DAN STEIN // STEIN REPORT 2000-2008® | Federation for American Immigration Reform

December 10, 2004

MASS. ILLEGAL ALIENS SEEK IN-STATE TUITION RATE

"Advocates for immigrants and refugees yesterday renewed their demand for cheaper, in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants at state colleges, saying the results of the fall elections show that the Legislature can pass the measure without political damage," the Boston Globe reports. "The in-state tuition bill, which was refiled Dec. 1, would allow immigrant students who have lived in Massachusetts for three years and graduated from a Massachusetts high school to pay in-state tuition rates at the state's colleges, regardless of their immigration status. It would help about 400 students. The measure was passed by both houses as a budget provision earlier this year, but [Gov. Mitt] Romney vetoed the item in June, saying, ''I do not want to create an incentive to do something which is illegal.'"

WHITE HOUSE FACES QUESTIONS ABOUT IMMIGRATION

At the daily White House press briefing, spokesman Scott McClellan answered numerous questions about immigration, says Bobby Eberle of Talon News. "[What the president] is working to do is to strengthen our border security and to strengthen our controls along the border to prevent people who should not be entering the country, like terrorists or criminals, from coming into the country, while also making sure that we remain a welcoming society," McClellan said. Asked about the prospect of new legislation next year to address immigration provisions, McClellan said, "[T]he president has said he looks forward to talking with members early next year about some of the other ideas. Cairman Sensenbrenner certainly had some ideas. We spelled out some of our views on those issues in letters that we sent to members of Congress -- one this week and one back in October, if I remember correctly. And so the president looks forward to talking with people about those issues."

Full transcript of briefing

U.S. NURSES GET BREAK AS 'FAST-TRACK' GREEN CARDS CUT OFF

"Beginning Jan. 1, immigration officials will block a shortcut that allowed the foreign nurses, predominantly from the Philippines, to get fast-track work permits, the State Department announced," the AP reports. "According to a department bulletin issued Wednesday, the government will not process applications filed after January 2002 until further notice. What has been a 60-day wait could now take up to three years or more." The reason is more efficient processing. "The new quota limit is actually the indirect result of a more efficient immigration process. After Sept. 11, 2001, the system became backlogged due to updated security measures. Many foreign workers from the Philippines, and to a lesser extent India and mainland China, got by on temporary work permits as they waited for their ``number'' to come up for a green card. Now those cases are being processed, and the government said beginning Jan. 1 it will no longer issue new temporary work permits for workers from these countries until it deals with the backlog, which could take several years."

BANGLADESHI ARREST PROMPTS CONCERN AT TEXAS BORDER

"Last week’s arrest of a Bangladeshi immigrant trying to illegally enter the country has federal authorities concerned over the vulnerability of the U.S.-Mexico border to infiltration by terrorists. Federal court records show Fakhrul Islam, age unknown, was arrested Dec. 4 with 13 other undocumented immigrants as they tried to pass through a wooded area east of Brownsville," the Brownsville Herald reports. "The records said a man later identified by Border Patrol agents as a member of the Mara Salvatruchas gang was traveling in the same group as Islam. The Central American gang has alleged links to al-Qaida."

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR EDITORS: IMMIGRATION TOP TASK FOR BUSH

"Come January 2005, both Congress and President Bush are expected to start work on some unfinished business from the intelligence-reform law that was finally approved this week," the Christian Science Monitor writes in an editorial. "Left out of that sweeping measure, which was aimed primarily at consolidating the nation's spy work, were tough steps to block foreign terrorists from entering and operating in the US. Too many holes remain in the nation's immigration policies to keep terrorists out. Mr. Bush promised advocates of such measures that they would get a high priority in the new Congress."

DONALD COLLINS: HOUSE BILL FAILS SECURITY TEST

"Hooray, say the illegal alien lobbyists and their happy hiring corporate buddies, as the Congress again ignored our security and the Rule of Law with the National Intelligence Reform Act (NIRA), which passed the House yesterday and will be soon signed by President Bush," says FAIR board member Donald Collins. "While TV morning shows such as NBC’s “Today” put two attractive 911 survivor widows front and center talking about how great our system worked, the hoodwinking of America continues."