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30 April, 2009

Labour Party rebellion over Britain's treatment of retired Gurkhas

A growing Labour rebellion against the Government's treatment of the Gurkhas has put intense pressure on ministers to allow more Nepalese veterans to retire in the UK.

Dozens of Labour backbenchers are expected to vote against the Government's treatment of the Gurkhas. The revolt comes after the Labour-dominated Home Affairs Committee told the Government to do more for the Gurkhas and summoned Phil Woolas, the immigration minister, to explain its stance.

The Government has been accused of betraying thousands of Nepalese men who fought for Britain in conflicts including the Falklands after setting new immigration rules that stop short of allowing all former Gurkhas to come to Britain. Under the new rules, only Gurkhas with at least 10 years' service are eligible to come to Britain. Other foreign nationals serving with the British Armed Forces can apply after only four years.

The High Court last year declared that preventing Gurkhas who had served in the British Army before 1997 from living in this country was unlawful. In response, the Home Office last week issued fresh criteria for allowing Gurhkas into the UK, but set the bar for entry so high that campaigners say that only a few hundred veterans will ever qualify.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has called for all former Gurkhas to be admitted to Britain [Hear, Hear!] and will today trigger a Commons vote on the issue. Forty-five Labour backbenchers have signed a Commons motion calling for Gurkhas who retired before 1997 to have the same immigration status as those who retired after that time. In all, 109 MPs have backed the motion.

Martin Salter, a Labour backbencher, said: "This completely disgraceful decision does a great disservice to the brave Gurkha soldiers who have willingly risked their lives for this country."

Mr Clegg appealed to Labour MPs to vote against the Government's "insulting decision to turn its back on these brave soldiers." He said: "People who are prepared to fight and die for our country should be entitled to live here. Yet even this basic principle is broken by this out of touch and morally bankrupt Government." The Lib Dem motion in the Commons will also be publicly supported at Westminster rally by the actress Joanna Lumley, whose father served in a Gurkha regiment.

Mr Woolas has claimed that giving free access to all former Gurkhas and their families could mean as many as 100,000 people moving to Britain. Advocates of the Gurkha cause say that is an overestimate, and the Home Affairs Committee has summoned Mr Woolas to explain the Government's treatment of the Gurkhas.

Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the committee said ministers should "do the honourable thing" and admit the Gurkhas. He said: "The Committee was tremendously impressed by the merits of the Gurkha argument and the dignity with which they have attempted to redress a great injustice. "It is indisputable that the UK owes an historic debt of gratitude to the Gurkhas for their brave, loyal and distinguished service in the defence of this country. Natural justice as well as moral rectitude dictate that we should treat them equally as any other individual prepared to fight and die for this country." [I never thought I would applaud Keith Vaz but I do on this occasion -- JR]

SOURCE



Australia makes "asylum-seeking" very attractive

Asylum-seekers on Christmas Island receive generous payments for doing nothing

A FAMILY of four asylum-seekers living on Christmas Island in community detention receives up to $1000 a fortnight from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). DIAC spokesman Sandi Logan said 33 asylum-seekers who had undergone health and security checks were living in houses in the community while awaiting outcomes of their visa applications.

A further 40 asylum-seekers, mostly family groups, women, children and those with special needs, are in alternative detention while 193 single men are detained at the Christmas Island Detention Centre. Women and children are not housed in the detention centre itself, and instead live in alternative detention called the construction camp near the Poon Saan neighbourhood on the island.

Mr Logan said adults in community detention were given $100 cash and $360 in store credit, which can be used at one of two local stores, a fortnight to buy food and other items. A family of two adults and two children would receive $300 cash and $766 store credit each fortnight, which is administered by the Red Cross.

Those under the age of 18 who were deemed unaccompanied minors [In other words, young adults pretending to br teenagers] in community detention receive $50 a week and each household consisting of up to five minors, who are looked after by a carer, is given $900 a week for food and supplies.

Mr Logan said those on community detention had to cook and buy their own food. "We can't put them out in community detention and let them starve," he said. Some chose to save their money and buy luxury items including sunglasses and MP3 players, and were entitled to do so, Mr Logan said.

Inside the detention centre, detainees have 20 internet terminals. "There is also a telephone available in each of the (eight) compounds and they are issued with a phone card each week to make phone calls, it could be to their representatives, to friends or to others ...," Mr Logan said. The calls are unrestricted and include international calls.

Mr Logan said the detainees are encouraged to participate in activities and are rewarded for attending English classes and helping out in the detention centre. The reward system has been in place for some time in Australian detention centres, Mr Logan said.

Detainees are free to move around the inside of the detention centre, often playing cricket and soccer on the oval, but have a night-time curfew when they go back to their single rooms.

The centre was built by the Howard government at a cost of $400 million and is located on the remote corner of Christmas Island, an Australian territory 2,600km northwest of Perth. More than 200 people including 38 DIAC staff are on the island to support the centre.

More than 130 asylum-seekers picked up in the interception of four boats since Saturday, including two today, will also be taken to Christmas Island. It is not known when they will arrive on the island.

SOURCE





29 April, 2009

Immigrant Unemployment at Record High

Rate now exceeds native-born, a change from recent past

A new report finds immigrant unemployment (legal and illegal) was higher in the first quarter of 2009 than at any time since 1994, when immigrants were first separated out in the monthly data. This represents a change from the recent past when native-born Americans tended to have higher unemployment rates. The findings show that immigrants have been harder hit by the recession than natives. Although data on immigrants is collected, it is generally not published by the government. This report is one of the few to examine this data.

The report, entitled, 'Trends in Immigrant and Native Employment,' is embargoed until Wednesday midnight, for publication on Thursday, April, 30. Advance copies are available to the media. The study will be available online at: www.cis.org.

The report also contains employment data for Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington State.

The report is coauthored by Dr. Steven Camarota, the Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies and Karen Jensenius a Research Demographer at the Center.

The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076. For more information, contact Steven Camarota at (202) 466-8185 or sac@cis.org



White refugee from the Zimbabwe horror extremely badly treated by Australia's Immigration department

Man unlawfully held in detention for six months now seeking compensation

A ZIMBABWEAN immigrant wrongly held in detention for six months is seeking $2 million in compensation. Troy Parker arrived in Western Australia with his Australian wife and two children in 1999, having fled persecution from the government of Robert Mugabe. He was granted a temporary spousal visa but his application for permanent residency was rejected in 2002 after the relationship broke down.

However, Mr Parker says he never received the notification and continued working in Perth until 2004 when immigration officials placed him in detention as an illegal immigrant. He remained at the Perth immigration detention centre for six months before being released on a bridging visa though he was denied work rights for another 12 months.

Mr Parker, who now resides in Cairns in north Queensland, was finally granted permanent residency last Wednesday, after his case came to the attention of migration agent John Young who lobbied the Federal Government on his behalf.

However, a freedom of information application to the Department of Immigration revealed department officers acknowledged in 2006 that Mr Parker had been detained unlawfully. The documents reveal the letter notifying Mr Parker his visa application had been rejected was not dated, meaning his temporary visa remained valid for the entirety of his detention. They also revealed the visa cancellation was later overturned by the migration review commission, in the interests of Mr Parker's children, but the letter notifying him of the decision was sent to the wrong address.

"This is just a total mess, it's the biggest mess up I've ever seen," Mr Young told AAP. "The whole thing was flawed. He had rights, he had a valid visa."

Mr Parker is now seeking $2 million in compensation from the Federal Government. Two weeks ago he received a letter from the Department accepting there was a risk his detention may have been unlawful and indicating the matter had been referred to the Government's insurer to consider a payout figure.

Mr Young said he and his client were unlikely to accept an offer less than $2 million. "If he'd just been held in detention for six months and had been able to work immediately and get on with his life then we'd probably accept a lesser figure," Mr Young said.

Mr Parker said he was also seeking a formal apology from the Department. "I think some people have to answer for quite a few mistakes - it's caused quite a bit of chaos, it's split families up," Mr Parker said.

An immigration spokeswoman said the Department could not comment because the matter had not been finalised. "Given that the legal issues in this case are yet to be resolved it is inappropriate to discuss at this stage whether, and the extent to which, Mr Parker's detention was indeed unlawful," she said.

SOURCE





28 April, 2009

CIS update

1. MD Faces Music on Drivers Licenses

Excerpt: Maryland has done something important: admitted they need the requirements of REAL ID and lawful presence for the good of the state. Will the federal government listen? Or will it ignore Maryland’s important strides by supporting legislation that guts secure ID issuance? With whispers that a measure to effectively repeal REAL ID will be introduced in the Senate any day now, we shall see.

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2. Maryland: Gang Haven

Excerpt: The fact that Maryland is experiencing an increase in gang violence does not come as a surprise. Neighboring Virginia has been cracking down on illegal alien gangs – and illegal immigration, generally – for a number of years. New anti-gang legislation, increased police cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and tightening of drivers license policies, for example, have made Virginia less welcoming for those violating the law.

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3. Update on PASS ID Act negotiations

Excerpt: The National Governors Association (NGA) is continuing to negotiate its bill called PASS ID Act (analyzed in my April 6, 2009 Backgrounder 'The Appearance of Security: REAL ID Final Regulations vs. PASS ID Act of 2009'). The March 27, 2009 bill draft I analyzed continues to be honed, with the goal of introducing it (so I'm told) in conjunction with the National Conference of State Legislatures' Spring Forums in Washington, D.C., April 22-25, 2009. The NCSL, in turn, is discussing the possibility of releasing a statement on the bill while they are in session. Historically, the NCSL has been, for the most part, aligned with the NGA on REAL ID.

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4. I Think They Hope We'll Just Forget About It

Excerpt: The administration has delayed, yet again, the implementation of the rule that would require most federal contractors to use the E-Verify system when hiring to screen out illegal aliens.

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5. ACLU-UNC Wrong on 287(g)

Excerpt: The University of North Carolina School of Law recently joined forces with the ACLU and published a report aimed at stopping ICE cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The paper also advocates mass, illegal-alien amnesty.

Despite the fact that the report has been celebrated by a number of media outlets, the paper is quite an embarrassment for the law school as it provides no new data, no statistics, and very little analysis—even though the paper is a whopping 152-pages long. Instead, the paper is full of accusations, inaccuracies, and anecdotal evidence. It is heavy on conclusions, all of which seem to be cut-and-pasted from earlier ACLU publications aimed at perpetuating illegal immigration.

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6. Castaneda to Calderon: Press Obama for the whole enchilada

Excerpt: Castaneda observes that despite the recession in the U.S., the famous massive return (of Mexican illegals) hasn't taken place and isn't going to take place, the small decrease in (illegal) flows to the U.S. will be ephemeral, and the number of Mexicans who have lost their jobs in Mexico is reaching alarming proportions.

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7. David vs. Goliath

Exceprt: It's hilarious when the open-borders side complains about 'deep-pocketed restrictionists' (see this example -- from the Wall Street Journal, no less!) given the almost unbelievable disparity in funding between the two sides. But this story on the Ford Foundation in today's NYT really illustrates the huge money advantage that the open-borders side enjoys

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8. Labor Sells Out American Workers, Yet Again

Excerpt: In the NYT's latest front-page story pushing amnesty, it reports that the AFL-CIO and the breakaway Change to Win coaltion (basically the Service Employees International Union and the Teamsters) have agreed on a common approach to amnesty. Last time, the AFL-CIO didn't back the Bush-McCain-Kennedy amnesty because it expanded the various indentured-worker visas, while the SEIU figured amnesty for its illegal-alien members (and importing even more in the future) was the main goal and they'd worry about the rest later. With an increased Democratic margin in Congress and with the Great Helmsman in the White House, the unions seem to have decided to give the finger to the rope-sellers at the Chamber of Commerce by proposing a phony commission to decide future levels of 'temporary' worker admissions. And I note with much rejoicing that the Chamber isn't liking that at all:

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9. Look to Zion

Excerpt: Steinitz: Deport 100,000 illegal workers

New finance minister teams up with Immigration Authority to deal with problem 'threatening Israeli workers'; comprehensive plan includes increased fines and indictments against employers

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10. New DHS Report on Non-immigrant Admissions

Excerpt: From the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics:

During 2008, there were 175 million nonimmigrant admissions to the United States according to DHS workload estimates. These included tourists and business travelers from Canada, Mexican nationals with Border Crossing Cards, and all admissions requiring the submission of an I-94 form. I-94 admissions accounted for 23 percent (39 million) of the total admissions. The majority (90 percent) of I-94 admissions were short-term visitors, such as tourists and business travelers, while the remaining 10 percent (3.7 million) were temporary residents characterized by a longer duration of stay, such as specialty workers, students, and nurses. The leading countries of citizenship for I-94 admissions were Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076. Email: center@cis.org www.cis.org





27 April, 2009

True Finns party sparks immigration debate

Members of far-right party in Finland make headlines with controversial remarks

Finland has relatively few foreigners but that has not stopped a heated debate on immigration, rousing bloggers, the media and politicians amid rising support for the nationalistic True Finns party. "Xenophobia has become organized in Finland," said Pasi Saukkonen, a senior researcher at the Foundation for Cultural Policy Research.

The immigration issue has for months topped the agenda in newspaper op-eds, blogs, special television debates, and community websites. Saukkonen said he had observed a change in attitudes, noting that the weakness of the far-right in Finland for a long time made the country "quite abnormal" compared with other European countries. In recent years, however, there has been growing support for the Perussuomalaiset party, or True Finns.

The party kickstarted the debate on immigration late last year when a number of its local election candidates made headlines for their controversial remarks. In a blog, party member Jussi Halla-aho described foreigners as criminals and called asylum seekers "African gang rapists" and "parasites on tax payer money." He has since been charged with hate crimes and risks up to two years behind bars.

But the publicity did not hurt the True Finns. It raked in 5.4 per cent of votes in the October polls, increasing its support by more than a percentage point from the 2007 general elections. The leader of the party, Timo Soini, insists that neither he nor his party is racist, stressing instead that the True Finns promote conservative and patriotic values. "I am offended by allegations that I or my party is racist. It is an unfair statement and against my beliefs," Soini told AFP.

Foreigners make up only 2.5 per cent of Finland's 5.3 million inhabitants, but increasing numbers of immigrants have prompted an outcry in some quarters. "There are very few foreigners in Finland. In recent years more immigrants have come here to work and that has been a big change for Finnish society," Johanna Suurpaeae, a state-appointed advocate for minorities, told AFP.

Last year the overall number of asylum requests in Finland soared to 4,035 from 1,434 in 2007, with the number of Iraqi asylum seekers nearly quadrupling to 1,255, according to Immigration Service statistics. The increase came at a time when numbers were declining in other Nordic countries that have traditionally been more hospitable to refugees.

A new immigration law that among other things will for the first time allow immigrants with temporary residence permits to work in Finland has also attracted criticism. Despite being adopted by a broad parliamentary majority, a number of dissenting voices insisted the new law was dangerous and called on the house instead to tighten existing immigration legislation.

Raimo Vistbacka, an MP for the True Finns, said he believed the "current government's liberal immigration policy" had actually attracted people traffickers. Even the opposition Social Democrats have called for tighter rules, with MP Kari Rajamaeki telling parliament the country "needs to have better controls on immigration."

Conservative Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has lashed out at xenophobia. "We mustn't give even the slightest room for racism in Finland," he said recently.

The fact that Finland still lags far behind most other Western countries in terms of numbers of immigrants and refugees has however done little to calm some Finns' fear that the country will soon be deluged with foreigners. Finland is one of the world's fastest ageing nations and statistics show its labour force will start declining by 2010. "Finland is a small country and Finnish companies need more skilled workers in the future," Migration and European Affairs Minister Astrid Thors told AFP. Immigrants will be needed to keep the wheels of Finland's generous welfare state rolling as the number of Finnish workers declines. [That's assuming that the immigrants will contribute more than they consume. With a high rate of welfare dependency among them that may not be so]

Observers note attitudes towards immigration tend to toughen during economic downturns like the current one. "In a way it is understandable that when many people suddenly become unemployed, people start to ask why we should have more immigrants," Suurpaeae said.

Some immigrants, meanwhile, say that Finland's harsh climate, with its long, dark winters, combined with a host population often perceived as unfriendly, make it difficult for foreigners to integrate. "Winter is six months long and the language is difficult," said Hannah Artes, an English woman who has lived in Finland for about 10 years. "To have (a Finn) smile back at you makes your day as a foreigner," she added, commenting on Finns' reputation for being taciturn.

Singer Bina Nkwazi, who moved to Finland about a decade ago from Zambia, said there was less racism now as Finns had gradually become more accustomed to immigrants. "Finns are more open concerning foreigners. They have realized we are here to give and to contribute to society," Nkwazi said.

SOURCE



Hey, maybe we’ll finally get serious about borders now: Mexican swine flu

The deadly flu strain sweeping across Mexico and into the U.S. has world health experts sounding the alarm bells. Mexico City has been shut down. Officials are advising citizens there to wear masks. There’s talk of a pandemic. California and Texas have seen several reported cases, but no deaths in the U.S. Yet:

A new flu strain that has killed up to 68 people in Mexico could become a pandemic, the World Health Organization warned on Saturday, as health experts tried to track the disease’s spread.

Hospitals tested patients with flu symptoms for the never-before-seen virus, which has also infected eight people in the United States. No further deaths had come to light since Friday afternoon, but officials warned the person-to-person infections meant there was a risk of a major outbreak…

…Mexico has shut schools, cinemas and museums and canceled public events in its sprawling, overcrowded capital of 20 million people to try to prevent further infections. Weekend soccer matches were played in empty stadiums and people on the street wore face masks. The strain of flu has spread fast between people and infected some individuals who had no contact with one another.

The WHO says the virus from 12 of the Mexican patients is genetically the same as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in eight people in California and Texas. All of the eight later recovered. An emergency committee of WHO experts, convening on Saturday, will advise Chan on issues including possibly changing the WHO’s pandemic alert level, currently 3 on a scale of 1 to 6.

A NYC prep school saw 75 students fall ill on Friday and health officials are testing to see if it’s the new strain of swine flu. The World Health Organization is set to declare the outbreak an “international concern.”

I’ve blogged for years about the spread of contagious diseases from around the world into the U.S. as a result of uncontrolled immigration. We’ve heard for years from reckless open-borders ideologues who continue to insist there’s nothing to worry about. And we’ve heard for years that calling any attention to the dangers of allowing untold numbers of people to pass across our borders and through our other ports of entry without proper medical screening — as required of every legal visitor/immigrant to this country — is RAAAACIST.

9/11 didn’t convince the open-borders zealots to put down their race cards and confront reality. Maybe the threat of their sons or daughters contracting a deadly virus spread from south of the border to their Manhattan prep schools will.

Update: Two swine-flu cases confirmed in Kansas…

Kansas state health officials have confirmed two cases of swine flu, just minutes after New York health officials said they had eight probable cases, CNN reported on Saturday.

SOURCE





26 April, 2009

Australia: Third "refugee" boat in fortnight intercepted



Another boat load of asylum seekers has been intercepted off the Australian north-west coastline, in the same region a vessel exploded less than two weeks ago, killing five refugees. The vessel, carrying more than 50 passengers and two crew, was intercepted yesterday 90 nautical miles south-west of Ashmore Reef, about 900km from Darwin, by a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat.

It is the eighth boat of asylum seekers to approach Australian waters this year and the 15th boat to be intercepted since last August when Labor made changes to Australia's immigration policy, including the scrapping of temporary protection visas.

Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus said in a statement the boat was in international waters and the group voluntarily transferred from their boat to the HMAS Albany.

It is believed the boat was travelling from Indonesia and the passengers were most likely Afghans.

It is also understood the vessel was not being tracked by Australian authorities, although its sighting was confirmed by a Customs and Border Protection Command Dash 8 aircraft following an alert by an oil rig tender vessel. Within an hour of receiving the alert, the navy had made contact with the boat, Mr Debus said. The interception demonstrated the effectiveness of Border Protection Commands surveillance, he said. The interception came as another boatload of asylum seekers was transferred to Christmas Island.

SOURCE



Prominent British Labour politician hits out over immigration levels

The United Kingdom will have to build one house every six minutes, day and night, seven days a week for the next 20 years to meet the current scale of immigration, Labour MP and former minister Frank Field warned yesterday. He said immigration would account for 70% of population growth in the next 20 years – that is seven million, or seven times the population of Birmingham. In 2007, immigrants were arriving at the rate of almost one every minute.

Field, MP for Birkenhead, issued his stark warning in an article in parliament's The House Magazine. He recalled that he and Tory MP Nicholas Soames had established a cross-party group on balanced migration, designed to stimulate and inform a non-partisan and calm debate about the issue. "For many years, probably a generation, immigration has been a no-go area to British politics. 'Racist', 'Little Englander', 'xenophobe' – those who have raised the subject have been insulted, abused and, all too often, silenced."

Field went on: "The beneficiaries of this have been the extremists, lurking in the wings, eager to piggyback on the public's concern for their own despicable ends. The losers have been the citizens of this country."

He said that over the past few years immigration had reached unprecedented levels. "Net migration – the number of people coming to the UK minus the people leaving – has more than quadrupled since 1997." In 2007, 502,000 migrants arrived in the UK – almost one every minute, Field said. "Our population is officially projected to reach 70 million by 2028 and 80 million in mid-century, with immigration the main driver and the only one that the government can directly influence.

Field said that these projections were based on the Government's own net immigration assumptions. "But cold statistics do not paint the whole picture," he said. "Delve beneath 'seven new Birminghams' and we see that in the next 20 years, one-third of projected household formations will be a result of immigration, meaning we will need to build 260 houses a day for the next 20 years to meet the requirement."

And he warned: "If the Government does not adopt the policy of balanced migration, or something close to it, our population is set to rise to a level to which the vast majority of people are strongly opposed. They are not opposed to immigration or immigrants, but to the present scale of immigration, which is bound to have a negative aspect on life in Britain."

SOURCE





25 April, 2009

British whistleblower fired

Must not give to the public immigration facts that the lying British Leftist government is trying to suppress

A civil servant arrested for leaking Home Office documents to Conservative MP Damian Green has been dismissed. Christopher Galley, who had signed the Official Secrets Act, was sacked from the Immigration Nationality Directorate for gross professional misconduct.

Mr Galley and Mr Green were told last week they would not be charged, after a five-month inquiry. Mr Galley, who once stood for election as a Conservative councillor, denied he had acted in a partisan fashion.

A series of leaks in 2007 and 2008 included information about illegal immigrants and crime in the recession. The junior official, who lost his job after a disciplinary hearing, has said he does not regret the leaks as he believes they were in the public interest. "I actually did this as a public servant for the actual country," he told BBC News.

He said he had no inducement from the Conservatives, in the form of money or a job offer, to leak the information and his actions were not influenced by his political sympathies. "I think my civil service colleagues were actually aware of my sympathies towards the Conservative party. But I never actually made those, never actually let that affect my work in any way." Mr Galley also said he was responsible for just four of the 20 documents leaked.

Conservative immigration spokesman Mr Green said his arrest followed ministerial embarrassment about the stories he revealed.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said there was not enough evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction of either Mr Galley or Mr Green. He said the material "was not secret information or information affecting national security".

SOURCE



The British Left have disgraced their country

The Left hate the Gurkhas because they are brave warriors but most British people love them for that reason. So the British government is fighting tooth and nail to keep them out of Britain -- despite two court ruling that they should be admitted. There could hardly be anyone of better character than the Gurkhas. They should be given a blanket right to settle in Britain regardless of when they served in Britain's armed forces

Gurkhas who risked their lives for Britain suffered a major blow today in their attempts to win the right to settle here. The Home Office announced that after a High Court ruling 10,000 more former soldiers and family members would be eligible to live permanently in Britain, but campaigners say that in reality the new rules may help fewer than 100 men. David Enright, a solicitor acting on behalf of the Gurkhas, said: “They have set criteria that are unattainable. They require a Gurkha to serve for 20 years – but a rifleman is only permitted to serve for 15 years. “It’s a sham and an absolute disgrace. It’s far more restrictive than the old policy.”

The Home Secretary agreed to announce a new policy on the right of Gurkhas to settle in Britain after campaigners returned to court last month to enforce a legal ruling won at the Royal Courts of Justice in September. A High Court judge had ruled that the Government’s existing immigration policy, excluding veterans from settling, was unlawful.

Campaigners, including the actress Joanna Lumley, said that today’s announcement was disingenuous and offensive. “The Gurkhas cannot meet these new criteria. It makes me ashamed of our government,” Lumley said. “We will fight on. We don’t stop. This has been a setback but that is all.”

The Home Office said that it would will allow in around 4,300 more former Gurkhas out of a total of 36,000 who served in Britain’s Armed Forces prior to July 1997. Phil Woolas, the Immigration Minister, said: “This guidance honours the service, commitment and gallantry of those who served with the Brigade of Gurkhas. Now, another 10,000 Gurkhas and family members will be able to benefit from our revised guidance.”

He denied that the Government had betrayed the Gurkhas. “What we’ve done today is to allow even more people in without setting a precedent that would create a massive pressure, in my view, on the immigration service, which I don’t think the public would want me to grant,” he told the BBC.

Rules introduced in 2004 allowed serving Gurkhas with at least four years’ service to settle in the UK but they did not apply to Gurkhas discharged from the British Army before July 1, 1997.

Under the new guidelines Gurkhas and their families will be allowed to settle if they meet one of five criteria: they have three years' continuous residence in the UK during or after their service; they have close family in the UK; they received a level 1-3 bravery award, including the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross; they served for 20 years or more; or they suffer from a chronic or long-term medical condition caused by, or aggravated by, service in the brigade.

In addition Gurkhas will normally be allowed to settle in Britain if they meet two or more of the following criteria: they were previously awarded an MoD disability pension but no longer have a chronic medical condition; they were mentioned in dispatches; they served for 10 years; or they received a campaign medal for active service in the brigade.

The brigade was formed after the partition of India in 1947, but Nepalese Gurkha soldiers have been part of the British Army for almost 200 years.

More than 200,000 Gurkhas fought for the Allies during the First and Second World Wars, with 43,000 giving their lives. There are currently around 3,500 serving Gurkhas.

SOURCE





24 April, 2009

France ready to speed illegals on their way -- to Britain

France's immigration minister has pledged to shut down a vast squat in Calais that is home to hundreds of illegal migrants seeking to reach Britain and open small 'welcome centres' in its place. Eric Besson, who is visiting Calais, said a wooded area known as "the jungle", which is home to around 800 migrants and where a London student was raped last year, would be cleared and sealed off. "The jungle will cease to exist," he said as he visited a chemical factory next to the shanty town and which has endured repeated thefts. "Keeping and developing the jungle is ... contrary to all economic development and employment interests," he said.

The migrants, mainly from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and several African countries would not, however, be "abandoned", he said. Instead, they would be offered food, showers and information on how to claim asylum in the welcome centres. He denied emphatically that these would be "mini-Sangattes" – referring to the Red Cross Centre which acted as a magnet to thousands of migrants hoping to reach the UK before being closed as part of an Anglo-French agreement in 2002. "There will be no new Sangatte. There will be no mini-Sangatte," he said.

The new measures would allow local authorities to "better treat people without papers, without setting anything permanent," he said. On Tuesday, 500 French police officers arrested 194 migrants in and around the "jungle" in an operation aimed, they said, at breaking up people smuggling gangs who charge up to £1,000 for illegal passage to England. Although Mr Besson called the operation a success, all those detained have been released without charge. His ministry said that Tuesday's sweep was "part of this project to shut down the jungle" and that "other similar operations will be carried out". [Equally futile ones, apparently]

However, Natacha Bouchart, the mayor of Calais, said that the task of closing the migrant shanty town was too great for local authorities. "It's not a camp, it's a village. The municipal workers cannot clean it up, they're not up to it," she said, adding that the army would have to be called in. "There are more than 80 shelters, with a transport stop, a mosque and a shop."

She said that she would urge Mr Besson to "renegotiate international agreements", including pushing for Britain to sign up to the Schengen agreement, which permits free travel between designated European Union states without passport controls. If the UK entered Schengen, then all of the Calais migrants could cross to Dover unchecked, placing the onus on Britain to handle their asylum requests. Mrs Bouchart said: "Today, with some 800 migrants in the town, the situation is becoming unmanageable. Calais is hostage to Britain, which refuses to ratify Schengen."

However, Phil Woolas, Britain's Immigration Minister, said: "The UK policy is to not sign up to the Schengen Agreement." His French counterpart, Mr Besson, has made no mention of the Schengen issue but has promised to come up with a "solution" to the Calais migrant problem by May 1 and to ask Britain to do more. He said: "Great Britain must probably reinforce its controls, take a more important financial slice of the burden and must above all ask itself why illegal work on its territory is considered by traffickers and migrants alike as so enticing."

SOURCE



The United Nations facilitates illegal immigration to Australia

People smugglers are using the chaotic registration process of the UNHCR to make it easier for asylum seekers to get to Australia by boat.

Since the beginning of March, 483 Afghan asylum seekers have turned up at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Jakarta but none has been formally registered with Indonesian authorities. The Indonesians were unaware precisely where the asylum seekers were living and, in some instances, had not even been told they had arrived, said Ade Endang Dachlan, a senior Indonesian immigration intelligence officer who heads the department's Bogor office.

"This should not happen," Mr Dachlan said. "The UNHCR office should only issue refugee processing status based on the recommendation from the immigration office. "Since we can't get hold of them [the asylum seekers] and closely monitor their whereabouts, they have plenty of chance to escape and use illegal ways to enter a third country such as Australia."

Raids this month in Bogor netted 22 asylum seekers who carried genuine UNHCR papers but were not registered with the Department of Immigration. Mr Dachlan said it was only the tip of the iceberg, adding that people smugglers were exploiting the "loophole" - staying in touch with asylum seekers until "such time as the syndicates can get them access to Australian borders".

Ali Khatri, one of the Afghans snared in the Bogor raid, said a people smuggler had given him the address of the UNHCR office, told him to go straight there when he arrived in Jakarta, and he was assured that, by turning up, he would have protection as a refugee. He denied he planned to go to Australia, though others at the same villa said they were prepared to make the crossing. They asked not to be named. "The UNHCR gave us some papers, like an appointment slip," Mr Khatri said, adding he was not told to register with Indonesian police or immigration. "We just left and went back to our hotel in Jakarta. Then we came to Bogor because it was cheaper."

Bogor is a mountainous holiday area 1½ hours' drive from Jakarta and a favoured hideout for asylum seekers. The 22 caught in Bogor were only a small fraction of an estimated 2000 Afghans in Indonesia looking to come to Australia.

A spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Jakarta, Anita Restu, said 483 Afghans had come to its Jakarta office in the past seven weeks alone. "Because of this influx, we have just given them appointment slips," she said. They were not formally registered because "it takes too long to go through our system and there's so many people". Even if Indonesian authorities were told of the arrivals, "we cannot give out the address of the asylum seeker", she said.

SOURCE





23 April, 2009

Security boss Napolitano Misstates U.S. Immigration Law During CNN Interview

Immigration reformers have been watching closely as the Obama Administration has been quietly, but systematically, dismantling all effective immigration enforcement programs. E-Verify, 287(g) and worksite enforcement are only a few of the most prominent programs the Obama Administration has undermined. And while U.S. immigration laws go unenforced, President Obama has committed to pushing for amnesty legislation this year, in essence stating that enforcing our immigration laws is too burdensome and not worth the resources.

The Obama Administration's decision to abandon the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws was only highlighted Sunday morning when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano bungled the fundamentals of U.S. immigration law during an interview on CNN's State of the Union. Napolitano appeared on the show, hosted by John King, to discuss the latest intelligence report, border security, immigration reform, and a host of related issues. During the interview, the discussion turned to Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona. King asked Napolitano to respond to Arpaio's statement that he hoped the federal government would prosecute all aliens who cross the border illegally. Napolitano responded:

"Well, you know, Sheriff Joe, he is being very political in that statement, because he knows that there aren't enough law enforcement officers, courtrooms or jail cells in the world to do what he is saying. What we have to do is target the real evil-doers in this business, the employers who consistently hire illegal labor, the human traffickers who are exploiting human misery.

And yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well."

ENTRY WITHOUT INSPECTION IS A CRIME: In fact, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1325, crossing the border illegally is a crime--a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for the second and subsequent offenses. But of course, ignoring or mischaracterizing the law is a very convenient way for those in power to avoid the laws they find most inconvenient. Sadly, statements such as these are also a signal that Americans will have to wait a long time before their government articulates any credible immigration enforcement policy.

SOURCE



"Refugees" reacted to Australia's immigration law change says Indonesia's ambassador

INDONESIA experienced an increase in the number of suspected refugees transiting through its borders at the same time Australia was softening its border protection policies. Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Primo Alui Joelianto, said Indonesian-based people-smugglers had exploited changes to Australian law as a way of drumming up business.

And as the political row over the surge in boat arrivals deepened - with Kevin Rudd branding Malcolm Turnbull "opportunistic" over his handling of the issue - senior government sources told The Australian another boat was due to be intercepted "within days". They are likely to join asylum seekers, who landed earlier this month, on Christmas Island.

Yesterday, Mr Joelianto said Indonesia had seen a spike in suspected refugees transiting the sprawling archipelago. Significantly, Mr Joelianto dated the start of the increase at September last year, the same time the Rudd Government announced a series of policy changes aimed at softening Australia's treatment of refugees.

But at the same time, the ambassador acknowledged Labor's claim about the causes of the surge, saying violence abroad and the scourge of people-smuggling were at the root of the problem. Mr Joelianto said the problem of irregular migration was too big for Indonesia to handle alone.

When asked if more suspected refugees had been coming into Indonesia, heading for the main transit points for people journeying to Australia, Mr Joelianto replied: "We noted, especially after September 2008, the influx, the flow of illegal migrants get more and more," he said.

"But I think we have to see the root cause - conflict, the political instability, economic problems in the origin country; that's why this problem is not easy to tackle."

SOURCE





22 April, 2009

Asylum seekers are lured to Britain by its 'enormous' benefits, says Calais mayor

Britain's ‘enormous’ state handouts to asylum seekers were furiously criticised yesterday – by the Mayor of Calais. Natacha Bouchart said these payouts were the lure for thousands of foreigners using the French port as a staging point to cross the Channel illegally. She said the UK government’s policy was ‘imposing’ migrants on the town, costing the local economy millions.

Mrs Bouchart, 45, a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party, said she was so disgusted by what was going on that she refused to have any meetings with British government representatives. She said the British system was predominantly to blame for thousands of Africans, eastern Europeans and Asians trying to clamber aboard lorries and trains in Calais every day.

‘Requesting asylum is easier with them (the British) than in France. The asylum seeker is given accommodation and receives up to £40 a week according to their case, when the annual income of the average Eritrean is around $200 (£135). ‘That seems enormous and it’s attractive to them.’

In Britain, asylum seekers can receive payments as soon as a claim is lodged. In France, an asylum seeker generally is given nothing for six months. That is because the French bureaucratic system means it routinely takes a minimum of six months to have a claim for asylum – and with it the opportunity to receive state support – accepted. Once accepted, the claimant can receive a range of benefits – but almost all prefer to try to reach Britain and secure immediate benefits. Married asylum-seeking couples in the UK receive £66.13 a week, while single people get up to £42.16. They are also entitled to free NHS care, housing and education for any children.

Home Office Minister Phil Woolas has been seeking closer cooperation with France in the hope of preventing the crisis in Calais from escalating. Ministers have been alarmed by figures showing the number of migrants caught trying to reach Britain by stowing away on lorries at Calais has doubled over the last year to more than 2,000 a month. The count of 6,031 in the first three months of this year compares with 2,919 caught by port security services trying to gain access to trucks queueing for ferries between January and March 2008. The pressure on the port of Calais is being matched at the Channel Tunnel terminal outside the town, which has reported a 50 per cent rise in illegal migrants over last year. Most are trying to board lorries waiting for places on freight trains.

Mrs Bouchart said she had received many requests for a meeting with UK officials to attempt to sort out the mess. ‘I’ve never followed them up because I consider them provocative. To receive in the city hall a representative of the British governmentis to support what it imposes on us.’ The mayor pointed out that the Calais Chamber of Trade was having to pay £12million a year to secure the port area – money she suggested the French government should provide.

Calling for a ‘change in attitude’, Mrs Bouchart said the current build-up of UK-bound foreigners was ‘untenable’. ‘Each day the town of Calais finds itself under psychological pressure because of the presence of the migrants. ‘That blocks our economic development. That stops some businesses from establishing themselves and that costs a lot.’

Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green said: ‘The Mayor of Calais is right that the long-term chaos in our immigration system, from badly-protected borders to the Home Office not sending an officer to many appeal hearings, encourages people to try their luck. ‘The answer for Britain and the people of Calais is a well-run immigration system with a proper Border Police Force.’

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of MigrationWatch UK, said: ‘Gallic logic has reached the inescapable conclusion that Britain is a soft touch for asylum seekers. ‘You only have to say the word asylum and you have an 80 per cent chance of staying in Britain, more often than not illegally.’

In response, Mr Woolas said: ‘The illegal migrants in Calais are not queueing to get into Britain – they have been locked out by one of the toughest border crossings in the world. These successful controls have been possible thanks to the close co-operation of the French government. ‘Benefits are only available to those who play by the rules, work hard, pay taxes and learn to speak English. ‘I have made it clear that those trying to cheat our system will not be tolerated, which is why last year UK Border Agency staff worked tirelessly at our French and Belgium controls – stopping more than 28,000 attempts to cross the Channel illegally.’

SOURCE



French police round up 200 illegals in Calais

French police on Tuesday detained around 200 undocumented migrants during a major operation in the Channel port of Calais, regional state authorities said. Thousands of migrants pass through Calais and its squatter camps every year trying to cross from France illegally to seek new lives in Britain.

About 300 French officers were involved in the sweep, which came two days before Immigration Minister Eric Besson was due to visit Calais for talks on the situation following complaints from local lawmakers. Police cordoned off a major camp in Calais itself and seized some 150 people, while picking up a further 33 in motorway rest stops outside the city and 11 in the nearby town of Saint Omer, a state spokeswoman said.

"We have seen in recent weeks pressure, far from falling, was building in terms of the number of migrants and their increasingly aggressive attitude to residents and the police," said local governor Pierre de Bousquet de Florian. "I wanted to put a stop to this development," he said.

"The situation had deteriorated in Calais," Besson told reporters in Paris. "We can't let it be said that smugglers and human traffickers are above the law. Basic values had been called into question. We needed to reassert the authority of the law," he said, when asked about the round-up.

Opposition Socialist lawmaker Harlem Desir, who founded France's best known anti-racism group SOS Racisme, and local aid groups helping the refugees dismissed the police operation as a media relations stunt ahead of Besson's visit.

But De Bousquet denied his officers had carried out a "clean up" ahead of Besson's inspection, insisting: "We arrested identified people. We didn't round up everyone. This is a judicial investigation, not an administrative measure."

A volunteer working at a care station for the migrants complained that the area had been under siege for more than a week before the raid. "We're trapped. Democracy is doing its job," Jean-Claude Lenoir remarked, in a bitter reference to the political pressure brought to bear on the police.

Local MP Natacha Bouchart, from France's right-wing ruling UMP party, said there were 800 migrants sleeping rough in Calais and called on London to come up with a way to deal with them. "We are being held hostage by Britain," she declared.

The focus of the operation was the "Jungle", a patch of woodland inhabited by migrants hoping to sneak on board trucks and trains using the ferries and tunnel to southern England, or to pay traffickers to arrange a crossing. "This morning we were sleeping in our tents when maybe 200 police came and caught people. There was no fight. It went quiet. Some people were taken to the police station," said Samir Amir, a 17-year-old Afghan. "The police said: 'You put your tents down and you clean yourself.' We will stay here. We don't have a place to go to. There are 700 of us living in the jungle and waiting to go to England," he explained.

Many of those arrested identified themselves as Afghans, the official said. They have been taken into custody in the cities of Calais, Boulogne and Lille on the orders of the Boulogne state prosecutor.

Besson last visited Calais on January 27 and promised that he would come up with a permanent solution to the problems posed by the migrants by May 1. Until November 2002, many of the arrivals from Asia, the Middle East and Africa crossing France en route for what they believe would be an easier life in Britain were housed at an organised camp in Sangatte, near Calais.

The then interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who is now the French president, closed the centre following pressure from London, which said it encouraged migrants to make the illegal and dangerous trip across the Channel. Since then, however, travellers have continued to arrive in the region. As their numbers have built up in the woods and dunes in and around Calais they have become a concern to local officials.

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21 April, 2009

Some "People's" propaganda below about illegals coming to Australia

Published, of course, by Australia's public broadcaster

Asylum seeking is a risky business, as shown by the tragedy that unfolded in Australian waters last week. The risks of not seeking asylum can be even more severe, and people experiencing persecution may have little choice but to avail themselves of extreme measures in attempts to seek safe haven. [Really?? When they have passed through several other countries on their way to Australia, they have obviously had PLENTY of choice. Afghans could for instance have stopped in Pakistan. Many do]

The blame game for the tragedy near Ashmore Reef has begun, with shadow immigration minister Sharman Stone holding the Government culpable for putting lives at risk through what she describes as a watering down of the Howard government's immigration policies and the cutting of surveillance.

Political memories are short-lived and the opposition and its supporters ought to tally the loss of lives during boat journeys to Australia under the harsh policies of John Howard. The starkest reminder of the risks at sea is in the nation's capital of Canberra - a memorial erected by refugee advocates to remember the 353 women, children and men who lost their lives on the ill-fated SIEV X, which sank on its way to Australia in 2001. The government's Temporary Protection Visa, aimed at deterring asylum seekers, barred family reunion and women and children were the majority of those who perished in a desperate bid to reach their husbands and fathers through the only means available to them.

During the Howard era there were other less-known fatal voyages where people died in tragic circumstances while attempting to seek refuge in Australia. In December 2000, then immigration minister Philip Ruddock defended his decision not to launch a search and rescue mission for 160 asylum seekers feared drowned on their way to Australia, adding that his government believed another 350 people had been lost earlier that year. In 2001 deaths included a young baby on the boat known as SIEV 5 and two women, one pregnant, on the SIEV X. [It is perfectly true that refugee boats sometimes sink and kill people but the best cure for that is to stop them setting out in the first place and that is precisely what the Howard government did]

In 2005, the Australian Council of Heads of Schools of Social Work convened the People's Inquiry into Detention [Much like the People's Democratic Republic of North Korea, no doubt. The Marxist language tells you all you need to know. These guys aren't even clever] in order to challenge and expose asylum seeker policies and practices. Witnesses to the inquiry told of the perilous journeys to Australia and the harsh treatment they received at the hands of the Australian government. We surely do not wish to return to an era where we again experience the treatment meted out to desperate people as illustrated in the following account. ["Desperate", my foot. They had plenty of choices before coming here. Australia is a long way from where they originated. Even the country where they got into the boats -- Indonesia -- is a Muslim one with Muslim obligations of hospitality. And how did they get to Indonesia? On regular airline flights! How desperate does that sound? "Greedy" would be a better word for them. It is money they are after, not refuge]

More HERE



Europe's human rights watchdog chides Italy

One is tempted to say: "Physician, heal thyself" to Mr Hammarberg. In his own country of Sweden there are racial ghettoes -- e.g. in Malmo, Sweden's third biggest city -- where it is "no go" for native Swedes. Is that what he is recommending for others?

Europe's top human rights watchdog chided Italy on Thursday over ignoring a request it suspend forced deportations to Tunisia to prevent possible torture of asylum seekers. Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, said he had "serious concerns" over Italy's migration policy and practices.

The Italian Foreign Ministry said in a reply attached to Thursday's report that its policies are in line with European human rights standards. "Italy does not intend to put at risk the effectiveness of the European system for the protection of human rights," it said.

In a report, Hammarberg said he was worried by the continuing practice of forcing back refugee claimants to Tunisia on security grounds. Italy had been requested by the Council of Europe's court of human rights to suspend the practice in February out of fears that many that were repatriated to Tunisia faced torture.

Hammarberg said Italy's move to ignore the court request to halt deportations was "seriously jeopardizing the effectiveness of the European system of human rights protection."

The commissioner also said Italian authorities had to "condemn more firmly" racist or intolerant acts and ensure more effective implementation of anti-discrimination laws. He recommended Italy move to increase the number of ethnic minorities in the police and set up an independent ombudsman office to handle complaints over human rights violations.

Thursday's report was released after Hammarberg visited Italy in January. It was his second in the last 12 months over increased concern by the Council of Europe that recent moves by Italy to implement an immigration crackdown have unleashed a surge in racism and xenophobia.

A report issued last July slammed Italy's crackdown that have targeted Africans and nomadic groups known as Roma, Stinti and Gypsy. Italian officials have given different reasons for the crackdown, including to tackle street crime and illegal immigration and to encourage more Roma children into school.

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20 April, 2009

Asylum seekers win right to stay in Britain because of 'shambolic' immigration hearings

More evidence that Britain has a government that does not WANT to control immigration. Leftists WANT to disrupt the society in which they live

Failed asylum seekers are winning the right to stay in Britain because of "shambolic" failings in the immigration hearing system. Hundreds of appeal hearings are going ahead without a representative from the Home Office to defend its original decision to deny asylum. Immigration lawyers admitted that the situation is helping their clients to win cases they might otherwise have lost. The disclosure could help explain why the percentage of asylum seekers winning their appeals has risen from 17 per cent in 2005 to 25 per cent for the third quarter of 2008.

Opposition politicians criticised the "shambolic" and "bizarre" situation in which asylum appellants are not properly cross-examined. Over the last two weeks, reporters from this newspaper attended 25 hearings around the country. At 24 of them, no Home Office Presenting Officer (Hopo) – who is tasked with putting the department's case before the immigration judge – was present. In the one remaining hearing, the officer turned up late and admitted that she was unprepared.

Senior sources close to the hearings have said the Home Office is failing to properly defend about a third of cases which come to appeal. One court official, who asked not to be named, said: "It is becoming a common problem. There is a shortage of qualified staff so cases have to go ahead without anyone to present the Home Office's case and defend the original decision."

This failure is of benefit to those making the appeal, according to lawyers. Annette Elder, a partner with the firm Elder Rahimi, which represents five to 10 appellants each week, said: "Frankly, it does make our job easier. "It is hard to say whether we have won a case because a Hopo hasn't been present. But if someone isn't being cross-examined then their chances of success have to improve. There is less chance of any errors in their case being exposed. There are days when you are relieved there is no one from the Home Office."

Another immigration lawyer, who asked not to be named, said: "I know there are occasions when we have won because the Home Office hasn't turned up." "It has happened when we have had immigration cases when the appellant has been accused of using false documents. The Home Office has not been there to prove that claim and has not provided any evidence to back it up. We have won automatically because of that."

The Home Office representative is supposed to defend the department's original decision, cross-examine the appellant and provide guidance for the presiding judge. The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) service website advises those who have instigated appeals that a Hopo will be present. But in all but one of the cases attended by Sunday Telegraph reporters, the judge – who often only receives the files a few hours before the hearing – was forced to try to make sense of the case alone.

Reporters attended hearings at Taylor House in Islington, London; Bennett House in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs; and Sheldon Court in Birmingham. During a morning session at Taylor House last Tuesday, one judge informed the appellants in three separate hearings: "There is nobody here from the Home Office so there will be no cross-examination. I may ask some questions for clarification."

At a hearing in Stoke last Wednesday, a judge was told that the Home Office representative had been absent for two hearings because he was working on another case in the same building. The judge simply remarked: "It's always a juggling act." A lawyer representing an appellant told the court: "I have evidence today which the Home Office could have challenged but they have chosen not to turn up."

Judges who preside over the hearings are forced to make decisions based on what they hear and on the "skeletal" refusal letter submitted by the Home Office in advance. In the one case where a Home Office representative did turn up – at Taylor House in Islington – the official arrived late, telling the judge that she had just dropped her children off at school and she had no idea she was due in court until she had been contacted by the office. The case, already 45 minutes late, was adjourned for a further 15 minutes so the officer, who had to apologise for her casual dress, could finish reading the case files.

The judge made four separate interventions about the relevancy of her line of questioning. The officer later had to withdraw a crucial part of the Home Office's case against the Iranian national because she could not prove it.

Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, condemned the Home Office's failure to staff the individual hearings. "I think it is a shambolic situation. The Home Office keeps talking about tightening the system but clearly the reality is the opposite," he said. "They need to get to grips with the situation. I think in the case of the Home Office, the culture of chaos starts at the top. "Ultimately, it is the job of the Home Secretary and her ministerial team to set the right expectations for the department. Clearly that is not happening."

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "It looks as if the Home Office tribunal system is in a state of some chaos. The failure of the Home Office to field representatives inevitably means an appellant's case is not properly cross examined. "The real concerns that the immigration officer may have had, and which led to the original decision, are not been given their day in court. I think it's bizarre that the judge isn't given advance notice of whether the Hopo will be present. At least then they would be aware that they had to study the files in depth."

Civil liberty campaigners also criticised the lack of Home Office representation, saying it caused problems for the appellant.

A spokesman for the tribunal service said: "We do not collect data on Home Office representation at Asylum and Immigration Tribunal hearings. We are aware that there are times when hearings are conducted without a Home Office official present. There is no requirement on the Home Office to send a representative. Therefore, it is up to their discretion."

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said: "Public protection and harm reduction remains our primary consideration when deciding on whether or not a case should be represented. Only a very small percentage of AIT hearings are not attended by a presenting officer and the figure of one in three is unfounded. "We have said we will target the most harmful people first and part of this is about making sure that we focus our resources on defending the right cases in court. Team managers carefully scrutinise and identify suitable cases to proceed without representation.

"In these few cases where an officer is not present, the immigration judge, if not deciding to adjourn the appeal, will determine the appeal in accordance with their power under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 on the evidence before him."

SOURCE



Australian FedGov is "listening" to immigration advice

In the circumstances, that's progress

THE Federal Government has warned the nation to brace for more illegal boat arrivals, describing the surge as a "threat" which must be stopped. "We have real problem on our hands,'' Immigration Minister Chris Evans said. "The Government acknowledges that. We are throwing all the resources we can into combating it.''

Senator Evans blamed increased armed conflict in northern Asia for people taking to leaky - and increasingly deadly - boats to try to reach Australia and seek asylum, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

He confirmed that the Government had been warned by Australian Federal Police (AFP), when it softened its refugee policy by abolishing Temporary Protection Visas, that more illegal refugees would try to reach Australia. "We are absolutely listening,'' he said. "There is no suggestion that the AFP warnings have been ignored.''

The Federal Opposition seized on the admission, with shadow foreign minister Julie Bishop accusing the government of a "cover-up'' and dropping the ball on its watch.

Senator Evans' warning follows the death of three people and injuries to a further 47 on a sinking refugee boat last week after it had been doused in petrol and set alight off Ashmore Reef, 600km from Broome. Two people are missing.

Authorities yesterday were reportedly tracking another refugee boat en route to Australia.

Surgeons in Brisbane today will operate on six injured people, airlifted from Darwin and suffering life-threatening burns.

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19 April, 2009

If you are reading this blog, you could well be a right-wing terrorist!

That's what Obama's Homeland Security chief Napolitano says, anyway. Dealing with real terrorists is too hard so they are inventing some imaginary ones

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in coordination with the FBI, has issued an intelligence assessment on what it calls “Rightwing Extremism.” It is appalling. The nakedly political document announces itself as a “federal effort to influence domestic public opinion.” It proceeds, in what it acknowledges is the absence of any “specific information that domestic rightwing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence,” to speculate that “rightwing” political views might “drive” such violence — violence, it further surmises, that might be abetted by military veterans returning home after putting their lives on the line in Iraq and Afghanistan. And for good measure, in violation of both FBI guidelines and congressional statutes, the Obama administration promises scrutiny of ordinary Americans’ political views, speech, and assembly.

The word “rightwing” appears repeatedly in the assessment, which was issued by the same DHS component (the “Extremism and Radicalization Branch”) that, a year ago, suggested purging the terms “jihadist” and “Islamofascist” from our lexicon for fear of insulting moderate Muslims. And what exactly is “rightwing”? According to Obama’s DHS, it refers to groups that are “primarily hate-oriented” on ethnic grounds (perhaps DHS hasn’t heard of the National Socialist party) and those that are violently anti-government because of economic and social grievances (ACORN and “direct action” ring a bell?). “Rightwing” also covers a militia movement expressing “frustration that the ‘revolution’ never materialized.”

In short, the government uses the term as a caricature of the Right: noxious, non-conservative views thoughtlessly labeled “rightwing extremism” to smear actual conservative values as a purported societal threat. As the report absurdly elaborates:

"Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."

More HERE



Immigration leaker was threatened with life imprisonment by British police

The leaked material included the disclosure that the British government had failed to tell the public that up to 11,000 security guard licences had been granted to illegal immigrants! Laxity on that scale can only have been deliberate -- so had to be kept secret

The Conservative frontbencher Damian Green last night said he had been threatened with life imprisonment when he was arrested during the Home Office leaks inquiry. Green and Christopher Galley, the Home Office civil servant also at the heart of the row, revealed they had been told they could face the sentences if convicted over the leaking of information.

The revelations came as ministers faced demands for legal changes to protect public officials who leak material embarrassing to the government after the case against Green and Galley was thrown out by prosecutors. After a £5m, five-month police investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute either man because information leaked to Green on the government's immigration policy was not secret and did not affect national security or put lives at risk.

Green, the shadow immigration spokesman, said police had tried to spell out the seriousness of his situation during his nine hours of detention following his arrest last November. "They said: 'You do realise this offence could lead to life imprisonment?' he told BBC2's Newsnight. "I'm not a lawyer, but I assume because it's a common law offence, therefore because there's no statutory law on the statute books I was alleged to have broken, there is no set sentence for it. "I just thought this was absurd." He told the programme he felt the police did "not quite realise what they were doing".

The Tory frontbencher was kept waiting for about four hours and was interviewed twice by two policemen who engaged in the "classic hard cop and not quite soft cop" routine. Green said he refused to answer questions because he thought the material they had taken from him was "private" and that they were "not doing their job properly". "I told them that when they were taking things out of my briefcase, one of which was a fax message to a journalist which they thought was deeply suspicious which consisted of a parliamentary answer I had received and a newspaper cutting... which they took away as evidence," he said...

The collapse of the inquiry represented a humiliation for the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, and raised concerns that police are using the charge of misconduct in public office to silence whistleblowers.

The government faces further embarrassment today with the publication of a police report into the methods used to raid Green's home and office. The document is expected to criticise aspects of the arrests and searches. Last night, it emerged that a second inquiry, by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, would look at the operational aspects of the police investigation, which involved 15 senior officers.

Smith's aides said she had not pushed for Green's arrest but had simply backed a Cabinet Office decision to call in the police following 20 destabilising leaks from the Home Office in two years.

Green said he had been "the first opposition politician in history to be arrested for doing his job" – revealing failures in the government's immigration policy.

In his most politically sensitive judgment since coming to office, Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, said his decision not to prosecute the two men had been based on the fact that the leaked documents "were not in many respects highly confidential". Instead, they "undoubtedly touched on matters of legitimate public interest and Mr Green's purpose in using the documents was apparently to hold the government to account".....

The former shadow home secretary David Davis said he feared police were increasingly trying to use "misconduct in public office" to target officials who leak, undermining a key reform to the Official Secrets Act introduced to allow the disclosure of information.

Green said the episode "whipped away the veil over this government and the way it exercises power". "They make serious mistakes on immigration policy and rather than correcting [them] they try to cover them up and when the cover up is exposed they lash out and, in this case ... they exaggerated the security implications," he added.

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Australian Federal police say the recent easing of laws lures people smugglers

Hot air the only response from Prime Minister Rudd. He is furious that people respond to the incentives he has put in front of them. Fancy reality interfering with his cosy Leftist dreams! Reality interferes with all cosy Leftist dreams eventually

THE Navy is moving to intercept another boat of suspected asylum seekers, as a report comes to light warning Australia has become a magnet for people smugglers. The latest boat is thought to be carrying at least 100 people, twice as many as the boat that was intercepted and later burned earlier this week. It was expected to be intercepted overnight or sometime today. Indonesian authorities have also arrested 68 suspected asylum-seekers from Afghanistan, who were believed to be bound for Australia.

The latest arrivals came as it was revealed Australia's elite police force warned the Government that softer border protection laws would make the country a magnet for people smuggling. The secret intelligence briefings prepared by the Australian Federal Police were recently delivered to senior government ministers. The Courier-Mail understands the AFP also expressed serious reservations last year as the Rudd Government wound back John Howard's tougher approach to immigration detention.

Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus last night refused to disclose details of the AFP intelligence. But the revelations are likely to harden the Opposition's claim that Labor's softer stance on border protection has contributed to a surge in the lucrative people-smuggling trade.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday hit out at the Opposition's accusations, saying people smugglers should "rot in hell" and were the "absolute scum of the Earth". "People smugglers are the vilest form of human life," Mr Rudd said. "They trade on the tragedy of others and that is why they should rot in jail and in my own view rot in hell."

On the defensive, Mr Rudd said Labor's immigration policies were hardline, tough and targeted. He said his Government had dedicated more resources to combat people smugglers than any previous Australian government and would "continue to match the resources necessary as the challenges unfold".

But the AFP warnings to the Rudd Government were based in part on intelligence picked up by officers in Indonesia, which has become a key base for the people-smuggling trade.

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18 April, 2009

The usual British brilliance

They have hundreds of thousands of useless illegals sucking on the public teat but won't let in badly needed shearers. They can't figure out how to deport their army of illegals so they impose severe restrictions on LEGAL immigration! Typical Leftist reality avoidance

Hundreds of Aussie and Kiwi shearers have been caught up in changes to Britain's visa system. British farmers are struggling to find enough shearers due to the tightening of immigration laws. UK producers normally use workers from Australia and New Zealand, but under the new visa system it's taking longer and costing more to import labour.

Robert Morris, from the UK's National Association of Agricultural Contractors, says if workers aren't found, the shearing season will take longer and cause welfare problems for sheep. "Well, we're going to be short of shearers. What it will mean is that it will extend the season well into the summer," he says.

"At this moment in time, we only know of one shearer who's had his application approved, so that gives you some idea of the state we're in really."

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New Australian government policies sound big-hearted but prove harsh for illegal immigrants

John Howard was called cruel for his Pacific Solution. But at least no one died. At least three boat people now dead. So how much "kinder" do Kevin Rudd's policies seem now? John Howard was supposed to be the cruel one, said Labor. It was Howard when Prime Minister who put in the Pacific Solution, whisking illegal boat people to Nauru, rather than land them here. Too harsh, said Kevin Rudd, and scrapped it.

It was Howard who cut the legal circus that allowed illegal immigrants to play the system for years, until we gave up trying to deport them. Too harsh, said Rudd, and laid on lawyers.

It was Howard who cut the lure of benefits and then imposed on illegal immigrants the imminent threat of return. Too harsh, said Rudd, and scrapped the Temporary Protection Visas, giving all illegal immigrants - including well-heeled ones fleeing no particular danger - instant access to permanent residency with all the tempting benefits and rights.

Too harsh, said Rudd. And enlightened opinion cheered. Now we were nice. Really? So how nice is it to have now lured at least three people to their deaths? To have not one child overboard - oh, what a confected scandal that was - but a whole boatload of 49? Yes, indeed. This is a "people overboard" scandal, but for real this time. The Rudd Government tried at first to deny and dodge, but West Australian Premier Colin Barnett let the mangy cat out of the bag - Defence sources had told him the explosion was caused when the boat people spread petrol around their vessel, clearly to prevent being turned away.

Here's now what critics of "cruel" Howard so conveniently and willfully forgot or overlooked. Howard's "cruel" policies saved lives. While Rudd's "kind" ones now kill.

Howard stopped the illegal people smuggling almost instantly from the introduction in 2001 of his Pacific Solution. Boat arrivals went from 54 in 2000-01 to none in 2002-03. There was only one boat arrival in the two years after that, and just three in the year before Rudd's election. But now? The boat that blew up yesterday was the sixth to arrive this year - and the fourth in just a fortnight. It's also the 13th since September, when the Rudd Government announced its latest measures to soften our treatment of refugees. This short year already, we've had 276 boat people arrive, compared with just 179 in all of last year.

But it wasn't just the illegal immigrants that Howard stopped - people rich enough to pay perhaps $10,000 a head to get here, and choosy enough to pass through several safe countries before settling on ours. Howard also stopped the deaths - the drowning at sea of people drawn to our wealth, peace and too-easy welcome. Hundreds had died before he acted, most notoriously in the foundering of the SIEV X just off Indonesia's coast. A whole conspiracy over that sinking was built that falsely suggested Howard had blood on his hands, refusing to let the navy rescue the drowning. The Melbourne Theatre Company even commissioned a play showing a character clearly meant to be Treasurer Peter Costello letting the SIEV X passengers drown.

But if politicians must be blamed for boat people dying, then blame Rudd rather than Howard. It's still unfair, yes, but far, far more justified. Rudd and his ministers have tried to insist the sudden rise in arrivals has nothing to do with them going soft. It's Afghans fleeing a country gone bad, they claim, as if Afghanistan hasn't been a basket case for years. But Steve Cook, chief of mission for the International Organisation for Migration in Indonesia, had warned already in December: "People smugglers have clearly noted that there has been a change in policy and they're testing the envelope. "Up until about a year ago there was very little people-smuggling activity. Over the last year there's been a considerable up-kick. There are rumours of a lot of organising going on."

And it was already clear that tragedy was just one boat away. As I wrote at the time: "Howard's 'inhuman' policies stopped not just the people smugglers but the deaths at sea. If some of these boats lured here by Kevin Rudd now sink, how truly 'kinder' is he?" Ask the moralisers now.

But good news. Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus at last admitted yesterday that laws against people smuggling must be toughened, after all. But here's the sick joke. It's Indonesia's laws that are too soft, he claims, not our own. "We are in negotiation . . . and have been for some time with the Indonesians," he burbled. "We are hopeful that they will change a number of their laws, particularly the laws that affect people smuggling directly."

A farce. Pardon if Kevin Andrews, the former Howard Government Immigration Minister so reviled as vicious by Labor and the media, now allows himself a smile. "Labor's response shows how different it is to govern than criticise," he said yesterday. And how different is seeming good from actually achieving it.

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17 April, 2009

The usual Leftist thuggery

They are in a direct line from Hitler's brownshirts (Sturm Abteilung). Protest stops Tancredo's UNC speech on immigration

UNC-CH police released pepper spray and threatened to use a Taser on student protesters Tuesday evening when a crowd disrupted a speech by former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo opposing in-state tuition benefits to unauthorized immigrants. Hundreds of protesters converged on Bingham Hall, shouting profanities and accusations of racism while Tancredo and the student who introduced him tried to speak. Minutes into the speech, a protester pounded a window of the classroom until the glass shattered, prompting Tancredo to flee and campus police to shut down the event.

Tancredo was brought to campus by a UNC chapter of Youth for Western Civilization, a national organization of students who oppose mass immigration, multiculturalism and affirmative action.

University Chancellor Holden Thorp said in an e-mail message to students and faculty that he had called Tancredo today to apologize for his treatment. Campus police are investigating the incident and will pursue criminal charges if warranted, Thorp said. The students involved also could face Honor Court proceedings if there is sufficient evidence, he said.

Before the event, campus security removed two women who delayed Tancredo's speech by stretching a 12-foot banner across the front of the classroom. It read, "No dialogue with hate." Police escorted the women into the hallway, amid more than 30 protesters who clashed with the officers trying to keep them out of the overcrowded classroom. After police released pepper spray and threatened the crowd with a Taser, the protesters gathered outside Bingham Hall.

Police spokesman Randy Young said the pepper spray was "broadcast" to clear the hallway. He said officers' use of force was under investigation by the department.

Inside the classroom, several student protesters screamed curses at Tancredo and Riley Matheson, president of the UNC-Chapel Hill chapter of Youth for Western Civilization. "This is the free speech crowd, right?" Tancredo joked.

UNC-CH geography professor Alpha Cravey joined protesters in chanting the names of Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus. But campus visitors and some faculty members in the capacity crowd of 150 urged the students to let Tancredo speak. "We are the children of immigrants, and this concerns us," said junior Lizette Lopez, 22, vice president of the Carolina Hispanic Association. "So we would at least like to hear what he has to say if you want to hear what we have to say."

The protesters relented, and Tancredo began to speak, describing failed state and federal legislation aimed at providing in-state tuition benefits for undocumented immigrants. Two women stretched out another banner, first along one of the aisles and then right in front of Tancredo. Tancredo grabbed the middle of the banner and tried to pull it away from one of the girls. "You don't want to hear what I have to say because you don't agree with me," he said.

The sound of breaking glass from behind a window shade interrupted the tug-of-war. Tancredo was escorted from the room by campus police.

About 200 protesters reconvened outside the building. "We shut him down; no racists in our town," they shouted. "Yes, racists, we will fight, we know where you sleep at night!"

Reached by phone after his departure, Tancredo said he had never been silenced by protesters, even at American University where 400 of them recently attended one of his speeches. Police spokesman Randy Young said he couldn't recall student protesters shutting down another campus event. "Fascists are fascists," Tancredo said. "Their actions were probably the best speech I could ever give. They are what's wrong with America today. ... When all you can do is yell epithets, that means you are intellectually bankrupt."

UNC graduate student Tyler Oakley, who had organized the protest, said he regretted the broken window but not silencing Tancredo. "He was not able to practice his hate speech," said Oakley. "You have to respect the right of people to assemble and collectively speak." [But no right for individuals to speak? The collectivist mentality of Hitler, Stalin and Hegel before them is certainly well in evidence]

Lopez said she had mixed emotions about how the event ended. "We were more interested in an intellectual conversation instead of a shouting match," she said. "Ironically, the people that are trying to get our voices heard silenced us."

Matheson, who formed UNC-YWC this year with seven other conservative students, said he knew Tancredo would be controversial but he never expected this kind of response. "I didn't expect them to literally chase him out of the building," he said.

SOURCE



Hundreds of thousands of migrants working unregistered in UK

Ministers were criticised last night for lavishing almost 8 million pounds on 'spin' to promote the controversial UK Border Agency while dramatically under-counting the number of migrant workers. A study revealed that the Government's worker registration scheme may be underestimating the number of Eastern Europeans taking jobs here by a third.

The Home Office says there are 760,935 migrant workers registered but the University of Salford said there may be a further 253,645 not officially recognised.

The university study came as Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green uncovered figures showing that 7.8 million pounds was spent by the UK Border Agency on publicity. Spending is set to continue with the UKBA establishing a 'campaigns team' in its 'Corporate Communications Directorate'.

Posts include a campaigns manager on up to 56,688 to 'ensure we are engaging our audiences through new and innovative channels', and a senior marketing manager on up to 41,181 to take 'responsibility for brand guardianship'. Mr Green said: 'In a crisis you can guarantee that New Labour will put spin before substance. So at a time when our borders are open, and confidence in the immigration system is low, what do they do? They spend millions on advertising.'

The Salford researchers surveyed 300 migrants from EU states working in Bolton in summer 2007. Two thirds were on Government databases via the workers registration scheme or their National Insurance number. But one third were not registered on either. Professor Andy Steele said: 'Around a third of migrant workers in this study weren't on Government databases so the actual size of the migrant worker population in Bolton is actually a lot bigger than the statistics show. 'One in ten migrant workers, for example, works for cash in hand so they wouldn't be registered.'

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16 April, 2009

On Immigration, Large Gap Remains Between Mainstream America and Political Class

Sixty-six percent (66%) of likely voters nationwide say it is Very Important for the government to improve its enforcement of the borders and reduce illegal immigration. However, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 32% of America’s Political Class agrees.

An even more dramatic gap appears on the question of legalizing the status of those immigrants now in the country illegally. Voters nationwide are evenly divided on the question of whether it is even somewhat important: 48% say it’s important, and 45% say it’s not. However, among the Political Class, 74% say legalizing the status of these residents is important, and only 17% disagree.

This finding confirms that little has changed since the 2006 debate when immigration reform legislation championed by President George W. Bush and senior senators of both parties was defeated. Although that legislation had tremendous support among the political elite, the Senate was eventually forced to surrender to public opinion.

In 2006, the debate in Washington, DC centered around the details of how citizens could earn a “path to citizenship.” That was clearly a secondary issue among the general public which viewed gaining control of the border as the top priority. The legislation failed primarily because hardly anybody believed it would address that primary objective: Only 16% thought the Senate bill would reduce illegal immigration. The final Rasmussen Reports national telephone poll before the Senate vote found that just 22% of Americans supported the legislation.

One major misunderstanding has clouded the debate over immigration. Most pundits assume that those angry about the issue are angry at the immigrants. In fact, data shows that the anger is directed primarily at the federal government. Rather than being angry at immigrants, 56% continue to favor a welcoming immigration policy that would let anybody move to the United States except national security threats, criminals and those looking to live off the U.S. welfare system.

Regardless of the perspective, few Americans see the immigration issue as a top priority for President Obama at this time, although he has said he wants to address immigration reform this year. Data released earlier shows that immigration ranked fifth out of five priorities behind deficit reduction, health care reform, energy issues and education.

Overall, voters are evenly divided on the question of whether it’s possible to end illegal immigration: 45% say it is while 41% say it is not. However, by a 58% to 28% margin, the Political Class strongly rejects that notion and says it is not possible to end illegal immigration.

Earlier surveys have found that 68% say those who employ illegal immigrants should be punished. An Arizona sheriff who employs what some consider controversial methods to find and deport illegal immigrants is one of the most popular political figures in that southwestern state.

On an issue that tripped up Hillary Clinton during her run for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, just 15% of voters believe undocumented workers should be able to get drivers’ licenses. Seventy-seven percent (77%) say they should not. Among the Political Class, opinion is much more divided: 39% favor drivers’ licenses for undocumented workers while 50% are opposed. At the other extreme, those who hold a Mainstream, or Populist, view are opposed to issuing drivers’ licenses to undocumented workers by an 83% to 12% margin.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of Americans believe that a police officer should automatically check to see if someone is in this country legally when the officer pulls that person over for a traffic violation.

Most Americans share the Populist, or Mainstream America, view. Those in the Political Class tend to have more confidence in political leaders and less trust in the wisdom of the American people.

SOURCE



Well-dressed illegals arriving in Australia were living in Indonesian hotel

SOME of the families in detention on Christmas Island spent almost two months in hotel accommodation in Indonesia before travelling to a small island for a three-day boat trip to the tiny Australian territory.

A little girl from the group, whose wooden boat eluded a Customs patrol vessel to dock at Christmas Island's main jetty, yesterday took her first steps outside the gates of the island's guarded and gated family accommodation complex since she arrived with her parents before dawn on April 8.

The 15m boat that brought them here is less than five years old and more seaworthy than most used by asylum seekers in recent years, but it was narrow enough to cause seasickness. It had one Indonesian crew member. The group's belongings, including clothes and toiletries, were drenched by seawater and rain during the journey. Some in the group of 38, mostly Iraqis and including seven children, have since told how the boat's diesel engine stopped during the journey, reducing the women and children to tears. Ten single males from the boat are being kept at the island's $400million Immigration Detention Centre.

Accompanied by adults and an immigration official, the girl went only a few metres to and from a makeshift office of the commonwealth department that will decide whether her family's asylum claim is valid. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship takes asylum seekers through a series of basic questions, including "Why did you come here?" It is during this processing stage, which can take up to two months, that the girl and the rest of the group will be kept under guard and behind fences, separate from the community and asylum seekers who arrived earlier.

The questioning and checks will continue today for the April 8 boatload as 16 men and boys from Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan receive permanent visas and are jetted off Christmas Island for new lives in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland. [Just what we need: More arrogant Muslims to hate us] They include four men and four adolescent boys on board a boatload of 35 asylum seekers intercepted on December 2 last year on Ashmore Reef, 320km from the Kimberley coast. The adolescents have been attending school on Christmas Island, and living in the community with paid guardians from the organisation Life Without Borders. The other eight to receive permanent protection visas today are men whose boat was intercepted 12 nautical miles off Ashmore Reef on January 19.

A spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship said each of the 16 had been provided with resettlement support, and foster care arrangements had been made for the four adolescents. Of the 455 unauthorised arrivals, including crew members, since last September, 131 have been granted visas.

Refugee lawyer David Mann said people should not make judgments about the unusual group of asylum seekers who docked at Christmas Island last Wednesday simply because they were well-dressed or brought personal belongings. [One should not suspect that they are economic migrants rather than genuine regugees??]

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15 April, 2009

The open-borders lobby's attempts to silence its critics.

By Mark Krikorian of Center for Immigration Studies.

Across the West we see efforts to restrict free expression of political ideas related to immigration. We're familiar with what's been happening in Europe: not only the Muhammad-cartoon riots in Denmark, but more recently a court in Holland applying Saudi blasphemy rules to a local politician. There was also a U.N. resolution passed in December prohibiting defamation of Islam with the goal of making such defamation a crime under international law.

Accusations of "Islamophobia" have been used as a cudgel to shut down debate even in Canada, where Islamic groups have used the law to try to silence National Review's Mark Steyn and others.

We are seeing a similar dynamic here. Obviously, the challenge that immigration-driven multiculturalism poses to free speech here is the decaf, low-calorie version of what Europe and Canada face. The cultural distance between our society and the bulk of our immigrants is much smaller than in Europe, and we have a much stronger sense of ourselves, which has resulted in more success in getting newcomers to assimilate.

But decaf or not, the challenge of multiculturalism is real.

The most recent salvo on this side of the ocean is a report released last week by the Southern Poverty Law Center tarring the three leading groups working to limit immigration-including my own Center for Immigration Studies-as part of a racist conspiracy, supposedly orchestrated by a retired eye doctor in Michigan named John Tanton. The fact that they went after mainstream groups rather than fringe ones shows that the goal is not elevating the tone of public discourse but shutting it down altogether. Perhaps a more honest title for the report would have been "The Protocols of the Elders of Restrictionism."

A little background on the SPLC. The group is headed by Morris Dees, described even by left-wing writers as a "fraud" and a "millionaire huckster"-essentially a cross between Joseph McCarthy and Tammy Faye Bakker. Exposés on the group have run in the Montgomery Advertiser (which probably would have won a Pulitzer but for the SPLC's lobbying efforts against it), Harper's, and The Nation, but the money train continues-the SPLC's 2007 tax return shows net assets of $219 million.

The report's section on CIS is not just hackwork, but amateurish hackwork. Much of it dwells on letters written to (not by, but to) one of my board members, misidentified as having been executive director. Our research is described as having been debunked by "mainstream think tanks and organizations," oddly enough including two of the most strident open-borders advocacy groups in the nation. My tenure there, the majority of the center's existence, is dismissed briefly at the end as "The Later Years." And they didn't even mention my book, which knits together decades of CIS research on the many facets of immigration into a unified theoretical framework-something at least worth touching on when trying to show how naughty CIS is.

What's more, CIS is an unlikely source of "intolerance." The chairman is Peter Nuñez, U.S. attorney for San Diego under Reagan; the board includes the president of the Greater Miami Urban League and a former executive director of the National Black Caucus Foundation; the staff includes the former national policy director for the American Jewish Committee; and I didn't even speak English until I got to kindergarten.

I don't know much about the details in the other sections (on FAIR and Numbers USA) but I can only assume they're up to the SPLC's usual standards.

Now, people call each other names all the time in politics, but this is different. The SPLC purports to play the role of arbiter of rectitude on racial issues, and as such it claims to take no other policy positions. This pose is utterly false; the report was jointly released with America's Voice, a hard-left open-borders group. And regardless of who's making it, the charge of racism is the gravest one in our society-not a political one, like an allegation that you failed to pay taxes on your chauffeured limousine, but a moral one, meant to delegitimize you altogether as a participant in civilized society.

Further, the SPLC's smear does not occur in a vacuum; it's part of a larger trend of open-borders advocates trying to silence dissent. The New York Times has recently run many editorials-even more than usual-on why mass immigration is the bravest, kindest, warmest, most wonderful policy ever, and why anyone who questions it is evil and to be shunned. Perhaps most notable was this month's a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/opinion/01sun1.html?_r=1">"The Nativists Are Restless," a foam-flecked rant about "Latino-bashers" and "xenophobes" so outlandish that even some people at the Times might have been embarrassed.

The National Council of La Raza has also joined in, launching last year a smear site called We Can Stop the Hate, the explicit goal of which is to silence those who oppose amnesty and open borders. La Raza has been assisted in this by a slew of co-sponsors including the Anti-Defamation League, the Center for American Progress, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, George Soros's Media Matters, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and-surprise!-the SPLC.

The head of La Raza, Janet Murguia, has been quite open about her opposition to free discussion of immigration issues; as she told Lou Dobbs (whom she wants pulled from the airwaves): "We have to draw the line on freedom of speech, when freedom of speech becomes hate speech." This was not a one-time outburst; here's what the New York Times has written on her efforts:

Ms. Murguia argued that hate speech should not be tolerated, even if such censorship were a violation of First Amendment rights:

"Everyone knows there is a line sometimes that can be crossed when it comes to free speech. And when free speech transforms into hate speech, we've got to draw that line. And that's what we're doing here today. And we need to make sure that network executives will hold their people accountable and not cross that line."

Not to be outdone, MALDEF joined with the SPLC to try to intimidate the American Legion into silence regarding illegal immigration. The Legion has long supported vigorous immigration enforcement, but last year, for the first time, it prepared a policy booklet outlining an immigration strategy and encouraging its members to start a national dialogue on the subject. MALDEF leapt into action, warning the organization not to get uppity: "The Legion should focus its efforts on taking care of American veterans," MALDEF advised. The SPLC implicitly threatened,to label the Legion a hate group for publishing "a hard-line attack on undocumented immigrants that's at odds with the Legion's mainstream image." Revealingly, the SPLC linked the Legion's supposed nativism with its opposition to Communism. (What's next? "Marxophobia"?)

But pressuring reporters, editors, media executives, and others to censor themselves apparently didn't bear fruit quickly enough, so a second front in this strategy has been launched-an attempt to use the Federal Communications Commission to police political debate. Something called the National Hispanic Media Coalition, which seems to occupy itself with demanding that more Hispanics appear on TV, has filed a petition with the FCC demanding an inquiry into negative portrayals of Hispanics ("hate speech"). The purveyors of such hate speech supposedly include not only Michael Savage, who frankly might relish the label, but also Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Tucker Carlson, and others. The petition says that only "those who would prefer hate speech to remain under the radar will claim that such an inquiry violates the First Amendment," but the group's goal of narrowing the legitimate bounds of public debate is clear from the statement that it "believes a solution can be reached that strikes a balance between our nation's esteem for free speech and America's promise of life, liberty, and justice."

The multiculturalist war on free speech takes different forms in different places. In Europe the goal is to squelch the expression of the idea that newcomers should be held to the same standards of behavior as the native-born, and the movement has occasionally expressed itself in violence. Here, the goal is to silence supporters of immigration-law enforcement, and the movement has remained non-violent, but it's nonetheless a challenge to the idea of a free society. In both forms, multiculturalism stifles any dissent from the idea that outsiders must be permitted to immigrate on their own terms, not ours.

This is no longer about immigration. It's about freedom.

SOURCE



Australian government fears new surge in illegal immigrants

Reality is finally breaking into their Leftist dreams

AUSTRALIA is urging Indonesia to do more to crack down on people-smugglers as the Rudd Government braces for a new wave of more sophisticated illegal boat arrivals. Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus yesterday attributed a spike in unauthorised arrivals in recent months to deteriorating security in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan and warned Australians to prepare for more boats in coming weeks. His warning came as immigration law specialist Simon Jeans said men in their 20s were posing as teenage boys to avoid immigration detention after they landed unlawfully in the country.

Twelve boatloads of asylum seekers have arrived in Australian waters since September, prompting the Opposition to accuse the Government of giving the green light to people-smugglers. The Rudd Government abandoned John Howard's Pacific Solution in February last year as it sought to soften Australia's treatment of refugees.

Opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone said yesterday the Government must stop "squeezing" border security funding. "In the last 10 days, we have seen the appalling results of this resource squeeze and lack of focus of Australia's border security," Dr Stone said.

Mr Debus, backed by Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Immigration Minister Chris Evans, is attending a two-day summit in Bali this week. The three ministers will call on Indonesian officials to make a greater effort to intercept asylum seekers before they make the dangerous voyage to Australia. "You must expect that there will be, within a relatively short amount of time, attempts to reach a country of preferred destination like Australia," Mr Debus said yesterday.

Senator Evans said lobbying efforts would focus on convincing Indonesia to improve its domestic legal arrangements. "They currently don't have, in our view, enough capacity to prosecute people-smugglers in Indonesia," Senator Evans said. He described as first-rate the level of co-operation Australia had received from Indonesia in trying to break up people-smuggling rings.

The ministers' comments came less than a week after a boat carrying 38 Middle Eastern asylum seekers slipped past Australian border protection authorities and docked at Christmas Island. Mr Debus yesterday defended the breach, saying there was more surveillance now than when the Howard government was in power. "Our surveillance is informed by intelligence," hesaid. "You can't expect that every boat and every kilometre of the sea will be covered." He emphasised that despite the upsurge, the number of people coming to Australia remained modest by global standards.

Senator Evans said people-smugglers were changing tactics, often using sophisticated positioning systems to chart their course to Australia. "One of the things we've found is some of these boats being of better quality and having larger numbers than those that arrived last year, particularly one of the departures from Sri Lanka last year (which) had quite sophisticated positioning systems," the Immigration Minister said.

Mr Jeans, a Sydney-based immigration law specialist with 20 years' experience, yesterday told The Australian he encountered young men claiming to be 10 years younger than they were to get an easier ride through immigration. "Many young adults, aged between 18 and 24, arrive unlawfully claiming to be "unaccompanied minors'," Mr Jeans said. "They know they will receive a much easier time at an interview by immigration officials if they claim to be 14 or 15 years old and (coming from countries) with nutrient levels lower than Australia they can appear much younger than their real age." The scam is the latest to be adopted by illegal people-smugglers and exploits government policy against putting children into immigration detention.

Asylum-seekers destroy identity papers before entering the pipeline with the "snakeheads" who run the people smuggling trade. Frustrated Immigration officials say they are forced to give the young men, who routinely claim to be travelling alone, the benefit of the doubt if they are picked up in Australia. Sources say it is a catch-22 for officials. While aware of the scam, they must "err on the side of caution" and accept at face value the age provided to avoid locking up children.

Formerly, X-rays were used to check the bone density of those making what were considered to be questionable claims about their age, but this practice has since ceased. Pamela Curr, of the Asylum-Seeker Resource Centre, expressed scepticism at the claims of age fraud. "What's the advantage? It doesn't make any difference to the assessment of their claim," Ms Curr said. [Pamela the cur just shows her ignorance. Children are not locked up under current policy]

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14 April, 2009

CIS roundup

1. The Appearance of Security: REAL ID Final Regulations vs. PASS ID Act of 2009

EXCERPT: The move toward more secure issuance of state identification documents may be in jeopardy. The most recent iteration of the National Governors Association secure ID bill circulating the Senate for signatures for possible introduction, the “Providing for Additional Security in States’ Identification Act of 2009” or PASS ID Act, gives the appearance of security for drivers licenses and non-driver IDs (DL/ID) when, in fact, security does not exist. The PASS ID Act would provide for insecure issuance practices by the states that, for the most part, were in place prior to 9/11. In many ways, the PASS ID Act is a step backward for most states, or at least an endorsement of the status quo, because nearly all states are implementing elements of the REAL ID Act1 — the 2005 measure designed to raise state ID standards in response to the 9/11 attacks — even in states that have passed legislation that precludes REAL ID implementation. However the new bill’s mandate to verify an ID applicant’s legal presence in the United States by 2013 is voluntary, as any state can opt out of PASS ID Act requirements.

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2. No Surprise Here .

So, the Atlanta paper has selected its new conservative editorial columnist, the result of a contest to fill the affirmative-action position. I'm sure Kyle Wingfield is a prince of a man and an engaging writer — but it's no accident that he supports open borders: 'I have seen the segregation and inhumanity that result from being unable to stop immigrants from coming to your country, but managing to stop them from working in your country and integrating into your society.' (And yes, he does write editorials for the Wall Street Journal, thanks for asking.) From his brief intro piece (his column won't start ‘til next month), he seems to be against cap and trade, Card Check, and the nanny state in general — all sound views the liberals at the AJC editorial page would recoil from. But he can get away with all that because, like I always say, open borders is the immutable value of the Left.

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3. 'Undocumented Americans'? .

EXCERPT: Here's an e-mail alert about the upcoming May Day amnesty parades (no word on whether the Politburo will be in the viewing stands):

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4. No 'Progress by Pesach' .

EXCERPT: Now that Passover (Pesach) has started, it's worth looking at the results of Jewish pro-amnesty groups' campaign called Progress by Pesach, to light a fire under Congress and the White House to get moving on 'comprehensive immigration reform.' This is of more than parochial interest because the effort was led by HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, whose president, Gideon Aronoff, is now chairman of the National Immigration Forum (the national umbrella group for open-borders advocacy) and as such the paramount chief of the amnesty movement. (This is the same guy Derb debated a couple years back.) It was supported by all the big national Jewish organizations, and there was a concerted effort to blacklist one of the few dissenters, the Center's Stephen Steinlight.

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5. McCaskill Pulling a Gillibrand? .

EXCERPT: Sen. Claire McCaskill, the rare Democratic immigration hawk, is apparently growing in office — she's said she'll likely vote for the DREAM Act amnesty if it comes up this year.

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6. Judge: ACLU Wrong on E-Verify .

EXCERPT: Rhode Island’s Superior Court has dismissed an ACLU lawsuit aimed at stopping the use of E-Verify. It is a significant loss for the ACLU and a big win for state government.

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7. That’s Enough Culture for Now .

EXCERPT: Kudos to the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Exchanges for taking steps to curb use of certain temporary work visas as unemployment rates continue to rise in the United States. Deputy Asst. Secretary Stanley Colvin, who heads the bureau, recently sent a letter to organizations that sponsor summer work exchange programs asking them to voluntarily cut back on the number of visiting workers, noting that it could be very hard to place them in jobs this year. The Summer Work Travel Program is one of 15 “J visa” exchange programs run by the State Department that bring in 400,000 foreign workers, students, and exchange visitors each year. The summer workers typically work as lifeguards, ice cream scoopers, camp counselors, and produce stand clerks – the kind of jobs that would otherwise be held by American teenagers.

The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076. Email: center@cis.org www.cis.org





13 April, 2009

Immigration blitz nets nearly 100 meatworkers

In Australia! Raids may be off the agenda in Obama's America but there seems to be no problem with them in Australia

A SIMULTANEOUS blitz by immigration officials and police has uncovered a fraud racket supplying up to 100 illegal workers to meatwork companies across three states. Sydney residences were among homes and business searched in early morning raids yesterday which spanned NSW, Victoria and Queensland. At least four illegal workers were caught in Sydney and one was found in Wagga Wagga. All were from China.

The Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, said the operation had exposed a labour contractor allegedly working as a go-between for overseas workers and the Australian meat industry. "The department's investigators received information from a number of sources about a labour-hire intermediary who was allegedly bringing Chinese foreign workers into Australia to be employed in meatworks unlawfully," Senator Evans said. "The racket [used] fraudulent identities to gain employment for people without permission to work in Australia."

Last night, 79 illegal workers had been identified and that number was expected to grow as more people were interviewed and confirmed as working in Australia illegally. "The department believes up to 100 illegal workers are involved in the racket," Senator Evans said. Investigations into identity fraud were under way and fake passports had been seized, he said.

The federal vice-president of the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union, Patricia Fernandez, said a shortage of labourers had forced companies to look overseas for workers. "The shortage of labour has been created by past governments not putting enough money into training for workers," she said. "We find companies bringing in people through agencies and making them work at the expense of Australian workers." Backpackers were the latest workers exploited for cheap labour, she said.

Raids were also conducted in Scone, Melbourne, Warrnambool in Victoria and Kilcoy in Queensland. Meatworks companies, unaware recruitment firms were allegedly supplying illegal workers, complied with the search, Senator Evans said.

SOURCE



Israel has a problem with illegals too

New finance minister teams up with Immigration Authority to deal with problem 'threatening Israeli workers'; comprehensive plan includes increased fines and indictments against employers

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz recently instructed ministry officials to develop a comprehensive plan for deporting 100,000 illegal foreign workers from Israel within a year. "What's going on is an outrage," said Steinitz at a meeting a few hours prior to the Passover Seder. "There are a 100,000 people taking jobs illegally while Israelis remain unemployed. The plan must involve painful economic sanctions on those who employ illegal workers."

Currently, an employer hiring illegal workers can be fined up to NIS 100,000 (about $24,000) and Steinitz is interested in doubling this sum. "The point is to make it fiscally unwise to hire an illegal worker," he told ministry employees. "It is a financial crime. It is not enough merely to deport the workers; we must also hurt the employers."

"We must fight such employers, must look for them, publish their names, indict them - and do it by this year! It is inconceivable that, of the 400,000 foreign workers in Israel, 100,000 of them are illegal and meanwhile unemployment in Israel stands at over 200,000 persons," the new minister said.

As such, the Finance Ministry, along with the Immigration Authority, has set the following goals for 2009: Reducing tens of thousands of illegal workers in Israel; receiving legal assistance from the Justice Ministry to ensure deportation; encouraging the public to understand the severity of hiring illegal workers; strengthening the legal foreign workers in Israel by offering them financial incentive packages; and, as stated, increasing the fines and indictment of employers of illegal workers.

Steinitz's plan falls in line with the policy of Internal Minister and Shas Chairman Eli Yishai and Immigration Authority Chief Yaakov Ganot. "Our goal is to make sure that unemployed people in Israel will be able to find respectable employment and that the Israeli public will understand that illegal workers must not be employed," said Ganot, whose organization has recently hired dozens of new workers to enforce this policy.

In 2008, the Immigration Authority conducted fewer initiatives against illegal workers and, as a result, their number in Israel increased significantly. In fact, 2009 is considered a peak year, in terms of numbers of illegal foreigners in Israel.

"The change in economic situation, the increase in lawyers specializing in immigration, the lack of any body to investigate requests for refugee status, public tolerance for hiring illegal workers – all of these have led to the situation today," Ganot explained. "It is unacceptable that factories are closing, Israeli workers are fired, Israeli fathers cannot support their children and meanwhile tens of thousands of foreigners are working illegally in Israel," he added.

But, he added, things are about to change. "The Finance Ministry has given us many new resources, funds to create an enforcement branch, organized and computerized information to help with inter-government coordination. This year is going to be the turnaround year," he said.

SOURCE





12 April, 2009

Big anti-illegal effort in California

A group of conservative activists are hoping to bring the issue of illegal immigration back to the front-burner of California politics with a new ballot measure that would create a new caste of birth certificates for children of illegal immigrants and require undocumented parents to be photographed, fingerprinted and pay an additional $75 fee.

A first version of the measure was cleared for circulation on Friday, but Ted Hilton, one of the measure's authors, said in a brief phone interview that the proponents planned to "to do some changes and then re-file" the measure.

He hung up before sharing what parts of the measure would be changed. Former Republican state Sen. Bill Morrow, another author of the measure, could not be immediately be reached for comment.

Proponents call the measure the California Taxpayer Protection Act 2010. They have a Web site on which they tout the support of two California GOP members of Congress, Dana Rohrabacher and Brian Bilbray, as well as Republican state Sen. Tom Harman, a GOP candidate for attorney general in 2010. Also listed as a supporter is Ward Connerly, the proponent of past anti-affirmative action initiatives across the country. The measure, the current version of which you can read in its entirety here is aimed for the June 2010 ballot, according to the Web site.

Once a final version is cleared for signature gathering, they must collect 433,971 valid signatures from registered voters in 150 days to qualify for the ballot. "This is going to be a tremendous grassroots effort," said Hilton.

Few ballot measures in California qualify without funded signature-gathering campaigns and proponents have already created a fundraising account, which spent nearly $200,000 in 2008. Funds were raised mostly in small increments.

Attorney General Jerry Brown has given the first draft of the measure its official title and summary:

DENIAL OF PUBLIC BENEFITS FOR PERSONS WHO CANNOT VERIFY LAWFUL PRESENCE. DENIAL OF BIRTH CERTIFICATES TO CHILDREN OF UNDOCUMENTED PARENTS WHO FAIL TO VERIFY STATUS. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

Requires applicants for state, local, and state-administered federal aid to verify lawful presence in United States. Requires applications for public benefits submitted by undocumented parents on behalf of their lawful-resident children to be given to federal authorities. Denies birth certificates to children born to undocumented parents unless mother provides fingerprint and other information to be given to federal authorities. Limits benefits for children in child-only CalWORKS cases to federal minimum. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: If upheld in the courts, unknown potential one-time and ongoing costs to state and local governments due to changes in the application process for public benefits as well as changes in the way birth certificates are issued. These costs would be partly offset by additional new fees for certain birth certificates. Unknown, but probably minor, state and local law enforcement costs due to provisions in the measure creating new crimes, such as for the filing of false affidavits to obtain public benefits. If upheld in the courts, state savings of over $1 billion annually from prohibiting child-only CalWORKs cases, partially offset by state and county costs for children who shifted to Foster Care or county general assistance programs. Further unknown savings from the provisions changing the application processes for public benefits. (09-0004.)

SOURCE



Number of migrants caught trying to sneak into Britain on trucks DOUBLES in a year

Migrants trying to reach Britain by stowing away on lorries in Calais have doubled in number in the past year, French authorities revealed yesterday. More than 2,000 a month are now trying to smuggle themselves over the Channel, their figures showed. French ministers are said to be considering bringing in the army to beef up port security in response to the growing pressure.

The number of illegal immigrants trying their luck has risen to 6,031 in the first three months of this year. This compares with 2,919 caught by port security services trying to gain access to trucks queuing for ferries between January and March last year.

The disclosure of the rapidly climbing numbers brought warnings that the developing crisis is reminiscent of 'the worst days of Sangatte'. A Red Cross refugee centre at the village just outside Calais was shut down in 2002 amid a row over its role as a magnet for would-be illegal immigrants. Britain was eventually forced to accept many of its residents as asylum seekers in return for a French decision to shut the Sangatte site.

Labour ministers have been involved in controversy in recent weeks after a botched announcement by Immigration Minister Phil Woolas that talks were underway between Britain and France to establish another migrant hostel near Calais. But French immigration minister Eric Besson insisted he had no knowledge of any talks and described a new migrant camp as 'out of the question'.

Numbers now trying to break into lorries around Calais bear comparison with figures published at the height of the controversy over the Sangatte camp: In the 14 months before the hostel closed a single ferry line, P&O, said it had found 6,800 stowaways in the backs of lorries. This meant that around 500 a month had succeeded in penetrating security. The Red Cross hostel itself, designed to house 900 migrants, was regularly home to 2,000 in its final months.

The latest figures were made public by Calais port security chief Herve Couret, who told regional paper Nord Littoral that three out of four migrants arrested were caught trying to break into or board lorries. A further 1,501 were caught on video surveillance trying to jump fences, he said. Mr Couret said: 'It's very serious. But this is not the most worrying thing. 'I am really angry about the rise of another phenomenon - 1,304 unauthorised people were caught in 231 refrigerated lorries. These people are getting sick in the lorries.' Migrants are also risking their lives trying to cross the Channel in the back of tanker HGVs transporting petro-chemicals. Mr Couret said: 'This is quite new - people smugglers don't have any feeling.'

The pressure on the port of Calais is being matched at the Channel tunnel terminal outside the town, which has reported a 50 per cent rise in migrants over the past year. Most are also trying to get onto lorries waiting for freight trains. Despite 11 miles of barbed wire security fences, officials at Eurotunnel said they are now catching around 5,000 migrants every year.

Eurotunnel chief Jacques Gounon said he is preparing to ask the French army to guard the 700 hectare site. And the French immigration minister is reported to be considering bringing in the military to guard both port and tunnel. Mr Gounon said: 'We are ready to welcome them on the site and to provide shelter for them. 'We are not frontier guards and we need to reinforce surveillance measures on the edge of the site.'

Yesterday Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green said the figures were 'alarming'. He said: 'It shows that potential illegal immigrants believe that Britain's borders are not secure and that their attempts to enter the country will be successful. 'It's going back towards the worst days of Sangatte.'

Promising that the Tories would establish a specialist border police force, Mr Green added: 'Until we develop this kind of expertise there will always be a problem at our borders.'

SOURCE





11 April, 2009

'Terror plotters' allowed to stay in Britan despite visa breaches

At least two of the men suspected of being members of an alleged al-Qaeda cell had been allowed to stay in Britain despite allegedly breaching the conditions of their student visas, The Daily Telegraph has learnt. One man was stopped by immigration officials at Manchester Airport last week as he arrived from Pakistan, but was allowed to enter the country despite his visa documents being "all over the place", according to one source. Another suspect was threatened with deportation after immigration officials discovered he was working as a security guard instead of studying, but he was nonetheless allowed to stay.

The revelations will intensify pressure on the Government to carry out a complete overhaul of the student visa system after it emerged that all but one of the 12 suspects being held on suspicion of plotting an "Easter spectacular" bombing campaign had come to the UK from Pakistan on student visas approved by the Home Office.

Patrick Mercer, the chairman of the parliamentary counter-terrorism subcommittee, described the UK Border Agency's failure to act as "a disgrace" and a "frightening" lapse of immigration controls.

There were also calls yesterday for greater co-operation between the UK and Pakistan in vetting applicants for student visas, with Pakistan's high commissioner suggesting vetting procedures were currently inadequate.

Anti-terrorist police are continuing to search 10 premises in Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe, Lancs., following Wednesday's arrests of a suspected terror cell which police believe may have been planning suicide bomb attacks on three shopping centres in Manchester over the Easter weekend. A security source has told The Daily Telegraph that one of the men was stopped after he flew into Manchester Airport from Pakistan only last week, when immigration officials discovered he did not have the correct documents to enter the country.

"It was a shambles," the source said. "This man's documents were all over the place when he landed. He was allowed to proceed on the basis that he had to come back for an appointment with immigration at a later date and show them correct documents. He was effectively left free to do whatever he wanted."

Another suspect, Johnus Khan, was allegedly working virtually full-time as a security guard on building sites until three months ago, when he was challenged by immigration officials. His former employer, Haroon Khan, said: "As a student, you're only allowed to work for a certain number of hours if you are on a student visa. He worked above his allowed amount. When immigration got involved, some of his friends were deported. "He was working four or five days a week and we had to cut down to two." He said Mr Khan was enrolled at Liverpool John Moores University. "I don't know what he studied," his employer added. "As far as I knew he was never at university, just always working."

Mr Mercer said of the latest revelations: "This is symptomatic of the fact that there are wholesale breaches of immigration regulations and yet nothing ever seems to be done about it. "This is especially worrying when you consider that it seems to be the case with terrorism issues time after time. Alleged terrorists have already been in the hands of our security authorities but nothing has been done."

Almost 400,000 student visas are granted every year, with around 10,000 being issued in Pakistan alone. Foreign students bring with them a £10 billion boost to the economy which the Government is keen to encourage. But the deluge of applicants has led to concerns that proper background checks are not being carried out. Foreign students are such big business that many British universities have set up representative offices abroad to encourage more students to apply for entry. The Daily Telegraph has discovered that two of the suspects arrested on Wednesday obtained their visas after applying to Liverpool John Moores University through one such representative office in Peshawar.

A well-placed source said Abdul Wahab Khan had applied for his place in 2006 and that the university's visa advice service had helped him and one of the other suspects. Khan's visa was issued the same year. The other suspect advised by Liverpool John Moore University's Peshawar office is believed to be from Landi Kotal, a district in the Khyber Agency close to the Afghan border.

A British immigration lawyer in Pakistan, Shahid Aslam, said UK universities were desperate for fee-paying Pakistani students and that consultants who provide successful applicants are paid up to 25 per cent of first year tuition fees, which can amount to more than £2,500 per student. "It's a lucrative business," he said.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the campaign group Migrationwatch UK, said: "Student visas have long been a gaping hole in our border controls which the Government has chosen to ignore, partly because of the fees that foreign students pay."

SOURCE



Obama’s shamnesty distraction

I’m not sure why Drudge is hyping the New York Times’ stenography piece on Obama’s plans to carry through on his promise to pitch a shamnesty bill. It’s not news. It’s a White House-planted distraction sourced mainly to La Raza/The Race lobbyist-turned-White House open borders czar Cecilia Munoz. I pointed a few weeks ago to Obama’s meeting with Latino groups pushing for faster action on paving the pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal aliens. You know that the DREAM Act has been reintroduced in Congress. You know about the Obama Census plan to Leave No Illegal Alien Behind. And you know that Nancy Pelosi has been banging the “stop the unpatriotic raids” drum.

You also know that there is already a de facto shamnesty plan already in place — overseen by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is eroding interior immigration enforcement. A West Coast source tells me that customs and border patrol agents have been ordered not to confiscate Washington state IDs from illegal aliens. ICE agents are feeling pressure to curtail workplace investigations. And illegal alien deportation fugitive Zeituni Onyango, aunt of the president, is going nowhere.

What is more newsworthy is the rising tide of voices standing up against lax immigration enforcement and its costs. It’s not just conservative immigration enforcement activists. It’s politicians who have to answer to their law-abiding constituents demanding to know why scarce resources should be allocated to illegal aliens over citizens. Like the five Democrats in Colorado who helped kill the state version of the DREAM Act. And the local health officials in northern California who are finally ending taxpayer subsidies for non-emergency illegal alien care.

It’s citizens who have suffered the loss of loved ones as a result of bloody sanctuary policies. Like Ray Tranchant, who testified on Capitol Hill last week on how failure of local and federal immigration officials to cooperate contributed to the death of his daughter and her best friend at the hands of a revolving door illegal alien drunk driver. Or like Daniella Bologna, who filed suit against the open-borders government of San Francisco on Tuesday:

The family of a father and his two sons who were gunned down last year have filed a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco, claiming its sanctuary policy contributed to their deaths. Anthony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, were gunned down in the Excelsior District on June 16 after possibly being mistaken for rival gang members, according to police.

Edwin Ramos, 22, a suspected member of the MS-13 gang, has been charged with their murders. The Bologna family lawsuit alleges that the city’s sanctuary policy shielding illegal immigrants - even those charged with a crime - allowed Ramos to stay in this country illegally. Ramos had a history of violence and several prior contacts with San Francisco police as a minor. But city policy prevented officers from turning him over to federal immigration authorities for deportation.

“What we’re saying is that the city adopted and enforced a policy that was actually inconsistent with and prohibited by federal law,” Michael Kelly, an attorney for the Bologna family, said Tuesday.

Since the last immigration battle, more and more citizens and local and state officials have begun to recognize the ravages of lax enforcement. When Obama moves forward with his official shamnesty legislation, he better be prepared. We’ve been there. Done that. And the White House should know that we are ready to stop the Open-Borders Express again. Stick that on your front page, Fishwrap of Record.

SOURCE





10 April, 2009

Obama to Push Immigration Bill

While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country’s immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday. Mr. Obama will frame the new effort — likely to rouse passions on all sides of the highly divisive issue — as “policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system,” said the official, Cecilia Muñoz, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House.

Mr. Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May, administration officials said, and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.

Some White House officials said that immigration would not take precedence over the health care and energy proposals that Mr. Obama has identified as priorities. But the timetable is consistent with pledges Mr. Obama made to Hispanic groups in last year’s campaign. He said then that comprehensive immigration legislation, including a plan to make legal status possible for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, would be a priority in his first year in office. Latino voters turned out strongly for Mr. Obama in the election. “He intends to start the debate this year,” Ms. Munoz said.

But with the economy seriously ailing, advocates on different sides of the debate said that immigration could become a polarizing issue for Mr. Obama in a year when he has many other major battles to fight. Opponents, mainly Republicans, say they will seek to mobilize popular outrage against any effort to legalize unauthorized immigrant workers while so many Americans are out of jobs.

Democratic legislative aides said that opening a full-fledged debate this year on immigration, particularly with health care as a looming priority, could weigh down the president’s domestic agenda. Debate is still under way among administration officials about the precise timing and strategy. For example, it is unclear who will take up the Obama initiative in Congress. No serious legislative talks on the issue are expected until after some of Mr. Obama’s other priorities have been debated, Congressional aides said.

Just last month, Mr. Obama openly recognized that immigration is a potential minefield. "I know this is an emotional issue; I know it’s a controversial issue,” he told an audience at a town meeting on March 18 in Costa Mesa, Calif. “I know that the people get real riled up politically about this." But, he said, immigrants who are long-time residents but lack legal status “have to have some mechanism over time to get out of the shadows.”

The White House is calculating that public support for fixing the immigration system, which is widely acknowledged to be broken, will outweigh opposition from voters who argue that immigrants take jobs from Americans. A groundswell among voters opposed to legal status for illegal immigrants led to the defeat in 2007 of a bipartisan immigration bill that was strongly supported by President George W. Bush.

Administration officials said that Mr. Obama’s plan would not add new workers to the American work force, but that it would recognize millions of illegal immigrants who have already been working here. Despite the deep recession, there is no evidence of any wholesale exodus of illegal immigrant workers, independent studies of census data show.

Opponents of legalization legislation were incredulous at the idea that Mr. Obama would take on immigration when economic pain for Americans is so widespread. “It just doesn’t seem rational that any political leader would say, let’s give millions of foreign workers permanent access to U.S. jobs when we have millions of Americans looking for jobs,” said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that favors reduced immigration. Mr. Beck predicted that Mr. Obama would face “an explosion” if he proceeded this year. “It’s going to be, ‘You’re letting them keep that job, when I could have that job,’ ” he said.

In broad outlines, officials said, the Obama administration favors legislation that would bring illegal immigrants into the legal system by recognizing that they violated the law, and imposing fines and other penalties to fit the offense. The legislation would seek to prevent future illegal immigration by strengthening border enforcement and cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, while creating a national system for verifying the legal immigration status of new workers. But administration officials emphasized that many details remained to be debated.

Opponents of a legalization effort said that if the Obama administration maintained the enforcement pressure initiated by Mr. Bush, the recession would force many illegal immigrants to return home. Dan Stein, the president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said it would be “politically disastrous” for Mr. Obama to begin an immigration initiative at this time.

Anticipating opposition, Mr. Obama has sought to shift some of the political burden to advocates for immigrants, by encouraging them to build support among voters for when his proposal goes to Congress.

That is why Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, a Democrat from Mr. Obama’s hometown, Chicago, has been on the road most weekends since last December, traveling far outside his district to meetings in Hispanic churches, hoping to generate something like a civil rights movement in favor of broad immigration legislation.

Mr. Gutierrez was in Philadelphia on Saturday at the Iglesia Internacional, a big Hispanic evangelical church in a former warehouse, the 17th meeting in a tour that has included cities as far flung as Providence, R.I.; Atlanta; Miami; and San Francisco. Greeted with cheers and amens by a full house of about 350 people, Mr. Gutierrez, shifting fluidly between Spanish and English, called for immigration policies to preserve family unity, the strategic theme of his campaign.

At each meeting, speakers from the community, mainly citizens, tell stories of loved ones who were deported or of delays and setbacks in the immigration system. Illegal immigrants have not been invited to speak.

Mr. Gutierrez’s meetings have all been held in churches, both evangelical and Roman Catholic, with clergy members from various denominations, including in several places Muslim imams. At one meeting in Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, officiated.

One speaker on Saturday, Jill Flores, said that her husband, Felix, an immigrant from Mexico who crossed the border illegally, had applied for legal status five years ago but had not been able to gain it even though she is an American citizen, as are their two children. Now, Ms. Flores said, she fears that her husband will have to leave for Mexico and will not be permitted to return for many years.

In an interview, Mr. Gutierrez rejected the idea that the timing is bad for an immigration debate. “There is never a wrong time for us,” he said. “Families are being divided and destroyed, and they need help now.”

SOURCE



Floridians Object to Illegal Immigration Costs

By Bob McCarty

Simultaneous studies released this week show soaring costs of illegal immigration in Florida and demonstrate strong voter objections to the burdens placed on them by illegal immigration.

A new Zogby International poll of 801 likely voters across the state found that, by an overwhelming margin, Floridians believe that illegal immigration is harming their state. Their perceptions are rooted in reality.

A separate Federation for American Immigration Reform study, the Costs of Illegal Immigration to Floridians found that providing education and health care to illegal aliens and their families, and incarcerating criminal illegal aliens, costs state taxpayers more than $3.8 billion annually, more than double the costs measured in 2005.

The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Floridians found that taxpayers spend:

$3.4 billion a year to educate illegal immigrant children and the U.S. born children of illegal immigrants.

$290 million a year on unreimbursed health care for illegal aliens.

$90 million a year to incarcerate criminal illegal aliens.

The total represents an annual cost to each of Florida’s native-born headed households of $678.

The cost study also determined that the illegal alien population in Florida is now 950,000 persons. This represents 7.3 percent of the national total illegal alien population, and it is the nation’s fourth largest concentration of illegal aliens after California, Texas and New York. It is also about 5.2 percent of Florida’s overall population.

The Zogby poll found that:

71.3% of Florida voters say illegal immigration has a negative impact on the state. Only 14.4% believe it has a positive impact on Florida.

83.5% of Florida voters believe illegal aliens have a negative impact on the state budget, versus only 7.9% who believe their impact is positive.

57.5% believe illegal immigration should be reduced through better enforcement of immigration laws. Only 36% of Florida voters favor amnesty or legalization for current illegal aliens.

68.6% of Florida voters want worksite immigration enforcement to continue. Only 21.1% support the Obama administration’s decision to curtail worksite enforcement.

“Voters in Florida, like voters everywhere, want their elected officials in Washington and Tallahassee to protect their interests, their jobs, and their tax dollars from the impact of mass

illegal immigration,” said Dan Stein, FAIR president. “At a time when the Obama administration is intent on systematically dismantling immigration enforcement, and congressional leaders are considering a new round of amnesty legislation, voters in this key state are saying unequivocally that it is time political leaders stopped pandering to the illegal immigration lobby, and started enforcing laws that serve the interests of ordinary Americans.”

The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Floridians and a summary of the Zogby International Polling results are available at www.fairus.org.

SOURCE





9 April, 2009

CIS roundup

1. CIS Featured in Recent Newscasts .

DETAILS: Mark Krikorian, Steven Camarota, and our estimates of the illegal-alien population are featured in recent newscasts.

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2. What’s become of Aunti Zeituni? .

EXCERPT: President Obama’s aunt Zeituni Onyango was finally deported today, exactly six years after being ordered by a judge to leave the country.

April fools!

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3. More E-Verify .

EXCERPT: Over at National Review Online, pro-amnesty activist Richard Nadler finds my numbers about the rapid spread of E-Verify 'puzzling.' It's not clear why.

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4. Non-Discrimination in Border Enforcement .

EXCERPT: No, I don't mean avoiding profiling of people at the border. Instead, the Obama administration is avoiding profiling of borders themselves. The kind of camera towers that are part of the 'virtual fence' along segments of the Mexican border are now planned for the northern border as well. On its own, this is probably a good idea, but DHS Secretary Napolitano revealed the administration's thinking behind the move when she told a border conference last week that 'One of the things that we need to be sensitive to is the very real feelings among southern border states and in Mexico that if things are being done on the Mexican border, they should also be done on the Canadian border.' In other words, this is just the global application of the Norman Mineta Doctrine that Norwegian-American grannies from South Dakota pose exactly the same risk as single, young, Muslim men from Saudi Arabia.

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5. H-1B Season! .

EXCERPT: One again H-1B season is upon us. Today USCIS starts taking application for next year's batch of H-1B visas. Although we are in the midst of a severe economic downturn, it is likely the entire visa quota will be exhausted -- demonstrating industry's demand for cheap labor is insatiable.

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6. Biden: No amnesty anytime soon .

EXCERPT: Could another attempt at amnesty happen? Perhaps. But for the most part, Biden is telling amnesty advocates to calm down, stop raising a ruckus, and to not get their hopes up. President Obama recently sent the same message a few weeks back: “We’ve got a lot on our plate right now.”

The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076. Email: center@cis.org www.cis.org



Greens deny Australia is 'soft touch' after boat people influx

If you believed a Greenie you would even believe in global warming -- despite the fact that the global temperature has not risen since 1998

Authorities may have detained 160 suspected illegal immigrants in the last seven days, but that does not mean Australia has become a soft touch for people smugglers, the Greens say. A boatload of 45 people people arrived at Christmas Island this morning without being detected.

Last week, 63 suspected illegal immigrants were detained off Ashmore Island and another group of 50 was transferred to a Customs vessel after their boat ran aground near Thursday Island.

But West Australian Greens senator Scott Ludlam says Labor has done the right thing by dismantling the former Howard government's Pacific Solution, which saw asylum seekers detained offshore on Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island. The number of people arriving in Australia by boat was relatively "tiny'', he said. "We supported many of the moves that the (immigration) minister made in beginning the long, slow process of dismantling the Pacific Solution, which was shown to be extremely flawed. "These are a tiny handful of people relative to our overall migrant intake so I don't think we need to be concerned that we're becoming a soft touch.''

The Opposition has blamed the Federal Government for the influx of recent arrivals. It was due to Labor watering down immigration detention policies, opposition immigration spokesperson Sharman Stone said. "There has obviously been a signal sent loud and clear to the people smugglers that it is now worth the risk,'' she said.

SOURCE

At least he seems to recognize that the new policies are the reason for resumption of illegal immigration. His "out" is that the absolute numbers so far are small -- but he ignores the rate of increase -- which is rapid





8 April, 2009

A genuine refugee not welcome in the USA

Because she is anticommunist

Auxiliadora Martinez, 23, a Nicaraguan political refugee, was beaten with sticks, shot at, nearly raped and almost murdered – all because she fought for free elections. Now, the U.S. is prepared to deny her asylum in the land of the free. Martinez, a campaign organizer for Eduardo Montealegre, former Constitutionalist Party candidate for Managua mayor, has been tortured by Nicaragua's Sandinista regime and is pleading with the United States for asylum, but American immigration officials have shown her little sympathy.

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega has employed neighborhood committees called Citizens Power Councils, or CPCs, used by his corrupt Sandinista party to spy on citizens, intimidate and torture them. Martinez told WND the CPCs attacked her with large rocks, sticks, mortars and sprays of gunfire. A gang of Sandinista CPCs tried to rape and kill her because she was part of a group protesting the legitimacy of the 2008 municipal elections.

Sandinistas murdered her uncles in the 1980s when they were only 12 years old after they refused to join their forces. "My mom said they hid her brothers under the bed so the Sandinistas wouldn't take them away," she said. "They came with their weapons and their guns and they began to rip the house apart to find the boys. The Sandinistas took them away by force and killed them."

Over the years, the Martinez family became immersed in politics, determined to prevent Sandinistas from returning to power in Nicaragua. In 2006, Martinez raised funds for Eduardo Montealegre's presidential campaign while she worked at Managua International Airport. "I would chat with people who would come through, and they would ask me how life is in my country," she said. "They would help me with money, so I was able to get about $5,000."

But Martinez' family's worst nightmares came true as Ortega, a Marxist guerrilla leader who previously ruled Managua with a Soviet-backed iron fist, took office in 2006 – less than two decades after U.S.-backed freedom fighters ousted him from power. Allied with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Ortega, of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, or FSLN, is determined to overhaul Nicaragua into a quasi-parliamentary system so he may be re-elected indefinitely.

As Nicaragua prepared for its key mayoral elections in 2008, Ortega attempted to disqualify opposition parties from the ballot. For a small country such as Nicaragua, the 146 municipal races are significant, because mayors have the ability to act as a check on the government's power....

On the night of Nov. 4, the CPCs fired a homemade mortar into Martinez' mother's home. "My family hid under their beds," she said. "It was because we were helping Montealegre. I was very afraid that these people were not going to just throw rocks because they are murderers."

A neighbor told her mother that the CPCs had Martinez and her little sister's name on a list. The neighbor said, "This is not a game. This is serious. You need to protect your daughters, and you need to stop being part of this party." "She didn't know if they were going to rape us or beat us," Martinez said. "Other liberals know these guys aren't kidding with their threats." ...

During Nicaragua's elections, it was estimated that one-third of the voting stations experienced irregularities, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some polling locations closed early, and observers were evicted. Martinez said voters' names were listed next to booth numbers where they were to cast their ballots. "There were a lot of people whose names were omitted from the lists," Martinez revealed. "This is just part of what they do so people cannot vote, because the surveys said Eduardo Monteleagre was going to win. This was one of Ortega's traps." The president banned independent election observers from monitoring the polls for the first time since 1990. Many say Ortega and Hugo Chavez are determined to consolidate Marxist power in the region. Martinez said television news reports revealed that Chavez had provided pens to mark the ballots.

That night, Martinez said Monteleagre's assistant, Guadalupe, called to tell her that 300 CPCs were coming to set their headquarters on fire because they believed the proof of election results from the canvassing board was inside. "There were many people with gunshot wounds," she said. "The people inside the headquarters were about to jump a fence because the CPCs were inside. Guadalupe told me she believed they were going to burn her alive." ...

Martinez came to the United States in December to seek asylum. She is terrified that if she returns to Nicaragua, the Sandinistas will recognize and harm her. Her mother and sisters fled to Guatemala. Martinez was given a hearing with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. She waited three hours to tell her story. Martinez offered several original photographs, her testimony, media reports, film footage and her campaign ID, but she said officials failed to express interest in her evidence. "Honestly, it was the first time in my life that I was in the judgment seat," she said. "For me, it was very hard."

On March 17, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sent her a notice of intent to deny her request for asylum. The letter, signed by George S. Mihalko, director of the Los Angeles asylum office, stated that her testimony "was found not credible," because it was "vague and incoherent" concerning her activities with "Vamos con Eduardo." The agency's note included puzzling statements such as, "You were unable to provide any other reasons why Eduardo would want to harm you."

But Martinez said she never suggested that Montealegre would hurt her. She said she is concerned that Ortega and the Sandinistas would attack her.

The letter continues, "Your vague testimony is material to your claim because it casts doubt on whether you ever participated in this demonstration or that you were ever a leader in Eduardo's campaign organization as claimed." Martinez said she was baffled at this comment, because she presented her campaign ID, numerous photos, campaign T-shirts and even offered film footage that shows her with Montealegre and Quinonez.

The note also said she failed to establish that she had almost been raped or killed by the CPCs on Nov. 18. "USCIS has found that you are not eligible for asylum status in the United States," it said. The office has given her only 16 days to submit a rebuttal.

Martinez sent a letter March 21 with a Channel 2 video of the Nov. 18 protest. In the footage, she is shown standing with the Montealegre family. She presented two more videos – including one she recorded at the march where a CPC mob is shown surrounding them.

Montealegre and Quinonez have spoken with Martinez in recent weeks and have offered to help document her case. As the men are under enormous pressure, Martinez said she is deeply concerned that she will not be given a fair chance for asylum in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the United States Agency for International Development has given Nicaragua $1.4 billion for health, education, infrastructure, environmental protection, small businesses and democracy building, the Miami Herald reported. The U.S. has also forgiven $500 million in Nicaraguan debts; however, it recently froze $175 million in foreign aid following reports of the municipal election fraud.

Asked what would happen if she ever returned to Nicaragua, Martinez wiped away tears now streaming down her face. "If I go back to my country, first, I will be raped," she said. "Secondly, they will throw me in jail and say I am bringing drugs – or they will kill me."

Concerned individuals may contact George Mihalko, director of the Los Angeles Asylum Office at (714) 808-8000, fax (714)635-8707, attention: Duty Officer Charles Phillips and Director George Mihalko, or write to: 1585 South Manchester Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92802. Include case reference number A89898056

SOURCE



Illegals flooding into Australia now

BORDER protection authorities have intercepted a boatload of 63 unauthorised arrivals, bringing to 187 the number of boatpeople detained this year. The interception by Customs, 31 nautical miles southwest of Ashmore Island, took place last Thursday - a day after authorities were forced to assist a second boatload of 50 illegal immigrants whose boat had run aground in the Torres Strait. The latest boatloads mean the number of unauthorised passengers to arrive this year has exceeded the total of 179 for the whole of last year.

The increase in the number of boatpeople comes after the Rudd Government last year softened Australia's treatment of unauthorised arrivals, shutting down the so-called "Pacific Solution" of offshore processing centres and abolishing temporary protection visas. People who make protection claims outside Australia's migration zone enjoy greater appeal rights, although they do not have access to Australian courts if their claims are unsuccessful.

The Opposition has said people-smugglers have registered the Government's changes to immigration policies as a softening of the rules, leading to an increase in boatpeople.

The delay in announcing the latest boatload of arrivals, believed to contain a number of children, prompted Opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone to accuse the Government of seeking to bury politically sensitive news. "You have to ask, are they deliberately trying to manipulate the public to try to reduce the impression that we do have a major new surge on our hands?" Dr Stone said. "The public really does have a right to know. Or is it a case that ministers (Chris) Evans and (Bob) Debus didn't know what was going on four days ago?"

A spokeswoman for Mr Debus, the Home Affairs Minister, defended the delay in announcing the interception, citing "operational" considerations. "Due to the number of people on board, we waited until they were safely on their way to Christmas Island," the spokeswoman said. Mr Debus said Thursday's interception showed Australia's border security arrangements were working.

Dr Stone said it was clear there had been a surge in people-smuggling. "The fact that boats are getting bigger would suggest it's a tried-and-true measure," Dr Stone said. "We're back on the map." This year's boatpeople tally of 187 and last year's of 179 represent significant increases on the 148 who arrived in 2007 and 60 in 2006.

Last Wednesday, a boat carrying 50 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers had to be assisted after it ran aground 65 nautical miles northeast of Thursday Island. The boat was being monitored by Border Protection Command, an inter-government agency, before it hit the reef. Sources have told The Australian those in the Sri Lankan vessel are believed to have sailed without the assistance of people-smugglers.

About 115 of the 282 unauthorised arrivals to pass through Christmas Island have been granted protection visas, an immigration department spokeswoman said yesterday.

SOURCE





7 April, 2009

Back again: Deported twice but Algerian bag thief saunters into Britain for the SECOND time in two years

A prolific bag snatcher twice deported from Britain has made a mockery of lax border controls for the second time in two years. Hakim Benmakhlouf, 27, who has a string of convictions for stealing from rich tourists at five-star hotels and airports, has returned to London only days after being kicked out.

He was first thrown out in July 2007 when, while serving a three-and-a-half year prison sentence for theft, he was given £3,000 by the Government to be released early and fly home to his native Algeria. But 24 hours later, he returned to London to continue his one-man crime wave.

He was re-arrested in April last year and jailed for three years the following month after admitting two thefts and asking for five similar offences to be taken into consideration. But, incredibly, he was released from prison last month after serving just a third of his sentence and deported to his homeland. Escorted by at least one immigration officer, he was flown back to Algeria at taxpayers' expense - only to return to London a few days later.

Police had no idea he had been freed until he was spotted in central London by two officers two weeks ago. Immigration officers were alerted that he had slipped into the country again and an inquiry has begun. Police warned that the father-of-two is almost certainly up to his old tricks again.

A furious Home Office source said: 'This is a major, major embarrassment. This man has made a mockery of our border controls and the criminal justice system.'

Efforts to trace Benmakhlouf were last night focusing on the St John's Wood area of North-West London, where the conman - who is rarely seen in anything but designer clothes - has previously rented luxury flats. It was there, while drinking coffee at a restaurant near his home, that he was arrested on April 9 last year.

Prosecutor Helen Thomas told Southwark Crown Court in London last May that Benmakhlouf was a 'prolific thief'. 'The defendant targets high class hotels or airports,' she added. 'He targets tourists who are likely to have large amounts of currency and other valuables.' The former rent boy, who uses 12 aliases, apparently began stealing from his clients to fuel a cocaine habit. In December 1998, he was sentenced to two months in a young offenders' institution.

He received 15 months in March 1999, a year's probation in December 2000, 21 months in February 2001, 30 months in June 2003, 12 months in August 2003, 18 months in October 2004 and 42 months in December 2005. Miss Thomas said it was during this sentence that he was handed £3,000 to accept voluntary deportation - only to return.

In October 2007, he was caught on CCTV stealing from guests at the Churchill Intercontinental Hotel in Portman Square, central London. Benmakhlouf's other audacious thefts included a bag snatch at Madame Tussauds wax museum, where he sprayed his victim with tomato sauce to cause confusion.

Detective Sergeant Andy Swindells, who dealt with Benmakhlouf's case last May, refused to comment on his return to Britain. The UK Border Agency said: 'As soon as we receive intelligence of a foreign lawbreaker in the UK from the police, we will investigate as a matter of urgency. 'We have teams of officers working with police forces up and down the country to track down those with no right to be in Britain.'

SOURCE



The Appearance of Security

New Proposal Changes Benchmarks for Secure IDs

The REAL ID Act, written in the wake of the September 11 attacks, has created the rules and regulations for states to follow, establishing minimum standards for secure state identification documents. Currently, a new piece of legislation named “Providing for Additional Security in States’ Identification Act of 2009” or PASS ID Act is accumulating signatures in the Senate and may be introduced. A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies shows how this legislation would change the current benchmarks for secure IDs.

The report, “The Appearance of Driver License Security: REAL ID Final Regulations and Proposed PASS ID Act of 2009,” was prepared by Janice Kephart, the Center’s Director of National Security Policy and former 9/11 Staff Counsel. It is available on the Center’s website http://cis.org/PASSID">here.

The changes the Pass ID Act would make to current law include:

Push full compliance out until 2021, 20 years after 9/11 and four years past REAL ID.

State laws preempt the PASS ID Act, including privacy laws.

States may file a justification for noncompliance and receive an extension.

Pushes off compliance for use of electronic verification of lawful status (via the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE Program) until January 1, 2013.

Deletes the requirement that “the applicant must provide sufficient documentation for a state to both verify identity and authenticate documents presented for the purpose of establishing identity.”

Deletes requirement that applicants provide a Social Security number, only needing to “take appropriate steps to validate” the number if the applicant “has been issued a Social Security number.”

Deletes the benchmarks and timetable for compliance.

Deletes requirement that states “make reasonable efforts” to ensure that applicant does not have more than one driver’s license/non-driver ID under a different or same identity in state where applying, or has been issued a DL/ID in another state. This weakness was exploited by the 9/11 hijackers.

Deletes listing of acceptable documents to prove date of birth.

Deletes requirement that states verify birth certificates through the Electronic Verification of Vital Events system, as it becomes available.

Deletes requiring two documents to show principal place of residence, only requiring one, the same standard the 9/11 hijackers exploited to obtain fraudulent ID cards in Virginia.

Deletes requirement that DL/ID not be issued until resolution with issuing office if there is a non-match or a document does not appear authentic.

Deletes requirement that applicant supply full legal name.

Deletes applicant declaration that information presented is true and correct under penalty of perjury.

Deletes some of the major anti-tampering requirements including that the ID require an “easily identifiable visual or tactile feature” for cursory examination without aids.

The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. Contact: Janice Kephart, (202) 466-8185, jlk@cis.org





6 April, 2009

Obama administration gives conflicting signals on immigration

By Ruben Navarrette Jr.

What a mishmash the Obama administration has made of its position on immigration reform. The president recently promised the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that he'd tackle immigration reform this year and argued that legalizing the undocumented improves the economic power of all workers.

But more recently, Vice President Joe Biden told a group of Central American leaders that the economic crisis makes this a bad time to push the subject. "It's difficult to tell a constituency — while unemployment is rising, they're losing their jobs and their homes — that what we should do is, in fact, legalize (illegal immigrants) and stop all deportation," he said.

Obama and Biden should get their stories straight. Then again, there is similar confusion at the Department of Homeland Security, the agency charged with protecting the nation's borders. On the one hand, homeland security officials recently told The Washington Post that Secretary Janet Napolitano has put the brakes on a series of planned immigration raids pending a department review of the policy. The officials said that in the event the raids resume, Napolitano has asked agents to be more careful in selecting targets and more conscious of the timing of these sweeps. One senior official said the temporary freeze signaled what will be a formal change in policy: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be encouraged to crack down on employers and businesses instead of simply arresting low-level workers.

It is likely that this is all coming from the fallout over the administration's first work-site raid in Bellingham, Wash., several weeks ago. Activists called the action inconsistent with Obama's condemnation of such operations during the campaign. But, in truth, it was compatible with what Obama has said at other times about upholding the law.

Meanwhile, Mexican officials in the country's border states are alarmed that, as a result of the raids and other enforcement measures, many of their people have already been deported from the United States. Recently, Mexican officials have begun complaining to their American counterparts that they don't have the infrastructure or jobs to accommodate the immigrants who are returning.

How pathetic. Mexico is never going to be a player on the world stage as long as it treats its own people as a threat to the nation's economy instead of what they are: an economic engine.

Congress needs to give Napolitano time to work out a strategy on the raids. Scrutinizing employers is an important step in the right direction. This is one of the things that anger immigration activists: Workers are scapegoats while their bosses get away scot-free. Everyone needs to be held accountable.

For now, there's tremendous confusion about what is going to happen, and whether workplace raids will emerge as an important part of the Obama immigration policy. I think they will be in the mix. And, if the raids do start up again, you can bet that it won't just be employers who are targeted. Illegal workers will once again be hauled off by the busload.

I'm fine with that. But civil libertarians and immigration activists won't be. Neither will many in the Latino community, which threw two-thirds of its support to Obama in 2008. It won't soften the blow that employers are also being held accountable. People will still be deported, and families will still be torn apart. That's what really has the activists up in arms. And if it all happens again under the Obama administration, the president's honeymoon with Latinos will be over.

I'm also fine with that.

SOURCE



NJ Panel urges driving rights for illegal immigrants

Alejandro Chavez, an undocumented immigrant from Puebla, Mexico, worked in the apple orchards of Washington state for years, driving to and from work with a valid state motor vehicle license. When he moved to New Jersey seven years ago to work on a Morristown horse farm, he lost his driving privileges. The state told him he couldn't transfer his driver's license because he wasn't a legal U.S. resident.

It's a growing issue in New Jersey and in other parts of the country: Should illegal immigrants, a sizable part of many state economies, be allowed to obtain state driver's licenses? "We may be undocumented, but we invest a lot into this country," said Chavez, who now pays $10 a day to get a ride to work. "I can understand that many believe we don't deserve any rights at all, but I think it's a better system to have people registered, and their identities verified."

An immigration task force appointed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine agrees. The panel recently recommended the state extend driving privileges to illegal immigrants. Corzine opposes the move, saying it's up to the federal government to set national guidelines.

Washington, Illinois, Maryland and New Mexico are the only four states that do not require proof of lawful U.S. residency to get a driver's license, according to The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Agency spokesman Jason King says Utah also issues driving certificates to undocumented workers, but they are not accepted as official identification, and Hawaii will issue an illegal immigrant a state ID, but not a driver's license.

Supporters say granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants makes the roads safer, because applicants are tested, and they say it cuts down on the number of uninsured drivers. They also argue it helps law enforcement efforts to have more people registered in state databases.

Opponents of the initiative say it makes it easier for illegal immigrants to live and work in the U.S. "As a country we have to make up our mind what we want to do about immigration, but it's always a bad idea for a state to work against federal immigration law," said Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favors stricter enforcement of immigration laws. "It's really a bad idea to say: 'Look, they're here illegally, let's do everything we can to reward that illegal behavior."

New Jerseyans are largely opposed to the idea of granting driver's licenses to undocumented residents, a measure that has been proposed in the state before. A Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll conducted in early February found that out of 803 adults surveyed, 62 percent oppose allowing illegal immigrants living in the state to get some type of limited driver's license. Just 33 percent favor the idea.

New Jersey's Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy recommended last week that the state consult with the Department of Homeland Security to create a way for illegal immigrants to be permitted to drive. But the Department of Homeland Security is the agency administering the Real ID Act, a measure introduced post-9/11 by the Bush Administration which outlines tougher standards for state-issued driver's licenses. It requires Social Security numbers and proof of lawful residency status, among other things, for a driver's license to be a federally accepted form of ID.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has promised to review the program, which has been criticized by many states as too expensive and an invasion of privacy. Several states have passed legislation refusing to comply with Real ID.

Nationally, the four states that have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain licenses have had mixed success. Maryland, which is considering legislation to undo the measure, has become a destination for illegal immigrants all over the U.S. seeking licenses , many from New Jersey.

Raymundo Rodriguez of Passaic has been on both sides of the equation. Rodriguez, 40, emigrated legally from Puebla, Mexico to New Jersey in the 1990s, and had a state driver's license for more than a decade. He owned a car, ran a small business, and raised three children. But a few years ago, delays in his green card application complicated Rodriguez' work permit. As a result, he was denied a license renewal when he couldn't prove legal residency under New Jersey's six point identification requirements for licenses.

SOURCE





5 April, 2009

Nebraska Legislature OKs illegal immigration bill

The Legislature gave final approval to several bills Friday, including measures aimed at blocking public benefits for illegal immigrants and providing compensation for people wrongly imprisoned for crimes.

The immigration measure, Legislative Bill 403, grew out of a year-long study of the issues surrounding illegal immigrants. The bill will require state and local government agencies to electronically verify the immigration status of those seeking public benefits or those performing contract work.

Proponents say it will prevent illegal immigrants from seeking, and receiving, things like food stamps and tighten up requirements for construction firms and others doing business with the state.

Opponents maintained that provisions of LB 403 are already in law, and that public benefits that people complain about most – including K-12 education and emergency medical care at hospitals – are unaffected by the bill. Private employers, unless they’re doing business with the state, are also unaffected.

A debate on one controversial issue was put off until next year -- whether to repeal Nebraska’s law that allows in-state tuition rates for children of illegal immigrants who are seeking to become citizens.

LB 403, introduced by Wilber Sen. Russ Karpisek, was passed on a 44-0 vote, and now awaits a signature by Gov. Heineman to make it law.

SOURCE



Blatant bias from "Agence France Presse"

I reproduce below verbatim an AFP story. Notice that the case is completely pre-judged. Demjanjuk is described as a "Nazi camp guard", not an "Alleged Nazi camp guard". But most importantly, it omits to mention that Demjanjuk was eventually ACQUITTED of the charges against him in the Israeli High Court. The attempt to retry him is a plain case of double jeopardy, which is normally illegal. It presumably passes muster in the present case only because German courts do not recognize judgments by Israeli courts. The article is a sad comedown for the oldest newsagency in the world. They are often biased, bigoted and unjust these days but this example is particularly egregious. Note that the article is hosted by Google so should represent the whole of what AFP put out

Nazi camp guard wins right to stay in US

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A Nazi death camp guard accused of helping to kill some 29,000 Jews during World War II has won the right to remain in the United States for now, an immigration judge has ruled.

A Virginia judge said late Friday that John Demjanjuk, 89, who faces expulsion to Germany on war crimes charges, can remain at his Ohio home while the case is further examined.

Demjanjuk's defense team has argued his imminent expulsion to Germany and near-certain arrest on arrival would constitute torture given his age."The court should state our motion to reopen the case at an indefinite date," his lawyer John Broadley told AFP.

"In light of his deteriorated health and the German government's apparent intention to arrest and put him in jail ... the anguish and pain that he'll suffer from arrest and incarceration and trial in Germany will amount to torture under the convention against torture," Broadley said ahead of the ruling. In a court filing the prosecution team described this allegations as "frivolous."

The Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk is one of the world's top Nazi war crimes suspects, wanted for his role at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Demjanjuk was ranked number two on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's 2008 "most wanted" Nazi criminal list, behind Aribert Heim, nicknamed "Doctor Death," who according to a recent investigation died in 1992.

While Demjanjuk's family continues to protest his innocence, the US has sought to deport the former mechanic for lying about his past on immigration forms.He was stripped of his US nationality in 2002.

German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Demjanjuk in March, the latest in a series of legal wrangles over his fate. He was sentenced to death in 1988 in an Israeli court, suspected of being the infamous and sadistic concentration camp guard "Ivan the Terrible."

SOURCE



4 April, 2009

Controversial Arizona Sheriff Snubbed by House Panel on Immigration

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio couldn't defend himself because the House didn't invite him. Natural justice includes the right to face your accusers so a discussion about justice that ignores natural justice is very strange indeed. But neither the French revolutionaries nor the Russian Bolsheviks cared much about justice so I suppose that supplies appropriate context. After all, the constant Leftist talk about "social" justice should warn us that real justice is not their concern

Two House Judiciary subcommittees convened Thursday to examine allegations of unconstitutional immigration enforcement tactics -- and took target practice at Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, whose controversial methods have been called racist by activists and Democratic lawmakers.

But Arpaio didn't defend himself on Capitol Hill. He did not testify to the committee and he did not attend the joint hearing. That's because the Maricopa County, Ariz., law enforcement chief wasn't invited, said House Judiciary Committee sources. "He was not asked or invited to come to this hearing, but he wasn't the direct focus of it," a source within the Judiciary Committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told FOXNews.com.

The joint hearing by the House Judiciary Committee Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Subcommittee and Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee Thursday was convened to "focus on wide-ranging allegations of racial profiling in connection with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 287 program." It also was used to "examine allegations of unconstitutional policing and immigration enforcement tactics" like those used by Arpaio.

Arpaio's policing methods have drawn widespread criticism from lawmakers and activist groups, like Amnesty International and the ACLU, for allegedly using racial profiling to fight crime in the Southwest. The Arizona sheriff and his deputies have also come under fire for keeping harsh prison conditions and for unfairly targeting illegal immigrants.

Arpaio, who promotes himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff," said he's being unfairly vilified for his approach to law enforcement. "It's a political witch hunt to use me to stop local law enforcement from enforcing federal laws," Arpaio told FOXNews.com on Thursday, noting that activists who regularly protest his policing hold up signs calling him "Hitler" and "Nazi." "I've been the sheriff going on 17 years, and I always get re-elected. And all the polls on this issue of immigration support me so it's just a small minority of politicians and activists who accuse me" of mistreating suspects, Arpaio said.

Among the primary concerns during testimony was section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which was put into law in 1996 as a result of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Section 287 authorizes the secretary of Homeland Security to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies that allow them to identify and detain immigration offenders they encounter during their law enforcement operations.

On Thursday, members of Congress and some of Arpaio's most outspoken critics -- like Mesa, Ariz., Police Chief George Gascon -- met on Capitol Hill to review the impact of federal immigration law on the ability to combat crime by illegal immigrants while also protecting their civil rights. Gascon did not mention Arpaio by name during his opening testimony, but said the authority handed to local police by federal officials has created an environment in which racial profiling and "constitutional concerns" are setting back the effort to protect the public. "The impact on local law enforcement in this politically charged environment can be devastating. In some cases, it is setting the police profession back to the 1950s and '60s when police officers were sometimes viewed in minority communities as the enemy," he said.

During Thursday's testimony, Arpaio's absence was noted. "I want to make clear that he declined to come," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., chairwoman of the immigration subcommittee. But when Lofgren was questioned by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, about whether the sheriff had been formerly invited, Lofgren said, "No, he said in advance he would not intend to come. In a newspaper article he said he would not come."

Arpaio, who has served as Maricopa County's sheriff since 1992, said he has dedicated the last 30 years working with the federal government, inside the Justice Department and as a Drug Enforcement Administration official, and he would think lawmakers would want to hear about his experience. "You think they would have called me just to get my expertise -- if nothing else -- about the Mexican-U.S. border. But instead they get one of my biggest critics -- a Mesa police chief who doesn’t like me going into his town arrested illegals -- and a couple other people," he said. "These congressmen never had the courtesy to ask me to speak," he said.

Arpaio also defended his policing methods, saying they are both constitutional and effective in lowering crime rates. "We investigated 147,000 people booked into our jail under 287. And 23,000 murderers all the way down we proved are illegal so they can not get back on the street. That's why crime has gone down in this area," he said.

The sheriff said he has invited congressional critics to come to Arizona to observe his operations, but so far has got no response. "I'm just enforcing the law that I took an oath of office to enforce. And nobody's going to deter me or scare me away," he said. "They can go after me all they want, but I'm very comfortable the way I run my operation."

SOURCE



Italy Pushes For Steps to End Illegal Immigration Problem

Italian officials are pressing for steps to prevent a repeat of the tragedy involving hundreds of migrants from Africa who are missing and believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean over the weekend. The migrants were cramped in un-seaworthy vessels which left Libya for Italy. Italy's Interior Minister is hopeful that these crossings will come to an end in mid-May.

The problem of illegal immigrants reaching Malta from Libya could be resolved if a declaration made by Italian Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni is put in place.

The most common route for these desperate people is from Libya to the southern Italian islands of Lampedusa, Pianosa and Sicily. Italian authorities have been pressing Libya to crack down on illegal migrants.

Minister Maroni says an agreement is in place with Libya that envisages the start of joint Italian-Libyan patrols in front of the Libyan coast on May 15. He added that on that day he expects the flow of migrants coming to Italy from Libya will stop and the problem will be resolved.

The exact death toll from this weekend's incident may never be known but twenty have been confirmed dead and just 23 of the African migrants were rescued. At least 200 are still missing after departing from the Libyan coast and sailing into stormy seas and strong winds.

According to officials of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Libyan police officials, one vessel capsized last Friday. It had a capacity for 50 people but was carrying 250 and there was no life-saving equipment on board. Those on board were too far from the coast to even attempt to swim to the shore.

Maroni said that unfortunately what took place was a tragedy of enormous proportions that was beyond Italy's knowledge and ability to intervene.

Like tens of thousands of every year, the migrants were attempting a risky journey across the Mediterranean from the Libyan coastline in the hope of reaching Italy and a new life.

Many never make it across and this part of the Mediterranean has come to be known "a cemetery without tombstones". Over 13,000 bodies have been recovered in the last decade.

More than 30,000 migrants are believed to have crossed the Mediterranean in 2008, a 75 percent increase on 2007. The majority end up in detention centers, and are eventually deported. In Libya, there are between 1 million and 1.5 million African irregular migrants, drawn by the need for unskilled labor and hoping to move on to Europe.

The joint patrols form part of a historic friendship accord reached between Rome and Tripoli and signed in August 2008.

SOURCE





3 April, 2009

Australia's new Leftist government is trying to hide the renewed flow of illegals

The previous conservative government stopped the flow of illegals arriving by boat, to widespread public approval. Abandonment by the new government of the policies reponsible for that has seen the flow resume, with boats now arriving roughly weekly -- and the boats concerned are getting bigger, with more people aboard. In fear of public opinion, the present government is resorting to the usual Leftist kneejerk reaction: secrecy

FIFTY Sri Lankans found stranded on a Torres Strait reef have been flown to Christmas Island and are being investigated by Immigration officials. Secrecy cloaked the identity of the group as officials declined to confirm if they were fishermen, asylum seekers or from a boat linked to a people-smuggling syndicate.

Officials confirmed both a border control plane and Customs vessel had been tracking their boat through the treacherous Warrior Reef when it ran aground. But it has not been confirmed which direction they were travelling or why authorities were so closely monitoring the movements of the vessel.

It is understood a specially charted plane was last night dispatched to Horn Island to transfer the group, reportedly Sri Lankans, to Christmas Island detention facility.

Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus yesterday confirmed Customs officers detained the group on Warrior Reef, about 65 nautical miles north-east of Thursday Island. On Christmas Island they will have health, security and other checks to establish their identity and reasons for travel.

Getano Lui, from Yam Island, the island closest to the Warrior Reef passage, confirmed secrecy had shrouded the rescue mission.

SOURCE.

Some more details here.



Too many cooks in Australia's legal immigration broth

Too many foreign cooks are spoiling the broth for locals seeking jobs in hospitality, says a Monash University study. New figures show that the annual number of overseas students who did cooking courses in Australia and then gained permanent residency had more than tripled to 3250 in just two years. This compares with only 2300 Australians who completed cooking apprenticeships in 2007. The Monash report, to be released today, says many of the private operators that are providing the one-year courses have poor standards and are an easy route for immigration.

Thousands of students, mainly from India, attend cooking schools in Melbourne as part of an international student boom worth $11 billion to Australia. So competitive is the industry that overseas students are stopped on city streets and offered laptops and discounted fees to change schools. In leaflets obtained by the Herald Sun, agents for the schools boast of their success in getting residency visas while offering weekend classes with no exams.

The Monash report, The Cooking-Immigration Nexus, was written by migration experts Dr Bob Birrell and Dr Ernest Healy, and labour market researcher Bob Kinnaird. The authors said that despite the Rudd Government's moves to tighten the skilled migration program, it was failing to stem the rising tide of foreign students trained as cooks in Australia.

While cooking had been removed from the list of critical skills needed here, foreigners with minimal work experience could still be sponsored by employers, they said. "Employers have an incentive to take advantage of the relatively low wages and conditions former overseas students will accept in return for a permanent residence sponsorship," the report said. The report is published in the latest issue of People and Place, the journal of Monash's Centre for Population and Urban Research.

SOURCE





2 April, 2009

America's immigration laws have been radically changed overnight!

Catch and let go seems to be the new policy for illegals. Napolitano Frees 27 Illegal Immigrants, Sends Them Back to Work

The Department of Homeland Security freed 27 illegal immigrants arrested during a workplace raid in February and offered them legal work permits, signaling a major departure from the immigration enforcement policy of the Bush administration.

The Feb. 24 raid of an auto parts plant in Bellingham, Wash., netted 28 illegal immigrants. While one was deported, the remaining workers were released from custody and given employment authorization documents, or EADs, in exchange for cooperating with an ongoing investigation of their employer, Yamato Engine Specialists.

The EAD is a temporary work permit most commonly given to people applying for green cards or citizenship. It usually lasts for one year, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement sources tell FOX News that these work permits will expire when the case against Yamato is closed.

Immigrant rights activists support the move and the new direction Secretary Janet Napolitano is taking the Homeland Security Department with her focus on penalizing employers rather than the immigrants themselves. "She is crafting and the people in her department are crafting a strategy that could target some people who are abusive and manipulative as employers," said Pramila Jayapal, executive director of the Seattle-based immigrant aid group OneAmerica.

But critics say the softened policy will increase the number of illegal immigrants entering the country. "The signal that it sends to illegal immigrants is that if you can get here, you're pretty much home free," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

The Bellingham raid was the first and only mass arrest of immigrants since President Obama took office and came as a shock to Napolitano, who ordered a review of the incident the day after. "I didn't know about it beforehand," she told the House Homeland Security Committee the morning following the raid. "I want to get to the bottom of this as well."

The response from the Department of Homeland Security marks a major shift from the last years of the Bush administration, when workplace arrests of illegals were commonplace. Criminal arrests of employers who hired illegal immigrants skyrocketed from 25 in 2002 to 1,103 in 2008. The number of deportations jumped from 485 to 5,184 over that same time period. The Obama administration has sought a freeze on immigrant arrests.

Enforcement advocates say Americans should be outraged by the government giving illegal immigrants a right to work when unemployment is so high for documented workers. Unemployment in Whatcom County, home to the Yamato plant, has risen to 8.1 percent, and in the days after the Yamato raid, more than 150 people applied for the jobs made open by the arrests.

Immigrant groups say the release was a humane act that is keeping families together and allowing them to earn a decent living. Secretary Napolitano is expected to soon formally announce new guidelines for workplace immigration enforcement.

SOURCE



Bogus colleges are 'Achilles Heel' of immigration system, says British government

This is just more tokenism from Britain's Leftist government. Huge numbers of people illegally in Britain that they know about but seem unable to deport are the real "Achilles heel". Still, I suppose we must be thankful for small mercies

Bogus colleges that help illegal immigrants slip in to Britain are the "Achilles Heel" in the immigration system, Home Office minister Phil Woolas has admitted. The immigration minister said fake colleges and language schools are the "biggest loophole" in the system as figures showed almost one in four applying to sponsor students under new rules are potentially bogus.

Hundreds of colleges were barred from taking in foreign students under the new points-based system. But ministers have softened their stance on foreign students having to show they can financially support themselves while here. Initial proposals would have meant they had to demonstrate they had enough money for a year but that has now been cut to nine months.

Mr Woolas said: "In my estimation abuse of the student visa has been the biggest abuse of the system, the major loophole in Britain's border controls. "I believe that the new system will benefit major institutions, colleges and private universities, but the backstreet bogus college is being exposed."

New visa rules, that began yesterday, mean international students need to be accepted by genuine institutions before they can come here. Officials estimate up to 2,000 "bogus" colleges will be forced to close because of the changes. All colleges and universities who want to take foreign students now have to register with the Home Office. Of the 5,000 thought to take foreign students only 2,100 have so far applied to have their credentials checked. And of those 460 have been rejected.

Frank Field MP co-chairman of the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration, said: "This is a worrying but not totally astonishing revelation. While Ministers are right to tighten the immigration system, this uncovers the shambles that they have allowed to develop – a huge number of dodgy colleges, some of which are simply designed to get round immigration controls."

His co-chairman Nicholas Soames MP added: "Given there are nearly a quarter of a million non-EU students in British higher education institutions, the question this poses is 'how many are here under false pretences?' Ministers need to answer that question now in Parliament."

Dr Sharon Bolton, head of international student support at Imperial, said she was concerned about bureaucracy in the new system. The 17-page application form for existing students to renew their visas was now 55 pages long, she said.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said: "These new measures make sure people who come here to study - and the people who teach them - play by the rules. "This new tier of the points based system allows us to know exactly who is coming to the UK to study and crack down on bogus colleges. "I have made it clear that I will not tolerate either the fraudulent applicants trying to abuse Britain's immigration rules, or the dodgy colleges that facilitate them. However Britain will always welcome legitimate students who are coming here to receive a first-rate education."

SOURCE





1 April, 2009

A politically correct version of the truth from Canada

Compare the two headlines below:

Victoria musician gets 10 years in HIV sex-assault

ZIMBABWEAN REFUGEE SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AFTER KNOWINGLY SPREADING HIV

Both headlines refer to the same facts and the same piece of scum. The first is from a major newspaper and the second is from the site of a talkshow host. Which do you think is most informative and most likely to be read? Hiding the truth seems to be a major objective of newspapers these days. May they all go bankrupt! Thank goodness that some of them are already bankrupt in a monetary sense. The vast majority of them have been bankrupt as reliable conveyors of information for a long time.



Bogus colleges are 'Achilles Heel' of immigration system, says British government minister

Tougher requirements for overseas students seeking to study in Britain

Bogus colleges that help illegal immigrants slip in to Britain are the "Achilles Heel" in the immigration system, Home Office minister Phil Woolas has admitted.

The immigration minister said fake colleges and language schools are the "biggest loophole" in the system as figures showed almost one in four applying to sponsor students under new rules are potentially bogus. Hundreds of colleges were barred from taking in foreign students under the new points-based system.

But ministers have softened their stance on foreign students having to show they can financially support themselves while here. Initial proposals would have meant they had to demonstrate they had enough money for a year but that has now been cut to nine months.

Mr Woolas said: "In my estimation abuse of the student visa has been the biggest abuse of the system, the major loophole in Britain's border controls. "I believe that the new system will benefit major institutions, colleges and private universities, but the backstreet bogus college is being exposed."

New visa rules, that began yesterday, mean international students need to be accepted by genuine institutions before they can come here. Officials estimate up to 2,000 "bogus" colleges will be forced to close because of the changes. All colleges and universities who want to take foreign students now have to register with the Home Office. Of the 5,000 thought to take foreign students only 2,100 have so far applied to have their credentials checked. And of those 460 have been rejected.

Frank Field MP co-chairman of the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration, said: "This is a worrying but not totally astonishing revelation. While Ministers are right to tighten the immigration system, this uncovers the shambles that they have allowed to develop – a huge number of dodgy colleges, some of which are simply designed to get round immigration controls."

His co-chairman Nicholas Soames MP added: "Given there are nearly a quarter of a million non-EU students in British higher education institutions, the question this poses is 'how many are here under false pretences?' Ministers need to answer that question now in Parliament."

Dr Sharon Bolton, head of international student support at Imperial, said she was concerned about bureaucracy in the new system. The 17-page application form for existing students to renew their visas was now 55 pages long, she said.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said: "These new measures make sure people who come here to study - and the people who teach them - play by the rules. "This new tier of the points based system allows us to know exactly who is coming to the UK to study and crack down on bogus colleges. "I have made it clear that I will not tolerate either the fraudulent applicants trying to abuse Britain's immigration rules, or the dodgy colleges that facilitate them. However Britain will always welcome legitimate students who are coming here to receive a first-rate education."

Source



New Immigration Raid Policy

U.S. Says Agents Will Be Targeting Employers

Stepping into the political minefield of immigration reform, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will soon direct federal agents to target employers for arrest and prosecution rather than the laborers who sneak into the country illegally to work for them, Department of Homeland Security officials said Monday.

The shift in emphasis will be outlined in revamped field guidelines issued to agents of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, or ICE, as early as this week, according to several officials familiar with the change in policy. It is in keeping with comments President Barack Obama made in the 2008 campaign, when he said past enforcement efforts have failed because they focused on illegal immigrants rather than the bosses who hire them. "There is a supply side and a demand side," said one Homeland Security official. "Like other law enforcement philosophies, there is a belief that by focusing more on the demand side, you cut off the supply."

Napolitano "is focused on using our limited resources to the greatest effect, targeting criminal aliens and employers that flout our laws and deliberately cultivate an illegal workforce," a department official said. "Worksite enforcements can address both of these priorities; while the review is taking place, our interior enforcement efforts will continue to operate consistent with immigration law."

Homeland Security officials emphasized that the department will not stop conducting sweeps of businesses and arresting those illegal immigrants who are caught working. [A few token raids only?]

Michael Cutler, a retired senior special agent with 30 years working on immigration, sharply criticized the proposed change, saying the administration needs to go after workers and employers to send a message that it will not condone illegal immigration. Cutler, now a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said it would be "dumb" to "go after employers and not the illegal aliens. That means they are going to make very few arrests. And the message that sends is that if you can make it across the border, you're home free, no one is going to be looking for you."

Source