New York, November 2010
The United States Immigration Newsletter
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Obama Renews Promises of Immigration Reform
 Los Angeles, CA:
President Barack Obama is asking Latino voters to “punish their enemies” and vote for the Democrats in the midterm elections that are coming up on the 2nd of November. In a taped radio interview that aired just over a week before the elections Obama said that if Latino voters are upset because of the lack of progression in the work on immigration reform, they can help by showing up to vote. Staying at home and not voting, on the other hand, will make immigration reform much harder to get done. In the interview
Obama said that ”I’m going to keep my promise on immigration reform,” and that he will attempt at reforming the immigration system after the elections. The Latino population is an important factor in several states where the outcome of the midterm elections are otherwise uncertain, as voter support is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. Members of the Democratic Party are hoping that the recent heated debates over
illegal immigration, and the Republicans’ focus on tougher immigration laws and stricter border security will help Democrats pick up more votes from Latinos who wish for immigration reform. Democrats have proposed several laws aiming to reforming the current immigration system. The proposals have not been supported by representatives of the Republican Party.
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Republicans Challenge Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants’ Babies
 Phoenix, AZ:
Republicans in 14 states are joining together in efforts to change the way children that are born in the United States automatically become U.S. citizens. The goal of the national Republican coalition is to deny citizenship to babies born by
illegal immigrants in the United States. Today, the 14th Amendment to the constitutions guarantees citizenship to all who are born in the country. The 14th Amendment was ratified after the American civil war with the intent to give U.S. citizenship to people of African descent. The 14th Amendment repealed an earlier Supreme-Court ruling that no Africans who were taken to the United States as slaves, or their children, could become U.S. citizens. Put those who seek to change the automatic citizenship rule say that the 19th century lawmakers did not intend for the 14th Amendment to give U.S. citizenship to the children of Illegal Immigrants. At a press conference in Phoenix,
Arizona, state Senator Russell Pearce announced that he intends to introduce a bill that will take away the automatic right to U.S. citizenship that all babies born in the U.S. have today. Senator Pearce was earlier involved in the recent and controversial Arizona immigration law called SB 1070. That bill has been called the toughest immigration legislation in the U.S. At the press conference in Phoenix he announced that there will be a campaign in 14 states across the U.S., to change the way babies born in the U.S. are automatically granted U.S. citizenship. The coalition’s goal is said to be to force the Supreme Court of the United States to rule on the issue, as this is more likely to happen then a change in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. |
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No Proof of Citizenship Required for Arizona Voters
 San Francisco, CA:
The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has declared parts of Arizona’s election law to be invalid. The Arizona law forces residents to prove that they are United States Citizens in order to be allowed to vote, but the appeals court found that the
Arizona law conflicts with the National Voter Registration Act. The decision was divided 2-1. It said that the purpose of the National Voter Registration Act is to encourage more people to register to vote, by making the registration process easier and more streamlined; only one form is required to register as a voter. The act opposes any measures by the states to make it harder for individuals to register to vote. The judges of the appeals court in
California said that the Arizona law, the Proposition 200, “creates an additional state hurdle to registration.” The federal law does not require voters to show any documents to prove their U.S. citizenship, but it does require those who seek to register to swear that they are U.S. Citizens, under threat of perjury. The Arizona state law Proposition 200 was taken to court by voting rights groups and Latino advocacy groups, but the ruling will not affect the upcoming midterm elections, as its voter registration period is already over. One of the judges of the court was retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who voted to invalidate the Arizona law. |
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War Veterans face Deportation from the U.S.
 San Francisco, CA:
The U.S. Government says it doesn’t know how many war veterans it has deported from the United States, but officials say that they intend to start keeping track of the numbers. Meanwhile advocates claim that thousands of veterans have already been deported, or face deportation in the near future. One
immigration attorney who has been in the Army Reserves, and who has been teaching at West Point’s Military Academy, says that many of the veterans who get in trouble with the law get caught for “drugs, anger management, and weapons charges.” She says that when the Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 added drug possession for sale on the list of crimes that could lead to deportation of legal immigrants, the law caused a great increase in the number of war veterans to get deported from the United States. Before the Immigrant Responsibility Act, deportations of veteran immigrants were rare. The Chairman of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives says he wants to change the law to protect those who served in an armed conflict from being deported from the very country they served. He says that injuries and other problems that the veterans got while serving in the military are often part of the reason why they get in trouble with the law. As many as 8 thousand legal immigrants enlist in the U.S.
military each year, and there are almost 20,000 active servicemen and women in the Armed Forces who are not American citizens. Illegal immigrants are not able to serve in the Armed Forces. |
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Criminals Targeted for Deportation
 Orlando, FL:
One out of every two immigrants who were deported in the fiscal year of 2010 had a criminal record. Immigration agents under Barack Obama’s administration, has intensified the search for convicted immigrants to deport. Since Obama came into office, more people have been removed from the United States then the Bush administration sent out of the U.S. in its most busy period. The number of immigrants that are being deported in the
Florida sector of the United States has increased by 13 percent since 2008, compared to a six percent increase in deportations from the U.S. in general. In the fiscal year that ended last day of September, more than 15,000 people were deported from Florida, including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Nationally over 392,000 people were removed from the country, and that is the highest number of deportations in a single year ever. Florida, as the rest of the United States has increased the efforts to find and deport immigrants with a criminal record, and the state’s new chief of immigration enforcement says the state will continue to look for criminal immigrants, but it will also start focusing more on immigration fraud. In Florida, all counties are part of the Secure Communities program. Through the program, federal immigration immigrants get informed when immigrants are sent to
jail, enabling them to be subjected to removal from the U.S. |
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Permanent Residents without Citizenship Could Get Voting Rights
 Portland, ME:
In Portland there is now a proposal to let legal residents who are not citizens of the United State, vote in the local elections. Residents in Portland are scheduled to vote on the matter on November 2nd. If Portland’s non-citizen residents get voting rights in the local elections that means they are taking after cities like Chicago and San Francisco who are already letting non-citizens vote, or who are considering it. Those who are for the new proposal to let non-citizens vote say that
immigrants who work, pay tax, serve in the armed forces, and otherwise play important parts in the community, should also have the right to vote on matters that concern the community that they are a part of. However, those who are against the proposal say that immigrants who want to vote can get do so by becoming citizens of the United States. To become a citizen a person must be a legal
permanent resident for five years, pass several tests on American history, government system and civics, and demonstrate that they are able to read and write English. It also costs several hundred dollars in filing fees. In Chicago, legal residents who are not U.S. citizens can vote in elections to the School Board. Several cities in Maryland allow non-citizens to vote in municipal elections. In San Francisco voters will be asked on Nov 2, whether they think non-citizens should be allowed to vote in local elections. |
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