1. Senators file raids bill
2. Immigration hopes for debate
3. Candidates to affect illegals
4. House candidates debate
5. Lawsuit attacks GA voting law
6. TX lawmakers critical of laws
7. TX officials deny findings
8. FL illegals have less options
9. Woman to be deported
10. Man found dead in truck

1.
Senators Push for Immigration Raid Guidelines
The Wisconsin Ag Connection, October 13, 2008

Senators Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Robert Menendez from New Jersey are sponsors of a bill called the "Protect

Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act," which the senators said would protect the rights of U.S.

citizens and legal residents who are caught up in immigration raids by federal authorities.

The measure pushes for more stringent legal procedures to be followed by authorities who execute immigration-related searches

and warrants.
. . .
http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-national.php?Id=2385&yr=2008

********
********

2.
Some want presidential debate to take up immigration
By Dan Janison
Newday, October 13, 2008

Immigration policy has drawn remarkably little mention in this huge general-election campaign - and some want to see the

presidential candidates confront the issue in their final debate Wednesday at Hofstra University.

One year ago, nothing in politics was as explosive as Gov. Eliot Spitzer's controversial plan to allow undocumented

immigrants to apply for drivers' licenses. The perceived presidential front-runner, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, caught

heat for her qualified support. But rival Barack Obama also expressed support - and it seemed then as if any GOP candidate

would certainly be using this to drub either Democrat this fall.
. . .
ACCUSING ACORN: McCain's campaign has demanded Obama's ties to ACORN, an activist organization that runs voter-registration

drives, be probed. Registration cards the group submitted prompted fraud investigations in Nevada, Connecticut, Missouri, and

at least five other states - and included some with the names of Dallas Cowboys football players. Bertha Lewis, a chief

organizer for ACORN who is well known in New York City politics, issued a detailed rejoinder with ACORN leader Steve Kest,

saying status quo forces were playing up isolated irregularities to deter voter registration. Lewis has been co-chair of the

state Working Families Party. She drew paparazzi-style notice in 2005 by grabbing Mayor Michael Bloomberg's face and kissing

him on the lips when ACORN and the city reached a certain participation deal with developer Bruce Ratner on Brooklyn's

Atlantic Yards project.
. . .
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/politics/ny-lijani135882137oct13,0,379...

********
********

3.
Nearly two years after raids, questions remain
By Cindy Gonzalez
The World Herald News Service, October 12, 2008

Since her arrest two years ago in a high-profile immigration raid, Maria Gutierrez de Nunez has returned to trimming meat at

Grand Island's Swift & Co. plant, where federal agents picked her up. She was jailed for three months.

She now has a government-issued work permit and is scheduled for a 2010 hearing to determine permanent residency.

And her five Mexican-born daughters have gained legal status through Nunez's U.S.-citizen husband. Four girls are in college,

one is in high school, and all are employed.

Despite Nunez's fraud conviction, her family today is even more entrenched in American society than before the government

nabbed her and about 260 illegal co-workers at the Swift & Co. meat processing plant here in December 2006.

Whether such raids are effective and should remain a key enforcement strategy is an area where the presidential candidates

diverge most on immigration philosophies that otherwise are fairly similar.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has declared raids ineffective and called them publicity stunts.

The Illinois Democrat's Web site says, "Despite a sevenfold increase in recent years, immigration raids only netted 3,600

arrests in 2006 and have placed all the burdens of a broken system onto immigrant families."

U.S. Sen. John McCain calls for "enforcement first."

While the Arizona Republican does not expressly address raids on his Web site, he emphasizes that his No. 1 priority is to

secure U.S. borders. He has called raids "a symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself."

Unlike many immigration policy changes that require congressional approval, the president has administrative authority to

call a moratorium on raids, said Frank Sharry of America's Voice, which supports the legalization of undocumented workers.

Sharry said he would expect a continuation of raids under a McCain administration and a de-emphasis on raids under an Obama

administration.

Even an advocate of restricting immigration such as Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies called the recent

raids a political gimmick to make amnesty more palatable.

But Krikorian said they're helping his group's cause, noting the slowed growth of the foreign-born population. He expects

wages to rise and more American workers to replace deported immigrants.
. . .
http://www.theindependent.com/news/x811431407/Nearly-two-years-after-rai...

********
********

4.
US House debate covers economy, business issues
By Matt Joyce
Casper Star Tribune (WY), October 13, 2008

Laramie, WY - U.S. House candidates Cynthia Lummis and Gary Trauner debated the causes of the ongoing economic crisis and

concerns of small businesses, such as immigrant worker programs, Sunday night at a forum held at the Wyoming Hospitality and

Tourism Fall Summit.

Lummis, a Republican from Cheyenne, and Trauner, a Democrat from Wilson, are running in the Nov. 4 election for Wyoming's

only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Incumbent Rep. Barbara Cubin, a Republican, is not seeking re-election.

Trauner, an entrepreneur and businessman, said he opposed the initial version of the $700 billion financial bailout bill but

ultimately supported the measure because something had to be done to loosen up the credit markets. He said the government

failed to adequately monitor Wall Street lenders who were driven by greed to make overly risky mortgage loans.

"My point is it does come back to reasonable oversight, accountability and regulation," he said. "I am a businessman, I like

the free market. It's the best, most innovative thing we've got going from an economic perspective. But you know what, it's

not going to regulate itself."

Lummis, a former state treasurer and state legislator, said she would have voted against both versions of the bailout bill

and that Congress should have kept working to improve the measure, including providing for more congressional oversight of

the way the $700 billion is used.

She said market risk-takers were partly to blame for the crisis, but Congress also helped create the problem.

"It was made clear, even in The New York Times, that Congress was pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to relax their lending

standards, to take more risk, to accept subprime loans in the interests of creating more housing for low income and

minorities," she said. "That did play a role in creating risk that was taken by those agencies that never should have been

taken."

Also Sunday, an audience member submitted a question asking how the candidates could help Wyoming's employers meet their

pressing need for workers in light of a decrease in the number of visas for temporary seasonal workers.

Lummis said she supports increasing the number of temporary worker visas, including H-2B and H-2A, as well as student visas.

She said that should be coupled with strict illegal immigration enforcement, including the construction of a fence on the

nation's southern border.

"Those are two unique problems that it would behoove Congress to address simultaneously," she said.

Trauner said he also supports boosting the number of guest worker visas to satisfy employers' needs. He said the government

should issue ID cards to legal temporary workers that would allow instant background checks for employers to verify an

employee's status. He said the government should also crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Stiff penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants would "change the dynamic of the workplace, and we would not have

this debate about wholesale illegal immigration, people streaming across our borders, because without the demand, without the

jobs, the supply wouldn't be there," Trauner said.
. . .
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/10/13/ap-state-wy/d93pchg...

********
********

5.
Feds, lawsuit challenging citizenship checks of Georgia voters
Local officials haven’t had to perform checks
By Brandee A. Thomas
The Gainesville Times (GA), October 11, 2008

Federal scrutiny of Georgia’s voter citizenship verification requests earlier this week was followed on Thursday with a

federal lawsuit filed by several voting rights groups saying that the checks first must be approved by the Department of

Justice.

U.S. Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue sent a letter to Georgia’s secretary of state and that of five other states

requesting that they take a closer look at how election officials are verifying the citizenship of new voter registrants.

In the letter, Astrue claims that Georgia has made nearly 2 million citizenship verification requests since 2007 — an action

that puts the state at the top of the list among all other states for such requests. State officials question so high a

number, since just 406,000 registered in Georgia during the same period.
"When we received the letter, that was the first time that we had heard from the Social Security Administration (on this

issue)," said Matt Carrothers, a spokesman for Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel in an interview with The Times. "We’re

not sure how they arrived at that figure, but we are working to determine how that figure was derived."

The "extraordinarily high levels" of citizenship verification requests performed by Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, Nevada, North

Carolina and Ohio prompted Astrue to contact each state’s secretary of state.
. . .
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/9818/

********
********

6.
License requirements criticized: Initiative could hurt state, opponents say
By Brandi Grissom
El Paso Times (TX), October 12, 2008

Austin -- New driver's license requirements that force immigrants to prove legal status will push more people into the

shadows, create a bureaucratic mess and make Texas roads more dangerous, immigrant advocates and some lawmakers said Friday.

"This is just a train wreck," said Kathleen Walker, an immigration attorney at Brown McCarroll LLP in El Paso.

Oct. 1, the Texas Department of Public Safety implemented new requirements for immigrants to obtain or renew driver's

licenses or state identification cards. Noncitizens are now required to show proof of legal status in the U.S. Those who

don't have permission to be in the country longer than six months will be denied licenses. For those who are granted

identification cards, the expiration dates of their legal status will be printed on the documents.

"The Public Safety Commission wanted to protect the integrity of the licensing process and enhance the security of licenses

and identification cards," DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said. "They're used for a lot more now than just the driving

privilege."

Gov. Rick Perry praised the DPS initiative and said it would make licenses safer and prevent identity theft.

"Texas is a great place to live and work, and while we welcome legally documented individuals to the Lone Star State, we must

ensure that this privilege is not abused by those seeking to enter our country illegally," he said in a statement last week.

But Walker said the new license requirements could have unintended
Advertisement
consequences that make Texas less safe.

Many noncitizens will choose to drive without licenses and without insurance rather than risk being deported because their

documents aren't in order, she said.

Immigration laws, Walker said, are extremely complex and confusing even to those who deal with them every day. And the new

DPS requirements don't align with federal immigration provisions.

"It unfortunately shows just a fundamental lack of understanding of how federal immigration law works," Walker said, "and

it's going to cause a lot of confusion."

The requirements also present another potential pitfall for noncitizens, she said. The license form asks applicants to check

a box indicating if they are a citizen.

A noncitizen, whether in the country legally or illegally, might be tempted to simply check the box and avoid the

documentation hassle, she said. Falsely representing oneself as a citizen, though, could result in removal from the country

without the ability to return.
. . .
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_10698783?source=most_emailed

********
********

7.
Election officials reject report saying thousands of illegal immigrants are registered to vote
By John Riley
The Dallas Morning News, October 11, 2008

WASHINGTON – County elections administrators reject the conclusions of a report alleging that up to 333,000 noncitizens may

be registered to vote in Texas, saying there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the Lone Star State.

The report by David Simcox, the former head of a think tank that favors less immigration, said an estimated 1.8 million to

2.7 million noncitizen immigrants in the U.S. may be illegally registered to vote, thereby potentially influencing the

outcome of the upcoming presidential and congressional elections.

Using population estimates from the Census Bureau and Texas county registration data, Mr. Simcox calculated that Dallas,

Harris, Starr and Presidio counties, as well as others, had higher numbers of registered voters than those who are eligible,

which may indicate noncitizens are registered to vote.

But elections administrators said this week that there's no proof that county officials are registering a significant number

of noncitizens to vote.

"I don't think we are, and I have no evidence that we have people overregistered to vote," said Dallas County Elections

Administrator Bruce Sherbet.

Steve Raborn, elections administrator for Tarrant County, said a two-year investigation by his office of questionable voter

registrations in 2004 and 2005 found only three noncitizens on the county voter rolls, and they were later removed.

He said he couldn't completely discount Mr. Simcox's findings. "We probably have some noncitizens on the rolls, just like we

probably have some dead people or some felons on the rolls, but it's not a big problem," Mr. Raborn said. "If they're illegal

aliens, they're going to stay under the radar."
. . .
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/state/stories/...

********
********

8.
Illegal immigrants face fewer choices for health care on Treasure Coast
The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale), October 13, 2008

Health options for illegal immigrants on the Treasure Coast exist, though they aren't free or plentiful.

Volunteers In Medicine, which provides free care for impoverished, uninsured Martin County residents, closed its doors to

illegal immigrants last month. Immigrant advocates in Indiantown, including Sister Teresa Auad, aren't sure how many

undocumented families were using the clinic's free services, but said a need for primary care definitely exists in the area.

"No. 1, this means don't get sick," Auad said. "It means, they have to have money to go to the doctor. And finally, if they

have an emergency, they'll go to the hospital and possibly be handed over to Immigration (and Naturalization Services).

Suddenly, we've become a very unwelcoming country."

Treasure Coast Community Health in Fellsmere also requires patients to prove legal residency before receiving care, Executive

Director Don Loftus said. The center does direct undocumented patients to other agencies where their legal residency status

might not matter.

The county Health Department is a good starting point.

County health departments provide care -- albeit, not free care -- to all residents, and even administer some programs aimed

at illegal immigrants. Florida offers a limited Medicaid program, for example, for undocumented pregnant women to start

prenatal care, said Lisa Olds, executive director of the Healthy Start Coalition of Martin County.
. . .
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/treasurecoast/sfl-1013-treasure-c...

********
********

9.
Marriage offers no guarantee: Illegal immigrant set to be deported
Rosana Gregg's arrest and impending deportation has her husband trying to find a way to keep the family together.
By Christina Woods
The Wichita Eagle (KS), October 13, 2008

DeWayne Gregg's world has come undone in the month since a federal immigration officer arrested his wife at their south

Wichita home.

Tears sprang to his eyes as he talked about the confusion, helplessness and despair of being torn from his wife of seven

years, Guatemalan immigrant Rosana Gregg.

He finds himself shuffling his work schedule and juggling baby sitters for the couple's three children, ages 6, 4 and 2,

while his wife waits in a Lyons County Jail.

He said his wife could be deported later this week -- she's been in contact with the Guatemalan consulate to make travel

arrangements.

"I have three kids," said DeWayne Gregg, 39, a Wellington native. "I didn't plan for this."
. . .
http://www.kansas.com/news/story/559492.html

********
********

10.
Man Found Dead in Truck Storage Unit; Likely Smuggled Immigrant
Fox (Houston, TX), October 13, 2008

Houston police find a man dead inside an 18-wheeler truck storage compartment after stopping the vehicle's driver for a minor

traffic violation.
. . .
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7632173&ve...