New York, March 2006
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100,000 March in Favor of Immigrant Rights
 CHICAGO, IL
- Hoisting American flags into the air, tens of thousands of
immigrants
from the Chicago area marched downtown in a display of support for immigrant
rights as a bill to stiffen border enforcement awaits action in the U.S. Senate.
Many took up enthusiastic chants like "Si, se puede (Yes, it can be done)" and
"La raza unida nunca sera vencida (A people united will never be defeated)." The
mostly Latino marchers Friday descended upon the plaza across from the federal
courthouse, where they listened to speeches backing pro-immigrant legislation.
"Raise those American flags!" shouted U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (news, bio,
voting record), a Democrat. "This is our country, and this is where we will
stay." Police estimated that more than 100,000 marchers came from all over the
Chicago area, many carrying — or wearing — Mexican and American flags. The
protest was spirited, but peaceful, and there were no reported arrests or
incidents.
The legislation, already passed by the U.S. House, is billed as a border
protection, anti-terrorism and illegal immigration control act. It includes such
measures as enlisting military and local law enforcement help in stopping
illegal entrants and authorizes the building of a fence along parts of the
U.S.-Mexico border. Gov. Rod Blagojevich addressed the crowd in Spanish, telling
them he is the son of immigrant parents and understands their issues. The
Democrat's proclamation that "ustedes no son criminales. Ustedes son
trabajadores" ("You are not criminals. You are workers") brought loud cheers.
Source: Associated Press
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Immigration Proposals Include Arizona Fence
 PHOENIX, AZ
- The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved proposals to erect double-
and triple-layered fencing near Arizona border cities and to sharply boost the
number of agents working along the Mexican border as lawmakers worked to
overhaul U.S. immigration policy. While those measures received wide bipartisan
support, the panel has yet to deal with contentious issues such as whether to
create a guest-worker program, whether to make being in the U.S. illegally a
criminal offense and whether some immigration enforcement laws should be applied
retroactively. The House produced immigration legislation in December that
concentrated on enforcement, tough penalties for immigration infractions and new
security measures. Thursday's hearing indicated that the Senate was thinking
along the same lines. But in a reflection of the debate's complexity, after the
hearing senators were unable to agree on how many Border Patrol agents they had
decided to add every year or for how many years the increases would continue.
Judiciary Committee staffers said the lawmakers were awaiting transcripts of
Thursday's meeting to see what had been settled. "The general agreement is that
there was an increase in agents, over 10,000," said committee spokesman Blain Rethmeier. The Border Patrol currently has more than 11,000 agents.
Source: LA Times
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Feds may soon check all workers' IDs
 NEW YORK, NY
- Congress is headed toward approving a plan that would require employers to
check every worker's Social Security number or immigration work permit against a
new federal computer database. Critics see the move - aimed at stemming
illegal
immigration - as the beginning of a government information stockpile that could
be used to track U.S. residents. "We're getting closer and closer to a national
ID card," says Tim Sparapani, legislative counsel for the American Civil
Liberties Union. The goal is to make sure everyone working in the USA is doing
so legally. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which handles immigration, begins
drafting its version of the bill today. The House bill passed in December. The
bills would require that a pilot program now used by 5,000 employers to check
the legal status of job applicants be made mandatory. President Bush's 2007
budget includes $135 million to start expanding the verification system
nationwide. Proponents say new tools are needed to curb
illegal immigration.
There are now an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the USA. "If we're
going to have any means of controlling our borders, you have to have a
tamper-proof Social Security card and verification at the time of employment,"
says Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif. Rep. Ken Calvert (news, bio, voting record), R-Calif.,
says "this is not a national ID system." But several bills authorize studies of
"tamper proof" Social Security cards or their issuance. The cards would include
some biometric data and would be harder to counterfeit.
Source: USA Today |
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Immigration bill would add visas for tech workers
 WASHINGTON, DC
- Buried in the Senate's giant immigration bill -- hardly noticed amid a fierce
debate over a guest-worker program for unskilled laborers -- are provisions that
would open the country's doors to highly skilled immigrants for science, math,
technology and engineering jobs. The provisions were sought by Silicon Valley
tech companies and enjoy significant bipartisan support amid concern that the
United States might lose its lead in technology. They would broaden avenues to
legal immigration for foreign tech workers and would put those with advanced
degrees on an automatic path to permanent residence should they want it. The
measures include nearly doubling the number of H-1B skilled-worker temporary
visas to 115,000 -- with an option of raising the cap 20 percent more each year.
H-1B visas were highly controversial in the Bay Area when their numbers reached
a peak of 195,000 in 2003.
UNITED STATES H-1B WORK
VISA
APPLICATION KIT: $54.95 |
 |
Congress had increased the visas during the late 1990s dot-com boom, when
Silicon Valley complained of tech-worker shortages, although native-born
engineers complained that their wages were undermined by cheap labor from India
and China. With the tech crash and the revelation that some of the Sept. 11,
2001, hijackers had entered the country on student visas, the political climate
for foreign workers darkened, and Congress quietly allowed the number of
H-1B
visas to plummet back to 65,000 a year. The cap was reached in August -- in
effect turning off the tap of the visas for 14 months. A special exemption of
20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees was reached in January.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle |
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Poll Shows More Support for Illegal Immigrants
 LOS ANGELES, CA
- Survey reports 47% of Californians believe such residents have a "favorable
impact." The majority of Californians support a guest-worker program for
illegal
immigrants and do not believe that they are taking jobs from the state's
residents, according to a statewide poll released Thursday. In addition, those
surveyed hold a more positive view of illegal immigrants than in previous years,
the nonpartisan Field Poll reported. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed last
month believe that undocumented immigrants are having a "favorable impact" on
the state, compared to 19% in 1982. Voters and nonvoters, however, hold
dramatically different views on the subject. About 36% of voters believe
illegal
immigrants have a favorable impact on the state, compared to 64% of nonvoters.
The poll comes a week after the U.S. Senate began debating a series of
immigration reforms. The House passed legislation in December that emphasized
employer sanctions and tighter enforcement along the border. The Republican
Party also has endorsed a guest-worker program, which President Bush has said
needs to be a central part of immigration reform. The Field Poll reported that
65% of people surveyed last month said they supported a temporary worker
program, which would provide legal status for undocumented laborers. Seventy
percent said they believed that illegal immigrants are generally doing jobs
others don't want. Poll Director Mark DiCamillo said Thursday's poll results
reflect the increasing population of noncitizens in the state. "The demographics
of California now are very different than the demographics of California 20
years ago," DiCamillo said. California's improving economy and low unemployment
also were factors in the survey results, he said.
Source: LA Times |
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