Immigration group warns Romney on Lamar Smith Endorsement
The Houston Chronicle reports that America’s Voice, a leading immigrant advocacy group, warned Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney that his endorsement by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), author of several immigration bills, could later haunt his White House aspirations in a general election. Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, noted that Romney’s recent endorsements hurt his projected image as the Republican Party’s best candidate for the general election. “Romney’s recent endorsements seem calculated to alienate Latinos and shrink the number of potential battleground states…” Sharry said. America’s Voice has called Smith an “anti-immigrant ringleader” in the past.
http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/10/immigration-group-warns-romney-on-smith-endorsement/
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Thousands of Families Split by U.S. Immigration Efforts
Agence France Presse reports that a study by the activist Applied Research Center (ARC) found at least 5,100 children currently living in foster care because their parents have been detained or deported. The report highlights the problems faced by children as the U.S. government steps up efforts to expel illegally present immigrants in order to raise support for immigration reform. “Detaining and deporting parents shatter families and endanger the children left behind,” the report said. “Our research found time and again that families are being left out of decision-making when it comes to the care and custody of their children,” said Seth Freed Wessler, author of the “Shattered Families” report.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jD3BsGpdhWy9QrRzUZq00Z1RyhYA?docId=CNG.b1ecd2f45c2af3823a72fc1471df02dc.161
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ACIP Commends USCIS Action Streamlining L-1 Visa Application Process
The American Council on International Personnel (ACIP) applauded U.S. Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) for their administrative action to create a more efficient and predictable L-1 visa process by allowing employers to bundle their visa petitions. ACIP noted that while the decision to allow bundled petitions is crucial, more needs to be done to ensure that the L-1 visa system works for the needs of the U.S. economy. ACIP Executive Director Lynn Shotwell promised to continue working with USCIS and all stakeholders to further improve the L-1 visa system.
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Alabama to DOJ: Show Legal Authority for Enrollment Request
The Montgomery Advertiser (AL) reports that in the wake of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) suit against Alabama’s new immigration law, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez sent out letters to school systems requesting information on nine topics addressing enrollment, enrollment practices and absences. Perez noted in the letter that the new immigration law, which includes a provision requiring school districts to collect information on enrolling students’ immigration status, “may chill or discourage participation” in school activities. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange wrote the Justice Department asking it to show where it has the power to “demand the information or compel its production.” “Otherwise, I will assume you have none, and will proceed accordingly,” he wrote.
The Justice Department responded to Strange’s rebuff with a letter asserting that federal civil rights lawyers have the authority to investigate Alabama schools for discrimination based on immigration status -- and will continue to do so. Larry Craven, Alabama’s interim state superintendent of education, said in a statement that they would “permit the parties to resolve their outstanding issues” before making a response to the DOJ’s request.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20111103/NEWS02/111030322/AG-DOJ-Show-legal-authority-enrollment-request-?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cs
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Alabama Governor Open to Immigration Law Changes
The Montgomery Advertiser (AL) reports that Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley called for simplifying some elements of the state’s strict new immigration law. Bentley, speaking to the Birmingham Business Alliance, did not have specifics on what would be changed but asserted that the central parts of the bill would not be affected. Republican State Sen. Scott Beason, one of the sponsors of the immigration law, said Gov. Bentley was interested only in “simple housekeeping [changes] for clarity.” Jay Reed, director of the Alabama chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, said he was “excited” by Bentley’s remarks, and hoped the state would revisit and clarify sections of the law dealing with businesses hiring undocumented immigrants to allow easier compliance. Beason echoed this sentiment, saying any changes would be tweaks “to make it perfectly clear to know what exactly they have to do.”
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20111108/NEWS02/111080302/Bentley-open-immigration-law-changes
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Birmingham School Board to Oppose Immigration Law
The Associated Press reports that members of the Birmingham Board of Education said the board will pass a resolution condemning the state’s tough immigration law. The board members said the new law is hurting students and they aim to send a clear message to lawmakers that Birmingham schools oppose the immigration measure.
http://www.wdef.com/news/state/story/Birmingham-school-board-to-oppose-immigration-law/yxwym_YrlUWh3saWIN5tQw.cspx
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Obama Condemns Alabama Immigration Law
The San Diego Union Tribune reports that President Barack Obama weighed in on Alabama’s controversial immigration law before Latino media, telling them “it’s a bad law.” The President condemned the law as “anti-immigrant” and went on to say that he felt “it doesn’t match our essential values as a country.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/11/obama-condemns-alabama-immigration-law/
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Perry Endorses Work Visas for Illegally Present Immigrants
The Associated Press reports that Texas Gov. Rick Perry proposed the federal government should extend work visas allowing illegally present immigrants to move freely between the U.S. and their home countries- but stressed that he opposes a path to citizenship. Perry said in an interview with CNN’s John King that expectations that U.S. authorities are going to arrest and deport up to 15 million illegally present immigrants aren’t realistic. Perry didn’t elaborate on what such a visa plan would look like, saying only that authorities need to determine a better way to identify illegally present immigrants and make them part of mainstream society. He also said the program would only work if the federal government first does a better job securing America’s borders through existing fencing, more border agents, and air surveillance.
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DHS Extends Temporary Protected Status for Hondurans and Nicaraguans
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano extended the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Honduras and Nicaragua for 18 months. The extension is effective Jan. 6, 2012, and will continue through July 5, 2013. TPS is a temporary immigration status granted to nationals of designated countries as part of the US Immigration Act of 1990. During the period for which a country has been designated under the TPS program, the registrants are allowed to remain in the United States and obtain work authorization and may not be deported unless they commit certain crimes. TPS does not lead to permanent residence status in the US.
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Education Secretary Praises Push to Help Immigrant Students
The Associated Press reports that Education Secretary Arne Duncan said he’s encouraged that some states are allowing the children of illegally present immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public colleges. Duncan said some of the children of illegally present immigrants came to the United States when they were infants. He said the United States is their home, where they’ve worked hard in school and taken on leadership roles. “They are either going to be taxpayers and productive citizens and entrepreneurs and innovators or they are going to be on the sidelines and a drag on the economy,” Duncan said in an interview with The Associated Press.
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Survey Says Arizonans Would Favor Path to Citizenship
KTAR News (AZ) reports that a survey conducted by Arizona State University found that 78 percent of people surveyed across the state of Arizona favored allowing undocumented longtime residents to be able to become United States citizens if certain criteria were met. According to the poll’s findings Arizonans would support the measure if the immigrants pay a fine, pass a criminal background check here and their nation of origin, get a taxpayer I.D. number and demonstrate they can speak English.
http://ktar.com/category/local-news-articles/20111110/Survey-says-Arizonans-would-favor-path-to-citizenship/
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USCIS Invites Comments on a Draft Memorandum on the EB-5 Program
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas invited all stakeholders to review and comment on a draft memorandum on the EB-5 program. To review this memorandum and provide comments, visit the Feedback Opportunities section of the USCIS website.
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U.S. Limits Troubled Visa Program
The Associated Press reports that the State Department is capping the J-1 summer work and travel program, a popular exchange program for foreign college students, over persistent problems and complaints about widespread abuses. The agency published new rules that limit the number of future participants to 2011’s level and put a moratorium on new businesses becoming program sponsors. For years, the initiative has faced major problems with employers and third-party labor brokers abusing the system. This past summer, the State Department enacted stronger J-1 visa rules but complaints remained high, forcing the government to make further changes to correct the issues.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/07/ap-newsbreak-us-limits-troubled-visa-program/
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Half as Many Entrants Play Green-Card Lottery
The Wall Street Journal reports that eight million people tried to win a green card in the latest U.S. diversity-visa lottery, the State Department said, compared with a record 15 million last year. A State Department spokeswoman attributed the drop in entries this year to the fact that Bangladeshis, for many years the most numerous applicants, weren’t eligible to participate. Bangladesh is no longer classified as a low-immigration country to the U.S. which disqualifies it from the diversity-visa lottery which offers a quick path to permanent U.S. residence for 50,000 people each year selected randomly from countries that send few immigrants to the U.S.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577030370327874672.html
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Arizona Upset Winner Calls for a Kinder, Gentler Tone on Immigration
Fox News Latino reports that Arizona State Senator-elect Jerry Lewis held a telephone press conference to call for a gentler approach to addressing illegal immigration. Lewis defeated Russell Pearce, author of Arizona’s tough immigration law that spawned similar bills in states across the nation, in Arizona’s first recall election for a state legislator. Lewis and other Republicans who participated in the press conference said they hoped other Republicans viewed Pearce’s defeat as a rejection of harsh immigration policies. They said they wanted to provide an alternative image of Republicans on the issue of immigration, one that embraced both enforcement and compassion. “We need to allow people who are here a pathway to square themselves with the law,” Lewis said in response to a question from Fox News Latino.
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