Immigrant Rights News

Arpaio, Sharpton clash over crime sweep

10.19.09 01:18 am

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio launched another of his controversial crime suppression sweeps Friday as the Rev. Al Sharpton came to the Valley to urge blacks and Latinos to work together against discrimination.

The Sheriff's Office began the operation at mid-day in the northwest Valley. It was to involve 200 sworn deputies and posse personnel. The exact location was not announced.

Arpaio was to comment at 5 p.m. at the command post, in the Sheriff's District 3 substation a...

Campaign to Make Immigration Reform a Top Issue in 2010

10.19.09 01:14 am

Last Tuesday, October 13, immigrant families from around the country gathered to join in a vigil and rally in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., where Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez and other elected officials launched a new push for comprehensive immigration reform, building to the opening months of 2010. Our banners read “Reform Immigration FOR Families” and “Family Unity Cannot Wait.”

More than 750 people traveled to Washington on buses from up and down the Eastern seabo...

United Press International: Target Apologizes After Costume Complaints

10.19.09 01:07 am

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Target Corp., based in Minneapolis, has apologized for selling a Halloween costume that came under fire for its "illegal alien" theme.

The company said it was sorry for selling the $39.99 costume that included an orange jumpsuit emblazoned with the words "illegal alien," a large imitation green card and a space alien mask, The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune said Friday.

"We apologize. This was never intended to be part of our assortment. We are moving ...

El Pasoans Upset About Illegal Alien Costume

10.19.09 01:06 am

El Pasoans Upset About Illegal Alien Costume
Miri Marshall-Weekend Anchor
October 17, 2009
EL PASO, Texas -- They took a peek. Find video and story here: KFOX-TV 14

"I really can’t see it,” said Rosa Cabrera, looking at a camera phone picture of a costume.

But what they saw, wasn’t what they considered a scary costume.

"Oh it's like a prison jump suit," said Amber Reta.

Cabrera got a better idea of the costume when she lo...

Protesters outside Napolitano speech at SCU call for immigration overhaul

10.19.09 01:03 am

About 1,000 noisy but peaceful protesters greeted U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano when she returned to her alma mater Thursday night to speak on global security.

The protesters' message: Tell your boss, President Barack Obama, to keep his promise to work for the passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill by Congress.

As Napolitano, a former governor of Arizona and the valedictorian of Santa Clara University's Class of 1979, spoke to a crowd of about 50...

llegal Immigrants Receive Offers To Return Home For Their Health Care

10.04.09 01:23 am

Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital's offer to send illegal immigrants who can't afford treatment back to their home countries is raising questions about how to handle health care for that population. Some say the practice is necessary financially while others worry about the patients. CNN reports that Grady "is the latest known case of a medical institution that's offering to send illegal immigrants who can't afford treatment back to their native countries -- a practice that critics liken to patient dumping....

The Firing of Immigrants at a Factory

10.04.09 01:13 am

Letters to the Editor:

The Firing of Immigrants at a Factory

I was a fervent supporter of Barack Obama throughout his presidential campaign, but I was concerned about his plans for the approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country. He said something about bringing them out of the shadows by creating a path to citizenship, but gave no details.

Now I learn from your Sept. 30 front-page article “Immigrant Crackdown Leads to 1,800 Pink Slips” t...

Number of immigrants in U.S. declines

10.04.09 01:02 am

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- After 40 years of increases, the number of immigrants living in the United States declined between 2007 and 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.

The number of non-citizens, a term that includes legal residents and illegal immigrants, dropped from 21.9 million in 2007 to 21.6 million in 2008, CNN reported.

The number of foreign-born people comprised 12.6 percent of the U.S. population in 2007 and 12.5 percent in 2008, the bureau said.

...

U.S. debates on whether to cover illegal immigrants in health care reform

10.04.09 12:56 am

As U.S. President Barack Obama pushes hard for the most comprehensive health care reform in the country, the issue on whether to provide government-sponsored health plan to the country's illegal immigrants becomes a hot topic of debate.

There have been different versions of health care bill in the U. S. Congress. Both of the current House and Senate versions of health care reform legislation restrict the availability of federal health insurance subsidies to U.S. citizens and legal residents.<...

76 arrests made in Utah gang sweep

10.04.09 12:43 am

LOGAN, Utah (AP) - A two-month-long operation led by federal
authorities has netted the arrests of 76 people with alleged gang
ties across Utah.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice
says the operation targeted Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden and St.
George before ending this week.

Thirty-six of the suspects are facing federal or state criminal
prosecution on charges ranging from re-entry after deportation to
murder...

Immigration law enforcement program halted

10.04.09 12:29 am

BOURNE — The Framingham police department announced this week it would no longer enforce federal immigration laws through a controversial Homeland Security program.

Framingham Chief Steven Carl said federal officials pressured his department to expand its enforcement, including detaining immigrants, transporting them and even testifying in immigration cases.

The Barnstable County Sheriff's office never had the chance to cut the program. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforc...

Abused immigrants get special U.S. visas

09.24.09 09:02 am

OAKLAND, Calif. — For years, Laura Teresa Leon Sanchez says, she was beaten, raped and robbed by her boyfriend. If she tried to leave, he threatened to have her deported.

"I was a ghost. I was nothing," said the Mexico City native who was living in the U.S. illegally. Sanchez eventually got help from authorities — along with a special visa offered by the government to encourage illegal immigrants to report violent crime.

Created in 2000, the "U" visa program was on hold unt...

Police: Agents felt trapped in border shooting

09.24.09 08:58 am

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Federal agents felt trapped when they opened fire on the driver of one of two vans packed with suspected illegal immigrants that barreled toward them at the nation's busiest bordercrossing, an official said Wednesday.

The agents "were out on foot, they didn't have an area of safety they felt they could go to, and the drivers were going right at them," said San Diego police Lt. Kevin Rooney.

Four people were injured after drivers of three vans stormed past an in...

A third of Mexicans would migrate to U.S.: survey

09.24.09 08:43 am

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) – One in three Mexicans would migrate to the United States if they had the chance, and many would go illegally at a time of rising drug violence in Mexico, a survey released on Wednesday showed.

Even with the United States hit by its worst recession in decades, many Mexicans still try to cross into the United States illegally, some paying traffickers huge fees.

The survey by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based public opinion research organi...

Two Arrested in Attempt to Crash Border

09.24.09 08:38 am

Two Mexican men were arrested on federal human-trafficking charges Wednesday, a day after officials said three vans in which they were riding with scores of other Mexicans tried to run through the border station at San Diego.

The attempted border-running, which led immigration and customs agents to fire on the vans, caused the authorities to close down the station — the busiest land crossing into the United States — for about four hours.

One van driver and one passenger wer...

For Mexico and Canada, 'War on Terror' Is Over

09.24.09 08:29 am

MEXICO CITY, Sep 22 (New America Media) - On the eighth anniversary of the United States declaring a global "war on terror" this September, America's continental neighbors – Mexico and Canada – have had enough.

When President George W. Bush addressed a joint session of Congress on Sept. 20, 2001, the nation – and much of the world – was still in disbelief that Islamic terrorists had successfully carried out the greatest attack on U.S. soil since Japan's assault on Pearl Harbor.
...

Immigration officials consider more fee increases

09.24.09 08:23 am

Immigrant rights groups fear that further fee hikes would cut many out of the citizenship application process. The immigration agency, which must be self-supporting, faces a $118-million shortfall.

U.S. immigration officials are considering another possible round of fee increases and budget cuts next year, prompting concern among immigrant rights groups.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the new director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said during a visit to Los Angeles on ...

Program Puts Sidelined Doctors Back in the Game

09.24.09 09:03 am

As medically underserved Hispanic communities cry out for doctors, a new program puts physicians in their midst back into practice.

After spending seven years studying to become a doctor in her native Mexico, Nidia Payan found herself having to sell tamales to make ends meet when she first arrived in Los Angeles.

Later, just to be considered for a part-time job as a medical assistant, she had to start as a volunteer. "It was very hard," says the now 30-year-old, recalling those...

Harper blames Canada’s refugee system for Mexican visa uproar

09.24.09 08:47 am

GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Seeking to smooth relations with Mexico at a high-profile summit here, Prime Minister Stephen Harper blamed Canada's decision to impose visas on Mexican nationals on Canada's refugee system, and urged Parliament to enact changes to stem the flow of "bogus" claims.

Mr. Harper arrived in Mexico's second-biggest city Sunday for two days of talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and U.S. President Barack Obama. The annual gathering of the NAFTA partners has become kno...

Invisible Immigrants, Old and Left With ‘Nobody to Talk To’

09.24.09 08:33 am

FREMONT, Calif. — They gather five days a week at a mall called the Hub, sitting on concrete planters and sipping thermoses of chai. These elderly immigrants from India are members of an all-male group called The 100 Years Living Club. They talk about crime in nearby Oakland, the cheapest flights to Delhi and how to deal with recalcitrant daughters-in-law.

Together, they fend off the well of loneliness and isolation that so often accompany the move to this country late in life from distant ...

Illegal Immigrants embroiled in health care debate

09.20.09 08:21 am

The waiting room at Family Health Centers’ Bonita Springs clinic Thursday afternoon was almost standing room only.

Mothers tried to entertain squirming children. Adults gazed in boredom at cartoons. Many were uninsured immigrants who’d crossed the border illegally from Mexico or Guatemala.
Advertisement

Family Health Centers of Southwest Florida is the sole provider for many uninsured immigrants.

To those waiting, expanding health reform to include und...

You Can’t Withhold Healthcare From Illegal Immigrants

09.17.09 12:23 am

top pretending...

A heretofore unknown congressman made a name for himself last week when he yelled "you lie," during an address to Congress by President Barack Obama. South Carolina's Joe Wilson offered this assessment as Obama tried to refute "bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost." Wilson subsequently apologized for his outburst, although it's unlikely his constituents would have held it against him. Congressional Democrats weren't so ...

Mexico offers amnesty to illegal American immigrants

09.17.09 12:08 am

Washington lawmakers have insisted the country needs to reform its immigration system, but the biggest conflict has been over how to handle illegal immigrants who have been in this country for awhile.

As it turns out, Mexico is dealing with a similar problem and they have come up with a solution.

Some Americans come to Mexico for the culture, others for the cost, from Mexican border towns to beaches.

More and more Americans make their homes in Mexico. Some entere...

Former U.S. anti-drug official's arrest 'a complete shock'

09.17.09 12:05 am

Federal investigators say he served as a secret ally of traffickers while he was posted in Guadalajara.
September 17, 2009

Reporting from Washington - As a high-ranking U.S. anti-drug official, Richard Padilla Cramer held front-line posts in the war on Mexico's murderous cartels. He led an office of two dozen agents in Arizona and was the attache for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Guadalajara.

While in Mexico, however, Cramer also served as a secret ally of dru...

Search nets different illegal immigrants

09.16.09 11:58 pm

CARLSBAD, Calif., Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Some 23 people were arrested Wednesday by border patrol agents near Carlsbad, Calif., during a search for other illegal immigrants, a coast guard officer said.

The agents, along with sheriff's deputies were searching around Ponto Beach after they discovered a boat onshore at about 2:30 a.m., the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The officers believed the boat was used for smuggling and called the Coast Guard to ask for helicopter assistance i...