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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Net migration to Britain remains at record levels

Government's hopes of reducing migration suffer blow with figures showing net influx of 250,000 in the year to June 2011

Foreign students in London. Studying remains the most common reason to come to live in Britain, with an estimated 242,000 students arriving in the year to June 2011. Photograph: Frank Baron/The Guardian


The government's hopes of reducing net migration into Britain to below 100,000 have suffered a fresh blow, with the latest figures showing that it remained at the record level of 250,000 in the year to June 2011.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that figures published on Thursday showed long-term immigration remained steady, with 593,000 coming to live in Britain in the year to June 2011.

Long-term emigration over the same period was also stable, with 343,000 people going to live abroad, giving a net migration figure of 250,000.

The figures for the first year of the coalition government showed that net migration actually rose from 235,000 to 250,000 in its first 12 months in office.

This increase was driven by falls in the emigration side of the equation, with the number of people going to live abroad at its lowest level since 1998.

The latest quarterly ONS migration statistics report confirms that studying remains the most common reason to come to live in Britain, with an estimated 242,000 students arriving in the year to June 2011.

The figures also show that long-term immigration of new Commonwealth citizens, mainly from the Asian subcontinent, hit a record level of 170,000 – two-thirds of them students – over the same period.

A separate set of Home Office immigration statistics, giving annual figures for 2011 which do not include an estimate for the politically sensitive figure of net migration, shows that study, work or family visa applications to Britain fell by 6% last year. The latest visa data shows a fall in the number of overseas students since a peak in June 2010.

The immigration minister, Damian Green, insisted there were signs of progress. "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 is now steady, having fallen from a recent peak in the year to September 2010," he said. "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."

The latest net migration figure is only 5,000 below the September 2010 peak of 255,000.

The number of people granted settlement, which is to be the subject of fresh curbs to be announced next week, fell by 32% last year to 163,477. But it is thought this drop represents a backlog of long-term asylum "legacy" cases moving out of the system. There were 177,000 new British citizens – 9% fewer than in 2010.

The Home Office figures show a sharp rise in asylum cases in the last three months of 2011 to 5,261 – the highest quarterly total since 2009, with rises in applications from Pakistan, Libya and Iran.

The number of people detained for immigration reasons in Britain, already the highest in Europe, rose by 11% to 6,681 in the final quarter of 2011. The figure includes 41 children, the majority of whom were detained in the new "pre-departure" family accommodation run in association with Barnardo's.

Ministers will also be concerned to see that removals and deportations fell again during 2011 from 60,244 in the previous year to 52,526. The last three months of the year saw some recovery in the number of removals.

Matt Cavanagh of the Institute of Public Policy Research said: "Today's figures show that in the first full year entirely under the coalition government (from July 2010 to June 2011) net migration remained at a record high level of 250,000. In other words, the government made no progress on its pledge of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands by the end of the parliament.

"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."

Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: "Following the political unrest and atrocities we saw, and are still seeing, across North Africa and the Middle East, it is no surprise that there was an increase in numbers of people seeking safety here last year from countries including Syria and Libya. For those fleeing persecution it is crucial is that [the UK Border Agency] makes the right decision on their case first time – but the figures for refusals later overturned at appeal suggest that this is often not the case, and more so for women seeking asylum.

"It is also shocking that 99 children were held in detention last year, when the government pledged to put an end to this abhorrent practice almost two years ago. We know that conditions have improved under the new family removals process, but we still strongly maintain that children should not be detained as part of the asylum process."

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Stories of immigration, cleverly told by teens

Gissela Gualoto (left) and Jacqueline Ovalle play feisty 80-year old nuns in one of the scenes of “Home/Land.”

Politicians of every stripe in this country seem to lack the will, creativity and sheer guts to deal in some practical and humane way with the complicated issue of immigration. But where they have failed, the Albany Park Theatre Project — the prodigiously gifted, exquisitely directed youth theater ensemble rooted in a classic “gateway for the world” Chicago neighborhood — has triumphed.

In its latest production, “Home/Land,” now playing to consistently sold-out houses and extended through April 28, the company has transformed an often virulent and intensely partisan subject into the highest art. Even those with attitudes other than those expressed here might find themselves profoundly moved by the nearly two dozen fervent young performers who magically unspool a series of stories in this knockout of a show — a work that should be mandatory viewing for every current and/or wannabe government official.

As you enter the theater, you see two small stages at either side of the space, each piled high with great towers of suitcases, and linked by an alley-style performance area (think of it as the Rio Grande, with the audience seated on its banks). The set (designed by Scott C. Neale) continually morphs. So do the teenage actors here (who could easily vie with adult professionals) as they move through dozens of scenes, all animated by the marvelous techniques of a team of six directors and choreographers (Colby Beserra, David Feiner, Mikhail Fiksel, Stephanie Paul, Maggi Popadiak and Rossana Rofriguez Sanchez).

The initial story — all are based on interviews and research done by the young performers and their advisers, and then shaped into dramatic form — is a classic. It follows the perilous journey of a young father determined to make a better living for his wife and child. He sets out from Ecuador to the United States, with stops in Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatamala and Mexico, where he is turned back after a harrowing (and magnificently rendered) voyage in a tiny, overcrowded boat on rough seas.

A couple that does get in, also hoping to give their kids a better opportunity in life, ends up being torn apart, with the father arrested, put in a monitoring device and then threatened with deportation. Meanwhile, another immigrant woman works tirelessly at a church mission in Chicago where those threatened with deportation find a temporary haven and legal help, as well as a beguiling young priest (Jose Mata).

In one sharply satirical sequence (devised by guest writer James Anthony Zoccoli), we are treated to a glitzy game show, “Do You Want To Be An American?” Hosted by Bob Whiteman, his Mexican assistant and Lady Liberty, we watch as a hapless young Latino contestant (the winning Osbaldo Antunez) — a topnotch, taxpaying student and worker — is continually thwarted.

While both the cast and stories are predominantly Latino, there also is the tale of a young Palestinian girl (the enchanting and funny Paloma Reyes), who grew up wealthy in Kuwait but whose family ends up penniless after the 1990 Iraqi invasion drives them to flee to Jordan and then the United States. Years later, as a headscarf-wearing architecture school graduate in post-Sept. 11 America, she finds her opportunities limited and becomes radicalized.

Also surprisingly radicalized are two supremely feisty, 80-year-old Catholic nuns, played with great verve and wit by Jacqueline Ovalle and Gissela Gualoto.

Space prevents the naming of the full cast (whose splendid ensemble work is enhanced by songs sung in English and Spanish, with the actors often playing instruments, too). But be assured they abound in talent, confidence, emotional heat and technique. Truly astonishing.

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Villawood asylum seeker dies

An asylum seeker from Sydney's Villawood detention centre has died in hospital, the Immigration Department says.

The 44-year-old man was transferred to hospital with chest pains on Saturday but died early on Monday, the department said.

Refugee activist Ian Rintoul said the man was Iranian and had fled his home country in 2010 after being arrested and jailed for participating in pro-democracy protests.

He arrived in Australia by plane in April 2010 and had been in detention since then.

Mr Rintoul said the man had a wife and two children in Iran and a cousin in Australia.

He said he had been living in Villawood's housing section for four weeks before being taken to hospital.

The man is the ninth immigration centre detainee to die in the last five years, a spokesman told AAP.

Counsellors were supporting staff and detainees at the centre, the department said.

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Romney’s Arizona law ‘model’ would hurt all immigrants

By Andres Oppenheimer
aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com

If Mitt Romney becomes the next president of the United States and honors his latest vow to turn the Arizona immigration law into a “model” for the entire country, life in America could become quite unpleasant for many of us who look like immigrants, or speak English with a foreign accent.

In the Feb. 22 Republican debate in Arizona, where Romney and his main rival Rick Santorum were competing for the state’s anti-illegal immigration vote, Romney praised Arizona’s E-Verify system to check employees’ immigration status and said, “I think we see a model here in Arizona.” He added that, if elected, he would stop current federal lawsuits against Arizona-style laws “from day one.”

“Dios Mío!” I said to myself when I heard that. Judging from what we have seen in states that have passed Arizona-styled laws, that would lead to arbitrary arrests and interrogations not only of undocumented immigrants, but of legal residents and U.S. citizens as well.

The 2010 Arizona law requires, among other things, that local police demand immigration papers when they have a reasonable suspicion that a person is in the country illegally. It was suspended after a federal lawsuit questioning its constitutionality and is before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Supporters of the law deny it would lead to a wild goose chase of foreign-looking people, and to widespread harassment of immigrants. They say the law does not allow police officers to stop people at random, because it specifically requires that they demand immigration papers only when they carry out a “lawful stop, detention or arrest.”

But those are vague terms, critics say. A police officer wanting to make overtime could legally stop people to ask whether they saw something suspicious around the corner, then arrest them for not having proper immigration papers.

In addition, the Arizona law requires that local police act as immigration inspectors not only when they legally stop somebody for a crime, but also when they do it for a violation of a city ordinance.

If somebody calls the police to complain that a neighbor is playing music too loud at a party next door, an officer could show up at the party and detain anybody there who can’t prove their legal status, opponents of the law say.

“The central problem is that it opens the door to widespread racial profiling based on what individuals look like or sound like,” Karen Tumlin, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles, told me last week. “The ‘reasonable suspicion’ wording would force cops to make judgments based on what people look like.”

It has already happened, and not just with Latin American or Asia-born people. In Alabama, one of several states that has passed Arizona-styled laws, a German executive with Mercedes Benz was recently arrested under the state’s new immigration law near his company’s manufacturing plant for not carrying documents proving his legal immigration status, the Associated Press reported Nov. 19.

The 46-year-old German visitor’s rental car was stopped by a police officer and the man was arrested when he could not prove his legal immigration status, Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven Anderson told the wire agency. The visitor was released when an associate retrieved his passport from his hotel room.

Two weeks later, a Japanese employee from a nearby Honda plant was arrested and jailed for three days under Alabama’s immigration law after he was stopped during a checkpoint used by police to detect unlicensed drivers, even after he showed his international driver’s license, a valid passport and a U.S. work permit. There have been dozens of similar cases since Alabama’s anti-immigrations law was enacted.

A recent study by Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research economist Sam Addy concluded that the Alabama law could cost the state as much as $10.8 billion a year. Another study says Arizona’s immigration law has cost that state’s tourism industry $490 million.

Can you imagine what would happen in tourism and foreign trade-dependent states such as Florida if Arizona-like laws became the law of the land? Or what it would do to the real estate and convention industries in cities like Miami or New York?

My opinion: By almost any measure, Arizona-style laws are morally questionable and economically disastrous, and increasingly unnecessary at a time when illegal immigration has dropped dramatically after the 2008 U.S. economic downturn.

If Romney — and, to be fair, Santorum as well — stopped federal lawsuits against these xenophobic laws and allowed them to become a “model” for the entire nation, America would cease to be the country it has always been.

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Guest commentary: Immigration debate is about economics, not politics

What do Jeremy Lin of the Knicks and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings have in common? Both owe their success to immigration – and both are creating jobs and strengthening our economy.

Lin, whose parents came from Taiwan, and Lidstrom, who was born in Sweden, are helping their teams sell tickets and merchandise, while also helping tavern owners sell burgers and beers. But they are also helping the NBA and NHL to expand in overseas markets – something every major corporation in America is trying to do. The more a company expands its overseas exports, the more jobs it can create here in the U.S. – and the more tax revenue it produces for local, state, and federal governments.

In a presidential election in which both sides are debating economic growth and immigration separately, all parties should emphasize the relationship between them. The fact is the link between legal immigration and job creation couldn’t be stronger.

Immigrants, especially those with advanced degrees, play a vital role in helping U.S. companies create jobs, as a recent study by the conservative American Enterprise Institute and the bipartisan Partnership for a New American Economy has shown. The study found that each foreign graduate with an advanced degree from a U.S. university who stays and works in the innovation-rich fields of science, technology, engineering, and math ("STEM" fields) creates on average 2.62 jobs for American workers.

Yet right now, even though many of the world’s brightest STEM students train in our universities, the federal government forces many of them to leave as soon as they are handed a diploma. When these graduates return to their home countries, they go to work for foreign companies that compete against us – or they found companies that will create jobs overseas, rather than here in the U.S. This is the federal government at its most frustrating. And it is doing real damage to our economy.

Immigrants also drive new business creation. More than 40% of our Fortune 500 companies were founded by an immigrant or a child of an immigrant – companies like Google, Yahoo, and Intel. In Michigan, major companies like Dow, Masco and Meijer were founded by immigrants, as were major New York City companies like Pfizer, Foursquare and Nathan’s Famous. Yet the longer we wait to fix our broken immigration laws, the more these innovative companies will be founded overseas. If that is allowed to happen, we will do enormous damage to America’s future and our standing as the world’s economic superpower.

Economists are in agreement that our broken immigration policies hurt our economy and make it harder for our companies to compete. And interestingly, so are the candidates for president. All the major candidates in both parties have come out in support of reforming our immigration laws to attract the world's brightest minds. (Learn more at www.NoDebate.org).

The trouble is that the debate around immigration is too often focused on politics, not economics. If both parties would pass legislation based on their points of agreement, rather than engage in endless debates over their points of disagreement, we could create thousands of jobs all across the country at a time when so many out-of-work Americans need them.

America needs more superstars like Jeremy Lin and Nicklas Lidstrom – in every industry. And we need our leaders in Washington to stop blocking sensible legislation and start scoring some points for the American worker.

Michael Bloomberg is mayor of New York City. Rick Snyder is governor of Michigan.

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Across Arizona, Illegal Immigration Is on Back Burner

CHANDLER, Ariz. — The angry protests over Arizona’s tough policies focused on illegal immigrants are mostly gone. The sponsor of the state’s touchstone immigration bill has been recalled, while two sheriffs who championed the crackdown are enmeshed in legal difficulties. And there has been a notable decline in police activity aimed at illegal immigrants, easing a long period of anxiety among Mexican communities.
Two years after Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, signed legislation that required all immigrants to carry documentation or face arrest — a law that set off protests here and stirred a national boycott of the state — concern about illegal immigration is no longer the all-consuming issue it had been for so long.

The fading of the issue, at least for now, was most recently on display in the Republican presidential primary. At a debate here last week, it took an hour before the issue that has shaken Arizona for five years was raised.

“There’s no doubt that in Arizona, there is immigration fatigue,” said Scott Smith, the mayor of Mesa and a Republican. “People want to talk about things that impact them every day. And the reality is that in Arizona, illegal immigration does not affect you as much as not having a job.”

“It’s still important,” Mr. Smith said. “It’s just not as controversial here as it once was.”

The change has prompted worry among some of the leading advocates of tough immigration policies, even as they predict that the tide will change again — perhaps when the employment situation improves here and the flow of illegal immigrants slipping across the border picks up, or when the Supreme Court rules on a challenge to the Arizona law, SB 1070, later this year.

“It is not a front-burner issue now, because it’s been displaced largely by our dismal economy,” said State Representative John Kavanagh, a Republican. “It worries me, but I understand why it happens. And I just always remind people that the illegal immigration issue hasn’t gone away. It’s just been overshadowed and temporarily shifted to the back burner.”

Ms. Brewer — who announced on Sunday that she was endorsing Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, in this state’s primary on Tuesday — said in an interview that she had been disappointed by the limited discussion of policy on immigration and Mexico in last week’s Republican presidential debate and during the campaign.

“I would have liked to see a candidate come forward who understands the terrible disarray the state of Mexico is in. It’s a fractured, inoperable state right now,” Ms. Brewer said. “Everybody says they all have different ideas, but they all are basically saying pretty much the same thing.”

The economic problems here — joblessness, home foreclosures — have contributed to this shift in attention, along with the fact that there have been no recent crimes or arrests involving illegal immigrants. But not incidentally, this has taken place as some of the best-known players in the fight against illegal immigration here have run into legal and political troubles.

The sponsor of the original bill, Russell Pearce, the former head of the State Senate, was recalled from office in November in a display of the backlash that has caused alarm among Republican leaders. Joseph M. Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County who has become one of the leading advocates of tough immigration policy, has been accused by the Justice Department of anti-Latino bias and abuses of authority.

Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County was forced to step down as a co-chairman of Mr. Romney’s Arizona campaign last week amid accusations that he had threatened to deport a former lover — who was from Mexico — after he threatened to publicize their relationship. Mr. Babeu, who is now running for Congress, had appeared with Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, in a particularly tough immigration ad that Mr. McCain had used in his 2008 presidential run.

“The media coverage hasn’t been so great because Joe Arpaio is facing indictment, so he is laying pretty low,” said Bruce Merrill, an Arizona pollster and political analyst. “We have not had any arrests. When the media covers it, it causes the attention to go up. There’s a feeling here that it’s not as important as it once was.”

None of which is to say that immigration is not a major concern for most people in this border state, or that the passions could not arise again. “Around the country, jobs and the economy are on people’s minds,” said Representative Ben Quayle, Republican of Arizona. “You can talk about the economy and you can talk about how we are going to secure our borders.”

Mr. Merrill said his own polls had found that immigration continued to be listed as a top concern of voters here; the difference was that it had been joined by the economy and joblessness.

Chip Scutari, a political consultant, said attitudes among Arizona voters from both parties were more nuanced than was reflected in the actions of the Republican-controlled Legislature. “Many of the voters who support 1070 also support an earned path to citizenship,” he said of the immigration law. “I think border issues are in the mix. But because there’s been such a quagmire, it’s lost some of its sex appeal.”

Whatever the case, the waning interest may be something of a gift to the Republican presidential candidates, sparing them from being drawn into a “who can be tougher on illegal immigrants” fight that might hurt their appeal to Latino voters.

“They all kind of danced with the same rhetoric, but none of them wanted to embrace it as a central issue,” said Representative Raul M. Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat. “I think there was a calculated issue to minimize talking about something where they could lose voters.”

Whatever the short-term benefit for Republicans, Democrats and some Latino leaders argue that the party has suffered long-lasting damage. The spate of legislation has helped Democrats register more Latino voters and increase turnout in local elections, similar to what happened in California after Republicans supported tough immigration measures, including Proposition 187, the 1994 initiative that would have cut off public services to illegal immigrants.

“There has been a tangible, palpable momentum shift in the state, which is essentially saying, ‘Well that was a disaster, and what should we do about it?’ ” said James E. Garcia of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “But the damage that the Republican Party did to itself in this state is absolutely comparable to what the Republican Party in California did to itself.”

Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting from Washington.

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Immigration is the Issue with Sheriff Paul Babeu

COMMENTARY | Something is rotten in Denmark, and it's not the fact Republican Pinal County, Ariz., sheriff Paul Babeu came out as gay. The issues in Arizona go much deeper. Babeu's former lover Jose Orozco's Internet abuses are problematic, says the Los Angeles Times. The coup de grace is immigration violation charges with subsequent deportation threats against Orozco, a Mexican national. The homosexuality, even the identity theft, is a smokescreen for the real agenda: Using personal issues to further political causes.

It shouldn't matter to the Arizona GOP, the Mitt Romney campaign or the general populace whether Babeu is gay, straight or pink with polka dots. If he's doing his job right, that's what's important. It's 2012; let's accept a homosexual can be a Republican, even though he might not agree with all of the party platform.

I'm a pro-life Catholic progressive social Democrat. There are parts of the party line I don't agree with (abortion rights), but by and large, the Democrats are closer to my way of thinking. Grass-roots efforts are the best way to address issues of morality, so I'll vote Democrat and work pro-life. I'm guessing that's how it is with Babeu. Like me, he might not like the two-party system, but he knows that to vote otherwise would basically be a discarded vote.

As per the oxymoron between Babeu embracing a Republican anti-immigration, anti-gay message but acting otherwise, people often fight hardest against issues that are raw spots. He's not the first. Look at televangelist Jimmy Swaggert decrying immorality while patronizing a prostitute. Look at Republican nominee Newt Gingrich, telling MSNBC that while harping on the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, he was carrying on an affair.

As for Orozco's retaliation with the online harassment, that needs to be addressed, but not under the guise of residency status. If, as per the Huffington Post, hints were dropped about the advisability of Orozco's keeping mum in view of his expired student visa, that's exploitation on all sides.

First, it exploits his relationship with Babeu and imbues it with shame. Second, invasion of Internet privacy is wrong, regardless of sexual preference. Third, mixing in immigration dilutes Orozco's real criminal activity of hacking. Last, a threat of deportation for personal gain is legalized extortion and a base misuse of authority.

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Airport immigration chief in 'bribe' probe

Jakarta - Indonesian police said on Monday they had arrested the head of immigration at Jakarta airport on suspicion of taking a bribe to issue a fake travel document to a Singaporean citizen.

Rochadi Iman Santoso allegedly issued the forgery to the Singaporean - who is involved in a court case with a local company.

Local media reports said the document falsely showed a visit to Indonesia on certain dates that never took place.

"We arrested him on Friday on suspicion that he forged a travel document for a Singaporean," said police spokesperson Rikwanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

"The Singaporean's lawyer had requested the document for a legal case and Santoso allegedly issued it, saying the person had arrived in Indonesia and left the following day. But that never happened."

Widespread corruption

Rikwanto said police were investigating Santoso, the head of immigration at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta international airport, on suspicion of bribery.

Official graft is rampant in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of about 240 million people scattered on more than 17 000 islands.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's popularity has steadily fallen throughout his second term as the public loses faith in his fight against corruption.

A Gallup poll released in October 2011 found that 91% of Indonesians believe corruption in government is widespread, compared to 84% in 2006.

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