50 immigrant Chipotle workers fired in Twin Cities

FOX News Twin Cities reports that Chipotle fired around 50 workers at five different locations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area.  The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee believes that all of the fired workers are Latino and claims the firings were in response to an administrative audit by ICE that requested documents relating to the workers’ legal statuses.  

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/50-immigrant-chipotle-workers-fired

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Border Patrol agent shot to death near Arizona-Mexico border

The Associated Press reports that a shootout between border patrol agents and bandits near the Arizona-Mexico border left one American agent dead and a suspect wounded.  Brian A. Terry, 40, was killed while waiting in a remote area near the border city of Nogales for suspected bandits known for targeting illegally present immigrants.  The shooting occurred in a violent smuggling corridor near Tucson that accounts for half of the marijuana seizures along the 1,969-mile southern border.  National Border Patrol Council President T.J. Bonner and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer pointed to the shooting as evidence of ever-increasing danger along the border and the need for tougher enforcement.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-border-agent-killed,0,3579590.story

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Massachusetts to check immigration status of arrestees

The Boston Globe reports that the Massachusetts State Police will formally join Secure Communities, a controversial federal program that screens all people who are arrested and fingerprinted to determine their immigration status.  If a person is discovered to be an illegally present immigrant, that individual will be forced to report to ICE and face possible detention and deportation.  Public Safety Secretary Mary Beth Heffernan said the State Police agreed to sign up because the Obama administration has called for the system to expanded nationwide by 2013.  The Boston Police Department was a pilot for Secure Communities and already runs the program.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/12/mass_to_check_i.html

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Haitians in U.S. brace for deportations to resume

The New York Times reports that ICE will resume deportations of Haitians in mid-January for the first time since an earthquake devastated the country in January 2010.  Federal officials suspended deportations immediately after the earthquake and granted temporary protected status to Haitians living in the United States, allowing them to remain temporarily and work.  ICE officials said that the agency is deciding whom to deport in a manner ‘consistent with our domestic immigration enforcement priorities’ and plans to focus on Haitians who have been convicted of crimes.  Those Haitians who were eligible for temporary protected status will be shielded from deportation until the status expires in July.  So far, ICE has revealed that 351 Haitians are in detention.

Many Haitian immigrants and advocacy groups are concerned that the influx of deportees will be detrimental to Haiti, which has struggled with the rebuilding effort and is amid a cholera epidemic that has claimed more than 2,500 lives.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/nyregion/20haitians.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Berkley joins other California cities in opposing ICE’s Secure Communities

The San Francisco Examiner reports that Berkley joined San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Arlington in opposing Secure Communities when the Berkley City Council voted to opt-out of the program.  The City of Berkley maintains its status as a Sanctuary City and argued that the program would undercut a longstanding tradition as a city of refuge.

Civil rights advocates have expressed concern that the implementation of Secure Communities could lead to racial profiling and the separation of families.  Angela Chan of the Asian Law Caucus argued that immigrant victims of domestic violence and other crimes could be dissuaded from alerting the authorities for fear of being reported to ICE.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/blogs/under-dome/2010/12/civil-rights-groups-petition-harris-secure-communities

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52 year old who came to U.S. as a toddler to be deported

AlterNet.com reports that Mike Burrows, a 52 year old man who was born in Canada but moved to Glendale, California at the age of two when his father got a job with Capitol Records.  However, because of the 1996 Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), he faces deportation.  IIRIRA states that those in the country without proper documentation would be deported for a period of time.  Previously, criminal offenses that would have meant more than a five year prison sentence would result in immediate deportation, but under the 1996 law, even minor infractions could lead to deportation.  For Burrows, a 1978 misdemeanor for shoplifting applied IIRIRA retroactively and has led to deportation hearings.

AlterNet.com* * * * * *

100,000 travelers used pilot programs to enter the U.S.

The Los Angeles Times reports that 100,000 travelers have used the pilot program known as Global Entry to bypass long passport processing lines at U.S. international airports since 2008.  Under the program, pre-approved travelers who have undergone an extensive background check and paid a $100 five-year membership fee can use an electronic kiosk as part of the immigration and customs process.  Members can go directly to the kiosk, where they must insert a passport or resident card, provide fingerprints, and answer customs declaration questions.  They then bring a transaction receipt to a customs agent before leaving the area. 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2010/12/100000-travelers-visit-us-through-pilot-program.html
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Officials arrest Chinese ready to fly from Thailand to the U.S. on fake visas

The Associated Press reports that U.S. and Thai officials arrested 12 Chinese nationals accused of trying to fly from Bangkok to Los Angeles using fake visas.  The suspects confessed to paying a Taiwanese man $24,000 each for a forged visa.  Investigations showed that the visas bore the same numbers as authentic ones issued to Polish itizens by the U.S. Embassy of Warsaw. 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-as-thailand-chinese-arrested,0,6186059.story
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Border commissioner touts greater enforcement

The San Diego Union Tribune reports that Alan Bersin, the head of Customs and Border Protection, praised improved technology and heightened security for helping his agents detain a record percentage of illegally present immigrants last year.  He pointed to surveillance equipment, more fencing, and the doubling of Border Patrol agents in the past decades as important factors in the success. 

However, Bersin noted that there are still serious problems areas.  For example, while Border Patrol agents are apprehending 90 percent of those attempting to cross the border into the U.S., much of the cash and guns going south to Mexico is not confiscated.  Certain areas such as the border near Tucson have become trafficking hotbeds.  Bersin believes border enforcement must be part of a larger three-prong immigration plan that should also include improving the visa system and creating a path to citizenship for illegally present immigrants already in the country.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/05/border-commissioner-touts-greater-enforcement/

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