Please visit our YouTube and Facebook pages.

1. DHS reports population drop
2. Gov't fast-tracks deportations
3. Congress may extend E-Verify
4. Haiti refuses deportees
5. Indians more visible

1.
Illegal-immigrant population dips
By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times, March 1, 2009

The federal government last week said that after years of increases, the illegal-immigrant population in the U.S. dropped for the first time, between 2007 and 2008 - about the time that both a recession and tougher immigration enforcement began.

In a report, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics said the illegal-immigrant population in January 2008 was 11.6 million - or 200,000 smaller than a year earlier.

DHS demographers didn't hazard a guess as to why the population dropped, and cautioned against reading too much into one year's figures. But the findings seem to confirm projections from both liberal and conservative analysts outside government.

"Our OIS report indicates a drop of approximately 200,000 in the illegal-immigrant population in the U.S. The department's increased border security and interior-enforcement efforts, along with the state of the economy, may contribute to this," said Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for DHS.

Two earlier studies, one by the Center for Immigration Studies and another by the Pew Hispanic Center, had suggested similar outcomes.

While DHS wouldn't take a side in the debate over causes, Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said the drop was the result of President Bush getting tough on illegal immigration at the end of his term.

"They proved what we know: Attrition through enforcement works. The Obama administration must heed these results. And if they are serious about upholding the rule of law, they need to continue to enforce it," Mr. Smith said.
. . .
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/01/illegal-immigrant-number...

+++

Employer sanctions law, recession spur decline in day laborers
Sanctions law, recession spur decline in jobs for day laborers
By Fernanda Echavarri
The Tucson Citizen (AZ), March 2, 2009

Ruben Arturo, 21, left his native Honduras seven years ago looking for work in the U.S., slipping across the border illegally into Arizona. But in the past six months work has been so scarce he has packed his bags and is ready to make the trip back home.

Arturo and about 30 other day laborers stand in the parking lot of the Southside Presbyterian Church every morning hoping to be picked up for a day's work, but recently there have been days when hope is all they get.

Josefina Ahumada, 63, a social worker running the Day Laborers Center at the church, said the men at the street corner, both legal and illegal, "are just like everyone else who is struggling to make it through these hard economic times."

The number of day workers at that corner has dropped from 60 to less than 40 on any given morning, Ahumada said.

She said in the past year there has been a steady decline of employers coming to the church, which she attributes in part to the slumping economy.

It also can be attributed to the Arizona's Employer Sanction Law, in effect since Jan. 1, 2008.

The law can punish with fines and possibly the suspension of their business licenses any firms that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

"It wouldn't be fair to say one had more impact than the other, because as the law took effect, the economy started falling," Ahumada said.

Regardless of the reason, many illegal immigrants are leaving the country.

According to a report released two weeks ago by the U.S. Homeland Security Department, the number of illegal immigrants in the country fell for the first time in at least four years.

The decline still left the country with 11.6 million illegal residents in January 2008, down from a record 11.8 million a year earlier, according to a Homeland Security report. There were about 4 million illegal residents in 1990, according to federal agencies and researchers.

Despite the national decline, Arizona's illegal population apparently grew.

The report said that about 9 percent of Arizona residents - about 560,000 people - are illegal immigrants. While the report did not say how many illegal immigrants lived in Arizona in January 2007, a September DHS report said there were an estimated 530,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona then.

But since fall 2007, Arizona's economy has declined precipitously.

According to a December report by economist Marshall J. Vest of the University of Arizona, "Arizona's economy has been contracting since the third quarter of 2007 - a few months before the nation's economy topped out."

The state's latest jobs report bears that out. Phoenix lost 126,700 jobs in the 12 months ending in January - 37,500 in construction and another 25,600 in services.

In Tucson, nonfarm employment fell by 9,700 jobs, compared with numbers from January 2008. Manufacturing declined 3 percent, mining dropped 10 percent and construction jobs fell 25 percent.

Arizona overall has lost 155,400 jobs in the last year, a decline of 5.9 percent. Unemployment in the state rose to 7 percent - up from 4.9 percent a year earlier.

How many illegal immigrants have left the state since January 2008 is not known. The number of day laborers leaving the country can only be estimated because the U.S. Census Bureau tracks people who reside in the country without asking what their legal status is, said Pat Rodriguez, a U.S. Census Bureau partnership specialist.

But despite the dismal times, day laborers desperate for work continue to go to the parking area at Southside Presbyterian.

On a recent February day one of the laborers was waving an orange flag urging potential employers to pull in to the church's parking lot at the corner of 23rd Street and 10th Avenue.

But trucks kept on driving by. In past years during the construction boom, most the men at the church would have been picked up for work by 8 a.m., a few laborers said.

Some of the day laborers are new to the street corner because they used to have steady jobs but have been laid off.

Others come and go but there are about two dozen men or more standing on the corner every day, Ahumada said.

The Day Laborer Center was started in 2006 by the church to help organize and educate the workers standing on the sidewalks near the area.

The center offers English lessons, a sign-up sheet for when employers need workers, and strict rules prohibiting drug or alcohol use and violence in the church's parking lot, Ahumada said.

Lindy Sherman, a graduate student at Arizona State University, who is in the Tucson-based social work program, helps organize the day laborers.

"We not only help with the center, we are here to lend an ear to these men and try to keep their spirits up during a time of such desperation for work," Sherman said.

She said one of the services for the men involves bringing a soccer ball to the parking lot to help keep the men busy and away from drugs and alcohol as they wait for hours, sometimes days, without work.

"During my time spent at the center, I've realized how many things we take for granted," Sherman said. "Especially on days when not one guy gets picked up for a job. It's really sad to see that."

As laborers leave the country, Tucson business will be affected by their absence, said Price Fishback, a professor in the University of Arizona's department of economics.

Their leaving "will definitely have an impact here on anyone selling products or services to immigrants," he said.

Fishback, a specialist in the history of economics, said immigrant workers, are "pretty good" for the economy because they supply labor and increase a demand for goods.

"When the economy is bad here they leave, and when we need them they come back," he said. "We've seen this happen in the past and it is happening again now."

But a national immigration think tank believes the illegal immigrants leaving will ultimately be good for the economy and for out-of-work Americans.

Steven Camarota, director of research for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization, said in a report this month that "illegals are primarily employed in construction, building cleaning and maintenance, food preparation, service and processing, transportation and moving occupations, and agriculture. With the exception of agriculture (which accounts for only a small share of illegal workers - less than one in five), the majority of workers in these occupational categories are still native-born Americans."

"If the United States chose to more vigorously enforce immigration laws over the next year, and this resulted in 1 or 2 million illegal workers deciding to leave, it could significantly improve the employment prospects for less-educated natives. An economic downturn would seem to be the ideal time to step up enforcement because such efforts would be buttressed by the economic situation, and a recession is the time when Americans, especially the poorest and least educated, are most in need of jobs."
. . .
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/border/111257.php

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

2.
Concerns arise over fast-track deportation program
Immigration officials say 'stipulated removal' saves the government money and gets immigrants out of detention sooner. Advocates fear deportees don't know their rights.
By Anna Gorman
The Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2009

Federal authorities are increasingly deporting illegal immigrants through a fast-track program that bypasses court hearings, an effort by the federal government to save money, reduce backlogs and clear detention beds.

The number of detainees in California and across the nation who agreed to be deported without first seeing a judge jumped fivefold between 2004 and 2007, from 5,481 to nearly 31,554. In the first half of 2008, 17,445 speedy deportation orders were signed.

Nearly half of all such orders since 1999 were issued in three locations -- Lancaster; Los Fresnos, Texas, and Eloy, Ariz., according to federal data provided to the Stanford Law School Immigrants' Rights Clinic as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.

Attorneys, advocates and judges have raised concerns about the dramatic rise in fast-track deportations, saying they have resulted in many immigrants being deported without knowing their rights or understanding the consequences.

"That is everyone's underlying concern -- is there due process here?" said Gilbert T. Gembacz, a retired immigration judge in Los Angeles. "Are people getting a full explanation? Are they getting a case-by-case review of all their options? I don't think they are. I think they are being told, 'Hi. You're here illegally, and we are going to send you back.' "

Jayashri Srikantiah, the director of the Stanford clinic, which has sued the federal government to get more information, said some detainees are pressured to sign the deportation forms even though they may have defenses against deportation or be eligible for asylum or green cards. About 95% of the people who agreed to the speedy deportations since 1999 are not represented by attorneys, she said.

"We have people mostly who are in detention in remote locations, without lawyers, who are non-English speakers, and they are being asked to sign away their rights," Srikantiah said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in Los Angeles counter that the program is voluntary and that deportation officers clearly explain to detainees their options, including the choice to see a judge. They said the program, known as "stipulated removal," saves the government money and prevents immigrants from having to stay in detention when they would probably be deported by a judge anyway.

If they agree to stipulated removal, they often can be returned to their native country within a few days or weeks. Challenging their deportation, however, could take months.

Among the recent detainees deported to Mexico with stipulated removal were two men, one who served time for robbery and another who spent years behind bars for assault and lewd and lascivious acts, immigration authorities said.

"It allows those who have no form of relief to return to their home country as quickly as possible," said Brian DeMore, the agency's Los Angeles field office director of detention and removal.

"It is a very economical way for us to do business because people don't spend a lot of time in detention."

Even though the fast-track deportations have been available for more than a decade, they were not widely used until 2004. Julie Myers, former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the agency wanted to speed up deportations and started looking at all the tools that Congress had made available.
. . .
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deport2-2009mar02,0,5186477.story

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

3.
System that checks status of workers set to expire
Short-term extension is likely; long term in doubt
By Daniel González
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), March 2, 2009

Congress is expected to extend the life of E-Verify this week, but long-term questions remain about the future of the federal system, which Arizona and other states require employers to use to screen out illegal workers.

The system, criticized by some as error-prone and lauded by others as a tool to curb illegal immigration, has turned into a political hot potato.

After winning a four-month reprieve last year, E-Verify is set to expire on Friday.

Although more than 100,000 employers nationwide use E-Verify, the system is mired in the debate over comprehensive immigration reform. With that issue on the backburner because of the nation's economic crisis, a long-term solution for employers looking to verify worker eligibility isn't likely anytime soon. But another short-term fix is likely.

On Wednesday, the House approved a large government spending package that included a provision to reauthorize E-Verify through Sept. 30. The Senate is expected to begin debate this week and whatever package is approved is likely to include the same Sept. 30 extension for E-Verify, said Ryan Patmintra, a spokesman for Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

Anne Hilby, a spokeswoman for Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, said it remains unclear how Arizona employers would be affected should E-Verify expire because the Legal Arizona Workers Act requires employers to use the program but doesn't specify what to do if the program no longer exists.

Even if the Senate doesn't extend E-Verify by Friday, though, it's unlikely the system would stop functioning overnight. The government has budgeted $100 million to pay for the program through Sept. 30, said Marie Sebrechts, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Services, or CIS.

E-Verify allows employers to electronically check whether new employees are U.S. citizens or legal residents with permission to work in the U.S., making it more difficult for illegal immigrants to gain employment using bogus documents.
. . .
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/03/02/200903...

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

4.
Haiti refuses to accept most deportees from US, saying storm-crippled country lacks resources
By Jennifer Kay
The Associated Press, February 27, 2009

Miami (AP) -- Storm-battered Haiti will continue stalling most deportations of its citizens until the Obama administration decides whether to grant it protected status that will allow Haitians to stay in the U.S. temporarily, the Haitian ambassador said this week.

Temporary protected status allows immigrants from countries experiencing armed conflict or environmental disasters to stay and work in the U.S. for a limited time.

Haitian President Rene Preval twice last year formally requested the status that has been granted to a handful of Central American and African countries, but former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff denied those requests in December.

"Everybody is saying Haiti is still reeling from those four hurricanes, the food riots of last year, the price of fuel. Haiti had a very, very bad year in 2008," Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph said in a phone interview. "Why should we compound the problems of the country by sending all those deportees at this time if we don't do it for Nicaragua or El Salvador?"

Since September, when the Haitian government stopped issuing the travel documents needed to send its residents home, most deportations from the U.S. have stalled. From October through January, just 69 Haitians were returned, compared with 666 in the same four months last year.

Joseph wants Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to explain why deportations to Haiti are continuing at all and say whether the country will get protected status.

"We want that clear before we decide what we want to do," Joseph said in a telephone interview from Washington.

Napolitano will respond to Preval "in due course," Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said Friday.

"The department, specifically U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, is in continual discussions with Haiti on the removal of its nationals," Kudwa said.
. . .
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-haitian-depor...

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

5.
Jai Ho! As immigration surges, visibility grows for Indian-Americans, politics to 'Top Chef'
By Dan Sewell
The Associated Press, February 28, 2009

Cincinnati, OH (AP) -- Jai Ho! The years-long wave of immigration from India is creating a rising tide of visibility for Indian-Americans in the United States.

The past few weeks have underscored their increasingly high profile: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gave the Republican response Tuesday night to President Barack Obama's speech to Congress, while Dr. Sanjay Gupta is under consideration to be Obama's surgeon general.

Model and cooking author Padma Lakshmi finished another "Top Chef" TV season, then became the celebrity face for a new Procter & Gamble Co. Pantene shampoo line as well as a Hardee's hamburger promotion. Anoop Desai, dubbed "Noop Dogg," drew fans with his singing on this year's "American Idol," and Aziz Ansari was in TV's medical comedy "Scrubs" before moving to a regular role in the upcoming comedy series "Parks and Recreation."

Meanwhile, Americans have embraced "Slumdog Millionaire" and the cast of the India ghetto-to-glory movie that won eight Oscars, including for Best Picture and the song "Jai Ho" ("Be Victorious"), and dominated last week's entertainment talk shows.

"It's just been amazing," Sreenath Sreenivasan, a professor and dean of student affairs for Columbia University's journalism school in New York, said of the soaring profile of Indian-Americans. "And it's only going to grow. The more visible you get, the more acceptance you get. It's a chicken-and-egg thing."

Indian-Americans have been one of the fastest-growing and most successful immigrant groups, though Sreenivasan and other Indian-Americans are quick to point out that some Indians continue to struggle economically and socially in this country.

U.S. Census estimates two years ago showed some 2.6 million people of Indian ancestry, including immigrants and U.S.-born, a jump of nearly 1 million from 2000.

For years, they have proliferated in this country in the fields of health care, information technology and engineering, with higher education levels and incomes than national averages. And recent years have brought more Indian heads of major U.S. companies — PepsiCo Inc.'s Indra Nooyi is among about a dozen current CEOs.

They also are making their presence felt in journalism. Gupta, a neurosurgeon and medical correspondent, and Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, have their own weekend shows on CNN, for example.

And Gupta and Jindal demonstrate a deepening role in U.S. politics and government.

While Jindal's potential as a 2012 presidential candidate may have been set back by his widely criticized and even ridiculed TV rebuttal to Obama, Louisiana demographer and political analyst Elliott Stonecipher said the governor has good support among Republican Party leaders and conservatives.

Stonecipher thinks Jindal, only 37, is being pushed too quickly by Republicans, such as some in the South who see him as a bridge over the historically troubled waters of white-black division — particularly in a state where David Duke, a former Klan leader, was still a political force in the 1990s.
. . .
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-high-profile-...