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1. CIS: immigrant criminality
2. Feds promise company audit
3. ICE: criminal expulsions up
4. DHS wants expedited screening
5. Dems may have spent capital

1.
Report: Info muddled on immigrants and crime
By Cindy Carcamo
The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA), November 19, 2009
http://www.ocregister.com/news/-220273--.html

That man in the back of a squad car on his way to jail: What are the chances he was born in the United States?

The Center for Immigration Studies released a report today that says it is unclear whether immigrants -- both legal and illegal -- are more likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States.

The report, called "Immigration and Crime: Assessing a Conflicted Issue" challenges decades of studies by groups on both sides of the immigration debate. It contends that conflicting information and a lack of good data provide a confusing portrait of immigrant criminality.

As the debate heats up with the possibility of an immigration overhaul, the report's authors suggest federal officials and local law enforcement work more closely to get a good sense of whether there is a real public safety concern posed by immigrants -- legal and illegal.

"The overall picture on immigration and crime is muddled," said Steven Camarota, co-author of the study by the Washington, D.C.-based group that wants more restrictions on legal immigration.

The group's study comes on the heels of recent reports from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that say legal and illegal immigrants have higher rates of criminality. And those reports contradict older research and studies from think tanks and immigrants rights groups that have consistently said that immigrants -- both legal and illegal – are less likely to commit crimes.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimates that about 20 percent of inmates in prisons and jails are immigrants -- legal and illegal. At the same time, the foreign-born make up 15.4 percent of the population, according to the data.

The immigration agency's estimates come from ICE's Secure Communities initiative and data from the 287(g) program, both of which allow local law enforcement officials to screen for inmates' immigration status.

In Orange County, 1,681 of 30,303 inmates screened at the Orange County Jail during the first six months of this year were suspected of being in the country illegally and placed under an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer, according to Sheriff's Department statistics. Nearly 900 were booked on suspicion of committing felonies and the rest on suspicion of misdemeanors.

That means about 5.5 percent of the inmate population at the Orange County Jail during that time were suspected of being in the country illegally, statistics show. Sheriff's deputies screen virtually everybody who is booked into the facility. Those who are booked into the jail are arrested by every law enforcement agency in the county.

The Center for Immigration Studies report points out that the government failed to provide a detailed explanation of how they arrived at their estimates and that their estimates are possibly flawed, Camarota said.

However, the group also suggests that better long-range information on immigrant criminality could come from continuing the Secure Communities and 287(g) programs, if the data is correct.

Opinion surveys show that the public thinks immigrants overall or people who are in the country illegally, in particular, have higher rates of crime, the report said.

In addition, some anti-illegal immigration groups, such as Huntington Beach-based California Coalition for Immigration Reform, have long argued that people who are in the country illegally are criminals by simply being here.

Camarota's report disputes long-held claims by immigrant activists and other groups that legal and illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes.

The report says that studies issued by the Immigration Policy Center in 2007 and the Public Policy Institute of California in 2008 that contend low rates of immigrant incarceration are flawed. The 2000 Census data used is not reliable, Camarota contends, because it's based on educated guesses as to whether a prisoner was an immigrant.

The Immigration Policy Center, an immigrant rights group based in Washington, D.C., strongly disagreed.

"The report... attempts to overturn a century's worth of research which has demonstrated repeatedly that immigrants are less likely than the native-born to commit violent crimes or end up behind bars," the organization stated Wednesday.

Studies and data from a hundred years back have consistently reached the same conclusion: immigration is not associated with higher rates of crime, Immigraton Policy Center officials said.

"In other words, numerous researchers drawing upon numerous sources of data have reached the same conclusion that the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform reached in its 1984 report - which also happens to be the conclusion reached by the Industrial Commission of 1901, the Dillingham Immigration Commission of 1911, and the Wickersham National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement of 1931: that immigration is not associated with higher crime," center officials said in a statement.

The immigrant rights group contends that the center's real agenda is to promote the 287(g) and Secure Communities programs. Immigrant rights groups have criticized the programs, which have come under fire lately, with allegations of mismanagement and suspected misuse and possible racial profiling in such places as Maricopa County in Arizona.

In Orange County, sheriff's deputies do not arrest people based on immigration status or suspected immigration status, said Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman John McDonald.

Other demographers, however, agree with Camarota that the jury is still out on immigration and crime.

"We don't know the answer," said Mark Hugo Lopez, an associate director at the Pew Hispanic Center. "Part of the problem is that at times in states and locally it's not asked or collected—the nativity of the people and whether they are foreign born or whether someone is here legally or illegally."

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Advocacy study: Do immigrants contribute to a rise in crime?
By Victor Manuel Ramos
The Orlando Sentinel, November 19, 2009
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_hispanicaffairs/2009/11/advocacy-s...

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2.
U.S. to audit 1,000 companies to check for illegal hires
By Erin Kelly and Daniel González
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), November 20, 2009

Federal immigration-enforcement agents on Thursday notified 1,000 companies nationwide, 52 in Arizona, that the government is auditing their hiring records to check for illegal workers.

It is the government's second round of hiring audits in five months.

The Obama administration said the audits are part of an aggressive campaign to crack down on companies and individuals who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, a break from worksite raids conducted under the Bush administration that largely resulted in the arrest of illegal workers.

Some members of Congress quickly criticized the new approach, suggesting the administration is giving illegal immigrants a free pass. But immigration-enforcement officials say cracking down on employers is more effective at combating illegal immigration because without jobs, there is little to attract immigrants to the United States.

Immigration officials already have conducted 1,069 inspections this year, issuing fines of nearly $16 million and banning 45 businesses from competing for federal contracts. In total, the Obama administration will perform more than four times as many audits in 2009 as the Bush administration's 503 audits in 2008, when fines of $2.3 million were issued and no businesses were banned from federal contracts.

"(We) are focused on finding and penalizing employers who believe they can unfairly get ahead by cultivating illegal workplaces," said John Morton, assistant secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The audits are in addition to investigations conducted by state authorities under Arizona's 22-month-old employer-sanctions law. Maricopa County officials filed the first charges under the law on Wednesday.

The 1,000 businesses served this week with federal audit notices - the largest round of audits in the nation's history - were selected based on investigative leads and intelligence, Morton said.

They also were chosen because of their connection to public safety and national security, such as power plants and companies involved in agriculture, transportation, telecommunications, chemicals and water treatment.
. . .
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/11/19/20091119gan-illegal-ON...

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3.
Criminal Deportations Spike in Pacific Northwest
Fox News, November 19, 2009

Seattle (AP) -- Deportations of illegal immigrants with criminal records from Alaska, Oregon, and Washington this past year spiked by nearly 40 percent, while overall removals dropped for the first time in five years, according to new data released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The data, from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009, shows that 10,793 people were deported from the Pacific Northwest, a drop of 117 compared to the previous year.

That marks the first time in the last five years that deportations from the Northwest have dropped. Deportations had increased from more than 4,000 in 2005 to nearly 11,000 in 2008.

But removals of people with criminal records went from more than 3,100 to nearly 4,500 between 2008 and 2009 — a jump of 39.7 percent. Since 2005, criminal removals have more than doubled.

The data "illustrates pretty vividly the priority we're placing on the removal of criminal aliens," ICE spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said. "We believe it's the best way to enhance public safety."

Dankers said moving resources resulted in a slight decrease in deportations of immigrants with no criminal records, but she said that ICE cannot ignore that section of the illegal immigrant community.

She added ICE has moved its resources to focus on immigrants with criminal records. Crimes under which a person may be deported can range between a misdemeanor and a felony.
. . .
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575886,00.html

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4.
Govt wants to expand expedited screening of low-risk, arriving travelers at more airports
By Eileen Sullivan
The Associated Press, November 19, 2009

Washington, DC (AP) -- The Homeland Security Department wants to expand speedy screening of preapproved, low-risk air travelers arriving in the United States to most international airports in the country.

For more than a year, the department has been testing this program at seven airports across the country and found that participating travelers cut their average waiting time to be screened from 10 minutes to three.

The voluntary program, called Global Entry, would be open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents at least 14 years old. They would have to pay a $100 fee and undergo a background check. If accepted into the program, they can go through expedited screening when they fly into the United States. Ultimately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a homeland security agency, plans to expand the program to include foreign travelers whose countries have an acceptable prescreening process. For instance, people from the Netherlands who are part of that country's Privium program have been accepted into the pilot program.

The program will begin at seven airports testing the pilot program and expand to most major international airports. The seven are New York's Kennedy, Houston's George Bush, Washington's Dulles, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, Chicago's O'Hare, Los Angeles International and Miami International.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-us-airport-...

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5.
Busy agenda clouds hopes for immigration reform
By Tim Gaynor
Reuters, November 19, 2009

Phoenix (Reuters) -- Some U.S. Democrats see momentum building for an overhaul of immigration laws that would legalize millions of undocumented workers, but analysts say a crowded agenda and struggling economy may once again sink hopes for reform next year.

Representative Luis Gutierrez says he will introduce a comprehensive reform bill in the Democrat-controlled Congress in December, offering a path to citizenship for law abiding undocumented workers.

"It's my feeling that we just can't wait any longer for a bill that keeps our families together, protects our workers and allows a clear pathway to legalization for those who have earned it," the Illinois Democrat said.

Gutierrez was speaking in a conference call on Wednesday, which organizers said reached 60,000 participants gathered at house parties in 45 states.

Democratic officials in Washington, however, are skeptical there will be enough time or political will to tackle the issue next year although it could be on the agenda in 2011 or 2012 depending on the outcome of congressional elections next year.

Immigration is a divisive issue in the United States where some 12 million illegal immigrants live and work in the shadows and where Hispanics, the largest immigrant group, are an increasingly weighty voting bloc.

Changing Climate?

President Barack Obama, who was backed overwhelmingly by Hispanics in his election last year, says he wants to see legislation by early next year. His predecessor, President George W. Bush, tried and failed to get reforms passed.

Obama supports the idea of offering citizenship to illegal immigrants in good standing while cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers as well as hardening the porous border with Mexico.

Representative Nydia Velazquez, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and who also spoke in Wednesday's call, said she believed legislation would be passed before Congressional elections in November 2010.

Senior White House advisor David Axelrod told CNN on Sunday that Democrats and Republicans in Congress were working together to craft an immigration reform bill that could become law as early as next year.

That echoed a statement by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who said last week that factors like a big decline in illegal border crossings had altered the political climate, making an overhaul "attainable."

She said there were signs that more Americans want the broken immigration system fixed and there had been vocal support from law enforcement officials, clerics and leaders from business and labor.

Limited Bandwidth

A House Democratic leadership aide was less optimistic. "I think it is pretty unlikely. Our members had to take a lot of tough votes this year -- on healthcare and energy -- that they are getting beat up on."

The aide, who asked not to be identified, added: "My sense is that there isn't going to be much enthusiasm in the rank and file to take up another issue that is going to require more tough votes."
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http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE5AI5CX20091119