FAIR Legislative Update 02-Jun-08

Border Governors Travel to Mexico to Discuss Efforts to Combat Increasing Violence

Governors Rick Perry (R-TX) Bill Richardson (D-NM) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) traveled to Mexico City Thursday to meet with President Felipe Calderon and Mexican border state governors to discuss increasing violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.  The agenda included a $550 million U.S. aid proposal - called the Merida Initiative - to help the Mexican government fight the drug cartels. (Cox News Service, Calderon seeks aid from U.S., May 30, 2008)(U.S. Department of State Fact Sheet)

The State Department describes the Merida Initiative as a multi-year proposal to provide equipment and training to support law enforcement operations plus technical assistance for the long-term improvement of Mexican and Central American security agencies. (State Department Fact Sheet, Apr. 8, 2008)  In 2007, President Bush requested an initial $500 million for Mexico and $50 million for Central America, which was included in the FY08 Supplemental request. The FY09 budget proposal includes $450 million for Mexico and $100 million for Central America, and is awaiting Congressional approval. (Id.)

The Merida initiative comes in response to Mexico President Felipe Calderon's efforts to fight drug cartels and the violence that has erupted as a result. Mexico Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora reported last week that 1,378 people have been killed so far this year, compared with 940 in the same period last year. (The Associated Press, May 23, 2008) Medina Mora said many of the recent killings have been concentrated along the U.S. border, while homicides in central Mexico have subsided. (Id.) One of the hardest-hit cities is Ciudad Juarez, where more than 200 people have been killed this year. (Id.)

Calderon blames the drug-trafficking on problems emanating from the U.S. and argues that the U.S. should take steps to resolve it.  During a joint press conference with the governors, he stated, "It's fundamental that everyone understand that the problem of drug trafficking, which has been the origin and continues to be the principal cause of the border violence, is due fundamentally to one clear fact: that the American market for drugs is the biggest market in the world. Even though it's a problem whose origins are in the American consumers, there are those who would like Mexico to confront and resolve it by itself." (Cox News Service, Calderon seeks aid from U.S., May 30, 2008)

While Calderon wants unconditional aid from the U.S.  The Congressional version of the Merida Initiative stipulates the aid is contingent on guarantees of civilian investigations into human rights abuses by the Mexican military.  Calderon considers these conditions an intrusion on Mexico's sovereignty, and Mexican officials announced that they would wait to see the final version before deciding whether to accept the aid.  (The San Jose Mercury News, Richardson Plugs for Anti-Drug Aid Plan, May 29, 2008)
 
To read more about the escalating violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, click here.

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Operation Jump Start Coming to an End

Beginning June 1st, National Guard troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border, as part of Operation Jump Start, will start to return home.  In 2006, President Bush launched the operation, deploying 6,000 troops to the border to allow the Border Patrol to move agents into front line enforcement positions. (White House Press Release, August 3, 2006)  On the border, guardsmen have built 37 miles of fence, repaired 700 miles of roadway, assisted Border Patrol Agents in confiscating 298,000 pounds of drugs, offered support in over 166,000 border crossing arrests and helped in 100 rescues. (San Diego Union-Tribune, Border operation ending for Guard, May 30, 2008)  Despite this success, the Bush Administration cut the number of National Guard troops at the border in half last year. The last of the troops are expected to leave in July. (San Diego Union-Tribune, Border operation ending for Guard, May 30, 2008)

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Fallout from Supreme Court's Voter Identification Decision Continues

In the wake of the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Crawford v. Marion County, (553 U.S. __ (2008)) upholding Indiana's voter identification law, the Democratic Party of Georgia filed a lawsuit challenging the state's 2006 voter identification law. (The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Ga. Democrats sue over voter ID law, May 29, 2008) The Georgia law was previously challenged and declared unconstitutional by a Georgia Superior Court judge. The Georgia Supreme Court, however, overturned that decision on the grounds that the plaintiff did not have standing to sue. (Id.)

Now, the Georgia Democratic Party hopes that the Supreme Court case - which found the Indiana Democratic Party had standing to sue - will help clear up standing issues. Meanwhile the Party claims that the new Supreme Court ruling does not bar the challenge because the Georgia case will be brought under a provision in Georgia's constitution, not the U.S. Constitution.

Meanwhile, the state of Arizona has filed a motion seeking a dismissal of a challenge to its voter identification law, which was enacted in 2004 through a hard-fought ballot initiative called Proposition 200. In a brief filed in federal court last week, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard argued that the Supreme Court ruling in the Indiana case "leaves no room for doubt that Arizona's voting identification requirement is constitutional." (The Associated Press, May 27, 2008) The Arizona law requires voters to produce identification when voting and to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote either for the first time or in a different county. (See the Arizona Secretary of State website here) However, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) responded that the Indiana ruling provides little guidance to the court because of the differences between the state laws. A trial in Federal District Court is scheduled for July 1st. (Id.)

To read more about the Supreme Court's decision upholding Indiana's voter ID law, click here.

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ICE Operation in California Results in 905 Arrests

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the conclusion of a three-week enforcement operation in California where more than 900 criminal aliens, immigration fugitives, and immigration violators were arrested and are now facing deportation. During those three weeks, all of California's thirteen "fugitive operations teams" worked together to locate and arrest a total of 905 immigration violators. (The Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2008) Northern California accounted for the most arrests, with 441; another 327 arrests were in the Los Angeles area and 137 were in the San Diego area. (The Associated Press, May 27, 2008) Of the aliens arrested in the Los Angeles area, about 75 percent had ignored final orders of deportation or returned to the U.S. illegally after being removed and about 25 percent had criminal histories in addition to being in the country illegally. Some of the crimes included sexual abuse of a child, felony re-entry after deportation, and one British national had prior convictions for burglary, robbery and forgery. (ICE News Release, May 23, 2008)

Remarking on the enforcement operation, Brian DeMore, acting field officer director for ICE detention and removal operations in Los Angeles said, "As a country, we welcome law-abiding immigrants, but foreign nationals who violate our laws and commit crimes in our communities should be on notice that ICE is going to use all of the tools at its disposal to find you and send you home." (ICE News Release, May 23, 2008)

However, not everyone in California was impressed with ICE's success in locating and detaining hundreds of fugitive aliens. California Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) contacted ICE to voice her concern over the raids. (Press Release, May 22, 2008) In a formal statement, Rep. Woolsey did not allege specific misconduct with respect to this raid, but said the ICE raids "sent shock waves throughout our streets, schools, and neighborhoods, both because of how the raids were conducted and the chilling effect they had on our community." (Id.) Rep. Woolsey further suggested that ICE make mandatory current voluntary guidelines that direct the agency to coordinate with local social service agencies when raids involve more than 150 aliens. (Id.)

Only a few days earlier, the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee, chaired by Rep.Woolsey, held a hearing to discuss ICE's conduct during immigration raids conducted in the same region of California last year. To read more about the hearing, click here.

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Teens Struggle to Find Jobs; Business Interests Want More Foreign Workers

While the U.S. is in an economic decline, teens are feeling the employment pinch this summer. According to a recent study, the teen employment ratio of 33.5% was the lowest recorded since 1948. (The Continued Collapse of the Nation's Teen Job Market and the Dismal Outlook for the 2008 Summer Labor Market for Teens: Does Anybody Care? (Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University, April 2008) To make matters worse the Black Voice News Online reports that traditional youth employers are increasingly giving preference to prospective employees who are bilingual. The article asks employers whether such preferences amount to discrimination. Elva Gomez a former manager for Del Taco national food chain candidly told the publication, "I don't think it's discrimination. It's more about catering to the customers who come through the door. Of course, you don't have to learn to speak Spanish to get a job in a fast food restaurant, but in certain parts of the country, like San Bernardino, where you've got the impact of immigration, it certainly limits your chances of getting the job you want. (Black Teens Feel the Chill of Bilingual Preferred, Black Voice News Online, April 30, 2008)

Mr. Gomez's observations coincide with the testimony of Dr. Andrew Sum, of the Northeastern University Center for Labor Market Studies, who testified before the House Education and Labor Committee earlier this month. He told the committee, "A variety of demand, supply, and institutional forces have been at work in reducing young employment opportunities. Unprecedented levels of legal, illegal and temporary immigration have been one of the factors underlying this deterioration in youth labor markets. Declines in youth employment have been matched almost one for one with increased employment of new arrivals over the past 7 years." (Statement of Dr. Andrew Sum before the House Education and Labor Committee, May 6, 2008.)

While teen employment is dropping, The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. businesses relying on seasonal workers are, "grappling with a crippling labor shortage." The Journal cites as a major cause the expiration of the returning worker exemption to the H-2B (non-agricultural) guest worker program. Under the exemption, an alien who worked in the U.S. during the past three years under the H-2B program may return to the U.S. to work without counting towards the 66,000 cap. However, the Journal describes how one business owner who could not get foreign seasonal workers "reached out right away to American college students," including the owner's daughter and her friends. The business owner complained that the arrangement was not ideal. (The Wall Street Journal, New Visa Curbs Hit Seasonal Employers, May 27, 2008).

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Recent FAIR Releases

• Immigration and Population Growth Updated! (May 30, 2008)
• Judge's Ruling on Farmers Branch Ordinance Clears the Way for New Ordinance to be Enforced (May 29, 2008)

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