1. Census spending cuts raise concerns
2. Governor Napolitano on border security
3. McCain to pursue re-election
4. Asians concerned about immigration
5. Activists optimistic about Obama
6. OH professor urges compromise
7. NY teen denies murder of Ecuadorian
8. Judge upholds murder charges
9. Mexican man pleads guilty
10. TX Guardsman sentenced

1.
Census Spending Cuts Raise Concerns on Count
By N.C. Aizenman
The Washington Post, November 26, 2008; A11

The Census Bureau plans to cut spending on advertising and community outreach for the 2010 census by at least a fourth compared with the 2000 census, provoking concern among congressional overseers that historically difficult-to-count groups such as minorities and illegal immigrants will not be accurately tallied.

Although the reduction was part of the fiscal 2009 budget proposed to Congress by the administration in February and was reflected in a stopgap budget resolution adopted by Congress last month, several members of Congress said they did not become aware of the change until two weeks ago, when their staffers asked Census Bureau employees to brief them on details of the marketing plan.

The news adds to congressional dismay over the bureau's decision in the spring to scrap a plan to use wireless handheld devices to collect information from people who do not mail back their census forms. Technical problems with the devices forced the agency to switch back to its original pencil-and-paper-based system, adding between $2.2 billion and $3 billion to the $11.5 billion cost.

"It makes no sense that we are spending less than [in] 2000 on marketing the census when the challenges we face in 2010 are even greater," said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee that oversees the Census Bureau. "I would have liked to have said [my response] was shock, but given what the Bush administration has done to the census, it is regrettably not surprising."

Despite such concerns, congressional staffers said increasing the bureau's marketing budget would prove a tall order in the current economic climate.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR200811...

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2.
Napolitano On Border Security
The National Journal, November 24, 2008

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, reported to be President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Homeland Security secretary, has made a name for herself in the illegal immigration debate. Last December, she spoke with National Journal's Lisa Caruso about the terms of the debate, crafting policy and the federal government's responsibilities.

NJ: On the national level, the Democratic presidential candidates seem wary when it comes to illegal immigration. What should they say?

Napolitano: You say, "Here's my enforcement strategy. It's multitiered: It's manpower. It's technology. It's equipment. And in my budget I'm going to put the money not only to do it but sustain it over time. Unlike my predecessors' budgets, my budgets every year will call on the Department of Homeland Security and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and local law enforcement at the border to be properly resourced so that we have continual operational control at the border.

"I'm going to direct the secretary of Labor to tell us what our labor market needs are, and we're going to adjust the visas accordingly, and we're going to put in place a process to do that, protecting jobs for American workers but realizing that we will have a national labor shortage moving forward. I'm going to pay specific attention to certain areas such as H-1B visas [for skilled workers], where there is such a demonstrated need and there's more than enough work for everyone to go around. The third thing is, we're going to deal with the 12 million in this country. We're not going to have a permanent underclass. They're going to have to pay a fine, get in line, and pay their taxes. And I don't call that amnesty."
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http://lostintransition.nationaljournal.com/2008/11/napolitano-on-border...

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3.
McCain Says He Will Run For Senate Again in 2010
By Michael D. Shear
The Washington Post, November 26, 2008; Page A03

Sen. John McCain, who faced hometown reporters yesterday in his first news conference since losing the presidential election, pledged to return to the regular work of a senator and defended his decision to pick Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
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He said he will continue pressing for immigration reform in the Senate, despite the issue's political pitfalls.

"Running for reelection has never been a concern of mine as far as issues like that are concerned. I intend to discuss that with the president-elect," he said of immigration.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR200811...

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4.
A new look at Asian immigrants
By Kimberly Sanfeliz
The Boston Globe, November 23, 2008

A new survey by the University of Massachusetts at Boston's Institute for Asian American Studies attempts to fill what the authors say is a gaping hole in the research on immigrants.

"There's been a lot of attention paid to immigration rights and policy," said the institute's director, Paul Watanabe, at the survey's unveiling last month. "But the fact is, there is virtually no [statistical data] based upon Asian immigrants and the Asian community."

The institute's study, "Interest and Action: Findings from a Survey of Asian American Attitudes on Immigrants, Immigration, and Activism," found that 80 percent of the 412 Asian-Americans surveyed pay either a great deal of attention or some attention to immigration issues.

It also found that 58 percent said they were very sympathetic or somewhat sympathetic to the Latino community's stance on immigration issues, and 52 percent support a legalization process for undocumented immigrants.
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/23/a_new_look_at_asian...

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5.
Bay Area immigration activists see glimmer in Obama
By Matt O'Brien
The Oakland Tribune (CA), November 25, 2008

President George W. Bush couldn't fix it. Neither could several sessions of Congress.

But several groups in the Bay Area are already sending their immigration policy suggestions to President-elect Barack Obama, hoping he can break the stalemate that for years has prevented lawmakers from enacting comprehensive immigration reform.

"Immigration is going to be kind of sticky, but I know he's going to do something," said the Rev. Marvin Webb of Richmond's Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church.

Webb paid a visit last week to Washington, D.C., part of a delegation of East Bay faith leaders who led a prayer rally outside the U.S. Treasury and met with Melody Barnes, a member of Obama's transition team, to talk about foreclosures and immigration.

Webb left the meeting hopeful that Obama would try to do something quickly about creating opportunities for undocumented youths and addressing health care access for immigrant children, as well as fixing the mortgage crisis that has crossed racial and ethnic boundaries.
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http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_11064866?source=most_emailed

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6.
Professor: Compromise key to immigration reform
By Lauren Pack
The Middletown Journal (OH), November 26, 2008

Hamilton, OH -- While Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones awaits an answer to a letter he sent last week to President-elect Barack Obama urging him to take a stand on immigration reform, at least one leader in the Hamilton Hispanic community agrees a positive change is needed.

"It is good to see that Sheriff Jones understands, as many of us do, that President-elect Obama has to deal with a great number of issues, including a failing economy and the need for comprehensive immigration reform. So too, I am heartened to see that the sheriff is well-aware that it is going to take compromises from all sides if we are going to be able to bring 12 million plus people out of the shadows and restore a healthy balance between the law and human rights," said Shelly Jarrett Bromberg, assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Miami University Hamilton.

In the letter dated Nov. 20, Jones wrote, "The drugs coming from Mexico to the United States is out of control and it appears we have no policy to control any of these serious problems, I believe they need to be addressed."

The sheriff ended with a plea for Obama not to overlook law enforcement: "We all know that it will take compromises from all sides. When planning policy for these issues, please consider the needs of the front line law enforcement agencies, jails and prison systems."
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http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/11/...

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7.
Admired by Many, but to Police a Killer
By Anne Barnard
The New York Times, November 25, 2008

Medford, NY -- Jeffrey Conroy, friends of his family say, is warm and patient with younger boys, admired by peers and adults as a promising athlete, and friendly with people of many ethnicities, including a half sister whose mother’s background is part Puerto Rican.

That portrait deepens the mystery of how Mr. Conroy, 17, ended up in court on Monday facing murder charges.

Prosecutors say he admitted to the police that he fatally stabbed Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorean immigrant, on Nov. 8, after Mr. Conroy and six friends roamed the streets in search of Mexicans to beat up — a regular pastime that the group called “beaner jumping.”

Now at the center of a case that has exposed ethnic tensions in the Long Island communities of Patchogue and Medford, Mr. Conroy pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges including second-degree murder. He is being held without bail and faces 20 years to life in prison. His lawyer, William Keahon, told a Suffolk County judge that he would prove Mr. Conroy innocent, and he pointed to several dozen supporters in the courtroom who he said included young people of Latino, Asian and Turkish descent.

A drive around the Patchogue-Medford School District, where an influx of immigrant workers in recent years has increased the Latino population to 24 percent, does not immediately suggest a divided community.

Yet Latino community advocates say that immigrants have often been harassed by young men and are afraid to contact the police; on Dec. 3, the Congregational Church of Patchogue, where many immigrants attend services, will hold a forum with the F.B.I. to enable people to report past incidents of abuse.

Mr. Conroy and his five fellow defendants, each held on $500,000 bail after being arraigned last week on charges including gang assault, seem to be part of that complex picture.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/nyregion/25conroy.html

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8.
Judge: Murder charges stand in immigrant beating
The Morning Call (Allentown, PA), November 25, 2008

Either a sucker punch that knocked down a Mexican man so hard his head bounced off the macadam or a final kick to the side of his head as he lay prone could have caused his death, a Schuylkill County judge has ruled.

As a result, third-degree murder charges are warranted against two teenagers who testimony said delivered the blows, according to the ruling by Judge William E. Baldwin.
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http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-1racial1125-cn,0,4662130.story

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9.
Man pleads guilty to immigration charge in Iowa
The Associated Press, November 26, 2008

Sioux City, IA (AP) -- A man accused of transporting illegal immigrants from Arizona to Iowa has pleaded guilty to a federal Immigration charge.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-immigrationplea,0,5789209.s...

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10.
Third soldier sentenced for immigrant smuggling plot
The Associated Press, November 25, 2008

Houston (AP) -- The last of three Army National Guardsmen who were part of an immigrant smuggling operation has been sentenced for his role in the scheme.

Julio Cesar Pacheco, 26, was sentenced on Tuesday to 40 months in prison.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6132460.html