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Administration expanding Secure Communities President Barack Obama has asked Congress for a 30 percent increase in funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) 'Secure Communities' program - a program launched in March 2008 by the Bush administration to help local jails identify inmates who are in the United States illegally so they can be deported when their prison sentences are completed. A 2008 fact sheet about the program reported that ICE, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security, checked the immigration status of '100 percent' of inmates in state and federal prisons, but only 10 percent of the more than 3,000 local jails in the United States were checking to see if criminals in their facilities were in the country illegally. Obama included in his proposed 2010 budget $200 million for the program, a 30 percent increase from last year's funding. The CNS News

Census nomination moving forward Washington, DC (AP) -- President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next census director moved closer to Senate confirmation on Wednesday, with approval all but assured after he ruled out... Senate hears testimony from border officials A mayor from the U.S.-Mexico border wants federal lawmakers to provide more money for border agents and dogs to help curb cross-border trafficking of drugs, guns and humans. Chad Foster,... House bill seeks to expedite Filipino applications Washington, DC -- Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) has refiled a bill seeking to expedite the processing of immigrant visas of children of aging Filipino World War II veterans. The Filipino...

More US Immigration News

CIS study: immigrants hit hardest by recession

The workplace is turning far less favorable for immigrants -- legal and illegal -- in the United States, a new study of U.S. labor statistics shows. Unemployment in the first quarter of 2009 for immigrants -- defined as those who...
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Study disputes tie between immigration and unemployment

Contrary to conventional wisdom -- and anti-illegal immigration rhetoric -- immigration rates have no direct effect on unemployment rates, according to a study released Tuesday. The Center for Immigration Policy, the research arm of the pro-immigration American Immigration Law Foundation,...
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WA governor seeks removal of foreign prisoners

Seattle (AP) -- Gov. Chris Gregoire is moving forward with clearing Washington prisons of illegal immigrants to save money, but at what may be a slower rate than originally planned after lawmakers failed to pass a bill that would have...
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TX prisons now checking status

Houston (AP) -- Officials say Texas' prison system is the first in the country to start checking an inmate's immigration history by running fingerprints through a new federal program. As of Tuesday, all prisoners booked into the Texas Department of...
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IA health bill excludes child illegals

Thousands more Iowa children will be eligible for public health insurance under a bill signed into law Tuesday by Iowa Gov. Chet Culver. The bill, Senate File 389, broadens eligibility for Hawk-I, the joint federal and state insurance program for...
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NJ panel recommends licenses for illegals

Undocumented immigrants are going to drive whether the state allows them to or not. And if they are going to drive, they should be regulated like any other driver - tested for proficiency, their cars inspected and forced to carry...
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Bill would require NYC ballots in Russian

Albany (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of Russian immigrants in New York City may soon get help in voting, under a bill passed in the Senate on Tuesday. Republicans accused Democratic sponsors of the bill of trying to drum up...
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NC sheriff praises 287(g) program

The 287-G program has been very successful in Henderson County according to Sheriff Rick Davis. He told WHKP News that the department could not imagine not having the program in place. One example Davis gave of the success of the...
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Los Angeles cracks down on taco trucks

Sergio Merida and his relatives built taco trucks into a family business. To sell their fresh-cooked tacos, carnitas and tortas, each day they spread out across Palos Verdes Estates -- Merida to the east, his wife, Maggie Avila, to the...
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CA school lauded for integration efforts

An Oakland high school focused on newly arrived immigrant students - they hail from 25 countries and speak 29 languages - is part of a school network receiving a national award today for success in integrating immigrants into the fabric...
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Census participation divides Latinos

Latinos in Charlotte are divided over a nationwide call for illegal immigrants to boycott the 2010 Census unless immigration laws are changed. The debate is gaining steam on local Spanish-language radio. Some popular hosts back the boycott effort being led...
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Wall Street exec laments hiring restrictions

New York -- Rules preventing US banks from hiring foreigners are a 'complete and utter disgrace' and could prompt overseas governments to retaliate against American expatriates, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, warned on Tuesday. Mr Dimon told his...
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MI doctor helped candidates skip citizenship test

A West Bloomfield psychiatrist pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to commit naturalization fraud, admitting he falsified diagnoses to help people gain U.S. citizenship without passing the English-proficiency portions of naturalization exams. Between 1999 and 2001, Chilakamarri Ramesh, 54, worked at...
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Border Patrol nabs 25 smuggled in trailer

San Diego (AP) -- The Border Patrol says it arrested a Mexican man on charges of smuggling 25 illegal immigrants in a trailer while driving on Interstate 8 toward San Diego. The agency said Monday that the 56-year-old legal U.S....
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Haitian smuggler appears in court

A Haitian national accused in an alien smuggling operation that left nine people dead last week in the waters off Palm Beach County is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach at 10 a.m....
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AR lawyer seeks release of illegal

A lawyer representing a man detained in Faulkner County on a U.S. immigration agency hold is asking the county's circuit court to free his client. Oscar Castro-Gomez, a Pulaski County resident, was arrested April 12 in Conway on theft of...
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TX couple accused of smuggling illegals

El Paso, TX -- A Lower Valley man and his wife are facing charges of illegal immigrant smuggling, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said. The KVIA News (El Paso)...
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Two illegals accused of OK murder

Woodward -- Two illegal immigrant brothers have been arrested in connection with the strangulation death of another man in Woodward County. The KTUL News (Tulsa)...
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Obama immigration policies echoing Bush's

Although President Obama has spent much of his time in office moving away from the policies of his predecessor, on immigration enforcement, he has embraced several Bush administration initiatives, and the changes he has promised to make are couched in...
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Key officials call for 'hardened' border with Canadian

The U.S.-Canada border has a history of being porous, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced this week - a good reason for both countries to "harden" the international boundary, according to a report in the Canadian Press. Homeland Security Secretary...
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DHS chief admits amnesty a 'tough sell'

As immigrants' rights groups are pressing President Barack Obama to step up efforts at comprehensive reform this year, one prominent member of Obama's cabinet is acknowledging that the economic downturn has made legalization of illegal immigrants tougher to sell to...
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Admin. presses expansion of Secure Communities

Washington, DC -- The Obama administration is expanding a program initiated by President George W. Bush aimed at checking the immigration status of virtually every person booked into local jails. In four years, the measure could result in a tenfold...
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$100m allocated to border technology program

The Homeland Security Department plans to spend $100 million in economic stimulus funding to install border surveillance technology and improve tactical communications, according to a planning document published online. The stimulus law Congress passed in February restored money to Customs...
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DHS chief 'straddles' political divide

Washington, DC -- The day before she mounted her first campaign for public office, Janet Napolitano, then a federal prosecutor, held a news conference with one of the most polarizing figures in law enforcement: Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County....
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Senate bill would rescind important aspects of REAL ID

Federal and state officials have drafted legislation to replace a controversial 2005 law that set national standards for driver's licenses and identification cards, but critics say the proposal would not guarantee enough security. The legislation is expected to be introduced...
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DREAM Act gathering steam in Congress

Walter Lara is a scared 3-year-old, crouching with his mother under a stopped train. She holds him close and whispers to stay quiet as footsteps approach. Then he wakes up. Only in his dreams does Lara, 23, remember his illegal...
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SCOTUS rules Pakistani cannot sue officials over 9/11 detention

Washington, DC -- The Supreme Court served notice Monday that it would set a high bar for anyone seeking to hold top government officials liable for abuse suffered by prisoners held as part of the Bush administration's war on terrorism....
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Poll reveals Hispanic bloc gaining clout

The country's Hispanic voting population is gaining political ground, rallying behind the new president, and keeping immigration reform close to its heart, according to poll results released Monday. ''It's a very personal issue,'' Sergio Bendixen, president of Bendixen & Associates,...
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Survey finds 85% of Americans support English as official language

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Americans say English should be the official language of the United States. Only nine percent (9%) disagree, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Seven percent (7%) are not sure. The support for English...
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Houston mayor faulted over access to city services

Just weeks after Mayor Bill White did an about-face by supporting immigration screening at the city jails - much to the joy of anti-illegal immigration activists - he found himself again accused of running a 'sanctuary city.' This time, the...
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