1. Deportation record questioned
2. Romney cites CIS in GOP debate
3. GOP immigration debate heats up
4. Comments may alienate some
5. AZ Gov. defends AL law
1.
Obama's deportation record: inside the numbers
By Alan Silverleib
CNN, October 19, 2011
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A record number of people were deported from the United States last year, federal officials announced Tuesday.
But does the Obama administration deserve all the credit -- or blame -- for this record? And is it actually as impressive as it sounds?
Critics say no to both questions, and charge the administration with creative accounting.
President Barack Obama himself may have inadvertently added fuel to the fire.
"The statistics are actually a little deceptive," Obama said last month during a discussion with Hispanic journalists. There has been "a much greater emphasis on criminals than non-criminals." And "with stronger border enforcement, we've been apprehending folks at the borders and sending them back. That is counted as a deportation even though they may have only been held for a day or 48 hours."
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, noted Obama's remarks Wednesday, saying he's "frustrated about the administration's deceptive marketing tactics in claiming that they have deported more undocumented people than ever before."
The administration is "playing a double game," argued Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors tighter immigration restrictions. "They're telling (pro-immigration) advocacy groups that they're focusing on the worst of the worst" by committing more resources to the most dangerous undocumented immigrants.
"But they're telling the broader public they've achieved record levels of deportations. It's a clever spin."
So what are the facts? Nearly 400,000 individuals were removed from the country in fiscal year 2011, which ended September 30, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. ICE Director John Morton trumpeted the news, calling it the result of "smart and effective immigration enforcement" that depends on "setting clear priorities for removal and executing on those priorities."
The 396,906 figure is indeed a record -- but not by much. A total of 392,862 people were deported in 2010 -- a difference of little more than 1%, according to ICE. Almost 390,000 people were deported the year before that.
Significantly larger increases in the total number of deportations occurred during George W. Bush's administration. Fewer than 120,000 people were deported in 2001, when Bush took office.
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/19/politics/deportation-record/
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2.
Perry Targets Romney as Cain Tax-Plan Gets Debate Scrutiny
By John McCormick and Julie Hirschfeld Davis
BusinessWeek, October 19, 2011
Perry, the governor of Texas, sought to recapture momentum after several weak debate performances and a drop in the polls by training his fire on Romney during much of the debate. At one point Perry accused Romney of taking a hard rhetorical line on illegal immigration while once having hired undocumented workers.
‘Height of Hypocrisy’
“You hired illegals in your home, and you knew about it for a year,” Perry said to Romney. “And the idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you’re strong on immigration is on its face the height of hypocrisy.”
Romney rejected the charge, which surfaced during his failed presidential run in 2008, saying a lawn-care company he hired to work on his property had employed the illegal immigrants, not him.
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Romney, citing a report by the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, said that half the jobs created during Perry’s tenure as governor went to illegal immigrants.
Perry said Romney was “absolutely incorrect” in his assertion, saying that the report he cited had been discredited. The immigration studies group promotes itself as dedicated to promoting a “low immigration, pro-immigrant” vision for America.
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-19/perry-targets-romney-as-cain...
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3.
Immigration debate intensifies in GOP race
By Steve Peoples
The Associated Press, October 20, 2011
Washington (AP) — Neither Rick Perry nor Mitt Romney can claim conservative purity on illegal immigration — and now both must deal with it.
Illegal immigration has emerged as a defining issue with remarkable staying power in a GOP presidential race that was expected to be primarily focused on the nation's struggling economy.
The heated clashes over illegal immigration between the two Republican presidential rivals in this week's debate, coupled with renewed calls for a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border by their opponents, made clear the issue isn't going away. It's a major fault line between Perry and Romney as they court a Republican primary electorate that generally takes a hardline view against people who are in the country illegally.
At every turn, Perry, the Texas governor, has been forced to defend his signing of a law that allowed some illegal immigrants to get in-state college tuition. And now Romney is having to answer for the fact that some groundskeepers who had worked on his lawn were in the country illegally.
"Mitt, you lose all of your standing from my perspective because you hired illegals in your home, and you knew about it for a year," Perry told the former Massachusetts governor at Tuesday's debate in Las Vegas. "And the idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong on immigration is, on its face, the height of hypocrisy."
Romney countered, "Rick, I don't think that I've ever hired an illegal in my life" and challenged his rival to show him the facts.
It was a preview of what Republicans can expect to hear in the coming weeks as the Jan. 3 leadoff Iowa caucuses inch closer, with Romney and Perry emerging as the two candidates with the best chances of winning the nomination. They're arguably the only Republicans with the money and organization necessary to go the distance.
Even so and in hopes of gaining traction, their rivals are playing to the part of the GOP electorate that values a secure border with Mexico above all else when it comes to immigration policy.
In recent days, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has pledged to build two fences back to back along the 2,000-mile border. And businessman Herman Cain called for an electrified fence that could kill people trying to cross illegally.
For months now, immigration concerns have followed presidential contenders to town hall meetings from Nevada to Iowa to New Hampshire. And in some ways, immigration has shaped the increasingly bitter Republican nomination fight more than any other issue, particularly in a crowded field where the conservative candidates have more in common than not. And while conservative voters may be driving immigration chatter on the campaign trail, the candidates are stoking voter passions when given the opportunity.
"I'm not surprised that immigration is playing as big a role as it is," said Kevin Smith, a likely New Hampshire Republican gubernatorial candidate who has watched the candidates face repeated questions about the topic on the campaign trail. "This issue plays very well with Republican primary voters."
And it's clear they're listening.
Perry's sudden drop in the polls was largely attributed to weak debate performances involving his support for the Texas law. He suggested that Republicans who oppose the policy were heartless. And Romney fueled the tuition criticism every chance he got.
But Perry tried to neutralize the attacks this week. The outspoken Texan raised new questions at the debate about Romney's use of a landscaping company that employed illegal immigrants at his suburban Boston home several years ago.
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gfiuHjuMeYQR_J1eVlQvji...
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4.
Comments on Immigration Alienate Some Hispanics
By Trip Gabriel
The New York Times, October 19, 2011
Today, Republican candidates are competing over who can talk the toughest about illegal immigration — who will erect the most impenetrable border defense; who will turn off “magnets” like college tuition benefits.
But after such pointed proposals heated up yet another Republican debate, on Tuesday night, some party officials see a yellow light signaling danger in battleground states with large Hispanic populations in November 2012. Will Hispanic voters remember and punish the eventual Republican nominee?
“The discussion of creating electrified fences from sea to sea is neither prudent nor helpful,” said Ryan Call, chairman of the Republican Party of Colorado, where Hispanics cast 13 percent of votes in 2008 and helped President Obama flip the state to blue. “They’re throwing red meat around in an attempt to mollify a particular aspect of the Republican base.”
Besides Colorado, Mr. Obama cemented his victory in part by carrying three other swing states with large Hispanic voting populations: Florida, Nevada and New Mexico.
Republican strategists have hoped to win many of these voters back by appealing to their discontent over the economy and to their social conservatism, issues that helped George W. Bush win a historically high 44 percent of Hispanic voters in 2004.
Now, however, that pitch may be thwarted, according to some Republican strategists.
Both Herman Cain, the former business executive, and Representative Michele Bachmann are proposing a 1,200-mile border fence — electrified, in Mr. Cain’s case, double-walled in Mrs. Bachmann’s.
Mitt Romney has attacked Gov. Rick Perry of Texas as soft on illegal immigration. Mr. Perry punched back in the debate on Tuesday in Las Vegas, accusing Mr. Romney of “hypocrisy” because, Mr. Perry said, “you had illegals working on your property.”
Robert Ramirez, a Republican state representative from Colorado who attended the debate, said Hispanic voters in his state “are sick and tired of empty promises from the Democratic Party.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Ramirez was concerned about the nominees’ lack of sensitivity. “We can’t pretend the Latino vote doesn’t exist,” he said. “It’s time we became the party of inclusion.”
Even Mr. Romney, who has been more measured in his remarks, may have lost Hispanic support over his criticism of a Texas law that allows some children of illegal immigrants to attend state colleges on in-state tuition.
“He can make as many trips to Florida and New Mexico and Colorado and other swing states that have a large Latino population, but he can write off the Latino vote,” said Lionel Sosa, a strategist in Texas who advised Mr. Bush and Senator John McCain on appealing to Hispanics. “He’s not going to gain it again.”
In each of those states, plus Nevada, Hispanics are a growing share of eligible voters, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Although these voters have traditionally favored Democrats, Mr. Obama’s 67 percent share of the Hispanic vote in 2008 dipped to 60 percent who voted Democratic during the 2010 Republican wave that swept the midterm elections, said Mark Hugo Lopez, associate director of the Pew center.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/us/politics/immigration-talk-turns-off...
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5.
Jan Brewer: Alabama will survive immigration reform law
The State Column, October 19, 2011
Speaking Wednesday, Arizona Republican governor Jan Brewer urged Alabama governor Robert Bentley to continue forward with plans to implement the state’s controversial immigration reform law.
Speaking after the Las Vegas Republican presidential debate, Ms. Brewer said the law will result in driving undocumented immigrants out of Alabama, freeing up jobs for American workers.
“We never like to see families breaking up, but the bottom line is, probably those leaving Alabama are probably going back to Mexico,” Ms Brewer said in an interview with the Huffington Post. “But we are a nation of laws and American citizens, tax-paying people, the members of our country ought not to have to take care of illegal immigration and all the issues that go with it — education, health care, incarceration.”
“Alabama will survive,” she added.
The law, which has gained national attention, is widely seen as one the harshest in the nation. The measure mandates, among other things, that school officials inquire as to students’ immigration status and allows authorities to charge with a misdemeanor immigrants caught without documents that prove they’re in the country legally. It also requires local and state police to check people’s immigration status during traffic stops and makes it a felony for illegal immigrants to apply for a driver’s license or business license.
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http://www.thestatecolumn.com/articles/jan-brewer-alabama-will-survive-i...
