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Immigration
The Department of Homeland Security is moving toward a policy in which only those unauthorized immigrants who are criminals or national security threats will be deported. As a first step, pilot projects in Denver and Baltimore are putting the new policy into operation. Here is a report from the New York Times on what is happening in Denver . . .
DENVER — Prosecutors have completed a lightning review ordered by the Obama administration of virtually all 7,900 deportation cases before the immigration court here, identifying more than 1,000 foreigners who pose no security risk and allowing them to remain in the United States.
According to official results obtained by The New York Times, 16 percent of all those facing deportation in Denver — 1,301 immigrants — will receive offers from prosecutors to close their cases after they pass criminal background checks. Department of Homeland Security officials plan to extend the review in coming months to all of about 300,000 cases before the country’s immigration courts.
The administration’s effort to apply prosecutorial discretion to halt tens of thousands of deportations is a major departure for prosecutors and enforcement agents, and was generally welcomed by immigrant organizations. But the administration is not offering any positive legal status to illegal immigrants permitted to stay. Many will be left in an indefinite limbo where they cannot work or obtain driver’s licenses and may struggle to subsist, lawyers said. Read the rest by clicking here . . .http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/us/in-test-of-deportation-policy-1-in-6-offered-reprieve.html
Immigration Policies and the President
Many who feel the plight of unauthorized immigrants have blamed President Obama for not stepping in to stop harsh treatment and deportations. The National Immigration Forum, an organization promoting responsible immigration policies, discusses what the President can and cannot do under the law:
National Immigration Forum
He can’t. While it is perfectly legitimate to expect the Administration to do more to mitigate the harsh consequences of our broken immigration system, it is not realistic to expect the President to stop enforcing the law altogether.
From our school-days U.S. government lessons, we should have learned that Congress passes laws; the President carries them out. We happen to have a situation where the law is broken, and there is no immediate prospect of Congress doing its job and fixing the law. Nevertheless, the President is still stuck with enforcing the law.
Part of the problem is that Congress is delivering truckloads of money to the Department of Homeland Security for immigration enforcement. Enforcement remains very popular with those who control the purse strings—and spending for enforcement continues to increase.
For example, the House version of the appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2012 allocates $26.7 million more than the President requested for immigration detention—enough to increase the number of detention beds from 33,400 to 34,000. Included in the discussion of the money allocated to detention, the Appropriations Committee wrote the following: “[T]he Committee directs ICE to intensify its enforcement efforts and fully utilize these resources.”
There are things the President can do to mitigate the harm all this money pays for. The Administration’s recent announcement to sort through deportation cases with the aim of prioritizing cases is an excellent step in the right direction.
More can be done. There is a difference, however, between pressuring the Administration to do more and blaming the Administration for the current state of affairs. In fact, that is the strategy of restrictionists in Congress—to blame the Administration for not accomplishing immigration reform (after they’ve successfully filibustered all efforts at change).
The Administration should be pressured to do what it can. Without a change in law, however, the Administration can only go so far. It is Congress that deserves the blame for the current state of affairs. It is their job to fix the laws.
Immigration Groups Next Steps
The Immigration Group plans on a showing of the new documentary by PBS's Frontline Lost in Detention and The Other Face of Immigration (tentative date April 17, 2012 from 5 to 9pm) on the complexities and tragedy of immigration.
A great resource is Voces de la Frontera is Wisconsin's leading immigrant rights group - a grassroots organization that believes power comes from below and that people can overcome injustice to build a better world. They are working on developing Wisconsin Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, (WNIRR) a statewide network dedicated to promoting the rights and dignity of immigrants and refugees and encouraging their full and equal participation in our diverse society.
Join Our Grassroots Policy Immigration Study Group
To stay on top of fast-moving developments in the area of national and state Immigration policy and legislation, please join our Grassroots Immigration Study Group. We study immigration policy throughout the country and are planning local forums (date and time to be announced.) CONTACT: Kent Mayfield, secondwindarabians@gmail.com or 935-3540.
Remember the controversial law in Arizona that required local law enforcement officers to ask “suspicious” people stopped for civil or criminal violations (even a broken tail light) for proof of citizenship or legal immigration status? Mass boycotts against Arizona’s tourist industry followed with hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The potentially unconstitutional Arizona law is still hung up in the federal courts, costing the state millions more in legal fees.
In Wisconsin, a copycat law (AB 173) has just been introduced by State Rep. Donald Pridemore (R-Hartford) and has been assigned to the Homeland Security and State Affairs Committee. The Pridemore bill can be viewed at: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/related/proposals/ab173
Opponents say the bill, if enacted, would lead to racial profiling, would compel police departments to spend scarce resources enforcing this likely unconstitutional law, and would hurt the dairy and other industries that depend on immigrant workers.
What Can You Do?
- Become informed -- Click here for a Q&A on the Pridemore bill
- Write letters to the editor -- Click here for writing tips and local newspaper email addresses
- Contact your state representatives -- Click here for contact Info.
Comment on Grassroots’ FACEBOOK page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grassroots-Citizens-of-wisconsin/174246405925559?sk=wall
A Better Immigration Policy Approach
Utah leaders – including government, education, business and religious groups – came together last fall to draft a set of principles to guide the immigration debate in the state. Those guidelines, known as the Utah Compact, state in part that illegal immigrants are essential to the economy and deserving of respect. The recommendations are credited with helping pass immigration changes in the Utah Legislature that included enforcement revisions and a guest worker program. Click here for the official text of the Utah Compact.
What We Have Done
We have created events to educate and achieve a better understanding of immigration issues in our area.
- In cooperation with the Community Connections Free Clinic, Iowa County Literary Council and Plymouth Congregational (UCC) Church, we have started an English-as-a-Second Language tutoring program.
- A day-long Rural Immigration Summit in conjunction with UW-Extension to discuss the complexities of today's immigration issues from a local point of view. Presentations by experts in the field and a panel discussion were followed by group discussions among audience members.
- An Evening with David Giffey in which Giffey discussed his photo exhibit on migrant farm workers in Wisconsin and shared his perspective on immigration.
For more information about specific events or activities please contact:
Kent Mayfield, secondwindarabians@gmail.com