Deportation policy may derail his reelection bid

Is Obama running scared?
Arguably, the job of convincing Hispanic voters to again deliver for President Obama began with the president's June 2011 trip to Puerto Rico. It was the first such trip for an American president in a half-century.

In 2008, President Obama captured two-thirds of Hispanic votes cast. Two years later in the 2010 midterm elections, research by the Pew Hispanic Center found just 31.2 percent of eligible Hispanics cast ballots, less than either Black voters (44.0 percent) or White voters. (48.6percent). Perhaps more disturbing for the president's team was that the study also found 51 percent of Hispanic voters said President Obama's policies had no effect on them. That deeply troubles many, including Chicago Congressman Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., an outspoken advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. He was arrested at the white house last year protesting the president’s inertia on immigration. His support he says is in doubt.

Rekindling the excitment

To rekindle excitement among Latinos, the president has appointed two Latinos saenz and Sepulveda to head his Hispanic outreach. He has appointed Shakira, a Columbian, to his Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. Shakira may have gotten her slot on the educational commission in part because Obama is ramping up his outreach to Hispanics by promoting Hispanic celebrities.

The Hispanic vote is important to the campaign’s success, especially in critical swing-states such as Florida. In May 2011, for example, Obama invited celebrities Eva Longoria and Emilio Estefan to a Cinco de Mayo event at the white house. A week earlier, the white house invited 160 celebrities and elected Latino leaders to the white house for Hispanic Policy Conference. Also in May 2011, the president hired Katherine Archuleta, as political director for the Obama re-election campaign. These moves to ramp up his Latino support leaves little doubt that the president considers their support crucial to his reelection bid. He knows he is not likely to win without it.

Last summer Mr. Obama addressed the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in America at their Annual Conference luncheon on Monday July 25th in Washington, DC. More than 25,000 participants attended the NCLR's Annual Conference and Latino Family Expo. All this outreach points to one fact, the president wants to keep Latinos in the democratic column.

And President Obama has recently stepped up his efforts to connect with the Hispanic community, granting more interviews and answering Latino voters’ questions. But Latinos are in a foul mood because he failed to deliver on his campaign promise to pass immigration in “my first year in office.” The president faced tough and pointed questions from Latino interviewers last week as he sought to hold on to his Latino support for the upcoming election

All the right moves

The Obama campaign’s latest moves reveal the White House’s realization that, by replicating the strong Latino support of the 2008 election (67% of Latinos voted for Obama then), he may be able to win in states like Arizona, as well as "Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and North Carolina” which are reliably republican, even "if he loses key swing states such as Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.”

This new campaign tactic highlights the Mr. Obama’s concerns regarding criticism among Hispanic leaders and activists for his failure to bring about comprehensive immigration reform which would have granted legal status and a path towards citizenship to many immigrants. Instead of bringing these concerns to a vote, Obama has focused on ratcheting up deportations and contributing to the drop of estimated undocumented immigrants in the U.S. from 12 million to less than 11 million. These actions have been criticized by most leaders in the Latino community.

The deportation question won't go away

The Obama Administration is responsible for the separation of thousands of families with children who are U.S. citizens. The administration has deported more immigrants--over 1.2 million--than any other President in history. Nearly six-in-ten Latinos, in a 2008 Pew Hispanic Center survey, said they worried that they themselves or a family member, or a close friend may be deported.

When asked whether he believes he still has the support of the Hispanic community Mr. Obama replied, "My presidency is not over; I’ve got another five years and we'll get this done." He then switched to reciting unrelated achievements which he says benefit Latinos: "First of all fixing the economy...we made sure that unemployment insurance got extended... the housing settlement that we just passed... the work we've done on education… and more."
The recent steps the Obama administration has taken, like emphasizing deportations of undocumented criminals and making it easier for some immigrants to apply for residency without having to go back to their countries of origin, are not proof enough that he possesses the spine to stick up for immigration reform.

Obama's deportation policy along with the DREAM Act -- a federal initiative to grant legal status to some young undocumented students and soldiers’ top the list of Latino concerns. Some feel that while the President was scared off by republican big guns waiting to attack him on immigration reform, the hard line deportation policy is of his own making. When asked by a Latino interviewer recently, "What can be done with the alarming and increasing number of children whose parents were detained or deported by ICE, and who are now in foster care or adoption?" Mr. Obama dodged the question saying, "Our focus should be the criminals and predators of our communities, and this is where we have moved our efforts,” Obama replied.

And when pressed as to why he failed to push immigration as he promised during his 2008 campaign he replied: "I would have only broken my promise if I hadn’t tried. But ultimately, I’m one man", "You know, we live in a democracy. We don’t live in a monarchy. I’m not the king."

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Games fuel rise in travel to Britain - Amadeus

(Reuters) - Bookings for travel to Britain around the time of the summer Olympics have jumped, helping to dispel fears many tourists would stay away during the Games, a study showed on Thursday.

Analysis by Spanish travel bookings group Amadeus (AMA.MC) found a 143 percent spike in arrivals on July 26 -- a Thursday and the day before the Games open -- compared with the same date in 2011, a Tuesday.

Broadened to include the four days before the Olympics, scheduled arrivals showed an increase of 31 percent. The figures were compiled from global travel agencies' air reservations in and out of London.

U.S. citizens have taken the lead in early bookings with an 82 percent year-on-year surge in reservations.

Currently, the U.S. represents 17 percent of scheduled arrivals with German travellers in second place.

During the three-week Olympics period, Amadeus data showed scheduled arrivals in Brussels were up 49 percent; Amsterdam 28 percent higher; and Paris 5 percent, suggesting travellers may be increasingly adopting high-speed rail links in conjunction with air travel to reach London.

Holger Taubmann, a senior vice president at Amadeus, said the data "could help airlines make decisions on the benefits of increasing the capacity and frequency on a given route to meet travellers' demands, or consider targeting customers with air-rail combined trip offers".

Heathrow is planning for 137,800 passengers on Aug 13. -- a 45 percent increase in departures -- making it the busiest day in the airport's history. The Games will close on August 12

In November, the European Tour Operators Association ETOA.L had said it was seeing an average 90 percent downturn in bookings during the Olympic period, estimating about 3.5 billion pounds could be lost to the British economy.

The ETOA figures added to travel-industry fears at the time that displacement -- a reduction in traditional, non-Games tourists, and an exodus of Londoners eager to escape the crowds -- would offset Olympics arrivals.

The latest figures from Amadeus also suggested Londoners do not appear to be fleeing. Its analysis of scheduled departures from all London airports found residents were 11 percent more likely to stay in the city during the Olympics period than they did in 2011.

Threats of strike action across London's public transport system by the leader of Unite, Britain's biggest union, and a dispute between the RMT union and London Underground over bonus payments, may affect travel decisions over the next few months.

The government has launched an international advertising campaign to boost tourism and plans a series of business summits during the Games it hopes will generate an additional 1 billion pounds revenue for British companies.

The Amadeus data does not take into account direct bookings to airline websites -- which accounts for 50 percent of travel bookings -- but factors in all agency reservations up to February 22.

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Air travel may help explain clots in marathoners

(Reuters Health) - Marathon runners who travel by air to the race may end up with higher blood levels of molecules that have been linked to clots, a new study shows.

That doesn't mean flying is actually likely to trigger a blood clot in endurance athletes, researchers say, or that air travel is a no-go. But it does suggest a possible explanation for the rare but mysterious reports of clots in otherwise healthy marathoners who flew to a race.

"It seems that the two activities could have a compounding effect when they are carried out back-to-back," said Beth Parker at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, who led the research.

Blood clots usually form in veins, and can be dangerous if they break off and block blood supply to the lungs or heart.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between one and two per 1,000 Americans experience a life-threatening blood clot each year. The elderly and those with genetic risk factors are at increased risk.

In the new study, published in the American Journal of Cardiology, Parker and her colleagues took blood samples from 41 healthy non-smokers who participated in the 2010 Boston Marathon.

Twenty-three of them lived more than a four-hour plane flight away, while 18 participants -- the comparison group -- lived within a two-hour drive of Boston. The researchers collected blood after the runners landed in Boston, immediately after the marathon, and again when the participants were back home the next day.

After returning home, six people in the air travel group had elevated levels of a substance called D-dimer, which has been used as a sign of possible blood clots. By contrast, none of those who lived close to Boston did.

Air travel is known to double or triple the risk blood clots in the veins of the legs, called deep vein thrombosis, according to Parker.

And endurance exercise, such as marathon running, may also raise the number of blood molecules that aid clotting.

What the elevated D-dimer levels meant is unclear. None of the athletes showed actual symptoms of deep vein thrombosis, such as leg pain or swelling, shortness of breath or rapid heart rate.

The researchers also found that older athletes had significantly higher levels of an inflammatory blood compound that could be associated with heart attack risk, regardless of whether they flew to the marathon or not.

One expert who wasn't part of the study cautioned that none of the molecules the researchers looked at has been shown to clearly identify individuals at increased risk of clots or heart disease.

"I wouldn't let these findings alarm runners traveling to marathons," Dr. Kenneth Bauer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston told Reuters Health by email.

Parker agrees that while the research suggests marathon running and air travel to get to marathons could contribute to a slightly increased risk of blood clots or other cardiovascular events, the benefits of endurance running far outweigh the small risks for most people.

Simple precautions will reduce the risk of blood clots while flying, said Dr. Mary Ann Bauman, medical director for women's health at INTEGRIS Health in Oklahoma City.

She recommends staying hydrated, wearing loose clothes, and not cross your legs for long periods of time. Walking around the cabin every one to two hours and wearing compression stockings can help too, she Told Reuters Health.

One of the researchers on Park's team consults for AstraZeneca, which makes the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor, and a number of other major pharmaceutical companies that make heart drugs.

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Egypt Travel Ban Lifted, US NGO Workers Leave

U.S. pro-democracy activists charged with encouraging unrest in Egypt have left Cairo after courts there lifted a travel ban against them. The standoff threatened more than $1 billion in U.S. financial support for Egypt.

State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday that the the Americans were allowed to leave Egypt after their non-governmental organizations agreed to post their bail.

"We are very pleased that the Egyptian courts have now lifted the travel ban on our NGO employees," said Nuland. "The U.S. government has provided a plane to facilitate their departure. And they have left the country. They are currently en route home.”

Nuland said the Americans were joined on their flight by Norwegian, Serbian, Palestinian and German NGO workers who also were accused by Egyptian courts of funding popular unrest and operating without proper registration.

She again said the Americans charged have done nothing wrong and that Washington will continue to work with Cairo's new leaders to ensure the free operation of international and Egyptian non-governmental organizations.

"The departure of our people doesn't resolve the legal case or the larger issues concerning the NGOs," she said. "We remain deeply concerned about the prosecution of NGOs in Egypt and the ultimate outcome of the legal process. And we will keep working with the Egyptian government on these issues.”

Asked whether the Americans will return to Egypt to face the charges against them, Nuland said it is for them and their lawyers to decide.

Sixteen Americans were among 43 NGO workers caught up in a December crackdown by Egypt's military-led government. An Egyptian court opened their trial on Sunday, but adjourned until late-April.

Egyptian authorities say the NGOs were interfering in Egypt's democratic future and encouraging protests against the government.

One of those groups, the International Republican Institute, says it is hopeful that the charges against its expatriate and local Egyptian staff will be dismissed. In a written statement, the group said it is concerned about the “continuing investigations of Egyptian civil society groups and the impact it will have on Egypt's ability to move forward with the democratic transition that so many Egyptians have sought."

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Travel advice: cheap ferry crossings to France

Starting to plan your summer holiday to France? Here's how to find the best route across the water – and the lowest fares.

It's all change on the Dover-Calais ferry route. Following the demise of Sea France in November, a new service was started by DFDS Seaways two weeks ago (February 17). It's a joint operation with LD Lines (which also runs the Portsmouth-Le Havre and Newhaven-Dieppe routes) and it supplements DFDS' Dover-Dunkirk service. Initially there is only one ship on the route, but launch fares have been pitched very competitively at £58 return for a car plus passengers.

This very competitive opening offer is not the only good news for passengers. The new service ensures healthy competition on a route where fares have been suppressed at historic lows for several years now. It also keeps the pressure on prices on the longer crossings to Normandy and Brittany.

With airfares creeping up because of oil price rises and higher departure taxes, self-drive holidays in France haven't looked so attractive for a long time. So here is a guide to your choices when crossing the Channel this summer. I have quoted the cheapest returns currently available for a car plus passengers (usually up to nine people, but sometimes less – check before booking). Prices depend on demand, and may more than double for peak summer crossings.

For seasonal services I have indicated the month for which the fare applies. All frequencies are the maximum number of return crossings each time in peak season. See below panel for a guide to finding the cheapest fares.

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US professors travel to Iran to discuss Occupy Wall Street movement

The Occupy Wall Street movement may be losing its spotlight in the United States, but it's gaining attention in Iran, where a handful of American professors recently traveled to attend a conference focusing on the anti-capitalist protests.

"The discourse (in Iran) seems to be veering from 'Down with America!' to 'Down with the 1 Percent!'" said Heather Gautney, a self-described "Occupy Wall Street activist" and a sociology professor at Fordham University in New York. "In my view, this is quite a welcome development, and speaks to Iranians' affection for Americans despite all the political conflict."

Gautney was one of four U.S. professors last week to attend the two-day conference at Tehran University, in a country whose people -- despite any possible dissatisfaction -- are not in a position to take to the streets, as she described it. Consequently, she said, Iranian professors and students view the Occupy movement as "an object of study," not something to emulate anytime soon.

When she and the other professors were first invited to the conference, they were worried about the organizers' motivations, Gautney admitted. But after seeing a list of about 30 questions that would be posed to them, "it seemed like a very legitimate kind of project," she said.

In particular, organizers wanted to hear the professors speak about: What is the significance of the movement? How did it come about? Who are the protagonists? What are the goals?

"I got the sense that they were trying to confirm impressions that they had, confirm things that they had read in the press, in part so that they could integrate into their own and also into their classroom," Gautney said.

Nevertheless, government-controlled media in Iran didn't miss an opportunity to highlight the American professors' presence in Tehran. In an English-language report posted online, Iran's PressTV offered this headline from the conference: "Experts: Occupy Wall Street likely to topple US administration."

But no one in the report, including the American professors, said any such thing.

Two weeks earlier, Iran's PressTV posted a report from another Occupy Wall Street conference in Tehran, during which American religious activists said the Occupy movement "will redesign the world order."

A man identified as Imam Abdul Alim Musa from the Masjid al-Islam mosque in Washington said Occupy activists "feel that all of us are part of the 99 percent" and "are against one government killing scientists, engineers, peaceful people," referring to the recent assassination of an Iranian scientist working on Iran's nuclear program.

"So they are naturally against Zionism," Musa said in the report, provided to Fox News by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute. "The monster today is global Zionism."

In the United States, some critics of the Occupy movement have pointed to several videos from protests featuring what the critics describe as anti-Semitic language.

Gautney said she would "vehemently disagree" with any such comments, saying the only enemy of Occupy Wall Street is inequality.

"I find (the imam's) claim quite disturbing and an awful attempt to use (the movement) as a pawn in religious conflicts of which is it not at all a part," she said.

As for the conference she attended, Gautney acknowledged a few presentations were "highly rhetorical," including one mentioning "the imperialism" of Europeans dating back to the days of Christopher Columbus. And, she said, "time and time again" Iranians asked if the Occupy movement is a signal "that there are problems with the liberal, democratic" system.

But she indicated she disagreed with any sentiments suggesting the demise of the U.S. government.

"I don't think any of us think that Occupy Wall Street is signaling the death of capitalism," she said. "(But) we certainly can see that it is signaling some problems in the system. ... We have a deeply unequal social and political system, and part of that is due to severe power inequalities."

Still, even when Gautney disagreed with some of the statements made at the conference, she wasn't always comfortable voicing her opinion.

"I felt my role there was to maintain my positions as representing the movement," she said. "To come into another country and start advising them on how to do things -- especially (since) I have no education in Islamic history, I have no real understanding of the society -- it would have been foolish and irresponsible. I didn't see my role as one of taking up the fight, spreading the Occupy Wall Street to Iran."

What's more, voicing some of her opinions could have been dangerous.

"You don't know what the level of control is, so you don't want to go places where you could get yourself into trouble," she said. "There's no U.S. Embassy there. There's no support mechanism. So I didn't feel like I had the freedom of speech to veer away from my ... talk about the movement."

Asked why she would attend a conference at which she couldn't speak her mind, Gautney said, "What you can do is give them real information about the movement."

She said one "misperception" among Iranians is that that U.S. media coverage of the Occupy movement "was very negative," and that news outlets " failed to report on a lot of what had been going on."

"We had an opposite impression," Gautney said of herself and her fellow activists. "From within the U.S., it was up and down, but for the most part there was a lot of positive reporting and a lot of media presence."

So, she said, she was able to "correct" a "complete misperception of what's going on."

In addition, Gautney was able to answer Iranians' questions about life in the United States, whom she described as "incredibly curious about American society."

In particular, Gautney said, Iranians were interested in the "mechanisms" of the U.S. economic crisis, including debt and the housing market's collapse. At the same time, many female students asked her questions such as: What does it mean to be a single parent? Do women have abortions? And, Why are so many teenage girls having children?

Conversations about the Iranian regime were "limited" because, in Gautney's assessment, Iranians "have to tow a line there" and "weren't really turning (the) lens inward."

In addition, she said United Nations sanctions against Iran are "really hitting the poor and middle-class people" and undercutting opportunities for uprising from within.

"It sort of positions people against the West rather than allowing them to find spaces of dissent within their own country," Gautney said. "It sort of unifies the country, and it gives them something to unify around."

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S.Sudanese travel home before deadline

KHARTOUM — With an April 8 deadline looming for ethnic South Sudanese to leave Sudan or acquire documents allowing them to stay in the north, Bol Wunj's family decided on Thursday that it was time to go.

Without a reservation, they showed up at a rubbish-strewn patch of sand where 20 train carriages waited to take around 1,500 South Sudanese home to a country that some of them had not seen for decades.

"My wife is worried about April 8. She is listening to a lot of rumours," Wunj said, hoping his family could get some of the seats still available.

"My children want to leave," said Wunj, 58, who plans to join them once he receives his severance pay from the Khartoum government.

His towering size seemed appropriate for the job he held as a guard in Sudan's prison system until he and all ethnic southerners lost their jobs ahead of South Sudan's independence last July.

The split came after an overwhelming vote in the wake of a 2005 peace accord ending 22 years of civil war which killed two million people and drove many more to the north.

An estimated 500,000 South Sudanese remain in Sudan.

Khartoum has given them until next month to leave or regularise their status, but both options are unworkable, says the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which organised Thursday's train.

"It is logistically impossible to move half a million people in less than two months," Mohammed Abdiker, an IOM official, said in a February statement.

During a visit to Khartoum on Thursday, Britain's Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Stephen O'Brien, encouraged Sudan to extend the April 8 deadline.

In order to apply for northern residence, people need documents from South Sudan. But even if they have their papers, the north has not put in place the system to legalise their status, the IOM said.

Those travelling by train with the IOM do not need documents.

The intergovernmental body, which is dependent on donor funding, has helped to move more than 23,000 southerners from Sudan to South Sudan, mostly by river barge.

Last month, though, Sudan's military stopped the use of barges from Kosti, about 350 kilometres (217 miles) south of Khartoum, because of suspicions they were also being used by the South to reinforce troops near the tense border, sources said.

With trains still able to move, more than 1,000 southerners registered to board the sky-blue and yellow carriages leaving Khartoum on Thursday.

Another 456 were to join a second train in Kosti, where southerners have been "sitting there basically in the railway station since August," said Julia Hartlieb, of the IOM.

The bloated Kosti way station on the White Nile River, designed for about 2,000 people, now holds more than 11,000, the IOM says.

Mahadia Ramadan, 29, who spent years in the north after fleeing the civil war, has not had a regular income since June when she lost her job as a government office cleaner.

She heard about the April deadline but says it means nothing to her. She just wants to go South, even though she has no job, house or land there.

Ramadan proudly showed off two crates of rabbits she plans to sell for food during the journey, which could take up to 14 days, to Wau in South Sudan's Western Bahr El Ghazal state.

"I'm happy to be going back to my homeland," she said. "The war is in the past now."

She and the other returnees will find a grossly underdeveloped young nation reeling from multiple crises, including ethnic violence and fighting along the disputed border with Sudan.

"I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not worried about anything," said Antoneta Jumaa, 38, who has not seen the south since she was a child.

"God will bless me," she said.

In her hand she held her pink IOM registration form and a white piece of paper confirming that she is healthy enough to make the journey on the wooden benches of the battered-looking train with no air conditioning.

A grey card showed her boarding pass number, 000456, and her destination. "Wau Station," it said.

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A new immigration point system for Canada starts in 2012

A revised points-based selection grid will be introduced to favour young immigrants with strong language skills, says federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

Prospective immigrants in licensed professions will need to be pre-assessed to ensure they are likely to get certification in Canada before their applications are processed, Kenney said in Toronto at the annual gathering of Metropolis, an immigration research network that is about to lose its federal funding.

Currently, immigration applicants can skirt the mandatory language requirement by entering through the Provincial Nominee Program, which allows provinces to select immigrants with job offers from local employers.

Under the new grid, to be introduced by the end of the year, Kenney said provincial nominees will face a higher bar as well, because research has shown that language proficiency enhances social and economic integration in the long run.

“We must make better choices. We must select immigrants who have the skills and traits we know will lead to their success, and qualifications that are already recognized in Canada, or can be recognized in a short time,” he said.

While the federal government does not plan to require spouses of applicants in the federal skilled worker program to undergo language tests, Kenney said they will be awarded more points if their spouses are proficient in English or French.

Calling the revised system “more flexible and intelligent,” Kenney said a welder with a job offer in Prince George would not face the same expectations with regard to language skills as someone expecting to work as a physician.

Plans are also underway to change the federal immigration programs for entrepreneurs and investors, though Kenney gave few details.

“In the United States, half of the top 50 venture-capital backed companies are founded by immigrants. We do not nearly do as well in Canada. We must do a better job attracting entrepreneurs and investors to Canada,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kenney said Canada will continue to offer protection to refugees and the family reunification program.

“I strongly believe that economic integration is the best path to social integration,” he said. If new Canadians can maximize their contribution to the labour market, social integration will quickly follow.”

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Controversial immigration law moving through Miss. legislature

HERNANDO, MS- (WMC-TV) - The same day that Mississippi's governor made harsh, new comments about illegal immigrants, priests came out against a proposed immigration law in the state.

Critics say Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is targeting Latinos with the new law, but he says that's not the case.

However, he also says the state should be vigilant against the possibility of violence in Mexico and other Latin American countries spilling across the border.

Kathryn Piazza's father immigrated with his family to Mississippi from Lebanon in 1911. They were never illegal immigrants.

"I expect others to come into this country legally, or don't come," she said.

Piazza said it is possible to gain U.S. citizenship; it just takes effort.

She went to the state capitol Wednesday to hear Gov. Bryant speak out in support of House Bill 488, which would allow law enforcement officers to inquire about an individual's immigration documentation if they're pulled over for an offense.

Bryant says there are legal ways for workers to come to the country and earn money.

"There is a way to get a temporary worker here in the U.S.," he said. "The people we're talking about don't want to go through that process."

But many wonder if the new law would be fair.

"It infringes on the rights people have to the right of life, liberty," said Bishop Joseph Latino, of the Catholic Diocese of Jackson.

He says even undocumented individuals have rights under the U.S. Constitution and states should not interfere in immigration issues.

"I think the federal government has the responsibility with regards to immigrants who came to this country, the rules and regulations that are imposed on immigrants," he said.

However, others argue that the federal government is ignoring immigration laws, leaving the states to pay the price.

The bill has passed out of committee, but has not yet faced a vote before the full house.

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Nation's Toughest Immigration Law Stays Put For Now

Portions of Alabama's strict immigration law will remain in force until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on its predecessor, the Arizona statue that ignited a national firestorm in the debate over illegal immigration.

A panel of three judges from an Atlanta federal appeals court decided Thursday to put off action on lawsuits against measures in Alabama and Georgia. Oral arguments are set for April 25 before the Supreme Court over the constitutionality of Arizona's enforcement policy.

Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah and Indiana have passed legislation modeled on Arizona's. The Justice Department has sued to block all the laws, arguing that the role of enforcement belongs solely to the federal government. Human-rights and immigrant-advocacy groups have filed separate suits claiming the laws violate individuals' civil rights.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Arizona law by the end of its term this summer; the decision could set precedents for lower courts handling similar cases. A Supreme Court ruling could effectively settle, at least for a time, the highly charged dispute between states and the federal government over immigration enforcement.

Regardless of the outcome, advocates on both sides say they look forward to seeing the roles of federal and local authorities clarified, particularly given the inability of Congress to pass an overhaul of immigration laws.

"We hope that folks in Washington will recognize that there is a real crisis that they helped create, and it's their lack of leadership that has gotten us to this point," says Sam Brooke, the lead attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center's lawsuit against the Alabama law.

"These are not immigration bills that are creating new laws," says Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports stricter immigration measures. "These are states telling law enforcement 'We're encouraging you to enforce laws already on the books.' Why? Because these are reactions to inaction in Washington and an abject failure to reinforce the borders."

A New Lightning Rod

That means for at least the next several months, Alabama is allowed to continue enforcing measures regarded as the nation's toughest on illegal immigrants.

Once Alabama passed its law last year, it supplanted Arizona as the new lightning rod for controversial enforcement policies. Alabama's law also became a model for bills working through the legislatures in Mississippi and Missouri.

A new report released by the Southern Poverty Law Center claims scores of Latinos in Alabama have been subjected to discrimination since the law took effect. Among the allegations the report identified as egregious: a clinic that refused to treat a child here illegally; an illegal day laborer denied payment for her work; and a family whose home water supply was discontinued.

The law "has given a nod and a wink to the worst prejudices harbored by some residents," the report's writer, Mary Bauer, told reporters this week. "If lawmakers are unwilling to repeal [it], knowing this is the type of misery they have created, we can only assume they intended to inflict this cruelty all along."

Despite the concerns of some immigrant advocates, defenders of the enforcement laws say they aren't aimed at imprisoning or deporting illegal immigrants. They largely are designed to drive illegal immigrants out of these states through "self-deportation," as GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has called it.

"It's attrition through enforcement," says Dane, who defends the approach as the better alternative to other extremes. "If you dry up the incentives for coming here, you will have fewer people coming. It's preferable to mass deportation, which no one thinks is possible. It's also preferable to mass amnesty."

The Alabama law so far appears to be having its intended effect. Immigrant advocates say the law has prompted thousands of Hispanics, those in the U.S. legally and illegally, to flee the state out of fear.

Not Giving Ground

As other state laws do, Alabama's law directs police to check the immigration status of people during arrests or encounters such as traffic stops. Alabama goes further by requiring individuals to carry proof of legal status at all times. It also prohibits illegal immigrants from entering contracts or engaging in formal transactions with state agencies, such as obtaining a driver's license or applying for permits.

Two of the law's harsher provisions have been blocked by a federal district court: a requirement that public schools collect the immigration status of students and a prohibition on "harboring," making it a felony for anyone to aid an illegal immigrant, even unknowingly.

Opponents have demanded the repeal of the law, but a repeal bill being drafted by Democratic state Sen. Bill Beasley isn't likely to pass in a chamber controlled by Republicans who overwhelmingly support the law.

GOP legislative leaders say that while they won't make any significant changes to enforcement, they are working to ease the law's requirements on employers, who have complained of now having to verify the legal status of their workers.

Already in this legislative session, one revision has passed that establishes military credentials as acceptable proof of identification, particularly in the event a person is questioned by police.

"It's a strong law, it's a good law, and most Alabamians are pleased with the fact that there is finally a law to crack down on immigration and make sure those working and living in Alabama are doing so legally," says Todd Stacy, a spokesman for Republican state House Speaker Mike Hubbard. "The focus is clearing up misconceptions, correcting any portions that might be vague and make it work more efficiently."

It may not be enough for some farmers and food-processing companies, which rely heavily on Latino employees. They say productivity has declined because many of their workers have stopped showing up. Those business owners worry that the workers have gone into hiding or left the state.

A University of Alabama study of the law's potential economic impact estimated that departures of as many as 80,000 illegal immigrants could cost the state and local governments nearly $11 billion a year in lost sales tax revenue. Republican lawmakers have roundly rejected those findings as inaccurate.

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Did the Alleged LeT Op Get Pak Visa on Geelani Recco?

Pro-Pakistan hardliner Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani had given a recommendation letter to Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Athesham Malik, arrested by the Delhi Police, for getting a Pakistani Visa, according to official sources.

Official sources said a copy of the recommendation letter given by Geelani was found in the papers seized from 24-year old Malik.

The sources said recoveries made from Athesham, who had undergone a training in Pakistan in December, 2011, were material for fabrication of IED, including wires, flash powder used in crackers and sulphuric acid.

A laboratory technician, Malik was earlier associated with Lashker in Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir and was arrested in 2007 along with two others.

When contacted, spokesperson for Geelani, Ayaz Akbar, said "we don't know about this case. But generally, if any Kashmiri comes to Geelani sahab for recommendation, he gives his recommendation only because they are Kashmiri. But then how can he know why he wants to go there and what his motive is"?

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Samjhauta blast: Pak victims' kin seek visa to visit India

As many as 10 persons from Pakistan have sought the visa to visit India, claiming that they are the legal heirs of Pakistani nationals killed in the 2007 Samjhauta Express bomb blast and hence eligible for the compensation announced by the Indian government.
Alleging that some people
have fraudulently presented themselves as kin of the Pakistani victims and claimed the compensation, they have filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking directions to the central government to consider their visa applications so that they can pursue their cases before the Railway Claims Tribunal.

The 10 petitioners also seek to perform religious rites at the graves of the blast victims in Mehrana, Panipat, but are aggrieved since the Indian government is allegedly not willing to consider their visa applications.

The blast took place around midnight on February 19, 2007 when the train was en route from Delhi to Pakistan, near Diwana railway station in Panipat district of Haryana. It killed 68 people, mostly Pakistanis.

But 19 bodies could not be identified and were buried in a graveyard at Mehrana village in Panipat.

The Indian railway ministry announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each, and the Pakistan government declared a relief of Rs 5 lakh each, to the victims' families. In India, the Railway Claims Tribunal at Chandigarh is hearing the compensation cases.

The high court was informed that the Indian high commission in Pakistan had rejected the visa application of one of the petitioners, Rahila Vakil, daughter of deceased Pakistani national Mohammad Vakil, in December.

Vakil's visa was rejected because she could not produce bank papers to prove that she had the mandatory Rs 1 lakh in her account.

Now, the petitioners have requested advocate Momin Malik of Panipat through e-mail to pursue their cases for grant of visa. Malik is the lawyer pursuing compensation cases of Pakistani nationals at the tribunal, which are fixed for next hearing on April 20.

Taking up the petition, high court justice AK Mittal asked the lawyer to clear his 'locus standi' as to whether he can be authorised to pursue the cases through e-mail from Pakistan. The matter would now come up for hearing on March 13.

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Visa tackling mobile accounts in developing markets with Orange

By Rachel King | March 1, 2012, 1:15am PST

Summary: Orange Money customers in the Middle East and Africa will be able to use Visa prepaid accounts for retail and e-commerce purchases as well as for ATM withdrawals and other Visa-relatead payments.

Visa continues to announce major partnerships and mobile commerce initiatives amid Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona this week.

The latest partner is Orange. Visa has announced that Orange Money customers in Africa and the Middle East will soon have access to Visa prepaid account features inside their Orange Money accounts.

These customers will be able to use the prepaid accounts for retail and e-commerce purchases as well as for ATM withdrawals and other Visa-relatead payments.

More notably, this represents a significant step for Visa in its expansion to bring mobile payment solutions to consumers in developing markets.

The service will be available in seven countries across Africa and the Middle East, and it will accessible by more than 30 million subscribers.

Earlier this week, Visa announced separate partnerships with Vodafone and Intel at the start of MWC 2012. With Vodafone, the two will co-develop a Vodafone-branded proposition that will be offered to consumers across Vodafone’s customer base across more than 30 countries. Based on its prepaid account services, Visa will support the payment network and functionality.

With Intel, the two enterprises have entered into a multi-device, multi-year agreement to develop mobile commerce solutions for Intel Atom-based smartphones and tablets.

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Americans Booted in Visa Snafu

The head of the Russian Evangelical Church is calling for a reversal of the fines imposed on eight Americans doing charity work on tourist visas in Ivanovo.

Konstantin Bendas made the request in a statement to The Moscow Times on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Migration Service in Ivanovo said the eight visitors were engaged in activities not allowed by the rules of the visas they used to come to Russia.

"The preacher and seven members of the congregation of Harmony Baptist Church in Pennsylvania came to the region on tourist visas but undertook humanitarian and charity work in orphanages and state boarding schools, where they gave teaching seminars, quizzes and religious readings," Vitalia Zagummenikova said, Interfax reported.

But Bendas insisted that the fined citizens could not be punished for just doing charity work and would only have broken the law if they had been preaching professionally.

"According to the documents that I have seen, the reason for the fine was based on their charity work," he said. "As such, the decision seems strange to say the least, and I believe that federal information services should react appropriately and withdraw their decision and the corresponding fine.

"If [their words in the orphanages] were not professional sermons, conferences or teachings, then they had the full right to give humanitarian help and also talk to anyone on the street or in places of residence about their beliefs."

The eight Pennsylvanians were fined 2,000 rubles ($68) each. After being notified of the fine, they left the country, the migration service said, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported.

This is the second high-profile visa breach in the past month. It follows French journalist Anne Nivat's expulsion from Russia after researching a book while in the country on a business visa.

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Eurosceptics changing views on visa-free regime with Russia

Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin says that some of the European countries which were previously sсeptical about a visa-free regime between Russia and the EU, are now changing their views, adding that even traditional sceptics like some of the Baltic states and Poland are changing their position on the issue.

EU sanctions against Belarus 'a form of coercive pressure' – Putin

Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin considers the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Belarus to be meaningless and irrelevant.

The Prime Minister recalled the 'similar sad events in Iraq and Libya' which lead to unfortunate results.

'Whatever sanctions are imposed, they all lead to intervention. It is a form of coercive pressure', the Prime Minister said.

Boisterous campaign would make victory particularly meaningful – Putin

Presidential Candidate Vladimir Putin believes that a victory in such a turbulent presidential campaign would add a lot more weight to his victory and would be a clear sign that the public trusts him.

Retirement age not to be increased in Russia

At a meeting with his campaign helpers on Wednesday, Russia’s Prime Minister and candidate for the presidency Vladimir Putin said that, despite rumors, the government was not planning to increase the retirement age.

At the same time, Mr. Putin believes that better conditions should be created for people who want to work on although they have reached the retirement age.

“Of course, elderly people must not be made to work,” he said, “but they should be encouraged, including encouraged with money, if they want to go on working.”

Mr. Putin also promised an increase in pensions.

Opposition should act within democracy rules – Putin

Prime-Minister Vladimir Putin has said that the existence of an opposition in the country is perfectly normal, but at the same time he urged opposition representatives to respect the opinion of the majority, adding that 'the minority has no right to impose their opinion on the majority'.

According to Mr Putin, a minority has the right to create a vision, present it to the public and fight for it, but only within the framework of constitutional law and using legal methods.

Vibrant economy key to national survival – Putin

Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin believes the best way to make the Russian state invulnerable to external shocks and attempts to undermine Russia’s sovereignty is to ignite rapid and sustainable economic growth.

He was speaking about this Wednesday at a meeting with his political allies and campaign helpers in the United People’s Front.

Putin vows to help Russian business

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has vowed that the Russian business community will play an active part in improving the country's investment climate.

“We must become strong, competitive, especially amid stumbling global economy,” he said.

The Russian premier pledged to help Russian business strengthen its position.

Putin urges to divide economic disputes and criminal cases

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has stressed he is against general mitigation of criminal case punishments, adding that economic disputes should be viewed separately.

He then vowed to disrupt the existing "indictment connection" between courts and law enforcement agencies to rule out any arbitrariness on their part.

EU sanctions won’t affect Russia-Belarus ties

The newest EU sanctions against Minsk won’t affect the integration process underway between Russia and Belarus, Russian PM Vladimir Putin said.

“I hope that the EU and Belarus will sooner or later normalize their relations. But it will have no effect on our integration process,” Putin said at a meeting with trusted political figures, All-Russian People’s Front and political pundits.

Putin vows to raise citizens’ involvement in govt

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir has pledged to increase the influence of democratic institutions on governmental decisions and extend citizens’ involvement in the government.

He also stressed that Russia’s governmental system should allow for such involvement to take place on all levels, from federal to municipal one.

Russia needs long-term military analysis, strategic planning

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin believes Russia should create its own system of military analysis and strategic planning for 30-50 years ahead.

This came in his Wednesday statement at a meeting with trusted political figures, All-Russian People’s Front and political pundits in Moscow.

Putin urges govt to tackle poverty

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has urged the government to significantly raise salaries and create new jobs by 2020.

“By 2020, we should dramatically change the situation around social inequality and settle the poverty issue in Russia,” the premier said at a meeting with trusted political figures, All-Russian People’s Front and politilogists.

He remarked that certain positives steps had already been made in tackling poverty in Russia, stressing however that as much as 12.5% of the country’s population still lived beyond the poverty line.

Putin said that middle class should become the majority class in Russia, embracing people who may be called the “backbone” of the Russian society.

Russia can solve housing issues – Putin

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin believes that Russia may soon be able to solve its century-long housing issue, adding this wasn’t one of his campaign promises.

At a meeting with the All-Russian People’s Front, political pundits and trusted figures, the premier said he was deeply convinced there were all economic and industrial prerequisites to settle this problem, which had been plaguing the country since the times of the Russian empire.

Russian govt to draw roadmaps for Putin’s initiatives

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has tasked the government with laying down ‘roadmaps’ for all key initiatives presented in his program articles.

At a meeting with representatives of the All-Russian People’s Front and political experts, the Russian premier said that special instructions had already been sent to all ministries and departmentsinvolved in the proposed programs.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has taken a day off today to meet with representatives of the All-Russian People’s Front

TASS, IF, RIAN

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77 foreign NGOS under watch, face visa woes

The government has put 77 foreign NGOs on its global watchlist, making it difficult for their officials to get visas to India. The step comes within days of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh complaining that foreign NGOs were trying to influence Indian policies and projects.
The home ministry put together the list based on information from intelligence agencies and the suspicious conduct of representatives of these NGOs in the past.

Top government sources said the watchlist had been circulated to all Indian missions and posts with an advice to "monitor" visa requests from the NGOs - a euphemism for putting the applications through greater scrutiny that would lead to delays or rejection.

Officials refused to name the NGOs, insisting this would have serious diplomatic repercussions. But one of them confirmed that most were from the US and European Union. In 2010, US-based NGOs accounted for one-third of the foreign funds worth Rs 9,000 crore to Indian NGOs.

In an interview to Science magazine, the PM had blamed NGOs funded by US and Scandinavian countries for campaigning against the Kudankulam nuclear project and use of biotechnology.

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India’s tit for tat to UK on visa norms

NEW DELHI: Indians have often been at the receiving end of UK visa regulations in the recent past but New Delhi for once has managed to tame the British authorities. In yet another visa row between the two countries - this time around in a third country - India has forced the UK to roll back its decision to bar Indians to apply for UK visas from Belgium.

In what is being described by officials as a strange decision, British authorities stopped issuing visas to Indians in Belgium and instead asked them to travel to Paris to apply for the same.

With its new-found assertiveness, the foreign ministry retaliated by not just issuing a note verbale to British authorities to protest the decision but also immediately stopped issuing visas to UK nationals seeking Indian visa in Brussels. They were asked to go back to London and apply for Indian visa there.

Highly placed sources told TOI that the decision forced the UK to beat a quick retreat. Now, London has approached India, formally communicating its decision to roll back its decision and ensure visa facility to Indians from Brussels.

The Indian retaliation though was not limited to restricting UK nationals from applying for visa in Brussels. It also increased the visa fee, bringing it on par with the money charged from Indians for UK visa.

"Now that they have given in, we have also decided to restore visa facilities for UK nationals in Belgium. There will be no change in the visa cost though," said a source. Apparently, the number of UK nationals seeking Indian visa in Brussels was more than the other way round.

The UK decision not to issue visa to Indians inconvenienced not only diplomats and other Indians based in Belgium, but also many Indian travellers, including VIPs, who wished to fly to London and did not have a visa. Belgian capital Brussels is not only a travel hub in Europe, but also one of the main centres of international politics.

Besides, Britain announced further restrictions in its immigration system this week that could severely impact Indians planning to settle there. British immigration minister Damian Green declared that the changes in the UK immigration system will mean that migrant workers coming to the UK on a skilled worker visa will no longer be able to settle in the UK based on the amount of time they have spent in the country.

Breaking the link between coming to the UK to work and staying forever, the new rules will ensure that only "exceptionally talented people, investors and entrepreneurs" will have the option to stay in the UK. "Skilled temporary workers who want to apply for settlement will have to earn at least £35,000, or the going rate for their job, whichever is higher," said the British High Commission in a statement.

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Swiss visa application centres in ten more cities

Applying for visa for Switzerland will become easier as Swiss visa application centres ( VAC) will soon be opened in 10 more cities.

The VACs would be opened at Chandigarh, Kolkata, Cochin, Jalandhar, Chennai, Pondicherry, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad, in addition to the existing VACs in New Delhi and Mumbai.

"Switzerland and VFS Global have partnered to open branches of Swiss Visa Application Centres (VACs) in 10 cities across India," a statement from Swiss Embassy said today.

Switzerland-appointed VFS Global for outsourcing started its visa application processing services in Delhi in November 2007 and subsequently in Mumbai in August 2008.

"The opening of these VACs will strengthen our endeavours and strong will to intensify people-to-people contact through travel. 76,700 visas were issued to Indians travelling to Switzerland in the year 2011 while the figures for 2010 stand at 61,686," said Kurt Gruter, Acting Head of Visa section, Embassy of Switzerland, in the statement.

The VACs would collect visa applications and, if necessary, arrange an interview with the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi or the Consulate General in Mumbai.

The partnership would be a pilot project and is limited to two years, it said.

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Georgia to establish visa-free regime with Russia

During his annual report to Parliament on Tuesday, President Mikheil Saakashvili announced that Georgia is unilaterally abolishing visa requirements for citizens of the Russian Federation, “to give a greater chance to peace".

Since October 2010, Georgia has granted 90-day visa-free entry to those Russian citizens registered as residents of Russia’s republics in the North Caucasus, while other Russian citizens must obtain a visa upon arrival in Georgia.

“While deepening close ties with the West, we are simultaneously interested in improving relations with Russia. We know it is not easy, but Russia is and will always be our neighbour, which determines our desire to have peace... But it must be a peace with Russia that recognizes and complies with all the international legal norms of relations between two sovereign countries,” Saakashvili said.

He noted that the recent WTO deal with Russia was a good example of the possibility “to reach a result even if you stand firm on your principles”.

“We welcome economic ties with Russia. So we are ready to give a greater chance to peace, and we put forth the new initiative to lift the visa regime with Russia unilaterally,” he asserted.

“Let every Russian business[person] know that they can come to Georgia, invest in Georgia, make business in Georgia, employ people in Georgia, and they will be protected here like any other representative of other countries… Let Russian tourists know that they may arrive here at any time,” he said, adding that in Georgia no one would “ban them from drinking Georgian wine and Borjomi, which they miss so much”. Russia banned the import of Georgian wine and mineral waters in 2006.

Deputy Foreign Minister David Jalagania hailed the President’s initiative, hoping that it will be well-received by the Russian Federation. As Jalagania said before the parliamentary debate, this initiative is a continuation of the friendly policy Georgia has towards its neighbours.

“I would like to remind [you] that the visa regime between Russia and Georgia was established not by Georgian initiative. Despite aggression and further occupation of Georgian territories, we separate the Russian people from Kremlin policy,” he said.

Political analyst and former Georgian Ambassador to Moscow, Zurab Abashidze, also hailed the policy, as it may attract more tourists to Georgia. “It will be good for Georgians living in Russia, who are mainly Russian citizens. It is also a positive message to Russian society that we do not have any problems with Russia,” Abashidze said.

However, Caucasian affairs analyst Mamuka Areshidze believes that the President’s plan to unilaterally remove the visa regime with Russia will not change much, as this proposal is, in reality, oriented towards the West. According to Areshidze, Russia will not make any progressive steps in this regard and will completely ignore this initiative. Besides, Russian citizens have not faced any visa problems as of yet, he added.

“I think that this approach is oriented not towards the improvement of Russian-Georgia ties, but it is to show the West some positive steps from Georgia. The Georgian government will be able to say that the recommendations from the West to improve relations were considered and adequate steps have been made,” Areshidze maintained.

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Judge blocks Arizona immigration law's day labor rules

Posted: Wednesday, 29 February 2012 08:55PM

By Tim Gaynor

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A federal judge blocked Arizona on Wednesday from enforcing a part of the state's immigration law that prohibits vehicle occupants from stopping traffic to pick up day laborers waiting for work.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton, in issuing a preliminary injunction, ruled that plaintiffs seeking to overturn the law were "likely to succeed on the merits of their claim" that the rules violate the First Amendment.

Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer passed the state's tough immigration law in April 2010, seeking to clamp down on illegal immigrants in the Mexico border state.

The section of the controversial law Bolton blocked on Wednesday sought to target people who employ migrant workers in the country illegally, many of whom gather in store parking lots and on curbsides in Phoenix to tout for work.

The non-profit National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which was a plaintiff in the suit, hailed the ruling.

"Today's decision is a victory for day laborers and everyone who cherishes the First Amendment right to free expression on public streets and sidewalks," network attorney Jessica Karp said in a statement.

"In seeking to silence day laborers, the state of Arizona trampled on the U.S. Constitution. Day laborers fought back and bravely defended the First Amendment for the benefit of all," she said.

Arizona's tough immigration crackdown had wide support in the state but was opposed by President Barack Obama, many Democrats and civil rights groups.

Opponents of the law said it would lead to harassment of Hispanic-Americans. Obama has called such "piecemeal" state legislation a mistake and warned that having 50 different immigration laws around the country is untenable.

In addition to the day labor provisions, the Arizona law includes a requirement that police check the immigration status of anyone they detained and suspected was in the country illegally. That was among measures blocked by Bolton before it came into effect in July 2010.

Arizona appealed the previous rulings placing the most controversial parts of the law on hold to the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear the case on April 25.

Brewer said in a statement she was disappointed by Wednesday's ruling, which she described as an "erroneous decision by the U.S. District Court to strike down a significant public safety component" of the law, dubbed SB 1070.

"The provision, which would have prohibited day laborers from blocking traffic when seeking work on public roadways, was put in place as a necessary traffic safety measure," Brewer said.

"This ruling provides yet another reason why I look forward to the Supreme Court providing guidance on the constitutionality of SB 1070. I am confident that, when the case reaches the High Court in April, the constitutionality of SB 1070 will be affirmed," she added.

The Supreme Court's hearing next month on Arizona's appeal will be closely watched by Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah, which have all passed "omnibus" immigration crackdowns since the desert state blazed the trail two years ago.

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In Arizona, Republicans shy away from immigration debate

PHOENIX, Arizona — Immigration fuels fierce passions in Arizona, both for and against the waves of immigrants who cross its southern border with Mexico -- but you would hardly know it to listen to Republican candidates.

Mitt Romney, who won the party's primary here handily this week, barely mentioned it in his campaign stops, as he focused on the economy and jobs, issues on which it is easier to find common ground in these tough times.

Arizona Senator John McCain, who won the Republican candidacy in 2008 but lost the White House to Democrat Barack Obama, acknowledged as much here on Tuesday when he spoke on behalf of Romney, who he has endorsed since January.

In a brief speech he trumpeted the former Massachusetts governor's economic credentials, as well as his ability to be commander in chief and restore America's power and influence in the world.

But not a word about immigration.

"I think it's pretty clear that immigration was not the biggest issue in this campaign, in fact it wasn't mentioned that much. The biggest issue on this campaign is jobs and the economy," he told AFP.

Arizona, which has a vast legal and illegal Hispanic population, has been in the eye of a storm since it became the first US state to vote a law -- so called "SB1070" -- allowing police to stop and search any person they suspect.

The Obama administration opposed the law, and has managed to freeze its most contested parts until a Supreme Court ruling in June -- although this has not stopped other states including Utah and Alabama from following Arizona's lead.

Republican state lawmaker John Kavanagh agrees with McCain that immigration has not featured as prominently as one might have expected.

"It's gone on the back burner because our dismal economy has pushed (it) to the side," he told AFP, adding "immigration is still a big problem in Arizona."

"Less illegals are crossing the borders because there are less jobs, but the underlying problem is still there, and we know that when the economy improves and the jobs come back, so too will the illegals," he added.

For civil rights groups, the real problem for Republicans -- who held a TV debate here last week -- is not that they relegate immigration to a secondary campaign issue, but that they don't propose any solutions.

"They are basically talking about keeping 11 million in the same situation, and they are talking about deportation," said Eduardo Barraza, director of the Hispanic Institute of Social Issues in Mesa, outside Phoenix.

In the debate, the candidates did agree on one thing: the need to secure the border with Mexico, by whatever means possible.

And Romney took the opportunity to vigorously defend Arizona's immigration law, and to reiterate his opposition to the so-called DREAM Act, which would let youngsters who came to the US illegally to go to college or join the army.

"I wouldn't say that immigration has not been addressed," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, head of the Arizona branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

"I feel like they are propagating and perpetuating immigration myths to please their public... what is certainly missing is a serious discussion about it. We have to move beyond this extremist rhetoric."

For Camila Gallardo, spokeswoman of the National Council of La Raza, the main Hispanic rights group in the US, "so far unfortunately the Republicans' arguments are pretty negative."

"We hope that once the primaries are finished, the person chosen will make an effort to talk to our community respectfully, and that they will make real proposals," she added.

Because, while neglected in the primaries, immigration could return as a major theme in the real presidential campaign, between whoever wins the Republican nomination and Obama in the run-up to the November vote.

Soler Meetze said the Supreme Court's decision in June will "send a very important message to the states.

"It's gonna answer this question as to who has the authority to regulate immigration matters. I do think that after this decision, the issue is going to rise again."

Barraza is more doubtful, notably if the economy is still flagging during the campaign leading up to the November 6 presidential election.

"Because how in the world could anybody think now, in the political context, that bringing all these people into legality, legalizing all these people is gonna benefit the economy?" he asked.

"In a way yes, because they will pay taxes, but in the same way it is gonna be seen as millions of people being able to get jobs legally. So is that something that this society is ready to accept? I would say no."

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Court to rule later on Georgia, Alabama's anti-illegal immigration laws

A federal appeals court in Atlanta announced Thursday that it would wait until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law before it acts on similar statutes in Georgia and Alabama, keeping parts of those measures on hold for months to come.

Judge Charles Wilson of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals made the announcement at the start of a three-hour-long hearing on parts of Georgia and Alabama’s laws.

As dozens of people loudly protested against those laws outside the downtown courtroom, Wilson said his three-judge panel agreed to wait until the higher court rules because some of the issues are similar in their cases.

The Supreme Court is expected to take up Arizona’s law next month and rule by the end of June. A lower court put two key parts of Georgia’s law on hold in June following a legal challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil and immigrant rights groups. Georgia is appealing that lower court’s decision to Wilson’s panel.

At issue in the courts is how far states can legally go in combating illegal immigration. Officials in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina and Utah have enacted similar anti-illegal immigration laws in recent years, saying they must act to protect jobs and taxpayer-funded resources because the federal government has failed to seal the nation’s borders.

Opponents of these measures say they are divisive and unconstitutional and complain they are tearing families apart, driving migrant workers away and damaging states’ economies.

“The panel has conferred preliminarily and we have agreed not to issue any opinions in this case until the Supreme Court has decided the Arizona case,” Wilson said Thursday, “since I believe that some of these provisions of both the Georgia law and the Alabama law are very similar to the provisions in Arizona.”

Wilson and the other two judges then proceeded to ask many probing questions of the attorneys representing Georgia and Alabama, including whether their measures interfere with the federal government’s authority to regulate immigration and manage foreign relations.

Wilson singled out a provision in Georgia’s law that would authorize state and local police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects and detain those who are determined to be in the country illegally and take them to jail.

The judge asked what would happen if all 50 states adopted statutes similar to Georgia’s. Specifically, he asked how that would affect federal immigration officials who are required to respond to queries from local police about the legal status of suspects.

“I wonder what the increased burden would be on the Department of Homeland Security to respond to all these data-gathering requests?” he asked. “You would have to create an entirely new bureaucracy, wouldn’t you, just to respond to these requests?”

Senior assistant Attorney General Devon Orland pointed out Georgia’s law makes it optional for police to do immigration status checks. She also denied the measure is preempted by federal law.

“What the plaintiffs are talking about is -- their definition of harm is they are more likely to get caught,” she said. “More likely to be caught is not sufficient for standing, it is not sufficient for harm and it is not sufficient to show preemption.”

The judges then turned to parts of Alabama’s law, including a provision that that would require public school officials to determine the immigration status of their students. The Obama administration is suing to block that law. And in October, the appeals court temporarily put that provision on hold.

Judge Beverly Martin expressed concerns about how information about students’ immigration status could be used. She pointed out that Alabama must turn over such information to federal authorities if they ask for it, potentially making it possible for students to be deported. The Supreme Court has ruled that school districts must educate all children regardless of their legal status.

“Once they declare themselves, doesn’t that interfere with their constitutional right to a basic public education, which has been declared by the Supreme Court, as you know?” she asked.

Moments later, Wilson asked whether the law is a “scare tactic.”

Alabama officials denied that and said the law would not deny students their constitutional rights. Prim Escalona, a deputy solicitor general for Alabama, said federal officials are the ones who determine who is deported. She added collecting information about the immigration status of students could help Alabama officials make school spending and policy decisions.

“Perhaps they collect this data and the numbers are low and it informs the public debate and they say, ‘Well, maybe we don’t need certain laws or maybe we do need certain policies,’” Escalona said.

Near the end of Thursday’s hearing, Cecillia Wang, director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, pressed the court to not wait and instead issue an injunction against several parts of Alabama’s law – also called House Bill 56 – that have not been put on hold. Among those provisions is one that would require police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects.

Wang said some of the plaintiffs in the case are seeking legal status in the United States and would be “subject to police inquisition if they should be stopped for a traffic violation. They are subject to detention, arrest and indeed criminal prosecution.”

“The plaintiffs that we represent in this case are suffering an ongoing harm because of HB56 and these particular provisions,” she said.

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, who sat by Orland’s side at Thursday’s hearing, said it makes sense for the appeals court to hold off on acting on Georgia’s law until the Supreme Court rules on Arizona’s statute since similar issues are at play in both cases. He defended Georgia’s law in an interview during a break in the proceedings.

“The states,” he said, “would not be passing these laws if the federal government did its job.”

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Court Hears Immigration Challenges

ATLANTA
A federal appeals court in Atlanta heard
arguments Thursday in the case against Georgia’s immigration law. But the judges say they won’t rule until after the U.S. Supreme Court settles a case against a similar law enacted in Arizona.

The judges asked the state’s attorney what would happen if every state -- like Georgia -- passed its own immigration law.

They said it could create new burdens for federal immigration officers.

Attorneys suing Georgia argue that the law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. That says federal law trumps state law.

But Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens says the state and federal governments often work together on law enforcement.

He cites two initiatives where the federal government asks local police for help in tracking illegal immigrants:

“We have programs such as 287g and Secure Communities," he said outside the courtroom. "It is extremely common for law enforcement to work both on the state and federal area together, and what we need quite frankly is more of that collaboration, rather than less.”

Olens said Georgia and other states have only enacted immigration laws because officials felt they had to do something.

But Marielena Hincapie, one of the attorneys suing Georgia, says state immigration laws undermine the federal government’s jurisdiction over the issue.

“We will have a patchwork of 50 states with completely different immigration laws where every single person will be treated differently in Georgia, Alabama, Minnesota, New York, California, you name it,” said Hincapie, who's executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.

A federal judge has already blocked parts of the law that would allow police to check the immigration status of some suspects and punish anyone who harbors illegal immigrants while committing another crime.

The hearing Thursday in 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pertained to the state’s appeal.

Arguments in the Arizona case will begin in the High Court in April.

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Video: Immigration was hot topic at white house hispanic action summit

Elyria – February 18 at Lorain County Community College (LCCC) in Elyria was by all accounts a special occasion in which White House officials came to Ohio on their multi – city White House Hispanic Action Summit tour. The discussion groups created by participants ranged from education to how to increase voter turnout, but by far the most pressing issue that day, as it has been around the country from Orlando to San Antonio, has been immigration.

The immigration discussion was allocated the largest space at LCCC, it also hard the largest numbers and the most vocal participants. In the end, information was shared, opinions were changed, and a better understanding of the situation became clear.

When the country discusses of immigration, most immediately turn to the Southwestern states such as Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico, but because of its closeness to Canada and its ever increasing migrant workers, Ohio has seen an increase in undocumented immigrants, not only those from Latino descent, but European as well.

Immigration advocates say many of those who are in Ohio illegally came one of two ways, either they arrived on a work VISA and overstayed the expiration date, or came into the country at a young age without knowledge of the illegal activity.

The plight of illegal immigration and the concerns it causes on both government and people are on display in Painesville, which has increasingly become an area of concern for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. Over the past decade or so, this area has become home to migrant workers that came on a work VISA but did not return to their home country once the VISA expired.

The latest U.S. Census says 4,298 Hispanics live in Painesville, but in 1990, there were just 389. Twenty-two percent of the city’s 19,563 residents identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino and more than half claim Mexican descent.

When participants at the summit mentioned these concerns to the White House, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, said policies may be adjusted based on the summit results and future immigration policies may be dictated from the summit as well, but those in attendance wondered what they can do to improve the situation.

“You need to partner and collaborate,” said Rodriquez. ““We need the business leaders, the community leaders and the churches to stand up”

Rodriquez also said it’s important to strategize and come together and put a “face to immigration.” She also said Congress must pass comprehensive immigration reform to make change. Most recently the DREAM Act was passed in the U.S. House, but failed in the Senate. The DREAM Act is a piece of legislation designed to give path to citizenship to those who either attend higher education and graduate, or join the military. Ohio U.S. 10th Congressional District Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D – Cleveland), attended the summit. He voted for the DREAM Act and could not understand why anyone would vote against it.

“There’ are countless young people who are adversely affected,” said Kucinich. ““We have to make sure that we pursue a path that upholds all of us,”

A Marcus Atkinson Production: White House Hispanic Action Summit speaks on immigration

U.S. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D – Toledo) was one of the House members who voted “no” on the DREAM Act. She shared the same concerns as other representatives did who voted no. One of the provisions in the legislation made it mandatory for all those who signed up for the DRAEM to disclose their parents legal status, during the candidates’ night in Lorain Feb. 22, the 9th Congressional distinct representative said the DREAM Act as written, is the wrong way to pass immigration reform.

According to the 2010 Census, Lorain and Cuyahoga counties lost population over the past decade, but the Hispanic population grew in both counties. Some feel this may hurt the overall economy; cities with high Hispanic populations may become “sanctuary cities” – a city that does not enforce immigration laws – and put a burden on taxpayers to provide bilingual services. Also illegal immigrants may have children or “anchor babies”, which provides a sentimental reason for them to stay in the states while at the same time burdening the already deficit run government heath care system.

Those who do live in Ohio without proper documentation say they fear deportation if they go to a doctor or hospital when ill, there is fear to call police if a crime is seen or if they are a victim of a crime. Those who have children born in the U.S. fear the possibility of being deported and having to make a decision to leave their legal children in the states or take the child back to their native country. In some cases, even those who marry a U.S. citizen can face deportation. .

Lilleana Cavanaugh, Executive Director of the Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, a non-partisan governmental body says this issue is very important not just for Hispanics but for everyone. She says well have a stake in this issue.

“Our issues are the same across the counties,” said Cavanaugh. “We need to stop dreaming and make it a reality”

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Reforms fail to dent net immigration rate

Persistently low levels of emigration from the UK combined with an increasing number of immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean have contributed to the net migration rate remaining stable at a quarter of a million being added to the UK population each year, despite government efforts to bring net immigration down.

The data, released on Thursday by the Office of National Statistics, showed that 593,000 people entered the UK and 343,000 departed in the year to June 2011, resulting in a net inflow of 250,000. This represents an increase of 15,000 during the coalition government’s first year in office.

Home Office ministers are battling to reduce the net figure in order to meet the Conservatives’ election pledge of bringing net immigration down to the tens of thousands by the end of the parliament. They have already introduced reforms to immigration policy for those who come to the UK to work and study, and are due to announce more changes on migrants coming to join their families in the next month.

However, the task of reducing the headline immigration level is made difficult by ongoing immigration from European Union countries and unusually low numbers of Britons leaving the country to live or work abroad. Neither of these is under government control.

The latest data show a record number of 170,000 migrants coming to the UK from African Commonwealth countries and the Indian subcontinent, a group sometimes called the “new Commonwealth” as opposed to the “old Commonwealth” of Canada and Australia. Two thirds of these came to study. Overall, education remains the most common reason for migration to the UK, and is responsible for around 40 per cent of the total inflow.

Damian Green, immigration minister, drew attention to separate Home Office data showing that visas for study and work had decreased by 6 per cent to the year ending June 2011.

“Our reforms are starting to take effect,” Mr Green said on Thursday. “Figures from the second half of last year show a significant decrease in the number of student and work visas issued, an early indicator for the long-term direction of net migration.”

“This government remains committed to bringing net migration down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands over the course of the parliament,” Mr Green confirmed.

However Scott Blinder, senior researcher at Oxford’s Migration Observatory, cautioned that “many factors” contribute to determining immigration levels, and that a drop in visa issuing may not be entirely due to recent policy changes.

“Policies are important – for example, changes to the shortage occupation list might make a big difference, even though the cap on work visas gets more attention,” Mr Blinder said. “But political and economic conditions matter as well, both here and globally. Visas issued for work have in fact been declining since 2006, and the reasons why are not clear.”

Chris Bryant, shadow immigration minister, said Thursday’s figures showed that net migration was going in the “wrong direction” despite the Home Office’s reforms. “We need honesty and competence from this government on immigration. Instead we get tough rhetoric not matched by the reality on the ground,” Mr Bryant said. “The country deserves better than that.”

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Net migration to the UK stuck at 250,000 despite Cameron's tough talk on slashing numbers

Net migration swells population by a quarter of a million in 12 monTotal number of migrants coming into the country now stands at 593,000 - one of the highest figures recorded





Immigration has swelled the population by a quarter of a million people in just 12 months despite the government’s pledge to cut net migration, official figures showed today.

The figure – the number of people added to the total population after immigration and emigration are both taken into account – has remained steady since it peaked at 255,000 in the year to September 2010.

Net migration for the year to June 2011 was 250,000.

The Government has pledged to cut net migration to 1990s levels of the tens of thousands by 2015.

The latest figures mean that ministers are likely to have to deal with increasing criticism from Tory backbenchers and migration pressure groups about their failure to get to grips with immigration.

The number of people leaving the UK has fallen considerably from a peak of 427,000 in 2008, the ONS said.
But net migration has been going up rather than down and is currently running around 15,000 higher than when David Cameron entered Downing Street

The latest figure is up from the figure of 235,000 for the year to June 2010, according to the ONS.

The impact of immigration was boosted by record numbers of people coming to live in Britain from countries classed as part of the New Commonwealth.

UK Migration 2001-2011

While emigration has dipped since 2008, immigration has remained steady, meaning an increase in net migration since the Coalition came to power

An unprecedented 170,000 people in a year came from countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, two out of three of them to study at British universities and colleges.

The full number of migrants coming into the country in the 12 months to June 2011 was 593,000, itself one of the highest totals ever recorded, and a level which shows that immigration into Britain has not fallen since Labour opened the borders to Poles and other Eastern European citizens in 2004.

That figure is up from 582,000 in the year to June 2010, estimated figures published by the ONS showed.

This means that Britain’s population will grow by 2.5million people because of immigration alone in 10 years, and it suggests that the landmark 70 million population total will be reached 15 years from now.

Net migration was high because many fewer Britons have been emigrating to live abroad since the recession began.

Net migration has actually worsened int he past two years, today's figures show

Some 343,000 British people left the country in the year to June 2011, nearly 10 per cent down on the numbers in 2008.

Study remains the most common reason for migrating to the UK, with 242,000 students coming in the year to June 2011.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: 'Our reforms are starting to take effect.

'Home Office figures from the second half of last year show a significant decrease in the number of student and work visas issued, an early indicator for the long-term direction of net migration.

'Net migration remains too high but, as the ONS states, it is now steady, having fallen from a recent peak in the year to September 2010.

Reasons for immigration to UK

The number giving no stated reason for coming to the UK has remained steady in the past decade
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Growing numbers of foreign students

Overseas students coming to study in the UK has been one of the biggest drivers of immigration
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'This Government remains committed to bringing net migration down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands over the course of this Parliament.'

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of campaign group Migration Watch UK, said: 'These figures are disappointing.

'They show that the immigration supertanker has been brought to a halt but massive efforts by the Government will be essential if their manifesto promise is to be kept.

'For example, the student visa system, which admits half a million non-EU students a year, needs a much more effective means of testing whether the applicants are genuine and intend to return home.'

Net migration has remained steady despite a pledge by David Cameron to tighten borders

Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant said: 'On net migration, rather than the Prime Minister's 'no ifs, no buts' pledge to cut net migration to the tens of thousands, this data shows it's still going in the wrong direction.

'We need honesty and competence from this Government on immigration. Instead we get tough rhetoric not matched by the reality on the ground. The country deserves better than that.'

He added: 'These figures show the Government's complete failure to combat illegal immigration.

'This Government is deporting fewer foreign criminals, stopping fewer people who shouldn't be in the UK from coming in, and removing fewer people who should not be here. That is a serious failure of this Tory-led Government.'
Migration from New Commonwealth countries has been one of the key drivers of immigration
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Meanwhile, asylum applications rose 11 per cent last year to 19,804, compared with 17,916 in 2010, separate figures published today by the Home Office showed.

The figures for every quarter last year were higher than 12 months earlier, mainly due to an increase in applications from Pakistan, Libya and Iran, officials said.

And the number of people removed or departing voluntarily from the UK last year fell 13 per cent to 52,526 from 60,244 during 2010.

Matt Cavanagh, associate director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think-tank, said: 'Reducing immigration is a legitimate goal, but politicians should be wary of promising what they can't deliver.

'There is also a risk that ministers will be tempted to take more extreme measures in pursuit of their elusive target, including on those areas of immigration which are most important to our economy, and which surveys show the public are less bothered about, including skilled workers and overseas students.'

The ONS figures published today also showed that 690,000 national insurance numbers were allocated to non-UK nationals in the 12 months to September last year, up 11 per cent from the 623,000 in the previous year.

Mr Cavanagh said these figures were 'one way of estimating the total number coming here to work' and were 'likely to reinforce widespread fears that immigration is exacerbating unemployment'

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