State and Local Round-UP

• NC: 287(g) Up and Running in Hendersonville - Henderson County Sheriff’s Office Deputies arrest three undocumented immigrants on Tuesday, the first day their new 287(g) program began. Click here for article.  
• MO: New Legislation Targets Illegal Immigration Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Monday that creates new restrictions on immigrants and new requirements for businesses that employ them. Lawmakers passed the bill on the final day of their annual session under a threat from Blunt that he would call a special session if no bill were passed. Click here for article.
• VA: The Examiner: Montgomery declines police support to federal agents on immigration raids: Montgomery County is the only county in the Washington area that wouldn’t automatically provide local police protection for federal agents conducting a workplace immigration raid. In Anne Arundel County, local authorities sent 50 police officers for a recent raid that netted dozens of suspected illegal immigrants last week. Click here for article.
• CO: the Denver Post, Immigrant-Rights Groups Plan Massive Rally - A coalition of immigrant-rights advocates plans to hold a massive parade and rally during the Democratic National Convention. Click here for article.
• KS: The Wichita Eagle, High Court Rejects Tuition-Law Case - The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a case challenging a 2004 Kansas law allowing some illegal immigrants living in the state to receive in-state tuition to public universities and colleges. Click here for article.

State and Local Round-up

• IA: AP: Workers: Problems persist at Agriprocessors  - Following the largest workplace raid in U.S. history, little has been done to improve the horrible working conditions at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa. Click here for full article.

 

• MD: Authorities Detain 45 in Immigration Raid at Painting Company - The Washington Post article detailing this week’s raid at Annapolis Painting Services. Click here for full article.

 

• TX: Dallas News: Judge stalls border fence at UT Brownsville - The Border Fence proposal has been put on hold - for now. Click here for full article.

 

• VA: 287(g) goes into effect in Prince William County - The memorandum of agreement with the Department of Homeland Security officially began this week in Virginia. Click here for full article.

 

• MS: Hattiesburg: Employers set to use E-Verify - Mississippi employers prepare to begin use of the flawed E-Verify system. Click here for full article.

 

• AZ: Immigration Initiatives Don’t make the November Ballot - Two anti-migrant measures will not be included on November ballots! Click here for full article.

 

State and Local Round-up

AZ: 28 Arrested in Mesa Sweep: More than 230 law officers swarmed the streets of Mesa on Thursday, with Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies looking for criminals and undocumented immigrants while local police monitored the deputies. Click here for full story.

TX: Employer Arrests Could Follow Immigration Raid: Speculations that Action Rags USA (the company raided) could be subjected to a criminal investigation. The article also contains some criticisms of the raid. Click here for full story.

VA: Loudon County Enters into 287(g) Agreement: The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office announced last Tuesday that they have entered into a formal agreement with ICE under section 287(g). Click here for full story.

 

State and Local Round-up

Arizona - Court ruling clouds use of E-Verify – The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that discrepancies found in “no- match” letters the Social Security Administration sent to Aramark, the employer in the 2003 case, “does not automatically mean that an employee is undocumented or lacks proper work authorization.” Read full article here.

Kansas - ‘Failed’ federal policy costs $1M – Taxpayers spent upward of $1 million and thousands of eligible Kansans lost their health insurance because of federal anti-illegal immigration rules that ended up catching one illegal immigrant trying to apply for health coverage, officials said Wednesday. Read full article here.

North Carolina - Immigration bills stall despite push – Only two laws related to immigration are likely to pass the General Assembly this year despite increased pressure from activists on the topic, legislative leaders said Wednesday. Read full article here.

Virginia -  Hearing looks at those who immigrate – Article on the Hearing in Roanoke VA. Read full article here.

Texas - Harris County jailers will train at ICE center –  The Harris County Sheriff’s Office plans to send nine jailers to Glynco, Ga., in August for special immigration training that will allow them to question inmates about their immigration status and hold them for federal agents, officials said Tuesday. Read full article here.

State and Local Round-up

• Idaho - Residency doesn’t hinge on immigration status – The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that an undocumented immigrant who was injured while living in Ada County is entitled to medical indigency assistance. Click here

 

• North Carolina - Mecklenburg county begins use of E-verify  – Mecklenberg joins thousands of employers across the nation using the Web program to screen workers. Click here 

 

• New Jersey - AP: CNN’s Dobbs not running for NJ governor - Click here

ACTION: Overground Railroad in Syracuse

OVERGROUND RAILROAD

Immigrants’ Rights Action

Saturday, June 14 (Flag Day)

11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

at the Regional Transportation Center (Greyhound Bus and Amtrak Train Stations) in Syracuse, NY

Bring a flag, help distribute “Know Your Rights” literature

Join this lively, yet peaceful solidarity action

Distribute flyers       *      Inform travelers of their rights    *     Show solidarity with those at risk of deportation     *   Hold Banners & Signs

Crossing A Border is NOT a Crime, but a Civil Offense
Yet Families are being Torn Apart because of Border Patrol’s activities at the Regional Transportation Center

All Those Who Show Up will Get an Attractive “United Nation’s Blue” Wrist Band that says “Justice for Immigrants“

We will supply you with a sign.    Children are welcome but must stay on sidewalks (not in street).

Might be wise to bring sunscreen and bottled water, or rain gear if the weather is crummy.

SPONSORED BY THE CENTRAL NEW YORK DETAINMENT TASK FORCE

If you can’t attend this one, mark your calendar for our July 5 (Independence Day Weekend) rally!

Forward to all your friends - after the rally, go the Regional Market and buy your veggies, remember that in many cases, immigrant workers picked those onions, tomatoes, grapes, broccoli stalks, etc.

State and Local Round-up

• In Iowa, labor contractor “Labor Ready” pulls workers from Agriprocessors amidst concerns of safety. This is the same plant that was Read full article here
• Ironically, immigrants are not the only ones suffering from backlog delays at the federal level. In Rhode Island, implementation of a 287 (g) agreement has stalled. Read full article here
• Real ID plan on hold in North Carolina. Read full article here
• In South Carolina, businesses face deadline for compliance with the new State law requiring employer use of the E-verify system. Read full article here

A New Jersey County that Welcomes Immigrants

From the Princeton Packet online:

Plight of Mercer’s undocumented immigrants focus of policy forum

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 7:15 AM EDT

By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer

   TRENTON — Mercer County’s embrace of immigrants into its community and workforce is more enlightened than other areas of the state, but much more needs to be done locally in the face of a lack of federal government oversight coupled with increasingly draconian enforcement measures targeting undocumented immigrants here.

   So said several participants in a panel discussion sponsored by New Jersey Policy Perspective in conjunction with the release of its report, “The Faces of Immigration in Mercer County.”

   ”We are creating a culture that pushes immigrants into the shadows of our communities then we are blaming immigrants for living in the shadows of our communities,” said Ryan Stark Lilienthal, a Princeton-based attorney who specializes in immigration.

   While a national vision has taken root which views immigration, particularly undocumented individuals, “not only as a problem but as a crisis,” a different attitude prevails in Mercer County, with immigrants welcomed: “They are something we look forward to as growing our county,” said Mr. Lilienthal, who is also a board member of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network.

Read full article here.

Compassion vs. the Law: We shouldn’t have to choose

The New York Times ran an article today that details a crackdown on undocumented immigrants in a small community in the panhandle of Florida.

Indeed, three months after the sweeps, nearly everyone agrees that the fabric of this community has changed. Hundreds of Hispanic families, both legal and illegal, seem to have disappeared.

John Davy, a co-owner of Panhandle Growers, said some employers “treated their guys humanely” by helping them flee to other areas. “What we’re victims of is a system that’s broken,” he said.

Many residents said they felt torn between competing loyalties to compassion and the law.

Many of the immigrants came to the community to help re-build after hurricanes and were welcomed with open arms. Despite the below-average unemployment rate in the area, people began to see immigrants as competition for jobs, and some began to be culturally or racially motivated to begin stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

The article discusses some of the adverse impacts the raids are having (both on the immigrant community and the town as a whole).

Click here for the full article.

State and Local Round-up

• In South Carolina, the House passed a bill requiring employers to use the (flawed) E-verify system to verify the immigration status of all employees - Read full article here
• In North Carolina, sherriff questions $76,000 for a new 287(g) coordinated position - Read full article here
• Also in North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole’s senatorial race competitor, Kay Hagan, says that immigration should be a Federal issue - Read full article here
• The number of immigrant arrests is on the rise in Oklahoma, which has lead to questions about the enforcement tactics being used - Read full article here