US Government Cracks Down on Immigration Scams

Federal officials are cracking down on immigration scams. In a press conference this past week, federal officials explained that immigration services scams are getting so sophisticated that fraudsters now advertise online with websites that perfectly mimic those of official government agencies. So the federal government is setting out to raise awareness about such scams. Officials from several federal, state and local agencies, as well as immigration lawyers and advocates, met in Newark in recent days to expand nationwide a campaign that started in seven pilot cities. It focuses on enforcement, education and interagency collaboration. "They are not just high-tech scams, they are people in the neighborhoods: people who know people, people who are out there shaking hands," said Kelvin Chen,...

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Why is it 'humane' to let those who broke our immigration laws escape consequences?

During the presidential campaign of 2000, George W. Bush was criticized by some conservatives for calling himself a "compassionate conservative." Some believed the term to be redundant. Now we're in the middle of the 2012 presidential campaign, and candidate Newt Gingrich has called for a "humane" policy on illegal immigrants. Mr. Gingrich wants illegal residents who have been in America for 25 years to stay, so as not to "separate families." Seeking to clarify comments he made during the Republican debate on national security last week, Mr. Gingrich told Fox News, "I am for deporting all recent unattached illegals. I am for a local citizen panel to consider certification of those who have been here 25 years and have family and community (ties) and have been law abiding and taxpaying." First,...

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Economists: Job effects of Alabama immigration unclear, may take years to determine

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Economists say it may take years and extensive research to determine whether Alabama's new law clamping down on illegal immigration helps or hurts the state's job market. Supporters of the law have cited improving unemployment numbers in a few counties with large Hispanic populations to claim the law is helping create jobs for legal residents. Critics were bolstered by an industry report last week that showed fewer construction jobs in Alabama, presumably because the sector contracted as workers left the state because of the law. Experts said neither claim holds much water, at least statistically. Illegal immigrants don't show up in labor statistics because they are part of an "underground economy" and often are paid off-the-books and in cash, they said. Federal unemployment...

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85-year-old immigrant smuggler gets 2½ years in prison after surviving decades in the business

SAN DIEGO — An 85-year-old woman who led a female-dominated immigrant smuggling ring was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Thursday in a case that stands out at a time when larger, more violent organizations along the U.S.-Mexico border have muscled groups like hers aside. Felicitas Gurrola was charged with moving up to 80 people a month past border inspectors at the nation’s busiest border crossing in San Diego by having them assume false identities. Her method was relatively safe compared to common and sometimes fatal smugglers’ tacks like leading groups through remote mountains and deserts or stuffing them in car trunks and engine compartments. “This was a very well-organized, safely run operation,” said her attorney, Thomas Matthews. “No one was ever put in danger.” Prosecutors argued...

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Alabama immigration law catching the wrong people?

Since the implementation of new, tougher immigration laws in Alabama, there have been more than a few changes and plenty of controversy. One of the first things we heard was that crops were rotting in the fields with nobody left to harvest them. In those cases, the argument could still certainly be made that the workers in question were there illegally in most cases, so the system was working as designed. But now there seem to be new situations where the law of unintended consequences has come into play. Officials have now detained two executives from auto manufacturing companies operating in the state. The latest one was from Honda. To arrest one foreign car-making executive under Alabama’s new tough immigration laws may be regarded as a misfortune; to arrest a second looks like carelessness. ...

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Visa Granted to Sister of New Jersey Girl with Cancer

The sister of a 5-year-old girl being treated for a life-threatening case of leukemia was granted a temporary visa to try and save her sister’s life. United States Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey announced on Friday night that federal immigration officials had granted a humanitarian visa to the sister of Yarelis Bonilla, who needs a bone marrow transplant. Her sister, Gisselle, is her closest match. The case had become a source of contention among some immigration advocates because Gisselle, 7, lives in El Salvador and her family, after realizing she was a match, had applied for a visa on humanitarian grounds – but was denied twice. At a press conference at a hospital in Newark, N.J. where Yarelis is undergoing treatment, Menendez, a Democrat, announced that this time, after his office...

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Immigration: Divorce and immigration

Editors note: "Immigration Matters" today features Guam-based attorney Catherine Bejerana Camacho. Mabuhay and hafa adai! Although the holiday season is generally a happy period, it is also a time when individuals start reflecting on the state of their personal relationships. In fact, law firms experience a surge in divorce work during this period. Deciding whether or not to divorce your spouse is a complicated and emotional process in and of itself. The process becomes even more complicated if the decision affects your immigration status in the United States. The following paragraphs highlights how the decision of whether or not to divorce becomes even more complicated if an individual received his or her resident card as a result of a petition filed by their spouse. The first instance...

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Kenney Plays Immigrants For Suckers With “You Bare All Costs” Super Visa

But Most Immigrants, Especially With Deep Pockets, Will Be Happy Being Suckers! But the NDP immigration critic is worried that the new 10-year visa for parents and grandparents may be hard to obtain. People applying to sponsor a parent or grandparent will have to show they can support their visiting relatives. To be accepted, the visitors will be required to have private health insurance coverage during their stay in Canada. Critics say not all immigrants will qualify to bring family members. VANCOUVER – That wily Conservative immigration minister Jason Kenney is playing immigrants to be suckers with “you bare all costs for your loved ones coming from your homeland” Super Visa, which the Harper government was busy trumpeting this week as the visa came into effect on Thursday, Dec. 1. But...

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Immigration forum held at local library

BLOOMINGTON — Concerns over federal immigration detainers issued for inmates of the McLean County jail were discussed at a public forum Saturday sponsored by leaders of the local Hispanic community. Specifically, leaders called on Sheriff Mike Emery to stop honoring requests from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold suspects brought into the jail. The jail notifies ICE to check on the immigration status of all people born outside the U.S., a policy Hispanic leaders have criticized because some of those held by immigration are charged with misdemeanor or traffic offenses. Emery said he does not intend to change jail policy. “We will continue our cooperation with the federal government,” Emery said when contacted by The Pantagraph after the forum. About 90 people attended...

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Australia immigration minister wants more refugees

SYDNEY — Australia's Immigration Minister Chris Bowen Saturday called for a lifting of the nation's annual refugee intake from 13,750 to 20,000 but said he still wanted asylum-seekers processed offshore. The proposal won the support of the ruling Labor Party at its national conference in Sydney, but Bowen has said the target is aspirational while plans to send boatpeople to other countries have been blocked by the High Court. "We have to tackle this with a soft heart and a hard head," Bowen told delegates. Bowen said refugees were risking their lives on boat journeys between Australia and Indonesia, a perilous stretch which saw close to 50 people drown in a shipwreck off Christmas Island a year ago. "There have inevitably been others that we simply don't know about," he said. In a bid...

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An immigrant's path from bicycle to deportation

LIVERMORE -- The path to deportation for Eduardo Lopez-Reynoso began when he blew past a stop sign on a bicycle. The 26-year-old Mexican immigrant was near downtown Livermore when police officers stopped him just after 11 a.m. Oct. 28, a Friday. Neighbors watching the tall, flannel-shirted man get handcuffed and plopped into the back of a police cruiser on Chestnut Street wondered what he had done. A drug test later showed he had used methamphetamine. Five days later, federal agents dropped him just over the Mexican border. Lopez's swift deportation illustrates the sometimes controversial reality behind Secure Communities, the Obama administration program that puts local police officers in the Bay Area and around the country on the front lines of federal immigration enforcement. In the...

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GMA asks SC to stop gov’t from preventing her travel

MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) - Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo filed with the Supreme Court (SC) this morning yet another pleading to compel the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Immigration (BI) to allow her to travel abroad in compliance with a temporary restraining order(TRO) issued by the high court on a travel ban against her. In a 12-page urgent motion filed at 11:12 this morning, Mrs. Arroyo stressed that she is "without any other plain, speedy and adequate remedy" but to ask the high tribunal to direct the DOJ and BI to cease and desist from preventing her from leaving the country. Mrs. Arroyo intends to travel to various countries to seek further medical treatment for her hypoparathyroid disorder, cervical spine problem, and bone mineral deficiency. Last Tuesday,...

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Tourism industry in “new visa mess”

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry won some concessions regarding the free, visa-on-arrival (VOA) this week after it was extended for three more months but was confronted with more confusion when immigration authorities said the extension applies only for bookings made prior to December 31. A new clarification issued by immigration authorities issued on November 30 states that the existing facility of “Free Visa on arrival will continue until 31 March 2012 for those who are making travel arrangements before 31 December 2011.” This system will be in force alongside the new visa regulation under the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system that will be operational from January 1, 2012. However, this was a cause for concern within the industry as Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators President Nilmin...

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New Asheville exhibit presents diversity of immigrant experience in WNC

Community exhibit presents diversity of experience in WNC ASHEVILLE — For Carolina McCready, art, the language of the human spirit, teaches people how to feel about complex issues, cutting through the static of biased politics and hate. That theory is the organizing principle behind The Artery’s new exhibit about immigration, “Nuestras Historias, Nuestras Voces” (Our Stories, Our Voices). The community art project is sponsored in part by Latino Advocacy Coalition, where McCready is co-director. The exhibit reception is 7-9 p.m. today. “Art talks to people’s hearts — people can learn much more through art and the way that it speaks to you,” McCready said. “Since immigration is such a polarized and complicated topic, we hope to speak to people’s hearts and not their minds. “The effects of...

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Australian Immigration May Ban Kim Kardashian From Traveling While Sis Dates Aussie Bieber

As Kim Kardashian faces a possible ban by Australian immigration which may prevent her from traveling to Australia, her half sister Kylie Jenner is dating Cody Simpson, known as the Aussie Bieber. The Kardashian sisters are always making the news. Now Kim Kardashian is facing scrutiny from the Australia Department of Immigration regarding three separate visa incidents as her little half sis dates the Aussie Bieber. Always jet-setting, it seems the Immigration Department in Canberra believes Kim Kardashian was visiting for more than a pleasure trip. Apparently Kim in on a watch list after three separate incidents related to her visa. While Kim's visa application indicates she is a tourist, she was actually in Australia for a business appearance. It was as heavily promoted as the rest of...

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County receives U.S. aid, for now, to fight illegal immigration

It has become an annual exhibition in the government's eternal struggle to balance budgets and fight illegal immigration. Politicians propose removing the federal funds that flow to local law-enforcement agencies as reimbursement for the costs of housing undocumented immigrants, and every year those funds are reinstated. This year's restoration of funding came just before Thanksgiving in a quietly passed appropriations bill that included funding for farms, research and transportation. The bill also included $240 million to reimburse jailers for the costs of housing undocumented inmates. On Wednesday, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors passed a portion of those funds through to the Sheriff's Office, giving the agency $2.2 million to offset some of the costs associated with undocumented...

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It's Politics: Rep. Grace Napolitano signs on in challenging Alabama anti-immigration law Read more: It's Politics: Rep. Grace Napolitano signs on in challenging Alabama anti-immigration law

Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs - who recently returned from a trip to Alabama, is one of 39 congressional Democrats who signed on in support of the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit against Alabama's anti-immigrant law. The amicus brief, which was filed Nov. 21, asserts foremost that the Alabama statute is unconstitutional because it is preempted by federal law. H.B. 56 requires schools to demand documentation from enrolling students and police to check the immigration status of "reasonably suspicious" people during routine stops, who they would then hand over to federal authorities. Landlords cannot rent to undocumented tenants; employers cannot hire undocumented workers. "The entire state is now suffering the consequences of these extreme policies, and it is clearer than...

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Bentley says immigration job arrests won't stop Alabama job recruitment

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Gov. Robert Bentley said the arrests of two international auto plant workers under Alabama's immigration law "look bad" but maintained the state will still be successful in recruiting industry. "We have had some unfortunate incidents that certainly look bad. But we are continuing to recruit jobs to the state. We have announcements that will be coming up very soon," Bentley said in response to questions about the arrests. "Jobs are still coming to Alabama. We feel like Alabama is open for business," Bentley said. Alabama's new immigration law has ensnared two international workers from two of the state's much coveted foreign automobile manufacturers. A visiting German Mercedes-Benz executive was arrested and taken into custody after being unable to produce proper...

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JOEY KENNEDY: Alabama's harmful immigration law creating labor shortages

Alabama's overreaching immigration law has done a great job of chasing people out of the state and opening up jobs. Problem is, Alabama people aren't filling those jobs. Analysis has already shown that the drop in Alabama's unemployment rate is not because of the harsh immigration law but, instead, due mostly to seasonal hiring, government hiring and thousands of unemployed jobseekers giving up. There are jobs out there, but not the kind many Alabamians apparently want to do or are trained to do. I know, I know. What's the evidence? John McMillan, Alabama's commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, is holding a meeting in Mobile on Tuesday to address the chronic labor shortages created by the immigraton law in south Alabama. McMillan is a conservative Republican, but he knows the immigration...

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The US Immigration Test

If you have applied for naturalization, you will need to pass the citizenship test in order to get your US citizenship. Many applicants worry about this US immigration test, but millions of Americans pass this test regularly. With a little work and preparation, so can you. The citizenship requires you to know two basic things: the English language and US civics. As part of the US immigration test, you will be required to speak, read, and write in English. You will also be required to show knowledge of US history and civics by answering questions about these subjects. You can pass the citizenship test, however, if you: Start early. The earlier you start preparing for your US immigration test, the more time you will have to master the knowledge. Ideally, start preparing as soon as you apply...

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Malaysia swap deal remains ALP policy

The ALP has backed a huge boost to the nation's refugee intake while maintaining a controversial plan to process asylum seekers offshore under a deal with Malaysia. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen's proposal to keep the people-swap deal as party policy and increase the refugee intake to 20,000 a year, from 13,750, was accepted at the ALP national conference in Sydney on Saturday. "We have to tackle this with a soft heart and a hard head," Mr Bowen said. Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor told delegates that boat people smugglers were "not modern-day Oskar Schindlers" - a reference to the German industrialist credited with saving more than 1100 Jews during World War II. "Nothing could be further from the truth," he said. "This is profiting from desperate people. This is exploitation...

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Cepeda: Gingrich’s tightrope walk

Moments after the last Republican presidential candidate debate ended, the ever-breathless blogosphere started wondering if Newt Gingrich was making a play for the Latino vote with his controversial remarks about being humane to America's 11 million illegal immigrants. Of course he was. Gingrich may be many things — a highly paid consultant to eyebrow-raising clients, a philanderer and a prolific, if ungifted, author — but he's not ignorant of Hispanic voting power. For the past few years, Gingrich has been working overtime to eradicate the fallout from his infamous 2007 speech to the National Federation of Republican Women when he said Spanish was "the language of living in a ghetto." "Whether you are first-, second-, third- or fourth-generation Hispanic — or whether you speak English or...

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ICE busts child porn ring

An Ontario man who federal immigration agents say had amassed one of the largest collections of child pornography was arrested Friday and released on bail later that day by a federal judge. Michael Peterson, who was arrested with seven other people as part of a child porn sting, was suspected of possessing more than 500,000 pictures and 7,500 videos depicting child porn, according to federal agents. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials called it one of the largest collections of child pornography ever found. ICE agents arrested Peterson, 58, about 6 a.m. at his Ontario home on suspicion of possessing, receiving and distributing child pornography. "The images and videos contained children, between the approximate ages of 18 months to 17 years old, posing nude or engaged in...

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Mitt Romney’s “Solution” to Immigration Calls for Latino Immigrants to Go “Home

Mitt Romney has officially staked out the most extreme immigration position possible: the removal of every undocumented immigrant in the nation. His message to Latino immigrants is: “go home.” In the recent dustup over Newt Gingrich’s limited but sensible recognition of the simple fact that America will not and should not move to expel 11 million undocumented immigrants—many of whom have lived and worked here for well over a decade—Mitt Romney’s current position on immigration reform has become clear: anything short of mass deportation is “amnesty.” At last week’s Republican presidential debate, Newt Gingrich reiterated his view that some undocumented immigrants who are deeply rooted in America should have a path to legal status – but not citizenship. Gingrich said: I don’t see how...

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Obama puts pressure on Republicans on immigration reform

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama urged Americans on Tuesday to help him push Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform — a divisive issue that lawmakers have been unwilling to take up in recent years. “I am asking you to add your voices to this debate,” Obama said in a speech near the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso. “We need Washington to know that there is a movement for reform gathering strength from coast to coast. That’s how we’ll get this done.” The president said reform should include efforts to secure the border, crack down on businesses that exploit undocumented workers, and require the nearly 11 million immigrants in this country illegally to pay fines and back taxes, learn English and undergo background checks before they can apply for legal status. He also said American...

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U. S. Legislative Immigration Update August 8, 2011

Department of Justice Sues Alabama In a complaint filed early last week, the U.S. government filed suit against the State of Alabama to prevent the state’s recently-passed immigration law from taking effect in September. In the filings, the U.S. argued for H.B. 56 to be preliminarily and permanently enjoined from enforcement. The federal government asserts that numerous provisions of Alabama’s law are preempted by federal laws and therefore violate the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. (U.S. Const., Art. VI, Cl. 2) The complaint also claims one of the provisions violates the Constitution’s Commerce Clause. (U.S. Const., Art. 1, Sec. 8, Cl. 3) The U.S. government is petitioning the courts to rule that the power to regulate immigration is one of the authorities that is exclusively...

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