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January 23, 2008
What a Difference a Year Makes by Ira Mehlman, National Media Director for FAIR On Monday night, President Bush will be delivering his final What a contrast from the president's 2007 State of the Union Address. Just a year ago, "comprehensive immigration reform" was the administration's highest domestic priority, as the president asserted adamantly that there would be deal that included legalization of millions of illegal aliens, new guest workers, and more promises of future immigration enforcement. Even as the deal unraveled under withering public opposition, Bush, on a visit to Europe, defiantly declared that he'd be seeing the White House press corps at the bill signing ceremony. Immigration Remains a Campaign Issue for Republicans, Democrats "Immigration has been one of the hottest topics in U.S. politics in recent In an article for the New York Post, Steven Malanga (of the City Journal) says that splits within the Democratic coalition center on immigration. "Fierce fighting over the minority vote may be the real surprise of the '08 Democratic race, with many blacks gravitating to Sen. Barack Obama and Hispanics to Sen. Hillary Clinton. But this split isn't just about these candidates; it's been a long time coming. The tensions have many sources, but the one few analysts discuss is immigration. Growing anger over the way Hispanic immigration is changing their neighborhoods has prompted many African-Americans to rethink the notion of a rainbow coalition. Meanwhile, surveys show that many US Hispanics mistrust African-Americans and see themselves as more like whites than like blacks," he says. U.S. Reaches Deportation Agreement with Vietnam "In two months, the U.S. government will begin deporting Farmers Branch Passes Revised Immigration Ordinance "Leaders of a Dallas suburb that was blocked from enforcing a ban on Border Agent Hit, Killed by Smugglers' Vehicle "A U.S. Border Patrol agent pursuing suspected drug smugglers "'Dangerous criminal groups have chosen to respond to our tougher security posture at the border with increased violence,' Chertoff said in a statement. 'They mistakenly believe that we will give way in the face of violence. We will continue to show them how wrong they are.'" "The off-road enthusiasts were revving their dune buggies and all-terrain vehicles Saturday morning when a brown Hummer suddenly cut into the campground. The man at the wheel, a suspected drug smuggler, was heading to Mexico, fast. U.S. Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar, the only person in the way, threw a spike strip in front of the car. The Hummer sped up. 'It looked like the man swerved and hit the agent intentionally,' said one witness," the LA Times wrote in a follow up story. Border Patrol, Police Raise Alarm About Mexican Anti-Drug Campaign "Mexican military efforts to crush heavily armed drug-smuggling "On Jan. 12, Mexican Brig. Gen. Rigoberto Garcia Cortez said the Mexican military and other personnel had surrounded five border cities in the lower Rio Grande Valley — Matamoros, Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Miguel Aleman and Nuevo Laredo — in response to gunfights between Mexican police, military forces and heavily armed drug smugglers." |
State of the Union Address. With the economy slipping into recession, real estate prices falling and the stock market in freefall, putting a bright face on the president's domestic agenda for his last year in office will be a challenge for his speech writers. But one issue that Bush will almost certainly not address on Monday is immigration.
years. But while it remains an important issue (Miami Herald) in the 2008 presidential race, there are already indications it may not be a defining one. A recent opinion survey showed voters evenly split over which party they think is better on the issue. To date, the young election season has provided few conclusive answers about which candidates voters think would best handle immigration reform, including dealing with the estimated twelve million illegal immigrants living in the United States. February 5 may provide a clearer sense of immigration’s role as a swing issue when more than twenty states—including border states California, Arizona, and New Mexico—hold party nominating elections," says Council on Foreign Relations analyst Toni Johnson. "Hispanic voters comprised 8 percent of Republican voters in Nevada compared to 15 percent of Democratic voters (CNN), many of whom went for Nevada caucus winner Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). If Nevada proves to be a trend for Hispanic voters, Clinton could get a boost over chief rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), but it is unclear how the GOP races will play out."
more than 8,000 illegal Vietnamese immigrants as a result of a long-sought repatriation agreement signed Tuesday by Washington and Hanoi. The pact deals with a once-forbidden subject in the emigre community - the forced return of Vietnamese nationals to their communist homeland - and it underscores how close Vietnam-U.S. relations have become," the San Jose Mercury News writes. "In addition, the muted reaction Tuesday in San Jose's 100,000-strong Vietnamese community illustrated how much emigre politics have changed in the once rigidly anti-communist stronghold. Although some worried that the communist regime might retaliate against repatriated emigres, most Vietnamese-Americans interviewed Tuesday seemed to view the agreement as a natural outcome of the growing ties between two former enemies."
leasing apartments to illegal immigrants approved a new rule Tuesday to require prospective tenants to get a city license to rent homes and apartments. The measure, approved unanimously by the City Council, requires tenants to provide information to the city, which would then check with the federal government to determine the person's immigration status," the AP reported. "Nearly 200 people packed into City Hall for the council vote. Dozens lauded the council, while dozens more denounced city officials for continuing to push immigration-related measures. 'Here we go again. ... I believe that this will not stand, also,' Farmers Branch resident Jose Galvez said. A November 2006 ordinance barred apartment rentals to illegal immigrants and was revised in January 2007 to include exemptions for minors, seniors and some mixed-immigration status families. Residents endorsed the law 2 to 1 in May."
along the California-Mexico border was struck and killed Saturday by one of the fleeing vehicles, agency officials said. The agent was trying to stop two vehicles that had illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico when he was hit, said agent Jeremy Schappell, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Yuma sector. He said the incident occurred about 9:30 a.m. in the Imperial Sand Dunes recreation area, about eight miles west of the border crossing at Los Algodones," the LA Times reported.