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1. Haitian deportations suspended
2. Census targets MA communities
3. NY controller reports on labor
4. Activists draw from MLK
5. Amnesty activists rally

1.
Deportations To Haiti Halted After Earthquake
But Lawmakers Want Obama To Grant Haitians A More Permanent Refuge Through A Controversial Emergency Program
By David Gauvey Herbert
The National Journal, January 13, 2010

The Department of Homeland Security announced this afternoon that it will halt the deportation of illegal Haitian immigrants in the wake of a devastating 7.0 earthquake in that country. But some lawmakers and immigration advocates are lobbying President Obama go further and grant Haitians in the U.S. a safe haven through a controversial emergency program.

The program, called temporary protected status, is designed to shelter tourists, students and illegal immigrants in the U.S. in the event of natural disasters and political upheaval in their home countries, letting the Department of Homeland Security issue them 6- to 18-month visas.
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More than 300,000 people from seven countries -- Burundi, El Salvador, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Somalia and Sudan -- are in the U.S. under temporary protected status. Some of the crises that prevented them from returning home have long since passed -- Hurricane Mitch passed through Honduras and Nicaragua in 1998, and El Salvador's massive back-to-back earthquakes took place in 2001. Yet administrations stretching back to President George H.W. Bush have continued to extend TPS in the face of intense lobbying from those communities, foreign governments and immigration rights advocates.

"It's the PPS -- permanent protected status," said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which advocates lower immigration levels, in March 2009. "It's a kind of backdoor refugee system."

Mario Diaz-Balart countered that while there may be countries that have outlived their need for TPS, the failure of previous administrations to take a politically uncomfortable stand on TPS doesn't detract from the current need to help.

"That doesn't negate the facts," said Diaz-Balart, who has roughly 10,000 Haitians in his district, according to the 2000 census. "If you're ever going to apply TPS, this is when you do it."

In the past, the Department of Homeland Security has worried that granting TPS to Haiti might result in a flood of refugees hoping to gain legal status in the U.S. But Susana Barciela, the policy director for the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, insists there will be no such flood. The Coast Guard, she said, intercepted fewer would-be illegal immigrants from Haiti in the months after the 2008 hurricanes. The importance of TPS at this point is to allow Haitians in the U.S. to work and send remittances to families recovering from the earthquake.

Even some immigration foes acknowledge that the magnitude and devastation of this earthquake may necessitate TPS, despite the flaws in the program.

"It might well be a legitimate cause for TPS," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, who has taken a dim view of the program. "The question is, when things sort of get back to normal in a few months, do we end TPS, and I wouldn't hold my breath. The Haitians in Florida are certainly upset about this tragedy... but this is going to end up benefiting them immensely."
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http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no_20100113_8003.php

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2.
US census targets Waltham immigrant communities
By Jessica Rudis
The Boston Globe, January 14, 2010

The US census has targeted Waltham’s immigrant and cultural communities for outreach programs to encourage all residents, including undocumented citizens, to be counted.

Tia Costello, the partnership coordinator for the US census bureau, said her department started reaching out to Waltham about a year ago, and will increase their efforts in the months leading up to March, when census forms go out in the mail.

Costello said it is important that immigrant communities understand what the census is and why they should participate. The more people who are counted in the census can lead to increased funding for local services and population counts can factor into city decisions such as where to build new schools and senior centers, she said.

However, she said some immigrants may be reluctant to fill out their 10-question form, particularly undocumented immigrants who may believe they will be deported if the government is aware of where they live.

“The import message is that the census is safe easy and important,” Costello said. “We maintain your confidentiality, we don’t share that information with any other government agency ever.”

According to federal law, census information is kept confidential and census workers face stiff penalties if they leak or share anything.

The census bureau has reached out to faith-based and service-based organizations in Waltham in an attempt to disseminate that information and ease any fears people may have.
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http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/waltham/2010/01/us_census_targets_wa...

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3.
U.S. Census Bureau figures show immigrant workers put $215 billion into city's economic activity
By Erica Pearson
The New York Daily News, January 14, 2010

Immigrant workers fuel the New York engine - making up almost half of the workforce and churning almost a third of its income, a new state study says.

Foreign-born workers contributed $215 billion to New York City's economic activity in 2008 - almost a third of all income generated in the city, according to the state controller.

"When you add it all up, it's a real success story," said Controller Thomas DiNapoli, whose office analyzed U.S. Census Bureau figures.

The study was no surprise to Aziz Osmani, owner of Kalustyan's in Manhattan.

"This city is run by immigrants. We are contributing, paying taxes and are part of everything," said Osmani, who emigrated to Queens from Bangladesh in 1982 and now employs 16 people at his specialty food store.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/01/14/2010-01-14_immigrants_put...

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4.
Immigration reform advocates see inspiration in work of MLK, honored at naturalization events
By Deepti Hajela
The Associated Press, January 14, 2010

New York (AP) -- After almost nine years, Nigerian immigrant Emakoji Ayikoye is on the brink of becoming an American, just waiting to say the words of the citizenship oath.

But Thursday's ceremony is weighted with more symbolism than usual for the 32-year-old college math teacher. It's one of several being held nationwide in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Another, on Friday in Atlanta, will feature a speech from his daughter Bernice King.

Honoring the slain civil rights leader via a naturalization ceremony makes perfect sense to Ayikoye. And around the country, immigration reform advocates also are connecting their efforts to the work of King and the civil rights movement, looking for inspiration and a way to gain support in hopes of passing legislation in 2010.

King would have turned 81 on Friday. The holiday honoring him is Monday.

It's not unusual for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to hold naturalization ceremonies around holidays such as July 4 or at places with ties to immigrant history such as Ellis Island. But the week of events honoring King is a first for the agency.

"When we greet new citizens into the United States we speak of the open opportunities that our country presents to everyone around the world who qualifies for the benefits our agency administers," said Alejandro Mayorkas, the USCIS director. "Martin Luther King helped define those hopes and opportunities for everyone."

Ayikoye said King "fought for the equality of people." He pointed out that the reform of immigration laws that allowed more people from all over the world to come to America took place as the civil rights movement was going on.

"His work paved the way for me to become a citizen," Ayikoye said. "Without him, there is absolutely no way I would become a citizen today."

The efforts of King and others in the civil rights movement created a political atmosphere in the 1960s that helped those who were trying to change the country's immigration laws, said David Canton, associate professor of history at Connecticut College in New London.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-mlk-immigr...

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5.
Mesa event puts focus on immigration reform
By Andre Bowser
The East Valley Tribune (Phoenix), January 13, 2010

Kicking off an event calling for immigration reform, religious leaders and business and community members, gathered in east Mesa as part of a national movement.

At the core of the Wednesday night gathering was a mantra to keep families together, improve the economy and to humanely deal with the influx of undocumented people in America from all parts of the world, said Reform Immigration For America organizers.

An interpretive dance dedicated to the plight of undocumented workers, religious songs and a skit depicting a Mexican family in which some of the members were in America illegally, all expressed the stories of broken families that organizers said needed to be told.

As a troupe of actors portrayed a Mexican family sitting before a table giving thanks over their morning breakfast, another actor wearing the big papier-mache head of an old, silver-haired sheriff, loomed large off stage.

“Do we have any minute men, minute women, or minute children here tonight?” the faux sheriff barked at the audience. “Good. You in the back, get up here.”

Once the Mexican family finished their morning prayer, giving thanks for of all things a place at the table in America, the sheriff stormed inside and separated the family, forcing the parents to one side of a symbolic line extended from the audience.

“And you, you’re going to foster care,” the actor portraying the unnamed sheriff ordered, while leading the youngest actor away.

Returning to the stage and never naming the sheriff she depicted, the actress stated: “I do not hate the sheriff; hate is too strong a word.”

The tenure of the night’s gathering instead was one of cooperation to an end that would solve problems and not fan the flames, she said.
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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/149483