Federal immigration officials raided an Iowa meatpacking plant this month in what is being called the largest operation of its kind in U.S. history. Nearly 400 of the plant's 900 employees were arrested on immigration charges. Do you feel safer?
Ever since immigration reform died in Congress last year, the Bush Administration has made a show of stepping up enforcement. But do homeland security officials really have nothing better to do than raid businesses that hire willing workers – especially in states like Iowa, where the jobless rate is 3.5%? These immigrants are obviously responding to a labor shortage for certain jobs. Giving them a legal way to enter the country would free up homeland security money and manpower to focus on real threats.
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Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
A raid on fairness
HELICOPTERS hovered overhead as immigration officials closed in on Agriprocessors, a meat-processing plant in Postville, Iowa, earlier this month. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials called it the nation's largest "criminal worksite enforcement operation," and 389 workers were arrested.
It's a hollow victory, a show of force but not of wisdom. As the country has seen many times, raids hurt local economies and disrupt families. Worse, they are largely theater. Even big raids are too limited to make a dent in the country's complex illegal immigration challenge, which means figuring out what to do with an estimated 12 million people already here illegally.
If the government wants to send a message, it ought to pay more attention to prosecuting abusive employers who hire undocumented immigrants and mistreat them by withholding pay or doling out verbal and physical abuse. So far, no officials at Agriprocessors have been charged.
Continued...
It's a hollow victory, a show of force but not of wisdom. As the country has seen many times, raids hurt local economies and disrupt families. Worse, they are largely theater. Even big raids are too limited to make a dent in the country's complex illegal immigration challenge, which means figuring out what to do with an estimated 12 million people already here illegally.
If the government wants to send a message, it ought to pay more attention to prosecuting abusive employers who hire undocumented immigrants and mistreat them by withholding pay or doling out verbal and physical abuse. So far, no officials at Agriprocessors have been charged.
Continued...
Monday, May 19, 2008
Price put at $1.8 trillion
Study: That's what U.S. would lose if undocumented immigrants vanished
By JENALIA MORENO
The impact of illegal immigration on the U.S. economy.
• 8.1 million: illegal immigrants
• $1.8 trillion: annual spending, U.S.
• $220.7 billion: annual spending, Texas
• $652 billion : annual contribution to U.S. GDP
• $27 billion or more: * the costs of education, health care and incarceration in six states, including Texas
Sources: The Perryman Group;
*Federation for American Immigration Reform
If the 8.1 million undocumented immigrants who cut lawns, bus tables and perform other jobs disappeared overnight, the nation's economy would lose nearly $1.8 trillion in annual spending.
Texas, the second-hardest-hit state after California, would lose 1.2 million undocumented workers and $220.7 billion in expenditures.
These are just some of the findings from a study done by the Perryman Group, a Waco-based economic analysis firm, whose work was commissioned by Americans for Immigration Reform, a group spearheaded by the Greater Houston Partnership.
Houston's business community is trying to revive the politically charged immigration reform debate that has stalled in Congress. It plans to raise $12 million by December to fund a campaign for reform and thus far it says it has raised about 10 percent of that goal in pledges.
Continued...
By JENALIA MORENO
The impact of illegal immigration on the U.S. economy.
• 8.1 million: illegal immigrants
• $1.8 trillion: annual spending, U.S.
• $220.7 billion: annual spending, Texas
• $652 billion : annual contribution to U.S. GDP
• $27 billion or more: * the costs of education, health care and incarceration in six states, including Texas
Sources: The Perryman Group;
*Federation for American Immigration Reform
If the 8.1 million undocumented immigrants who cut lawns, bus tables and perform other jobs disappeared overnight, the nation's economy would lose nearly $1.8 trillion in annual spending.
Texas, the second-hardest-hit state after California, would lose 1.2 million undocumented workers and $220.7 billion in expenditures.
These are just some of the findings from a study done by the Perryman Group, a Waco-based economic analysis firm, whose work was commissioned by Americans for Immigration Reform, a group spearheaded by the Greater Houston Partnership.
Houston's business community is trying to revive the politically charged immigration reform debate that has stalled in Congress. It plans to raise $12 million by December to fund a campaign for reform and thus far it says it has raised about 10 percent of that goal in pledges.
Continued...
Friday, May 2, 2008
Protesters across America call for immigration reform
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in U.S. cities Thursday to protest federal immigration raids and deportations and to call for comprehensive immigration reform.
In Chicago, Illinois, 3,000 to 4,500 people marched in the city's downtown, police said. Several people carried a large American flag; others held banners or signs.
The early estimate of participants paled greatly in comparison to protests in Chicago in past years: In 2007, numbers reached about 150,000, and the year before, estimates ranged from 400,000 to 700,000.
In New York, hundreds of sign-carrying protesters gathered in Union Square, preparing for a march toward Foley Square in downtown Manhattan.
"We are demanding that the raids and deportations stop," said Teresa Gutierrez, one of the organizers for the New York rallies.
"We are for the rights of all immigrants, whether they're documented or not," she said.
New York protesters are also marching in support of workers' rights, she said.
Continued...
In Chicago, Illinois, 3,000 to 4,500 people marched in the city's downtown, police said. Several people carried a large American flag; others held banners or signs.
The early estimate of participants paled greatly in comparison to protests in Chicago in past years: In 2007, numbers reached about 150,000, and the year before, estimates ranged from 400,000 to 700,000.
In New York, hundreds of sign-carrying protesters gathered in Union Square, preparing for a march toward Foley Square in downtown Manhattan.
"We are demanding that the raids and deportations stop," said Teresa Gutierrez, one of the organizers for the New York rallies.
"We are for the rights of all immigrants, whether they're documented or not," she said.
New York protesters are also marching in support of workers' rights, she said.
Continued...
Monday, April 28, 2008
Interest in immigration rallies wanes as groups focus on other methods of activism: But many leaders remain committed to marching
Apr 27, 2008 (Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- -- It's been slow going for Armando Pena as he hits up Waukegan's Latino-owned businesses to drum up donations for next week's Immigration march in Chicago. He leaves a Mexican restaurant with $20. He gets another $10 from a beauty parlor. The Azteca bakery ponies up $620, but rejections are more common.
"I'm getting a lot of no, no, no's," he said.
The massive Immigration marches of 2006, including the May 1 rally that brought 400,000 people to Grant Park, helped drive Immigration reform to the top of the national agenda and gave new focus to the immigrant community in the Chicago area.
Two years later, Spanish-language morning talk shows are buzzing about a new march. But some community leaders in the suburbs, a vital source of support in past demonstrations, are expressing doubts about whether massive rallies are the right tactic this year.
Continued...
"I'm getting a lot of no, no, no's," he said.
The massive Immigration marches of 2006, including the May 1 rally that brought 400,000 people to Grant Park, helped drive Immigration reform to the top of the national agenda and gave new focus to the immigrant community in the Chicago area.
Two years later, Spanish-language morning talk shows are buzzing about a new march. But some community leaders in the suburbs, a vital source of support in past demonstrations, are expressing doubts about whether massive rallies are the right tactic this year.
Continued...
Saturday, April 19, 2008
H-2B or not H-2B?
Democrats, Republicans, and restaurant owners all agree: The country needs more of the H-2B visas that allow immigrants to come here as seasonal workers. Among other things, these workers help provide food and shelter for the summer crowds on Cape Cod.
more stories like this
* Mortgage insurers put Mass. real estate markets on watch lists
* Insurers put Mass. real estate markets on watch lists
* State warns boaters to be careful with right whales off Cape Cod
* Cape employers left scrambling
* Judge rejects new trial for man convicted in Cape Cod killing
*
It's a local example of how badly the country needs immigration reform.
Earlier this week, Cape businessman Bill Zammer testified in Congress before the House judiciary subcommittee on immigration. "I am here today," he said in written testimony, "to urge you, better yet beg you" to free up more visas. Zammer runs four restaurants on the Cape and hires 100 H-2B workers. He and other Cape business owners have been searching for workers, appealing to local retirees and city residents, but they still can't fill all their openings.
This cry for more seasonal workers echoes around the country, from ski resorts in Colorado to Maryland companies seeking crab pickers to landscapers in Texas. The problem is an annual cap that dates to 1991 and limits the number of H-2B visas to 66,000. A 2005 law provided temporary relief by declaring that returning seasonal workers would not count against the cap. This meant thousands of returning workers in additon to 66,000 others.
Continued...
more stories like this
* Mortgage insurers put Mass. real estate markets on watch lists
* Insurers put Mass. real estate markets on watch lists
* State warns boaters to be careful with right whales off Cape Cod
* Cape employers left scrambling
* Judge rejects new trial for man convicted in Cape Cod killing
*
It's a local example of how badly the country needs immigration reform.
Earlier this week, Cape businessman Bill Zammer testified in Congress before the House judiciary subcommittee on immigration. "I am here today," he said in written testimony, "to urge you, better yet beg you" to free up more visas. Zammer runs four restaurants on the Cape and hires 100 H-2B workers. He and other Cape business owners have been searching for workers, appealing to local retirees and city residents, but they still can't fill all their openings.
This cry for more seasonal workers echoes around the country, from ski resorts in Colorado to Maryland companies seeking crab pickers to landscapers in Texas. The problem is an annual cap that dates to 1991 and limits the number of H-2B visas to 66,000. A 2005 law provided temporary relief by declaring that returning seasonal workers would not count against the cap. This meant thousands of returning workers in additon to 66,000 others.
Continued...
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Lawmakers plead for more foreign workers
4/16/2008, 6:45 p.m. EDT
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three House members pleaded Wednesday for more visas for seasonal workers they said are needed immediately by seafood processors, resorts and other businesses in their districts.
Some of those operations could close or lose a lot of money this spring and summer because there are not enough visas, known as H-2B visas, for the temporary nonagricultural workers they need, the lawmakers told the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee.
"Not having H-2B workers will significantly affect the businesses within my district and their ability to keep a professional, trained and dependable work force," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. He was joined by Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y. and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md.
Continued...
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three House members pleaded Wednesday for more visas for seasonal workers they said are needed immediately by seafood processors, resorts and other businesses in their districts.
Some of those operations could close or lose a lot of money this spring and summer because there are not enough visas, known as H-2B visas, for the temporary nonagricultural workers they need, the lawmakers told the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee.
"Not having H-2B workers will significantly affect the businesses within my district and their ability to keep a professional, trained and dependable work force," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. He was joined by Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y. and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md.
Continued...
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