This week’s immigration blog roundup discusses a new report on hate crimes, new research by the Office of Immigration Statistics, a proposed worker identification card, and state news.
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fundissued a new report, Confronting the New Faces of Hate: Hate Crimes in America about the trends in federal hate crimes data, especially the rise in anti-Latino hate crimes to the national debate over immigration reform. The report faults anti-immigrant rhetoric in the media and the mobilization of extremist groups on the Internet. Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee this week that passing hate crimes legislation is one of his top priorities. The Senate is expected to vote on their version of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which passed in the House in April, before Congress recesses in August.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics released data revealing that the number of immigrants apprehended at the border attempting illegal entry is at a 36 year low. The report has left many questioning the possible factors responsible for this decline. Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, says “reduced unauthorized border entry is good news, but is not a sign that we can put off the reform our immigration and border security systems need.” New data, from a research team led by Wayne Cornelius, Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California, San Diego, indicates that the condition of the U.S. economy is more significant in explaining the recent decline in border apprehensions than any of the enforcement-only measures that have been implemented to date.
A controversial element of the immigration reform debate is a proposed national worker identification card for all Americans. This worker ID card, secured with biometric data such as fingerprints, is an idea favored by Senator Charles E. Schumer, the new chairmen of the immigration subcommittee. While business and community organizations favor the worker ID, several activists and organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, have cautioned against possible civil rights violations. The worker ID could also divide the immigrant rights community between those willing to accept it as part of a compromise on reform and those opposed to its perceived dangers. The LA times reports that Schumer, who will lead the effort to craft the Senate’s comprehensive immigration overhaul legislation, is likely to present the worker ID card idea at a hearing this summer on employee verification systems.
In Arizona, a bill approved Wednesday by a Senate committee would allow local law enforcement to arrest undocumented immigrants under charges of trespassing on state land. If the bill passes, Arizona would be the first state in the nation making illegal presence a crime. The legislation is part of a package of bills backed by Republicans in the Arizona House and the Senate, who want to grant more powers to local law enforcement to prosecute undocumented immigrants despite historical opposition from local police departments fulfilling the duties of the federal government.
In Florida, over a 100 children gathered at the Miami nonprofit American Fraternity to draw attention to their cause. The children are asking President Obama to halt the deportations of their parents until Congress overhauls U.S. immigration laws. The children say their constitutional rights are being violated because they, too, will likely have to leave the country if their parents are forced to leave. The lawsuit was originally brought against the Bush administration, but was refilled in January.
Read more at The Opportunity Agenda’s website.
