Immigration Experiment Under the Microscope: Very Costly, Unintended Consequences

Another community reports that its effort to rid itself of immigrants, ends up costing dearly.  For some the goal is to GET RID OF both legal and undocumented immigrants.  (It's pretty easy to call this Racism.)  For others it is an unintended consequence.  Either way, the community pays, both financially and through lost enrichment of life.

“The Hispanic businesses and malls are empty. You used to see 100 people at the shopping center, and after the resolution, you'd see five. You noticed the difference."

This quote describes the fallout from Prince William County’s polarizing local immigration law which was passed in 2007 and modified in 2008. A three-year, $385,000 University of Virginia study of the policy released this week found that it drove out a significant number of immigrants—both legal and undocumented.
Under the original policy, local police were directed to check the immigration status of any individual they had probable cause to believe was in the country without authorization. After much controversy, Prince William limited the measure in 2008 to require police officers to check the immigration status of all arrestees.
Clearly, Prince William’s immigration actions cost the county the contributions of thousands of immigrant taxpayers, workers and consumers. From 2006 to 2008, Prince William’s non-citizen Hispanic population dropped by 22 percent, or by 7,700 people. During the same period, the undocumented population decreased by an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 people.
Immigration hawks are quick to separate legal from undocumented immigrants; we’re told harsh laws aren’t anti-immigrant because they only target undocumented immigrants. The UVA study shows us that this is a naïve assumption. Too often, restrictive immigration enforcement and the corresponding policy debates also impact legal immigrants and the broader Hispanic community.

Whether UVA’s findings are indicators of the policy’s success or troubling evidence of collateral damage depends on who you ask. For county supervisors, driving out legal immigrants and Hispanics was never a goal of the measure, but an “unintended consequence.” For others, this was a victory. From the report:

Some actors in the drama of the resolution’s passage had quite different goals. Some in the community who advocated the policy made clear…that they were hoping to “take back the County” by reversing the tide of rapid in-migration of Hispanics to Prince William County.

Immigration restrictionists also counted this as a win for “attrition through enforcement,” a strategy that calls for crafting harsh laws to make life so untenable for undocumented immigrants they choose to leave—an approach best described as “a product of delusion and cruelty.”

Should other localities follow Prince William’s approach to immigration enforcement? The authors conclude that their results should be only applied to other jurisdictions with “great caution.” ..... Moreover, these less-than-stellar results cost Prince William almost $3 million to implement. One author of the study advises would-be copycats: “This not a free policy…Don’t try this if you don’t want to spend some money.”

See more of this article:  http://www.dmiblog.com/archives/2010/11/under_the_microscope_one_count.html

Arizona Anti-immigrant Law Backfires. Mexicans Welcome Back

Arizona's anti-immigration law is causing tremendous economic hardships on Arizona's businesses and citizens.  In a radical change of heart, many are calling for a new worker visa program in order to bring mexican workers back to Arizona.

Texas Republican, Rick Perry on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

On immigration, Rick Perry takes heat for Texas DREAM Act

In a debate that's already been fiery, the temperature rose further, even a little uncomfortably, when the subject of immigration came up.

The candidates on this stage have repeatedly said they won't elaborate on their plans for dealing with the 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country until the border with Mexico is secured.

Perry, who signed a Texas version of the DREAM Act (which allows young people in the country illegally to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities) drew several rounds of boos when he defended the policy.

"If you've been in the state of Texas for three years, and working toward citizenship, you pay in-state tuition," said Perry. "It doesn't matter what the sound of your last name is. That's the American way."

The point, he said several times, is to allow immigrants to become "contributing members of our society, rather than be on the dole."

As he has often done, Perry reiterated this evening that he does not believe a fence along the entire border is feasible.

"The idea you're going to build a wall from Brownsville to El Paso and go left to Tijuana is not reality," said Perry to booing. "What you gotta have is boots on the ground … the aviation assets in the air. We understand and know how to secure that border, but the federal government needs to step up and do their constitutional duty and secure the border with Mexico."

See more on:  http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-debate-immigration-20110912,0,3903518.story

Latinos and Sept 11

What is the face of service to this country?

Hispanics in US Marines: What kind of citizens do they make?

A familiar calling might have led Miguel Vazquez to enlist in the U.S. armed forces: for generations, many of his relatives decided to serve his country with weapons and joined the ranks of the Marines.

Related Content

• September 11 Anniversary
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But his day of calling was September 11, 2001. When American Airlines Flight 11, controlled by five hijackers crashed into the north tower of World Trade Center. He thought, like many compatriots, it was an accident.
The second attack on the south tower, dispelled the theory of chance and became "a sign or symbol" of what should be his life: his response to the attacks was to run to join the military.
"It was a moment when I heard that the government declared that we were in an emergency. September 11 made me feel that I should get ahead of others, many people who needed my services," said the former soldier, now dedicated to finance a family business in California.

"It was also the moment when I realized that we had powerful enemies who were willing to hurt many people, beyond the enemies that we had faced in the past."

In 2002, at age 19, Vazquez, Latino, became a soldier. By then, the list of U.S. military recorded 12.9% of registered Hispanic, according to the Heritage Foundation.

Born of Puerto Rican father and Mexican mother (from the state of Tamaulipas), the young man now aged 28, is a Hispanic second generation sees America as "the only country that I can consider as my home."
Although fluent in Spanish, when speaking of memories he prefers to use the language in which he was educated at school and the neighborhood. Memory speaks in English for him and emotions are expressed in half sentences.
"I never talk about the Sept 11.  I do not know why, it's weird, confusing ... sorry ..." doubt, breathe deeply, is silence. "It's hard to relive the day that marked a before and after, not only for me but for a whole country, and it is hard to think of everything that came after."

At the Pentagon

Watching television, Vazquez received the news that the third attack in September: American Flight 77 had reached the Pentagon, the heart of the U.S. Department of Defense.
His father was there, unhurt, but young Vazquez didn't know until later:  in the chaos of the moment, his father was unable to communicate over telephone lines what sort of luck he had had.

 

Sept 11 made Vazquez feel the need for unity in the country.

"It was the first time I felt I had something bigger and more important than myself. The first time the country needed to unite, not only as a country on paper, but basically in order to survive," he says.
Although he had wanted to be in the military, the bombings gave his mission a sense of history: "I knew it would be part of history, it was a moment of profound change and I wanted to share."
His parents opposed his project and tried to dissuade him, not for lack of principle, but fear: they assumed that, for the first time, one member of their military family actually would go to war.
And there he was. The U.S. Marine Corps took him to Iraq in 2003 for the initial invasion and then in 2004 as part of the operation to regain control of Fallujah.

"The pride of a Marine is related to the team spirit that is built in to everything you do with your fellow soldiers. Being in the field, I was responsible not only for those who were fighting next to me but for all people who were here in my country, [the USA] "reveals Vázquez.

One of the provisions of the Dream Act debated, but defeated, in congress this last year, would have allowed young immigrants to earn US citizenship through service in the US military.  There are a lot of parents in the US who would die to call Miguel Vázquez their son.

See more:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2011/09/110910_11s_soldado_latino_az.shtml

History of Immigration in U.S.

The history of immigration in the U.S. centers in Ellis Island, though some entered through the West coast as well as our northern and southern borders.  The following documentary reminds us of our common condition.

California: financiación a estudiantes indocumentados pendiente de una firma

Tal vez los estudiantes sin papeles en California puedan tomar clases a la universidad sin pagar los cargos del los de otros estados.  Les falta una firma este proyecto.

Artículo de BBC Mundo:

Es época de regreso a clases y los estudiantes hispanos del estado de California tienen una razón para empezar el año con optimismo renovado.

Desde hace unos días, la legislatura estatal aprobó su propio clic Dream Act, una ley que allanará el camino a miles de indocumentados que quieren continuar con su educación después de la secundaria en esa región estadounidense.

Contenido relacionado

• Testimonio: "Tuve miedo, pero ya se me pasó"
• Dream Act: indocumentados apelan al corazón de senadores de EE.UU.
• El Premio Pulitzer que es un inmigrante indocumentado

La norma es, en realidad, un paquete de medidas presentadas por el representante demócrata Gil Cedillo para proveer financiación universitaria a jóvenes sin papeles, muchos de ellos traídos a Estados Unidos de pequeños por sus padres.
En dos partes, el proyecto recibió el visto bueno del Congreso estatal: la AB130, que entrará en vigor en 2012, permite solicitar fondos privados o préstamos; luego, la AB131 da un paso más allá y daría acceso a los indocumentados a becas y subsidios de tipo estatal, casi en pie de igualdad con los residentes legales de California.
Aprobada el viernes pasado, la segunda porción del llamado Dream Act californiano está a la espera de la firma del gobernador Jerry Brown.
Estudiantes y activistas celebraron la medida como un paso adelante en la larga batalla por conseguir mejoras educativas para indocumentados. El Dream Act federal -un acrónimo que identifica a la Ley para el Desarrollo, Alivio y Educación para Menores Extranjeros- permitiría acceder para la residencia legal a aquellos estudiantes que cumplan con ciertos requisitos, pero lleva diez años esperando convertirse en ley.
Así, estados como California o Illinois -donde se probó una norma parecida a la AB130 este verano- han decidido avanzar por su cuenta, sin esperar una reforma a escala nacional. Aunque, a diferencia del criticado Dream Act federal, las normas estatales plantean ayudas económicas pero no ofrecen un camino a la ciudadanía.

Firma pendiente

Las estadísticas oficiales señalan que más de 65% de los universitarios estadounidenses recibe alguna forma de ayuda financiera para completar la carrera. Los extranjeros sin permiso de residencia, en tanto, no son elegibles para asistencia federal o estatal.
La firma de la AB131 podría cambiar eso y ahora las miradas están puestas en el gobernador Brown.
"Le pedimos al gobernador Brown que encienda la antorcha de oportunidades para estos estudiantes", expresó Angélica Salas, directora de la Coalición por los Derechos Humanos de los Inmigrantes de Los Ángeles (CHIRLA, en inglés).
Pero Brown no la tiene fácil: aunque, por principio, el demócrata defiende la propuesta y su firma le sumaría apoyos entre los hispanos, tiene sobre sí el fantasma de la economía estatal, con un déficit de US$26 mil millones.
"Hay incertidumbre por una cuestión que es meramente financiera: el presupuesto es muy ajustado y hay muchos que dicen que el estado no puede hacerse cargo de proveer ayudas económicas para más gente de la que ya tiene", señaló a BBC Mundo John Pitney, experto en política californiana del Claremont McKenna College.

"Le pedimos al gobernador Brown que encienda la antorcha de oportunidades para estos estudiantes"

Angélica Salas, directora de CHIRLA

La primera parte (AB130), rubricada por Brown el pasado agosto, no generó tanta oposición porque legisla sobre el acceso a fondos privados. Ahora, los que rechazan la medida se han valido de los números para pedir el veto del gobernador a la segunda porción del Dream Act estatal.
El congresista californiano Tim Donnelly, por ejemplo, lleva adelante una campaña desde su página web.
"Los analistas estiman el costo (de dar acceso a los estudiantes indocumentados a subsidios estatales) en decenas de millones al año… al tiempo que la promesa de educación barata y de alta calidad atraerá cada vez más inmigración ilegal", señaló el republicano.

Mejor futuro

En tanto, quienes defienden la norma también apelan a los números: la economía del país necesitará el día de mañana de latinos con capacitación universitaria y los hispanos representan, al fin de cuentas, 12,5% de los inscritos en la educación superior.

Lea más:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2011/09/110908_california_dream_act_en.shtml

What does the face of the undocumented immigrant look like?  What is the face of hope?

Border Patrol Agent turns migrant supporter

Former Border Patrol Agent,  John Randolph, decides it has not worked to chase people around and detain them for wanting to cross our border and find a better job to support their families. 

In my twenty-six years as a US Border Patrol/ICE Agent, I caught many people. At the time, common sense told me that the vast majority of the people who I caught were good, hard working people. I began to wonder why immigrants had to be chased like animals, and why I was being paid to chase them.

Early on in my career, death and injury brought it all into perspective. In the early 1980's one of my classmates who transferred over to DEA was murdered during an undercover rip-off. Another co-worker friend was shot to death while on surveillance of an alien smuggling ring. I witnessed a young Mexican man fall to death from a freeway overpass while running from me. I myself fell out of the passenger side of a patrol unit when my partner blindly accelerated before I could get back in the car. I saw a young Mexican woman who while running at full speed in the dark, hit her head on the dropped cement ceiling of a drainage tube. She required hospitalization and facial surgery.
One night, after coming home from a day of work, I had a dream of a high-speed pursuit in which the car that I was chasing crashed. I ran up to the overturned car to apprehend the perpetrator. When I opened the car door, I found that my own son, injured inside. This dream had a profound effect on me.
Since my days as a Border Patrol Agent, I've had a change of heart. I'm now a musician and a migrant activist, above all else. It's all hard to put into words, I suppose. Hungry people, friends getting killed, and no real sense that what we were doing was doing any good. "What are we doing here? Why am I chasing these people?", I'd ask myself.
I learned early in my twenty six year career as a US Border Patrol Agent, INS Criminal Investigator, and a DHS Special Agent, that we neither had nor were provided the resources to stop people or drugs from entering the country. I knew officers who worked at the port of entry in San Diego. They told me of the large amounts of drugs that were being intercepted. I naturally wondered how much must have been getting through.
After thirty-five years of working and observing our government's failed immigration and drug enforcement systems, I am now convinced that both are insidiously designed to fail. The failure of NAFTA and the unrelenting violence of the US-backed war on drugs in Mexico have created conditions for a Mexican exodus. There have been close to 40,000 drug war-related deaths in Mexico since 2006. I know the real victims of these two forces; I've met them. They are the poor and hard-working Mexican citizens who only want a better life. The border is really meant to keep the good people from both sides from joining together, from knowing each other, and from prospering.
I therefore support the use of asylum as a means of protection for such Mexican citizens whose lives are put in danger everyday by the US backed drug war. While the Obama administration just announced its decision to back off of the deportation of "low priority" immigration cases, I believe that this is not true immigration reform. Rather, it postpones any actual case decisions from being made. I also believe we should support the millions of US Dream Act kids and undocumented Mexicans with the use of immigration hearings as a vehicle for reform. I say we should turn the 300,000 case back log into a million case backlog. It is now clear to me that Washington will not reform failed drug or immigration systems until it is put in the position where it is forced to do so.

After twenty-six years of chasing people on the behalf of the U.S. government, finally, I have to ask our politicians this question: How many more people will die until our system fundamentally changes?

See article:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-randolph/from-border-patrol-agent-to-immigration-reform-activist_b_943799.html?ref=tw

They just don't want to work farm jobs - No quieren un trabajo en el campo

U.S. Farmers can't find enough Citizens to harvest our crops. Even unemployed people won't go out in the field and work at these labor-intensive positions. Granted, it is not easy work, but people complain that we have over 9% unemployed and blame the immigrants for their woes. This is nothing new, we've always found a foreign scapegoat. It's easier to blame others.

Larry Kleinman on Illegal Farm Workers

As the annual sweet corn harvest season ends, Colorado farmer, John Harold has learned something very interesting as it relates to the immigrant labor work ethic.
When the season started in July Harold decided not to hire legal Mexican migrants with a H2A visas but opted to hire locally.  He was motivated to do so seeing the local unemployment rate at 9.8% and some hirer costs getting visa workers.  With that decision he saw lines of applicants but few that could do the work and even fewer that stayed to do the work.
Typically he hires 150 seasonal migrant workers to hand pick the corn and pays them $10.48/hour, the same rate he was offering his new hires.  The result was for every three U.S. citizens he hired only one stayed.  As of last Thursday he just has 39 workers instead of the 150 he needs. 
He has documented every resignation and the fact that he has been advertising throughout Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma for these positions.  Harold will be taking those facts to his local Senator and advocating for immigration reform.  Harold concluded: “You have to understand there is a work ethic of migrant laborers that is just not found with local labor.”

See more of this and other articles on immigration: http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/notitas-de-noticias/details/something-to-think-about-u.s.-farmer-cant-find-u.s.-citizens-to-replac/

Sale of Immigrants provokes reaction

And what is the reaction of others toward the U.S. immigration detention centers (private prisons operated by the Corrections Corporation of America)?  This corporation is for profit.  Profit made from rounding up and holding foreigners.

Inmigrantes a la Venta --- Immigrants for Sale

What happens to someone who is detained on immigration issues?  Can  investors gain from having a large supply of detainees?  If so, what could investors do to increase their profits?  What kind of legislation would they support?

(Click for English Version)





Se puede ganar desde los detenidos?  Si eso es, ¿cuál tipo de normas prefererían los invesionistas?

Alabama HB 56 anti immigration law still undecided

Federal Judge Sharon Blackburn is pondering one of the most anti-immigrant proposals to come before the court.  It is HB 56 from Alabama.  Proponents say it should open up work opportunities for unemployed US citizens in construction and farm labor.  But farmers say their crops are rotting in the fields.

The law makes it a crime to have an undocumented person in your vehicle or to rent to or have someone stay in your home who lacks proper paperwork.

From Inmigrante TV:

Alabama. Tras la audiencia ante la jueza federal Sharon Blackburn para suspender la polémica ley HB 56 de Alabama, ella aún no emite una resolución.
La jueza se reunió por más de nueve horas con los abogados del Gobierno Federal y una coalición de grupos de derechos civiles, que argumentaron que la ley, que entra en vigor el 1 de septiembre, denigra los derechos civiles.
Así mismo enfatizaron que el tema de la inmigración debe ser regulado por el Gobierno Federal y no por los estados.
William Orrick, vicefiscal federal, afirmó ante la jueza que no hay espacio para que los estados estén legislando en este tema.
La polémica HB 56 fue promulgada en junio por el gobernador Robert Bentley, es considerada una de las más duras contra los inmigrantes indocumentados. Desde su firma,  muchos inmigrantes indocumentados se marcharon del estado de Alabama. Esto provocó que agricultores y empresas de construcción enfrentaran escasez de mano de obra, y que las cosechas se estén echando a perder en los campos.
Quienes respaldan la ley aseguran que aislará a los trabajadores que no tengan un estatus legal de Alabama, y dejará vacantes disponibles para ciudadanos desempleados. Por otra parte, afirman que se ahorrarán fondos al estado vinculados con gastos de salud y educación.
Sin embargo, sus opositores advierten que impulsa la discriminación, viola derechos como libertad de expresión y libre tránsito y afecta a las compañías.
La HB 56 autoriza a la policía a solicitar documentos migratorios a personas sospechosas de estar indocumentadas en el país, que sean detenidas por infracciones de tránsito. También prohíbe que personas transporten o alberguen a inmigrantes sin papeles y criminaliza a quienes lo hagan.

See more articles on immigration:  http://blog.inmigrantetv.com/?p=8520

How to solve the immigration issue. ¿Cómo resolver el asunto de inmigración?

Taking the law into our own hands.... seems to be the best way to solve our economic woes.  If things are not going quite as well as we wished they were, all we have to do is find a "little guy" to pick on.  It feels a lot better that way, makes us stand real tall and be proud of ourselves !  And we can boast of our patriotism.

¿Quién aviva las llamas? Who is fanning the flames of hadred?

Who is fanning the flames of distrust, fear and hatred?  Collectively the U.S. seems to need a scapegoat.  But, this is true of many peoples throughout history.  "Well, if it worked for Grandpa, it must be okay with me !"

The economic effect of deportation and expulsion of immigrants

Is this what is best for your town?  Will you still be able to pay your mortgage if all the immigrants in your community leave, or are forced out?  Often, those who oppose immigrants claim that the foreigners are taking away our jobs.  However, the evidence does not support this view.  This video shows just one town's realization after trying to exclude immigrants, that they play a vital role in our society and that we need their contribution.  Click to view it.

Change in US Immigration Policy - Cambio político migratorio - EEUU

BBC Mundo reports a reprieve in deportation of illegal immigrants.  The Obama administration is shifting it's emphasis under pressure from the hispanic community and it's supporters.  Authorities are now trying to sort through the nearly one third of a million people held in U.S. prisons under immigration charges, to find and deport only those who have criminal records other than crossing the border without proper paperwork, or overstaying the alloted time limit of visas issued legally.

Este jueves los miles de hispanos indocumentados recibieron una buena noticia: la Casa Blanca anunció que postergará indefinidamente las causas de deportación de extranjeros sin papeles que no tengan expedientes criminales o que no representen una amenaza a la seguridad nacional.

La decisión -comunicada por dos altos funcionarios de gobierno en una conferencia telefónica de la que participó BBC Mundo- introduce un cambio importante en las políticas migratorias de la gestión de Barack Obama, durante la cual se ha alcanzado un número récord de deportaciones.

Contenido relacionado

• Arizona hoy: ¿cómo es ser hispano bajo la ley antiinmigración?
• Georgia, en un “día sin inmigrantes”
• Obama al margen de las leyes contra indocumentados

Las organizaciones que luchan por los derechos de los migrantes celebraron la propuesta de aplazar indefinidamente un buen número de causas, por considerar que atiende a razones humanitarias.
"La administración del presidente Obama ha dado señales de que es capaz de ofrecer ayuda a las familias inmigrantes. Esperamos con impaciencia que miembros de la comunidad confirmen que sus familias ahora pueden estar juntas y quedarse en este país", expresó la ONG Casa de Maryland, en un comunicado enviado a BBC Mundo.

Sin garantías

"Esperamos con impaciencia que miembros de la comunidad confirmen que sus familias ahora pueden estar juntas y quedarse en este país"

ONG Casa de Maryland

En el año fiscal 2010, el Departamento de Seguridad Interior expulsó del territorio estadounidense por vía legal a más de 392.000 indocumentados, según cifras oficiales, el mayor número de la historia del país.
El gobierno señaló que las nuevas políticas regirán sólo para personas que tengan una causa de deportación pendiente (lo que técnicamente se conoce como removal procedures) y permitirán que estos inmigrantes postulen para un permiso de empleo, aunque sin garantías de que éste les sea concedido.
Aunque no existe un cálculo oficial, se estima que se beneficiará así a miles de hispanos indocumentados, cuyos casos serán evaluados uno a uno por un comité.
Sin embargo, eso no significa que sus causas de deportación vayan a quedar cerradas: sólo serán congeladas y podrán ser reabiertas por el gobierno en cualquier momento, si reciben información sobre presuntas conductas delictivas de los beneficiarios o a discreción de los funcionarios de migración.

Cortes saturadas

Las nuevas políticas regirán sólo para personas que tengan una causa de deportación pendiente.

Altas fuentes del gobierno estadounidense, que pidieron reserva de su nombre, reconocieron ante BBC Mundo que el número de causas de deportación que aguardan un veredicto -unas 300.000- excede la capacidad de las cortes de inmigración encargadas de revisarlas, lo que genera demoras de hasta dos años.
El cambio de estrategia apuntará ahora a concentrar los recursos en casos de indocumentados convictos por crímenes diversos, personas que hayan cruzado ilegalmente la frontera recientemente (en lugar de aquellos sin papeles que llevan muchos años instalados en el país) o que hayan reincidido en el ingreso ilegal después de haber sido deportados en el pasado.
Son, en la jerga de las dependencias de migración estadounidense, "residente ilegales de nivel 1" o de alto riesgo. Los demás casos serán considerados "no prioritarios".
Los anuncios continúan los lineamientos expresados por el secretario del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés), John Morton, en un memorándum de junio pasado. En él, instruía a sus empleados a utilizar el "criterio de discrecionalidad" a la hora de iniciar un proceso de deportación y evaluar cuestiones tales como cuánto tiempo lleva la persona en el país, si tiene cónyuge o hijo estadounidense o si posee antecedentes delictivos.

Escépticos

"La administración de Obama simplemente ha decidido usurpar la autoridad constitucional del Congreso e implementar un programa de amnistía para millones de inmigrantes ilegales"

Dan Stein, presidente de la Federación Estadounidense para la Reforma Migratoria (FAIR)

Otros recibieron la novedad con escepticismo, al considerar que lo que se anuncia desde las oficinas de Washington "no siempre se ve reflejado en el terreno", donde los indocumentados continúan siendo detenidos de a centenares.
"Somos escépticos sobre la habilidad del ICE y las patrullas fronterizas de hacer de esta política la nueva norma, teniendo en cuenta cómo han operado estas agencias durante años. Pero este anuncio establece un nuevo nivel de responsabilidad y claridad que deberían llevar seguridad y estabilidad a miles de familias que hoy se ven desmembradas por las deportaciones", apuntó la organización civil America's Voice, que aboga por una reforma migratoria integral.
En tanto, los grupos reacios a suavizar las políticas migratorias consideraron el anuncio como una velada "amnistía administrativa".
"Habiendo fracasado por el proceso legislativo, la administración de Obama simplemente ha decidido usurpar la autoridad constitucional del Congreso e implementar un programa de amnistía para millones de inmigrantes ilegales", señaló Dan Stein, presidente de la conservadora Federación Estadounidense para la Reforma Migratoria (FAIR, por sus siglas en inglés).

See more of this and other articles from BBC Mundo:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2011/08/110818_eeuu_deportaciones_suspension_cch.shtml

Texas Gov Rick Perry on Immigration Reform

August 24, 2011
What would Rick Perry do with immigration reform if he is elected President of the United States?

Gov. Rick Perry (Rep.) of Texas with former President Fox of Mexico

                                             

Set aside the campaign chatter. Perry actually has a relatively moderate record on immigration. In 2001, he signed a law allowing undocumented students who graduate from Texas high schools to pay in-state tuition at Texas public universities. Last year he criticized Arizona's strict new immigration enforcement law, and said that it wouldn't be right for Texas. He's called for a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship. Other than this year's campaign against sanctuary cities, there is little in his decade-plus as governor to suggest that he has the appetite for a crackdown on economic migrants. NumbersUSA, a group that campaigns for less immigration, has given him a "D-" -- worse, in their view, than Michele Bachman, Mitt Romney, or Sarah Palin.
Perry has, of course, been hawkish about border security. He has repeatedly said that both border security and immigration reform fall into what he sees as the rather narrow category of Washington's responsibilities, and he argues that the former takes precedence over the latter -- or should, at least. In New Hampshire last week, he told the Union-Leader that the president has been turning "a blind eye" to the border. But, interestingly, he describes border security as a different issue from immigration reform. "Texans in particular enjoy a unique culture that has been greatly enriched by immigrants from all over the world, and especially from Mexico," he wrote in his 2010 book, Fed Up!, adding a comment about how great Tex-Mex food is. He continued: "Yet this has absolutely nothing to do with border security. We can have all the immigration debates we want, but Americans are demanding that the border be secured first."

source:  http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/what-rick-perry-can-teach-the-gop-about-immigration/244084/

Selective Deportation of Illegal Immigrants: Obama's new approach to inmigrantes.

By Christopher Goffard, Paloma Esquivel and Teresa Watanabe,
 Los Angeles Times
August 19, 2011

The Obama administration said it will review the cases of 300,000 illegal immigrants currently in deportation proceedings to identify "low-priority" offenders — including the elderly, crime victims and people who have lived in the U.S. since childhood — with an eye toward allowing them to stay.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the review as the Obama administration has sought to counter criticism that it has been too harsh in its deportation policies. By launching the case-by-case review, officials said they are refocusing deportation efforts on convicted felons and other "public safety threats."

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/19/local/la-me-0819-obama-immigration-20110819

Thousands of Mexican Professionals emigrating to USA

With salaries ten times larger for some professionals in the US, violence and insecurity at home, thousands have been leaving home in another version of the "Brain-Drain" phenom.  The majority head north.  This trend contradicts the recent drop-off in Mexican immigration statistics.

By

Alberto Nájar

BBC Mundo

La emigración de México a Estados Unidos ha disminuido, según datos oficiales de ambos países. Pero existe un grupo de mexicanos que parece caminar en sentido contrario a la tendencia.

Cada año miles de profesionales abandonan el país en busca de mejores oportunidades o para huir de la inseguridad, reconocen especialistas y autoridades.

Contenido relacionado

• El "sueño americano" atrae a menos mexicanos
• México pierde a sus científicos

Estados Unidos es el destino de la mayoría. La Secretaría de Educación Pública informó que en la última década se duplicó el número de mexicanos con licenciatura y posgrado que emigraron al país.
En 2000 había 411.000 de estos profesionales, y para 2010 el número aumentó a más de un millón. Uno de cada cinco mexicanos con doctorado vive en Estados Unidos.
El fenómeno alarma a las autoridades, que han implementado varios programas para retener y repatriar a los migrantes altamente capacitados, pero hasta ahora el proceso migratorio no se ha detenido, le dice a BBC Mundo Camila Tigau, especialista del Centro de Investigaciones Sobre América del Norte (CISAN).
"Hubo la perspectiva optimista de que con la crisis de 2008, como iba a haber menos empleo en Estados Unidos y Canadá se resolvería el problema de la fuga de cerebros en México, pero eso no ha pasado", explica.
"Ha habido factores más importantes que llevan a la gente fuera, entonces en vez de que tengamos un retorno importante lo que hay es una salida importante de gente".

Sueldos

Un recién graduado puede ganar casi diez veces más en Estados Unidos que en México.

La diferencia salarial parece ser uno de los principales estímulos para la migración de profesionales.
De acuerdo con la Oficina de Estadísticas Laborales de Estados Unidos un ingeniero civil recién graduado obtiene un ingreso mensual de US$4.500.
En México, en cambio, el sueldo de un profesional de este nivel es de unos US$590 cada mes, según la Secretaría del Trabajo.
Tal vez por eso aumentó la migración de ingenieros, sobre todo de los especializados en mecánica.
Recientemente la Asociación Mexicana de la Industria Automotriz dijo que la demanda de estos profesionales en el mercado estadounidense está al alza, pues muchos ingenieros de ese país se jubilarán en los próximos años.
Así, la semana pasada la Asociación de Ingenieros Universitarios Mecánicos Electricistas (AIUME), dijo que unos 40.000 ingenieros mexicanos emigran cada año a Estados Unidos en busca de mejores empleos.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2011/08/110810_migracion_profesionistas_mexico_an.shtml