Passport Rules May Be Scaled Back for Some
Via Yahoo.com
04/26/2006
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is facing a rebellion by northern
border-state lawmakers who want to push back deadlines requiring
passports or tamperproof ID cards from all who enter the United States.
In a bow to lawmakers whose states neighbor Canada, the Homeland Security Department is considering easing some of the rules for infrequent
border crossers. But many in Congress, backed by Canadians, say the
compromise isn’t enough, and are pushing to delay the restrictions, set
to take effect in 2008, by 18 months.
The administration may initially address part of what some in
Washington call the “Aunt Tilly” problem — occasional visitors to
Canadian border communities who might be prevented from returning to
the U.S. because they didn’t know to bring acceptable ID. The law
applies to U.S. citizens and foreign visitors alike.
“We are working on that, we’re concerned about that, and the last
thing we want to do is discourage traffic,” Jim Williams, director of a
Homeland Security Department program that monitors international travel
to the U.S., said in an interview. “We’ve got to come up with solutions
that meet people’s needs.”
Specific plans are still being worked out. Williams said the
administration was looking at issuing short-term passes, or one-day
passes, for legitimate border travelers who have neither a passport nor
the proposed “PASS” card that is being developed.
To people who repeatedly try to cross the border without the right
ID, however, “we might say, ‘Look, we won’t let you back in if you
continue to do this and not get a passport or card,'” Williams said.
“We don’t want to discourage that person’s travel, but, on the other
hand, we want to move people to where we can identify them.”
The ID rules were part of a 2004 intelligence overhaul law,
overwhelmingly approved by Congress, to tighten U.S. borders against
terrorists. They have since pitted lawmakers from border states against
those from the heartland, strained relations with Canada, and forced
Homeland Security to roll out technology and training under a deadline
that may prove too aggressive to meet.
Concerns were highlighted last week by Canadian Public Safety
Minister Stockwell Day, who questioned Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff about whether the rules would be ready.
“Obviously I raised concerns, some of the same questions that you
raised, in terms of, is it feasible?” Day told reporters in Washington.
“Those are concerns of interest, those are concerns neighbors raise
because they might be concerned about what their neighbor is doing.”
The rules are not as controversial on the nation’s southern border,
where more than 8 million Mexican and U.S. citizens carry laser visas
that let them easily travel between the two countries. Those who enter
the U.S. from Canada now need only common forms of identification, such
as a driver’s license and a birth certificate.
Critics fear the rules will dramatically reduce travel and tourism
across the northern border, damaging local economies, as visitors shy
away from the $97 cost of a passport. The PASS cards are expected to
cost half that much, and perhaps far less, said Assistant Secretary of
State Maura Harty.
Lawmakers want to delay the rules by up to 18 months to give the administration more time to allay lingering concerns.
“We all recognize the security issues. But there’s practical and
economic impacts that me and my colleagues all have been hit with, and
we’re sensitive to,” said Sen. Norm Coleman (news, bio, voting record), R-Minn.
Homeland Security “needs to tell us exactly how this is going to
work, exactly what the costs are going to be,” said Coleman, who voted
for the 2004 law mandating the border crackdown. “We don’t think we’re
at that stage.”
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (news, bio, voting record),
D-N.Y., said Homeland Security “is listening and is beginning to
understand our problem, but we’re not going to rest until there’s a
solution that solves it.”
Congress this week is holding hearings on the program — dubbed the
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative — and a bipartisan group of
senators are threatening to push for the delays in immigration
legislation that will be considered as early as next month.
Impetus for debate revives US immigration reform hopes
Via MSNBC.com
Bill Frist, the Republican majority leader,
plans to resume Senate debate on immigration reform next month,
encouraging business groups who fear that the partisan bickering that
sidetracked the legislation two weeks ago had damaged chances for the
measure.
“We
haven’t really lost the momentum,” said Angelo Amador, the director of
immigration policy at the US Chamber of Commerce. “We were afraid that
might happen with Congress away for two weeks.”
Bush, senators seek common ground on immigration
President: Bill should allow guest workers, improve security
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush met Tuesday at the White House with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss ways to overhaul immigration, a chat that earned the president kudos from two men normally among his staunchest critics.
The
discussion came as an immigration bill sits stalled in the Senate and
as Majority Leader Bill Frist prepares to bring the issue back to the
Senate floor by Memorial Day.
After the meeting, the senators
said Bush expressed support for a package that would create a
guest-worker program and would determine ways to address the status of
more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.
Former SI swimsuit model denied U.S. entry
MIAMI, Florida (AP) — Former Sports
Illustrated swimsuit model May Andersen, accused of hitting a flight
attendant on a plane from Amsterdam to Miami, was refused entry into
the U.S. on Monday, officials said.
Andersen, 23, will be
returned to the Netherlands on the next available flight, said U.S.
Customs and Border Protection spokesman Zachary Mann.
The model,
who has appeared in SI’s swimsuit edition and posed for Victoria’s
Secret, was charged with assault after allegedly becoming unruly and
violent on the flight last Thursday. She was held in the Miami-Dade
County jail and then moved to federal immigration custody.
Mann
said Andersen was seeking to enter the U.S. under the visa waiver
program, which permits some visitors to enter without visas. His agency
on Monday determined that Andersen was “inadmissible” under that
program.
The specific reasons for the denial were not provided because of federal privacy protections.
Andersen
was charged with simple battery, resisting arrest without violence and
disorderly intoxication. It was not immediately clear Monday how the
immigration decision would affect that case.
Her attorney in Miami did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Bush: Massive Deportation Not Realistic
Via Yahoo.com
04/24/2006
IRVINE, Calif. – President Bush, rebutting lawmakers advocating a law-and-order approach to immigration,
said Monday that those who are calling for massive deportation of the
estimated 11 million foreigners living illegally in the United States
are not being realistic.
“Massive deportation of the people here is not going to work,” Bush
said as a Congress divided over immigration returned from a two-week
recess. “It’s just not going to work.”
In addition to speaking here, Bush was meeting Tuesday with a bipartisan group of senators at the White House to press his case.
Bush spoke in support of a stalled Senate bill that includes
provisions that would allow for eventual citizenship to some of the
illegal immigrants already here. Some conservatives say that would
amount to amnesty.
“This is one of the really important questions Congress is going to
have to deal with,” Bush said. The president said he thought the Senate
“had an interesting approach by saying that if you’d been here for five
years or less, you’re treated one way, and five years or more, you’re
treated another.”
Standing in the center of a theater in the round-type setting with
an audience full of business people, Bush spoke sympathetically about
the plight of foreigners who risk their lives to sneak into the United
States to earn a decent wage. He said the U.S. needs a temporary guest
worker program to stop people from paying to be smuggled in the back of
a truck.
“I know this is an emotional debate,” Bush told the Orange County
Business Council. “But one thing we can’t lose site of is that we are
talking about human beings, decent human beings.”
Several hundred demonstrators from both sides of the immigration issue protested outside Bush’s speech.
More than an hour before Bush arrived, protesters from the Minuteman
Project — the volunteer border patrol group whose co-founder ran for
Congress in Orange County — were chanting “Go back to Mexico” and “God
Bless America.”
Officials: Radio host’s call to kill border crossers dangerous
The Associated Press
04/24/2006
Via KVOA
A Phoenix talk show host who suggested killing border crossers may have intensified racial tensions in the state, two officials wrote in a letter sent Friday to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin.
Brian
James, a fill-in talk show host with Phoenix AM radio station KFYI,
suggested on the air last month that a solution to the immigration
problem in Arizona would be to kill illegal immigrants as they cross
the border.“What we’ll do
is randomly pick one night every week where we will kill whoever
crosses the border,” James said in the March 8 broadcast. “Step over
there and you die. You get to decide whether it’s your lucky night or
not. I think that would be more fun.”He
said he would be “happy to sit there with my high-powered rifle and my
night scope” and kill people as the cross the border. He also suggested
that the National Guard shoot illegal immigrants and receive “$100 a
head.”In a letter to
Martin, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and U.S. Attorney Paul
Charlton called the remarks irresponsible and dangerous.
Continue reading article
Source: Frist will revive immigration bill
Proposal would increase border-security funding by $2 billion
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist will bring a stalled immigration bill back to the
Senate floor by Memorial Day, a Republican leadership aide said Friday.
In
what the aide called a “bow” to right-wing critics of the bill, the
Tennessee Republican also will propose increasing funding for border
security by $2 billion.
Frist said he would revive the bill after it stalled in the Senate earlier this month, but he gave no timetable.
Two
weeks ago, the Senate was near a compromise on increasing border
security, creating a guest-worker program and developing a system
through which illegal immigrants already in the country could gain
legal status.
Proponents of the latter called the system “earned citizenship,” while opponents decried it as “amnesty.”
The
bill was puttering, but it stalled when Senate Minority Leader Harry
Reid of Nevada objected to Frist’s decision to let GOP senators amend
the measure.
Supporters say the compromise bill has the support
of 65 to 70 senators, enough, if necessary, to overcome a filibuster by
conservatives who object to the “earned citizenship” or “amnesty”
clauses.
If the measure were to pass the Senate, it would have
to be reconciled with an immigration plan passed by the House in
December. The House version includes neither a guest-worker program nor
a legalization process.
Department of Homeland Security unveils comprehensive immigration enforcement strategy for the nation’s interior
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
PRESS RELEASE 04/20/2006
|
WASHINGTON The new interior enforcement strategy represents the second phase of The interior enforcement strategy will complement the Department’s
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said, “Illegal ICE Assistant Secretary Myers said, “This strategy lays down a Goal one: identify and remove criminal aliens, fugitives and other immigration violators
Goal two: build strong worksite enforcement and compliance programs to deter illegal employment
Goal three: uproot the criminal infrastructure that supports illegal immigration
|
|
— ICE — |
US detains 1,200 illegal migrants
Via BBC.com
US authorities have arrested almost 1,200 people in
what they say is the largest raid of its kind on migrants working
illegally in the country.
The alleged illegal immigrants worked for the same crate company and were held in nine different states.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the
raid was a warning to workers and employers “who tolerate or perpetuate
a shadow economy”.
The US Senate has been deadlocked over plans to reform immigration rules.
The Senate is due to resume its debate in a few days.
President George W Bush has proposed the introduction of
a “guest-worker” scheme – but this faces stiff opposition from some in
his own Republican party who see it as being too soft on lawbreakers.
According to the BBC’s Washington correspondent, James
Coomarasamy, the latest raid is clearly designed to counter that
impression.
BUSINESSES WARNED OF ILLEGAL LABOR CRACKDOWN
Over a thousand already arrested in largest workplace immigration raid in U.S. history
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
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WASHINGTON – Federal officials warned businesses of an expanding
crackdown on the employment of illegal immigrants Thursday as agents
completed what was called the largest workplace immigration raids in
national history, targeting a company with U.S. headquarters in Houston.
“History shows that there are large companies that operate with a
business model that relies to a significant extent on undocumented
illegal labor,” Department of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff
said. “I can tell you that we are continuing to investigate other
companies as we speak here today.”
The raids in 26 states began Wednesday, hitting 40 work sites of the
U.S. subsidiary of a Dutch company. More than a thousand workers were
arrested by Thursday, along with a few executives.
Chertoff said IFCO Systems, an industrial pallet manufacturer, had
been under investigation for more than a year, after federal agents
were tipped to what he described as a systematic plan to increase
profits by hiring and exploiting illegal workers.
The investigation began, according to an agents’ affidavit, when a
worker at an IFCO plant in New York witnessed Hispanic employees
tearing up IRS W-2 forms; he supposedly was told by a company manager
that the workers were illegal immigrants with fake Social Security
cards who would not be put on federal tax rolls.
As the case developed, agents uncovered a system of gathering
illegal workers in Houston and sending them by bus to New York to work
at an IFCO plant there, officials said.
The company said it was cooperating fully with the federal
investigation and that it hoped to “have this matter resolved as soon
as possible.”
Press Release: Statement By IFCO Systems
PRESS RELEASE
Statement By IFCO Systems
Friday April 21, 10:15 am ET
IFCO Systems today released the
following statement regarding information presented yesterday at a U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement press conference in Washington:
As it is IFCO’s policy to comply with all federal and state employment
provisions, we take the allegations made by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) very seriously and are committed to resolving this matter as
soon as possible. We are very disturbed by these allegations and have
immediately begun a thorough investigation of the facts.
The activities and attitudes outlined in the allegations are counter to
everything we stand for at IFCO. We have the highest respect for our nation’s
employment and citizenship laws and are committed to complying with them.
IFCO is the industry leader with a business model built on the
efficiencies of our logistics systems and physical network and we are deeply
committed to our employees. We are proud to offer a level of compensation and
benefits to our employees that many of our peers do not. These include
competitive wages, workers’ compensation insurance, affordable health
insurance, 401k, and various other benefits.
We are cooperating fully with ICE and other authorities including
voluntarily allowing ICE to visit many of our facilities this past Wednesday.
We are now working to understand the facts and will implement any additional
changes necessary to further improve our current procedures. So that we will
be able to move forward with confidence, we have begun an internal
investigation that will be headed by outside counsel. Pending the outcome of
our investigation, the local IFCO managers arrested yesterday have been placed
on temporary leave from the company. In cooperation with ICE, we will be
reviewing the status of our temporarily detained hourly workers across the
country on a case by case basis.
All of our facilities are in operation and we are continuing to meet all
of our customers’ needs.
Source:
IFCO Systems North America, Inc.
U.S. Issued 304, 374 Visas to Chinese
Filed at 6:18 a.m. ET
BEIJING (AP)
— Chinese citizens received the highest number of U.S. visas on record
last year as China’s economic power expanded, a U.S. Embassy official
said Friday.
The number of U.S. visas granted to Chinese had
fallen sharply with tighter security screening after the Sept. 11,
2001, terror attacks, but rebounded in the following years.
Last
year, the United States issued 304,374 nonimmigrant visas to Chinese
tourists, students and others, a 29 percent increase over 2004, said
Michael Regan, the U.S. consul general in charge of visas.
Chinese
citizens ”have more and more legitimate reasons both to travel for
business and tourism, and (as) students,” Regan said in an interview.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
U.S. Immigrant Protests Did Not Lead to Sympathy
(Angus Reid Global Scan) – 04/21/2006 – Many Americans are upset at the public
demonstrations organized by immigrants, according to a poll by Opinion
Dynamics released by Fox News. 71 per cent of respondents think it is
inappropriate for illegal immigrants to protest for changes in U.S. law.
Last
month, the Pew Hispanic Center calculated the number of undocumented
immigrants in the United States at somewhere between 11.5 million to 12
million. While California is home to most workers, Arizona, Georgia and
North Carolina have the greatest rates of increase.
On Apr.
10, protests against proposed immigration laws took place in 102
American cities. An estimated 500,000 people gathered in Dallas. Also,
an event called a “Day Without Immigrants”—meant to showcase the
importance of both legal and illegal immigrants—has been scheduled for
May 1. 47 per cent of respondents say the protests have made them less
likely to support easing immigration laws in the U.S.
In
December 2005, the House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to
make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally or to help an undocumented
person stay in the country. The proposal also calls for the
construction of a new 1,100 kilometre fence on the U.S.-Mexico border.
On
Apr. 6, several senators announced a compromise package that would
place illegal immigrants in three different groups depending on the
amount of time they have spent in the U.S. The plan, called the “roots
concept” by Republican lawmakers, would favour persons who have lived
in the U.S. for more than five years. The proposal was not ratified
before a two-week congressional break.
Polling Data
Do you think it is appropriate for immigrants who are in the United States illegally to protest for changes to U.S. law?
Yes
26%
No
71%
Don’t know
3%
Have
the immigration protests and demonstrations made you more or less
likely to support easing immigration laws in the United States?
More likely
20%
Less likely
47%
No difference
25%
Don’t know
8%
Source: Opinion Dynamics / Fox News
Methodology:
Telephone interviews with 900 registered American voters, conducted on
Apr. 18 and Apr. 19, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.