Recently in Immigration Category

BY MIKE CETERA

A fascinating new survey by the Pew Hispanic Center reveals some very interesting findings, namely that more than half of all Latino adults living in the U.S. "worry that they, a family member or a close friend could be deported." But there's also significant differences of opinion when it comes to immigration reform between native-born Hispanics and immigrants.

Read the full report here.

Three quarters (75%) disapprove of workplace raids; some 79% prefer that local police not take an active role in identifying illegal immigrants; and some 55% disapprove of states checking for immigration status before issuing driver's licenses. By contrast, non-Hispanics are much more supportive of all these policies, with a slight majority favoring workplace raids and a heavy majority favoring driver's license checks.

In addition to this wide variance in views between Hispanics and non-Hispanics, the survey finds less pronounced--but still significant--gaps within the Hispanic community on a range of matters, from perceptions about discrimination to attitudes about illegal immigration to support for tougher enforcement measures. For example, on questions about enforcement policies, native-born Hispanics take positions that are closer to those of the rest of the U.S. population than do foreign-born Hispanics. Also, the native born are less likely than the foreign born to report a negative personal impact from the heightened attention to immigration issues.

The media is guilty, I think, of often painting Latinos with a broad brush. This report clearly debunks that practice, and shows the calls for immigration reform aren't simply a white versus brown debate.

BY MIKE CETERA

Good news for people who want to see illegal immigrants deported: The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency says it has stepped up efforts to arrest gang members on immigration charges.

See the USA Today report here; the agency news release here; and the agency's fact sheet on its operations here.

According to the agency, officials first established its Fugitive Operations Teams in 2003 to remove illegal immigrants from the country "who have failed to depart the United States based upon a final order of removal, deportation or exclusion; or who has failed to report to a Detention and Removal Officer after receiving notice to do so."

The National Fugitive Operations Program is responsible for reducing the fugitive alien population in the United States. ICE’s databases show the targeted enforcement strategy is paying off. Earlier this year, the nation’s fugitive alien population declined for the first time. The estimated number of immigration fugitives in the United States on September 30, 2007 was just under 595,000, a one-year decrease of more than 37,000.

ICE previously has rounded up gang members in Aurora.

BY MIKE CETERA

Is the Republican Party using the immigration issue to attack Democrats and hope voters don't notice the truth? A Washington Post columnist thinks so.

In a column posted this week, Ruth Marcus claims Republicans -- and former House Speaker Dennis Hastert -- are falsely suggesting that Democrats are voting to give welfare benefits to illegal immigrants.

This allegation comes as the House debates an extension of a children's health insurance plan.

BY DAVE PARRO

A federal judge's ruling Thursday that struck down an anti-illegal immigration law in Hazleton, Pa., illustrates just how urgent an issue reform should be at the federal level.

Left with no guidance from Congress, towns across the country have been struggling to figure out how they can best control at the local level the problems that come with illegal immigration. Among them are Carpentersville, which is waiting to see how the Hazleton case plays out before drafting its own law, and Waukegan, which earlier this month passed a controversial measure related to the deportation of illegal immigrant criminals.

Is this how we're going to address the immigration crisis in this country, by allowing federal judges to rule on individual cities' attempts to offer solutions when the federal government itself hasn't done anything to solve the problem?

BY DAVE PARRO

How many illegal immigrants have to enter the United States before Congress addresses one of the biggest challenges this country is facing?

More than 12 million, apparently. The Senate killed Bush's compromise immigration plan Thursday, pushing off reform until after the 2008 presidential election.

Can we really wait that long?