6. News Bytes:

Indiana House passes watered-down immigration bill

The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that the Indiana House passed a bill that would revoke some state tax credits for businesses that hire illegally present immigrants.  The original measure that had cleared the Senate included an Arizona-style provision that would have allowed police to ask people for proof of immigration status if they were suspected of being illegally present immigrants. 

http://www.ibj.com/indiana-house-oks-watereddown-immigration-bill/PARAMS/article/26741

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Alabama Senate passes immigration bill

The Birmingham News reports that the Alabama Senate passed an Arizona-style immigration bill that would allow law enforcement to detain people they suspect of being illegally present immigrants.  The Alabama House passed a similar bill, but with a few key differences that include a provision requiring businesses with more than 25 employees to use the federal database E-Verify to check the immigration status of workers.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/04/alabama_senate_passes_immigrat.html

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Army, Navy add citizenship option to boot camp

The Associated Press reports that the Army and Navy are implementing a citizenship program for recruits in basic training.  Citing the need for specialists and language skills in wartime, both military branches will change the no-visitor policy during boot camp to allow federal immigration officers to access the recruits.  Military officers stressed that the military route will not offer a short-cut for foreigners to gain U.S. citizenship, noting that only legal immigrants can apply and must complete five years of honorable service.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110421/ap_on_re_us/us_military_new_citizens

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Congresswoman wants investigation of Secure Communities

The Los Angeles Times reports that Rep. Lofgren (D-CA) called for an investigation into claims by federal immigration officials that counties and states had the right to opt out of the Secure Communities program.  Several California counties have asked that their fingerprint data not be sent to ICE as part of the program, but have been told they have no say in the matter.  However, Rep. Lofgren received letters in September 2010 from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich asserting that officials could opt out of the program. Secure Communities was launched in 2008 and uses fingerprint data to target immigrants with a criminal record. 

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General launched an investigation of the program to ‘determine the extent to which ICE uses the program to identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens from the United States.’  The investigation will also examine ‘the accuracy of ICE’s data collection.’

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/23/local/la-me-immig-jails-20110423

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-secure-communities-20110519,0,3087175.story

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Atlanta asks for reconsideration of immigration bill

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that despite pressure from the Atlanta City Council not to sign House Bill 87, Governor Nathan Deal has signed the controversial Arizona-like legislation.  Council members are concerned that conventions and organizations may begin to boycott the city, causing a serious financial blow to the city’s multi-billion-dollar tourism business.  The bill will set up new requirements for Georgia businesses to use E-verify to make sure they are not hiring illegally present immigrants and will also allow law enforcement to check the immigration status of certain suspects.

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/atlanta-asks-for-reconsideration-916627.html

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Colorado House panel rejects tuition break for illegally present immigrants

Fox News Latino reports that a Colorado House committee rejected legislation that would have allowed illegally present immigrants to attend college at in-state tuition rates.  Similar measures to grant undocumented immigrants lower tuition rates had failed to pass on four previous attempts.  Supporters of the legislation argued that allowing more students the opportunity to attend college would be an economic boost for the state’s future.  Eleven other states have passed laws granting in-state tuition to illegally present immigrants, including Kansas, Texas, California, and Illinois.

FoxNews.com
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U.S. lawmaker seeks probe into Infosys’ visa norm violations

Silicon India reports that Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) called for a probe into allegations that the Indian IT company Infosys was using the U.S. B-1 business visitor visa program to circumvent the cap and prevailing wage requirements of the H-1B program.  In letters to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Senator Grassley referenced a formal complaint against Infosys alleging that the company was importing foreign workers as B-1 business visitors under the guise of attending meetings rather than working for a wage. 

SiliconIndia.com
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Illinois Senate OKs Dream Act for immigrants’ kids

The Chicago Sun Times reports that the Illinois Senate passed the Illinois Dream Act, which would establish a state commission to dole out privately funded scholarships to children of illegally present immigrants.  The measure would also allow illegally present immigrants ages 18 to 29 with taxpayer-identification cards to invest in the state’s Bright Start and College Illinois program.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/poltiics/5190575-418/state-senate-oks-dream-act-for-immigrants-kids.html

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