The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently rejected collateral challenges attempting to reopen the 1997 denaturalization order issued against Algimantas Dailide. Dailide, 82, was denaturalized for being a member of the Lithuanian Saugumas during World War II. The Saugumas, also known as the Lithuanian Security Police, cooperated with the Nazis in arresting, detaining, and executing Jews. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio revoked Dailide’s citizenship on January 29, 1997 , and the Sixth Circuit affirmed this decision in 2000. Subsequently, Immigration Judge Mahlon F. Hanson ordered that Dailide be removed from the United States on May 22, 2002 . Immigration Judge Hanson’s removal order is currently on appeal.

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A newly elected member of the Kansas State Board of Education says that she has received threats because of her outspokenness on whether undocumented children should be educated by the state. Connie Morris won her seat on the board after campaigning on a platform that included not allowing undocumented children to attend public schools.

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A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors a reduction in current levels of immigration, shows that despite numerous efforts, support for Republican politicians remains slim among Hispanics in the US . The report, which is based on polls taken on Election Day last November, shows that Hispanic turnout was down from the 2000 election, and that one-third of Hispanics voted for Republican Senate candidates, which is similar to prior years. Perhaps the most important finding of the study is that there is no monolithic Hispanic voting bloc, and that, when adjusted for income and education levels, they tend to vote in the same patterns as the general population.

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Two former managers at Tyson Foods, Inc. recently pled guilty to charges of conspiring to smuggle undocumented immigrants from Mexico to work at production facilities in the US . The pleas came only three weeks before three other managers and the company itself are scheduled to face trial on the same charges. A spokesperson for the company, which is the largest poultry producer in the country, said that the guilty pleas will no change the company’s position, which is that it was not engaged in any illegal activities.

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The Social Security Administration is researching a plan that would extend Social Security benefits to Mexican immigrants who have worked in the US . Under the plan, some immigrants who have not worked the ten years in the US required to obtain benefits would be allowed to use employment in Mexico , and it would be made easier for survivors to qualify for benefits. The US has similar agreements with 20 other countries, which have added about 100,000 Social Security beneficiaries. An estimated 40,000 Mexicans could benefit from such an agreement in the first year.

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Two Indian men arrested on an Amtrak train in Texas on September 12th, 2001 and initially believed to be accomplices of the hijackers have now been deported. Officials claimed they found the two in possession of box cutters, hair dye and more than $7,000 cash. After officials realized that the pair were simply petty criminals who had overstayed their visas, there was little left to do but deport them. The men dispute the government’s claim that they were carrying box cutters and cash, and say the only reason they were arrested is because they are Muslim. They were detained for more than a year, and claim that they were verbally and physically abused while in custody.

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Legal aid groups report that the number of immigration scams in South Florida is exploding as more and more people take advantage of tough new immigration rules. They often prey on people’s hopes, promising they can help in a situation where an immigration lawyer would have only bad news. The groups say the state needs to be more active in punishing this activity, adding that because the clients often do not speak English, or are unsure of their immigration status, they are hesitant to go to authorities.

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This week the Mexican government began presenting its case that the US should not execute Mexican citizens to the International Court of Justice. The Mexican government claims that 51 Mexican citizens currently on death rows in the US were not properly informed of their right to seek help from their consulate, a right secured by the United Nations’ Vienna Convention. Before the Court considers the merits of the case, which could take years, Mexico is seeking an injunction to forbid the US from executing any Mexican citizens. Lawyers from the US argued that any injunction would interfere with the country’s ability to enforce its criminal laws.

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As part of Super Bowl security, the INS instituted Operation Game Day, a workplace enforcement action targeted at security guards and transportation workers in San Diego . At least 80 people have been arrested, primarily either for working without authorization or for having committed a deportable criminal offense. None of those arrested is believed to have any terrorist connections.

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In 2000, Congress created a new nonimmigrant visa category for victims of immigrant smuggling rings who are willing to help the government prosecute the smugglers. This visa, the T visa, was expected to be well used, as Congress authorized up to 5,000 to be issued each year. Only 18 were issued during fiscal year 2002.

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An INS attorney has filed suit against Attorney General John Ashcroft, claiming that she was singled out for retaliation for revealing an internal memo discussing the asylum case filed on behalf of Elian Gonzalez. Diana Alvarez filed her complaint earlier this month, alleging that her supervisor gave her negative performance reviews because of her support for granting the boy asylum and repeatedly made negative comments about Cuba-Americans. She also claims to have been retaliated against for testifying on behalf of another employee at the Miami office who claimed to have been the victim of anti Cuban bias. That case was settled last September.

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The Census Bureau announced this week that Hispanics have passed blacks as the country’s most numerous minority population group. As of July 2001, there were 37 million Hispanics living in the US (13 percent of the total population), and 36.1 million blacks (12.7 percent of the population). It has long been assumed that the Hispanic population would outnumber the black population because of higher birth and immigration rates, and the data show that this trend will grow stronger over the next decades.

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A woman from Ghana who applied for asylum in the US , claiming that she would be subject to female genital mutilation as the queen mother of her tribe has been convicted by a federal court of perjury and passport fraud. The woman, who’s real name is Regina Danson, claimed to be Adelaide Abankwah, and won asylum in 1999, in a decision that was hailed as a step forward in asylum law. While pursuing the asylum claim, INS officials remained skeptical, and after a federal court granted asylum, had enough evidence to support prosecution for fraud.

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Natives of El Salvador living abroad sent nearly two billion dollars home during 2002, most of which came from the US . The amount was up about $25 million from 2001, and accounted for 13.6 percent of El Salvador ’s gross domestic product.

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A recent report from NAFSA, the primary organization of foreign student advisors, says that the US needs to do more to attract foreign students to US schools. The study was commissioned before the 2001 terrorist attacks, but does spend time discussing their impact. While the US remains the most popular destination for study outside of a person’s home country, over the past 20 years the US ’s share of the foreign student population has dropped from 40 to 30 percent. According to the report, the US needs to stop relying on the idea that international students will always want to come to the US , and needs to develop a comprehensive strategy of recruiting foreign students. Among the suggestions is the development of a website that would be a clearinghouse for information about studying in the US .

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Two members of the House of Representatives have called on Attorney General John Ashcroft to not deport 275 Korean immigrants who claim to have been victims of an immigration scam. Reps. Mike Honda and Zoe Lofgren, both Democrats from near San Jose, California, say that deporting the immigrants, who thought that they held valid green cards, without providing them an opportunity to show they deserve to remain in the US would be unfair. The immigrants had hired consultants who bribed an INS employee to issue the green cards. Most of the immigrants are professional who were eligible to obtain green cards.

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INS officials this week arrested eleven workers at a naval base in Florida who were working without INS authorization. Dozens others are wanted on the same offense. None of the workers was employed directly by the US Navy, but rather worked for a contractor.

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Federal officials announced this week that they were suspending a pilot program in which the federal building in San Francisco accepted Mexican matricula consular cards as evidence of identity. A growing number of banks and cities have agreed to accept the cards, which the government says it now has questions about. Those opposed to the use of the card say that it makes it too easy for undocumented immigrants to obtain services and status in the US .

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In a recent decision, a federal court certified a class action lawsuit against the INS regarding its processing of adjustment of status applications filed by people who have been granted asylum. There is an annual limit of 10,000 asylees who can be granted adjustment, but even with this limit the INS has more than 20,000 pending cases that should have been approved by now.