[March 15, 2010]

BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

The issue of birthright citizenship is not without controversy. In the 2008 election, for example, the legitimacy of both parties' candidates was called into question.  Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain, was born on a U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone and Democratic candidate, President Barack Obama was born to a U.S. citizen mother and an immigrant father in Hawaii in 1961. Normally, the issue of birthright citizenship doesn't get much attention. However, immigration restrictionists and select politicians often use the issue to rally extremists and distract from the important issues surrounding reforming our broken immigration system.

Will There Be Immigration Reform?

The most interesting question is: will immigration reform pass and when if at all.  Everyone who listened to the State of the Union message of the President tried to understand President Obama¡¯s intentions.  Yes? No? Maybe?  There was a glancing mention but it was sort of muted. 

President Obama¡¯s comments in his State of the Union address were simple, ¡®we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system – to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.¡± It was neither detailed nor overly passionate, a meek signal that immigration reform was still a priority in his administration under a broader push for greater civil rights.

Need to Revise the Definition of Criminal

             A  new report reveals that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is detaining more criminal immigrants as opposed to non-criminal immigrants.  When you analyze the numbers, it seems that ¡°criminals¡± are persons who were found guilty of minor violations such as traffic offenses, disorderly conduct, as well as immigration violations such as illegal entry.  It really does not make any sense.

There Is Hope

With the U.S. unemployment rate still hovering over 10 percent, it's only natural for people to worry whether America's recent economic decline is reversible. In this month's issue of Atlantic Monthly, correspondent James Fallow takes a step back to address just that--what he calls "the fear of American declinism." In his historical and economic analysis of America's overall well-being, Fallow finds that while America's governing system is old, broken and in desperate need of reform, Americans should find comfort in "America's cycle of crisis and renewal." We've been here before, Fallow says, and if we want to move forward, we need to maintain and nurture the driving economic forces that have lined the road to renewal in the past--a thriving university system, a culture of innovation and receptiveness to immigrants.

Courts Can Review Deportation

             The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal district courts have the discretion to review deportation proceedings. 

             Even before the November 2009 argument, the outcome seemed pre-ordained after the Obama Administration agreed with the petitioner, Agron Kucana, an Albanian, that the 7^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reached the wrong conclusion in his case.

             The 9^th Circuit, the appeals court with the highest immigration caseload in the nation, is one of six circuits that had already held courts have jurisdiction to hear appeals in similar circumstances.

The specific issue was whether the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 stripped federal courts of jurisdiction to review the Board of Immigration Appeals¡¯ denial of an immigrant¡¯s motion to reopen removal proceedings. 

             Kucana and the government both argued immigrants should be allowed to appeal such a denial if new information comes to light.  

The 1996 legislation limited judicial review of certain immigration-related decisions that are made solely at the discretion of the U.S. Attorney General.

The Supreme Court was unanimous in holding that the limits on appeals only affect decisions made discretionary by law and not by regulations adopted by the Attorney General.  Motions to reopen removal proceedings fell into the latter category.

             ¡°Congress reserved itself, and did not vest in the Attorney General, authority to bar judicial review,¡± Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in court in announcing the decision.

Whistle Blowers Can Obtain Asylum

             The 9^th U.S. Court of Appeals reversed an immigration court and found ¡°whistle blowing¡± against government corruption is grounds for asylum.

             Judge Pregerson wrote that an Armenian businessman was ¡°threatened, harassed, fined, detained and beaten¡± because he refused to pay bribes to a government official in his homeland.

             The judge wrote: ¡°evidence in the record would compel a reasonable fact finder to conclude the man was mistreated because of his political opinion.¡± 

The case involved Armen Baghdasaryan, an Armenian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2001 with a false visa.  He applied for asylum claiming that he fled his homeland after a well-known general in the Ministry of Defense repeatedly sought bribes.  He was arrested and fined when he refused and filed a complaint.  When he protested, he began receiving threatening phone calls.  He was later detained and beaten by armed men, who demanded he stop protesting and defaming the Armenian general.  An immigration judge denied his application for asylum because he wasn¡¯t credible.  He appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the review board found him credible but ruled that he didn¡¯t qualify for asylum because he was ¡°merely the ¡®victim of criminal misconduct,¡± Pregerson wrote. 

             In the past, it wasn¡¯t clear if rising up against a powerful figure would be considered whistle blowing against systemic corruption.  Now it is. 

Remittances to Foreign Countries Seen As Positive

Influence on U.S. Economy

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) released a report which analyzes remittances and their effect on the economies of both the U.S. and receiving countries. Remittances - the transfer of money by workers back to home countries - can constitute one of the top financial inflows to many developing countries, in some cases exceeding international aid.  Mexico and the Philippines are the top receiving countries from the U.S. and are also large consumers of U.S. goods. In addtion, in the wake of Haiti's overwhelming humanitarian crisis, remittances will assume a central role in providing critical resources to the population. Some critics argue that remittances are a loss to the U.S. economy, however, the latest report shows that remittances are actually used to buy goods from U.S. companies, showing that remittances actually benefit both the sending and receiving countries.

Department of State Removes HIV from List of Communicable Diseases

of Public Health Significance

             The Department of State announced that, as a result of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention¡¯s (CDC¡¯s) removal of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection from the list of communicable disease of public health significance, effective January 4, 2010, HIV infection will no longer be an ineligibility when foreign citizens apply for a visa to travel to the U.S.; HIV testing will no longer be required for medical examinations for visa purposes; and applicants who are HIV-positive will no longer require waiver processing by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  

             A new report finds that comprehensive immigration reform that includes a legalization program for the roughly 12 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. and enables a future flow of legal workers would benefit U.S. workers and generate much needed economic growth.

• Immigration reform would increase U.S. GDP by at least 0.84%.  This would translate into at least a cumulative $1.5 trillion in added GDP over 10 years, which includes approximately $1.2 trillion in consumption and $256 billion in investment.

• The benefits of additional GDP growth would be spread broadly throughout the U.S. economy, but immigrant-heavy sectors such as textiles, electronic equipment, and construction would see particularly large increases.

• The higher earning power of newly legalized workers would mean increased tax revenues of $4.5 billion to $5.4 billion in the first three years.

• Higher personal income would also generate increased consumer spending-enough to support 750,000 to 900,000 jobs in the U.S. in the first three years.

• Experience shows that legalized workers open bank accounts, buy homes, and start businesses, further stimulating the U.S. economy.

Children in the Aftermath of Immigration Raids

The collateral damage left in the wake of internal immigration enforcement is far too often overlooked in the immigration debate--especially considering that children bear the brunt of such enforcement policies. There are roughly 5.5 million children currently living in the U.S. with at least one unauthorized parent, and at least three-quarters of these children are U.S. born citizens. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that over the last 10 years, more than 100,000 immigrant parents of U.S. citizen children have been deported from the United States. As DHS continues to increases its enforcement-heavy budget, it's important to consider the serious risks raids and other ICE actions that separate parents and children pose to children's immediate safety, economic security, well-being, and long-term development.