1. Gov't assuages test fears
2. Ex-Mexican Pres. opposes security
3. CO lawmakers mull audit
4. NE city task force 'on track'
5. Latinos lean towards Obama
6. AZ advocate convicted
7. Ellis Island expands museum
8. 21 arrested in HI raid

1.
Citizenship Seekers Told Not to Fear a New Test
By Kirk Semple
The New York Times, September 24, 2008

A week before the American government plans to start a redesigned civics test as part of the naturalization process, a senior immigration official sought on Tuesday to calm nervous immigrants and critics who say the new exam will be more challenging than the current one.

“It’s not harder than the current exam,” said Alfonso Aguilar, chief of the citizenship office at Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that devises and administers the test. “In fact, for some it may be easier.”

At the crux of the debate is a list of 100 questions that applicants will have to study to prepare for the new test, which takes effect on Oct. 1.

During the naturalization interview, an immigration officer will ask the applicant 10 of the questions spanning a range of difficulty. The applicant must correctly answer six questions to pass that portion of the interview.

Mr. Aguilar said that in a pilot study of the new questions, 92 percent of participants passed the test on their first attempt, while an average of 85 percent of all applicants pass the current test on their first attempt. (Applicants are given two chances to pass the test. Those who fail twice can reapply for naturalization immediately.)

With the test’s redesign, the first since 1986, immigration officials sought to move away from simple trivia and to emphasize basic concepts of American history and the structure of American government and democracy. Some questions will require a more sophisticated understanding of the United States, according to officials and immigrant advocates.

The redesign is part of the Bush administration’s efforts to improve immigrant assimilation, Mr. Aguilar said.

“This is not a treatise in American history and government, but we try in 100 questions and answers to summarize the basic concepts of American democracy,” he said in a telephone interview, one of a series of interviews he is conducting this week with news media in New York, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles. “We include what is absolutely necessary for somebody to understand what America is.”

Some immigrant advocacy groups have said the test is more abstract and therefore more difficult and will unnecessarily impede some legal residents from obtaining citizenship. Some groups have even reported that fear of a harder test has spurred immigrants to file their naturalization applications before Oct. 1, which would qualify them to take the current test.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/us/24test.html

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2.
Former Mexican president says US needs more work, not walls, to solve immigration problems
By John Milburn
The Associated Press, September 23, 2008

Manhattan, KS (AP) -- Former Mexican President Vicente Fox expressed hope Tuesday that a new U.S. administration will find a mutually beneficial solution to immigration and restore America's standing in the world.

Fox said the United States and the Bush administration have been too focused since 9/11 on related issues to be the example that other democracies expected from previous administrations.

"We missed that great leadership in this nation. We need it back," Fox said.

Fox did not disclose his preference between presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, offering his choice of "Palin and Hillary" instead.

He said that tandem of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was in keeping with his belief that women bring love and compassion to everything they do.

Fox spoke for 45 minutes to more than 1,500 people at Kansas State University, lecturing primarily on immigration. He said Mexico was doing its part to find a solution by improving its economy and strengthening its democracy but the United States has to find a way to manage immigration that doesn't punish Mexicans already across the border.

"I think it's a must that we dedicate time and we come with the proper ideas. We have to manage immigration and not let the issue run loose," Fox said.

He cautioned U.S. policy makers not to continue putting up legal barriers and fences with Mexico.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-fox-visit-kan...

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3.
Lawmakers Consider Immigration Enforcement Audit
The KRDO News (Colorado Springs), September 23, 2008

Denver -- Colorado lawmakers are considering an audit of immigration enforcement following a fatal crash involving a suspected illegal immigrant.

Legislators with the Audit Committee said Tuesday they will research what the investigation would entail before they decide in November whether to conduct it.
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http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9060517

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4.
Fremont, Neb., immigration task force on track
The Associated Press, September 24, 2008

Fremont, NE (AP) -- A task force striving to identify ways to ease the effect of illegal immigration in Fremont is on track with its effort.

Task force co-chairman Bill Ekeler (EK-lur) says the group that has been working for about a month now is progressing toward its November deadline.

The group formed following the Fremont City Council's defeat of a proposed ban on hiring and renting to illegal immigrants.
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http://www.kcautv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9063560&nav=menu110_2

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5.
Hispanic communities tilt toward Obama as they look beyond immigration
By Dante Chinni
The Christian Science Monitor, September 24, 2008

El Mirage, Ariz. – With the presidential election only six weeks away, this community, which is divided into Latino and Anglo neighborhoods, looks to be split on their choices overall. That may be a troubling sign for Sen. John McCain.

The issue of illegal immigration is a key focus in communities with large Hispanic populations like El Mirage (a community type we call “Immigration Nation”). It’s on a lot of minds here – especially when it comes to things like the border fence and raids on companies – but it does not appear to be driving a lot of votes.

“The two [candidates] are really pretty much the same on immigration,” says Rachel Gomez, an owner of the Rio Mirage restaurants in the area. “And who knows what they’ll do when they get in, anyway.”

One might think that would open the door for Senator McCain to reach into places like El Mirage, which historically have voted for Democratic candidates. After all, El Mirage is in McCain’s home state of Arizona. But the GOP in general is still not trusted by many Latino voters following the immigration battles of 2006.

On top of that, Hispanic and Latino voters, like the electorate in general, may simply be looking for a different direction for the country.
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http://www.csmonitor.com/patchworknation/csmstaff/2008/0924/hispanic-com...

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6.
Desert rescuer littered; sentence is suspended
By Stephanie Innes
The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), September 24, 2008

A federal magistrate has ruled that a volunteer worker littered when he left full water jugs for illegal immigrants in a national wildlife refuge earlier this year.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernardo P. Velasco of Tucson issued his ruling Monday against Daniel Millis, after weighing his decision since a July 25 trial.

Velasco's ruling also suspended any sentence.

When Millis was cited Feb. 22 in Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, he had an option of paying a $175 fine or going to trial and facing up to six months in jail and up to $5,000 in fines if found guilty. He chose the trial.

Millis, 29, called the ruling "passive aggressive," saying it seems to send two different messages — that he broke a refuge law by littering, yet shouldn't be punished with the normal fine.

"It sort of tries to skirt the issue but still hold it over our heads without taking a stand," said Millis.

His lawyer, Bill Walker, had argued that a full water jug is not litter.
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http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/259052

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7.
Ellis Island strives to tell more complete immigration story
By Charisse Jones
USA Today, September 24, 2008

New York -- For 62 years, millions of immigrants passed through the corridors of Ellis Island on their way to becoming Americans. Their journeys, however, are only part of the story.

What of those immigrants who came before and those who continue to come long after? What of the Africans who came not of their own free will and the Mexicans who through annexation suddenly found themselves Americans?

A new center on Ellis Island soon will tell those stories, too.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and other officials are scheduled to unveil plans today for The Peopling of America Center. It's an expansion of Ellis Island's Immigration Museum that will chronicle the years before the historic portal opened in 1892 and the evolving face of immigration since it closed in 1954. The center is slated to open in 2011.

"There were other ports of entry," says Stephen A. Briganti, president of The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, "but there's none as symbolic as Ellis Island, so we think it's important we tell the story of everybody, even the many people who didn't come through Ellis Island."

The new $20 million center will illuminate other eras in immigration history, such as the arrival in the mid-1800s of more than 4 million Irish, Germans and Scandinavians, the nation's first mass migration, says Alan Kraut, a history professor at American University. The National Park Service has contributed some of the funds, but the rest will come from private donations.
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-09-23-ellis-island_N.htm

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8.
Feds arrest 21 illegal immigrants on Maui
The Associated Press, September 24, 2008

Honolulu (AP) -- Federal agents said Tuesday they arrested 21 illegal immigrant workers at a Maui luxury condominium construction site.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 12 men from Mexico, eight from Brazil and one from Slovakia. They're all undergoing deportation proceedings.

The arrests Monday marked the second straight month federal agents have arrested illegal immigrant workers at the Honua Kai construction site in Kaanapali.

On Aug. 20, agents arrested 23 people working for three different companies, including 13 for Global Stone Inc.

"Yesterday's operation is part of ICE's ongoing efforts to target employers and employees who violate our nation's hiring laws," said Wayne Wills, special agent in charge of the agency's office of investigations in Hawaii.
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20080923-2030-wst-illegalimmig...