INS CONTRACTOR FINDS QUICK METHOD OF CLEARING-UP PAPERWORK BACKLOG

Because of the enormous volume of applications, INS subcontracts some processing duties to private firms. Two employees of one of the major subcontractors in Orange County, California, have been indicted on charges of destroying 90,000 documents as a way to “reduce a growing backlog of unprocessed paperwork, reports the New York Times. These documents included foreign passports, birth certificates, asylum and other applications. Between January and March of 2002, the Orange County employees managed to reduce the paperwork backlog from 90,000 documents to zero. Thus far, only the two employees, not the contractor, have been charged.

THE SCHOLAR DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH?

The three-hour detention of a Pakistani visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution for failing to comply with INS registration regulations is being trumpeted by opponents of the registration program as grounds for its abolition. Ejaz Haider claims he was unaware of the registration requirement (he thought Pakistan had been removed from the list of countries required to register) and that he was treated harshly by INS. According the Washington Post, Haider had written articles criticizing the registration program, casting doubt on his claims of ignorance. Moreover, after a perfunctory background check was done on him, he was released and told to register the following day – without penalty.

INS FORCED TO CONCEDE HIGHER ESTIMATE OF ILLEGAL POPULATION

The INS, which has a record of low-balling estimates of illegal aliens living and settling in the U.S., has been forced to revise its figures upward. The agency now places the illegal population at 8 million and it has raised its estimate of the number of new permanently settling illegal aliens from 275,000 a year to 350,000. INS’s estimates are still significantly lower than those of the Census Bureau, which placed the illegal population at 8 million as of the 2000 Census and which estimates the number of new illegal settlers at 450,000 annually. These dramatic increases come in spite of tighter post-Sept. 11 border enforcement because, “Congress consistently rejected proposals to tighten laws against hiring undocumented workers despite many studies showing they were unenforceable as written,” notes the San Diego Union-Tribune. Moreover, observes the paper, the illegal population would have been far larger were it not for numerous 1990s programs that legalized many illegal aliens.

REACTIONS TO NEW IMMIGRATION CHAIRMAN VARY

The appointment this week of Rep. John Hostettler (R-Indiana) as chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee drew different reactions from those on either side of the immigration debate. Proponents of high levels of immigration and amnesty for illegal aliens were disappointed with the choice of Hostettler. Cecilia Muñoz of the National Council of La Raza called the Indiana congressman “untested.” However, Dan Stein, executive director of FAIR, applaud the selection. “This is a time when this subject needs someone capable of real national leadership,” he said. Stein also cited Hostettler’s heartland district as an asset in dealing with immigration from a national interest perspective.

CONSULAR CARDS FACE MORE SCRUTINY BY FEDERAL AGENCIES

“An identification card issued by Mexico to more than 1 million of its citizens in the United States last year is facing greater scrutiny by a security-conscious U.S. government after complaints by anti-immigration groups,” the AP reports. “Congress won't be passing an amnesty anytime, soon so ‘the Mexican government has decided to do what it can at the local level to incorporate illegal aliens into the institutions of American society,’” CIS executive director Mark Krikorian said.

DHS ON GAO, OMB WATCH LISTS

“Less than a week after its inception, the Department of Homeland Security has already landed on congressional and Bush administration lists of agencies to watch for poor performance,” the Washington Post reports. According to the paper, “the low ratings from the GAO and the OMB reflect the management challenges of some of the agencies being folded into the department. The Immigration and Naturalization Service, for instance, has lost track of foreign visitors who have overstayed their visas.”

RIDGE SAYS BUDGET INCREASE, STAFF CUTS IN STORE

“Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced today that the fiscal 2004 budget will include a 10 percent funding increase for domestic defense, but later he warned that his newly consolidated department will soon be due for personnel cuts,” the Washington Post reports. “Later, in a private session with 60 agents and inspectors from various agencies who will work for him beginning on March 1, Ridge was blunt about the possibility that some could eventually lose their jobs or certain personnel rights, he said.” The meeting came the same day that Ridge laid out plans to merge all inspection functions to eliminate multiple inspections at ports of entry.

SEATTLE POLICY CALLED ‘MISGUIDED’

A new measure passed by the Seattle City Council “directs that no municipal employee shall ‘engage in activities designed to ascertain the immigration status of any person.’ It passed unanimously in a council committee Tuesday with the strong support of immigrant rights' advocates.” FAIR spokesman David Ray told CNS News that, “While the rest of the country is fighting a war on terrorism, Seattle has decided to construct a beacon for illegal aliens."

RIDGE CALLS FOR STREAMLINING ENTRY PROCESS TO U.S.

Tom Ridge, the secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security, announced plans to consolidate the inspection duties of those who process people in the United States at ports of entry. Under Ridge’s plan, the functions of Customs and Immigration inspectors would be carried out by a single individual at a port of entry. According to Ridge, this streamlined process will “increase the chances of catching terrorists…at the border.” Ridge also announced plans to increase the budget of the Coast Guard to upgrade the capabilities of those who patrol our coastlines.

FAKE IDS GET PAST BORDER GUARDS

The congressional General Accounting Office (GAO) tested the effectiveness of America’s border protection in a time of concern about terrorist infiltration and has found it wanting. Using commonly available computer programs, GAO investigators manufactured a variety of false identity documents, using fictitious names and had no problem entering the country. Border guards either did not inspect the documents at all, or gave them only a cursory glance. Investigators successfully used bogus documents to enter the U.S. at a variety of land, sea and air ports of entry.

AMERICAN MUSLIM COUNCIL SEEKING U.N. INVESTIGATION OF THE UNITED STATES

The American Muslim Council, which bills itself as the oldest and most mainstream Muslim advocacy group in the country, is calling on United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to investigate the United States for “political repression of Muslims in the United States." In a letter to Annan from AMC’s executive director, Eric Efran Vickers, the group cites the INS registration of non-residents from countries known to sponsor terrorism, and the deportation of those found to be in violation of their visas.

VISA FRAUD PROBE SHUTS U.S. CONSULATE IN NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO

A State Department investigation into allegations that employees of the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo have been issuing visas fraudulently has resulted in a suspension of operations at the busiest consulate in Mexico. The State Department cannot say how many visas have been issued to unqualified applicants, but they take the allegations seriously enough to suspend further visa issuance, or even accepting new applications. The Nuevo Laredo consulate issued more than 117,000 U.S. visas last year.

BOGUS CREDIT CARD RING ALSO INVOLVED IN IMMIGRATION FRAUD

Federal authorities have busted a multi-million dollar bogus credit card ring run by Pakistani nationals in Northern Virginia. In addition to credit card fraud, investigator found evidence that the ring was involved in Social Security and immigration fraud. According to U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty there is a natural connection between credit card fraud and people trying to perpetrated immigration fraud, and even terrorism. “We know that terrorists need to conceal their identities to be able to strike, and we know that credit card fraud is one of the ways they do it,” said McNulty.

TANCREDO INTRODUCED LEGISLATION TO HALT ACCEPTANCE OF CONSULAR IDS

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) introduced a bill on Wednesday to stem the growing acceptance of Mexican-issued consular ID cards. These cards are now honored as valid ID by 798 law enforcement agencies, 74 banks and hundreds of state and local governments. Tancredo charged that these foreign-issued IDs pose a potential threat to national security and are a back door attempt to circumvent U.S. immigration laws. “We need to stop attempts by Mexico to obtain locally what they could not get from the Congress; that is amnesty,” Tancredo said.

Related: Move Opens to Stop Use of Mexican Immigrants' ID Cards (LAT)

Related: House bill would outlaw accepting foreign IDs (SF Chronicle)

ACTING INS COMMISSIONER GETS POST AT DHS

Michael J. Garcia, who has served as acting commissioner of the soon-to-be-abolished INS since the resignation of James Ziglar at the end of the 2002, has been named Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Border and Transportation Security. In that capacity, Garcia will be in charge of immigration enforcement. Garcia’s background in immigration enforcement and homeland security includes his role in the prosecution of the 1993 World Trade Center bomber, while serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York.

POLICE FREE 60 ILLEGAL ALIENS HELD IN PHOENIX HOUSE

“About 60 illegal immigrants were held hostage in a Phoenix house while smugglers demanded payment from their families, police said Wednesday,” the AP reports. The house was discovered when “a man who was allegedly being held at the house escaped Tuesday and called 911. Investigators found about 60 immigrants and four smugglers in the home, Detective Tony Morales said.” Illegal alien smugglers are more commonly holding their charges for ransom once they reach the U.S. to guarantee payment.

MARYLAND DA SUPPORTS LICENSES FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS

“Prince George's State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey won enthusiastic applause from more than 100 members of the Latino community in Langley Park when he pledged Saturday to support legislation that would allow immigrants to obtain Maryland driver's licenses regardless of their immigration status,” the Washington Post reported. “Ivey, who took office this month, drew another round of applause when he said he would prosecute unscrupulous employers who pick up day laborers for construction, maintenance and other jobs, then refuse to pay them for their work.”

U.S. SAYS REGISTRATION WON’T LEAD TO ‘SIGNIFICANT’ DEPORTATION OF PAKISTANIS

“The United States assured Pakistan there would be no ``significant'' deportation of illegal Pakistani immigrants under new U.S. security requirements that threatened ties between the two countries, Islamabad's foreign minister said on Wednesday,” according to a Reuters report. ``I have been assured that maximum flexibility will be shown to Pakistanis'' the minister said. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the registration “is an effort on the part of the United States to do a better job of knowing who is in our country. The minister has my full assurance that we will be doing everything to implement this program in a dignified manner.”

INS TRIES TO PLUG STUDENT VISA LEAKS

The Washington Post has one of many examples of the INS’s lax enforcement of the student visa process. The LASC English school in Los Angeles has “no books or college brochures. On a recent weekday afternoon the school held just one student, though its owner says classes are taught three times a day, five days a week.” Incredibly, “U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service records show that the federal government has approved nearly 300 student visas over the past five years for people who said they planned to attend the school. The approvals came with little or no INS follow-up to determine whether the students actually showed up for classes.” In fact, “James Dorcy, a former INS supervisor in the District, said his investigators found buildings along K Street where as many as five schools had used the same address, typically a rented office with no furniture and no telephone. Sometimes, the school would consist of nothing more than a post office box.”

Related: INS grants 15 day extension for compliance with new system (AP)

FAIR Press Release 1/29

Proposed Treasury Department Regulations Threaten to Undermine Document Security Requirements of USA Patriot Act

BREAKING NEWS: HOUSE AND SENATE NAME IMMIGRATION SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRMEN

POSITIVE NEWS FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM IN BOTH HOUSE AND SENATE

In the House…

FAIR received confirmation today from Capitol Hill sources that Representative John Hostettler (R-IN) has been named chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee. Hostettler has a solid record of opposing illegal immigration and chain migration. He voted numerous times against the mini-amnesty Section 245(i) and has signed on to several letters to Speaker Hastert in opposition to amnesty. Additionally, Hostettler opposed legislation in 1998 to expand the number of H-1B (high-tech) visas allotted annually.

Another positive development is that Representative Harold Rogers (R-KY) has been named chairman of the Appropriations Committee’s new Homeland Security Subcommittee, which will appropriate money for the new immigration agencies. During his tenure as chair of the Commerce Justice State Subcommittee, which used to oversee INS appropriations, Rogers was instrumental in INS reorganization and in increasing funding for enforcement programs and the Border Patrol.

In the Senate…

Our sources have also confirmed that newly-elected Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) has been appointed chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee. While serving in the House, Chambliss supported efforts to reduce illegal immigration and chain migration and opposed all efforts to extend Section 245(i). He also served as chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security. However, he is from an agricultural district and may be supportive of guestworker programs.

MICHELLE MALKIN BLASTS “TEDDY KENNEDY’S PRO-TERROR AGENDA”

Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin sharply criticizes Senator Edward Kennedy for his effort to cut off funding for the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), which requires the INS to keep track of who enters the country and when (or if) they leave. Thus far, the system has prevented 330 criminals and three suspected terrorists from entering through ports of entry. “Naturally, Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D-Afghanistan) wants to stop the Bush Administration from using NSEERS to catch any more criminal aliens who pose a law enforcement threat to America,” she notes sarcastically.

MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE SET TO APPROVE “STATUS CHECK” DESIGNATION ON LICENSE

Under an administrative policy instituted by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety driver’s licenses issued to temporary legal residents have included a “status check” designation indicating that the licensee is a temporary visa holder. The state legislature is expected to make the “status check” designation a permanent feature of the Minnesota driver’s license in a vote on Thursday. The legislation, introduced by State Rep. Doug Fuller (R-Bemidji), called the measure a matter of common sense. “A driver’s license is really access to so many other things,” Fuller said.

VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE SET TO DEBATE UNIVERSITY SUBSIDIES FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS

The Virginia House of Delegates is scheduled to debate legislation that would bar illegal aliens from receiving subsidized in-state tuition rates at publicly run universities and colleges. Virginia’s Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore has been a vocal advocate of a policy that would deny tuition breaks to illegal aliens. “Virginia residents should be subsidizing illegal activity,” he stated in support of a bill introduced by Delegate Thelma Drake (R-Norfolk). Delegate Karen Darner (D-Arlington), who opposes the bill, compared violations of immigration law to traffic infractions. “You would not say to [a native-born American] we are going to make you pay more if your parents were convicted of speeding or got a parking ticket,” said Darner.

CA. PLANNING AGENCY MAKES PLANS FOR 6 MILLION MORE

“A regional planning agency kicked off a two-year effort Tuesday to coordinate how Southern California accommodates a projected population increase of 6 million people by 2030,” the LA Times reported. “The six-county region -- covering more than 38,000 square miles -- is home to nearly 17 million people. Planners expect the region to grow to 23 million by 2030. That is the equivalent of adding the population of Los Angeles -- twice.” Planners concede that the increase can be "averted only with a dramatic drop in birthrates or immigration, neither of which is likely."

INS PREPARING ELECTRONIC LIBRARY

“The Immigration and Naturalization Service is developing an electronic library for handling Freedom of Information Act requests,” Federal Computer Week reports. “The intended result is a Web site where the public can view electronically formatted documents. The system also will help INS comply with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act.”

SEATTLE SAYS NO TO INS

“In a slap at the Bush administration, the Seattle City Council has passed a "don't ask" policy that bars police and other city workers from inquiring about the immigration status of people with whom they have contact,” Worldnetdaily reported. “[W]hen police officers and other authority figures are barred from investigating immigration status … that poses a threat to our security,” said Carl Gipson of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.

Related FAIR Press Release

MEXICAN CONSULAR CARD A THREAT TO US, PANELISTS SAY; OTHER COUNTRIES READY COPY-CAT CARDS

“Immigration opponents charged at a news conference that the card was a backhanded way for Mexico to secure quasi-legal status for the 3 million to 5 million immigrants illegally residing in the United States,” says Reuters of yesterday’s CIS conference on the cards. "Not only does it subvert U.S. immigration law, it is not even a secure identity document," said Marti Dinnerstein of Immigration Matters. “"This does have homeland security implications in that it compromises our identification system and contracts it out to foreign governments," added CIS executive director Mark Krikorian.

In a related development, the Washington Times reports that other countries are eager to get in on the act of issuing consular cards. “Guatemala, Honduras, Poland, Peru and El Salvador, aware of Mexico's success in getting identification cards to its citizens in the United States, including those here illegally, have begun or are considering issuing cards of their own, federal officials said yesterday.”

FAIR Press Release 1/28

Seattle Non-Cooperation on Immigration Enforcement Is Illegal and Unenforceable, Says FAIR

MEXICO SEEKING NEW EXPORT MARKETS – FOR PEOPLE

Frustrated by the lack of progress in getting the U.S. to further open up to Mexican migration, President Vicente Fox is looking even farther north – to Canada. Mexico would like to supply Canada with as many as 125,000 immigrants annually, or about half of Canada’s annual quota, reports Canada’s National Post. Fox is also seeking to arrange an expanded guest worker program that will allow more Mexicans to work temporarily in Canada.

SENATE CAN’T DECIDE WHO SHOULD PAY FOR PROCESSING REFUGEE AND ASYLEES

An omnibus spending bill moving through the Senate would restore an $80 surcharge applied to the processing fee paid by immigrants who use INS services, reports Congress Daily. The additional fee has been used to cover the cost of processing refugees and asylum seekers, who are exempt from such fees. Immigrant advocates oppose the restoration of this surcharge. “If we aren’t going to charge a fee for asylum seekers and refuges, then we as a humane society shouldn’t be charging other immigrants,” said a spokeswoman for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

UNCLE SAME WANTS YOU - TO APPLY FOR AMNESTY

The INS, which isn’t even bothering to look for millions of deportable illegal aliens is on the hunt for tens of thousands of people whom it believes were eligible to receive amnesty in 1986, but for a variety of reasons did not take advantage of the opportunity, reports the Palm Springs Desert Sun. The agency will spend $800,000 on a bilingual advertising campaign to reach the potential amnesty recipients.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL APPROVES NON-COOPERATION WITH INS

“To the cheers of immigrant-rights advocates, the Seattle City Council yesterday adopted a "don't ask" policy prohibiting police and other city workers from asking about the immigration status of people they come in contact with,” the Seattle Times reports. “The measure is intended to reassure immigrants that they can call the police or seek other city services without fear that they will be asked to prove their immigration status. It was applauded by dozens of immigrant-rights activists who attended the council vote yesterday.”

PAKISTAN SEEKS EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION

“Pakistan's foreign minister warned yesterday that a special registration program for male visitors to the United States could destabilize the Pakistani government and bolster the cause of radical extremists there,” the Washington Post reported. "We acknowledge that there have been wrinkles in the implementation," a Justice Department spokesman said. "We're working hard to smooth out those wrinkles, and we'll work with Pakistan and other concerned countries. . . . But the immediate objective is to protect the safety of Americans as part of the global war on terrorism."

BAY AREA TO PROVIDE FREE HEALTH CARE TO ILLEGAL ALIENS

“Health officials from four Bay Area counties Monday announced a $59-million expansion of health insurance for children, an effort that proponents say will provide universal health care for all young people in the area to age 18,” the LA Times reports. “The Healthy Kids Initiative, funded partially by the Proposition 10 tobacco tax, will provide comprehensive medical, dental and vision services for the area's 31,000 uninsured children who do not qualify for the Medi-Cal or Healthy Families programs. The initiative will also cover children who are undocumented immigrants.”

REPORT CRITICAL OF CONSULAR IDS

The Center for Immigration Studies will release a new report on the Mexican consular id card today. “The report comes a day before legislators, including Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, planned to unveil a bill that would make it illegal for U.S. government entities to accept the card. It is now used by more than a million Mexicans and has gained the support of hundreds of law enforcement agencies and dozens of banks,” notes the Orange County Register.

The report is available on the CIS website.

LAX DOCUMENTATION LEADS TO MURDER OF POLICE OFFICER

While the governor of Virginia continues to block implementation of requirements for proof of legal residency to obtain a state driver’s license, a Norfolk, Virginia, policewoman was murdered on Jan. 16 by a previously deported illegal alien who managed to return to the U.S. using false documents. The Jamaican national, Mario Roberto Keen, who had been deported in September 1997, was able to use altered documents to return to the U.S.

VIRGINIA DRIVER’S LICENSE LAWS STILL WEAK LINK IN TERRORISM BATTLE

Although seven of the 19 September 11th terrorists had taken advantage of Virginia’s lax driver’s license and state ID policies, very little has been done to rectify the situation, reports the Washington Times. The paper faults the administration of Gov. Mark Warner, “which appears to be working behind the scenes to kill legislation that would end the state’s reputation as a mecca for immigration fraud by requiring applicants for driver’s licenses to prove they are legally in the United States.”

Legislation introduced last year in the Virginia House of Delegates requiring proof of legal U.S. residency was killed in the State Senate. Citing the need for fiscal austerity, the governor seems to be attempting to block implementation once again. In the meantime, an official of the Virginia DMV confirms that applicants for driver’s licenses are not being asked to provide proof of legal residency.

MEXICO, IMMIGRANT ADVOCATES PRESSING FOR REINSTATEMENT OF CONSULAR ID ACCEPTANCE AT S.F. FEDERAL BUILDING

In reaction to publicity surrounding the news that Mexican consular ID cards were being accepted as proof of identification for admission to the Philip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco, the General Services Administration has suspended the policy. However, officials of the Mexican government, the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), as well as an assortment of immigrants’ rights groups are pressing for reinstatement of the cards.

As spokeswoman for Pelosi argued that acceptance of the cards, “helps to identify people who are in the community.” Groups like the National Council of La Raza, which has fought tirelessly against secure identification documents issued by the U.S. government, also protested the suspension in the acceptance of the Mexican-issued IDs. David Ray of FAIR, however, told the San Francisco Chronicle, “We are absolutely alarmed by the vacuum of protest from the Bush Administration…about accepting ID cards possessed solely by illegal aliens.”

WHAT A SURPRISE! IMMIGRATION LAWYERS CLAIM AMERICANS WANT MORE IMMIGRATION

In one of the most remarkable examples of political spin to be found anywhere, an immigration lawyers’ web site interprets the results of a new Gallup Poll as an indication that Americans want more, not less immigration.

According to the survey conducted between Jan. 13-16, 31 percent of respondents said they were “somewhat dissatisfied” with U.S. immigration policy, while 34 percent were “very dissatisfied.” This compares with 3 percent who are “very satisfied” and 24 percent who are “somewhat satisfied.” In order to conclude that the overwhelming dissatisfaction is due to too little immigration, rather than too much, the immigration lawyers urges that we “look at the fine print.” (Caution: you’re going to need a very powerful magnifying glass.) The poll notes that Republicans are more satisfied than Democrats, and since Democrats are more likely than Republicans to want higher immigration, therefore Americans who identify with both parties want more immigration. Got it? There’s just one important piece of information the immigration lawyers leave out: Although Democrats are more likely to favor higher immigration than Republicans, most Democrats also think immigration levels are too high. The difference is that Democrats would probably make small reductions than Republicans.

BISHOPS ISSUE LETTER ON IMMIGRATION

“Catholic bishops from the United States and Mexico urged Presidents Bush and Vicente Fox on Friday to renew talks on immigration that stalled after the Sept. 11 attacks and enact reforms that ‘respect the human dignity’ of immigrants,” the AP reports. “The pastoral letter, considered a policy statement of the church, also is addressed to the 65 million U.S. Catholics and 90 million Mexican Catholics. It calls on members to respond better to migrants' needs through such efforts as training priests and church leaders to accompany migrants on their travels.”

ISLAMIC GROUP LEADER STOPPED IN IRELAND

“The head of a U.S.-based Muslim group said he was stopped at Ireland's Shannon Airport after a three-week visit to Jordan and told he could not return to the United States,” the AP reported. “Sabri Samirah, president of the United Muslim Americans Association in Palos Hills, outside Chicago, said Sunday he still had not learned exactly why immigration officials denied him permission to return after visiting his parents in Jordan.”

SENATE BILL THREATENS FUNDING FOR ENTRY/EXIT PROGRAM

The latest measure to stop the anti-terror entry/exit program is a Senate passed bill that “includes a little-noticed amendment that would cut off funding for a Justice Department program that requires male immigrants from two dozen predominantly Muslim countries to register and be fingerprinted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.” The Washington Post notes that, “The main purpose of the amendment was to restore funding for a congressionally mandated program that by 2005 is designed to provide information on the identity of all visitors to the United States and track when they enter and leave the country.” According to the paper, a spokesman for President Bush says the administration will try to retain NSEERS funding. The amendment was added by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA).

U.S. SEARCHES FOR MISSING IRAQIS

“The FBI has launched a concerted search for several thousand illegal Iraqi immigrants who have gone missing while visiting the United States and are among those being sought for voluntary interviews in advance of a possible war with Iraq, officials said,” the Washington Post reports. “The search for the missing Iraqis, estimated by immigration officials to number 3,000 or more, has become one of the primary objectives of a broader, FBI-run program aimed at locating and interviewing as many as 50,000 Iraqi nationals who have entered the United States as visitors or refugees within the last decade or so.”

IMMIGRANTS REJECT DUAL-CITIZEN APPROACH

Despite efforts by immigration lawyers and pro-mass immigration advocates, many immigrants still try to assimilate and adhere to their citizenship pledge of renouncing their old allegiances, World Magazine says. “Leading academics are demanding that the United States stop asking new citizens to ‘commit.’ They want to drop the requirement that naturalized Americans renounce allegiance to all other nations.” Other countries encourage their nationals to retain ties to their home countries. “As Northwestern University law professor Rob Sobhani notes, Mexican politicians consider naturalized Americans from Mexico "bi-nationals" and even campaign for their votes during Mexican elections.” Yet, “despite the best efforts of anti-assimilation elites, most Americans say they back patriotic assimilation and most immigrants stubbornly insist on becoming Yankee Doodle/Norman Rockwell stereotypes. According to the research firm Public Agenda, 87 percent of foreign-born parents and 88 percent of all parents agree that "schools should make a special effort to teach new immigrants about American values."

DEKALB COUNTY OFFICAL WANTS TO RECONSIDER CONSULAR CARD ACCEPTANCE

The ban on accepting Mexican consular IDs announced by the General Services Administration is “welcome news to DeKalb County [Georgia] Commissioner Elaine Boyer, who is asking the county to reconsider its acceptance of the cards, known as the matricula consular. Boyer was the sole dissenting vote in September when the DeKalb County Commission voted to recognize the cards as a form of ID.” Boyer said that "A local county government can't start working with a foreign government to give an identification. I am a little county commissioner. This is not an issue that we handle. We should not be in the businesses of aiding illegals who flaunt our laws. In accepting the cards DeKalb County was aiding them.”

JON DOUGHERTY: THE THIN GREEN LINE

Worldnetdaily reporter Jon Dougherty says the INS and Border Patrol agents who combat illegal immigration form a ‘thin green line’ at the border. “As the forward deployed force against the 9-11 terrorist threat, the Border Patrol is demonized and abused by Democrats, Republicans and the White House, each of which uses them as political pawns in a never-ending game where life and death are real issues,” he writes. “The thin green line is all we have, perhaps, against the next terrorist assault. But at present it is being hamstrung by idiots in suits from far away - all of whom will never be held responsible if another three, or eight, or ten thousand Americans are killed by a lunatic who waltzes right into our country.”

QUEENS DEBATES DAY LABOR PROBLEM

The Queens city council “last week began discussing a plan to protect thousands of immigrant day laborers in New York from exploitation,” the Queens Chronicle reported. “[Day labor] has become a significant quality-of-life issue. While we cannot ignore the economic needs of those seeking employment, we also have the obligation to protect the local residents and business community who are faced with the reality of the situation while maintaining sensitivity to the men seeking work for themselves and their families,” said councilwoman Helen Sears.

SUPER BOWL ARRESTS DRAW PREDICTABLE PROTEST; 245(I) APPLICANTS AMONG THOSE HELD

After INS agents arrested illegal aliens in San Diego who might present a security problem for the Super Bowl, the predictable protests from defenders and enablers of illegal immigration began, Newsday reports. “It's being offered up as a meaningful gesture to increase safety at the Super Bowl. That is a farce. They're simply scapegoating the immigrant community while doing nothing to make the public safer,” said an ACLU spokesman. “Immigration officials compared the effort to similar, broad reviews of the immigration status of airport employees that have been conducted since the Sept. 11 attacks, and said it was a good use of resources to focus their search for out-of-status immigrants on people whose employment might give them access to security-sensitive areas.” Among those arrested were several illegal aliens who were waiting for the 245(i) paperwork to be processed.

Related: San Diego INS arrests 69 foreign workers in Super Bowl sweep (SJ Mercury News)

DEPORTING ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS FEASIBLE

Steve Brown says in his FrontPage Magazine commentary that the U.S. should begin deporting illegal aliens. After all, “The law says that some persons have a legal right to be in the United States and some do not. This law is not arbitrary: it was made by a legitimate, democratically elected government expressing the will of the American people.” The problem is political, not logistical as some people claim. “Under pressure and in fits and starts, the federal government has been making token gestures of deportation, which prove that something could be done if the political decision were ever made to get serious.” Brown cites the success of Operation Vanguard in finding illegal employees.

KRIKORIAN: AN IMMIGRATION PRIMER

“The present level of immigration is considerably higher than the average historical flow of immigrants, doubling in the past generation. Much of this flow can be attributed to the extraordinary broadening of U.S. immigration policy in 1965, which inaugurated the current era of mass immigration,” says CIS executive director Mark Krikorian in an editorial for the Camden Herald. “The immigrant population is growing six and a half times faster than the native-born population. By historical standards, the number of immigrants living in the U.S is unprecedented.”

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS TO EXTEND TO ALL COUNTRIES?

“The United States is witnessing a battle royale being waged within the Bush administration about blanket application of the new immigration regulations to all foreign nationals in the country, according to state department sources,” the Economic Times of India reports. “This is contrary to concerns within the Indian American community that India may be the next country to be put on the list after Pakistan and Bangladesh, whose male nationals aged 16 years and above would have to get fingerprinted and interviewed by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service by February 21.”

JUAN MANN: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOMELAND SECURITY

“Like the Goddess Athena, the Department of Homeland Security springs full-grown from the head of Zeus today, Friday January 24, in full armor and ready for battle, all according to plan,” says Vdare commentator and Deportaliens.com author Juan Mann. The new agency must have effective leadership to combat illegal immigration, he warns, or the same mistakes of the INS could be repeated. “If [DHS leaders] do not set a course for reform, the DHS - like the INS - will be in the business of admitting aliens into the United States while pretending to be deporting them.”

MALKIN: THE STATE OF THE BORDER

Writer Michelle Malkin says that the border is unlikely to come up during President Bush’s State of the Union speech, even though it is “one of the most pressing homeland security issues facing the nation.” For instance at Organ Pipe National Park, “as many as 1,000 illegal aliens a day trample across the park-trashing our fences, ruining the environment, breaking our laws, and endangering lives. It's a smugglers' paradise and a national security nightmare.” One ranger assigned to the park told the LA Times that, "If 1,000 illegal immigrants can walk through the desert here, so can 1,000 terrorists." In addition, “The story is the same on the northern border, where just last week two reporters for the Toronto Star illegally crossed a dozen easy entry points between the land boundaries that separate Quebec from Vermont and New York state.”

LAWSUIT AGAINST GROWER USING LEGAL LABOR CAN CONTINUE

When Ralph De Leon applied for H-2A workers last year, he didn’t know that amnesty supporters who favor illegal immigration would try to litigate him into bankruptcy to send a warning to other labor brokers considering using the program. “De Leon recruited the laborers to pick lemons in [Ventura] county's citrus heartland in what was believed to be the first large-scale use of guest workers in California agriculture,” notes the LA Times. “Lawyers for the poverty law firm California Rural Legal Assistance filed the suit in September in Ventura County Superior Court, alleging nonpayment of wages and other violations of state law. But attorneys for De Leon had the case moved to federal court late last year, arguing that federal law provides the exclusive remedy for alleged violations that take place under the labor program, known as H-2A.” [FAIR note: CRLAF supports an illegal alien amnesty and has repeatedly tried to foil effective border enforcement] The situation has come to a head, however, now that the Judge “returned the matter to a Ventura court, saying the workers are entitled to the protections offered by state law.”

FORMER FLIGHT STUDENT HELD AS MATERIAL WITNESS

The day he was to be deported, Zakaria Soubra was instead taken to Virginia as a material witness in a terrorism inquiry. “Soubra, who arrived in the Phoenix area in the late 1990s to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, has been linked in recent months to suspected extremists, federal sources say. The links, they say, include documents recovered from Al Qaeda associates in Pakistan and Soubra's time as a roommate to Ghassan Al-Sharbi, who was arrested in Pakistan last year with a senior member of Al Qaeda,” the LA Times reports. Soubra was originally detained on a visa violation.

TOO LATE FOR BUSH TO RESCUE FOX?

Washington Post Hispanic Affairs columnist Marcela Sanchez says that it may be too late for President Bush to rescue Mexican President Vicente Fox. “Mexican President Vicente Fox has put in place a new team with the potential to fundamentally change the way Mexico works with Washington. With a host of issues to discuss and enormous potential for mutual assistance, the shuffle seems to open the way for a more down-to-earth relationship. But the stakes are high,” Sanchez says. “Immigration is still at the top of Fox's priorities. But expectations have reached a point where his opponents will portray anything short of full amnesty for millions of Mexicans illegally in the United States as a failure.”

INS SAYS ASYLUM PROCESSING TO CONTINUE

“Immigration officials said yesterday that they will continue to process requests for asylum and refugee status despite the sudden loss of fees that have been used for years to pay for the program,” the Washington Post reported. According to the paper, “INS spokesman Bill Strassberger said the agency has enough money in the bank from the surcharges, amounting to perhaps $125 million, to keep processing new refugee and asylum applications for now.”

HOMELAND SECURITY AGENCY STARTS UP; HUTCHINSON CONFIRMED FOR BORDER SECURITY

“After drawn-out debate and a nearly unprecedented reshuffling of the federal bureaucracy, the Department of Homeland Security stands up Friday as the government's 15th Cabinet department,” the AP reports. [FAIR has issued a list of Ten Steps the DHS should take to avoid the old INS’s mistakes] In addition, “Asa Hutchinson, currently head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, received unanimous approval Thursday from the Senate Commerce Committee to become undersecretary of the department. His responsibilities will range from border control to aviation security.”

Related: Ridge needs more than a new title to keep us secure (USA Today)

KANSAS AGAIN TO CONSIDER GIVING LICENSES TO ILLEGAL ALIENS

“Hispanic activists from Wichita and across the state renewed their push Tuesday to allow illegal immigrants to obtain Kansas driver's licenses. . . . Supporters of the effort are seeking to change a law passed three years ago that requires a person to show proof of legal residence before obtaining a license,” the Wichita Eagle reports. “The Legislature added the proof-of-residence clause in 2000 after two Colorado residents were arrested for bringing busloads of illegal immigrants to Salina to obtain Kansas licenses, which they could then use to obtain Colorado licenses. Colorado threatened to refuse to honor Kansas licenses when a Kansas resident moved to that state.”

HOLLAND, MICH. COUNCIL PUTS CONSULAR CARD PROPOSAL ON HOLD

“A sharply divided Holland City Council on Wednesday night delayed a decision on whether the Mexican-issued matricula consular will be able to be used for city services,” the Holland Sentinel reports. “While city staff said the amount city services that requires identification is small, critics of the plan have said acceptance of the card would lead to illegal aliens getting services that should be only given to those legally in the country.” [FAIR note: FAIR had sent legal information to the Holland City government, informing them of the legal issues surrounding acceptance of foreign documentation]

STATES FACE JAIL COST BURDEN

“Cash-strapped Arizona and other states soon would have to pay the full costs of jailing illegal immigrants convicted of crimes under a $390 billion budget bill for 2003 being considered by the Senate,” the Arizona Republic says. “Proponents of the funding said Wednesday that they hope the House, which supports at least $500 million to continue the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), will fight to keep the funding for states in final budget negotiations with the Senate in upcoming weeks.”

OKLAHOMA INS TO GET MORE AGENTS

“Oklahoma City's field office of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service will add four agents to its staff, Rep. John Sullivan (R) confirmed Wednesday,” The Oklahoman reports. “Oklahoma City's field office was criticized by Sullivan in July when 18 suspected illegal immigrants were arrested by Tulsa County sheriff's deputies but released because of understaffing at the INS office.”

FAIR Press Release 1/23

Goodbye INS, Hello DHS: Ten Tips to the New DHS To Avoid the INS's Mistakes

SUPER BOWL SHUFFLE: INS FINDS ILLEGAL WORKERS IN SAN DIEGO

“Immigration authorities are rounding up foreign-born security guards and transportation workers in San Diego County as part of the ongoing security preparations for Sunday's Super Bowl,” the San Diego Union Tribune reported. “Operation Game Day” is similar to efforts before other large sporting events, including the Winter Olympics, since Sept. 11. “Immigration officers said a majority of the security guards arrested are from Latin American countries. Many of the transportation workers singled out for arrest are from 25 countries suspected by the Justice Department of harboring or sponsoring terrorists, including Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Libya.”

INS STILL FAILS AT AIRPORT SECURITY

“The Immigration and Naturalization Service has failed to correct significant security deficiencies at airports despite renewed attention since the Sept. 11 attacks, Justice Department investigators said in a report released Thursday,” the AP reported. “An audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glen A. Fine found U.S. airports remain vulnerable to illegal entries by foreign travelers; smuggling of aliens, drugs and other illegal substances; and escapes by people detained for questioning.”

IMMIGRANT STUDENTS IN DC TO GET STANDARDIZED TESTS

“District students who haven't mastered English will be required to take standardized tests just like other students, with the results analyzed to see whether the school is helping all students progress, a senior school administrator said last week,” according to the Washington Post. “Paul Ruiz, the chief academic officer of D.C. public schools, said that many students with limited English skills had taken the tests in the past but that their scores had been set aside by sympathetic administrators and not included in school totals.”

RIDGE GETS CONFIRMED FOR DHS

“Tom Ridge took over as homeland security chief yesterday after the Senate unanimously endorsed him -- and sent a strong message that it would be watching carefully as he molds a makeshift operation into one of the government's largest agencies,” the Washington Post reports. “With today's historic vote, the Senate has demonstrated our shared commitment to doing everything we can to secure our homeland," President Bush said. The new DHS will include both the service and enforcement arms of the old INS.

GSA STOPS ACCEPTANCE OF MEXICAN ID CARDS

“The General Services Administration has suspended recognition of identification cards issued by the Mexican government to its nationals in this country, pending an investigation by the State Department, GSA and other federal agencies,” the Washington Times reports. “While this matter is under deliberation, GSA has suspended the trial acceptance of consular identification cards for admittance to certain federal facilities," a statement from the agency said. "GSA will no longer accept consular-issued identification cards as a means of identification, pending further study." The suspension is in response to concerns raised over the trial acceptance of the cards at a federal building in California. After numerous Congressional offices objected, the agency decided to reconsider the issue. "Legal immigrants can get valid U.S. documents, like state-issued driver's licenses, while visitors can prove their identity with a passport and a valid visa," FAIR executive director Dan Stein said. Stein also appeared yesterday on MSNBC’s Buchanan and Press show to discuss the Mexican consular ID.

FAIR Press Release 1/22

On Immigration: SPLC Lacks Coherent Arguments

AZ PANEL NIXES GUARD AT THE BORDER

“State senators quashed a plan Tuesday that would have put unarmed National Guard troops -- along the Mexican border for training,” the Daily Sun reported. “With only the sponsor in support, the Senate Government Committee voted 8-1 to kill the proposal by Sen. Jack Harper, R-Glendale. Committee members said they were convinced by the testimony of Maj. Gen. David Rataczak, the state's National Guard commander, that the idea was both ill conceived and potentially expensive.”

LAWSUIT FILED FOR RELEASE OF HAITIANS

“Claiming that the government has ‘doomed to failure’ the asylum claims of detained Haitian refugees, the Haitian Lawyers Association has filed a federal lawsuit calling for their release,” the Sun-Sentinel reports. “The Haitian Lawyers Association filed the suit Friday on behalf of six of the more than 200 Haitian refugees who jumped out of a crowded boat into Biscayne Bay on Oct. 29.” According to the paper, “The [Bush] administration has said detaining refugees is a means to deter a possible mass migration from Haiti, as well as a way to prevent the diversion of national security resources. The Coast Guard repatriates many refugees before they ever make it to U.S. shores.”

INS BUDGET SNAFU: PROCESSING WILL GRIND TO A HALT

“The government's asylum and refugee resettlement programs, which draw about 120,000 applicants a year, will be halted on Friday because of a last-minute change in the homeland security law that will leave them without funding,” the Washington Post reports. The problem is that the INS’s ability to charge a fee for processing overseas refugee applications and asylum applications in the U.S. was eliminated. The agency does not have an alternative funding source, although Congressional offices, including Sen. Ted Kennedy’s office, are working on putting new appropriations into the budget bill.

CENSUS: HISPANICS WILL SOON PASS BLACKS AS LARGEST MINORITY

“In the months following the 2000 census, the number of Latinos who were born in the United States or who immigrated to the country grew at more than twice the rate of African Americans, fueling the expectation that Hispanics would soon emerge as the nation's largest ethnic group,” the Washington Post reported. “The reason is that Latinos accounted for nearly half of the nation's total population growth from 2000 to 2001, which includes birth and immigration rates, according to the new estimates. During that time, the black population increased by 2 percent.”

MEXICO SAYS DISPUTE OVER CA. CRASH IS ‘SMOKESCREEN’ FOR INS

Mexico is apparently denying that its consular officers improperly used INS – issued identification to gain access to illegal alien smugglers involved in a deadly California car crash. The accusations are a “cover up the negligence of U.S. authorities in allowing suspected immigrant smugglers to escape” Worldnetdaily reports. The ‘coyotes’ who led the illegal aliens into the U.S. escaped after being brought to the hospital with the other crash victims, and accusations that the consulate employees facilitated the smugglers exit have appeared in news accounts of the incident. However, a spokesman for the consulate says “We know nothing about the two people who got away. We never saw them. Those people left on their own feet.”

FOREIGN STUDENTS COMPLAIN OVER ANTI-TERROR REFORMS

The Boston Globe says that some foreign students are complaining about new anti-terrorism regulations, including a new database that will make it harder for them to commit immigration fraud. “After the tragic events of September 11th...we realized we needed a better understanding of who enters and exits our country, and that those individuals who entered our country as our guests are indeed doing what they said they were going to do,” a Justice Department spokesman said. Still, “That sort of indiscriminate treatment is inherently unjust, and it's probably inefficient from a security clearance point of view,” one student said.

CITIZEN PATROLS CONFRONT INCREASED BORDER CROSSINGS

Insight Magazine has a cover story about how citizen activists in Arizona are patrolling ranches along the border to report illegal aliens. Chris Simcox describes one incident after 9/11 that left him convinced more needed to be done at the border. “[W]hile I was camping, in the span of two weeks I ran across five paramilitary groups trucking drugs across the border. These were highly organized groups; three vehicles, with the camouflage-wearing troops escorting the vehicles on both sides in columns and carrying automatic weapons -- AKs, mini-14s, the whole works. . . . When I told the Border Patrol what I saw they said, 'Yeah, we know, but there's nothing we can do about it.' I said, 'You've got to be kidding. We were just attacked and the president is telling everyone to be vigilant and our Border Patrol can't do anything about this?’”

Related: Former Border Patrol agent speaks out about the threat at the border (Sierra Times)

Related: Border Patrol Reports More Encounters With Armed Illegal Entrants (Santa Fe New Mexican)

INS ENFORCEMENT STEPS UP

As INS enforcement of the immigration law has stepped up, so too have the number of human interest stories which inevitably accompany the deportation of illegal aliens. Contacted by the Times of Trenton concerning one such case, Craig Nelsen of ProjectUSA said "While it's sad in her individual case, in the bigger case it's the more humane thing to do. It doesn't perpetuate the fraud-ridden exploitative system we have now.” Added John Keeley of CIS, "Someone who is in this country that long is going to put down roots here, but that doesn't change the fact that the circumstances under which she came here were wrong. The adult parents made a decision here that years later came to adversely impact their children."

MEXICO GIVES IDS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS

“The Mexican government, despite concerns by U.S. law-enforcement authorities and immigration officials, is handing out thousands of identity cards to Mexican nationals in this country, including those here illegally,” reports the Washington Times. "The most important thing to understand about these Mexican matriculas is that they are almost absolute proof that the bearer is an illegal alien," FAIR executive director Dan Stein told the paper. “Aside from tacitly recognizing the presence of people who are violating the law, Mr. Stein said the U.S. government - in allowing the cards to be used as identification - has placed critical national security matters in the hands of the foreign governments that issue the cards.”

Related: Does the Mexican ID Card Threaten Homeland Security? (Insight Magazine)

HIGH-TECH EMPLOYMENT CONTINUES TO PLUNGE

“Silicon Valley lost 127,000 jobs, or about 9 percent of its employment, from the first quarter of 2001 to the second quarter of 2002, according to a report to be published Monday by Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit group formed to promote the area,” the New York Times reports. Outsourcing of computer work has played a role in the decline, while up to 195,000 foreign technical workers can enter the U.S. this year.

AZ LEGISLATURE TO DEBATE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CONTROL MEASURES

“Legislators are proposing everything from requiring police officers to turn them over to immigration officials to blocking colleges and universities from accepting them. Another proposal would reject identification cards issued by Mexican consulates as valid identification,” the Arizona Republic reports. “Other lawmakers are launching a long-shot bid to let Arizona issue driver's licenses to immigrants. Still others want to cooperate with Mexico on a federal program allowing guest workers.”

NETHERLANDS MOVES TOWARDS MORE IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS

“Integration of Islamic immigrants into Dutch society has become the most hotly debated issue in the Dutch campaign ahead of Wednesday's election, with some politicians claiming that religion is the biggest obstacle for integration of Muslims,” South Africa’s Press Association reported. “The voters' shift to the right in elections last May has caused the established Dutch parties to toughen their stance on immigration in the hopes of winning back voters, ending a long-standing taboo on the issue . . . It's not just election time slogans. In the past years, the Netherlands has shifted radically from a country where immigration was a non-issue to an international front-runner in tough legislation for newcomers.”

ILLEGAL ALIENS FACE CHOICE OVER REGISTRATION

The Washington Post is the latest paper to run a sympathetic profile of illegal aliens who ignored the law and are now upset over the INS’s new registration policy. Some are deciding not to register. “Immigration lawyers estimate that hundreds of immigrants across the nation have reached the same decision, consigning themselves and their families to an uncertain fate and substantially undermining a national security program whose aim is to account for tens of thousands of visitors in the United States from 25 nations, including much of the Middle East and South Asia.” An INS spokesman said that failure to register could negatively impact pending 245(i) petitions.

AZ GOV WOULD SIGN LICENSE BILL FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS

“[State] Sen. Pete Rios, D-Hayden, said Thursday he will introduce legislation that would allow Arizona to issue driver's licenses to an undetermined number of undocumented immigrants. But he recognized the odds of success are long,” the Arizona Republic reports. Nevertheless, “Gov. Janet Napolitano's spokeswoman, Kris Mayes, said the governor agrees the matter is about public safety and that she would sign a bill if one reached her desk.”

TYSON EMPLOYEES PLEAD GUILTY TO IMMIGRATION CHARGES

“Two former Tyson Foods managers pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras into the United States to work at the poultry plants of the nation's largest meat producer,” the AP reported. “The pleas come less than three weeks before Tyson and three other current and former employees are to face trial in the case.”

MEXICAN AMERICANS RACE TO GET DUAL CITIZENSHIP

“Mexican immigrants who became American citizens in the mid-1990s are in a race to get their Mexican nationality back, while also remaining American citizens,” the Chicago Sun Times reports. “Millions of Mexican Americans in Chicago and across the country are trying to beat a 1998 Mexican government mandate that gave immigrants five years to regain their Mexican nationality that they lost when they became American citizens. The law expires in March.”

GOLDSBOROUGH: THE FAILURE OF NAFTA

Writer James Goldsborough says that after 10 years NAFTA, as predicted, has only made illegal immigration worse, and will continue to make it worse. “There are some 4 million Mexicans residing illegally in the United States according to INS estimates, and they are still crossing at a rate of about 150,000 per year. Mexico's astounding population growth - which doubled its population in a generation to about 100 million - put even more pressure on the border. Most of these immigrants come from Mexico's poor farm regions, which have been hurt by NAFTA,” he says. As more tariffs are removed, more Mexicans will move to the U.S. Goldsborough believes the solution is a European Union style stability pact to subsidize Mexican farmers. “The Bush administration should propose negotiations leading to a transfer of funds that helps Mexico's farmers stay on the farm and reduces illegal immigration.”

FBI TO PROBE SAN DIEGO ACCIDENT CASE; MEXICAN CONSULATE DENIES STAFF IMPERSONATED INS AGENTS

In yesteday’s LA Times account of a recent border crash, “U.S. Border Patrol officials described six shady characters they said showed up at the scene of a crash near the border last week, perhaps trying to spirit away a smuggler whose reckless driving had just killed two Mexican immigrants.” After going to the hospital where the accident victims were taken, “The six then purportedly tried to gain the release of at least one of the alleged smugglers' accomplices, said Border Patrol spokesman Raleigh Leonard.”

The case was turned over to the FBI to investigate. A spokesman for the Mexican consulate denied that any staff impersonated INS officials. “I don't know what there is to investigate," spokesman Carlos Lozano said. "We've informed both the FBI and the Border Patrol that we were at the scene and at the hospital. We were meeting our responsibility to Mexican citizens, who are victims of an unpleasant situation like this."

In a follow-up story today, the Times claims that accounts from the hospital and California Highway Patrol back up the idea that the consular employees were not using fake INS identification. Left open is the question of how the Mexican consular officials represented the INS-issued ids they have at the crime scene, and also at the hospital. The hospital staff say that contrary to earlier reports, the consular staff did not free or attempt to free one of the smuggling suspects.

THE ‘WAR ZONE’ AT THE BORDER

Worldnetdaily reporter John Dougherty says border agents are facing more risk along with elevated interceptions of drugs and illegal aliens. “Along with higher seizures of drugs and illegals have come numerous incidents of gunplay. Agents in the busy Douglas and Naco areas of the Tucson patrol sector have, as of this writing, been shot at twice already, and firearms have been discovered on suspects and along smuggling trails near the border.”

300 CAUGHT BY NSEERS SYSTEM AT BORDER; AFGHAN CAVE PRINTS GIVE SUSPECTS AWAY

“Biometric technologies led to the apprehension of more than 300 non-immigrant aliens attempting to illegally enter the United States over the past four months, a senior Justice Department official said Thursday,” National Journal’s Technology Daily reported. “The department's National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), which began operating Sept. 11, 2002, uses technology to obtain digital fingerprints from certain temporary foreign visitors at all U.S. ports of entry.”

The Washington Times account adds detail about the use of fingerprints from captured terrorist material in Afghanistan. “Two al Qaeda suspects were taken into custody as they tried to enter the United States after their fingerprints were matched with ones lifted by U.S. military officials from documents found in caves in Afghanistan, law-enforcement authorities said yesterday,” the paper says. “American soldiers, assisted by federal law-enforcement authorities, lifted what was described at the time as "a great number" of latent fingerprints from papers found in the caves, and others seized in abandoned hideouts and training camps for al Qaeda and Taliban members.”

SOCIAL SECURITY PACT STUDIED

“Research under way at the U.S. Social Security Administration might yield an accord between the United States and Mexico to extend retirement benefits to more immigrants,” says the Riverside Press Enterprise. “The research has generated mixed reaction. Immigrant advocates say workers have paid into the system and deserve benefits. Critics question whether the United States can afford adding Social Security recipients while the baby boom generation nears retirement. . . There are far more Mexicans wanting U.S. retirement benefits than Americans who would seek Mexican retirement benefits, said [CIS Executive Director Mark] Krikorian, whose Washington, D.C.-based organization favors restraining immigration.”

BILL O’REILLY: CITIES THAT DON’T REPORT TO INS FAIL TO PROTECT CITIZENS

Bill O’Reilly, host of Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor, has an op-ed about the woman in New York who was gang raped by illegal aliens previously arrested by the police. O’Reilly says she suffered needlessly because the politicians in New York and other cities won’t cooperate with the INS. “So what is this poor raped woman to think? Four men from Mexico and one from Ecuador were roaming around Queens unsupervised, even though four of those men had been arrested and two convicted of serious crimes. That woman's life is shattered because politicians simply would not do what was necessary to protect her.”

RIDGE CONFIRMED AS DHS HEAD BY SENATE COMMITTEE

“The nation faces a long struggle against terrorists, Tom Ridge told a Senate panel that on Friday swiftly approved his nomination to head the new Homeland Security Department,” the AP reported. “The committee later voted unanimously to approve Ridge, a former congressman and governor of Pennsylvania who since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has been President Bush's chief adviser on homeland security. Full Senate confirmation was expected to come quickly so Ridge would be in place when the department is officially established next week.” The new department will include immigration enforcement.

NEARLY 1,200 DETAINED DURING SPECIAL REGISTRATION; REGISTRANTS EXCEED EXPECTATIONS

“U.S. officials said yesterday that they had detained nearly 1,200 men during a special registration program for foreign visitors from 20 mostly Middle Eastern nations, nearly twice as many as they had previously acknowledged,” the Washington Post reports. “The 1,169 men detained, almost all for immigration violations, were among thousands of foreign nationals who heeded deadlines in December and January to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.”

Department of Justice officials defend the program, and say it has resulted in terrorist detentions. According to CNN, “[Justice Department] officials, requesting anonymity, said immigration authorities have fingerprinted and processed more than 54,000 aliens, and detained 330 of them on a wide range of criminal violations, since last fall. . . . Immigration officials privately acknowledge some surprise that despite public complaints and scattered protests, the number of visitors from specified countries agreeing to the domestic registration has slightly exceeded the estimated numbers of individuals the government believed were in the United States and covered by the program.”

FORGOTTEN DETAINEES

The Washington Post says the U.S claim that only six post-Sept. 11 detainees are in custody ignores the larger issue. “In truth there are hundreds and perhaps thousands of immigrants, mostly Arabs and other Muslims, who would not be in detention but for Sept. 11, and who are now wending their way through a capricious and choked-up immigration system.” The Post does not condemn the post-Sept. 11 investigation, but says it sends the wrong message. “When those [immigration] rules are enforced with exceptional zeal for a selected group, the message becomes: Terrorist or not, even legal or not, we're better off without you.”

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW: IS THE U.S. CONSTRUCTING A FORTRESS AMERICA?

According to Naomi Klein, the U.S. is edging toward a system similar to the European Union, creating a continental bloc allowing free movement of labor. “But if a continent is serious about being a fortress, it also has to invite one or two poor countries within its walls, because somebody has to do the dirty work and heavy lifting. It's a model being pioneered in Europe, where the European Union is currently expanding to include 10 poor eastern bloc countries, at the same time that it uses increasingly aggressive security methods to deny entry to immigrants from even poorer countries, like Iraq and Nigeria.” The plan is to “Turn the Mexican and Canadian borders into glorified checkpoints and seal off the entire continent, from Guatemala to the Arctic Circle. Bush officials don't talk much about the continental fortress, preferring terms like ‘North American area of mutual confidence’. But a US-run security perimeter is precisely what is being built.”

KIDNAPPING, RANSOM OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS A BIG BUSINESS IN AZ

“Kidnappings of illegal migrants are rising in [Phoenix] as the business of smuggling people across the U.S.-Mexico border gets more lucrative and violent, police say,” according to the AP. “After guiding clients through the southern Arizona desert, some smugglers who receive half their fee up front hold migrants captive until the remainder is paid.”

PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY: SOCIAL SECURITY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS?

“The Bush Administration is proposing a change [to Social Security] that is even more controversial than offering younger workers the opportunity to invest a small percentage of their Social Security taxes,” says Eagle Forum head Phyllis Schlafly. “A deal is in the works to add to the bulging Social Security rolls many thousands of Mexicans who are working in the United States, both legally and illegally. This idea would be very costly to U.S. taxpayers. It's bad politics, it undermines the rule of law, and it invites a new wave of illegals to come across our border in search of taxpayer benefits.”

CANADIAN AMBDR. ‘DON’T BLAME CANADA’ FOR TERRORISM

Referring to a recent false alarm concerning illegal aliens wanted for questioning about terrorism, Canada’s ambassador says that Americans shouldn’t blame Canada for U.S. immigration failures. “As these inaccurate reports pile up, they foster and nourish a false impression among Americans that Canada is an unreliable security partner. These media-driven impressions simply do not match the reality of the security arrangements that are in place on your Northern border, nor do they take into account the many actions that Canada and the US have initiated jointly and individually in the campaign against terrorism since September 11,” says ambassador Michael Kergin.

POTENTIAL (MIS)USE OF INS IDS BY MEXICAN CONSULAR STAFF RAISES SECURITY CONCERNS

“On Jan. 9, following a car chase and fatal crash, an official from the Mexican Consulate in San Diego allegedly posed as an American INS agent, accompanied the crash victims to the hospital, and later, with several accomplices, succeeded in getting the victims released from the hospital. The victims have since disappeared,” CNS news reports. Now, a spokesman for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) says “We've made contact...with the INS agency back here in Washington to see how that actually came about and what procedures are in place to see what people have INS credentials and why would somebody be wearing INS credentials if they weren't with INS.”

SUPREME COURT HEARS DETENTION CASE

“Civil-rights lawyers urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to strike down a law requiring immigrants convicted of certain crimes to be locked up indefinitely - even after serving their sentences - until a deportation hearing is held,” reports the AP. The court heard arguments in the case yesterday. “Bush administration lawyer Theodore Olson told justices that the case is about public safety and immigrants who break the law and no longer have a right to be in America.”

COLO. MEXICAN CONSULATE QUESTIONED OVER POTENTIAL LOBBYING

“Gov. Bill Owens has asked the Mexican consulate in Denver to clarify the status of its spokesman after lawmakers said he is lobbying them without the proper credentials,” the Rocky Mountain News reports. “Hopkins said the governor believed that Hernandez, who identifies himself as a consular spokesman, had been active in a number of areas, including drivers license and in-state tuition legislation involving immigrants in Colorado.”

HOLLAND CITY COUNCIL TO DEBATE MEXICAN IDS

“The Holland City Council will vote on whether to accept the Mexican-issued matricula consular as a valid form of identification for city services next Wednesday night, but several council members aren't happy about that,” says the Holland Sentinel. “Antonio Meza Estrada, the consul of Mexico in Detroit, addressed the city council on Wednesday and asked for the recognition.”

GROUP BROADCASTS BORDER FOOTAGE

“Live footage of illegal immigrants sneaking into the United States is being broadcast via the Internet in what the producer calls an unprecedented event,” reports the Tucson Citizen. “Glenn Spencer, president of the Sierra Vista-based American Border Patrol, said the group's second and third official missions were the broadcasting of the live images during the past two weeks.”

GHANAIAN WOMAN FOUND GUILTY OF ASYLUM FRAUD

“Regina Danson was granted asylum after she claimed she was a disgraced tribal princess who would face sexual mutilation if deported to Ghana. Her tale of woe outraged the public and won her support from feminist Gloria Steinem, actress Julia Roberts and then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton,” notes the AP. “Officials now say the tale wasn't true. A federal jury in Brooklyn deliberated about five hours Wednesday before finding Danson, 33, guilty of lying to immigration officials.”

2ND CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR SOME; 5 MORE COUNTRIES ADDED TO LIST

“Thousands of foreign visitors from predominantly Muslim countries will be given a second chance to register with U.S. immigration authorities because the turnout for earlier deadlines was dampened by widespread fear and confusion about the program, officials said yesterday,” the Washington Post reported. “At the same time, men from five more Middle Eastern and South Asian countries will be required to register under the program, according to rules scheduled to be published in the Federal Register today.”

FAIR press release 1/15

Budget Cuts Would Cripple New Homeland Security Agency Before It Starts

ILLEGAL ALIENS FLEE TO CANADA TO AVOID REGISTRATION

Newsday has a profile of "one of thousands of immigrants across the United States who community leaders say are panicking -- and in some cases packing their bags -- this week as the Immigration and Naturalization Service launches the third stage of a program to track immigrants from the Middle East and other predominantly Muslim nations." According to the paper, "Many men targeted by the program are fleeing to Canada or even going back to Pakistan without their wives and children . . . [one Pakistani advocate] said he knows four Pakistanis, including one from Hempstead, who have fled to Canada in the past two weeks, saying they are seeking political asylum."

ASHCROFT PRAISES 'SMART BORDER' DURING SAN DIEGO VISIT

"The economic strength of the border region does not need to be sacrificed for national security, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday while praising a program that allows prescreened motorists to avoid long waits at U.S.-Mexico ports of entry," reported the San Diego Union Tribune. "This administration recognized that security and efficiency are not mutually exclusive. In fact they can be pursued simultaneously through the use of advanced technology," Ashcroft said. "Nowhere is the need for a smart border greater than in this region, home of the busiest land border crossing in the world."

CONSULAR CARDS RAISE SECURITY FEARS

"Identification cards issued by the Mexican government are gaining greater legitimacy in the U.S. That has some people worried that illegal aliens will be able to better conduct terrorist activities on U.S. soil," reports CNS News. "You had zero leadership from the Bush administration or from any federal officials about the dire consequences of ... state and local governments treating these documents as credible," said FAIR spokesman David Ray.

JUDGE RULES AGAINST DEPORTING SOMALIS

"The federal government's policy of deporting people to Somalia -- a war-torn East African nation that has lacked a functioning government for more than a decade -- is illegal, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled yesterday," the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. "The ruling, which stems from a case undertaken in November in Seattle on behalf of four Somali men slated for immediate deportation, blocks the deportation of more than 2,700 people nationwide."

FROMA HAROP: CANADA'S WALL NEEDS MORTAR

"If Canada couldn't see fit to ban Hezbollah from raising money in the streets of Toronto until last month, why should we regard a Canadian passport as a certificate of good conduct?," asks columnist Froma Harop, writing about Canada's lax immigration security. The dispute over border security is "about the United States trying to protect itself from another devastating terrorist attack. Thus, it's about sloppy Canadian immigration policies that offer easy asylum to potential terrorists. It's about Canadians not doing more to patrol their enormous coastline. And it's about [Canada] dropping the attitude."

FILIPINOS ARRESTED FOR RUNNING IMMIGRATION SCAM; USED 245(I) AS LURE

"Two Filipinos arrested last month for allegedly defrauding possibly hundreds of undocumented Filipino and Mexican immigrants looking for jobs in the United States have been charged with engaging in illegal immigration consulting, unauthorized practice of law and tax evasion," the Philippine newspaper Today reports. The duo "allegedly also capitalized on the recently passed immigration law known as 245(i) to lure clients to come to them for green-card processing."

BILL TO TIGHTEN MINN. LICENSES MOVES FORWARD

"The No. 1 item on the agenda of the House Republican majority -- driver's license changes intended to track foreign visitors -- sailed through its first committee hearing on Tuesday with only a few dissenting DFL votes," reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Many provisions of the bill took effect temporarily last July via administrative rule changes pressed by Public Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver, who now is [Gov. Tim] Pawlenty's chief of staff. But other provisions, including automatic cancellation of driver's licenses on the visa expiration date printed on them and increased gross misdemeanor penalties for falsification or fraudulent use of a license, won't take effect unless the bill becomes law."

Related: Minnesota Public Radio coverage

HOMELAND IT COSTS TO TOP $2.9 BILLION

"The U.S. government spent at least $2.9 billion in 2002 on information technology related to homeland security and will spend at least that amount again this year, Congress' auditing arm said," according to CNET. "Congress' watchdog reported that serious flaws persist. Agencies with significant homeland security IT funding requests have not yet followed recommendations from the GAO related to topics including securing information, having an architecture to guide system development efforts, managing IT investments and developing and acquiring information systems."

COURT RULES AGAINST SECRET HEARING IN NJ CASE

"A judge erred in holding a secret hearing in November to consider evidence against an Egyptian immigrant accused of forgery, and for excluding the suspect and his lawyer, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday," the AP reports. "After the hearing, Superior Court Judge Marilyn Clark doubled bail to $500,000 for Mohamed el-Atriss, who is accused of selling phony driver's licenses used by two of the Sept. 11 hijackers."

MEXICAN CONSULATE EMPLOYEES IMPERSONATE INS, SPRING SMUGGLERS

"Mexican consulate staff posing as U.S. immigration agents interfered with a murder and smuggling probe following a border patrol chase of illegal aliens that ended in a fatal freeway crash near San Diego," reports Worldnetdaily. "The incident, which appears to be a breach of national sovereignty and security, began last Thursday when U.S. Border Patrol agents and California Highway Patrol officers chased a pickup truck loaded with Mexicans believed to have entered the U.S. illegally, according to San Diego radio talk show host Roger Hedgecock, whose staff has been investigating the story."

FAIR Press Release 1/14

“Undocumented?” Illegal Aliens Given OK to Use Documents Issued by Their Own Governments

CANADIAN OFFICAL DISAVOWS BUSINESS DESIRE TO ELIMINATE BORDER

“Paul Martin, the front-runner for the Liberal leadership, said yesterday the Canada-U.S. border will not disappear, despite a proposal before one of the country's leading business groups that existing border restrictions be dismantled,” the National Post reports. "There's going to be a border between our two countries and there ought to be. We are different countries with different interests and different needs,” Martin said.

NEW REPORT HINTS AT ENTRY/EXIT TRACKING SYSTEM

“A report filed with Congress this month has begun to give shape to the Immigration and Naturalization Service's quest for an entry/exit computer system that would keep track of border crossings by land, sea and air,” Federal Computer Week reports. “The Data Management Improvement Act Task Force report, filed Jan. 3, evaluates the agency's current technology and offers recommendations toward developing the entry/exit system.”

DEADLINE FOR STUDENT TRACKING A