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A large crux of the case against immigration is that it takes work away from American workers.  That sounds logical, as any filled position is one less position in the pot.  The opposite of that argument is that immigrants are filling jobs that native workers do not want to fill, and doing so with little to no worker’s rights.  I do not want to get into that argument today, it is Friday after all, but I do want to highlight some actual data concerning the issue.  I guess my point is that people can argue whatever they’d like, but it is real statistical, proven data that makes the best cases. I found this data posted in a blog of Atlantic contributor Matthew Yglesias, it is data from a study concerning immigration’s effects on workers’ wages:

“Using our estimates and Census data we find that immigration (1990-2006) had small negative effects in the short run on native workers with no high school degree (-0.7%) and on average wages (-0.4%) while it had small positive effects on native workers with no high school degree (+0.3%) and on average native wages (+0.6%) in the long run. These results are perfectly in line with the estimated aggregate elasticities in the labor literature since Katz and Murphy (1992). We also find a wage effect of new immigrants on previous immigrants in the order of negative 6%.”

Yglesias then comments on this data’s relationship to the recent wave of immigration raids and crackdowns.  He writes, “When you take into account the fact that immigration is beneficial to the immigrants and to the recipients of their remittances, and that cracking down effectively on illegal immigration would entail large direct costs, this makes the case for a crack-down look extremely un-compelling. You’re talking about very small short-term losses that are offset by very small long-term gains.”

I agree with Yglesias that the crackdown and raid are very un-compelling.  They cost all parties involved a ton of money, and do not make any ‘mindset changes.’  That is the real way to stop factory owners from hiring illegal immigrants.  By arresting a large amount of people all at once, tearing a part families, temporarily closing businesses, you just create larger messes.  Messes that, call me cynical, are likely to be cleaned up by another batch of illegal immigrants.

You can read the post here, as well as some interesting comments regarding the post…I will be able to see the effects that the Pottsville raid has had on the community, as Sunday I am traveling to Iowa with the JCUA.  I am looking forward to the trip, not as much the 5 hour bus ride, but it will be interesting to see first hand the Potsville Community.

Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope you do it safely.

There it is.  I was wondering where this week’s immigration raid would be, turns out I found it scattered throughout Northern Ohio.  Rather than targeting one location, ICE put a year long investigation to rest when they raided 8 branches of the Mexican chain restaurant Casa Fiesta, which means party house and is found in Ashland, Fremont, Norwalk, Oberlin, Oregon, Sandusky, Vermillion and Youngstown, Ohio.

The raid resulted in the arrest of 58 workers, all of Mexican descent and heavily male.  Of the 58 arrested, only 4 of them were women, and three of those four have been released for humanitarian reasons.  Those arrested will next appear in federal immigration court, which will determine whether or not they remain in the United States.

In the stories I’ve read, the owners of the chain were not arrested in the raid, which has been a repeating occurrence.  It also makes me question whether or not these raids will have any lasting effect if the people doing the hiring are not arrested or facing legal consequences.  To be fair, the owners do face financial hardships when their staff is arrested, as well as public scrutiny.

Anyone reading this blog will know that this raid follows other large raids in Texas, as well as Iowa.  The Iowa raid took place in May at the Agriprocessors Meat Packing Plant. In related news, on Sunday members of Chicago’s Jewish Council on Urban Affairs will travel to Iowa to take part in a march and rally against the unfair treatment of immigrants, and offer support to the families affected by the raid.  I will travel as well to document the march/rally.

Fronteras will keep you updated on this story as more information is made available.

Sacha Baron Cohen rose to fame through his brand of character acting that saw him transform himself into the confused rasta-gangsta Ali G, and the Kazakhstan ambassador Borat.  While Cohen has said that Borat and Ali G. have been retired, there is a new film in the works that will see Cohen return to entrenching himself in a character of foreign descent.  According to Variety, Cohen has signed on to produce (and perhaps star in) Accidentes, a film that focuses on a lawyer turned woker’s rights hero after representing an immigrant hurt on the job in a landscaping accident.

According to Vairety:

“The protag will be a lawyer of Latin descent who transforms from contingency attorney to hero of the working class when he helps an immigrant win a judgment against his wealthy employer after a landscaping mishap. He also becomes the enemy of L.A.’s power elite.”

This looks like it could be a promising picture, especially given the current immigration climate.  Hopefully Cohen approaches the movie in the same manner that he does his other works, which may appear stupid on the surface, but has a ‘joke’s on you’ undertone.  In pieces featuring Borat, Ali G, and the gay Austrian fashion buff Bruno, Cohen exposes xenophobia, racism, and homophobia through his characters’ assumed ignorance.

In addition, it will interesting to see if the film broaches the subject of illegal immigration, and how it deals with the lawyers themselves.  I will keep you updated if more info on the film surfaces.

It’s not so much the images or the John McCain bashing that got me in this video.  In fact, I really didn’t pay attention to the visuals.  What was interesting and attention grabbing was Rush Limbaugh’s ‘immigration laws.’  I was all set to slice into Rush and his apartheid-esqe policies, till he pulls the old switcheroo and says he is just reading off the immigration policies of Mexico.

I am not familiar with Mexico’s immigration laws (will be reading up on those today), so can’t say if Rush is sticking to them or doing his famous embellishing.  What I can argue against is Rush’s thinking that just because Mexico’s immigration laws (as he reads them) are unfair and inhumane, America’s must be as well.  That’s an argument full of holes, and goes against the very principles that America was founded on.  This country exists because people wanted more, more than other countries.  We have always prided ourselves on being for the underdog and being model for other countries to follow.  Suggesting that we should tailor our immigration policies to those of Mexico, or any other repressive country is ridiculous.  And Rush knows that, he’s just going for ratings.

When mentions of highly skilled worker programs and employment visas arise, our thinking tends to focus on the technology and agricultural fields.  However, come August, highly skilled immigrants will be showcasing their talents in a vastly different form on behalf of the United States.  When the 2008 Olympics kick off next month, 33 foreign born Olympians will compete in the Beijing games in hopes of hoisting an American flag during medal ceremonies.

The presence of such athletes was the topic of an article which ran in USA Today on July 18 (read it here).  While the article was unbiased, and if anything, was supportive of the foreign born athletes, some of those quoted cautioned against becoming too supportive, or God forbid, using these athletes as a reason for providing an easier path to citizenship.

Take these words from William Gheen, president of American for Legal Immigration, “The American public is starting to sour on all immigration in reaction to rampant illegal immigration..The danger is if people say, ‘Look at these immigrants who are in the Olympics — therefore you should provide a path to citizenship for all the illegal immigrants in the country.”‘

While I agree that we shouldn’t use the presence of foreign born Olympians as the crux of a ‘path to citizenship argument,’ we shouldn’t be that quick to dismiss it either.  Especially given that Gheen and others similar to him use any crime or transgression carried out by an immigrant as a reason to lock’em all up.  Why not celebrate these athletes, pick their brains, and consult them when coming up with new immigration reforms and policies?  Why not do more to attract phenomenal people such as the China-born table tennis players, or the Kenyan-born (and gold medal winning) runner Bernard Lagat?  Perhaps Americans are souring on immigration in any form because the mainstream media and “think-tank” organizations do not promote very positive images when it comes to representing immigrants.  We need to take this opportunity to change that image and really highlight exceptional people entering the United States correctly, working to become citizens, and performing to the best of their ability.

Obviously, these Olympians do not represent the norm, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t hope that more people like them call the United States home.  Randy Capp from the Urban Institute said it best.

“Would you rather have them competing for someone else? Would you rather the U.S. be more competitive or less competitive?” he asked. “You wouldn’t want an immigration policy that would exclude people who could potentially be the best at what they do.”

No.  We wouldn’t.

A couple weeks ago I posted news about a relief fund set up by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs that was meant to benefit the workers arrested during the Potsville raid.  The JCUA visited Iowa with funds and donations, and also collected first hand stories from those arrested and their families.  Here is an update of what they found, as well as info on a July 27th rally that they are organizing.

“Groups of mothers caring for their children were wearing ankle bracelets that allowed the feds to track their locations. These women were arrested in the Agriprocessors raid, but were released to be with their kids. It was sad enough to see only women and children moving about, but the bracelets were symbols of the separation and deportation that hang over these families’ heads.”

***

“Father Paul Odekirk, a leader in the relief effort, told me his church filled with frightened families right after the raid. It was ironic, he said, that when he looked around, he realized he had baptized most of the children there. “They were born right here in Postville,” he affirmed. ”These kids are U.S. citizens caught in this horrible and demeaning immigration mess.” Father Paul told me he cried as he realized that these little Americans soon would be forced to leave this country as their parents were deported. It doesn’t matter, he said, how well they spoke English, how well they were doing in school, how much they loved their lives here.”

***

“I just kept thinking that Postville is a small town whose hard-working people, seeking only a better life for their children, are caught in the crossfire of powerful political and commercial interests.”

***

“Wherever I went, out on the street or in the gas station or grocery store, I saw people who were scared … people who have learned from the recent past to be very afraid of the future.”

The JCUA emails also describes Pottsville as an empty and desolate place where people come about briefly before returning in fear to rented apartments and safe houses.  If you’d like to learn more about JCUA’s relief fund, or make a contribution please visit www.jcua.org.

Have a great weekend!

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data research organization at Syracuse University in New York, has just released a report that puts immigration offenses at the top of federal prosecution cases.  This piece of information appears logical, as the enforcement of immigration laws has also increased dramatically.

According to the numbers, there were more than 9,000 federal prosecutions of immigration offenses in April, which is a strikingly high 87% increase from a year ago.  The Clearinghouse also found that immigration cases account for an outstanding 58% of all cases.  That number looks even higher considering that drug trafficking is number 2 at a very distant 13%.  If one were to guess, it would be reasonable to assume those numbers are only going to grow as subsequent months have brought some of the largest immigration raids our country has ever seen.

Immigration officers and experts have said that immigration arrests and prosecutions are up due to a combination of public demand, as well as the ease at which immigration offenders can be arrested and prosecuted.  In fact, Dallas ICE officer Reed Little was quoted by the Star-Telegram as saying “We’re always asking [prosecutors], ‘Can you take more cases? Can you take more cases?’

Obviously these numbers will cause a mix of reactions, drawing cheers from groups and individuals seeking tougher immigration laws.  Others believe that more prosecutions are not the answer, and wonder how long this trend will continue. Alejandro del Carmen, chairman of the criminology department at the University of Texas at Arlington, believes that there will be a drop at some point in the near future, as the public demand that fueled the crack downs shifts to another topic.  He said, “I would expect at one point almost diminishing returns once immigration is no longer perceived as the No. 1 issue facing the United States.”

Dallas activist, Carlos Quintanilla questioned the benefit of such actions. “I don’t see any benefit in continuing a very aggressive deportation policy or a prosecutorial policy when both [presidential] candidates are talking about comprehensive immigration reform,” he said. “Are they going to prosecute all 12 million immigrants that are here illegally? When are they going to reach their happy medium? When are they going to reach an acceptable number?”

Another interesting fact that coincides with this is the rising number of law students and professionals choosing to specialize in immigration law.  When you think about it, immigration and the immigrant community really do fuel the economy.  Beyond construction, and food and service industries, immigration issues are responsible for paying many ICE, and lawyer salaries.  Just as police need criminals, ICE needs illegal immigrants.  Finding a permanent solution to the problems could mean a lot less food on the table for law enforcement professionals, just as effective cures take dollars away from drug companies.  You wonder if the system will really ever be fixed, since so many are eating off its faults.

I read a story today that was published by the BBC in the UK.  The headline reads: “Immigration Harming Communities” (what a title!)…While the title is a simple call to alarm, the article does elaborate, utilizing data collected by the Commons communities.  This conclusion was formed after areas of high immigration also turned in some of the worst levels of community cohesion.  Meaning that in areas with a lot of immigrants, there was not as much coming together, or shared values, ideas, beliefs etc by residents there.

Whether in the United States or across the pond, it’s easy to confuse anti-immigration sentiments, with xenophobia or even racism.  A lot of immigration reform talk is cloaked in race based policies and agendas.  However, the report here states that some of the public concern over immigration rates stems from real concerns about community resources such as funding for education and public service programs.

I do not think that these claims should be easily dismissed as racist or hateful.  It is perfectly reasonable to worry about how your child’s school will perform with an influx of new students, especially if many are coming from other countries.  But, I wonder if the same concerns over population and resources would be voiced if the new transplants were coming from two towns over, instead of from other countries speaking different languages. Really, I don’t find the UK report surprising at all, it’s hard to have cohesion when there are language and cultural barriers.  What is really needed, and this goes for the United States as well, are integration programs.

It is my hope that Barack Obama, or John McCain will make such programs mandatory for immigrants entering the United States.  I feel that it is necessary for any immigration reform policy to directly address issues of immigrants succeeding in their new environment, and such integration programs will help them understand American culture, but also help Americans to understand their new neighbors.  Why have the education only going one way?

We must also keep in mind that new immigrants did not create funding problems.  Our nation’s public schools have been underperforming for many, many, many years.  I taught for three years in a severely underfunded school inside an overcrowded classroom with students 3-4 years BEHIND grade level.  There were absolutely no immigrants in the school, and very few in the surrounding community.  The same can be said for other service programs.  So, while an influx of new faces may add more weight or further exhaust resources, we really need to keep in mind the origins of such problems.  Such sentiment was also shared by Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, of the UK’s Institute of Public Policy Research.

He is quoted as saying, “We’re risking turning everything that migrants do into a problem and forgetting that they are dynamically contributing to the local economy and to the country because they are working and paying taxes.”

In times of stress and anxiety people look for easy answers and quick solutions.  It’s easy to point the finger at immigrants.  But remember, when you point one finger, you have four pointing right back at you.

John McCain took his turn addressing members of the Latino community at the 40 Annual Council of La Raza Convention on Monday, and will also be holding a town hall meeting in New Mexico later today.  McCain’s appearance followed one by his opponent in the presidential election, Barack Obama.

McCain’s visit somewhat resembled that of an old friend returning from an absence, and vowing to return the relationship back to normal.  McCain’s stance on immigration, as well as his leading efforts to twice pass a large immigration reform bill, put him in a favorable light amongst many Latino voters and was credited as giving him the necessary support to defeat republican candidates such as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.  Times have changed since then, and McCain took a beating from conservatives who claimed he was too soft.  Perhaps learning from his mistakes, McCain has altered his strategy for immigration reform, and hopes to convince voters that it is only the order and timing of reform that has changed, not his beliefs and aspirations.  McCain said at the convention,

“When I say I remain committed to fair, practical, and comprehensive immigration reform, I mean it.”

What has changed is McCain’s emphasis on securing the border.  He has moved that to his top priority, which he feels is necessary before passing any kind of bill that allows for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and also improves the process of immigrating to the United States.  He further said,

“First we have to assure the American people that the borders are secure.  We have to have that done. And, my friends, if you don’t want to do that, then I have to tell you from bringing it up twice, that we don’t pass the legislation.”

McCain also spoke to other concerns of Latino voters, stressing charter schools as a way to improve education.  He also spoke on free trade and his recent trip to South America.  While McCain has heavily carried the Latino vote in his senate and republican primary races, he is realistic that a repeat performance may not be possible this time around.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke yesterday at the 40th Annual National Council of La Raza convention.  As expected, immigration reform was a key component of Obama’s speech, which also promised action in terms of afford health insurance and employee benefits.  Obama also emphasized the importance of the Latino vote in the upcoming election, noting that states such as Colorado, Nevada, Florida, and New Mexico could decide the election.

Sticking with his overarching message of hope and change, Obama told the crowd that the America’s immigration system was broken and in need of change.  He said, “The system isn’t working when 12 million people live in hiding, and hundreds of thousands cross our borders illegally each year.”  Obama also referenced his work in the senate, where he supported fellow candidate John McCain’s immigration reform bill that failed to pass.

Speaking of John McCain, the Arizona senator is expected to address the council tonight.  Both candidates have sent somewhat mixed message concerning their immigration policy.  Latino voters are interested to know exactly where both candidates stand.  While immigration is a large concern for Latinos, issues such as the economy, employment, health care, and education also play a large part in choosing who to vote for.  Current polls have shown that Obama currently leads among Latino voters, yet John McCain is not too far behind.