BORDER NEWS

The mother of two US citizen children is fighting to be allowed to remain in the US with her family.  Norma Hummell fled to the US from El Salvador 10 years ago.  She married an American and has two children.  Her husband filed for permanent residency for her, but after more than two years the application still has not been approved.  On November 2 she was allowed to reenter the US on humanitarian parole.  She had been forced to leave after the INS denied her application for asylum in March.  Because she did not want to be separated from her children, they were with her in El Salvador.  She is seeking to have her parole extended.

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An official bulletin from the INS warning of possible violence at an anti-immigration meeting in Arizona at the end of October has created great anger among many who participated in the rally because it referred to those participating as “anti-immigration hate crime organizations.  The rally was planned as a show of support for ranchers in southern Arizona.  While most of the groups listed in publicity for the event are anti-immigration, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform and the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, racist organizations were also listed, including the Ku Klux Klan.  According to the bulleting, the presence of these racist organizations “created an opportunity for acts of violence.”  Many participants are angry that because of the involvement of a few groups they are all being branded racists. 

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During fiscal year 2000 the INS hired 1,700 new Border Patrol agents.  91,366 people applied for positions with the Border Patrol, a 73 percent increase over the previous year.  There are many reasons for this jump, notably increased advertising and a $2000 signing bonus.  In 1996 Congress mandated that the INS hire 1000 new agents each year for five years.  Last year the agency was unable to meet this goal, but this year’s results have put it back on the track of meeting it.

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This week the INS issued new standards for the detention of people in its custody.  Thirty-six new regulations will go into effect in January at all facilities that hold INS detainees.  Because of strict immigration laws, the number of people in INS detention has skyrocketed from about 8,200 in 1997 to more than 20,000 today.

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