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December 2008
Immigrant advocates rave about Solis as Labor secretary
Several immigrant advocate groups are praising President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for Labor secretary — Rep. Hilda Solis, a California Democrat.
“In nominating a leader as skilled and dedicated as Rep. Solis to this important office, President-elect Obama is sending the clear signal that American workers, regardless of their country of birth, are a valued part of America’s future and a top priority for his administration,” he said.
Another group, Farmworker Justice, said Solis “is an excellent choice for Labor secretary and has long been a supporter of worker rights, including those of farmworkers.”
Read more about Solis here.
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Chertoff: “We’ve arrested a record number of illegal aliens”
In a year-end address, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the administration has “arrested a record number of illegal aliens, including more than 11,000 gang members and 34,000 fugitives.”
Chertoff also said he regretted that Congress did not pass “comprehensive immigration reform” which “was the most balanced approach to border security, and also what we need economically and from a humanitarian standpoint.”
Chertoff was heavily involved in negotiations on Capitol Hill on a broad measure that would have given illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship and created a guest worker program. The measure failed in the Senate.
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Task force: U.S. needs Americanization plan
The United States must embark on an aggressive effort to integrate immigrants, including teaching them English and US. history, a federal task force recommended Thursday.
If this “Americanization” fails, the nation could see major problems in 20 or 30 years, with foreign-born populations detached from the larger society and engaging in anti-social behavior, said Alfonso Aguilar, who heads the U.S. Office of Citizenship.
Aguilar compared the potential strife to what is occurring in some Western European countries where foreign-born populations do not feel part of the larger society and are not accepted by many as full citizens.
“We should not be naive and assume that the assimilation process is going to happen automatically,” Aguilar said, at a press conference.
The task force recommends that the federal government take a leadership role in an “Americanization movement,” but also says that states, local governments, non-profit groups and the private sector should play a key part.
The report strongly emphasizes that immigrants must learn English in order to fully integrate into American society.
Aguilar said that immigrants currently want to learn English but that many cannot find classes.
He said the report is not recommending “an ugly, English-only approach,” but “a friendly, pro-active literary effort.”
Read the report here.
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Homeland Security touts record on border, immigration
The Department of Homeland Security on Thrusday released a fact sheet of “End of Year Accomplisments.” It includes:
— Customs and Border Protection (CBP) increased the size of its work force last year from 46,473 to 51,533 by adding officers, agents and agriculture specialists.
— CBP has doubled the size of the Border Patrol from about 9,000 in 2001 to more than 18,000 as of Nov. 21, 2008.
— CBP has constructed more than 520 miles of vehicle and pedestrian fencing along the Southern Border, including about 93 miles in Fiscal Year 2008. The agency is building toward a total of roughly 670 miles of fencing.
— Since January 2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed or returned more than 323,000 illegal immigrants from the United States, about a 20 percent increase over the previous year.
— ICE dramatically increased penalties against employers whose hiring processes violate the law, securing fines and judgments totaling in the millions, as well as jail time for the most egregious offenders.
See the full release here.
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Federal task force to recommend “immigrant integration”
A federal task force that has been studying immigrants and assimilation for two years will release a final report Thursday.
The document is titled: “Building an Americanization Movement for the Twenty-first Century.”
In a press release, the Task Force on New Americans says that one of the recommendations will be to “strengthen immigrant integration into American civic culture.”
It also says that “successful integration involves a message of inclusion that emphasizes American civic principles and welcomes people from all backgrounds to fully become American.”
The task force was formed as part of a Bush Administration effort to promote citizenship.
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Mexico sets up call help-line for illegal immigrants
The Mexican government has opened a special call center in Arizona to help Mexicans caught up in a U.S. crackdown on illegal immigration, the Reuters news agency reported Tuesday.
According to the story, the center is available 24-hours-a-day to field complaints from Mexican nationals about their treatment in the border state, where as many as half a million illegal immigrants live and work in the shadows.
“We want to offer a human voice at the other end of the line, so they can feel protected and know that someone is here for them,” Alejandro Ramos, head of the Mexican Consulate’s Department of Protection, told Reuters.
Read the story here.
