What If We Were Serious About Enforcing the Law?

" What would happen if the United States seriously enforced the ban on hiring undocumented workers? We may find out starting Tuesday, when Arizona promises to do it locally. The Arizona law is tough. Companies that knowingly employ illegal workers will have their business licenses suspended for a first offense and permanently revoked for the second," says syndicated columnist Froma Harop. Immigration happens to be Washington's responsibility. Federal law already forbids employers to hire undocumented workers. Until very recently, the Bush administration virtually ignored the ban. Whenever anger at this dereliction grew politically problematic, Mr. Bush would stage some new military show at the border."

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Dateline Targets Fake Passport Industry

"No matter where you stand on immigration in general, you probably don't want someone who has subversive or murderous intentions slipping into the United States on a false passport. NBC's "Dateline" Friday night tackles that small but ominous sliver of the immigration picture, and finds that obtaining a false passport may not be all that difficult. Ironically, the sheer scope and volume of the immigration debate may diminish the impact of this "Dateline." When presidential candidates pound their fists about "millions of illegals" crossing the border, the fake-passport industry might sound like a minor leak in the dam," says the New York Daily news in an advance review of Friday night's broadcast.

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Businesses Use L-1 Visas to Bypass H-1B Caps

"Silicon Valley businesses have long argued that changes in the immigration laws are needed to ensure a continuing supply of highly skilled workers. The current limit of 65,000 under the standard H1-B visas is not enough, they say. But that number obscures an important fact: The real total of visas issued to highly skilled workers is closer to 400,000 annually, according to the federal Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) agency. And that, say some critics, may mean that the law is being abused," Infoworld reports. "Because there is no cap on L-1 visas issued each year, the numbers have soared. In the last three years, an average of 315,000 L-1 visas have been issued each year."

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Second Day for Immigration Radio Row in Iowa

"The Federation for American Immigration Reform Congressional Task Force, a controversial anti-illegal-immigration group, staged the first of a two-day event featuring more than 20 radio talk show hosts, several presidential candidates and politicians and drawing a denouncement from local civil rights, human rights and religious groups. Many of the hosts were big names from big markets, including San Diego, Dallas, St. Louis and Minneapolis. The group held a similar event in Washington, D.C., in April," the Des Moines Register writes.

To listen to the hosts who are broadcasting check the FAIR Task Force site for show links.

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Illegal Immigrant Groups Say Huckabee Positions too Hardline

Hispanic activists who viewed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as a voice of moderation on illegal immigration say they've been taken aback by the hard-line stance he's adopted as a presidential candidate. While governor, Huckabee gained favor with Hispanic leaders by denouncing a high-profile federal immigration raid and suggesting some anti-illegal immigration measures were driven by racism. He advocated making children of illegal immigrants eligible for college scholarships," the AP writes. "Huckabee's Republican presidential rivals have tried to make an issue of the scholarship plan, portraying him as soft on illegal immigration, an important issue for many GOP voters. Huckabee responded this month by unveiling a plan to seal the Mexican border, hire more agents to patrol it and make illegal immigrants go home before they could apply to return to this country."

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Candidates Walk Fine Line on Immigration

This election season, candidates are walking the fine line between public anger over illegal immigration and the growing clout of the country's largest minority group. At the same time politicians are talking more about tougher border control and cracking down on immigration violations, they're also ramping up efforts to connect with Hispanic voters. And they're doing so even in Iowa, where the Latino population remains tiny but is growing rapidly," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton recently launched a series of efforts to connect with Iowa's Spanish-speaking community. The Con Hillary Una Vida Mejor (A Better Life with Hillary) bilingual campaign has been flooding the state's Spanish radio airwaves this month."

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Maryland, DC and National Population Growth Tied to Immigration

"Maryland and the District continue to lose residents to other places, but they make up for the loss by gaining immigrants, according to Census Bureau estimates to be released today. Virginia came out a little ahead in the give-and-take with other states between July 2006 and July 2007, but it grew much more through immigration. The three jurisdictions had a net population gain of less than 1 percent for the year," the Washington Post reports. "The new Census Bureau data on state populations closely mirror last year's estimates and reflect a massive ongoing shift from Northeastern and Midwestern states to the South in recent years. In the past year, the Northeast and Midwest had a combined net loss of 558,901 residents, almost entirely to the South. At the same time, immigrants have flocked to the South and West, and the populations of some Southern and Western states have increased substantially, the estimates show."

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Success for Costa Mesa Jail Policy as Illegal Aliens Deported

"In the year since Costa Mesa became the first Southern California city to have a federal immigration officer at its jail full time, 360 suspects who were in the country illegally have been deported. The statistics cap a year in which illegal immigration has been a focus of the City Council," the LA Times writes. "'I'm glad to see the federal government is helping us uphold the law. I'm sure victims of crime are pleased that members of the criminal element are being removed from the community,' Councilman Eric Bever said."

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Smuggling Crimes on the Rise in Houston

"When you hear what happened to 14-year-old Luis Antonio Gonzalez, you get a clearer picture of what some say is a disturbing trend in Houston. Gonzalez was kidnapped in Northwest Harris County on Christmas Eve. Investigators said,so-called 'coyotes' were demanding his family pay more money for having smuggled another family member into Houston," the Houston Chronicle reports." Earlier this year, smugglers shot at each other in a rolling gun fight on the Southwest Freeway as they fought over a load of illegal immigrants. One person was killed in the shootout. While statistics show trafficking and smuggling are growing worse in Houston, some anti-illegal immigration groups are not so sure the immigration officers and local police are ready to handle the onslaught."

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Illegal Immigration Slows Down?

"Lorenzo Martinez, an illegal immigrant who has lived in Los Angeles for six years, has a message for his kin in Mexico's Hidalgo state: Stay put. The steady construction work that had allowed him to send home as much as $1,000 a month in recent years had disappeared. The 36-year-old father of four said desperation was growing among the day laborers with whom he was competing for odd jobs. Sporadic employment isn't the half of it. Martinez said anxiety also was running high among undocumented workers about stepped-up workplace raids, deportations and increasing demands by U.S. employers for proof that they were in the country legally," the LA Times writes.

"The fall in arrests also fits a familiar pattern, one that traditionally has more to do with the strength of the U.S. job market than with walls or guards."

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No-Match Enforcement on Hold Pending Appeal

"Employers will get a pass this year on rules that would have required firing illegal immigrants. The Social Security Administration says it will not mail out 'no-match' letters this year to more than 138,000 employers nationwide. The program was stymied because of a lawsuit by a coalition of labor, business and civil liberties groups. No-match letters inform employers that a worker's name and Social Security number don't match. There can be a variety of reasons, but sometimes that's because the worker is an illegal immigrant. The letters would have flagged 8.6 million workers nationwide. In Georgia, 4,669 employers will get a pass on the letters this year," the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

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New I-9 Form Will Help Fight Fraud

"Starting today, every employer in America must use a new employment verification form that immigration officials say will help reduce document fraud. To comply with a 1996 law, the new I-9 form drops five documents from the list that employers could use to verify employees' identities and work eligibility. And immigration experts predict this is only a first step in the government's plan to further reduce the number of documents used to verify employment, part of a heightened effort to root out document fraud in the workplace," writes James Pinkerton with the Houston Chronicle.

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McCain Still Dogged by Immigration Issue

"When Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., campaigns in Iowa this week, sooner or later, he will surely be asked at a town hall event about one issue that has bedeviled him for months: illegal immigration. It comes up at almost every stop, no matter what state he's in — Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan or South Carolina," ABC News reports. "For many of those same voters, McCain -- co-sponsor of the immigration bill that died in Congress earlier this year -- is on the wrong side of the issue."

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Pro-Illegal Immigration Crowd Is Afraid that 'Attrition Through Enforcement' Strategy Might Work

by FAIR Media Director Ira Mehlman

One of the interesting things about the lavishly funded pro-illegal alien lobby is that they all claim to be in favor of immigration enforcement, even as they work assiduously to undermine immigration enforcement. Now they seem to recognize that there is a serious hole in their strategy.

While they claim to be against illegal immigration, the pro-illegal alien network has been pushing amnesty as the only practical solution for the 13 million or so illegal aliens already here. From both the left and the right we have repeatedly heard the argument that we cannot deport millions of people, therefore, we have no choice but to provide them with some form of amnesty. This argument is repeatedly proffered in spite of the fact that no one has ever seriously offered mass deportation as a way to deal with illegal aliens living here.

Since its inception in 1979, FAIR has argued that the most effective strategy for bringing illegal immigration under control is to eliminate the reasons why people come to and remain in the United States illegally. In the past several years, we and other immigration reform groups have boiled the strategy down to a three-word description, known as 'Attrition Through Enforcement.'

With the American public's resolute rejection of amnesty in 2007, Attrition Through Enforcement is gaining traction in the political arena, and this scares the Birkenstocks off of the pro-illegal alien network. They worry that Attrition Through Enforcement might actually work, and they have no answer for it.

The Center for International Policy, a Washington think tank with a reputable staff and board, is sounding the alarm. A recent article by Tom Barry, a senior policy analyst in their Americas Policy Program, warns that, "'Attrition through enforcement' represents an aggressive step forward for restrictionism. The 'attrition through enforcement' strategy signals the advance of the anti-immigration advocates from defensive and hold-the-line positions to a long-term offensive aimed at definitively taking the battlefield." http://americas.irc-online.org/am/4816

You're right, Tom. That is our strategy and has been all along. It's the approach favored by the overwhelming majority of Americans, when that option is included in polling questions. And, judging from early results, it is working! The American public now understands that their options are not limited to mass amnesty or mass deportation. And the beauty of it all, is that this effective strategy entail enforcing the laws that the pro-illegal alien lobby has disingenuously claimed to support.

Border Arrests Drop After Yuma Barriers Completed

"Between the Colorado River and a desolate rock hill to the east are 48 miles of various types of barriers dividing the United States and Mexico, almost all of them new. While other parts of the southwestern border remain porous, this small part of Arizona has become an example in the federal government's effort to stop illegal immigration and other traffic. In the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector, arrests of illegal immigrants have dropped from 119,000 in 2006 to 38,000 in the fiscal year that ended in September, and the trend continues downward," the Arizona Republic reports. "Authorities in Mexico say they see fewer immigrants trying to traverse the border. Authorities in Arizona report that border crime has dropped significantly. Federal, local and Mexican officials cite the fences as a major reason for the reduction in illegal traffic, arrests and crime in the region."

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Enforcing the Law Makes Illegal Aliens Go Home

"It's a common scene this time of year: streams of overloaded cars, pickups and vans with U.S. license plates crossing into Mexico for the holidays. Most are filled with Hispanic families from Arizona and other states on their way to visit relatives south of the border for a few weeks before heading back to the U.S. But this year, the holiday travelers are being joined by scores of families such as Jorge and Liliana Franco, who are driving to Mexico not to visit but to stay - permanently. Congress' failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform, immigration crackdowns, Arizona's new employer-sanctions law and a sluggish economy have combined to create a climate families such as the Francos no longer find hospitable," the Tucson Citizen reports. [via Michelle Malkin]

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Underwater Homeowners Rent to Illegal Alien Smugglers

"Unable to sell his house in suburban Phoenix's anemic real estate market, Jason Winterholler rented to a couple who paid the deposit in cash and didn't haggle over price. It was a deal he came to regret. The renters were fronts for immigrant smugglers who used the house as a hiding place for illegal immigrants and trashed the home. In October, a SWAT team drove an armored personnel carrier onto the lawn and raided the house, rounding up nearly two dozen people," the AP reports. "Immigrant smugglers are seeing a business opportunity in the nation's mortgage crisis: They are renting vacant new homes in the Phoenix suburbs and using them as stash houses for the people they have slipped across the Mexican border, authorities say. Stash houses are stopover points where smugglers collect their fees and make travel arrangements for immigrants headed to points throughout the country."

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Tancredo May Withdraw from Presidential Race

"Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, whose forceful opposition to illegal immigration vaulted him to national prominence, plans to announce he is abandoning his long-shot bid for the presidency, a person close to Mr. Tancredo said Wednesday. Mr. Tancredo, a five-term congressman, planned to make the announcement at a news conference in Des Moines, on Thursday, the person, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for Mr. Tancredo or his campaign, told The Associated Press," the AP reports.

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Myers Confirmed as ICE Undersecretary

"The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Julie L. Myers as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two years after President Bush appointed her to the position amid questions about her qualifications to lead the government's second-largest law enforcement agency. Myers was among more than 30 people whose appointments were approved by a voice vote of the Senate as it concluded its session," the Washington Post reports. "Bush had used a recess appointment in 2005 to put Myers, then 36, in charge of ICE, the branch of the Homeland Security Department that enforces immigration laws, when the Senate appeared unlikely to confirm her. Although she was a former Treasury official and assistant U.S. attorney, lawmakers debated whether she had enough experience to lead the agency."

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Maryland Illegal Alien Support Group Funded Mainly by Taxpayers

"More than 80 percent of Montgomery County funding for immigrant advocacy group CASA of Maryland is awarded through grants, noncompetitive contracts or direct handouts at the request of the organization, according to county financial documents obtained by The Examiner. CASA receives roughly $2.35 million in taxpayer money under the current county budget, a sore spot for anti-illegal-immigration group leaders who object to any taxpayer funds being used to benefit people who may be illegal immigrants. Elected officials from County Executive Ike Leggett to U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin have supported the organization, saying CASA provides much-needed services to the community," the Washington Examiner reports. "The group uses the money to fund projects including its controversial centers for day laborers, health care services, adult English classes, tenant rights counseling and job training for immigrants. County leaders say CASA’s efforts have largely been a success, and point to reports that detail increasing numbers of employers seeking workers through the centers, a growing presence of female day laborers and the group’s efforts to provide translation services for people in need of health care."

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NY Farmers Want More Indentured Servants

"Congress' failure to ensure that there are enough migrant workers in the nation's labor force could eventually cost New York agriculture hundreds of millions of dollars in lost crops and hundreds of thousands of acres in lost farmland, analysts say. 'Our country is reaping what Congress has sown,' said Craig Regelbrugge, a vice president of the American Nursery and Landscape Association and co-chairman of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform, a national coalition of more than 300 agricultural producer associations," the AP reports. "Despite repeated attempts, Congress and the Bush administration have been unable to come up with a long-term strategy on immigration reform and the current temporary worker program is 'hobbled by bureaucracy, excessive and burdensome paperwork and restrictive wages,' Regelbrugge said."

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Why Don't Politicians Get Immigration Reform?

"Among the many mine-fields the primary candidates are required to walk through is the one most commonly called 'Immigration Reform.' As is typical with such issues, the rhetoric over time is softened and the politicians agree upon a few things they can say in public venues without shooting themselves in the foot or committing themselves to real action. And so we hear from both parties familiar words and phrases: limited amnesty; enforcement of existing laws; a process leading to citizenship; border security; immigrant rights and the like," says Evan Goranson for Family Security Matters. "The reality remains that in an era when our government has devised a color code to alert citizens to the terror threat level, our national borders are still pervious. And, I am convinced, that focusing on Immigration Reform is a convenient way of avoiding the true issue: border incursion and the threat to our national security."

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Spending Bill Changes Border Fence to Single, Not Double Layer

"Congress last night passed a giant new spending bill that undermines current plans for a U.S.-Mexico border fence, allowing the Homeland Security Department to build a single-tier barrier rather than the two-tier version that has worked in California," the Washington Times reports. "'The fact that this was buried in a bloated, 3,500-page omnibus speaks volumes about the Democrats' unserious approach on border security and illegal immigration,' said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican. 'Gutting the Secure Fence Act will make our borders less secure, but it's consistent with the pattern of behavior we’ve seen all year from this majority.'"

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Judge Rules You Can Hire Criminals With No Public Disclosure

"A California appeals court Monday declined to overturn a judge's decision that bars the public from knowing who hires migrant day-laborers in Vista. Three news organizations, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, had appealed Superior Court Judge Michael Orfield's decision barring Vista officials from making public the identities of employers registered under the city's day-laborer law. The 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego rejected the petition Monday without giving a reason," the San Diego Union Tribune reports. "In July, the ACLU petitioned the Superior Court for an injunction to stop the release of the employers' information, citing privacy rights. Two months later, Judge Orfield issued a preliminary injunction ordering Vista to stop releasing the information, saying that the employers' right to privacy superseded the public's right to know in this case." [FAIR's legal affiliate group IRLI is involved in this litigation. The next step in the case is likely a trial on the suit.]

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Business Lobby Realizes GOP Candidates are Serious About Enforcement

"[Mark] Gould isn't the only employer growing disenchanted with Republican candidates' stances on immigration. A number of business owners in the U.S.--many of them longtime Republicans--say that talk of severe crackdowns on illegal immigration and restrictions on legal immigration are pushing them away from the party. Some are even switching to actively support Democrats, including Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). 'The Republican candidates just don't get it,' says Maureen Torrey, owner of Torrey Farms in Elba, N.Y. 'They need to understand that immigration helps drive economic growth, and that without it a lot of industries are in trouble.' Torrey, a lifelong Republican, is now backing Clinton."

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Foes of AZ Enforcement Law Try Again

"Unwilling to bet on the outcome of their new lawsuit, business groups trying to void Arizona's employer sanctions law want a federal appeals court to overturn the dismissal of their case. Attorney David Selden took the first steps Friday to appeal the week-old ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake throwing out the case because they sued the wrong defendants," the Arizona Daily Star reports. "The legal maneuvers come five days after Selden filed a second lawsuit challenging the law. The new lawsuit seeks its own restraining order against enforcement until the new complaint can be heard. Wake has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday on that request. But the judge indicated Thursday he might not grant the stay, saying there would have been no reason for a new lawsuit, and no pressing Jan. 1 deadline, had challengers properly prepared the first lawsuit."

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Mexico Won't Control Violent Smugglers But Complains About U.S. Response

Nearly 1,000 Attacks on Agents in the Last Year

"The Border Patrol says its agents were attacked nearly 1,000 times during a one-year period along the Mexican border, typically by assailants hurling rocks, bottles and bricks. Now the agency is responding with tear gas and powerful, pepper-spray weapons, including firing into Mexico. The counteroffensive has drawn complaints that innocent families are being caught in the crossfire," the AP reports. "The Border Patrol's top official in San Diego, Mike Fisher, said his agents are taking action because Mexican authorities have been slow to respond. When an attack happens, he said, American authorities often wait hours for them to come, and help usually never arrives. 'We have been taking steps to ensure that our agents are safe,' Fisher said."

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Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging OK Law

"U.S. District Judge James Payne, in a very strongly worded opinion, dismissed a lawsuit against Oklahoma's controversial immigration bill, House Bill 1804, Wednesday evening. Payne found that half the complainants lacked standing and said those with standing -- a handful of 'illegal alien complainants' -- were attempting to use the court to openly violate federal law," the Oklahoman reported. "'These plaintiffs admit their violation of federal law, and then ask this court to allow them to file suit anonymously, so as to avoid detection by the federal law enforcement,' Payne wrote. 'These illegal alien plaintiffs seek nothing more than to use this court as a vehicle for their continued unlawful presence in this country. To allow these plaintiffs to do so would make this court an abettor of iniquity and this court finds that simply unpalatable.'"

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The Honeymoon(s) Are Over As Woman With 10 Husbands Caught

"The honeymoons are over for a 26-year-old woman who authorities say has at least 10 husbands. Eunice Lopez has been charged with bigamy, accused of marrying 10 men between 2002 and 2006 - and never divorcing any of them, immigration authorities say, the Miami Herald reported over the weekend. Lopez - who arrived in South Florida from Cuba in 2002 and is a legal U.S. resident - charged her husbands big bucks to help them secure legal status and continued asking for money long after the weddings, threatening to expose them if they didn't pay," the AP reported.

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Illegal Immigration A Top Campaign Issue in Iowa, New Hampshire

"At opposite sides of New Hampshire, John McCain faced two corporate audiences in two college towns earlier this month. Only one topic came up in both places when he starting taking questions: illegal immigration. The Republican presidential hopeful gets so many questions -- sometimes hostile -- about immigration at his town hall meetings that he quips, -'This meeting is adjourned,' before explaining his position at length. It was the first question asked when he visited the spacious headquarters of C&S Wholesale Grocers, a multibillion-dollar grocery supplier in Keene. A day earlier, an employee at a gleaming printing press manufacturer in Durham appeared skeptical after hearing him explain his stance, which prompted McCain to give her a chance to respond."

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USCIS Investigated 139 Fraud Complaints Out of Thousands

"U.S. immigration agents investigated only 139 suspected fraud cases referred by the main anti-fraud unit of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services last year, or less than 1 percent of 1 percent of about 6 million applications for citizenship, green cards and other benefits, federal investigators reported yesterday," the Washington Post writes. "USCIS's 315-member Fraud Detection and National Security office was created in May 2004 with the goal of tracking all applications with any sign of fraud. But in practice, not all 3,500 USCIS claim adjudicators turn in such forms, because doing so counts against their productivity."

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Virginia Business Lobby Plans Fight Against Sanctions

"A broad coalition of Virginia business interests, including some of the most powerful trade groups in the state, has created an organization to oppose laws that would punish employers with undocumented workers on their payrolls. Virginia Employers for Sensible Immigration Policy was formed in anticipation of another flurry of legislation in the General Assembly seeking to crack down on undocumented residents and employers that hire them, business leaders said. Individual trade groups and companies have spoken out before about specific anti-illegal immigration proposals, but the new group is the business community's most visible and organized effort to influence the immigration debate," the Washington Post reported. "One proposal that failed last session in Richmond would have revoked the state business license of any employer found to hire undocumented workers."

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Loudon Supervisors Miss the Point

"Loudoun County's much-publicized election-year effort to root out and drive away illegal immigrants may fizzle six months after it began, as a slate of Democrats with different priorities prepares to take control of the Board of Supervisors next month. Loudoun was quick to follow Prince William County last summer in attempting to crack down on what some board members said were problems created by illegal immigrants, and many elected officials used the issue in their fall campaigns," the Washington Post reports.

"'The emphasis is going to be on issues of growth and transportation and education,' said C. Kelly Burk (D), one of four Democrats who defeated incumbent Republicans in the Nov. 6 election. 'I want to get back to what people are concerned about.' Eight candidates, including five Democrats, won seats on the nine-member board on a promise to slow growth in Loudoun, where population has virtually doubled since 2000 as suburban-style developments crop up in the formerly rural county."

[FAIR comment: FAIR ran ads in Loudon county back in 2000 warning that immigration fueled population growth was going to fundamentally change their community through suburban sprawl. It appears that Loudon county is still in denial about the biggest source of population growth, along with the impact of that growth on transportation and education.]

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"Today The Deliberate Sense Of The American People Is Against Immigration"

"The Federalist gives us a fine phrase to describe enduring coalitions of opinion that shape the politics of the Republic: the deliberate sense of the people. The deliberate sense of the American people favored a federal constitution bringing the several States into a national union. The deliberate sense of the people opposed Communism on principle, judged it not merely unworkable but wicked and menacing, and set itself stubbornly against it. Today the deliberate sense of the American people is against immigration. Its persistence is amply demonstrated, not least in the fact that even a dramatic change in congressional majority could not shake it loose," says Paul J. Cella writing at RedState.

"Without the patina of free enterprise, without the conceit that nationality is an impediment to prosperity, and citizenship to free markets, the whole project would be quite doomed. Left-wing globalization is about as unpopular a system as one can imagine. But right-wing globalization: now there is an idea with some legs. Making bureaucratic despotism, a la the EU, our world empire, fills most sane men with visceral horror; but making American Capitalism our world empire is a more cunning and seductive sophistry. That the anticipated empire may be Capitalist, but it won’t be American, is a difficult proposition for optimistic Americans to credit. A lot of Americans really believe that everyone else is just America-in-embryo."

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Peggy Noonan Hits It Out of the Park

"It is clear in Iowa that immigration is the great issue that won't go away. Members of the American elite, including U.S. senators, continue to do damage to the public debate on immigration. They do not view it as a crucial question of America's continuance. They view it as an onerous issue that might upset their personal plans, an issue dominated by pro-immigration groups and power centers on the one hand, and the pesky American people, with their limited and quasi-racist concerns, on the other. Because politicians see immigration as just another issue in 'the game,' they feel compelled to speak of it not with honest indifference but with hot words and images . . . Hillary Clinton is not up at night worrying about the national-security implications of open borders in the age of terror. She's up at night worrying about whether to use Mr. Obama's position on driver's licenses for illegals against him in ads or push polls," says Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal.

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TN Couple Faces Tax Horror: Wages Garnished to Pay Taxes Owed by Illegal Aliens Who Stole Their Names

"For Lora and Jamey Costner, a $7,854 federal income tax bill is the painful indigestion that followed two unsatisfying servings of identity theft cooked up by two former Koch Foods employees, records indicate. The criminal cases involving the Newport married couple and the two illegal immigrants, who IRS records indicate worked for Koch Foods, have been resolved in the court system. The bitter aftertaste that remains is the unpalatable possibility of having their wages garnished to pay tax bills on income they never earned at the Morristown chicken-processing plant," the Citizen Tribune reports.

"The Costners remain in IRS legal limbo. The agency hasn’t begun garnishing their wages, but Mrs. Costner says she fears that could begin any day. What’s more, the Costner’s $7,854 IRS bill is for the 2005 calendar year. Mrs. Costner says she believes it’s only a matter of time until they receive a delinquent tax notice for the time the two imposters worked at Koch Foods during 2006."

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Giuliani Pledges Action to Halt Illegal Immigration

"Rudy Giuliani launched a new TV ad in New Hampshire today in which he promises to bring the leadership needed to solve illegal immigration. 'People are frustrated over immigration because the government has been talking about solving this for 20 or 25 years, and it's just gotten worse,' Giuliani says in the spot. 'What we need here is leadership. Build a fence. Train the border patrol. Have a BorderStat system. Have a tamper-proof ID card. And then if you become a citizen you have to be able to read English, write English, speak English, and understand American civics.'"

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Finally, Action in Carpentersville as ICE Targets Gangs

"Federal agents working with police in Carpentersville and other northwest suburbs arrested 21 Mexican immigrants for deportation in an ongoing national sweep targeting members of transnational gangs, officials said Tuesday. Sixteen were members of the Maniac Latin Disciples and Sureno-13 street gangs who had past convictions for crimes including drug possession, burglary and aggravated battery, said Gail Montenegro of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement," the Chicago Tribune reports. Carpentersville has been debating an illegal immigration ordinance similar to the one adopted by Hazleton, PA due to inaction by the DHS and ICE.

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Snack Attack: NY Grocer Loses Illegal Workers

"Fresh Direct, the online grocery delivery operation that caters to affluent and overworked New Yorkers, lost dozens of employees this week after federal immigration officials notified the company that its employee records were under investigation. The company sent its workers a memo on Sunday and Monday saying that Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned to inspect the records of every employee and asked them to update their information and provide documents, like Social Security cards, to prove employment eligibility. At least 40 warehouse workers who could not produce proof that they were authorized to work in the United States quit or were suspended," the New York Times reports.

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Iowa Legislators Ready to Get Tough on Employers

"Democratic legislative leaders have promised to get tough on businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and Gov. Chet Culver said he likely would support the effort. 'It would include some pretty aggressive things such as cracking down on corporate CEOs who may be skirting the law when it comes to recruiting illegals,' said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines. 'That's going to be one of the policy focuses of this session,'" the AP reports. "The Democratic leaders raised the issue Wednesday at a seminar for Associated Press member editors and reporters, focused on the legislative session beginning Jan. 14. Speaking later at the seminar, Culver said he'd likely support tougher laws that punish employers who skirt immigration laws."

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You Better Not Pout, Better Not Cry Chertoff Warns States

Real-ID is Comin to Town

"Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced Wednesday that his agency would issue 'retooled' regulations concerning national driver's license standards within a matter of weeks and warned states and businesses not to obstruct efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. In a speech detailing the Department of Homeland Security's accomplishments during 2007, Chertoff urged nationwide compliance with the Real ID Act, which was passed in 2005 following the discovery that several of the Sept. 11 terrorists had used fake identification to board airplanes. That law set nationwide standards designed to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to secure driver's licenses. Chertoff said he had no illusion about the reactions of California and other states that have fought it on grounds of privacy and security," the LA Times writes.

Noting that critics have 'an ideological discomfort' with national standards for driver's licenses, Chertoff said, 'I have yet to hear a persuasive argument for why it is a good thing for privacy to have driver's licenses that are easily forged or counterfeited.'"

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Time Magazine's Wrong-Headed Immigration Policy

"This week, Time Magazine columnist Michael Kinsley perpetrated the biggest fraud concerning illegal immigration yet expressed in America. What sickens me stems from Time publisher Richard Stengel and Kingsley's unabashed support of illegal alien migration. In addition, they refuse to address the ominous population dilemma created by relentless and unending immigration," says Frosty Woolridge. "They expose global warming, but refuse to address its causes. They report on air pollution gripping our nation’s cities, but refuse to address its source. They survey our national water crisis, but won’t give a word as to its origin. Both men dance around the denial tree."

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Immigration The Big Issue in Iowa

Along the main thoroughfare of this small meatpacking town, the transformation of a single shop, once known as the Ken-A-Bob restaurant, tells the story of the town itself . . . The nation’s struggle over immigration may seem distant in states like Iowa, hundreds of miles from any border, but the debate is part of daily life here, more than ever now as residents prepare to pick a president. Nearly all of more than two dozen people interviewed here last week said they considered immigration policy at or near the top of their lists of concerns as they look to the presidential caucuses next month," the New York Times writes.

"In the interviews here, peoples' focus on immigration held regardless of what perspective they brought to the debate, whether they were Democrats or Republicans, Hispanic or not, recent arrivals or lifelong Iowans. Some, like Bob DeMey, said they were troubled by all the change in Storm Lake, which was once almost exclusively white but which, Mr. DeMey said, has come to be known among his friends as Little Mexico. So much immigration -- mainly illegal immigration, he says -- has taken meatpacking jobs away from the locals, left the schools jammed, and driven up crime."

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Immigration Shaping Politics Nationwide

"If there was any doubt about the fearsome power of an anti-immigration message in American politics this election cycle, Republican Bob Latta drove a stake through it on Tuesday. It’s hard to imagine a more miserable political climate for Republicans — hurting nationally because of the unpopularity of President Bush and the Iraq war, and even more in Ohio because of the economy and local factors that have knocked the GOP off its game over the past two years," DC newspaper The Politico reported. "But Latta, running in a special election for a suburban Toledo-based House district, crafted a message -- echoed by party officials -- that bashed illegal immigrants who live here, drive here or get government-funded health care. He won by 14 points. Democrats and Republicans alike credit the immigration message for the big margin."

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DHS Proposal Would Recall Old Green Cards, Help Deport Criminals

"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is considering a proposal to eliminate hundreds of thousands of green cards issued years ago without expiration dates, a move that would help the agency track down individuals who have committed crimes and might be eligible for deportation. By requiring immigrants to reapply for new cards, the federal agency would be able to update their personal information, conduct background checks and electronically store their fingerprints and photographs," the LA Times reports. "'They don't have the manpower to find these people,' said Los Angeles immigration attorney Carl Shusterman. 'This makes it kind of easy. The people will have to come to them. . . . A lot of people will be put into deportation proceedings.' Shusterman said that since the proposal was made public, his office has received several calls from permanent residents who said they have committed crimes and worry about being deported."

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Giuliani Says He Wanted to Deport Every Illegal Alien from NY; Huckabee Endorsed by Gilchrist

"Rudy Giuliani says he wanted to deport all 400,000 illegal immigrants from New York City when he was mayor, but ended up welcoming most of those who were 'causing me no trouble.' In an interview for the new book 'Meet the Next President,' Giuliani lamented that the Immigration and Naturalization Service deported only 700 to 1,500 of the city’s 400,000 aliens each year during his mayoralty. Giuliani said it was obvious the INS was not about to increase deportation 'from 700 or 1,500 to 400,000.' 'If they could, I would have turned all the people over. It would have helped me. I would have had a smaller population. I would have had fewer problems.'"

"Minuteman Project Jim Gilchrist on Tuesday endorsed Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Noting that he might not agree 100 percent on immigration with Huckabee, the firebrand illegal immigration opponent said Huckabee's recently released immigration plan won him over. 'The governor has a plan and I appreciate his plan. That's why I'm supporting him. He's one of the few who's actually brought forth a plan and gone public with it. It shows to me that he's willing to engage in the tough love necessary to fix this problem,' Gilchrist said," Fox News reported.

See this post at A Certain Slant of Light for more background information on the Giuliani and Huckabee news.

DHS Finally Training Mass. Police in Immigration Enforcement

"Federal immigration agents are forging new alliances with local law enforcement agencies across Massachusetts in an effort to crack down on hard-core criminals, spurring anxiety and applause within immigrant communities. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has been taking its message on the road from Concord to Cape Cod, offering so-called ICE 101 presentations to the state's district attorneys, probation officers, and, most recently, large police departments, including those in Lowell and Lynn," the Boston Globe reports. "Immigration authorities say the partnerships are helping cities and towns pluck criminals from their streets, and some local immigrant advocates agree. But statewide immigration advocates fear the push is opening a new front in immigration enforcement and deterring immigrants from reporting crimes."

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Editorial: Landowners Can't Veto the Fence

"Everyone's probably sick of this immigration debate. It's the ultimate wedge issue, dividing the country, neighbors, even families. But the law of the land is the law of the land. And part of our immigration law says the U.S. will build a fence along nearly 700 miles of the Mexican border. The president signed the measure. Congress has appropriated funds for it. And about 280 miles of fence have been built. It's time to finish the rest of the barrier. We say that as a newspaper that has never seen a fence along the Mexican border as a cure-all. We support it primarily because the fence was part of the immigration overhaul Congress was trying to pass the last two years. We said build it, if that's what it takes to pass a plan to create a saner immigration system," the Dallas Morning News writes in an editorial.

"We still mean that, which is why we support Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff's efforts to keep constructing the fence. His office sent letters Friday to about 160 objecting landowners, the vast majority of whom live in Texas. The letters are seeking federal access to the landowner's borderlands. The recipients have 30 days to respond. If landowners still object, Washington will get a court order to enter the property."

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Oakwood Joins List of Communities Looking to Halt Illegal Immigration

"Monday night’s Oakwood City Council meeting began looking morelike a presidential debate when a hot button issue was raised — illegal immigration. Oakwood City Councilmember Gary Anderson started a discussion on what he called the depleting effect illegal immigrants have upon Oakwood and Hall County resources. The ensuing dialogue led to a motion directing Oakwood City Attorney Donnie Hunt and Oakwood City Manager Stan Brown to research ordinances discouraging illegal immigrants from living in Oakwood. Two councilmembers abstained from voting on the motion. Hunt said he will look at other municipalities’ ordinances that Oakwood could potentially adopt to resolve its infrastructure problems worsened by illegal immigration," the Gainsville Times reports.

"'This is sort of becoming prevalent across the country, where lots of cities are just frustrated that the federal government is not doing their job,' Hunt said. 'Cities have tried different creative ways such as housing standards and forcing employers to hire legal residents or otherwise they revoke their business license, and those are the areas I’ll look into.'"

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The Real History of NAFTA

"A few days ago I beat up on the Post editorial board for yet another failed attempt at dispassionate analysis in their 'ideas primary.' The Post attacked the leading Democratic presidential candidates for their statements on trade. It was especially angry that they attacked NAFTA, which the Post pronounced as a great success, especially for Mexico. To support its case, the Post told readers that Mexico's GDP had more than quadrupled since 1987. As I pointed out, this is absurd. Mexico has actually had slow growth for a developing country over the last twenty years. (NAFTA went into effect in 1994, so I'm not sure where 1987 came from in any case.) According to data from the IMF, Mexico's GDP has risen by 83 percent since 1987, which is considerably short of quadrupling by most definitions of the term," says Dean Baker of The American Prospect. "The Post used an inappropriate methodology to try to convince readers that NAFTA has been a glowing success in Mexico. It hasn't been a glowing success, and it is time that the Post came clean with its readers on this point."

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Feds Ramp Up Verification Program for Arizona Businesses; New Law Takes Effect Jan. 1st

"The federal government has ramped-up efforts to promote its online employment-eligibility program that all Arizona businesses will be required to use under the state's new employer-sanctions law. It remained unclear Monday whether a judge's ruling late Friday tossing out a lawsuit challenging the sanctions law had triggered a rush of employers signing up for E-Verify. Officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services could not say how many employers had signed up during the weekend or on Monday," the Arizona Republic reports. "As part of an unprecedented $750,000 advertising campaign, the Department of Homeland Security has erected 15 billboards in the Phoenix area and is running radio spots and newspaper ads to promote E-Verify. This is the first time the federal government has used paid advertising to promote the free online computer program, Sebrechts said. The government launched the campaign in response to interest in the program generated by the sanctions law, she said."

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Trial for Top DHS Official Starts Today in Visa Scandal

"A top federal Department of Homeland Security investigator stands trial today on felony charges that he helped his illegal immigrant girlfriend live in the United States unlawfully. The case against Lloyd Miner, an internal affairs chief for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, stems from the high-profile investigation into former Homeland Security supervisor Robert Schofield, the immigration official who pleaded guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands in cash bribes in exchange for creating phony visas, green cards and citizenship documents," the DC Examiner reports. "His attorney, John E. Gullette, said Miner was targeted because of his high-profile position and because his superiors believed Miner was passing embarrassing information about the agency to anti-immigration advocates. Miner didn’t know that his fiance was living here illegally, and it would be illegal for him to use his position to check on her status, Gullette said."

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New Romney Ad Targets Huckabee on Immigration

"Behind now in some Iowa polls, Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign is going after the rival who has moved past him there with a TV ad that charges Mike Huckabee is the wrong 'choice' when it comes to immigration policy. The 30-second spot, which goes on the air today in Iowa, is called Choice: The Record. The Romney campaign calls it a 'contrast' ad. Dave Roederer, chairman of fellow Republican contender Sen. John McCain's campaign in Iowa, issued a statement Monday evening calling it an attack ad," says USA Today's Politics blog.

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Video Documentary "Crossing The Line" on Illegal Alien Drunk Drivers

"WRAL in North Carolina ran a documentary called Crossing the Line that covers illegal alien drunk drivers and the impacts on society. They cover the story of Scott Gardner who was killed by a drunk driving illegal alien. They interviewed Scott's family," writes Digger's Realm. [Videos at the linked story].

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Dean Blasts GOP for "Outrageous Phrases Like 'Illegal Aliens'"

"Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean yesterday said Republicans are targeting immigrants and told the Republican presidential candidates that the tone of their debates on the issue has become 'outrageous.' 'Stop scapegoating immigrants and stop using immigration as a wedge issue,' Mr. Dean, a 2004 presidential hopeful, said in a conference call with reporters meant to set the stage for this weekend's Republican presidential debate on Spanish-language network Univision," the Washington Times reported. "Mr. Dean said that in the most recent debate, Republicans used 'outrageous phrases like 'illegal aliens.' He urged the candidates to 'have some morality and some humanity.'"

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Business Lobby Files Modified Suit to Stop Arizona Employer Law

"Lawyers filed a second lawsuit challenging Arizona's new employer-sanctions law Sunday night, two days after a judge said the groups fighting the law sued the wrong government officials. Attorneys for business groups named the state's 15 county attorneys in the latest lawsuit, something they failed to do the first time around. In his ruling Friday night, U.S. District Judge Neil Wake said the first lawsuit was filed against the governor and state attorney general -- who are given only investigatory authority under the law -- and wasn't aimed at county prosecutors who actually have the power to enforce the restrictions," the AP reports. "Julie Pace, an attorney for the business groups, said Sunday the latest lawsuit contains the same arguments the first one did against the employer-sanctions law -- that it's an unconstitutional attempt by the state to regulate immigration and that cracking down on hiring illegal immigrants is the sole responsibility of the federal government."

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Feds Warn Border Land Owners on Fence Siting

"Federal officials are warning landowners along the southern border that they have to give the government access to their property as it considers where to build a fence intended to block illegal immigration. The Homeland Security Department announced on Friday that it was sending the warning letters to about 150 landowners from Texas to California who have refused to grant access," the New York Times writes. "Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff also said Friday that a high-technology system along a 28-mile section of the border in Arizona that uses cameras, radar and ground sensors, had passed its first test after months of delays. Computer software glitches and other problems have held up its initial acceptance by the government. Now that the problems have been resolved, the system will be subject to live tests by Border Patrol officers to see whether it performs as promised, Mr. Chertoff said."

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Day Labor Protests Show Arizonans Fed Up And Taking Action on Illegal Immigration

"Want to see America unraveling? Come here, to Thomas Road and 35th Street, to M. D. Pruitt’s furniture store. Come on Saturday morning and stand near the eight delivery trucks barricading the parking lot, like the wall of an urban Alamo. For the last seven weeks, a sidewalk protest here by Latino immigrants has blossomed into a feverish reality show, attracting Minutemen, mariachis, children dancing in Mexican folk costume, white racists, United Nations observers, Phoenix police officers and Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies," the New York Times reports. "Thomas Road has lots of Latino day laborers, or jornaleros, who hustle for work near Home Depot. A few months ago, the Phoenix police shooed them away. They dispersed to streets nearby, angering local businesses. One of the biggest, Pruitt’s, hired off-duty city police officers to keep jornaleros at bay. The city put a stop to that, so Pruitt’s turned to the county sheriff, Joe Arpaio."

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GOP Candidates Tell Spanish Debate Audience "Amnestia, NO"

"In front of what will probably be their most pro-immigration audience, Republican candidates toned down their rhetoric but told Spanish-language television viewers in a debate on Sunday that they would take strong measures to close off the country’s borders to illegal immigration," the New York Times reports. "The candidates were forced into a difficult balancing act by the debate, broadcast on Univision, as they tried to offend neither the Hispanic audience nor the Republican base many of them have tried to appeal to by taking a hard line on illegal immigration. The topic has led to some of the fiercest rhetoric in past debates. Most of the seven candidates took a softer tone on Sunday, even as many spoke of working to eradicate illegal immigration. Some spoke of trying to send some of the 12 million people who are estimated to be in the United States illegally back to their native countries."

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Immigration Reveals Disconnect Between Politicians, Electorate

"Try this for subtlety and nuance, Mrs. Clinton: Most Americans love their country, revere its heritage, and hope to pass its blessings of bounty and liberty on to their children and their children’s children. They have no intention of sitting idly by while their nation is 'Balkanized,' and increasingly takes on the attributes of the Third World in its everyday life. They are outraged by every incident reflective of a “banana republic” in the workings of its local, state and federal governments," says Christopher Adamo for Family Security Matters. "Unfortunately, Senator Clinton is hardly alone, nor does her party hold a monopoly on the border issue. Some of the worst displays of arrogant disdain for real America, and detachment from its plight, have occurred on the Republican side of the aisle. Consider, as perhaps the most outrageous example, a statement made by Arizona Senator John McCain in the recent CNN/Youtube Republican debate."

Washington Post campaign reporter Dan Balz tells readers that the immigration issue has upset political calculations for both Republicans and Democrats. "Anger over illegal immigration has shaped the Republican nominating contest, as the last Republican debate in Florida amply demonstrated. Tom Tancredo, who entered the presidential campaign solely because of his opposition to illegal immigration (and who nonetheless has managed to go nowhere) summed up an early exchange between Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney as the two trying to 'out-Tancredo Tancredo.' Immigration has played a less central role in the Democratic nomination battle, but nonetheless has shown its potency at candidate events and in at least two candidate debates. Pent-up frustration with illegal immigration is regular fare in the questions Democratic candidates hear at their town hall meetings."

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YouTube Debate Questioner Unhappy With GOP Response

"A Dyker Heights man not only incited a debate about illegal immigration at last week’s Republican debate, but he also thrust himself and his neighborhood into an international spotlight. But that’s Ernie Nardi for you . . . Nardi is a technician for the Madison Square Garden Network who has lived in Brooklyn his entire life. He feels that illegal immigration is changing the face of the city and believes that those here illegally are displacing legal citizens and contributing to our decline. He is angry that New York has become a safe-haven, and destination for illegal immigrants," The Brooklyn Paper reports. "'If you become president, will you continue to aid and abet . . . illegal aliens coming into this country?' he concluded, practically barking out the final words."

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Border Tunnels Reflect Surface Enforcement

"Shrink-wrapped bundles of marijuana, nearly 14,000 pounds worth $5.6 million in street sales, were found in the shipping container and in a trailer next to it, making clear the tunnel’s purpose: to serve as another major smuggling corridor. Found Monday here in Tecate, it is the latest of 56 cross-border tunnels found in the Southwest since the onset of additional guards and fencing aboveground after Sept. 11, 2001," says the New York Times of the latest border tunnel discovery. "The tunnel here has drawn additional scrutiny because just hours after it was discovered, the deputy police chief of the twin city across the border, Tecate, Mexico, was killed in a fusillade at his home, in what appeared to be a cartel assassination. The deputy chief had helped find the passage’s Mexican end."

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Polls Show Public Support for Action

"One-third of Americans want to deny social services, including public schooling and emergency room healthcare, to illegal immigrants, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found. Still, in a sign of ambivalence among voters about the emotionally charged issue, a strong bipartisan majority -- 60% -- favors allowing illegal immigrants who have not committed crimes to become citizens if they pay fines, learn English and meet other requirements," the LA Times says. "Those crosscurrents create treacherous political waters for the major presidential candidates, many of whom have tended to avoid spotlighting the issue. But all have been forced to address the issue under repeated questioning at campaign events and candidate forums. During Tuesday's radio debate among Democrats, the candidates were asked if citizens should turn in someone they know to be an illegal immigrant. Most said no. In other settings, however, several have been talking a tough line on issues such as denying driver's licenses to illegal immigrants."

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Will Illegal Aliens Get a Mortgage Bailout?

"President Bush will announce this afternoon an agreement with major mortgage firms to freeze interest rates for five years for financially troubled homeowners -- a plan advocates say will help forestall a major foreclosure crisis but some conservatives say amounts to a bailout of people who made bad financial decisions. The plan would apply to homeowners who got adjustable-rate subprime mortgages between Jan. 1, 2005, and July 31 of this year and are facing a sharp jump in their rates before July 31, 2010. It would also offer to put them on a fast track to refinance their mortgages through lenders or through state and local housing authorities, according to several people briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been officially announced," the Washington Post reports.

Left unsaid in reports so far is if illegal aliens who purchased homes in the last 2 years will also be eligible for a bailout. The Wall Street Journal (subscription) has a story today about how legal and illegal immigrants got subprime loans during the housing boom. Some of those illegal aliens will likely be eligible for the bailout.

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Dept. Of the Obvious Report: California A Top Destination For Illegal Aliens

"California is a top destination for human traffickers who coerce people into the sex trade or hard labor through force or fraud, according to an 18-month government study released Tuesday. The report by a 19-member task force of the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery says California is particularly vulnerable to human trafficking because of its international border, ports and airports; its booming immigrant population; and a large economy that includes industries that attract forced labor," the San Jose Mercury News reports. "The report, required by a 2005 state law, cites research by the U C Berkeley Human Rights Center. From 1998 to 2003, university researchers found 57 forced labor operations in nearly a dozen California cities involving more than 500 people from 18 countries. Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose were centers for the problem."

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Nonfeasance in Border Enforcement

"Nonfeasance is, according to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, the 'failure to do what ought to be done.' The unambiguous sentiment of American voters, expressed in countless polls, is that the President of the United States and the United States Congress have, both in the macro sense of their myriad constitutional responsibilities, as well as in the micro sense of their irrefutable obligation in wartime (and given an illegal human invasion by the undocumented of unprecedented proportions) to secure our maritime ports and land borders, failed to do what ought to be done," says B.A. Higgins at A Certain Slant of Light.

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Chertoff Blasts ACLU at DHS Blog Over No-Match

"So why is the ACLU celebrating? It's because it opposes virtually every measure – including this one – to enforce America's immigration laws. But was its headline correct? Has the government abandoned the fight for the no-match rule? And is the rule harmful to legal workers? Not at all. Far from abandoning the rule, we’re going to fight hard to make it effective. To that end, we are pursuing two approaches. First, we're addressing the discrete concerns the district court raised in October in our forthcoming supplemental rule. Second, we have filed an appeal of the district court’s order to the Ninth Circuit. We're pursuing both options at once in order to get the quickest possible resolution," says DHS head Micheal Chertoff in a blog post. "The ACLU’s lawsuit has helped put this vital protection on hold. That’s bad for immigration enforcement, bad for America’s law-abiding employers and their legal employees, and good for dishonest businesses who deliberately hire illegal workers. And that's why – contrary to ACLU fantasies – we’re not going away. We will continue to fight to enforce the laws on the books, as the American people expect us to."

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Vicente Fox's U.S. Book Tour - Telling Americans What to Do

"[Vicente] Fox recently came out with a book called Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith and Dreams of a Mexican President. Fox’s collaborator on this literary masterpiece is none other than Bush advisor Rob Allyn. It’s a small world after all! And get this --Revolution of Hope was not written for Mexican readers--it was designed for the American market, is only for sale in the U.S., and only exists in English!" says Allen Wall. "Fox is bringing his propaganda monologue on a grand tour of the U.S.A. Fox is plugging his book and promoting his brand of mass immigration/globalist mumbo-jumbo, meddling in U.S. internal affairs, slandering Americans who don’t agree with him, and repeatedly endorsing Hillary for president. Most everything is going according to script for Vicente, although some protestors have shown up to protest his presence--some Americans who want the law enforced, and some Mexican critics of Fox."

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Romney Fires Landscaping Firm After 2nd Report of Illegal Hiring

"Republican Mitt Romney, ridiculed by rival Rudy Giuliani for employing illegal immigrants at his 'sanctuary mansion,' said he had fired the landscaper for his suburban Boston home after learning for a second time about undocumented workers laboring on the property. In a statement issued Tuesday after he concluded his campaign appearances for the day, Romney said: 'After this same issue arose last year, I gave the company a second chance with very specific conditions. They were instructed to make sure people working for the company were of legal status,'" the AP reports. "[The Boston Globe] in a follow-up report, said it observed at least two illegal workers on Romney's property the morning after the [sanctuary mansion comments at the] debate, raking leaves from the grass and debris from the tennis court. The newspaper said it had also observed the same workers during the prior two months."

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Virginia Coalition of Governments Focuses on Illegal Immigration

"County and city leaders from several Virginia jurisdictions have formeda group to push for tougher measures against illegal immigrants, the latest sign that local governments in the state will look for ways to act while immigration reform remains stalled in Congress. The Coalition on Illegal Aliens will consider the impact of illegal immigrants on residential overcrowding, crime, public services and other quality-of-life concerns while developing proposals for state and local laws. The coalition will also look at measures designed to punish employees who hire illegal immigrants and landlords who house them," the Washington Post reports. "The coalition is the third multi-jurisdictional body in the state created this year to address the issue. The others are the Virginia Commission on Immigration and the Alien Criminal Enforcement Task Force."

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Illegal Brazilians Leaving U.S.

"Like hundreds of thousands of middle-class Brazilians who moved to the United States over the last two decades, Jose Osvandir Borges and his wife, Elisabeth, came on tourist visas and stayed as illegal immigrants, putting down roots in ways they never expected. After packing up their plasma-screen TV, scholastic trophies and other fruits of 12 prosperous years in the Ironbound in Newark, the couple and their American-born daughter, Marianna, 10, were scheduled to fly back to Brazil for good this morning. They expect their son, Thiago, 21, to follow in a year or two, despite his reluctance to leave the only land that feels like home," the New York Times reports. That decision — to give up on life in the United States — is being made by more and more Brazilians across the country, according to consular officials, travel agencies swamped by one-way ticket bookings, and community leaders in the neighborhoods that Brazilian immigrants have transformed, from Boston to Pompano Beach, Fla."

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New Tancredo Ad Highlights Immigration

"Today, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo unveiled a TV spot that his campaign says is going on the air in Iowa. Fair warning: Some images are graphic. It focuses on what he says is the threat from Central American gangs who have been able to cross into the United States from Mexico" says USA Today's politics blog.

Limbaugh: Candidates Tone Deaf on Immigration

"I continue to be literally stunned at how tone deaf, despite all of the outpouring of sentiment, the expression of opinion by the American people en masse -- I don't care if it was during the amnesty vote and the phone calls to Washington or if it's in presidential polls or issue polls -- why they don't see what this is really all about is beyond me. I can't believe that they really don't see what it's all about. It is an issue of law. It's about the rule of law. It is that simple. Plus, people have become sophisticated with the knowledge they've acquired over this to understand that both parties, and I think predominantly the Democrats, both parties are looking at these people as potential voters and to hell with whatever havoc they wreak on the culture and on the society and on the rule of law. If the people don't get this issue, particularly the Democrats, it's going to haunt them more than they can possibly imagine."

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Contractor Problems at DHS

"Contract employees who help process millions of visa and citizenship applications for a federal immigration agency are having their salaries slashed, even as a surge in new applications rises precipitously. The workers whose wages will be cut are contract employees in document processing centers in St. Albans, Vt., and Laguna Niguel, Calif. They are part of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for deciding visa applications . . . The work performed by the support personnel at USCIS is not a temporary job. As long as aliens immigrate to the United States and seek various immigration benefits including naturalization, there will be a demand for the jobs done by these employees. Privatization may seem like a good idea to some, but for reasons of national security, it makes better sense to employ a dedicated workforce of government employees," says Michael Cutler of Family Security Matters.

"I am all for getting the 'most bang for the buck.' Certainly as a taxpayer I want our government's employees, and contract employees, to be as productive as possible. However, how do you measure productivity? I am willing to bet that the measure of productivity will be how fast the job gets done, not how accurately the job gets done."

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The Diversity Lottery's Fraud, Terror Risk Problem

"A little-known immigration lottery that grants 50,000 visas a year poses a 'pervasive fraud risk' and could be used by terrorists with false documents to enter the U.S., according to federal auditors. Called the 'diversity visa,' the program is designed to bring variety to the stream of immigrants legally entering the country. The deadline to apply for this year's lottery is 11 a.m. Sunday, and it is open to citizens of 170 countries that sent fewer than 50,000 immigrants during the past five years, according to the U.S. State Department," the Houston Chronicle reports. "The auditors also noted that nearly 9,800 immigrants from countries designated as state sponsors of terror, including Iran and Syria, have earned permanent residency since 2000. ''It's just nonsensical to have a lottery to choose who gets into the United States when we are at war with terrorists,' said U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston. 'It's insane -- it's a recipe for disaster.'"

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Judge Says Prosecutors in Ramos and Compean Case Were Overzealous

"Federal prosecutors may have overreacted in their case against two Border Patrol agents who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms after they were convicting of shooting a fleeing drug suspect and hiding evidence of the incident, an appeals court judge said Monday. 'It does seem to me that the government overreacted here,' said Judge E. Grady Jolly, one of three judges of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing the case of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean," the Houston Chronicle reports. "Ramos' attorney, David Botsford, said he didn't read anything into the judges' remarks. 'The court is going to follow the law,' he said outside the New Orleans courthouse. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Stelmach declined to comment after the hearing."

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Video Excerpts: Immigration on the Campaign Trail

Mike Huckabee: Immigration policy

Fred Thompson: Illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Amnesty Supporters Boo Hillary

"Five Democratic presidential candidates who spoke at the Heartland Presidential Forum Saturday in Des Moines could do little more than nod and listen as person after person – mostly out-of-state residents – shared emotional stories of perceived injustice . . . Hillary Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, felt the glare of their displeasure after Billy Lawless, a Chicago immigrations rights organizer, asked her if she’d commit to giving undocumented workers a path to citizenship in her first 100 days as president," the Des Moines Register writes. "Clinton said it’s up to Congress to pass such reform, but as president she would do as much as possible. The crowd booed, apparently upset that she wouldn’t commit to a 100-days promise."

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Dick Clark's American Bandstand Sued for Hiring Illegal Aliens

"An immigration reform group is hoping to make an example of a theme restaurant based on Dick Clark's American Bandstand for allegedly hiring illegal workers and firing a worker who complained about the practice. The Immigration Reform Law Institute filed a complaint with the Department of Justice against Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill in Branson, Mo., on Wednesday for allegedly firing a waiter after he threatened to expose the restaurant's hiring practices," Employment Law 360 reports. [IRLI is FAIR's legal affiliate organization.]

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Illegal Aliens Arrested at Phoenix Protest

"For years, dozens of day laborers have gathered near Pruitt's and along a stretch of Thomas Road, between 32nd and 36th streets. They are drawn to the area by a busy home-improvement store and its customers, who hire them to paint, landscape and do other manual labor. Many residents and business owners don't want them there, and tensions have escalated, which last year led to protests and counterprotests," the Arizona Republic reports. "About 200 [protestors] gathered Saturday near 35th Street and Thomas Road, about half to support the mostly undocumented day laborers who look for work in the area, and half to oppose them. For the first time during the protests, deputies with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office arrested eight people nearby on suspicion of violating immigration laws. None of those arrested were protesters."

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