1. Rule lowering H-2B standards to be released
2. Feds expand collection of DNA evidence
3. Lawsuit on benefits lacked standing
4. TX reports $677m in health care costs
5. AZ mayor gives advice to Obama team
6. NE hearing to look into new report
7. CO judge stalls case involving taxes
8. ACLU investigates various MD laws
9. ACLU challenges OR co. law

1.
Administration changes to farm worker hiring afoot
By Suzanne Gamboa
The Associated Press, December 10, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/10/national/w15...

Washington (AP) -- As it prepares to leave office, the Bush administration is moving to make it easier for U.S. farming companies to hire foreign field workers, which farmworker groups say will worsen wages and working conditions.

Farm groups said that changes to the H2A visa program, used by the agriculture industry to hire temporary farm workers, were posted on the Labor Department's Web site at midnight Tuesday but have since been taken down.

Labor Department spokesman Terry Shawn said whatever was posted wasn't the final version of the new rule, which Shawn said would be released Thursday and published in the Federal Register on Dec. 18.

The Bush administration published a proposed version of the new rule last Feb. 13 and received nearly 12,000 public comments, Shawn added. The next version will be a final rule and can take effect 30 days after publication. Some of its provisions would take effect in mid-January and others later in the year, the farmworker groups said.

Farm worker advocates and the United Farm Workers union said the version that appeared on the Web site would lead to a flood of cheaper workers.

"The government has decided to offer agriculture employers really low wages, low benefits, no government oversight to bring in foreign workers on restricted visas and thereby convince them they should do this instead of hiring undocumented workers," said Bruce Goldstein, executive director of Farmworker Justice, a group that advocates for farmworkers.

The changes in the posted version would drop a requirement that an employer get the Labor Department to certify it faces a worker shortage before it can get visas for foreign workers; instead, employers would be allowed to simply attest in writing to a shortage. That version of the new rule also would change the method for calculating wage minimums for workers and relieve employers of a requirement to recruit in states or communities where other employers already are hiring farm workers, Goldstein said.

But Assistant Labor Secretary Leon Sequeira said Wednesday evening the agency is not dropping the obligation to obtain certification, which is required by law.

Paul Schlegel, American Farm Bureau public policy director, said many of the changes will make the program a little less burdensome for employers. He said existing laws prevent employers from hiring foreign workers if the jobs can be filled by U.S. workers.

"My members want to make sure they have a legal supply of labor," said Schlegel, who added that he had not reviewed all the proposed changes.

The rule changes are a part of a pattern of last-minute regulatory changes being rushed into effect by the Bush administration before President-elect Barack Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration.

The effect is to make it harder for Obama to change course on some policies favored by Republicans and the business community.

"We are hopeful that the Obama administration would recognize the utter mistake and unfairness of this proposal," Goldstein said. Congress has a procedure for reversing the rules, he said.

Many of the last-minute changes by the Bush administration have come in the area of public lands and the environment, including easing regulations on mining waste and allowing handguns in national parks. Another pending rule would grant greater leeway to railroads to transport hazardous materials through densely populated areas.

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Bush Unveils New Rules for Guest Worker Hiring
By Randal C. Archibold
The New York Times, December 11, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/us/12farm.html

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2.
New Rule Expands DNA Collection to All People Arrested
By Spencer S. Hsu
The Washington Post, December 12, 2008; Page A02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/11/AR200812...

Immigration and civil liberties groups condemned a new U.S. government policy to collect DNA samples from all noncitizens detained by authorities and all people arrested for federal crimes.

The new Justice Department rule, published Wednesday and effective Jan. 9, dramatically expands a federal law enforcement database of genetic identifiers, which is now limited to storing information about convicted criminals and arrestees from 13 states.

Congress authorized the expansion in 2005, citing the power of DNA as a tool in crime solving and prevention.

The FBI created its National DNA Index System in 1994 to store profiles of people convicted of serious violent crimes, such as rape and murder, but the system has been expanded repeatedly, first to include all convicted felons, then misdemeanants and state arrestees. The data bank contained more than 6.2 million samples as of August, and officials estimate that 61,000 cases have been solved or assisted using DNA.

The change could add as many as 1.2 million people a year to the national database, U.S. officials said. Supporters equate DNA collection to taking fingerprints or photographs at the time of booking.

"We know from past experience that collecting DNA at arrest or deportation will prevent rapes and murders that would otherwise be committed," said Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who authored that part the legislation.

But critics said the new rule raises constitutional and privacy concerns.

U.S. officials said that probable cause that a person has committed a crime or indications that he is an illegal immigrant subject to removal from the country are appropriate standards for collecting DNA. But Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's technology and liberty project, said the change "turns the presumption of innocence on its head."

Charles H. Kuck, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the U.S. rule "casts civilly detained immigrants as criminals, requiring them to submit to DNA testing even in cases where there is no suggestion of any criminal violation."

The incoming Obama administration also will have to decide whether to make it a priority to expand the DNA database or process a backlog of samples submitted by people already convicted of crimes, he said.

This month, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that a British policy to collect fingerprints and DNA of all criminal suspects, including those later deemed innocent, violated privacy rights.

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3.
Judge dismisses immigration suit
By Steve Lannen
The Lexington Herald Leader (KY), December 11, 2008
http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/623750.html

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit aimed at compelling some Lexington government agencies to curtail public benefits offered to residents who are undocumented immigrants.

The lawsuit, filed by David Duncan against the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, argued that since their agencies received federal funds they needed to enforce federal immigration law and deny services to people who could not provide a valid driver's license or Social Security number.

Attorneys for the defendants responded that Duncan did not have standing to bring the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Karl Forester agreed.

In his ruling, the judge also said Duncan could not show he was in any way harmed by the agencies' actions.

Duncan also argued his rights were compromised and taxes unnecessarily higher because some government agencies provide services to undocumented immigrants. Forester dismissed this claim as "merely speculative."

Duncan said he was not surprised by the ruling. In an e-mailed statement, he said he is considering appealing to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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4.
Study: Illegal immigrants' care costs state $677 million
By Janet Elliot
The Houston Chronicle, December 11, 2008
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6160505.html

Austin -- The state of Texas and local hospital districts spent an estimated $677 million to provide health care to illegal immigrants in a year, a new study says.

The survey, issued by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, said that most of the money — $597 million — was spent by local hospital districts for the immigrants' care during the state's fiscal year that ended on Aug. 31, 2007.

Lawmakers from both parties said they were not surprised by the millions spent and expressed hope that the report, required by the 2007 Legislature, will help prompt Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said the study only tells half of the story.

He noted that the immigrants contribute to government coffers by paying sales and property taxes.

The report said that in the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2008, the state spent $80 million under the Texas Emergency Medicaid program, which pays hospitals to provide life-saving care, including labor and delivery services, to patients living here illegally. The state also paid $1.2 million to provide services to undocumented immigrants in family violence shelters.

Federal law requires hospitals and ambulance services to provide care to anyone needing emergency treatment regardless of their citizenship, legal status or ability to pay.

Harris County's cost

The Harris County Hospital District provided $203.5 million in uncompensated care to illegal immigrants in 2007, the report said.

But county hospital district officials disputed the report's numbers, noting that they were calculated on the basis of charges instead of costs. They said charges are inflated, typically double the actual costs of services to taxpayers.

"The cost of health care to undocumented immigrants is something we worry about, something we monitor, but we don't want to overstate it," said David Lopez, president and CEO of the Harris County Hospital District. "It's not an overwhelming percentage of our budget."

Lopez said the actual cost is 10 to 14 percent of the hospital district's budget, or about $100 million to $120 million.

About 80 percent of the district's illegal immigrant patients were women and children, and most were pregnant women. Lopez said the hospital district was not consulted for the report.

In another sense, the report underestimated the cost of care to illegal immigrants because it did not include figures for the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, which functioned like a hospital district by providing safety-net services. It spent $140 million annually on undocumented immigrant care, an official said Thursday.

Gov. Rick Perry is reviewing the report, but had no comment Thursday, a spokeswoman said. Likewise, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who is considering challenging Perry in 2010, declined comment until she studied the information.

Hoping to send a message

State Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, said the report puts a number on health care costs that the state cannot do anything about.

"Show it to our congressman, I guess. Tell him, 'Merry Christmas,' " Chisum said. "This is something we can look at the federal government and say, 'You guys ought to do a better job of guarding your borders or at least pay for 'em if you're going to allow them to come over here.' "

One of the most prominent critics of illegal immigration, Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, said he is glad that Congress is getting the report.

"I'd like to bill the United States government," he said, "and have them pay Texas for the cost of the benefits that they require us to provide to illegal aliens."

But a report issued two years ago by then-Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said undocumented immigrants helped to support the state's economy. She said illegal immigrants in 2005 paid $1.58 billion in taxes while the state spent a total of $1.5 billion. Strayhorn said local governments spent $1.3 billion on indigent health care.

Rep. Coleman said he agreed with critics of illegal immigration that the report should be sent to Congress.

"Anything that can move the federal government to have a comprehensive immigration policy that works for this country is extremely important," he said.

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5.
Gordon urges more funds for border security
By Scott Wong
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), December 12, 2008
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/12/12/20081...

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon told senior members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team Thursday that the U.S. government should boost the number of federal agents on the border but also dedicate more money to law-enforcement operations targeting violent crime in urban cities.

Gordon made his comments during a conference call with transition team officials that focused on ways the federal government could better help local governments enforce illegal- immigration laws.

"The public is frustrated with the lack of perceived and actual action by the federal government and have turned to local agencies . . . to address the criminal aspect of illegal immigration," Gordon said after the phone call, which was led by a co-leader of Obama's transition working group on immigration, Stanford law Professor Tino Cuellar.

Others who sat in on the conversation included Daniel Sepulveda, who worked as a senior economics-policy adviser in Obama's Senate office; Isaac Reyes of the U.S./Mexico Border Counties Coalition; and representatives from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a group of big-city police chiefs.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, whom Obama recently named as his Homeland Security secretary, did not participate.

Gordon was asked to join the call in his capacity as the Immigration Task Force chairman for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It represented his first interaction with the incoming Obama administration since the November election.

In the past year, Gordon has called on Congress to take action on comprehensive immigration reform and lift the burden from local governments that are spending millions of dollars to combat violent, immigration-related crimes.

He reiterated that message Thursday.

"I asked that the administration act quickly," Gordon said, "because even though immigration has moved off the back burner or even out of the kitchen, it is an issue that won't go away."

The mayor has been especially critical of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who with help from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has ramped up efforts to arrest undocumented immigrants through minor traffic stops and workplace raids.

Gordon told transition members that such tactics shift law-enforcement resources and attention away from more serious, violent criminals. And they leave immigrant witnesses and victims of human smuggling, murder and other crimes reluctant to talk to authorities for fear of being arrested and deported.

The Democratic mayor said additional funding is needed to strengthen partnerships between federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies that focus on human, drug and gun trafficking in urban cities afflicted by illegal immigration. For an Arizona task force, it would mean more money for Phoenix police, the state Department of Public Safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI.

Bill Scheel, a Gordon senior adviser who listened in on the call from Washington, D.C., said the Obama team seemed most impressed with how centrist politicians like Napolitano and Gordon have remained popular among voters while dealing with the politically charged immigration debate.

"Certainly, they are looking for ways to navigate the politics of all of this," Scheel said.

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6.
Neb. immigration policy to be focus of hearing
The Associated Press, December 12, 2008
http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=9509566&nav=menu605_2

Lincoln, NE (AP) -- A legislative hearing will delve into a new report examining the challenges associated with Nebraska's growing immigrant population and possible solutions.

Advocates and critics of state policy addressing immigration are expected to gather at Friday's three-hour hearing at the state Capitol.

The hearing will focus on a report released this week by the Legislature's Judiciary Committee.

Committee members traveled to Grand Island, Lexington, North Platte, Schuyler and Scottsbluff to understand the impact of increased diversity and population.

The report offers several policy options, including more funding to help immigrants learn English and mandates for employers to prohibit hiring of illegal workers.

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7.
Judge halts immigration cases
By Sharon Dunn
The Greeley Tribune (CO), December 12, 2008
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20081212/NEWS/812129992/1002/NONE&...

A Weld District Court judge is questioning the legality of search warrants issued in the cases against 1,300 suspected illegal immigrants using fake identification.

Weld District Court Judge James Hartmann this week put a halt to further arrests in Operation Number Games — if the arrests are based on information found in the suspects’ federal tax returns — and he demanded some explanations before proceeding with the cases.

The operation targets more than 1,300 people suspected of gaining tax returns with false or stolen identities.

Authorities have so far arrested 37 people who filed tax returns with Amalia’s Tax Service, 1501 9th St., in Greeley. Last month, authorities seized two years worth of federally approved tax returns from the tax preparer’s office, claiming that the suspects gained as much as $2.7 million combined in tax returns based on false Social Security numbers. Suspects have been charged with identity theft, criminal impersonation or both.

In a court order in one of the cases, Hartmann ordered District Attorney Ken Buck to provide more information on the arrest warrants and provide a “memorandum of legal authority” detailing how the court would have jurisdiction in a matter involving federal tax returns.

“Federal tax return information in the possession of a tax preparer falls within the confidentiality mandates of the federal statute,” Hartmann wrote. “It appears to this court that the prosecution of this defendant, as well as numerous other persons now charged with state criminal offenses ... as part of the investigation referred to by law enforcement as ‘Operation Numbers Game’ is based almost exclusively on information contained in the federal tax returns seized during the search of Amalia’s.”

Buck, who is currently vacationing in the Dominican Republic, said the order is the equivalent of a “timeout.”

“He recognized a very important issue that affects all 1,300 cases, and he decided to get it right before we move on. I respect the fact that he’s being cautious. ... What Judge Hartmann doesn’t know is before we approved the search warrants and presented them to Judge (Marcelo) Kopcow, we researched this particular issue extensively and consulted with the IRS. I am very confident we will prevail with the judge.”

Hartmann’s order resulted in Weld District Court Chief Judge Roger Klein sealing all the current and future cases involved in the operation, so as not to reveal any personal tax information on suspects. He also assigned all of the cases to Hartmann.

Klein stated in an order that Hartmann raises “significant procedural and substantive questions with regard” to Operation Number Games.

At issue is a federal statute that guarantees privacy of tax returns.

Jeff Joseph, an immigration attorney for the Joseph Law Firm in Aurora, who represented families affected by the December 2006 Swift & Co. immigration raid in Greeley, had initially expressed concern about Operation Number Games and its apparent violation of residents’ financial privacy.

“If you look at the IRS tax code, there are privacy provisions written into the codes with regard to preparation of returns, specifically what information the government can access with regard to those returns,” Joseph said. “There’s also IRS regulations that prohibits the release of returns from a tax preparer.”

Joseph said the cases should be governed by federal authorities.

“Under the federal code, there is a crime of false Social Security, but that’s a federal crime,” he said. “The feds have known about this case for a month now. But the feds don’t seem to be particularly interested in it.”

Buck, too, said he was familiar with the federal law, having spent 14 years with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Denver.

“The federal statute addresses when the IRS can release information, but it doesn’t prohibit people from getting tax returns in other ways,” Buck said. “We obtained a lawful court order. It will be clear that we can proceed with these cases, and we will address them with the court.”

If Hartmann rules against the district attorney in the case, Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, who is also out of town, said they would likely appeal. The sheriff and the district attorney have coordinated their efforts on the case since August.

“I don’t think this is putting the case in peril,” Cooke said. “I don’t care for the order the judge issued because I think these people committed a crime and they need to be held accountable.”

Joseph warned the case may have unintended consequences, regardless of the outcome with the suspects.

“People who were doing the right thing by paying their taxes may decide it’s not worth it,” Joseph said. “It could have a chilling effect on people following the law.”

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8.
ACLU probes local immigration policies
By Erin Cox
The Capital (Annapolis, MD), December 11, 2008
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/12_11-26/REG

Anne Arundel County's immigration policies are included in a new statewide investigation launched yesterday by the Maryland Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The civil rights group's first Immigrants Rights Project aims to evaluate whether any local attempts to enforce federal laws in Maryland have violated the civil rights of immigrant communities.

Anne Arundel's heavily publicized anti-undocumented immigrant policies drew the attention of ACLU officials. The group cited the county's policy that forbids county contractors to hire illegal immigrants among the statewide policies that give cause for concern.

The organization also pointed to a proposed policy in Gaithersburg that they said would prevent day laborers from seeking work, and a Frederick plan that lets police enforce federal immigration laws.

ACLU attorney Ajmel Quereshi, the project's manager, said other jurisdictions may have internal policies or less-publicized ordinances that have been applied unfairly and inconsistently in a way that discriminates against immigrants, regardless of their status.

"The real concern is not the compiling of information, but looking at how these laws affect the daily lives of the people," Mr. Quereshi said.

The project includes compiling all laws, ordinances, internal policies and executive orders related to immigrants in any of Maryland's counties or Baltimore city. The organization sent formal requests for that information to jurisdictions yesterday.

"The ACLU believes that the U.S. immigration system is broken and it is the federal government's responsibility to fix it," ACLU Executive Director Susan Goering said in a release. "That is why our project will fight against local government initiatives that threaten public safety by targeting immigrant communities for dragnet detentions and harassment."

County Executive John R. Leopold defended the county contractor provision, saying Anne Arundel's policies are "even-handed, fair and balanced." He contended ALCU's premise that local governments should stay out of immigration policy is wrong.

"I strongly disagree," Mr. Leopold said. "I think all of us - at all levels of government - have a responsibility to enforce federal law. ... There's nothing unconstitutional about asking people to acknowledge and understand that illegal means illegal."

The ACLU probe is the second time the county's approach to immigration has been question by an advocacy group.

In October, the immigrant rights group CASA de Maryland announced an investigation into whether the county violated civil rights of both documented and undocumented immigrants during a federal raid in June of an Annapolis painting company accused of illegally hiring immigrants.

County police participated in the raid, and CASA representatives said they had several reports of racial profiling and illegal home invasions.

Under Mr. Leopold's leadership, county police have also designated a police officer to work full-time with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Also, any foreign-born inmate booked into a county jail is immediately referred to immigration officials.

"I'm proud of the fact that Anne Arundel County is assisting federal authorities," Mr. Leopold said.

His policies have riled some local Hispanic advocates. Earlier this year the Annapolis-based Centro de Ayuda returned a $14,000 county grant because the county required the group to question the immigration status of people they help and to refuse assistance to undocumented immigrants.

Mr. Leopold funneled the money to a church group instead and points to that program as a way the county helps legal immigrants gain citizenship.

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9.
ACLU, activists sue Columbia County over illegal workers measure
Lawsuit challenges county's standing to enforce immigration law
By Darryl Swan
The South County Spotlight (Scappoose, OR), December 11, 2008
http://www.spotlightnews.net/news/story.php?story_id=122904501400951900

D. Michael Dale, left, executive director of the Northwest Workers' Justice Project, argues immigration law outside the Columbia County County Courthouse with Wayne Mayo, right, following introduction of an American Civil Liberties Union-backed lawsuit intended to dismiss a voter-approved measure passed in November that makes it illegal for a county-based employer to hire an illegal alien. Mayo crafted the measure, which passed with 57.51 percent approval.

The American Civil Liberties Union joined with state and local worker activists Thursday to jointly file a lawsuit in Columbia County Circuit Court aimed at scuttling a measure passed in November that would make it a crime for employers inside the county to hire illegal aliens.

A lead argument of the lawsuit is that immigration reform of the type spelled out in the voter-approved measure, passed as initiative 5-190, is beyond Columbia County’s and the state’s jurisdictions.

The U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement, or ICE, has sole federal authority to regulate illegal immigration.

Also at question is whether the county has the right to enforce the hiring practices of employers located in cities within the county limits, including St. Helens and Scappoose.

“Basically, we’re saying that the measure as proposed in Columbia County is not an Oregon solution to an Oregon problem,” said D. Michael Dale, executive director for the Northwest Workers’ Justice Project. The project's mission is to improve workplace rights for low-wage and immigrant workers in the Pacific Northwest, with special emphasis on the Portland metropolitan region.

The measure would require employers to verify the legality of their employees through E-Verify, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security-operated database where employers can input data, such as Social Security information, and retrieve information regarding a person’s legal status to work in the United States.

Dale said the measure has “federal and constitutional questions,” and is also flawed because of unyielding language that could result in penalties against the county; if, for example, the county is unable to adequately provide the costly enforcement, which would strain an already depleted sheriff’s office that only last year announced it was jettisoning a chunk of its patrol duties due to a lack of manpower, the county could be held legally liable.

“That is one of the ways this measure is flawed,” Dale said.

The lawsuit names 28 plaintiffs who have filed against Columbia County, its district attorney, board of commissioners and each commissioner individually. Occurring parallel to the ACLU-backed action is an effort by Columbia County to sort out exactly what it can and cannot do respective of the passed measure.

The county’s legal department is asking the court to give its stamp of approval on the measure’s validity, with suggested changes, as it relates to the county’s legal authority to enforce it.

Lawsuit proponents raised legal questions regarding the county’s attempt to validate the measure, which passed with 13,631 votes, or 57.51 percent approval of the electorate, considering that the county has yet to formally adopt it, but it is clear the county is hesitant to adopt the measure with so many legal clouds hanging over it. In September, for instance, the county’s legal department released an analysis of the measure, citing numerous flaws.

Wayne Mayo, the measure’s architect, said he expected legal challenges, and that it hasn’t swayed his conviction that the county must adhere to the voters’ will and carry out the terms of the measure, regardless of costs.

“Now it is not just my measure. It belongs to Columbia County,” Mayo said. “We want employers in Columbia County to stop hiring illegals.”

Mayo had cobbled together the measure’s language from a similar Arizona action, and said he lifted pieces from the Arizona illegal immigration initiative from the Internet. There are differences in the legal institution of Arizona as a state and Columbia County, which derives its authority from the state of Oregon, that are inherently problematic to simply adopting Arizona-born language for the county, Dale said.

Beyond the legal wrangling, a growing concern among some of the roughly three dozen people who gathered in the cold air on the Columbia County Courthouse steps in support of the ACLU action is that the measure has added to the perception that Columbia County is an intolerant place.

Maria Moreno, 41, a Hispanic woman who lives in St. Helens, said through an interpreter that she has increasing fears for her son, Jose, an 18-year-old senior at St. Helens High School. Jose said he's had recent confrontations with other school kids who targeted him for his Latino heritage.

“I’ve absolutely felt a little bit scared for him because I believe there are a lot of really aggressive boys and they can really aggravate the situation,” Moreno said. “Now, I’m noticing that people look at us…and they see us in a different way.”

She said she still has hope for community unity.

“We want to see unity in the community. We want them to see that we’re the same,” she said. “We’re human beings.”