1. USCBP retains expanded powers
2. Census Bureau: immigration slowing
3. Court to reconsider asylum case
4. House GOP avoids showdown with McCain
5. Judge halts TX city rental ban

1.
Expanded Powers to Search Travelers at Border Detailed
By Ellen Nakashima
The Washington Post, September 23, 2008; A02

The U.S. government has quietly recast policies that affect the way information is gathered from U.S. citizens and others crossing the border and what is done with it, including relaxing a two-decade-old policy that placed a high bar on federal agents copying travelers' personal material, according to newly released documents.

The policy changes, civil liberties advocates say, also raise concerns about the guidelines under which border officers may share data copied from laptop computers and cellphones with other agencies and the types of questions they are allowed to ask American citizens.

In July, the Department of Homeland Security disclosed policies that showed that federal agents may copy books, documents, and the data on laptops and other electronic devices without suspecting a traveler of wrongdoing. But what DHS did not disclose was that since 1986 and until last year, the government generally required a higher standard: Federal agents needed probable cause that a law was being broken before they could copy material a traveler was bringing into the country.

The changes are part of a broader trend across the government to harness technology in the fight against terrorism. But they are taking place largely without public input or review, critics said, raising concerns that federal border agents are acting without proper guidelines or oversight and that policies are being adopted that do not adequately protect travelers' civil liberties when they are being questioned or their belongings searched.

"For 20 years the government has at least implicitly recognized there were some First Amendment restrictions on reading and copying documents," said Shirin Sinnar, a staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus, which along with the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the government under the Freedom of Information Act for disclosure of border search policies. "It's disturbing now that the government has jettisoned that policy in favor of one that violates First Amendment rights."

DHS spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the updating of policies reflects an effort to be more transparent. In an e-mail, she wrote that the decision of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) "to change some of the standards in its old policies reflects the realities of the post-9/11 environment, the agency's expanded mission and legal authorities, and developments in the law, including the Homeland Security Act of 2003. Although certain aspects of the policies have changed, the policies have always reflected the notion that officers have the constitutional authority to inspect information presented at the border" without requiring suspicion of a particular traveler.

The 1986 policy was issued after a lawsuit was filed by a group of activists returning from Nicaragua who had their diaries, datebooks and other personal papers seized and photocopied by customs officers and shared with the FBI. The government argued that the customs agency had the right to enforce a law against importing subversive literature.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR200809...

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2.
Data Show Big Dip in Migration To the U.S.
By N.C. Aizenman
The Washington Post, September 23, 2008; A19

The number of immigrants coming to the United States slowed substantially in 2007, with the nation's foreign-born population growing by only 511,000, compared with about a million a year since 2000, according to Census figures released today.

In 14 states, the foreign-born population declined, including in such traditional immigrant gateways as New Jersey and Illinois and such newer destinations as Nebraska, South Dakota and Kansas.

The Washington area's immigrant population continued to grow, but much more slowly, increasing by 25,916, compared with average yearly increases of 37,091 since 2000.

Demographers said the data, which were part of a diverse release of social, economic and housing characteristics, reflected the economic slowdown.

"I think this shows that immigrants are keeping an eye on the economy when they make their decision on whether to come or where to live in the United States," said William H. Frey, a researcher with the Brookings Institution who analyzed the numbers. "When the economy appears to be in decline -- particularly for the kind of construction, retail and service jobs that immigrants are inclined to take -- they are less attracted to us."

Although the slowdown coincided with a step-up in federal enforcement actions against illegal immigrants and their employers, Frey cautioned against drawing too close a connection. He noted that the influx of Asian and African immigrants slowed by more than 60 percent, compared with 36 percent for Hispanic immigrants, who are statistically more likely to be in the country illegally.

Even with the slowdown, the number of foreign-born people in the United States reached a high of 38.1 million in 2007, accounting for 12.6 percent of the population.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR200809...

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Immigrants follow U.S.-borns' path — often to Sun Belt
By Haya El Nasser and Paul Overberg
USA Today, September 23, 2008

Foreign-born Americans are moving from place to place in patterns similar to those of the U.S.-born, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Census data out today offering the first detailed look at migration since the beginning of the decade.

The foreign-born, who in the 1990s concentrated in enclaves in large metropolitan areas, are increasingly following the same trajectory as natives. They're often leaving congested, expensive coastal cities for smaller, middle-class metro areas where schools are better and housing is cheaper.

It's the first time since the 2000 Census that such detail on the movement of Americans in and out of thousands of places has been collected.

The 2007 numbers open a window on the effects of a tumultuous decade marked by terrorist attacks, natural disasters, globalization and a housing boom and collapse.

"The new immigrants, especially Hispanic immigrants, are assimilating geographically much more quickly than at the turn of the previous century," says William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution.

"They're more quick to leave the inner city and go to the suburbs," he says.

North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas are among the states gaining the most natives and immigrants from other states. Both groups also are moving in substantial numbers to Sun Belt counties in smaller metropolitan areas: Mecklenburg (Charlotte); Tarrant (Fort Worth); Richland (Columbia, S.C.); Cobb and Gwinnett (Atlanta).

"Hispanics are both aspiring to be in the American middle class and, according to this data, to a large degree they're succeeding," Frey says. Other findings:

* Immigration slowdown. The foreign-born population grew by about a half-million from 2006 to 2007, half as fast as in previous years this decade. It had been growing by an average 1 million a year since 2000.

Fourteen states, including traditional immigrant magnet states such as Illinois and New Jersey, had declines in their foreign-born population, Frey says.

"It's pretty clear that immigration has tanked in the last year, perhaps in response to the losses in employment opportunities," he says.

Research by the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that seeks immigration limits, also attributes the slowdown to a crackdown on the undocumented.
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2008-09-22-census_N.htm

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3.
Court Ordered To Reconsider Asylum Case
The Associated Press, September 23, 2008; A07

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey rebuked a mid-level federal court yesterday, ruling that the court must reconsider the asylum case of a Mali woman who fears genital mutilation if sent home.

It is rare for the nation's top law enforcement officer to reject rulings issued by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals. In the past three years, the attorney general has weighed in on three immigration cases; U.S. immigration courts rule on about 40,000 cases each year.

The panel had spurned the Malian woman's request for asylum, in part because her genitals already have been mutilated.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR200809...

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4.
House GOP backs off immigration, avoids openly questioning McCain
By Michael O’Brien
The Hill (Washington, DC), September 23, 2008

House Republicans have resisted making illegal immigration a major campaign theme this year, aware that their presidential candidate is at odds with them on the issue and voters are more focused on the economy.

Many GOP members have previously questioned McCain for co-sponsoring legislation with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) that would have put millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

But now that he is at the top of the ticket and trying to win over Hispanic voters — a group that could help decide this year’s election — down-ballot GOPers have toned down their comments and refocused on other issues.

“Republicans think immigration is the issue to seal the deal for them, but it hasn’t been that,” said Lynn Tramonte, policy director for America’s Voice, an organization that supports the so-called comprehensive immigration legislation that McCain helped draft.

Even McCain’s critics agree that the issue has faded.

“It’s clearly not as salient of an issue as people thought it would be a year ago,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative think tank devoted to border security and enforcement.

Of the 30 most competitive races listed by The Associated Press on Sept. 14, only 13 candidates have a section of their website addressing immigration. Reflecting shifting Republican attention, most of the sites feature sections on energy, terrorism and the economy.

Several campaigns say the shift is a reflection of what voters want to see addressed.

“When we’re out campaigning and going door to door, the No. 1 issue is energy prices,” said Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the campaign of Republican Tim Bee, who has challenged Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) for Arizona’s 8th district seat — which shares a border with Mexico. Dunn said immigration remains high on the list, although it is also tied into economic issues.

“The issue right now that we’re dealing with is the economy,” said Matt Leffingwell, a campaign spokesman for Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.), who faces a tough reelection challenge from Democratic state Sen. Dina Titus.
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http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/house-gop-backs-off-immigration--avoids...

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5.
District Judge issues injunction in Farmers Branch illegal immigration case
The Dallas Business Journal, September 22, 2008

An attorney representing the City of Farmers Branch in a lawsuit related to the city’s attempt to ban local property owners from renting to illegal immigrants says a U.S. district judge has issued an injunction that bans enforcement of the city ordinance until a trial is complete or a summary judgment is issued.

U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle of the Northern District of Texas made that determination this week, according to attorney Michael Jung, a partner at Strasburger & Price LLP, who is representing Farmers Branch.

Based on Boyle’s order, the city cannot enforce the ordinance until a summary judgment is granted or a trial deeming the constitutionality of the ordinance is complete. Boyle issued the injunction with the conditions that attorneys on both sides of the argument complete discovery within 30 days and file their motions for summary judgment by Oct. 29, Jung said.

The injunction is based on the plaintiff’s allegation that the city ordinance preempts federal law, Jung added. The plaintiffs, which include the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants' Rights Project and the ACLU of Texas filed the complaint this month saying Farmers Branch Ordinance 2952 violates the U.S. Consitution as well as federal and state law.
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http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2008/09/22/daily10.html