Immigration Newsletter

Saturday, April 28, 2012

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - United We Can't Stand Them
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APNewsBreak: Immigration officials offer to shelve 7.5 pct of deportation cases under review - The Washington Post

APNewsBreak: Immigration officials offer to shelve 7.5 pct of deportation cases under review - The Washington Post


 SANTA ANA, Calif. — Immigration officials have offered to shelve 7.5 percent of deportation cases under a massive review of the backlogged U.S. system aimed at focusing on deporting more criminals, authorities said Tuesday.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has offered to temporarily suspend the deportation cases of roughly 16,500 people after reviewing more than 70 percent of the immigration cases pending as of mid-April, according to statistics released by the agency.
ICE officials said 2,700 cases have been shelved. The rest still require paperwork and background checks. It was not immediately clear how many immigrants had been told of the offer or how many had accepted it.
The Obama administration announced in August that roughly 300,000 deportation cases would be reviewed and non-criminals and those illegal immigrants who posed no public safety or national security threat would likely have their cases put on hold indefinitely.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Immigration turnaround offers chance for real solutions - The Washington Post

Immigration turnaround offers chance for real solutions - The Washington Post


According to the Pew report, there are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States; six out of 10 are Mexican. The number of immigrants without papers has actually been falling. Wouldn’t this be a perfect time to take a deep breath and start talking about reasonable ways to engineer a more rational immigration policy?
Yes it would, but don’t hold your breath. Apparently, we’re going to have a lot of shouting without actually trying to find a solution. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of Arizona’s “driving while brown” law, which instructs police to challenge and, if necessary, apprehend anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. The law forbids racial profiling, but the truth is that it effectively guaranteesprofiling.
The administration argues that the state law usurps the federal government’s prerogative to set immigration policy. The court is expected to decide the case this summer, and the ruling’s impact may be less practical — since illegal immigration, I repeat, is already on the decline — than political.
click the link to see the rest of the OPED from Eugene Robinson

Saturday, April 21, 2012

ImmigrationProf Blog: Almost 700,000 Naturalizations in 2011

ImmigrationProf Blog: Almost 700,000 Naturalizations in 2011

Naturalization report from USCIS:

U.S. Naturalizations: 2011

This report presents information on the number and characteristics of foreign nationals who became American citizens during fiscal year 2011.

In 2011, the total number of persons naturalizing was 694,193 (see Table 1 and Figure 1). The leading countries of birth of new citizens were Mexico (94,783), India (45,985), the Philippines (42,520), the People’s Republic of China (32,864), and Colombia (22,693). The largest number of persons naturalizing lived in California (151,183), Florida (87,309), and New York (76,603).

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/natz_fr_2011.pdf

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Opinion analysis: Court rejects retroactive application of 1996 immigration law amendment : SCOTUSblog

Opinion analysis: Court rejects retroactive application of 1996 immigration law amendment : SCOTUSblog

I am a fan of this opinion...unlike many that the Supreme Court has been making lately or may be likely to make in the near future. On immigration, the court has a mixed record in recent years -- but the opinions are typically toward restricting the draconian effects of the "Immigration Reforms" passed by the Contract with America Congresses of the mid 1990s

Monday, April 2, 2012

When It Comes to Immigration, Privatization Can Kill - NYTimes.com

When It Comes to Immigration, Privatization Can Kill - NYTimes.com

I am going to keep on reposting these stories because this really is a travesty of our times. One hundred years from now historians will look back on this practice with shame. Click the link to see the NYT article.