New York, January 2011
The United States Immigration Newsletter
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24 Children Sworn in at Special Citizenship Ceremony
 Sacramento, CA:
During a special ceremony in Northern California in the last week of 2010, 24 children
took the oath and became new citizens of the United States. The children were from twelve different countries, and some of them were so young that their parents had to hold up their right hands during the oath. Some of the children became naturalized because their parents had previously
become naturalized citizens of the United States. Other children were sworn in because they had been adopted by U.S. citizens. In 2000, the U.S. Congress changed the immigration law to automatically grant citizenship to children adopted by parents who are U.S. citizens. Earlier, adopted children would first have to apply for a green card to become permanent residents, before they could apply for U.S. citizenship. Children who are older than 14 when they are sworn in to become citizens must recite the
oath to defend the United States against its enemies, and to renounce any allegiance to
all foreign powers, but none of the children at this
citizenship ceremony were old enough to have to say the words. Instead the director of the immigration office where the ceremony took place, lead the children through the oath.
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Deportation Reprieve Granted to Harvard Graduate Doctoral Candidate
 Lancaster, CA:
31-year-old Mark Farrales, who came to the United States illegally when he was 10, will be allowed to stay in the U.S. for one year. The man has been in detention after he was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and was to be deported to his native Philippines. Instead he has now been released and granted a one-year reprieve from his deportation. Farrales is a graduate of Harvard University, and is now a doctoral candidate at the University of
California San Diego. When a U.S. Congressman from California, Brad Sherman, learned of Farrales pending removal, he asked ICE
to “defer action,” and stop the deportation in order to let the Board of Immigration Appeals have another look at Farrales case. Farrales came to the United States from the Philippines with his family in 1990 to seek political asylum. Prior to coming to the U.S., Farrales' father, who had spoken against political corruption and announced that he would run for political office in the Philippines, had survived an attempt on his life where he was shot twice in the head. However, the political asylum was never granted, and when the father died in 2006, Mark Farrales became “out of
status,” and an illegal immigrant. ICE said in a statement that “deferred action” is used in cases where there are compelling humanitarian issues involved, to allow more time to get the required legal issues in order. Farrales said he now plans to finish his doctoral dissertation on government corruption. |
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2010 Saw Record Deportation Numbers
 Charlotte, NC:
The fiscal year of 2010 saw more migrant deportations from the U.S. than ever before. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 392,862 foreigners in 2010, 23,000 deportations more than in 2008. Nearly 200,000 of the people who were deported in 2010 had been convicted of crimes. That number was up by 81,000 from 2008. In the fiscal year of 2009, 389,834 people were removed from the United States, and ICE is hoping to deport more than 400,000 illegal immigrants in 2011. ICE is also expanding the Secure Communities Program, were inmates in local prisons have their fingerprints run against FBI and ICE databases. The Secure Communities program is expanding rapidly, and in 2010 more than 90,000 people were arrested by federal authorities through the program, and deportation proceedings have been initiated for nearly 50,000 of them. The program has also identified many who were later acquitted of any crimes, but whose cases are now pending because they were found to be in the U.S. illegally. In its two-year history the Secure Communities program has identified 69,905 undocumented workers that have later been deported, most of them for committing minor or medium-level crimes. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement is aiming to further target
immigrants with criminal records in 2011, along with businesses that employ illegal immigrants. |
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Many States Want Arizona-Style Immigration Law
 Seattle, WA:
A number of states are likely to follow Arizona's example and make new and tougher immigration laws in the near future. Although the Arizona law has been met by a number of lawsuits and other legal issues, many state legislatures are already drafting similar or tougher laws, rather than waiting for any court rulings. After the elections in November, Republicans control lawmaking in half of the United States, and several newly-elected Republican governors campaigned on a tougher approach to immigration. In Oklahoma, for example, a law is being drafted that would allow authorities to seize the car of anyone who is found to harbor an illegal immigrant who is a passenger in the car. In at least 12 other states, lawmakers are challenging the right to U.S.
citizenship to children born in the U.S. to parents who are in the U.S. illegally. Such a birthright to U.S. citizenship is now given by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to all who are born in the U.S. Some states are also looking at issuing special birth certificates and refusing state benefits to children of illegal immigrants. Several states have made it mandatory for all businesses to use the electronic work-authorization verification system called E-Verify, to make sure they hire only authorized labor, and more states are expected to follow. In the past couple of years
immigration-related legislation has increased dramatically, from 300 bills in 2005, to 1500 bills last year. |
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California National Guard Fights Illegal Immigration
 San Diego, CA:
260 soldiers from the California National Guard have helped Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in more than a thousand apprehensions of illegal immigrants. In addition, the National Guard members from California have helped stopping 180 people from entering the United States illegally. In May of 2010 president Obama assigned 1200 National Guard troops to help the Customs and Border Protection secure the southern border of the United States. 260 of the guardsmen were selected from 3,000 volunteers in California, and were assigned to the San Diego sector, adding about 10 percent of manpower to the 2,500 CBP officers operating in the area. They mainly help the Customs and
Border Protection with recognizance and by detecting people who cross the
border between the U.S. and
Mexico
illegally. They then pass the information on to the CBP who will confront the migrants. The National Guard troops are not trained to establish the legality of
immigrants, and in addition there are treaties in place that disallows the National Guard troops from performing certain duties. Even with the help of the Californian National Guardsmen, there are fewer apprehensions along the U.S. border than before. This is said to be mainly due to the economic recession, and that fewer people are trying to cross the border illegally. The main focus of the troops is to help the CBP ensure that there are no gaps in the coverage of the border. The soldiers work in Entry Identification Teams of two or more, and use infra red- and thermal equipment to spot migrants who try to enter the United States illegally. |
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Tears Down Historic Immigration Building
 Boston, MA:
It has been estimated that 23,000 immigrants to the United States between 1920 and 1954 were processed at the East Boston Immigration Station. What was once the Ellis Island of Boston, is now an empty yellow brick building, a fire hazard, and home only to skunks and feral cats. In a few weeks the building that played a significant part in Boston’s immigration history, will be torn down. 10 years after residents in the area petitioned to have the
old immigration building protected as a historic landmark, the Landmarks Commission in Boston decided last year that it would not be. The reason it’s not being protected is that the building is in poor condition and lacks original artifacts. Instead the piece of land that the building sits on will be used by the Boston Harbor Marina for boat repairs. The East Boston Immigration Station was opened in 1920, and was the first immigration station in Boston
that was built for its purpose. Those immigrants arriving at Boston that had to be investigated more closely, or approximately ten percent of the 230,000 that came between 1920 and 1954, had to go through the yellow building. It was estimated in 1922 that 100-200 people were detained in the building every week. The immigration station was also the last stop for many who were
deported from the United States, and during World War II it detained people that were considered to be a threat to national
security. |
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