1. GOP worries about Hispanic votes
2. Sen. calls for probe of MA raid
3. Napolatino expected DHS nominee
4. Obama under pressure by advocates
5. IL bill expands detainees' access
6. Teen charged with murder

1.
GOP stares down immigration divide
By Reid Wilson
The Arizona Capitol Times, November 20, 2008

North Myrtle Beach, SC -- To hear Republican pollster Whit Ayers tell it, the future of the GOP is in serious jeopardy if it can't woo more Hispanic voters to its side by moderating its position on immigration.

As the prominent numbers wizard presented his case to a gathering of Republican National Committee members, Arizona GOP chair Randy Pullen shook his head. "He's got it wrong," Pullen said.

The debate over the Republican approach to immigration reform has become increasingly crucial to the party's electoral success. And it's not one that will be decided pleasantly, or soon, as demonstrated during the election season by the divergent opinions between Washington-based consultants and local activists across the country.

Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in America, and Republican strategists worry the group could slip out of their party's grasp. Consultants and activists both blame hard-core rhetoric, especially that which surrounded contentious debates over immigration legislation in the summer of 2005. But while everyone agrees that the few who use demagogic language are poisoning the well, the two sides disagree on just what moderation means.

One thing is for sure: The party sports a damaged brand among Hispanic voters. In 2004, President Bush carried 44 percent of the Hispanic vote, losing the group to John Kerry by nine points. This year, exit polls showed Barack Obama beating John McCain among Hispanic voters by a margin of 67 percent to 31 percent, a shockingly poor result for the Arizona senator whose name is frequently associated with a moderate approach to immigration reform. In Arizona, McCain lost Hispanic voters by a 56 percent-to-41 percent margin.

"The Hispanic vote is probably the most important swing-voter group in the American electorate over the next decade," Ayers said in an interview. While the white proportion of the electorate shrinks with the growth of African Americans and Hispanics, the GOP is losing badly among both minority groups, bringing up worries the party is destined to be pigeon-holed as the "white" party.

With what Ayers calls mega-states - California, Texas, New York and Florida, which combine for 147 electoral votes - sporting a lower proportion of white voters than the nation at large, the GOP faces a problem on a presidential level.

"Looking at the long-term demographic trends, it is difficult to see how Republicans remain competitive in the Electoral College unless they start to do significantly better among minorities," Ayers said.

"Virtually everybody believes that America should control its borders. That's true of Hispanics and non-Hispanics. The difference is what happens to the Hispanics that are currently residing in America and the tone that is used to discuss their fate," Ayers added. "It is very difficult to imagine Republicans performing competitively among Hispanic voters if prominent Republicans are demonizing Hispanics and threatening to throw 12 million of them out of the country."

Pullen agreed that the rhetoric needs to be modified. "I think there is a problem if there is a segment of people out there demagoguing on the issue, on both sides," he said. "A lot of them aren't even Republicans."

But Pullen disagrees with the contention that Hispanic voters can be won over if the GOP modifies its stance on immigration reform. "What do we gain from that (moderation)?" Pullen said. "When we pass conservative ballot issues in Arizona that Latinos vote for, the ones that are here legally understand that the people the illegal ones impact the most is" Hispanics in the U.S. legally. "I'm just so tired about hearing all these people pontificate about, ‘Oh, the Republican Party has got to change its position on immigration.' I don't think we need to change at all.

"What we need to do is to develop a core of conservative Latino leadership," he continued. "Those elected officials will attract the volunteers and the supporters that we need in the Republican Party. If we don't help Latinos get elected to office, they're never going to seriously believe we want them involved."

But the state Republican Party and its activists have long been at odds with the party's own elected leaders. Arizona GOP grassroots, along with Pullen and the other party officials they elected, sharply criticized McCain, Kyl and Flake for their roles in pushing for legislation that would have allowed illegal immigrants to earn citizenship without being deported.

The three were tagged "pro-amnesty" by critics. And Kyl, who ranks among the most conservative members of the Senate, was derided as being a liberal because of his support for McCain's bill.
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http://www.azcapitoltimes.com/story.cfm?id=9895

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2.
Kerry prods Homeland Security to review Bianco raid
By Becky W. Evans
The Standard-Times (New Bedford, MA), November 20, 2008

U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., is calling upon the Department of Homeland Security to carry out its pledge to conduct an internal review examining how immigration officials handled a massive raid at the former Michael Bianco Inc. plant.

Richard L. Skinner, the agency's inspector general, in January pledged to launch a general review of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid that took place on March 6, 2007, which netted 361 undocumented workers and was criticized by elected officials and immigrant advocates for creating a "humanitarian crisis" by tearing families apart. Sen. Kerry requested the review days after the raid.

In an Aug. 21 letter, Mr. Skinner wrote to Sen. Kerry to say the expected eight-month review had been postponed due to the government's ongoing investigation of Bianco management and the related trial.

"After the trial has concluded, we will consider future reviews of ICE's policies to ensure humane and efficient worksite enforcement," Mr. Skinner wrote. "In the meantime, we continue to review information related to ICE's worksite enforcement efforts."

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston announced that Michael Bianco and its former owner Francesco Insolia had pleaded guilty to federal charges involving a scheme to hire illegal immigrants. The company agreed to pay a total of nearly $2 million in fines and restitution. Mr. Insolia will pay $30,000 in fines and faces up to 18 months in jail.

Now that a settlement has been reached, the ICE review should begin, Kerry spokeswoman Brigid O'Rourke said.
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http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081120/NEWS/...

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3.
Shift toward border enforcement?
If Napolitano gets security post, immigration issue may take new tack
By Richard S. Dunham and Kyle Pendergast
The Houston Chronicle, November 20, 2008

Washington, DC -- As Arizona governor, Janet Napolitano has declared a state of emergency and called the National Guard to the Mexico border to block illegal entry into the United States.

She has signed a tough law penalizing companies that hire undocumented workers. She has billed the U.S. government, without success, for hundreds of millions of dollars to cover the state's cost of jailing criminal immigrants. And she has teamed up with fellow governors, including Texas Republican Rick Perry and New Mexico Democrat Bill Richardson, to pressure the federal government to secure the border.

"Don't label me soft on illegal immigration," the second-term Democrat declared last year in the Washington Post.

As word leaked out Thursday that President-elect Barack Obama had chosen Napolitano to lead the Department of Homeland Security, players on all sides of the bitter immigration debate said that the tough-talking governor's likely selection marked a shift in priorities at the massive new bureaucracy from aviation security and other anti-terrorism efforts to border enforcement.

"Perhaps by appointing her, he's signaling that he will clamp down on the border, unlike the Bush administration," said Jeff Addicott, director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio.

Experts said that Napolitano's record yields important clues as to how the Obama administration may handle sensitive immigration issues ranging from workplace raids to the border fence. Eventually, lawmakers in both parties say, Napolitano's approach could lay the political groundwork for a comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform plan.

"To get to the ultimate goal, you have to build up public confidence in enforcement and security," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands. "And she has a pretty good track record. With her reputation (on enforcement), that actually helps."

Critics weigh in

While Napolitano would bring a prosecutor's mindset to the Homeland Security Department — she is a former state attorney general and U.S. attorney who supervised 6,000 felony immigration cases — her critics accuse her of being an opportunist more interested in image than results.

"Though she's gone through the motions of appearing tough, her immigration reform record in Arizona is, at best, inconsistent," said Bob Dane, communications director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group critical of massive immigration.

But Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrants-rights group, said Napolitano's selection "is a welcome signal that President-elect Obama intends to take immigration seriously during his administration."

"Based on her record in Arizona, we believe that Gov. Napolitano is well-suited to balancing DHS' dual responsibilities of welcoming immigrants and enforcing our immigration laws."

Rodolfo Espino, a political scientist at Arizona State University, said Napolitano "takes a very nuanced approach" to the politically charged topic.

"We here in Arizona see a lot of extreme polarization on that issue," he said. "She's been really shrewd and canny in her ability to not get cornered."

Espino said that Napolitano's selection would shift decision-making on immigration enforcement from "lower-level bureaucrats doing kind of whatever they want" to the top levels of the department.

Humane action urged

Throughout her time in office, Napolitano has been consistent in her criticism of the federal government's approach to immigration reform. She, along with border Govs. Perry, Richardson and Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, has called for consistent and humane border enforcement. Napolitano argues that the Bush administration's inattention to the border contributed to the public backlash that doomed a comprehensive immigration law overhaul in the Senate last year.

"Our federal government's failure to address illegal immigration has fueled a growing and understandable national mood of frustration and anger," Napolitano said recently.

She has been harshly critical of some highly publicized enforcement activities of the federal government, declaring in a Washington Post op-ed piece, "What little enforcement we have ends up being arbitrary and unfair."

To some of those involved in the immigration debate, Napolitano's record telegraphs a likely shift away from the Bush administration's workplace raids of recent months.

"I suspect that they picked her to have a law-and-order face on policy which may seek to gut the enforcement of immigration laws," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6124446.html

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4.
Latinos expecting Obama to deliver on immigration promises
By Susan Ferriss
The Sacarmento Bee, November 21, 2008

Barack Obama borrowed more from the immigrant labor movement than just a slogan.

Just as Latinos historically had marched for worker rights to the chants of "Yes, we can," ("Si, se puede"), they organized and stumped by the thousands this year to help elect Obama.

Although they initially leaned more toward Hillary Rodham Clinton, Latinos gave Obama 67 percent of their votes nationwide, increasing their turnout, delivering several key states and gaining clout in the Democratic Party.

They say they earned a seat at Obama's table and plan to remind him that he promised to revive and enact a proposal many favor: a comprehensive immigration overhaul, including a legalization program.

"I'm feeling positive about Obama. I believe him. That's why I worked for him during the election campaign, going to Nevada on weekends," said Raúl Cárdenas, a naturalized U.S. citizen who organizes janitors in Sacramento with Local 1877 of the Service Employees International Union.

Stoked by a surge in new citizens and voter registration drives, Nevada's Latino electorate leaped 87 percent from 2004 levels. With 76 percent of the state's Latino voters choosing Obama, they gave him a decisive edge in a state President George W. Bush won in 2004.

"It's hard to take on immigration in the middle of an economic crisis," said political analyst Bruce Cain, director of the University of California Washington Center. Obama might find he has to wrestle with divisions within his own party over immigration, especially in the House of Representatives.

On the other hand, Cain said, opportunity exists. Some within the Republican Party are urging their brethren to repair relations with Latinos, the fastest-growing voter demographic.

Meanwhile, for the Democrats, Cain added, "politically it would be a huge mistake not to do immigration reform in the first term, given the Latino support for Obama."

Latinos are helping Democrats gain in the red states of Texas and Arizona and have helped color California blue.
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http://www.sacbee.com/501/story/1416648.html

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5.
Ill. bill OKs more religious access for detainees
The Associated Press, November 20, 2008

Springfield, IL (AP) -- Illinois lawmakers have passed legislation that gives immigrants at federally run detention centers more time with religious workers.

Under the bill, the facility can't limit the time an immigrant has with a religious figure. Officials also must provide advance notice of when the religious workers are available.

And the visits won't count against other visitations.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-xgr-immigrantdete,0,1117813...

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6.
Teen charged with murder as hate crime in immigrant's death
The CNN News, November 20, 2008

New York -- A grand jury has indicted a Long Island teenager on a charge of second-degree murder as a hate crime in the stabbing death of an Ecuadoran immigrant this month, according to the indictment, unsealed Thursday in Suffolk County District Court.

Jeffrey Conroy, 17, had been charged with first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime, one count each of gang assault and conspiracy and two counts each of attempted assault and attempted gang assault.

The "hate crime" designation would add to any sentence imposed upon conviction.

Six teenage co-defendants were arraigned Thursday on the same assault, conspiracy and gang assault charges as Conroy. One of the six faces an additional charge of criminal mischief.

Marcello Lucero, 37, was walking to a friend's apartment in Patchogue, New York, when he was attacked late in the evening of November 8, police said. Officers found that he had been stabbed in the chest, and he died of his injuries. A friend with Lucero was not injured.

Authorities believe that Conroy stabbed Lucero. His arraignment on the murder charge is scheduled for Monday.

The seven youths were trying "to find Latinos and to assault them," Suffolk County Police Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said at the time.

"That was what they went out to do that night, and that's exactly what they did do. ... They were actively seeking victims," he said.
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/20/ny.hate.crime/?iref=hpmostpop