Please visit our YouTube and Facebook pages.

1. Wages rose in wake of workplace raids
2. Obama promises 'reform' in 2009
3. AZ BP sector reports criminal illegals
4. BP employing X-Ray technology
5. Parents neglected at schools

1.
Study shows wages rose after immigration raids
By Bridget Johnson
The Hill (Washington, DC), March 18, 2009
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/study-shows-wages-rose-after-immigra...

As the topic of immigration and workplace raids begins to heat up again in a new administration, a new study finds that wages and employment grew for legal workers after a series of 2006 raids.

The report by Jerry Kammer of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates against amnesty for illegal immigrants yet against mass deportations of the same, looked at the aftermath of six immigration raids at Swift & Co. meat-packing plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, Colorado, and Utah. About 1,300 undocumented workers were arrested, and another 400 without authorization to work in the United States were detected around the same time through better company screening.

Several hundred of those arrested were charged with using fradulent Social Security numbers.

The study estimates that about 23 percent of the plants' employees were not authorized to work in the U.S, taking into account that the raids only targeted the first shift of the day and that the CIS investigation revealed large numbers of workers did not show up for the later, post-raid shifts.

"There is good evidence that after the raids the number of native-born workers increased significantly," Kammer writes, noting that all of the plants were back to full production within five months. "But Swift would not provide information on how its workforce has changed. Swift also has recruited a large number of refugees who are legal immigrants.

"At the four facilities for which we were able to obtain information, wages and bonuses rose on average 8 percent with the departure of illegal immigrants."

Kammer says that Swift used pay increases and signing bonuses to staff the plants after the raids, but bringing up wages wouldn't necessarily correlate to a hike in consumer prices.

"Research by the USDA and others indicates that wages and benefits for production workers account for only 7 to 9 percent of retail meat prices," Kammer writes. "This means that if wages and benefits were increased by one-third, consumer prices would rise by 3 percent at most."

Kammer concludes "that these six Swift plants could operate without the presence of illegal workers," even when having to restaff during a period of low national unemployment up through early 2007.

The report comes out a day after Fox News broadcast video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at a pro-immigrant gathering in San Francisco on Saturday.

"Who in this country would not want to change a policy of kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families?" Pelosi says in the video. "It must be stopped....What value system is that? I think it's un-American."

Fox reported that Pelosi was invited by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), who is conducting a "Family Unity" tour in 20 cities "signing petitions to the President and testifying to the loss and separation caused by our broken immigration system," according to Gutierrez's website.

Immigration raids were also on the agenda when President Obama met with all 24 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Wednesday. In a press release afterward, the caucus said Obama "conveyed that he is aware of the impact the immigration raids are having on families, and assured the CHC that he is pursuing ways, including administrative first steps, to ensure the enforcement policies do not result in the separation of families."

"We believe that under his leadership we can finally provide some dignity to the thousands of families that are living in the shadows and in fear,” said caucus chairwoman Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.).

Gutierrez, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force, said, "The President showed the CHC that, although it is very early in his administration, he understands that for the immigrant community it’s the 11th hour, and there is no time to waste."

Obama also announced during the meeting that he will travel to Mexico next month to meet with President Felipe Calderon.

At a town-hall meeting in Costa Mesa, Calif., later on Wednesday, Obama stuck by his campaign-trail mantra of securing the nation's borders while putting illegal immigrants on a legalization path that would include paying fines, learning English and going "to the back of the line" behind those who take legal steps to enter the United States.

+++

Sobering data from 2006 raids
By Jasen Lee
The Deseret News Morning News (Salt Lake City), March 18, 2009

A report by a think tank based in Washington, D.C., indicated that a raid conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at a Cache County meatpacking facility more than two years ago drove a wedge between residents of a small Utah community and highlighted the controversy over illegal immigration.

The report titled "The 2006 Swift Raids: Assessing the Impact of Immigration Enforcement Actions at Six Facilities" was released today by the Center for Immigration Studies — a nonprofit research organization that analyzes the impacts of immigration on the United States.

The study — authored by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jerry Kammer — chronicled the events surrounding the raids that took place simultaneously at six locations around the country, including Hyrum.

On Dec. 12, 2006, about 1,300 illegal immigrants working at six meat-processing plants owned by Swift & Co. were arrested in one of the largest immigration enforcement actions in U.S. history. Among those taken into custody were 158 of the approximately 1,100 workers at the Hyrum facility.

Data from the study estimated that overall, 23 percent of Swift's production workers were illegal immigrants.
. . .
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705291782,00.html

+++

Study Shows Immigration Enforcement Raised Wages
By Bradley Vasoli
The Philadelphia Bulletin, March 19, 2009
http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/03/19/news/nation/doc49c23ae06c67126...

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

2.
President Barack Obama promises to tackle immigration system
By Laura Isensee
The Dallas Morning News, March 18, 2009

Washington, DC -- President Barack Obama renewed his campaign promise to tackle the immigration system in a meeting with Hispanic lawmakers Wednesday.

"The president made clear to us that he is a man of his word," said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Obama also told the lawmakers that he will travel next month to Mexico to discuss escalating violence from drug cartels and immigration with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, White House officials said.

During the campaign, Obama supported a comprehensive overhaul of immigration policy, including creation of a possible path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who are otherwise law-abiding.

Obama has yet to tackle the issue, as his administration has grappled with the economic crisis and an increasingly crowded agenda in his two months in office.

But immigration legislation is on the agenda and moving forward, said Hispanic lawmakers who attended the West Wing meeting, their first face-to-face meeting with the president. The caucus consists of all Democrats and one independent.

"The president said more than any of us expected him to say,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. “He was clear, eloquent and determined in letting us know that we're all together on the route to comprehensive immigration reform,"

Mr. Gutierrez, who is wrapping up a cross-country tour to highlight how families are affected by the immigration system, said the lawmakers “made it absolutely clear that this is a civil rights issue of our community.”

Obama told the group that he will work immigration system in a similar way that he has rolled out other major policy initiatives. There will be a public forum on immigration, possibly within the next two months.
. . .
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stori...

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

3.
U.S. Border Patrol sees ‘whole new element’ coming over
By Bill Hess
The Sierra Vista Herald Review (AZ), March 17, 2009

Tucson, AZ -- From Friday to Monday, six illegal immigrants who crossed the border were found to have records for sexual offenses, and five of those were taken into custody in Cochise County.

And, the Tucson Sector is seeing more individuals who are apprehended with criminal records of all types, U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Mike Scioli said Monday.

Throughout the sector, “we are seeing in increase of illegals with criminal records, especially sex offenders,” he said.

On Monday morning, Border Patrol agents from the Naco Station arrested a Mexican man who had a warrant out of California, Scioli said.

According to law enforcement records, the unidentified Mexican national was charged with willful cruelty of a child and sexual intercourse with a minor, he said.

However, it is unknown if the man fled back into Mexico before being taken into custody in California and then decided to re-enter the United States, hoping he would not be caught, the spokesman said. The man is being processed and referred for prosecution.

Naco Station agents also took a Honduran national into custody on Sunday who was previously convicted of being a sex offender in Georgia, according to a Tucson Sector press release.

That person was convicted of statutory rape, disorderly conduct and simple battery, the release stated.

On Saturday, agents from the sector’s Douglas Station discovered another Mexican national who had been convicted in California for kidnapping and sexual assault, according to the release.

The individual is being prosecuted for illegal re-entry of an aggravated felon.

Also on Saturday, another individual from Mexico was taken into custody by Douglas Station agents and found to have convictions for rape and assault in Nebraska and Washington, the release stated. The individual is being processed for prosecution.

Friday, Douglas Station agents apprehended another Mexican national with prior convictions in Michigan for sexual assault of a child and criminal sexual contact. He is being processed for prosecution, according to the news release.

The non-Cochise County apprehension of a Mexican national with a criminal record took place on Sunday by agents from the Border Patrol’s Casa Grande Station.

That individual had been charged with sexual assault of a minor in Florida and he was being processed and referred for prosecution, according to the press release.

“The increase of those with criminal records is surprising us,” he said of the apprehensions.
. . .
http://svherald.com/articles/2009/03/17/news/doc49bf4ff7e3b3e357367116.txt

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

4.
New Border Patrol device uses see-through scanning
By Arthur H. Rotstein
The Associated Press, March 18, 2009

Tucson, AZ (AP) -- See-through technology that stirred concerns about privacy of passengers being scanned at airports has been adapted for less sensitive use by the U.S. Border Patrol.

The agency is checking vehicles for hidden compartments and contraband with a breakthrough X-ray detection technology mounted in vehicles it calls 'Z Backscatter Vans,' or ZBV.

The mobile device, loaded on a Ford F-350 pickup truck like a camper shell, can scan any vehicle, including semitrailer trucks, in minutes.

It can detect explosives, plastic weapons, nuclear, radioactive or organic threats as well as drugs, said Al White, patrol agent in charge of the Border Patrol's station at Nogales, Ariz., about 60 miles south of Tucson.

It also can detect stowaways, although White said the system won't intentionally be used to scan bodies or humans, just vehicles.

"This is closer to the vehicle cargo inspection systems used at most ports of entry," said White. "It uses nonintrusive inspection technologies."

So-called backscatter radiation technology uses a narrow, low-intensity X-ray beam the size of a laser pointer. The X-rays are reflected from their target to a receiver and then transmitted to a laptop in the truck's cab that displays the images.

"It does not contain a source of radiation," White said. "It creates its own X-rays by using an X-ray tube. Therefore, the safety zone is much smaller."

In February 2007, the federal government began testing a machine at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport that used backscatter radiation to scan a person's entire body.

The low-intensity beam scanned the entire body at a high speed, and the amount of radiation given off was equal to 15 minutes of exposure to natural background radiation such as the sun's rays.

Essentially, it looked through people's clothing, and early versions showed the human body's contours with embarrassing clarity. The Transportation Security Administration adjusted the equipment to give the image a line drawing likeness but still manage to detect concealed items.
. . .
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6319622.html

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

5.
Report Says Immigrant Families Marginalized
By Benjamin Youngquest
The Epoch Times (NYC), March 18, 2009

New York -- If you’re an immigrant parent in New York City, according to a new report, you’re still probably getting the snub at your child’s school.

Advocates for Children (AFC), a non-profit that pushes for education reform and equality for low income students and students of color, released a report on March 18, that outlines the difficulties faced by immigrant parents who try to get involved at their children’s schools.

According to the report, roughly 60 percent of parents of children in the New York City public schools are immigrants, but though they are the majority, these parents say they feel marginalized. Immigrant parents interviewed for the report tell similar stories of being shut out of schools for lack of picture identification, and of feeling like they could not participate in parent leadership programs because of a language barrier.

Education studies have shown that parental involvement is a key factor influencing a child’s academic success, so Department of Education (DOE) officials have taken steps to increase parental involvement across the board. The problem, according to the AFC report, is that not enough resources have been aimed at the immigrant parents and their unique issues—like questionable immigration status, language barriers, irregular schedules, and lack of official identification documents.

Carla Trujillo, a parent from Sunset Park, Brooklyn told of being locked out of her child’s school for lack of official identification.

“It was very hard for me to go to my son's school. They did not let me in the building because I do not have formal ID. I was finally able to get in when I got an ID card as a member of a community-based organization called La Union, but the parents who don't belong to La Union have no access to the school without a formal ID,” said Ms. Trujillo.
. . .
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/13910/