1. ICE released illegals from Houston jail
2. Gov't clears Irish airports for checks
3. Obama must 'pay the piper' on immigration
4. GA county to mull enforcement measure
5. CO university panel to tackle issue
6. Nobel laureate calls for amnesty
7. Status complicates home sale

1.
A system's fatal flaws
Thousands of inmates admit they're in the U.S. illegally, but even those convicted of violent crimes are often released right back onto Houston's streets
By Susan Carroll
The Houston Chronicle, November 16, 2008

Federal immigration officials allowed scores of violent criminals — some ordered deported decades ago — to walk away from Harris County Jail despite the inmates' admission to local authorities that they were in the country illegally, a Houston Chronicle investigation found.

A review of thousands of criminal and immigration records shows that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials didn't file the paperwork to detain roughly 75 percent of the more than 3,500 inmates who told jailers during the booking process that they were in the U.S. illegally.

Although most of the inmates released from custody were accused of minor crimes, hundreds of convicted felons — including child molesters, rapists and drug dealers — also managed to avoid deportation after serving time in Harris County's jails, according to the Chronicle review, which was based on documents filed over a period of eight months starting in June 2007, the earliest immigration records available.

Other key findings in the investigation include:

•In 177 cases reviewed by the Chronicle, inmates who were released from jail after admitting to being in the country illegally later were charged with additional crimes. More than half of those charges were felonies, including aggravated sexual assault of a child and capital murder.

•About 11 percent of the 3,500 inmates in the review had three or more prior convictions in Harris County. Many had repeatedly cycled through the system despite a history of violence and, in some cases, outstanding deportation orders.

The investigation found that the federal government's system to identify and deport illegal immigrants in Harris County Jail is overwhelmed and understaffed. Gaps in the system have allowed some convicted criminals to avoid detection by immigration officials despite being previously deported. The problems are national in scope, fueled by a shortage of money and manpower.

In reaction to the Chronicle's findings, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, said ICE needs more resources to target immigrants convicted of crimes.

"There's no question about it," Poe said. "Criminals from foreign countries who get caught after committing a crime and prosecuted should go to the top of the list of people we deport."
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/side2/6115223.html

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2.
Irish airports to offer pre-flight US immigration
Reuters, November 14, 2008

Dublin (Reuters) -- Irish airports are set to become the first outside the Americas to offer full U.S. immigration checks before departure, potentially boosting their position as transatlantic hubs, the Irish government said on Friday.

Dublin and the busy stopover point of Shannon in the west of Ireland already offer immigration clearance but passengers must still clear customs and agriculture inspection on arrival in the United States.

Ireland's transport minister Noel Dempsey said he would sign an agreement with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff early next week which will allow Shannon to offer full clearance facilities by next summer and Dublin in 2010.

"Flights from Shannon and Dublin airports will be treated like domestic flights in the U.S.," Dempsey said.

Airlines will be able to fly into less congested and less expensive domestic terminals at U.S. airports, while passengers will be able to check their baggage through to their final destination, he said in a statement.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLE...

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3.
Election raises new questions about immigration
By Edward Sifuentes
The North County Times (CA), November 15, 2008

Now that a new president has been elected, the local and national debate over immigration reform appears to be edging toward easing harsh enforcement efforts and possibly legalizing millions of illegal immigrants.

During their campaigns, neither presidential candidate barely mentioned immigration policy, except during Latino gatherings, such as the National Council of La Raza convention in San Diego last summer.

But Barack Obama's victory over John McCain has fueled hopes among immigrants rights activists that Congress will renew efforts to legalize millions of illegal immigrants, a debate that some say Democrats are not eager to have.

Having captured the White House and enlarged their majority in both houses of Congress, Democrats may want to focus on other matters because immigration measures may come back to haunt them in the 2010 midterm elections, one immigration analyst said.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, said there is no time to wait.

Given the sour state of the economy and the growing ranks of unemployed workers, Bilbray said the nation needs to be able to identify which workers are eligible to work legally in the country and which are not.

"Now is the time to see how we're going to handle this long-term," said Bilbray, chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, whose predominantly Republican members oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants. "Now is the time to talk about what is a sustainable, long-term policy."

Local immigrants rights advocates said they are hoping for a different kind of change under the Obama administration.

They want him to begin reversing some of President George W. Bush's policies on immigration enforcement, such as halting construction of the border fence and reducing immigration sweeps in the workplace and home.

"I really believe that President Obama and Democrats in Congress are going to have to address some of the enforcement policies, like the raids, because they have been ineffective" in reducing illegal immigration, said Christian Ramirez, a San Diego-based immigrants rights activist with the American Friends Service Committee.

Conflicting interpretation

Pro-immigrant groups and their opponents released polls last week with conflicting interpretations on what Obama's win means for the nation's immigration policy.

One side saw it as a sign of Latinos' growing political muscle and an endorsement of Obama's pledge for "compassionate, comprehensive" reform.

The other side saw his election as a sign of the troubled economic times, and not as a mandate for amnesty.
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Ironically, Democrats' control in Congress and the White House may make it more difficult to push for immigration reform, said Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group that advocates for stricter immigration policies.

Camarota argued that the reason Democrats were willing to pass comprehensive immigration reform in 2006 was because it would be perceived as a bipartisan effort.

Without Bush and key Republicans in Congress, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., immigration reform could be perceived as a Democratic initiative, he said.

"The question, politically, is 'Do the Democrats want to own it?' " Camarota said. "Bush provided cover. Now it will be seen solely as a Democratic-owned issue. And for all those Democrats that sit in Republican-ish districts, are they going to want to own it?"
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http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/11/15/news/sandiego/z566c0a9b08438b...

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4.
Cherokee to air immigrant measure
Public hearing today on new ordinance could authorize county to check renters’ status and hurt firms with undocumented workers.
By Nancy Badertscher
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, November 17, 2008

The Cherokee County Commission is making another stab at cracking down on illegal immigrants with an ordinance that makes renters prove they’re here legally and threatens the business licenses of companies with undocumented workers.

The commission tried something similar in 2006, with an ordinance on renting that put the burden more on landlords.

The first ordinance was immediately challenged in court and never enforced, and the same groups that objected to it will be in the audience tonight when the new ordinance is presented to the public.

The latest ordinance would require prospective renters to pay a $5 fee for an occupancy permit and provide personal information to the county, including their country of citizenship. The county then could check their immigration status and ultimately force them out by revoking their occupancy permit.

The second provision gives the county the right to suspend the business license of any company found to be employing undocumented workers. Exceptions are made for independent contractors.

Buzz Ahrens, chairman of the Cherokee County Commission, said the new ordinance is meant to send a strong message on a problem that the federal government has failed to address.

“Something needs to be done, and this is a bottom-up approach,” Ahrens said.

Elise Shore, regional counsel with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the groups that filed suit over the first ordinance believe the county is wrong to be pushing a new one.

“We believe it violates the injunction and certainly the spirit of the injunction,” Shore said. “It’s our position that it’s legally problematic.”

To avoid amassing large legal bills, the county in 2007 did not challenge the issuance of an injunction that barred enforcement of its “alien harboring” ordinance, pending the outcome of challenges to similar ordinances in other parts of the country.

Cherokee’s original ordinance required landlords to collect documentation from their tenants and, in the event of a complaint, turn that information over to the county marshal or the county’s business license department.

Landlords who were found to be renting to illegal immigrants ran the risk of having their business licenses suspended and of being forbidden to collect rent.
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http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/11/17/cheroillegal...

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5.
Denver University panel to study immigration
The Associated Press, November 14, 2008

Denver (AP) -- The University of Denver says its Strategic Issues Program will focus on immigration next year and make recommendations on issues ranging from illegal immigration to the impact of immigration on the economy.

Chancellor Robert Coombe said Friday immigration is one of the top issues facing the state, and solutions will require a consensus from community and political leaders.

Study participants include former state Agriculture Secretary Don Ament, former state Sen. Polly Baca, Durango Herald publisher Richard Ballantine and Miller Coors Brewing Co. executive Pete Coors.
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http://www.examiner.com/a-1690556~Denver_University_panel_to_study_immig...

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6.
Nobel Peace Prize winner says it's time to reform immigration laws
By Sarah Strandberg
The Decorah Newspapers (IA), November 14, 2008

The U.S. needs to take advantage of having a newly elected president to reform the country's immigration policies, according to Rigoberta Menchu.

The 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner from Guatemala came to Postville Saturday to meet with victims of the May immigration raid at the town's Agriprocessors meat-packing plant, and to identify with their suffering.

"You are my sisters, you are my brothers, you are my people," she told the crowd that gathered at St. Bridget's Catholic Church.

"For many, many years, we didn't know what was going on with Postville, with you. Because of the raid, everything came out. Now for six months everyone is aware - not only here in the U.S. - but all over the world," said Menchu, who spoke both in English and in Spanish, translated by an interpreter.

"They are sensitive about your pain and suffering. Yes, it's been painful what you have been enduring and suffering, but you can become a voice of freedom and liberty for all the pain that others are also enduring," she said. "You can become an example of a fight for a new beginning for immigration laws in the U.S. ... laws that respect human rights."
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http://www.decorahnewspapers.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=13&Ar...

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7.
Both lose in aborted immigrant-citizen home sale
By Kate Brumback
The Associated Press, November 16, 2008

Roswell, GA (AP) -- Like all illegal immigrants, Lorenzo Jimenez knew the knock on the door from immigration agents could come at any time.

Still, he had enough faith in the American dream to buy a house in this Atlanta suburb, even though signing the papers meant raising the risk: He put his 2-year-old, American-born daughter's name and Social Security number on the title.

And it worked, for a while. Jimenez and his family lived happily enough for several years alongside "regular" citizens.

Nicole Griffin's mom lived a few doors away, and when Griffin visited, she said, her kids played with the Jimenez children. When Jimenez put his four-bedroom, two-bathroom home up for sale last spring, wanting more space, Griffin was immediately interested.

A contract was negotiated but when the sale appeared to go sour, Griffin raised a new issue: that she was a citizen and Jimenez wasn't. She told local media, immigration officials, his boss and others that he was here illegally. She even put signs in the yard of the house exposing his residency status.

As a result, agents came knocking last month, and now Jimenez is fighting to keep from being deported. He also lost his job.

"I'm very sad and very worried," said Jimenez, 32. "I can't sleep because I'm thinking about my family. What's going to happen? I don't know."

Griffin insists her intent was to buy the house, nothing else. The 28-year-old single mother of two maintains she was wronged first, so she acted to protect her interests. She has no regrets.

"At the end, do I feel bad the family got in trouble? No, not at all," she said.

Those who enter the U.S. illegally often say they're just striving for the same things that most American citizens want out of life — a good job, home ownership, maybe a chance to get a little bit ahead. But the ambitions of citizens and non-citizens can collide and, as the painful entanglement between Jimenez and Griffin shows, both sides can wind up feeling like victims.

Jimenez, who is Mexican, has been in the U.S. for about a decade. When he bought the house four years ago, the real estate agent handling the sale told him he could get a better interest rate using his daughter's information on the closing documents than he could using the federal tax identification number he uses to pay income tax here.

Jimenez later filed papers to have his own name added to the title, and that's how it stayed until Griffin spotted the "for sale" sign and $164,500 list price this spring.

With both sides enthusiastic about the sale, a deal was reached and the closing was set for May 15.

Griffin, a payroll clerk and first-time homebuyer, asked to postpone the closing until June 1 because she had problems locking in her interest rate. Jimenez agreed but asked that she move into the house as planned and pay rent until the closing.

Shortly after Griffin moved in, her attorney said there was a problem with the title on the house, namely that Jimenez's young daughter's name was on the title but her signature wasn't on the sale documents. Attorneys said some extra paperwork — establishing a conservatorship to watch out for the child's interest, the first step in getting the title transferred solely to her father — would clear the title, and everyone agreed to postpone again.

Griffin didn't pay the rent, however, claiming she was promised three months free since the delay was Jimenez's fault. She has an e-mail from his real estate agent, Alina Carbonell, saying he'd made the offer.

Jimenez's lawyer, Erik Meder, told her that offer was never firm and insisted she pay rent or vacate the house.

Locked in a letter war with Meder, Griffin escalated her actions. She contacted the FBI, the Roswell Police Department, local media, the state attorney general's office and the governor's office, among others. She asked her congressman, U.S. Rep. Tom Price, for help, saying she felt Jimenez and Meder had deceived her. Price's office, in turn, contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Brendan Buck, a Price spokesman.
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hhxQuqrKu8F-iedSf3U03R...