New York, February 2011
The United States Immigration Newsletter
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Difficult to Amend Birthright Citizenship
 Davis, CA:
In the ongoing debate over illegal immigration in the U.S., and over the reform of America’s immigration system, the voices calling for politicians to put a stop to automatic U.S. citizenship for babies who are born to
illegal immigrants in the United States, are steadily increasing in both strength and number. Today, all who are born in the United States automatically become U.S. citizens. This birthright is protected by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. constitution. The 14th Amendment was designed to ensure U.S. citizenship for slaves after the civil war, and today many of those who favor a tougher approach toward illegal immigration argue that it was not the intention of the founding fathers of the United States to grant U.S. citizenship to children of illegal immigrants. This is why many call for a change of the constitution. Two Republican U.S. senators, Rand Paul from Kentucky and David Vitter from
Louisiana, have introduced a resolution to change the constitution in order to prevent children of illegal immigrants from getting U.S. citizenship. But an expert in immigration law and civil rights says that attempts to amend the constitution in order to deny citizenship to anybody born in the U.S. will not likely succeed. The Expert, Kevin R. Johnson, who is dean of University of California – Davis School of Law, says that changing the Constitution is a long process, and the amendment would first have to be enacted by Congress and then approved by the states.
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Napolitano Says Immigration Enforcement is Effective
 Washington, D.C.:
The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, says that U.S. border security has been improved drastically over the past two years. Napolitano specifically mentions the Southwest border, saying that it has been strengthened more than many thought was possible. She also says that Mexico works well together with the U.S. to secure the border, preventing smuggling and illegal immigration. It is the Southwest Border Initiative, along with “a reinvigorated, smart and effective approach to enforcing our immigration laws,” that has improved border security, according to Napolitano. She admits that there are concerns still, and she points to drug-cartel violence on the
Mexican side of the border, and says that the U.S. must protect itself
so that the violence doesn't spread to the U.S. side of the border. With the Southwest Border Initiative that was launched by President Obama in March of 2009, the Border Patrol has grown to twice its size, as has the Border Enforcement Security Task Forces. In addition there are now four times as many border-liaison officers as before the initiative, and 1,200 National Guard troops have been dispatched along the border to assist the civilian border authorities. The southwestern states have had $123 million in grants to help them with their own enforcement activities, and the number of unmanned aircraft, drones, to patrol the border has also been increased. Napolitano says the efforts and resources that are spent on securing the border are giving great results in combating illegal immigration. She says that the number of apprehensions made by the Border Patrol is a good indication of illegal immigration, and
Border Patrol apprehensions are down by 36 percent over the past two years. |
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Immigration Authorities Find Heroin Worth $1.3 Million
 Brownsville, TX:
The Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) arrested a 31-year-old woman who came to the United States from Mexico by driving her car across the Veterans International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas. According to a press release issued by the Customs and Border Protection the woman was referred to a secondary screening at the
immigration checkpoint.
During the second inspection the CBP found more than 13 pounds of heroin in the woman’s car. The heron has a street value of $1.385 million, according to the CBP press release. The woman was arrested and handed over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who made investigations and launched a sting operation. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement had the arrested woman set up a meeting to deliver the smuggled heroin to a contact in the United States. In the operation orchestrated by ICE, the arrested woman met with her U.S. contact who was subsequently arrested by the immigration authorities. Both have been charged for carrying or trying to obtain the drugs with the intend of selling it, and a U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered them both held without bail until they will appear in a detention hearing. In addition to the drug charges, court records show that the arrested man had been an illegal immigrant in the U.S. for many months. |
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Tough on Illegal Immigration – Sheriff of the Year
 Florence, AZ:
The sheriff of Pinal County in Arizona has been named sheriff
of the year. 40-year-old Paul Babeu has received nation-wide attention recently for his opinions on illegal immigration and
border security.
Now the National Sheriffs Association, which is the country’s largest
association of law enforcement professionals, has awarded Bebeu the 2011 Ferris
E. Lucas Award for Sheriff of the Year. Babeu is a Republican and a former City Council member of North Adams, MA, where he also ran for Mayor twice. Babeu says he was shocked but honored when he learned about the award, and
he says that it recognizes the hard work put in by the employees and volunteers of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department. In the
recent past Babeu has supported U.S. Senator John McCain in his campaign to complete the construction of a fence to secure the border between the United States and Mexico. The 700-mile fence is meant to prevent
illegal immigrants and smugglers from entering the U.S. Babeu has also been supporting Arizona’s controversial-but-popular new immigration law during several appearances on national television. Babeu was the first Republican to become sheriff in Pinal County, and since he took office in 2008 he has been able to secure the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office $7 million worth of grant funding. The money is used to upgrade equipment and to create two volunteer programs. The National Sheriffs’ Association says that since his “landslide election victory” Paul Babeu has become one of the most progressive Sheriffs in the United States, and that the department’s response time has been reduced by half since Babeu took office. |
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Politician Threatened over Citizenship Bill in Florida
 Miami, FL:
William Snyder, Republican and a State Representative in Florida, received an e-mail message threatening the lives of himself and his family in early January. The reason was that Snyder is sponsoring a Florida
immigration bill similar to the controversial new Arizona immigration law. The e-mail read, “You better just stop that ridiculous law if you value your and your family’s lives,” and Snyder received the e-mail only an hour after a Democratic U.S. representative was shoot in Arizona. Snyder reported the threats to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office who eventually asked the authorities in Northampton, MA, for assistance. Massachusetts police later arrested a 47-year-old resident in connection with the threatening e-mail. According to the police the man has admitted to sending the e-mail to Snyder. The arrested man said that the reason for sending the e-mail was that he was worried because Snyder wants to change the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The reason for changing the 14th Amendment is to prevent that
children who are born to foreigners who are in the United States illegally, automatically become U.S. citizens. The suspect, who claims to be a political activist, says he never meant to kill Snyder or his family. On the other hand the man was glad that the threatening e-mail had made the Florida state representative nervous. Snyder himself called the threatening e-mail “pretty thoughtless.” Representative William Snyder is a former police officer and has said that he is in favor of tougher immigration enforcement because the U.S. “is a nation of laws." |
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Illegal Immigrant Unchanged in the U.S.
 Washington, D.C.:
According to an annual report by the Pew Hispanic Center, the decline in the number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
has come to a halt, and the number is now virtually the same as last year. In 2009 it was estimated that 11.1 million people were living in the U.S. illegally, whereas in 2010 the estimation is 11.2 million; statistically speaking the same as the year before. In the ongoing controversy over the issue of
illegal immigration in the U.S., proponents for both sides of the issue rely on the reports that come each year from the Pew Hispanic Center. According to the reports, 2007 saw the highest number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. while illegal immigration declined steadily during the economic crises that followed in the years after.
The report does not suggest any reasons for the decline in illegal immigration, or for the stabilization, but the director of the Pew Hispanic Center says that common sense suggest that both the state of the U.S. economy and the heightened level of border
security
and immigration enforcement come into play. The same report found that last year illegal immigrants in the U.S. had 5.5 million children; 4.5 million were born in the U.S. and therefore have U.S. citizenship. Of all the babies that were born in the U.S. last year, eight percent had at least one parent that is an illegal immigrant. |
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