The percentage of Hispanic immigrants who are either working or looking for work in the US has declined for the first time since 2003, according to a recent Pew Hispanic Center Study.  The Washington Post reports that the center, which published the report, said the findings are a testament to the nature and depth of the recession, which is rooted in slumping housing values, as many Hispanic immigrants found work in construction in the boom years.

“The recession has widened and deepened, and, driven by construction, it has certainly seemed to put Latino immigrants in a state of transition,” said Rakesh Kochhar, and economist with Pew and author of the study.  “The question is: What is the next thing to emerge?  Are we now going to see a return back home?” 

Specifically, the percentage of Hispanic immigrants who were either employed or actively looking for a job at the end of the third quarter was 71.3 percent, compared with 72.4 percent a year ago.  The number of Hispanic immigrants in the labor force increased 150,000 from the third quarter of 2007 to the third quarter of 2008.  But that growth was much smaller than the growth in the working-age population of Hispanic immigrants.  Overall, there are 17.1 million foreign born Hispanics in the working-age population. 

The decrease was sharpest among immigrants from Mexico, who make up more than two-thirds of the US Hispanic immigrant population.  The share of Mexican-born immigrants in the US workforce declined to 70.7 percent from 72.7 percent, according to the study. 

***** 

The USCIS has announced that beginning January 31, all US citizens returning to the US by land or sea from Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean must carry a document that shows their citizenship, according to The Seattle Times.  Those who don’t have a passport must carry a birth certificate plus government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or school ID for young students, to show at border inspection stations.  The new rule effects all vehicle and train travelers, cruise and ferry passengers, and private boaters.   

US travelers who don’t have proof of citizenship—either a birth certificate or passport—will face secondary screening and delays at border stations while their citizenship is checked, said US Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mike Milne.  Non-US citizens who live in the US should carry proof of legal residency and their citizenship documents.  Canadians trying to enter the US without proof of their citizenship could be turned away.

***** 

A recently conducted poll has suggested that there exists widespread support for the renewal of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and for coverage of legal immigrant children, according to The Congressional Quarterly.  The poll, commissioned by child advocacy group First Focus, found public support for SCHIP renewal at 82 percent.  The poll also found 67 percent favored eliminated the current five-year waiting period for legal immigrant children.  SCHIP is not available to legal immigrants during their first five years in the country, except for those residing in states that use state funds to cover qualified legal immigrants.   

“The findings announced today confirmed what we knew over a year ago,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [D-NV], said in a statement.  “Americans support providing children with health care coverage and they understand the importance of removing the five-year waiting period.  In 2007, House Democrats dropped provisions that included eliminating the five-year waiting period from a compromise bill to renew and expand SCHIP after House Republicans charged the provisions would provide insurance coverage to undocumented immigrants. 

“In the debate of 2007, Republicans used the coverage of legal immigrant children against expanding the children’s health insurance program, said Christopher Spina, spokesperson for First Focus.  “We clearly now see a mandate among the American people.”  Spina called the poll, with 1,200 respondents conducted in November “credibly accurate.”  

The results of the First Focus poll are available at their website.

This week, the House voted overwhelmingly to expand SCHIP coverage. The Senate will take up the measure next and if it passes, newly-elected President Obama is expected to sign the bill. 

***** 

US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it has delayed the rollout of its new electronic immigrant indexing system, The Federal Times announced.  The current immigration system in place by USCIS, a paper-based system, was intended to be replaced later this year.  The agency awarded a five-year, $500 million contract to IBM last month.  Shortly after the contract, Accenture decided to protest the bid. 

The Government Accountability Office said they would hear Accenture’s protest, and intends to make a final decision on the protest by March.  “The protest is still very basic.  They haven’t really fleshed it out to any degree,” said Michael Aytes, acting deputy director at CIS.  “While it’s in protest, we’re going to use the time to develop our requirements.  The final contractor, whoever it may be, will develop a system that lets adjudicators make immigration decisions electronically, instead of paper. 

***** 

Five trade groups have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in an attempt to block a new requirement that federal contractors check the immigration status of their employees using the department’s E-Verify system, The Federal Times reports.  In documents filed in the US District Court for Maryland on Dec. 23, the groups ask the court to halt the Jan. 15 implementation of the rule and to declare the rule invalid.  The groups argue the requirement, in a June executive order, is contrary to the statute authorizing E-Verify.   

The law states that DHS “may not require any person or other entity to participate” in the program, according to court documents.  It would require federal contractors and subcontractors to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires regardless of whether those employees will perform work on a federal contract.  Existing employees assigned to government work must also be re-verified using the system.   

The five groups who filed the case are the US Chamber of Commerce, Associated Builders and Contractors, the Society for Human Resource Management, the American Council on International Personnel and the HR Policy Association.  They claim the rule is vague and will force companies to verify all employees on E-Verify to avoid potential suspension and debarment.  In addition to facing financial and time burdens, companies could be vulnerable to lawsuits by employees who feel they’ve been discriminated against, the plaintiffs say. 

DHS has now delayed until late February the roll out of the rule. 

***** 

Jose Oswaldo Sucuzhanay, a Ecuadorian who ten years ago left his country in search for the American dream in Brooklyn, was laid to rest in his native hometown of Cuenca last week, his life cut short by a hate crime, New York’s The Daily News reports.   

Sucuzhanay, 31, was walking arm-in-arm through Bushwick, NY, with his brother on Dec. 7 when he was attacked by three men spewing anti-gay and ant-Latino venom.  Sucuzhanay, heading home later that night, was smashed with a bottle, beaten with a baseball bat, and kicked by his assailants.  Five days later, he was dead.  Police were still hunting for his killers as Sucuzhanay was laid to rest.   

Jose became a success in America, working his way from waiter to real estate broker and co-owner of a Bushwick realty company.  “He wasn’t just a successful man, but also a man with a sense of solidarity,” said Jose Astudillo, an official at the National Secretariat of the Immigration in Cuenca.  “As he achieved success, he shared it with others.”  Jose sent hundreds of dollars a month back to his mother, who took care of his son and mentally handicapped daughter.  The children’s mother, Amada Rivera, was living with Jose in Brooklyn when he was murdered.  

Sucuzhanay’s funeral procession was attended by hundreds of relatives, friends, and activists.  The crowd walked with the body in a procession from the airport to his funeral home, holding candles and chanting “Yes to peace” and “No to racism.” 

One attendee, Maria Algilar, didn’t know Jose, but came because her husband, sister and brother-in-law lived in the area where Sucuzhanay was murdered.  “They are worried, and are hoping they catch the gang that did this,” she said.  “A person’s race shouldn’t matter.”  Other attendees were family members of Marcelo Lucero, another Ecuadoran immigrant murdered by a group of Long Island teenagers just four weeks before Jose’s death.  “It’s the same thing that happened to us,” said New York City resident Isabel Lucero, sister of Marcelo.  “We know how the family feels.”