now troopers can enforce immigration laws while doing their day-to-day duties.”

In its first year of operation, the new unit made 42 human-smuggling arrests, 183 criminal-alien arrests, and 782 undocumented foreign-nationals arrests statewide.
. . .
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20080730/NEWS/919079104/0/FRONTPAGE

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6.
Iowa immigration raid case scrutinized
U.S. prosecutors' rapid-fire court processing may have violated the rights of hundreds of workers arrested at a meatpacking plant in May, the ACLU says.
By Nicole Gaouette
Los Angeles Times, August 1, 2008

Washington, DC -- Justice Department officials who prosecuted hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested at an Iowa meatpacking plant in May used a government-created manual to speed through guilty pleas, a potential violation of the rights of those detained in the raid, the American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday.

The manual was assembled before the workers were arrested or their lawyers were appointed. It lays out suggested guilty pleas for the arrested workers and specifies how they should waive their legal rights.

It includes detailed scripts for judges and lawyers to recite. One suggests the judge say, "I want each of you to state your name, so I'll know who you are." The manual ends with forms for sentencing and deportation.

ACLU lawyers said the scripts and the rapid-fire sentencing procedure had raised concerns that the Bush administration subverted fundamentals of legal justice in its push for an enforcement victory.

"The government's tactics really undermined the constitutional protections of due process and presumption of innocence," ACLU staff attorney Monica Ramirez said.

Justice Department officials denied the allegations.

"They're off-base with that," said Sean Berry, chief of the criminal division at the U.S. attorney's office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "This is not some document to railroad people; this allows defense counsel to prepare their clients."

Questions about the immigration raid -- the largest in U.S. history -- have intensified since agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the Agriprocessors Inc. meatpacking plant in Postville on May 12. Lawmakers have held hearings on the raid and have promised to take action. Religious organizations and advocacy groups are spotlighting the case as well.

Advocates, immigration lawyers and translators question the deal offered to the Postville workers, who were told they could either plead guilty to aggravated identity theft, with a minimum two-year sentence, or accept a reduced charge and spend a year or less in jail. The lesser charge also would require the workers surrender more of their legal rights.

Groups of 17 workers, mostly uneducated Guatemalans, were each represented by a single criminal defense lawyer. Workers appeared before judges in similarly large groups for sentencing.
. . .
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-immig1-2008au...

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7.
Immigration charges unlikely in homicide
In the wake of the July beating death of 25-year-old Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala in Shenandoah, concerns have surfaced in Schuylkill County about the status and enforcement of immigration laws.
By Dustin Pangonis
The Citizen's Voice (Wilkes-Barre, PA), August 1, 2008

In the wake of the July beating death of 25-year-old Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala in Shenandoah, concerns have surfaced in Schuylkill County about the status and enforcement of immigration laws.

Experts, however, say charges are unlikely and unprecedented.

“In a situation like this, typically victims and witnesses to crime are not going to be targets of immigration law enforcement,” Jessica Vaughan, a senior policy analyst with the Center for Immigration Studies, said.

Ramirez, a Mexican, died July 14 from injuries suffered during a beating July 12, allegedly by a group of white teenagers. Brandon J. Piekarsky, 16, and Colin J. Walsh, 17, were charged as adults with homicide, ethnic intimidation and other offenses. Derrick M. Donchak, 18, was charged with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other offenses. Authorities say another 17-year-old will be charged as a juvenile.

Questions have been raised about whether Ramirez’s status as an illegal immigrant could affect the charges against the suspects, or result in immigration violation charges against his fiancee, Crystal Dillman, or his employers.

Ernestine Fobbs, a public affairs officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said she could not remember seeing an individual charged with immigration violations in a situation similar to this. Neither could Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund legislative staff attorney John Amaya.

If anything, immigration charges might have been pressed against Ramirez, but Vaughan said that generally charges against a lone individual are uncommon.

“The priorities for ICE are things like national security cases, criminal aliens, document fraud, cases that involve public safety,” Vaughan said. “This just doesn’t strike me as anything.”

Amaya previously worked as a trial attorney for the Office of Immigration Legislation within the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

“These kinds of charges for harboring illegal immigrants are generally reserved for employers and smuggling operations,” Amaya said. “Those laws are not meant to target family members or members of religious organizations, or clergy, who are trying to help these individuals.”

Such charges “would not fall within the spirit of the law, and not within the letter of the law, either,” Vaughan said.
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http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/2008/08/01/news/wb_voice.20080801....