News Bytes:
Despite economy, Americans don’t want farm work
The Associated Press reports that the few Americans apply for jobs harvesting fruits and vegetables in California, despite the state’s 12.5% unemployment rate. In 2010, California farmers have posted adds for 1,160 farmworker positions for U.S. citizens and legal residents, but only 233 people applied through unemployment offices in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas.
According to the Labor Department, more than half of the farmworkers in the United States are illegally present immigrants. Due to the difficulty in attracting American citizens to farmworker jobs, most farmers and ranchers utilize the H-2A Guest Worker Program to fill their positions. Philip Martin, a professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California-Davis, believes recruitment of U.S. workers is unsuccessful because employers have already identified who they want to bring from abroad and U.S. workers are not looking for a seasonal job that pays minimum wage. Others counter that wages cannot rise too much or farmers will not be able to compete with foreign food producers. Also, much higher wages could increase food prices significantly which would adversely affect Americans who spend a high proportion of their budgets on food (usually the poorest Americans).
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gCuxCWJeZYK_
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Stephen Colbert testifies before immigration subcommittee
CNN reports that comedian Stephen Colbert appeared before a House subcommittee on immigration beside United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez. Colbert discussed his experiences working alongside immigrant farm workers during the ‘Take our Jobs’ campaign, a movement launched by Rodriguez’s organization that challenged U.S. citizens to replace immigrants in farm work. The panel’s chairwoman, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who worked alongside him at the farm, praised Colbert for bringing attention to the issue. Phil B. Glaize, chairman of the U.S. Apple Association, and Carol M. Swain, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, also testified at the hearing.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/24/colbert.house.testimony/?hpt=T1
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Media moguls urge Congress to reform immigration
The Associated Press reports that Rupert Murdoch, the founder of News Corps., and Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York and founder of Bloomberg, the financial news and information service, asked a House immigration subcommittee to take action on immigration reform. Murdoch and Bloomberg lead a coalition of businesses and mayors that supports comprehensive immigration reform and advocates providing a pathway to citizenship for illegally present immigrants. Murdoch, who was born in Australia and became an American citizen in 1985, emphasized the importance of immigration reform to ‘keep American the most economically robust, creative, and freedom-loving nation in the world.’
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iEJS72HtRF_FVPoOscvKdNr-
6O5QD9IIG4I80?docId=D9IIG4I80
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Cuban exiles in Spain can come to U.S.
The Miami Herald reports that the State Department will allow former Cuban political prisoners and their relatives living in Spain to immigrate to the U.S. under the Significant Public Benefit Parole (SPBP) Program. In the past, the program has been used to allow groups fearing for their lives, such as Colombian labor activists and Iraqi civilians, to enter the U.S.
According to the State Department, the ex-prisoners’ applications will be processed on a case-by-case basis, but are expected to receive approval after an average of one month. The SPBP program will allow new arrivals to quickly receive work permits and eventually residency.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/04/1857387/released-cuban-prisoners-in-spain.html
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Lou Dobbs responds to illegal hiring allegations
The Los Angeles Times reports that during an appearance on MSNBC’s ‘The Last Word, former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs declared that neither he nor any of his companies ever hired an illegally present immigrant. Dobbs was responding to a piece in The Nation claiming that he employed at least five undocumented workers for the upkeep of his estates and the care of his daughter’s show-jumping horses. Because he has attacked individuals who employ undocumented workers throughout his career, Dobbs said he said the mainstream media latched on to the story in order tor portray him as a hypocrite.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/10/lou-dobbs-to-msnbc-i-have-never-hired-anillegal-immigrant.html
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Nevada gubernatorial candidate accused of hiring undocumented worker
KTVN News Reno (NV) reports that Ana Padilla, an immigrant from Guatemala who recently obtained her U.S. citizenship, claims to have worked for Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Sandoval before she achieved legal status. According to Ana, she cleaned the Sandoval’s home once a week for over 6 months, during which she was never asked for documentation. Ana was reacquainted with Sandoval when she saw him in a televised debate but was disappointed to learn that he does not support a path to citizenship for illegally present immigrants. The Sandoval campaign denies Ana’s accusations.
http://www.ktvn.com/Global/story.asp?S=13305531
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Hispanics have longest life expectancy
The Washington Post reports that according to a new federal report from the National Center for Health Statistics, Hispanics in the United States have an average life expectancy of 80.6 years. Whites, on the other hand, live an average of 78.1 years and African-Americans have a life expectancy of 72.9 years. There are more than 45 million Hispanics in the U.S., representing 15 percent of total U.S. population and making them the country’s largest ethnic minority.
Researchers were surprised with the findings because on average Hispanics have a lower socioeconomic status than the white population and there is a historical correlation between socioeconomic status and mortality. Some researchers theorize that Hispanics who immigrate to the U.S. tend to be healthier, with less healthy immigrants returning home. Others believe that cultural factors such as family structure and lifestyle behaviors have created a protective barrier against the burden of low socioeconomic conditions. The full report is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_02/sr02_152.pdf
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2010/10/hispanics_live_longest_embargo.html
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South Carolina town passes E-Verify legislation
NECN News (MA) reports that the town council of Summerville, SC recently approved an ordinance requiring businesses to determine the immigration status of employees by a 5-1 vote. Business could lose their license or face fines for failing to cooperate. When the ordinance was first proposed is included a measure that required landlords to determine the immigration status of potential renters, but that provision was eventually dropped.
http://www.necn.com/10/14/10/SC-town-approves-business-immigration-me/landing_politics.html?&blockID=3&apID=b0cfe09d760440ba8fdaa2177b98fb95
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Rep. Gutierrez opts not to join Chicago mayoral race
The Chicago Sun Times reports that Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) has chosen to focus on passing comprehensive immigration reform rather than run for mayor of Chicago. Gutierrez noted that in order to run for mayor, he would be forced to delay his immigration crusade to concentrate on the city’s local issues. There is some speculation that a federal investigation of Gutierrez’s lobbying on behalf of donor influenced this decision, but Gutierrez has denied such allegations.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/2804226,CST-NWS-luis15.article
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Study: Crime drops in CA as immigration increases
KPBS News (San Diego) reports that a recent study from the University of California-Berkley School of Law links an increase in immigrant population with a decrease in crime rates. The study notes that immigrants are under-represented in the California prison system compared to their representation in the state’s overall population. In addition, the study finds that counties closest to the border experience the correlation most drastically. San Diego County, for example, has seen a massive influx of immigrants over the last two decades and its violent crime rate has declined by 58 percent over the same period.
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Where_is_the_fire.pdf
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