Legalization

Arizona Border Fence: In Effort to Attract Internet Donors, State Senator Russell Pearce Spews False Immigrant Crime Statistics

Published on Sat, Apr 09, 2011

Annnd... Arizona's anti-immigration campaign hurtles still further into red-state ridiculousness.

This morning, Governor Jan Brewer announced her latest, greatest battle plan in the war against illegal border-crossers: collect Internet donations to build a massive fence across the Arizona-Mexico line. (And what'll donors get in return? Why, an "I Helped Build the Arizona Wall" keepsake T-shirt, of course!)

In support, State Senator Russell Pearce squeezed in a few words of pro-fence propaganda on L.A.'s KNX news radio this morning. Here's the pile of steaming misinformation he dumped from his politickin' piehole:

Pearce claimed that illegal immigrants commit 2.5 times more violent crime than any other demographic.

He also used a Sin City analogy as a fear tactic to garner out-of-state support ("Unlike Vegas, what goes into Arizona doesn't stay in Arizona") and called the immigrant influx from Mexico an "invasion," but we'll let all that slide in the interest of clearing up this crime thing once and for all.

In response to Pearce's theory, we can almost see Wendy Sefsaf of the Immigration Policy Center roll her eyes over the phone.

She recommends we speak to the Department of Homeland Security about the fence idea (which, amusingly, cites prisoners as the perfect candidates for erecting the thing), but guesses it's "unprecedented, and probably illegal" for a state to evade federal strategy and take something so controversial into its own hands.

A Homeland Security rep will only say, "My apologies, DHS does not comment on state legislation." Ironically, President Obama is headed to the South tomorrow to push a more progressive (read: fenceless) U.S. immigration policy.

But as for the violent-crime statistic: The Immigration Policy Center released a March 2008 report that showed just the opposite, and Sefsaf says the trend has stayed consistent. An excerpt:Read more...

Published in the LA Weekly

The Green and White World of Egoitz Iturrixa Zubiri

May, 2009

The Exchange Visitor Program is proud to announce Egoitz Iturrixa Zubiri as May's Exchange Visitor of the Month. Each month, we select an exchange visitor who has made an effort to get involved in his/her community and explore American Culture. Read more...

Obama raises false hope on immigration

Published on Wed, Aug 24, 2011

If there was ever any doubt that the only thing President Obama is truly gifted at is getting people to hope for change, we need look no further than his recent announcement to review the cases of up to 300,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation.

Too bad it's false hope.

Despite initial excitement of the immigrant advocacy organizations who are fighting for nothing less than a full 1980s-style amnesty -- and the correlated anger from conservatives who believe that last week's decision to re-evaluate the existing enforcement priorities is just that -- this is not a big step in immigration policy.

This latest Obama re-election campaign stunt won't affect 97 percent of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in our country. It is causing a lot of confusion within the very communities it is supposed to assuage, and it is further alienating those who must come to the negotiating table to hammer out a compromise for our immigration quagmire.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer chimed in quickly after the news broke, denouncing this plan as a "backdoor amnesty." She and others can be forgiven for initially thinking that. At first blush it sounded as though, at the very least, 300,000 lucky souls who were close to being deported had gotten a reprieve.

Many immigration experts and advocacy organizations are urging caution. They're scrambling to tell the immigrant community to not turn themselves in to authorities or try to get themselves detained for the purposes of becoming "legal." The possibility -- and it is just a possibility -- of getting a slate cleaned is open only to the 300,000 already in the pipeline for deportation. Each case will be reviewed by a panel and, if the case is closed, legal resident status will not be granted.Read more...

Published in the Herald Extra Utah Valley News

"Arriving Aliens" and Adjustment of Status: The Impact of the Interim Rule of May 12, 2006

This Practice Advisory discusses the impact of an interim rule repealing two former regulations which barred all “arriving aliens” from adjusting status if they are in removal proceedings. This advisory provides a brief history leading to the rule, defines key terms, discusses the impact of the rule, and suggests steps that a parolee can take to benefit from the rule.

Published On: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 | Download File

Costa Rica

Slideshow:

The pilot program to launch the first outbound exchange of American Immigration Council affiliates occurred January 16 & 17, 2007 in Costa Rica. The group met with Costa Rican attorneys to discuss recent changes to the Costa Rican immigration laws, including employer sanctions on the hiring of undocumented aliens to perform low-skilled labor. It was remarkable how many similar the Costa Rican and broader Central American immigration debate currently raging in the United States. Such similarities were further emphasized during visits the group made to the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights and the Nonimmigrant Visa Section of the US Consulate in San Jose. The expatriate Costa Rica Resident’s Association added an interested perspective on retiree and permanent legal resident issues.

Breaking away from discussions focused on immigration and emigration, the group visited Volcan Paos, an active volcano at the edge of Costa Rica’s central valley. Another cultural excursion introduced participants to the last remaining water-powered traditional ox cart factory in the country. The factory is a relic of Costa Rican tradition and has been operated for many generations by the Alfaro family in Sarchi. No visit to Costa Rica could be complete without a lot excellent Central American food and a bit of rain. We packed a lot into two days and came away wishing we had more time in this incredibly beautiful and hospitable country. Read more...

Dictionary now calls 'anchor baby' offensive term

Published on Thu, Dec 08, 2011

The first new edition of the American Heritage Dictionary in 10 years contained 10,000 new entries -- and one of them in particular caused a flurry of protest among immigrant and Latino advocates.

The fifth edition of the dictionary defined the term "anchor baby" as "A child born to a noncitizen mother in a country that grants automatic citizenship to children born on its soil, especially such a child born to parents seeking to secure eventual citizenship for themselves and often other members of their family."

The original definition did not include any indication that the phrase is offensive, as it does for other words.

Immigration Impact, a group that that advocates for the rights of immigrants, first covered the word's inclusion on its blog on Dec. 2 and pressed for a change that would reflect the "poisonous and derogatory nature of the term."

After reading the post, the executive editor of the dictionary, Steve Kleinedler, agreed that the definition needed to change.

The current wording was added to the online dictionary on Monday. It flags the word as "offensive" and defines "anchor baby" as being "used as a disparaging term for a child born to a noncitizen mother in a country that grants automatic citizenship to children born on its soil, especially when the child's birthplace is thought to have been chosen in order to improve the mother's or other relatives' chances of securing eventual citizenship."

Kleinedler told Colorlines, a blog that reports on issues of race, ethnicity and social justice, that changing the word was more about accuracy than outrage.

"Personally, this was not a reaction that we have to fix it because people are angry," Kleinedler told Colorlines. "We fixed it because we were wrong. And I, as the executive editor, acknowledge the fact that this was an error and I take responsibility for that."Read more...

Published in the CNN

Litigation Clearinghouse Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 14

This issue covers the Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in an immigration case involving whether a second drug possession offense is an aggravated felony, a new LAC resource on motions to suppress, favorable court of appeals’ decisions on detention and crimes of violence, and res judicata in removal proceedings.

Published On: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 | Download File

Multimedia Contest for 14-25 Year Olds Launched!

The Council Invites 14-25 Year Olds to Enter the 2012 “Change in Motion” Multimedia Contest

The American Immigration Council is pleased to announce a call for submissions to the 2012 “Change in Motion” Multimedia Contest.

The competition challenges today’s young adults to explore the role that immigration plays in their lives and communities through video and other multimedia projects.

Projects should focus on celebrating America as a nation of immigrants as well as the immigration's impact on our everyday lives.

There are first ($1,000), second ($500) and third place ($250) prizes.

The deadline is 11:59 EST, October 31, 2012.

For more information on eligibility requirements, application procedures and contest guidelines visit our Multimedia Contest Page.

Program that IDs jailed illegal immigrants sought for deportation gets high marks

Published on Mon, Feb 22, 2010

For nearly a year, Fairfax County's Adult Detention Center has quietly helped pilot a far-reaching program designed to identify criminal illegal immigrants and assist the federal government in removing them from the United States.

Published in the Washington Post

Immigration reform needs to happen immediately

Published on Mon, Apr 12, 2010

Immigration reform needs to happen immediately. For too long, too many have lived under fear of deportation, their families being separated, and employers increasing hours while decreasing wages. There have been studies that suggest that an immigration bill will not only help immigrant families and communities, but the country as a whole.

Published in the Chicago Flame