Arizona Immigration Law Survives Ruling

New York Times: By Fernanda Santos. TUCSON — A decision by a federal judge on Wednesday paved the way for the most controversial section of Arizona’s sweeping immigration legislation, requiring the authorities to verify the status of people who they suspect are in the country illegally, to finally take effect.

In denying a request by a coalition of civil rights groups to bar the provision, commonly referred to as “show me your papers,” Judge Susan Bolton of United States District Court in Phoenix adopted the same wait-and-see approach suggested by the Supreme Court in June, saying that the measure could be challenged “as interpreted and applied after it goes into effect.” Read more.

Young Immigrants, in America Illegally, Line Up for Reprieve

NY Times: Julia Preston. LOS ANGELES — With their expectations soaring, young illegal immigrants across the country are preparing to apply for a temporary reprieve from deportation that the Obama administration is offering. For the first time, as many as 1.7 million of them could be allowed to work legally and live openly in this country without fear of being expelled.

The program is President Obama’s most ambitious immigration initiative by far, a sweeping exercise of executive authority after Congress failed to pass the Dream Act, legislation he supported that would have given legal status to the young immigrants. It is a major bid by Mr. Obama to win back Latino voters who were souring on him after his administration deported nearly 1.2 million immigrants, most of them Latinos, in the last three years. Read more.

US border guards found guilty of people-smuggling

BBC: Two former officers of the US Border Patrol have been found guilty of using their position to smuggle hundreds of illegal immigrants across the border from Mexico for personal gain.

Raul Villarreal and his brother, Fidel, were also convicted of accepting bribes and conspiring to launder money.

Before the case, Raul Villarreal often appeared as a high-profile spokesman for the US Border Patrol agency. Read more.

Grand jury probing death hears from witness to stun-gun shooting by US border officials

AP: SAN DIEGO — A man who saw an illegal immigrant from Mexico get shot with a stun gun by U.S. border authorities said he testified Thursday to a federal grand jury amid signs that prosecutors are considering criminal charges in the immigrant’s death after more than two years of silence on the politically charged case. Read more.

Casting ballots on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border

Of the 45,000 Mexicans registered to vote from the United States for the Mexican presidential elections, a small percentage of the estimated 11 million, several share their concerns for both Mexico's future and for their own presence and that of illegal immigrants in the United States. 

CNN: Carlos Coria-Sanchez remembers the frantic phone calls and the fear in his family members' voices. His nephew had been kidnapped just outside Mexico City. Men wearing police uniforms held him hostage, robbed him and released him five hours later.

Coria-Sanchez also remembers the looks on the faces of dozens of children -- his own included -- as they waited outside a North Carolina courtroom while a judge weighed whether to deport their soccer coach.

These distinct moments in the 52-year-old professor's life have little to do with campaign signs or exit polls. But they are fresh in his mind as he prepares to cast ballots in two elections. Read more. 

Op-Ed: Death in the Desert

NY Times (Op-Ed): NO matter how the Supreme Court rules this month in Arizona v. United States, which will determine the fate of Arizona’s aggressive illegal immigration law, the national conversation about illegal immigration has shifted. As recent data from the Pew Hispanic Center and the United States Border Patrol indicate, illegal immigration is on the wane, with arrests of migrants trying to cross the United States-Mexico border at a 40-year low and with net migration to the United States at a standstill — and perhaps even reversing direction. In the eyes of many, this is cause for celebration: no more straining the resources of border states while migrants risk life and limb for a shot at a better life.

But this rosy image of “success” ignores the larger, sobering picture of which migrant death and suffering is still very much a part. Read more.

6-year-old illegal-migrant suspect arrested

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, currently being sued by the Department of Justice for racially profiling Latinos, continues to challenge the Obama administration after its announcement of a somewhat softer policy towards undocumented young adults.

AZcentral.com - Maricopa County Sheriff Office deputies arrested a 6-year-old suspected illegal immigrant Friday, the day President Barack Obama softened the country's deportation policy toward young illegal immigrants.

The girl was with 15 other people believed to be in the country illegally who were traveling to the Midwest and northeast United States, said Chris Hegstrom, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. Read more.

Human rights group accuses U.S. of abuses along Mexico border

Reuters U.S. policing along the Mexico border discriminates against Hispanics and Native Americans and contributes to the deaths of illegal immigrants, according to a study by the human rights group Amnesty International USA.
 
The report, titled "In Hostile Terrain: Human Rights Violations in Immigration Enforcement in the U.S. Southwest," identifies what it says are systemic failures of federal, state and local authorities to enforce immigration laws without discrimination.

"Communities living along the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly Latinos, individuals perceived to be of Latino origin and indigenous communities, are disproportionately affected by a range of immigration-control measures, resulting in a pattern of human rights violations," the study said.

The U.S. government has tightened security along the nearly 2,000-mile border with Mexico in recent years, adding additional fencing, surveillance technologies and Border Patrol agents. The federal government also has partnered with some state and local police forces to give officers immigration-enforcement powers.  Read more

Full Report from Amnesty International here:

IN HOSTILE TERRAIN: HUMAN RIGHTS ... - Amnesty International 
www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/.../en/.../amr510182012en.pdf

U.S. - Mexico Border: US to Change Mexico Deportation Policy, Aims to Drive Down Border Violence

InSight Crime:"The United States Homeland Security secretary, Janet Napolitano, has annonced that the US government will change its deportation policy for illegal Mexican migrants, flying them to their place of origin in an effort to combat border violence.

Napolitano made the announcement at a press conference in Mexico City, explaining that the US will pilot its new program in April by providing air transportation to Mexicans rather than using its current policy of dropping them on the border in northern Mexico. In the new policy, the Mexican government will then be responsible for aiding the migrants' journey from the airport to their homes." read more

Immigration Crackdown: Is This Alabama?

“Is This Alabama?” is a project of the Center for American Progress, America’s Voice Education Fund, and Define American. The videos were written and directed by Chris Weitz. Chris Weitz is the award-winning director of “A Better Life,” an authentic and compelling tale of the lives of today’s immigrants.

Is This Alabama?: "In June 2011 Alabama enacted H.B. 56—the most extreme state-level anti-immigrant bill passed to date—which went into effect in September. Now Hollywood director Chris Weitz has turned the camera on Alabama and is asking “Is This Alabama?” You be the judge. Watch and share the videos below."

Immigration Crackdown Joins Failed Wars on Drugs and Crime

From our CIP colleague, Tom Barry, director of the TransBorder Project

Border Lines: "The following is an excerpt from an International Policy Report of the Center for International Policy, which is titled Immigrant Crackdown Joins Failed Crime and Drug Wars. The report, published in April 2009 and written by Tom Barry, is once again available online -- at a time when the Obama administration faces increasing questions about its immigration and drug prohibition policies, as well its practice of criminalizing immigrants, both legal and illegal ones." read more

Immigration Crackdown: Hundreds rally against Alabama immigration law

AP/Boston.com: "Hundreds packed the Alabama Statehouse courtyard on Tuesday to rally against the state's tough immigration law, with organizers saying they chose to send a message on Valentine's Day that lawmakers need to love and respect immigrants." read more

Immigration Crackdown: US to pay $350,000 to settle lawsuit over 2007 immigration sweep in New Haven, Connecticut

AP/Washington Post: "Eleven men who claimed immigration agents violated their rights in 2007 raids on their New Haven neighborhood have won a $350,000 settlement from the U.S. government, which also agreed to halt deportation proceedings against the plaintiffs, their attorneys said Tuesday." read more

Immigration Crackdown: U.S. Policy Gives Mother of Three Criminal Treatment

Witness for Peace : "Mariela had been living and working in the United States for seven years. A mother of three, she and her partner worked to support her family in Nicaragua and her three-year-old son, a U.S. citizen with her in the U.S. Mariela was deported because she lived in a county that participates in the controversial “Secure Communities” program." read more

Immigration Realities: Illegal immigrants live on edge of society, fearing deportation

Another story from a series on the realities of the lives of undocumented immigrants; from the Janesville (Wisconsin) Gazette.

GazetteXtra: "Every year, migrants risk their lives to illegally cross the 2,100-mile border that separates Mexico and the United States, two neighboring nations that have one of the largest income gaps on Earth.

"I was lucky," said Ana, who lives in Rock County. "I've heard terrible stories about what can happen." More than a decade ago, Ana left behind her mother and nine siblings in Puebla, south of Mexico City, to join her husband in the United States. He had crossed the border illegally to work and had planned to return after two years. "It was hard to stay separated from each other," Ana recalled. "I told him that I can come and make money, too."" read more

Border Sanity: Arizona shouldn't fund questionable border militia

A sane Arizona response to some of its politicians´ insanity. 

azstarnet.com: "The border-militia bill snaking its way through the Legislature sure sends a message: When state lawmakers try to get serious about the U.S.-Mexico border, which is a federal issue, they end up looking pretty silly. State lawmakers are looking to fund the volunteer militia, which was created last year, with $1.9 million.

... Will any of this make a difference for Arizona's roughly 370-mile border with Mexico? With the federal government having spent billions and billions of dollars on the region, is this small amount of money just what the border needs to finally become safe? Is this the tipping point we have been waiting for?

State Sen. Sylvia Allen, a Republican from Snowflake and one of the bill's sponsors, didn't think so.
"I don't have any illusion that we can solve our border problem," she said. "But this will help."

Yes, it's always helpful to have more armed and slightly trained people on the border. This is just what the border needs." read more

Immigration Crackdown: US Hands Over 14,237 Unaccompanied Minors to Mexico in 2011

Fox News Latino: "U.S. authorities handed over 14,237 unaccompanied children and teenagers of different nationalities found traveling alone on the border to Mexico last year, the National Migration Institute, or INM, said. Of the minors handed over to authorities in Mexico, 11,520, or nearly 81 percent, were Mexican and the other 2,717 were of various unspecified nationalities." read more

Immigration Realities: “Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives”

A book review

Latin America Working Group: "I was not prepared when I opened Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives. One moment I was sitting at my desk, and the next I was with Roberto, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. I followed him as he moved from one underpaying, exhausting job to the next; working even harder once he had his own family. I was by his side when he received amnesty, but his family didn’t. They voluntarily left the country while he stayed behind to continue working to support them. Here Roberto recounts his own experiences, providing me a glimpse into his struggles and feelings of profound loneliness and loss." read more

Immigration Reality: Immigrants search for better life and understanding

Another personal immigrant story from Wisconsin. The local paper is doing a series to introduce its readers to the real lives of Mexican immigrants in its community. Laudable!

GazetteXtra: "Jorge Islas-Martinez sometimes stares at the underbelly of a passing train and wonders how he survived. "I hid underneath it," he recalled. "Suddenly, the train started to move. The only thing I could do is hang on." Inches off the ground, he clung to the cold mass of pulsing steel in the darkness. He prayed hard as the train picked up speed into California. "I thought about my mother, my brothers," he said. "I thought I would die."

More than 25 years later, he recounted the harrowing details of eluding immigration officers at the border in Tijuana, Mexico. "It seemed like hours and hours underneath that train," Islas-Martinez said. "I had my eyes closed. When the train stopped, I crawled out, and I could not feel my body. I was so scared. My heart was pounding."

Since his dangerous journey to the United States, Islas-Martinez has come a long way. Today, he is a United States citizen who works as a translator, teacher and bill collector. He volunteers widely in his community and owns a home. He also is a vocal activist for immigration reform." read more

Immigration Crackdown: Immigration, deportation -- and no right to return?

A Los Angeles Times editorial

latimes.com: "Three years ago, the Justice Department assured the Supreme Court that although it sometimes deported immigrants while they were challenging unfavorable court decisions, it would bring those people back to the United States if they won on appeal. That was U.S. policy, the department asserted. The justices relied on that statement in deciding that immigrants would not suffer irreparable harm if they were forced to leave the country while still appealing their cases.

Now it turns out, according to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, that the government's assertion may have been false. In fact, it may be that those who are wrongfully deported stand little chance of returning." read more