1. Recession may tie up amnesty plans
2. Illegal aliens returning home
3. Citizenship wait cut to 10 months
4. U.S. Rep. decries Haitian deportations
5. TX Rep. wants end to DL policy
6. UT city looks into immigration mandate
7. NE co. opens up jail for detainees
8. PA co. may open jail for detainees
9. ACLU sues Feds over detainees
10. Probe wanted in FL immigration raid
11. Angel Island unveiled

1.
Weak economy could slow pace of immigration reform
By Susan Carroll and Stewart Powell
The Houston Chronicle, December 9, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama pledged to make comprehensive immigration reform a priority in his first term in the White House, but the nation's worsening economic woes may force delays on the campaign promise, experts said.

Some members of Congress also said the timetable for reform may have to await a better economy and a more receptive political climate to providing legal status to illegal immigrants in the U.S. Other Congressional leaders urged quick action on immigration reform, which has stalled in recent years amid fierce opposition.

"The downturn in the economy does represent a new environment," said U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that favors early action on immigration reform. "The economy is a very convenient argument (against reform) and one that resonates easily with people."

With growing unemployment, some advocates worried that illegal immigrants would be "scapegoated" for working without authorization. Unemployment jumped to 6.7 percent in November.

The election of Obama and his selection of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano — a moderate on immigration issues — to head the Department of Homeland Security had raised hopes of immigrant advocates that the new administration would submit early legislation to create a pathway for legal status for some of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Obama had promised on the campaign trail to make immigration reform, including a legalization program, a "top priority" in his first term.

"We need a president who isn't going to walk away from something as important as comprehensive immigration reform when it becomes politically unpopular," Obama told the League of United Latin American Citizens in July.

But Reid Cherlin, a spokesman for Obama's transition team, said officials with the incoming administration were not available to discuss prospects for immigration reform.

"We're advising people to look at what Senator Obama said during the campaign," Cherlin said. "We're not going beyond that at this point."

Obama's transition team has merely named a two-person working group to begin reviewing options.

Georgetown law school dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff previously served as a top official in the Immigration and Naturalization Service during the Clinton administration. Stanford law school professor Mariano-Florentino Cuellar previously served as a senior adviser to top Clinton administration officials on enforcement-related issues and has worked on recent projects examining the role of criminal enforcement in immigration policy.

Neither Cuellar nor Aleinikoff responded to requests for comment on prospective Obama administration plans.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus hopes to get an inkling on the scope and timetable for Obama's immigration plan when they meet in Washington D.C., on Wednesday with Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., point man for the caucus on immigration reform. Gutierrez has met with Obama since the election to discuss plans for immigration reform, Gonzalez said.

Some Republicans are angling to hold Obama accountable for his campaign promise on a touchy political issue.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was an architect of a bipartisan attempt in the Senate in 2007 to craft legislation that blended enhanced border protection and enforcement with a pathway for legal working status and eventual U.S. citizenship.

"I hope he keeps his campaign promise," said Cornyn, now the leader of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP campaign organization that raises money and recruits Republican Senate candidates. "Securing our borders and fixing our broken immigration system must be a top priority."

James W. Ziglar, who served briefly as commissioner of the then-Immigration and Naturalization Service in the first term of President George W. Bush's administration, said he hoped for eventual action, as well.

"I think that the American people are tired of it and want to get it fixed," Ziglar said. "I do believe we're on the verge of getting something done that will be positive and meaningful."

Advocates of stricter border control are pledging to fight efforts to provide legal status to undocumented immigrants, an approach they describe as amnesty. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said immigrant advocates have overestimated the odds of passing a legalization program in Congress.

"I think the open borders ... groups are going to be really disappointed in this new administration's rhetorical commitment to their issues, but relatively tepid real commitment," said Krikorian, whose Washington, D.C.-based organization promotes stricter immigration controls.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6155743.html

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2.
A van passes a broken welcome message for San José de Lourdes, Mexico. More are returning there from the U.S.
By Chris Hawley,
The USA Today, December 10, 2008

When her 3-year-old son begs for pizza, or when her family is shivering through a subfreezing night in the Mexican highlands — those are the moments when Rosario Araujo misses America the most.

Three months ago, Araujo and her husband, José Zavala, were still living comfortably, though illegally, in a suburb of Phoenix. He hung drywall for $10 an hour; she was a housekeeper. Their version of the American dream was modest: a small apartment, a washing machine and an occasional night out with their two American-born kids.

Then the economic crisis hit, and work dried up. So in October, the family moved back to central Mexico's empty plains, joining a small but growing flow of migrants heading home because of the U.S. recession.

"It was a difficult decision," admits Araujo, 20. "We took a lot of risks to get" to America. "We miss it."

Life on her husband's family farm seems a world away from sunny Arizona. The cinder-block farmhouse lacks central heat, so the family wraps in blankets and huddles around a space heater. They can't afford pizza anymore because they haven't yet found work here, either.

Those challenges help illustrate why most of the 11.9 million illegal immigrants that the Pew Hispanic Center estimates are residing in the USA are staying put for now. Even in bad times, U.S. salaries are still, on average, about four times higher than those across the border. The Mexican job market is flat and drug-related violence is at record highs.

Even so, the collapse of the U.S. economy — particularly the housing industry — has forced the Mexican government to start preparing for an influx of returnees in the months ahead. As was the case with Araujo's family, most illegal immigrants lack a social safety net in the USA and could have no choice but to return to Mexico, where at least they can count on family to provide shelter and food.

"We have to face the possibility of a very large number of Mexicans" coming home, Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said last month.

Besides the faltering economy, tighter border enforcement and increasing numbers of police raids on undocumented workers have contributed to a modest decline in the USA's illegal immigrant population — the first such drop in recent memory, says Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

"People still continue to come and go, but the equation seems to have switched," Camarota says. "A lot of people argued that immigrants were so permanently anchored in the United States that nothing, no enforcement, no cutoff of jobs would induce them to go home. It seems that's not the case."

If the trend accelerates, it could eventually ease some of the strain that illegal immigrants place on services such as schools and hospitals in border areas of the United States, says William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, another Washington think tank.
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-12-09-Mexico-immigrants_N.htm

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3.
Feds slash wait time for citizenship
$500 million overhaul helping agency cut paperwork, boost its staff
By Stewart M. Powell and Susan Carroll
The Houston Chronicle, December 9, 2008

Washington -- World-class diver Vera Ilyina lived in the United States for a decade, competed on the University of Texas diving team and won two Olympic medals for her native Russia before applying for American citizenship.

She waited two years to be approved, snagged by a perennial backlog in routine background checks by FBI agents. Finally, on Oct. 29, the 34-year-old University of Houston graduate student was made a citizen, with all the duties, rights and privileges attached.

Until that day, she was one of 5,300 people in the Houston area waiting for the coveted grant of citizenship. For some of those, and the others nationwide who will follow her, the wait may not be nearly as long.

That's because the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, which processes applications, has completed a $500 million overhaul, boosting its work force. And the FBI has added personnel to cut the backlog of security checks. Now, the wait for citizenship has been slashed to an average of 10 months across the U.S.

The overhaul positions the $2.6 billion-a-year federal agency to handle an expected surge in applications if Congress enacts comprehensive immigration reform during Barack Obama's presidency, said Jonathan Scharfen, who stepped down as acting director earlier this month.

"We have a system in place that is turbocharged," he said. "We're ready to take on a much greater number of" applications.

The immigration agency's preparations are far ahead of the political realities on Capitol Hill. The incoming Obama administration faces immediate pressure to deal with the economic crisis before pursuing any sweeping changes to the troubled immigration system that would generate a surge in applications.

Yet the immigration services agency is looking ahead, having signed a new $500 million contract with IBM to computerize a cumbersome paper-based system in five years.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6156183.html

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4.
Hastings sends letter blasting deportations of Haitian nationals, Wexler and Meek sign
By Chris Megerian
The Palm Beach Post (FL), December 9, 2008

Rep. Alcee Hastings dialed up his opposition to the renewed deportations of Haitian nationals in a letter sent Tuesday evening, blasting both the policy and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for waiting four days to inform his office of the decision.

“Many deported Haitians simply have no communities to which to return. Sending people back to what remains a fragile nation is irresponsible and dangerous,” reads the letter, which has also been signed by Reps. Robert Wexler and Kendrick Meek. It was sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Acting Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security John P. Torres.

Haiti, a poor Caribbean nation suffering from chronic political and economic turmoil, has been devastated by a food crisis and four consecutive storms this year.

The letter also accused ICE of playing politics with the announcement of deportations, informing Florida Republicans before Democrats.

“Though your Department initially stated that congressional offices would be contacted should deportations resume, we have come to learn that only our Republican colleagues were informed of the decision,” reads the letter. “It is disappointing to think that this administration may have chosen to play politics at a time when families will be ripped apart and individuals may be placed into hazardous situations.”

David Goldenberg, Hastings’ chief of staff, said his office first heard about the deportations from local groups in Florida. It’s upsetting, he said, because Hastings and Meek have some of the highest concentrations of Haitian constituents in the country.

“We were told only when we inquired,” Goldenberg said. “Had we not inquired we never would have been told.”

He said they’re still waiting to find out who made the decision, how many people will be impacted and why they weren’t notified.

ICE spokesman Richard Rocha said the organization informs members of Congress based on whether they serve on committees relevant to the subject.
. . .
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/florid...

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5.
'Visitor' driver's licenses assailed
But Perry says new DPS rules for non-citizens increase security
By Janet Elliott
The Houston Chronicle, December 10, 2008

Austin -- Edwin Palacio arrived in the U.S. from the Philippines in 1993 and was granted political asylum two years later.

Since then he has worked for computer companies and received security clearances to audit private and government information systems. But the 54-year-old Austin resident is now identified as a "temporary visitor" on his new Texas driver's license, which he worries will hamper him and his wife in getting a home mortgage.

Palacio joined a group of lawmakers and civil rights advocates Tuesday in calling on the governing board of the Texas Department of Public Safety to rescind the new policy requiring noncitizens to renew their licenses annually and provide documentation that they are in the country legally.

Critics said the policy is having unintended consequences on people who are legal immigrants like Palacio and on some longtime citizens who lack birth certificates or passports.

Palacio and his wife canceled a vacation to South Padre Island recently out of fear that his license, printed on a vertical format unlike the horizontal licenses issued to most Texas drivers, could prompt delays or detention at federal immigration checkpoints.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6156579.html

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6.
SLC Drafting Legislative Priorities
By Elizabeth Ziegler
The KCPW (Salt Lake City, UT), February 9, 2008

The "hot button" immigration issue, a controversial riparian zone ordinance and a potential new gas tax are on a list of legislative priorities the Salt Lake City Council begins discussing tonight. The final priorities list will be adopted after the council meets with legislative leaders in January.

"This is really a part of that process," says District 1 Councilman Carlton Christensen. "We as a council have to have our discussions out in the open. And so this is our step in that process in making sure that we are all in agreement on what those priorities should be."

Christensen serves on the council's legislative subcommittee and says the meeting tonight will help iron out the city's stance on several issues. For instance, a controversial immigration bill passed earlier this year has several implications for local governments, like requiring companies that contract with the city to verify the immigration status of their employees. It also could possibly require city police to enforce federal immigration laws.

"There's clearly some policy concerns that are problematic. And then there's the role of the city. Should it be in the immigration enforcement business? And, you know, it's not a local government issue. It's really a federal issue. And so the concerns go across the board," Christensen says. "And I think those are things we'll have to work toward as the session progresses."
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http://www.kcpw.org/article/7106

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7.
ICE detainees arrive in Grand Island
By Tracy Overstreet
The Grand Island Independent (NE), December 9, 2008

Grand Island -- Tuesday marked the start of housing federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees in the new Hall County Jail.

"We got our first vanload today," Supervisor Scott Arnold said at a county board meeting Tuesday.

He chairs the county's Corrections Steering Committee.

Arnold wasn't certain how many detainees were in a "vanload" and Corrections Director Fred Ruiz had already left Tuesday's county board meeting prior to Arnold providing an update to other supervisors on the ICE contract.

A call to Ruiz at his office was not returned.

A contract Hall County signed Nov. 10 with ICE stated the county could take up to 75 inmates on an "as needed" basis.

The county had hoped to have that contract in place with ICE last summer with Oct. 1 being the start date for housing detainees, but details in the contract took longer to work out than expected, Arnold said.

"I wish we could have done it sooner -- but dealing with government takes forever," he said.

The time was well spent, though, because it ensured a well-thought out contract that serves both county and federal taxpayers, Arnold said.

One of the contract details dealt with having the county provide a two-person armed transportation team to pick up detainees from various locations in the state, house them in Grand Island and take them to federal court hearings in Omaha.

The county would be paid $17.28 an hour and 0.55 cents per mile for that transportation, according to the contract. It also called for the county to receive $63.01 per day per inmate.

Arnold said ICE officials signed the contract last week and officially put it into place.
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http://www.theindependent.com/news/x776479137/ICE-detainees-arrive-in-Gr...

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8.
Prison expansion dependent on feds' commitment
By Eugene Paik
The Evening Sun, December 10, 2008

Two York County commissioners want the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to guarantee it will fill 600 beds at the county prison before the facility expands. (File Photo)
Purchase reprints of Evening Sun Photos at EveningSunPhotos.Com.

A proposed expansion of the York County Prison to house more immigration detainees appears unlikely without a commitment from the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

County Commissioners Steve Chronister and Doug Hoke said Tuesday they will not agree to the project unless they are certain that up to 600 new beds will be rented by the federal government.

"Before we do anything, we will be talking to ICE," Chronister said. "I don't want to even look at (an expansion) if we don't have to."

Normally, the federal agency does not guarantee how many detainees are sent to the prison, Warden Mary Sabol said.

But that doesn't mean it won't cooperate, she said.

"We have yet to sit down with ICE to discuss the issue," she said. "It's still premature."

An official from ICE and Commissioner Chris Reilly could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The county began exploring an expansion months ago after the federal agency requested 300 to 600 additional beds. The commissioners approved a feasibility study in August to determine how to go about the project and how much it would cost.
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http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_11184661

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9.
ACLU alleges rights abuses
Report: Detained immigrants face harsh conditions
By Maria Sacchetti
The Boston Globe, December 10, 2008

Immigrants jailed for deportation in Massachusetts are often subject to harsh conditions, including inadequate medical care, harassment, and overcrowding, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said in a report to be released today.

The report alleges that state and county jails and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement are failing to oversee the detainees' treatment.

"There's no one watching over them, so there's no real incentive to make sure that the immigration detainees' rights are protected," said Laura Rótolo, staff attorney at the ACLU of Massachusetts and the lead researcher on the 22-month investigation. "They are not protecting people's fundamental rights."

ICE confirmed that the agency received letters from the ACLU of Massachusetts about its findings, and is in the process of responding fully.

"We take all allegations about conditions of confinement very seriously," said ICE spokeswoman Paula Grenier, who added that the agency follows federal guidelines to ensure that immigrants are treated humanely. "ICE is committed to providing all detainees in our care with humane and safe detention environments and ensuring that adequate medical services are available."

For the report, the ACLU interviewed 40 detainees and corresponded with more than 30 other inmates, spoke with dozens of advocates and lawyers, and reviewed hundreds of government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The authors of the report called for an end to immigration raids and alternatives to detaining immigrants, such as electronic monitoring bracelets.

As of August 2007, about 800 immigrants and asylum-seekers were in seven county jails, one state facility, and one federal medical center, although the report said none are serving time for crimes. Many detainees have criminal records, but the report's authors estimate that more than half have overstayed a visa, are awaiting a decision on asylum, or sneaked over the border - all civil violations. The cost of housing them is roughly $90 a day to the US government, the report said.

Jessica Vaughan, recently named director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, said detaining immigrants - especially criminals - is important because it ensures that they will be deported.

"The odds are if we don't detain them that they're not going to be removed," said Vaughan, who is based in Franklin. "Then they become fugitives and they have to be tracked down."
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/12/10/aclu_...

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10.
Tactics Used in U.S. Raids Draw Claims of Brutality
By Damien Cave and Yolanne Almanzar
The New York Times, December 9, 2008

Miami -- Advocates for immigrants here demanded an investigation Tuesday into a series of federal immigration raids last month that they said left at least six Guatemalan men bloodied and bruised in a roundup of nearly 100 people.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied all accusations of misconduct by agents in the raids on Nov. 19 in three South Florida counties, noting that the operation netted seven people charged with sex trafficking, and led to the release of several women.

But lawyers working with other detainees said they were concerned that the agency was using human trafficking laws as a front for broader operations, and a cover for harsh tactics.

“There is a way that these operations should be conducted,” said Jose Rodriguez, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Miami-Dade County. “And this is not it.”

At a news conference, Mr. Rodriguez and others said immigration agents had relied on vaguely worded warrants to invade people’s homes and arrest nearly anyone who looked Hispanic. In all, according to the immigration agency, 77 illegal immigrants were detained in the operation, and only a handful appear to have been charged with a crime.

In the case involving the accusations of beatings, none of the men have been charged with sex trafficking. Lawyers working with the men said the agents used excessive force — bursting into their home in Homestead about 8:30 p.m., pulling their guns in front of a 4-year-old girl, then forcing all 10 or 11 men inside onto the floor in handcuffs.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/10florida.html

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11.
Angel Island Restoration Project Previewed
CBS (San Francisco, CA), December 9, 2008

Angel Island -- The past and the future blended Tuesday during a preview of the $60 million, five-phase restoration of Angel Island's Immigration Station, the first stop for immigrants who crossed the Pacific Ocean to America.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants from 90 countries came through Angel Island between 1910 and 1940. They were detained there under quarantine, because their immigration paperwork was being processed or because they were Chinese.

An estimated 175,000 Chinese immigrants were banned from coming into the United States under the Chinese Exclusion Act, the only legislation banning a specific ethnic group from America. The act was repealed when China became America's ally in 1943.

The act, however, could not keep the sons and daughters of Chinese who were U.S. citizens out of the country. They arrived at Angel Island.

The average stay of those who arrived at the Immigration Station, women and children in the Administration Building and men in separate barracks, was two or three weeks but some were there for several months. A few were there for two years.

Several of the former detainees joined members of the media this morning for a preview of the restoration of the barracks at the Immigration Station on the 700-acre Angel Island.
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http://cbs5.com/local/angle.island.restoration.2.883817.html