1. TX Sen. criticizes USBP policy
2. Candidate outlines amnesty agenda
3. Growth in DC youth fueled by influx
4. TN region Hispanic pop. expanding
5. TX to execute another criminal alien
6. Africans struggle to find work in IL
7. Illegals leaving New York region
8. Latinos avoiding OR DMV

1.
Border agents are bunched up near San Diego; Texas senator complains of political influence
By Michelle Roberts
The Associated Press, August 6, 2008

San Antonio, TX (AP) -- Despite efforts to add Border Patrol agents to areas where immigrant traffic is high and drug violence is flaring, officers assigned to the 2,000-mile boundary with Mexico are bunched up near the California coast. And some critics see politics at play.

An Associated Press analysis of Border Patrol staffing shows that the San Diego sector, with the shortest section of border and fences covering half the boundary, has four times the number of agents per mile that West Texas does and three times as many as most of Arizona.

That is the case even though the Tucson sector in Arizona has been the busiest spot for illegal crossings for years and El Paso sits next to a Mexican city that has seen a surge in drug-cartel violence so severe that Mexicans are pleading for asylum in the U.S.

"I think it makes us less safe," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said of the way agents are posted along the border.

Border Patrol officials defend the staffing levels, saying San Diego's transportation routes and year-round balmy weather make it an attractive spot for smugglers.

Others suggest, however, that members of Congress who most embrace the agency's push are rewarded with more agents — a notion a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman rejected Wednesday.

Borderwide, staffing has increased dramatically in the past five years as political pressure to prevent illegal immigration has mounted. On the southern border, there are roughly 15,000 agents, up from 9,500 in 2004.

And while the most dramatic growth has occurred near the Arizona-California line and around El Paso, San Diego's short section of border has, by far, the most agents per mile at 37. That compares with 11 for most of Arizona and nine for the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas, based on head counts given to the AP in July.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-border-agents...

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2.
Noriega lays out immigration plan
By Kelley Shannon
The Associated Press, August 6, 2008

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega proposed an immigration plan Wednesday calling for more border agents, crackdowns on employers who hire undocumented workers and allowing illegal immigrants to pay a fine and become documented.

Noriega also chastised Republican Sen. John Cornyn for supporting the U.S.-Mexico border fence. Noriega called the fence a gimmick and a 700-mile monument to Washington's failure. He said initially Cornyn did not support a border fence, but by 2007, he "flip-flopped and changed his tune, voting for the fence three times."

Cornyn's campaign responded with this statement: "Saying you are against the fence may play well in some places, but 82 U.S. Senators — including Barack Obama — voted for it. The Border Patrol says we need fencing to secure the border."

Noriega said mass deportation of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country is not realistic. He said he favors allowing the workers to "come out of the shadows" and pay a fine and any back taxes owed and then become taxpaying employees.

"Our nation's immigration system is broken — Texans know it first hand, as do citizens all along our southern border," Noriega said in a prepared statement. He traveled far from the border to unveil his plan in Amarillo then Lubbock.

Campaign spokesman Martin Apodaca said Noriega went to the Panhandle region to roll out the plan because it's an important part of the state with more than 200,000 residents and because Noriega wants to talk to voters everywhere. He was scheduled to campaign in Austin on Thursday.
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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D92D0TSG0.html

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3.
In the Under-5 Set, Minority Becoming the Majority
By N.C. Aizenman
The Washington Post, August 7, 2008; Page B01

A surge in Hispanic immigration over the past decade has dramatically altered the racial and ethnic composition of the region's youngest residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released today.

As with minorities in general, immigrants tend to be younger than non-Hispanic whites and still in their childbearing years. As a result, in five suburban Washington counties, more than half of children age 4 and younger were minorities when the annual Census Bureau survey was taken a year ago.

In three of the counties -- Prince William, Montgomery and Charles -- the share reached about 60 percent. And in Prince George's, where Hispanic immigration has supplemented an even larger African American population, more than 90 percent of these children are minorities.

The implications for governments and communities are wide-ranging, demographers said. As the current crop of youngsters reaches kindergarten age, school systems that would otherwise be losing students will continue to grow or remain stable. They will also need to accommodate an ever-larger number of students who were raised in immigrant households where English was not spoken.

In addition, although most Hispanic children younger than 5 are native-born U.S. citizens and therefore eligible for government health care and other benefits, research indicates that if their parents are not U.S. citizens, they will be less likely to claim assistance, said Michael Fix, director of studies at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute.

"All of this really reinforces the importance for counties to increase their investment in early childhood development now," Fix said ."If you don't make that investment, one of the penalties you pay down the line is that you have kids in school who don't speak English well and whose overall performance lags behind."

Fix pointed to studies indicating that as many as 75 percent of elementary school children learning English as a second language were born in the United States.

"Even more worrisome is that over half of the English-as-a-second-language learners in high school were native born," Fix added.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/06/AR200808...

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4.
Chattanooga: Population grows at rapid rate across region
By Andy Johns
The Chattanooga Times Free Press, August 7, 2008

The latest demographic estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show the Hispanic population in the tri-state region is growing almost 12 times faster than other groups.

According to 2007 population estimates released this morning, the Hispanic population of Hamilton County and the surrounding 20 counties has grown almost 60 percent since 2000, compared to 5 percent growth in non-Hispanic groups.

Jose Perez takes a computer class at the La Plaza Comunitaria at the St. Andrews Center in Highland Park. U. S. Census figures to be released Thursday show a significant increase in the Hispanic community in this region.

Gordon and Murray counties in Georgia lead the region, with Hispanic populations surging 131 percent in Murray and 116 percent in Gordon, census figures show. The Hispanic population has grown 86 percent in DeKalb County, Ala., and 80 percent in Georgia’s Catoosa County.

Hamilton County saw its Hispanic population grown 73 percent, figures show, while Bradley County’s grew 72 percent.

The issues of new populations represent “a change that other parts of the country have already experienced and dealt with,” said Mirtha Jones, coordinator of Hispanic outreach and director of Plaza Comunitaria, a partnership between Chattanooga State Technical Community College and the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta that works to educate Hispanic adults.

The census data is based on birth and death certificates as well as surveys and does not make a distinction between legal and illegal immigrants.

Ms. Jones said 85 to 90 percent of the Hispanic students she sees are Mexicans or Guatemalans who have come to the region for jobs in agriculture, construction or with poultry processing plants. Ms. Jones said she also knows of students who are from Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Honduras and Cuba.

Mexicans and Guatemalans make up the bulk of Hispanic immigrants in the Southeast, with sizable populations of other Central American nations and a relatively small number of South Americans, said Dr. Douglas C. Bachtel, a demographer with the University of Georgia. The immigrants leave their homelands in search of higher wages and more job opportunities, he said.

In addition to the jobs Ms. Jones mentioned, Dr. Bachtel said many immigrants find work in the retail industry as maids or waiters. Dalton, Ga., in particular, has many Hispanic immigrants who work at carpet mills, he said.

“If you don’t have those jobs, you aren’t necessarily going to get Hispanics,” Dr. Bachtel said.

Those jobs are what concern Michael W. Cutler, a former Immigration and Naturalization Service agent and fellow with the Center for Immigration Studies based in Washington, D.C., which explores the effect of immigration on the United States.

Mr. Cutler said immigrants who come into the United States illegally can work for low wages, driving down labor rates for citizens and legal immigrants.

“The difference between an immigrant and an illegal is the difference between a house guest and a burglar,” he said.

“We just need to make a distinction between those who come to this country to contribute and to share the American Dream and those who come to destroy it and create an American nightmare,” he said later.
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http://timesfreepress.com/news/2008/aug/07/chattanooga-latest-census-dat...

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5.
Illegal immigrant from Honduras facing execution
By Michael Gracyck
The Associated Press, August 7, 2008

Huntsville, TX (AP) -- Attorneys for an illegal immigrant from Honduras say his inability to get legal help from his government following his arrest for killing a Dallas-area store manager during a robbery should keep him from a scheduled trip to the Texas death chamber.

Lawyers said Heliberto Chi, who was set to die Thursday evening, was denied rights given to foreigners under international treaty.

It's the second death penalty case this week in the nation's most active capital punishment state to focus on diplomatic issues.

On Tuesday night, after a split U.S. Supreme Court narrowly rejected a late appeal, Mexican-born convicted killer Jose Medellin was executed for participating in a gruesome gang rape and murders of two teenage Houston girls 15 years ago.

Unlike Medellin, Chi was not among some 50 death row inmates around the country, all Mexican born, who the International Court of Justice said should have new hearings in U.S. courts to determine whether the 1963 Vienna Convention treaty was violated during their arrests. Mexico had sued in the court on behalf of its citizens condemned in the U.S.

President Bush asked states to review the cases and legislation to implement the process was introduced recently in Congress, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year neither the president nor the international court could force Texas to wait.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5929576.html

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6.
African community grows but opportunities do not
Many in Illinois have advanced degrees but drive taxicabs, says a community report
By Vanessa Bauza
The Chicago Tribune, August 6, 2008

The African community has grown faster than any other immigrant group in the state, but although many emigres are well educated they've been unable to get jobs that match their professional backgrounds, according to a report released Wednesday.

The study is meant to shed light on the need for job placement, English lessons and other services for African immigrants, which community leaders say are often overshadowed by larger groups.

"More often our community is invisible. . . . Until recently it remained relatively outside the realm of public policy discussion about immigrants," said Alie Kabba, executive director of the United African Organization, which released the report.

"When you talk to Africans driving cabs in Chicago with master's degrees you wonder what are the reasons you see this shocking disparity between education and professional status. It reflects a certain attitude toward Africa, that there's not much coming out of Africa."

The report surveyed 160 African immigrants in Illinois and found that 53 percent have bachelor's or graduate degrees, a figure similar to 2006 statewide census estimates. The average income among those surveyed was $44,000 a year. Compared to other workers with similar education, Africans are underemployed in jobs that do not take advantage of their skills, according to the report. The disparity often leads to frustration.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-african_immigrant_studyaug0...

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7.
Many undocumented immigrants leaving Long Island
By Dave Marcus
Newsday (NY), August 7, 2008

While lawmakers debate measures to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants on Long Island, something unexpected is happening: Some immigrants are leaving, not because of legislation, but because of the economy.

By the dozens, and possibly by the hundreds, immigrants are moving to the South, and even back to their countries in Central America. That, at least, is the conclusion of academic experts, church workers, contractors and the immigrants themselves.

Precise local numbers are difficult to compile because undocumented workers live in the shadows, eluding census takers, landlords and others. But from Glen Cove to Greenport, some of those shadow inhabitants are missing.

"Work has dried up, and you can't afford to live here if you don't have money coming in regularly," said Jose Maldonado, 33, a carpenter and roof installer from Honduras who has lived in Huntington Station for five years. Maldonado said he can find work every other day at best, which makes it increasingly tough to pay $500 for the bedroom with no bathroom he shares with another worker.

Maldonado pointed to the shoulder of Depot Road, where crowds of Central Americans used to look for day jobs. He ticked off names of those who have left this year: Vinny moved to Charlotte, N.C. Javier went to Miami.

"Atlanta, Georgia -- that's where I'm going," Maldonado said.

"L.A.," said his friend Arnold Contreras, 32, a painter. "They say there's more jobs in L.A."
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Economy and enforcement

In a controversial report last week, the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C. group that wants tighter border control, estimated the undocumented population dropped 11 percent in the past year. "The findings of the study reaffirm what ICE has heard anecdotally about illegal aliens leaving on their own," said Harold Ort, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement.

In one key indicator, money sent home by Mexican migrants in the United States dropped by 2.2 percent in the first six months of 2008, Mexico's central bank said.

Those who track population changes say some states that were friendly to undocumented workers have turned hostile. Until 2007, waves of undocumented Hispanics from New York moved to North Carolina, said Rafael Prieto, editor of a Spanish-language weekly newspaper in Charlotte, N.C. "A $150,000 house in Charlotte would cost $350,000 or $400,000 in Long Island."

But in the past year, he said, a crackdown on undocumented workers has reduced the flow.
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http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-ligone0807,0,3461722.story

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8.
Latino immigrants suddenly avoiding the DMV
Drop in numbers seeking drivers licenses pegged to new state law
By Steve Law
The Portland Tribune, August 6, 2008

With a passport and Brazilian drivers license in hand, Roberual Goncalues De Silva waits his turn in 2006 to apply for an Oregon drivers license at the popular DMV office at SE Powell Boulevard and 90th. A new state law requires Oregon drivers license applicants to prove they are in the state legally.

The number of Spanish-speaking people taking Oregon’s driving test plummeted in February, just as Gov. Kulongoski’s executive order took effect requiring test-takers to provide valid Social Security numbers.

In the Portland area and statewide, there was a jump in people taking the driving test in Spanish in the two months after Kulongoski issued his November order – but before it took effect Feb. 4, according to new data from the state Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division. The number of people taking the test in Spanish fell more than 80 percent after his order took effect.

State officials can’t think of any other reason to explain the pattern besides the governor’s order, said David House, DMV spokesman.

Critics of illegal immigration hailed the new data.

“I think that’s reflective of the fact that at one time Oregon had an open door for illegal aliens to get their drivers’ licenses from all over the United States,” said Jim Ludwick, president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform.

Oregon had been one of a handful of states that didn’t require drivers license applicants to prove they were here legally. Oregon also grants licenses for eight years, longer than many states.
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http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/print_story.php?story_id=12179774564...