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1 September, 2008

Death by Illegal Alien - Americans face shattered lives

American's should be outraged by the disingenuous tear-jerker article, Deported Mexicans face shattered lives, by AP writer Julie Watson (8/24/08) which contrived to paint the sad picture of Mexican Illegal Aliens forced to return to their own homeland. The author neglected to cite the devastation to American victims left behind in their wake. The picture that would have been less prejudiced and more appropriately and accurately reported is the following:

Any Town, USA - The tiny white coffin is lowered silently into it's final resting place surrounded by walls of dark, cold earth. The words on the paper held in a devastated mother's trembling hand can never be erased: 'DEATH CERTIFICATE.'

For American families traumatized by rape, robbery and murder at the hands of Illegal Aliens, the words are an unnecessary reminder. Every day throughout the USA, coffin lids are gently closed and locked, carefully placed into black hearses and driven through cemetery gates, into the final darkness. Each time a coffin lid is closed, it wipes out an American's future, ends an American dream and destroys another American family. This devastation is being perpetrated upon U.S. citizens by Illegal Alien law breakers who live with absolutely no fear of the Rule of Law and law enforcement, while our callous elected leaders look the other way.

The carefully hidden secret is that Americans are victims of violent crime at the hands of Illegal Aliens on a daily basis. They include mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grandchildren, grandparents in every walk of life, at every age.

Not far from the cemetery gate, Illegal Aliens congregate with impunity, exhibiting a complete lack of respect for the people whose country they have invaded. They are urinating on sidewalks, defecating in allies, grabbing their crotches, flipping the bird, leering and making uncomfortable hand gestures and sexual remarks in Spanish at frightened, young girls. At least 2 percent of this unlawful congregation could be sexual predators! [2] Not long ago the neighborhood was a safe, clean haven, but the quality of life has quickly eroded with parents increasingly worried each time their children leave their homes. Who will be next? Who will be mowed down by a drunk Illegal Alien who has been arrested and released multiple times? Raped by the illegal invader who has previously been arrested without ever once having to prove his legality? Shot by Latino gang members setting up shop in every U.S. State?

In 2006, 630,000 convicted illegal alien felons or a full 29 percent of our prisons are loaded with criminal illegals. They cost us $1.6 billion annually.[3] What are they costing us in 2008?

All along the 2,000 mile border, on U.S. Soil, there are thousands of 'shanty towns' called COLONIAS, inhabited by Illegal Aliens and their anchor babies. [4] Unsuspecting American taxpayers are footing the bill, via both state and federal legislation {hidden in hundreds of pages of legal speak,} for the building of infrastructure, medical and prenatal care, education, water, sewage....and yes...housing! {2 words = Freddie Mac} We are paying dearly for every rape, vehicular homicide and murder with our hard earned money and, most importantly, the precious lives of our beloved family members.

Why has Congress, with their faux compassion - for - Illegal - Aliens rhetoric, not shown any compassion for innocent Americans whose welfare they have been entrusted to protect? Where is the comprehensive immigration law enforcement mandated by our Rule of Law? It is certainly not 'broken' and does not need to be 'fixed' --- what is needs is to be 'enforced!' Local, state and federal elected officials have turned a blind eye, hanging American citizens {their legal constituents} out to dry while making a concerted effort to ignore existing immigration laws. They blame one another in a deceitful game, hoping to run out the clock. It's absolutely shameful to witness our Congress and presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle pander to Illegal Aliens and their supporters at the expense of American lives.

Congress, the administration, many state and local officials cherry pick the laws they wish to either ignore or uphold, as one would observe in any corrupt, 3rd world banana republic such as Mexico. We hear them on the House and Senate floors, hypocritically extolling 'the Rule of Law' when it suits their agenda. They bellow into the microphone, 'we are a nations of laws.' Yet the same legislators blatantly ignore the law when it suits their agendas. Do they truly believe Americans are idiots? Talk is cheap and their talk has been at bargain basement prices for quite a while. The truth is evident in their actions. They can no longer be trusted with America's future. Perhaps they think they've neutralized this most urgent issue, however, that is not the case. They cannot 'ignore' this invasion away. They certainly cannot wave a magic COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION = AMNESTY wand expecting Americans to shut up, stay still and sign over their rights, futures and Rule of Law upon which this great nation was founded. This irrefutable injustice goes against the American spirit.

According to the article, 'Special Report: Prisons Crowded with Illegal Inmates,' by KTLA Los Angeles, July 18, 2008, more than 3,000 illegal aliens are serving time for murder in California prisons. As shocking facts continue to be uncovered, we realize that our families are increasingly at risk by the growing Illegal Alien population. There is no question the Tijuana gate should swing in one direction....southward. The time is now for Comprehensive Immigration Law Enforcement.

The grief stricken faces of the American families who are burying their loved ones reflect the shock and horror they are forced to shoulder for the duration of their own lives. Never again will the mom tenderly kiss her child goodnight. Never again will the wife hold her husband's hand. Never again will the parents hear their son or daughter's excited voice. Never a graduation, a walk down the aisle, a new grandchild to hold....the future is lost for these Americans. It is lost because Illegal Aliens have almost complete impunity from the law in the United States of America.

The U.S. Government does not want the figures of our slain and brutalized family members at the hands of Illegal Aliens to become public. They are afraid we will learn the truth. They prefer us to fight among ourselves over our warrior casualties in the Iraq war while ignoring the 'war' we have unknowingly been plunged into on our own soil. They are afraid that we will become aware this 'war' we are fighting at home is spilling American blood, taking thousands of civilian casualties each year. They know we will become angry at such blatant injustices, rising up in one voice to put a halt to the flagrant breaking of laws which are leaving our families torn apart and broken forever.

And there are women and little girls being raped and molested in alarming numbers. According to the 2006 in depth study by Deborah Schuman-Kauflin, Ph.D. Violent Crimes Institute, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, the conservative number of Illegal Alien sex offenders residing in the USA was approximately 240,000. [5] The women and children being raped are American citizens who are no longer safe in their homes, schools, streets and neighborhoods. However, Illegal Alien children are also being raped by their coyote &/or drug smugglers. It is unconscionable for any parent to take a chance with their child's welfare by allowing them to make the 'journey,' let alone with violent criminals. These parents are not only devoid of compassion for their own children, this is clearly child abuse. Questions that demand be asked are: 1. Why are the parents not being brought up on abuse charges? 2. Why is their crime of abuse being hidden?

Most striking is the profound example of the absolute lack of family values boldly quoted in the following excerpt from the above stated article: 'After calling her aunt in Tijuana, Riveras wipes her nose and dries her tears with a tissue. She says she can't go back to Chimalhuacan. She keeps thinking about the explosive fight when her dad's family told her that her mom doesn't want her, that she has formed another family in Los Angeles.' It seems that 'splitting up old families and making new families' comes on the cheap, considering the American taxpayer is doling out the cash for their survival----including the bad home mortgage bailout.

It is an undeniable fact that millions of Illegal Aliens have made the personal choice to split up their families, although their supporters are making a concerted effort to throw up a smoke screen by attempting to blame the American citizenry. The responsibility for choosing to break the law and tear apart families lays squarely on the shoulders of the Illegal Aliens as well as the Mexican government for assisting the law breakers, regardless of the dire social consequences to their people.

The USA must now deal with untold thousands of crimes by Illegal Aliens that she has long ignored. Elected officials at every level cannot expect that AMNESTY {by whatever name they choose to call it} will solve the problem. Their very actions are proof their allegiance is not with 'We the American People,' and know quite well that legalizing law breakers will put America and her citizens at an even greater risk. They are buffoons if they believe we will turn a blind eye to their efforts at destroying the Rule of Law while quietly succumbing to their insanity.

As they lower the tiny coffin into the cold, dark earth, an American mom and dad begin to understand the horror washing over them...their lives are forever changed in grief. They are quickly learning that which every parent fears - the gaping wounds in their hearts will cause them daily, excruciating pain, the depth cannot be articulated.......until they, too, are laid to rest.

We expect Compassion for American citizens, which means nothing less than Comprehensive Immigration Law Enforcement through existing law.

Source



More than a third of babies born in England and Wales are non-white

Fewer than two-thirds of babies born in England and Wales are now registered as 'White British'. Newly-released figures give the first official breakdown of births by ethnic identity, and offer a striking insight into the changing face of Britain's population. Of 649,371 babies born in 2005, 64.4 per cent were recorded as 'White British'. The next largest group were the 8.7 per cent who were recorded as Asian - of whom Pakistanis formed the biggest section with 3.7 per cent. Five per cent of babies were recorded as black - 3 per cent African, 1.2 per cent 'black or black British Caribbean' and 0.8 per cent 'other black' identities. Mixed race babies accounted for 3.5 per cent of births, while 5.1 per cent were Irish or 'other white identities' and 2.4 per cent were Chinese or 'other groups'. Just under 11 per cent had no ethnic identity recorded.

Yesterday's statistical bulletin from the Office for National Statistics follows a separate publication last week showing that a quarter of all babies are now born to immigrant mothers. In London the figure is 54 per cent, rising to 75 per cent in some boroughs. The fast-moving trend means that babies born to immigrant mothers are set to become the main driver of Britain's population growth within the next few years, taking over from immigration itself.

The data on ethnic identity of births reveal stark differences in the lifestyles and social norms of the UK's various communities. Virtually all Asian babies - more than 95 per cent - were registered by married parents compared to only around half of 'White British' babies and just a third of the Black Caribbean group. The proportion of births registered by single mothers - those where no father's details are given - was highest in the Caribbean group at 20.5 per cent followed by African (13 per cent) and 'White British' (7 per cent). By contrast in each of the three main Asian groups - Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi - fewer than 1.5 per cent of births were registered by a single mother.

The findings will reinforce concerns over the effects of broken homes and the lack of effective male role-models among black youths. The remaining births were registered to unmarried couples or by parents living separately. Half of all White British and African babies were born to mothers over 30, compared with 32 per cent of Pakistani babies and 29 per cent of Bangladeshi babies.

Commentators were divided over the implications of the figures. Monmouth Tory MP David Davies voiced concern not over the numbers of births to ethnic minorities but over the potential problems of social integration. He said: 'It is now more important than ever that those large number of people with different coloured skin join in with British society. 'Many of the people included in the figures will be black British or British Asian through and through, from the third and fourth generations, who are setting an example of integration to other ethnicities. 'The problem comes when large numbers of people of all ethnicities are not willing to use the language, are abusing our system and demanding that laws are changed to accommodate them.'

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the MigrationWatch think tank, said: 'This is a measure of the extent to which uncontrolled immigration is changing the nature of our society, against the wishes of a very large majority. 'Immigration is now expected to account for 70 per cent of our population increase in the next 25 years. This means we will have to build a city the size of Birmingham every three or four years to sustain the newcomers. 'The Government has allowed immigration to get out of control, but they still show no sign of a serious effort to reduce it.'

Source





31 August, 2008

Texas judge rules against immigration-related rental ban

A federal judge issued a final judgment on Thursday permanently preventing a Dallas suburb from enforcing a rule banning apartment rentals to illegal immigrants. The decision by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay could conclude a nearly two-year court battle over a never-enforced ordinance that would have required landlords to verify tenants' legal status.

The judgment also triggers a countdown to another immigration-related rule by Farmers Branch officials. City officials approved the new rule to take effect 15 days after a final judgment on the ordinance that was being litigated. It would require prospective tenants to get a rental license from the city. Farmers Branch would ask the federal government for the applicant's legal status before approving the rental license.

Opponents of the previous ordinance - which included apartment complex operators, residents and advocates - plan to challenge the new rule. "It is similarly unconstitutional, it shares some problem and frankly creates others," said attorney Bill Brewer, who represents a group of rental ban opponents. "We would have hoped that they recognize that this is just not an area that this municipality or any municipality is supposed to delve into."

The ruling Friday also sets up a two-week deadline for opponents of the rental ban to ask for attorney fees, which Farmers Branch would have to pay. Although a figure wasn't available, Brewer estimated attorney fees will run hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Both sides have 30 days to notify the court of plans to appeal. Farmers Branch officials were pleased to see a conclusion to the federal but have not yet decided if they will appeal, said attorney Michael Jung. "We're glad to be moving forward," said Jung, who represents Farmers Branch.

Even before issuing the final judgment Friday, Lindsay found the ordinance requiring landlords to verify legal status or citizenship was unconstitutional and could not be enforced. [Really? Exactly where does it mention anything like that in the Constitution?] The judge concluded that Farmers Branch officials didn't defer to the federal government in immigration matters. Instead, the city tried to create its own classification to determine which non-citizens could rent there. Farmers Branch's ordinance also didn't comply with the due process clause of the 14th Amendment because it was vague [Only a Left-leaning judge would think it vague], the judge ruled. The rule failed to provide clear guidance that immigration documents were acceptable and didn't explain what was meant by the ordinance phrase "eligible immigra tion status," the judge wrote.

"In terms especially of housing, this particularly is aligned with other decisions around the country that tell cities that courts find that type of ordinance crosses over into an area that the federal government has expressly deemed theirs," said Marisol Perez, a staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which also challenged the ordinance.

Around the country, some 100 cities or counties have considered, passed or rejected laws focusing on illegal immigration, but Farmers Branch was the first in Texas, according to the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. Farmers Branch stepped into the nationwide political debate over immigration in 2006 at the urging of then first-term city councilman and personal injury lawyer Tim O'Hare. He has since become mayor of the city, which has about 28,000 residents.

Source



Overhaul for Australian citizenship test

A bipartisan approach seems important for this so it is appropriate for the Labor party to have its input. The present test was largely written by one man: John Howard

AUSTRALIA'S citizenship test set-up by the Howard government is set for a major overhaul after a review found it to be flawed and discriminatory. Richard Woolcott is the head of a committee commissioned to review the test said the 2006-document needs reform, News Ltd reports. The committee is believed to have forwarded its opinion to Immigration Minister Chris Evans in a report. The standout recommendation would be that the present test is flawed and seen by some as intimidatory and needs substantial reform,'' Mr Woolcott told News Ltd.

While Mr Howard continually defended the test, it faced much criticism for including questions which opponents claimed focussed too much on historical knowledge and the English language. "Many of the (review) submissions thought that the standard of English required was too high and discriminated against non-English speaking migrants, of which there are of course an increasing number,'' Mr Woolcott said.

The committee received 170 submissions from members of the public and has forwarded 32 recommendations to the government. Mr Woolcott declined to comment on what those recommendations are. Senator Evans' office confirmed receiving the report and a spokeswoman said it is being considered.

Source





30 August, 2008

"Doing something" in Britain

What a crock! Enforcement as theater! A huge raid to grab a couple of hard-working, harmless Chinese kitchenhands -- when Britain already has thousands of illegals who have been ordered out of the country but who just stay on -- usually getting welfare as well! The Chinese were an easy grab for lazy bureaucrats, that's all it was about. Totally useless camouflage for chaotic immigration control

Two people were led away by police and immigration officers following a raid on a Chinese restaurant in the city centre last night. Police officers were joined by about 12 immigration officials from across the south-east in the "intelligence-led" [Imbecility-led, more like it] operation at the Gourmet Plaza, in Cowgate. The raid was organised and carried out by the Border and Immigration Agency's Enforcement Unit, based in St Ives.

Five unmarked people carriers swooped on the restaurant just after 6pm yesterday as diners were preparing to enter the premises for an early meal.

The "closed" sign remained up at the Gourmet Plaza as prospective customers were turned away by police and asked to come back at a later time.

Seconded Cambridge police Inspector Trevor Tendall said: "We are acting on information received by a source. "This is a joint operation involving police and immigration officers from across the county." As prospective diners and onlookers watched, officers led out two men of Chinese origin in handcuffs, just before 7pm. The pair were put into separate people carriers and driven away from the scene. [LOL! A people-carrier each!] After the raid, an immigration officer, who did not want to be named, said: "We have acted and carried out the plan, and we are satisfied with the results today."

As the last of the officers left, five members of staff rushed out of the restaurant and across Cowgate to confront an officer in what was believed to be a dispute about a warrant. When another member of staff found the piece of paper they were seeking, the staff filed back into the eaterie.

Customers, who had been told to go and have a drink in the nearby Drapers Arms, waited patiently on the street to see if the popular restaurant, with its all-you-can-eat $13 supper deal, would open its doors. It re-opened at about 7.30pm.

Source



New Missouri Illegal Immigration Laws Takes Effect

Some of the toughest legislation in the nation to fight illegal immigration. The legislation sets into law policies proposed to crack down on illegal immigration.

prohibiting illegals from obtaining driver licenses

prohibits the creation of sanctuary cities in the state

requires verification of legal employment status of every public employee

allows for cancellation of state contracts for contractors if they hire illegal immigrants

requires public agencies to verify the legal status of applicants before providing welfare benefits

criminalizes the transportation of illegal immigrants for exploitive purposes

enacts provisions to punish bad acting employers who hire illegal immigrants

requires verification of lawful presence for every individual presented for incarceration.

The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) has adopted a stringent workforce eligibility policy including sanctions of up to a lifetime ban of contractors and developers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants in violation of federal law.

Source





29 August, 2008

Judicial arrogance: Court rules S.F. illegal just needs services

A San Francisco court set aside a drug-trafficking case Monday against a 14-year-old Honduran immigrant - a ruling that juvenile justice officials fear will undermine Mayor Gavin Newsom's new policy requiring that such offenders be held for possible deportation.

Juvenile Court Commissioner Abby Abinanti concluded that the youth, identified only as Francisco G. because of his age, should be treated within the social welfare system, not as a criminal offender. If federal authorities don't intervene, the ruling would almost certainly allow him to remain in this country. Abinanti issued her ruling after a social services official and a city attorney's representative on an advisory panel reviewed the youth's history and concluded that he should be considered a victim and thus be entitled to receive social welfare services.

Prosecutors and a third member of the panel, a Juvenile Probation Department representative, objected, citing the youth's immigration status. In the end, Abinanti ordered that the youth be turned over immediately to social workers for possible placement in a group home, according to authorities who spoke on condition of anonymity because juvenile proceedings are closed to the public. Abinanti, through a court spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Federal officials assert that placing young felons in group homes amounts to a violation of U.S. law prohibiting the aiding and abetting of illegal immigrants. They suspect that declaring drug dealers to be innocent victims is an end run around the requirement that such immigrants be handed over for possible deportation. Monday's ruling fueled such criticism. "I am concerned that there are people who are still attempting to find strategems to avoid compliance with federal law," said Joseph Russoniello, the U.S. attorney for Northern California, who faulted San Francisco's past practice of shielding juvenile offenders from deportation.

Advocates for youths in the juvenile courts maintain that many of the immigrant teenagers accused of drug dealing, rather than being hardened criminals, are victims of abuse, abandonment or human trafficking. They say the youths should be allowed to make a case for asylum rather than being turned over for deportation hearings. The issue is playing out in court after articles in The Chronicle revealed that the city, which has touted itself as a sanctuary for immigrants, was paying for flights and group-home placements for illegal immigrant youths caught dealing drugs rather than turning them over for deportation.

Being deported could result in the youths being legally prevented from ever returning to the United States. After the stories appeared, Newsom announced that he had switched course and ordered juvenile justice officials to cooperate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. A spokesman would not talk about the case heard Monday but emphasized the mayor's policy change. "City officials have been directed by the mayor to refer all undocumented felons to immigration, regardless of age," spokesman Nathan Ballard said. He said any contrary effort would be "inconsistent with city policy."

More here

But the evasion did not work:

A San Francisco court's ruling that a 14-year-old drug suspect from Honduras should be considered an abandoned youth - entitled to shelter rather than deportation - was thwarted Wednesday when the city turned him over to federal immigration authorities.

More here



Britain's Polish experience

SUPERMARKET aisles offer amateur ethnographers rich opportunities for fieldwork. American pockets in London can be identified by the Thanksgiving displays in November; sour cherry juice suggests that Turks are close at hand. Now great rows of tinned borscht announce a newer arrival. Recent immigration from eastern Europe has been on a truly grand scale: Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, now runs a groceries website in Polish.

Just over a million people have so far come to Britain from the eight central and east European countries that joined the European Union in 2004. John Salt, a geographer at University College London, reckons it is the biggest influx in British history, at least in gross terms (immigration by French Huguenots in the 17th century may have been bigger relative to the population at the time). Poles, who have made up about two-thirds of the newcomers, are now the largest group of foreign nationals in Britain, up from 13th place five years ago.

They might not be for much longer. The insatiable job market that sucked them in is beginning to tire. Work in hospitality and construction is becoming scarcer in Britain, while Poland's economy is growing by over 5% a year. And earnings do not translate as well as they did: the pound, which bought seven zlotys at the beginning of 2004, now fetches four (see article).

Last quarter saw the lowest number of east Europeans registering for work since 2004 (see chart), even though summer months tend to be the busiest. And as arrivals fall, departures seem to be increasing. There is no reliable official count of the numbers leaving Britain, but in April a think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), carried out its own "poll of Poles" and found that about half of the newcomers had already gone home. It predicts that departures will start to outweigh arrivals within a year.

This is bad news for borscht lovers, as well as for the Catholic church, which reckons its numbers have been swelled by some 10% in the past two years, in large part by Poles. But east European migration will leave lasting marks, however brief an episode it turns out to be.

Most noticeably, it has gone some way to decoupling the issue of immigration from that of race. Since the 1950s large-scale immigration to Britain has mainly been from Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia, meaning that arguments about immigration have been racially charged (indeed, plenty of politicians have deliberately conflated the issues). Now, with the arrival of a million white, mainly poor, foreigners, immigration is being analysed in more purely economic terms.

There is a sensible argument to be had about immigration and population (see article), and whether this wave of low-paid workers has put pressure on wages. David Cameron, the Tory leader, has shaken off his brief reluctance to discuss the subject and now casts it in terms of demography. Labour has toughened up too: last year Gordon Brown, the prime minister, called for more "British jobs for British workers," a rallying cry that once only the far right used. Some critics still touch on the old ugly themes: this month the Daily Mail agreed to remove some negative articles from its website following a complaint from the Federation of Poles in Great Britain. But even when the east Europeans have departed, debating the merits of immigration will no longer be off-limits in polite society.

The brevity of the east Europeans' spell in Britain-if such it proves to be-is the second distinctive thing about it. Past waves of immigrants have nearly always stayed put, or at least aimed to. Unencumbered by visas because their countries belong to the EU, east Europeans do not have to stick around once they are in. Cheap airlines enable some even to split their time between Britain and their home country. This flexibility should give Britain a softer landing if the economy slows further, since migrants can head home rather than swell the unemployment figures. But it has also changed the way that Britons think about immigrants. Once seen as a charge on the state (especially when asylum applications were high, at the start of the decade) they are now more likely to be considered a threat to jobs. Laura Chappell of IPPR has spotted that people tend to describe east Europeans as "migrants", whereas non-European settlers are called "immigrants".

Finally, east Europeans have fanned out across the country far more than earlier arrivals, manning Lake District retirement homes, East Anglian farms, Scottish fish-processing plants and Channel Island guest houses. In all, 21% live in London, compared with 41% of other foreign nationals resident in Britain. Their arrival in areas that had little prior experience of migration-Boston, Northampton, Peterborough and others-has exposed problems with how money is disbursed by the central government, and is prompting reform. Funding for public services such as health, police and fire services relies on population estimates, which undercount short-term visitors and those who live at business addresses, such as hotel staff. The government is setting up a (mainly symbolic) pot of about œ15m ($28m) a year, funded by a levy on visas, to bail out councils that fall short, and it has promised to improve its counting. More tweaks may follow.

As the Poles pack their bags, those who came to rely on them to paint their walls or fix their computers are feeling the loss. Reinforcements could be on the way: Romanians and Bulgarians will be able to work freely in Britain from 2013 and could come earlier if the economy picks up. But Ms Chappell points out that those countries have strong links with Italy and Spain, and other western European countries have more open labour markets than they did in 2004. Britain may not look as attractive a destination a second time around.

Source





28 August, 2008

Europe of the future: Germany shrinks, France grows, but UK population booms

Britain to be biggest country in EU by 2060. Population falls predicted in many other countries. Quantity is not quality, however. The British population includes a a large sub-group of African ultimate origin who have a high rate of crime, insanity and welfare dependancy -- and they account for a disproportionate number of the births. Any assumption that that sub-group will be net economic contributors in the year 2060 would be incautious

Britain will overtake Germany and France to become the biggest country in the EU in 50 years' time, according to population projections unveiled yesterday. A survey of demographic trends finds Britain's positive birth rate contrasting strongly with most other large countries in Europe.

The impact of population shrinkage, coupled with the ageing of key European societies, spells big problems for pensions, health and welfare systems across much of the union, says the report, published by Eurostat, the statistical service of the European commission. But Britain, it says, is likely to suffer less because of its strong population growth and the younger average age of British society.

Immigration is singled out as the sole mitigating factor, seen as crucial to maintaining population growth. But the report says this probably will not be enough to reverse the trend of population decline in many countries. The survey predicts that Britain's population by 2060 will increase by 25% from the current figure of just over 61 million to almost 77 million.

Germany is the biggest country in the EU, with more than 82 million people, but it is likely to shed almost 12 million by 2060, says the report. The widely praised family policies and support of working women in France means that the French population will rise to almost 72 million by 2060.

With the British birth rate now at its highest in a generation - 1.91 children per woman according to the Office for National Statistics last week - the UK has less to fear about any "generation wars" brought on by the "demographic timebomb" of ageing and shrinking populations where those in work cannot support the pension needs of retired citizens. "With climate change and globalisation the ageing of the population is one of the major challenges Europe must face," said Amelia Torres, a commission spokeswoman.

Of the biggest six EU countries (Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain and Poland) Britain has by far the greatest birth rates. Only Luxembourg, Cyprus, and Ireland are growing faster than the UK.

The average age of Europeans is now just over 40; this will be 48 by 2060. The average age for Britons is 39 and will be 42 in 2060 - the lowest age in Europe with the exception of Luxembourg. The EU's population now stands at 495 million and is projected to rise to more than 520 million by 2035, before falling to 505 million by 2060. "From 2015 onwards deaths would outnumber births, and population growth due to natural increase, would cease," says the survey, assuming a net migration inflow to the EU of almost 60 million over the next 50 years. "Positive net migration would be the only population growth factor. However, from 2035 this positive net migration would no longer counterbalance the negative natural change."

Across the EU's 27 countries there are now four people of working age for every person over 65, but by 2060 that ratio will be 2:1, causing stress on welfare and pension systems. Torres said pension and health systems had to be reformed.

Fourteen of the 27 countries are projected to have smaller populations in 50 years' time. The survey reveals striking contrasts, between eastern and western Europe and between the north and south, with Scandinavia and Britain comparing positively with Mediterranean Europe, while central and eastern Europe see chronic population depression.

The number of people aged 65 or more broadly doubles across the EU, with Britons of retirement age being almost 19 million. While the number of Germans of working age is predicted to decline from 54 million now to 39 million by 2060, in Britain the figure rises by more than 4 million.

Across the EU, the number of children under 14 will drop from 77 million to 71 million, but in the UK the number rises by 2 million. In Britain the proportion of over-80s will double to 9% while across the EU it will triple to 12%.

The UK population is increasing at a rate of around 1,000 people a day according to figures released by the National Statistics agency earlier this month. Children aged under 16 represent around one in five of the total population, around the same proportion as those of retirement age. UK fertility rates dropped steadily during the 1980s and 1990s but began to increase again from 2003.

The strongly Roman Catholic countries of Europe are having fewer babies. The Italian population will stay the same over the next 50 years, while Poland's and Lithuania's will shrink considerably. Spain's population is forecast to increase by 6 million. Life expectancy is also rising. In Ireland, women will live to 89 and men to 85. Almost one in three Europeans will be of pensionable age if 65 remains the threshold

Source



Rapper Snoop Dogg's Australian tour in doubt again

Even the Leftist Rudd government is having second thoughts about letting this criminal garbage into the country

AMERICAN rapper Snoop Dogg's Australian tour is in jeopardy as the Federal Government investigates his criminal history. The rapper, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr, applied last month for a visa to Australia for a planned tour in October with fellow hip-hop star Ice Cube.

The immigration department last week gave provisional approval for the visa, but the tour once again seems in doubt after the department today said it was carrying out a full assessment of Snoop Dogg's character before granting a visa. An immigration department spokesman said the provisional approval was given after a preliminary assessment of Snoop Dogg's character. "That process is in line with the procedures established by the previous government on the consideration of visa applicants,'' he said.

"Mr Broadus has not been granted a visa, there are further steps required beyond character assessment before a visa is granted. "The department has now decided to do a full assessment of the character of Mr Broadus.''

The immigration department said it was making a more thorough assessment of the rapper's character in response from victims of crime groups, but said each application was assessed on its merits. "Community complaints have no effect on the grant or otherwise of a visa. Each application is assessed individually on its merits,'' a spokesman said. "As a result of public concern and interest, the department has decided that in fact we will be undertaking a more thorough assessment of Mr Broadus' character. "However, the decision on the granting or refusal of a visa application is made on the individual merit of the case consistent with the legal criteria for the class of the visa.''

Snoop Dogg withdrew his application for a visa to Australia last year when he failed to pass the character requirements for a visa, after pleading no contest to gun and drug charges in the United States.

Source





27 August, 2008

New GOP policies drafted

The Republican Party released a draft of its 2008 platform that differs from candidate John McCain on issues including immigration, stem-cell research and climate change, while endorsing his ideas for economic growth and free trade. The document, still untitled, is being debated over the next two days and may be altered before being passed at next week's Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Even with the differences, McCain aides have said they won't engage in a fight over platform positions.

Members of the party's conservative wing have been wary of McCain, in part because of his stances on immigration and global warming. Donald Devine of the American Conservative Union said he was satisfied with the draft. ``It's certainly a vast improvement over the 2004 document,'' Devine, vice chairman of the advocacy group based in Alexandria, Virginia, said.

The platform can be a harbinger of new directions the party is likely to go, and clashes over the document during the conventions can accentuate divisions and distract presidential candidates from projecting an image of unity.

On immigration, the draft states opposition to any plan that would provide amnesty for people in the country illegally. ``The rule of law suffers if government policies encourage or reward illegal activity,'' it says.

That's a tougher line than the 2004 text, which called for a ``humane'' immigration system with a temporary-worker program and a path for illegal immigrants ``to come out of the shadows'' and apply for citizenship. The language four years ago mirrored President George W. Bush's goals for revamping immigration laws.

The 2004 platform also reflected the position of Arizona Senator McCain, who co-sponsored legislation last year that would have overhauled the immigration system and offered an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a path to citizenship while tightening the border with Mexico and creating a guest- worker program. He has since said the U.S. must secure its borders before changing the system.....

In recent years both parties' platforms have become less relevant: they're often written by and for the parties' bases and largely ignored by the candidates. That's what happened in 1996, when Republican candidate Bob Dole, angry at some of the language in the document, claimed he hadn't read it. Dole lost his bid for the presidency to incumbent President Bill Clinton.

Still, conservatives say McCain would do well to pay attention to the positions of the rank and file. ``When we didn't do what Bob Dole wanted he just went out and said he wasn't going to pay attention to it anyway,'' said Phyllis Schlafly, the founder of the advocacy group Eagle Forum, who has been active in Republican politics since 1952. ``And we know what happened to Bob Dole.''

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AZ: Illegal immigrant admits to molesting 12-y.o.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit arrested and booked into jail 24-year-old Jesus Martinez (DOB 06/15/84) on 1 count of child molestation, a class two felony and on four counts of sexual abuse, class three felonies.

Sheriff's deputies began investigating the sexual abuse and molestation after the young victim's mother found the 24-year-old illegal alien and the child kissing after the twelve-year-old left home, without permission to meet with him, at a late hour. The victim told her mother that Martinez took her next to a tractor and began kissing her on the mouth and neck. The suspect kissed the victim's breast area, where he left a "hickey". Martinez then asked the child to leave him "hickeys" for his ex-wife to see. The victim said she tried to leave several times by telling the suspect she was too young for him.

During the investigation Martinez made admission to the molestation and sexual abuse of the twelve-year-old girl. "This is the fourth case in the last four months that the Sheriff's Office has arrested an illegal alien, for rape of a young child and sexual abuse," says Sheriff Arpaio. I have been accused by politicians and activists of not going after violent crime and last I checked a child being raped and sexually victimized is a violent crime."

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26 August, 2008

Italians fired up again

Rape attack on Dutch tourists in Rome triggers immigration debate

A brutal rape attack on a Dutch couple in Rome has unleashed a fresh debate on immigration and security in the Italian capital. A Dutch man and his wife were on a bicycle holiday and were camping on rough ground on the edge of Rome when they were attacked late on Friday, allegedly by two Romanians. [i.e. Gypsies] The attackers beat the couple, stole 1,500 euros, and then forced the 56-year-old man to watch as they raped his wife. Both were hospitalized, with the man suffering from fractures and his wife in a state of shock, according to press reports.

The alleged attackers were two shepherds, aged 20 and 32, who were staying at a campsite where the Dutch couple had tried to find a place for the night. Alemanno, a member of the right-wing National Alliance party, said the couple had been "unwise" to camp away from organised accommodation. Rome's right wing mayor Gianni Alemanno said the attack proved that "immigration continues to pose a problem for assuring security in the city." The right-wing government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has linked crime and illegal immigration and passed a series of crackdown measures.

Tough new immigration policies have focused on Romanian gypsies in particular, whom many Italians blame for rising crime across the country. The left wing has said the Berlusconi efforts have failed. "Insecurity has worsened," said Democratic Party deputy Roberto Giachetti

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Another big raid

ICE raids Miss. plant seeking illegal workers

Federal immigration agents arrested some 350 suspected undocumented workers in a raid on a Mississippi electrical equipment plant Monday, authorities announced, hours after sealing all entrances amid reports their sweep had idled normal operations. Barbara Gonzalez, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, confirmed the arrests in the raid that she said targeted Howard Industries Inc. of Laurel. Authorities said more people could be arrested. The company produces dozens of products ranging from electrical transformers to medical supplies, according to the company's Web site.

"This is a targeted enforcement operation that is part of an ongoing ICE investigation that has revealed that illegal aliens are employed at Howard Industries," Gonzalez said, adding late Monday that agents were still interviewing plant workers. She declined to say how many federal agents were involved in the raid, but said they acted on a tip provided by a union worker.

Another agency spokesman, Brandon Montgomery, told The Associated Press outside the plant Monday afternoon that agents were talking with everyone who worked at the sprawling plant to determine their residency status. He said that 50 of those suspected of being illegal workers were eligible for some form of "alternative to detention" - a concession that could allow them to be placed on a monitoring device while awaiting a caseworker for "humanitarian reasons" such as children in their care.

All plant entrances were blocked, with tents set up at some ICE checkpoints to keep agents out of a steady rain. Motorists traveling on roads behind the plant were stopped by officers in unmarked vehicles and told to leave. People leaving the plant told The Hattiesburg American newspaper that so many illegal immigrants were arrested that operations were shut down. It wasn't clear how many workers the plant employed. A recording at Howard Industries plant on Monday said the telephone switchboard was closed.

Billy Howard, the company's chief executive officer, did not immediately respond to a message left by The AP. A man who answered a phone call at the company's security station said reporters would have to call back Tuesday.

Howard Industries was founded in the 1960s. In 2002, state lawmakers approved a $31.5 million, taxpayer-backed incentive plan aimed at helping to expand its operations.

The raid is one of several nationwide in recent years.On May 12, federal immigration officials swept into Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant, in Iowa. Nearly 400 workers were detained and dozens of fraudulent permanent resident alien cards were seized from the plant's human resources department, court records showed.

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25 August, 2008

Immigration Authorities' No-Jail offer is now withdrawn

Immigration authorities on Friday ended a trial offer not to jail illegal immigrants who had been ordered to leave the country if they surrendered at government offices. In the three weeks that the federal immigration agency tested the program in a handful of cities, only eight people came forward. How, why and even whether the program flopped was debated by the agency, Immigration and Customs and Enforcement, and advocates for immigrants. The latter called the program a publicity stunt and predicted that the agency would now stage more of the raids that have forcibly removed record numbers of illegal immigrants over the last few years.

Jim Hayes, who supervises deportation for the agency, said advocacy groups had undermined the program by counseling immigrants not to take part as a protest against immigration laws. "What the advocates state is that what we don't like is enforcement of the law itself," Mr. Hayes said in a telephone news conference. "Congress has mandated enforcement of the law, and that is what we are going to continue to do."

Under the program, Scheduled Departure, illegal immigrants who had been ordered to leave the country but did not have criminal records could avoid arrest and detention by going during certain hours to agency offices in Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Phoenix; San Diego; and Santa Ana, Calif., near Los Angeles. The immigration agency would then set a departure date within 90 days and help make arrangements for the immigrants to return home - in some cases paying for transportation - and requiring them to check in with a case officer until they left.

None of the eight who came forward have yet departed, Mr. Hayes said. They are an Estonian, two Indians, two Guatemalans, a Lebanese, a Mexican and a Salvadoran.

There are 457,000 "fugitive aliens" who would have been eligible for the program, he said, and about 30,000 in or near the cities in the program, which was promoted largely in the Spanish-language news media. The agency spent $41,000 on the program, Mr. Hayes said, but he asserted that it actually netted a $13,000 savings because it avoided the expense of detaining people who accepted the offer. Mr. Hayes said, "I don't consider the program a failure" because the agency learned that such an offer would be largely ineffective and that its nearly 100 units assigned to capture fugitive illegal immigrants produced more results.

Those units have arrested 29,000 people at homes and workplaces so far in the year beginning last October, and Mr. Hayes predicted that they would surpass the 30,000 arrested in the previous year.

Mr. Hayes rebuked those who suggest allowing people to stay who have been ordered to leave. "In order to have laws and have them have meaning, there has to be consequences for violating those laws," he said. "If you have laws and no consequences for violating it, you have anarchy."

Advocates for immigrants said there had been no widespread effort to undermine the program, though many had called it futile because immigrants would be reluctant to leave behind family and jobs and could usually leave the country on their own when they wanted to. "Plenty of us said it was a silly idea and not going to work, that the undocumented may be illegal but they are not stupid," said Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Mr. Hoyt suggested that the agency used the program to justify more hard-line tactics. "A cynic would say they are going to say, `See, we tried to be nice,' " he said. " `We don't abuse people. Now we're going to get tough because they didn't come forward when we tried to be nice, so now we're going to be mean.' "

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U.S. Taxpayers fund bloated Mexican racist group

Last week, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann(R-MN) called for Congress to reconvene so it could take out parts of the recent Freddie Mac bailout that give $500 million in unmarked grants to far-Left "community development" groups, such as the National Council of La Raza. Bachmann's stand is symbolic but admirable. The Treason Lobby's tentacles are reaching out to seize the American taxpayer.

When the bailout bill was passed at the end of July, there was little public comment on the money going to La Raza. However, it's not the first time they've tried this stunt. In May, Congressman Barney Frank earmarked $15 million to La Raza in his Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act of 2008. The bill was killed-but a number of people on the Hill have told me that they expect La Raza to end up with even more money in the act that subsequently passed.

To put this grant in perspective: even $15 million dollars is greater than the total assets of the three biggest immigration control groups-Numbers USA, The Center for Immigration Studies, and The Federation for American Immigration Reform-combined. It's not as if La Raza needs taxpayer money. It currently has over $100 million dollars in assets, along with its Raza Development Fund, their "community development lending arm" that has another 53 million. This is before they got their housing bailout money, along with $1.3 million dollars it got from HUD earlier this year, and $16 million dollars that The Wachovia Foundation, associated with the Wachovia Corporation bank, pledged to them in June.

Occasionally I get a call from supporters who suggest we organize a boycott of different companies that contribute to La Raza. The name I hear most is State Farm Insurance. I tell them that as much I'd love to boycott them, right now there is pretty much nowhere to go. I looked up the sponsors La Raza's last annual conference-there were over 200 of them-and just about every major insurance company was there including, Aetna, Nationwide, Geico, Sharp Healthcare, and Prudential! In addition there were over two dozen government and military agencies; the Republican Party (!); and, most shockingly, a number of charities. The March of Dimes, Foundation for the Advancement in Cancer Research, National Eye Institute, and Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and Paralysis Resource Center all were sponsors of the conference.

Many of these organizations will no doubt claim that their sponsorship was used for the purpose of recruiting affirmative action hires-not that it makes it any better. The government will insist that the money given to La Raza is given for specific projects like setting up Spanish Language Charter Schools or giving housing assistance to illegal aliens. Again, not like it makes it any better. Besides, all funds are fungible.

So before La Raza get new grants, voters, consumers, and donors should ask what exactly La Raza is doing with this money from the U.S. taxpayer, big business, and the March of Dimes? One of its major projects is a new website called "We Can Stop the Hate" designed to blacklist anyone who opposes their agenda. According to the New York Times, La Raza wants to silence haters "even if such censorship were a violation of First Amendment rights". La Raza's president Janet Murguia justifies this because "Everyone knows there is a line sometimes that can be crossed when it comes to free speech. And when free speech transforms into hate speech, we've got to draw that line." [ A Call to End Hate Speech, By Ariel Alexovich, February 1, 2008]

So who has crossed the line? La Raza's main institutional targets are the aforementioned immigration control groups: FAIR, CIS, and Numbers USA. Astonishingly, La Raza's mode of attack is to go after them for their source of funding. We Can Stop the Hate recently posted a YouTube video which opens with an ominous score and text asking "what if all the leading anti immigration groups...were founded by the same man.funded by the same organization.and have ties to white supremacy?" The video proceeds to the lovely Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center (which, by the way, has assets exceeding $219 million) who suggests that all the organizations are both funded and controlled by.Dr. John Tanton!

Of course, Beirich does not quote a single word from any member of the organization saying anything "racist". In fact, she actually claims the lack of overt "hate speech" is what makes them so dangerous. Their whole purpose, she says, is "to present a moderate face that is disconnected from [the extremists], but in reality isn't." So for La Raza and the SPLC, the line between "free speech" and "hate speech" is crossed before opponents of mass immigration even open their mouths.

As for Dr. Tanton, he deserves a great deal of credit for helping out fledging immigration reform groups. But he is not even close to being the main benefactor of any of the groups, and isn't associated with any besides FAIR. Furthermore, far from being a right wing extremist, he is a conservationist concerned with sustainable growth. (Which is why he is attacked by writers like Jason Riley in the Wall Street Journal as a liberal population controller.)

As frustrating as these baseless smear attacks may be, they should be heartening to patriotic immigration reformers. With a little bit of money, groups like FAIR, CIS, and Numbers USA, along with groups with even less money like VDARE.COM, have managed to halt the agenda of La Raza and many other organizations with income and endowments in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. Imagine what we could do with a little bit more!

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24 August, 2008

Illegal Immigrants Returning to Mexico in Record Numbers

Illegal immigrants are returning home to Mexico in numbers not seen for decades - and the Mexican government may have to deal with a crush on its social services and lower wages once the immigrants arrive. The Mexican Consulate's office in Dallas is seeing increasing numbers of Mexican nationals requesting paperwork to go home for good, especially parents who want to know what documentation they'll need to enroll their children in Mexican schools. "Those numbers have increased percentage-wise tremendously," said Enrique Hubbard, the Mexican consul general in Dallas. "In fact, it's almost 100 percent more this year than it was the previous two years."

The illegal immigrant population in the U.S. has dropped 11 percent since August of last year, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Its research shows 1.3 million illegal immigrants have returned to their home countries. Some say illegal immigrants are leaving because a soft economy has led to fewer jobs, causing many laborers to seek work elsewhere. Others argue that a tough stance on immigration through law enforcement has spread fear throughout the illegal population.

"There's no question there's a variety of suggestions that people are in fact returning," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. "Remittances, which is the money immigrants send home to Mexico, have gone down dramatically over the past year. Again, probably part the economy, but also part enforcement, leading to fewer people being here."

Advocates for immigrants are disturbed by the trend. Albert Ruiz, an organizer for the League of United Latin American Citizens, agrees that more undocumented immigrants are going home - but says families are being torn apart in the process. If a father is deported, Ruiz says, his family members in America are forced either to fend for themselves or follow him to a country where they've never even lived. "So the mother is saying we should return home with the breadwinner of the family to Mexico, and the children are saying, I don't want to leave, I'm a U.S. citizen, I don't know that country," said Ruiz.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon plans to help returning nationals by providing food, medical care and temporary shelter if needed. But reports are already out in Mexico that the large number of illegal immigrants returning home could drive down wages and put pressure on social services - the same concerns many Americans have with illegals living and working in the U.S.

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More stupidity from U.S. immigration officials

A Queensland [Australia] YouTube blogger who went to the US looking for love was denied entry because immigration officials thought he might have been a terrorist. Beenleigh resident Daniel Meadows sold everything he owned to buy a cheap flight via Japan to get to the US to foster an internet relationship. He said he was stopped on arrival as a suspected terrorist, body searched and held for a day and sent home without being given a valid reason.

Meadows's story is the focus of the ABC's Australian Story on Monday, August 25. Having never met the people he was intending to visit and being in possession of a light-hearted email about shoe bombs and box cutters did not sit well with US authorities at Detroit Airport.

"I filled out the standard entry form for a tourist visa and on that form you have to write where you're headed and that was West Virginia and they looked at that and it was suspicion straightaway almost and they made a call and I was just standing there and these two guys came up from Homeland Security," Meadows tells Australian Story.

"One of the officers said 'this guy looks iffy'. "They looked through my bags and pulled out a novelty hat that I had - how it got there, my mum put it in - they said 'have you ever worked for the FBI?' and I just sort of laughed at them and said 'No I don't work for the FBI, it's just a novelty hat'.

"They'd found an email from a friend of mine that was a joking kind of email about 'you better not bring box cutters and, you know, exploding shoes and that sort of thing'."

Meadows, whose YouTube pseudonym is Dr Lemur, said the interrogation included a grilling at the hands of border security who asked him about his personal life, how many dogs he owned and why he had been filming at the airport in Japan. "Well they actually came up to me and said 'good news' almost 'we no longer think you're a terrorist'," he said. "And they were looking more into the fact that I may just disappear into America and work there illegally. They were going from one idea or suspicion to another suspicion and were all over the place. At one point they were almost arguing with themselves about what are we going to pin him on."

Within four days of leaving Australia, Meadows arrived home within minimal sleep and without ever having set foot outside the US airport. The American girl he had become attached to over the internet, Shannon Jones, has since visited Meadows although the relationship is unlikely to develop into anything substantial. Meadows's YouTube blog on his disastrous trip to the USA is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz-bOFyTLuM

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23 August, 2008

Congress Should Attack Immigration Laws, Not Immigration Agents

Lawmakers' use of "Gestapo" tag is wildly out of line, former immigration official Chris Battle writes

We all need our bogeymen to give flesh to our frustrations. Our fears and resentments need a cause other than our own failings. And in this sense, the floor of the U.S. Congress is a veritable Frankenstein's lab. Congress repeatedly passes monstrous legislation during bouts of political demagoguery, only to turn around and attack its own creations. The most audacious and shameful example of this blame-shifting is tied to the issue of immigration. Increasingly, agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are finding themselves under withering assault. Most recently, immigration agents were smeared as the "Gestapo" by Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois.

During a moment of frustration-and without any evident sense of irony-Gutierrez complained that nobody was taking the lead to pass immigration reform (as if he and his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee were irrelevant to this process). He then all but warned the women and children of America to lock themselves up and hide from the agents of the Department of Homeland Security.

"You know who is in charge now?" Gutierrez warned hysterically. "The Gestapo agents at [the Department of] Homeland Security. They are in charge." Gutierrez was repeating a slur dished out by California Rep. Sam Farr during a congressional hearing earlier in the year, in which he called Immigration and Customs Enforcement a "Gestapo-type agency."

Has "Gestapo" become a talking point among politicians trying to score points by beating up on the Department of Homeland Security? What about calling immigration agents terrorists? House Speaker Nancy Pelsoi accused immigration agents of "terrorizing" communities when the agency executed a raid on undocumented employees doing contract work for Wal-Mart in 2003. Most recently, Barack Obama made the same accusation during a summer campaign stop at a La Raza convention. Only Senator Obama's comments did not go unnoticed. (One of the disadvantages of being a presidential candidate.)

Art Gordon, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, issued a letter to Obama criticizing the candidate's "disparaging remark [that] 'communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids.'" Gordon made clear his frustration at the hypocrisy of politicians who attack law enforcement agencies for doing the job they were created by the politicians to do. "It's one thing to remark intelligently on the need for immigration reform," Gordon writes, "but it's quite another to berate ICE law enforcement officers who are risking their lives to enforce the laws passed by Congress. To wit, your quotation might have read better if you stated '...communities are terrorized by the antiquated laws passed by Congress.' "

Which is, of course, the unmentionable sore point for the otherwise opinionated political class. Congress, in all its gridlocked glory, has failed in its responsibility to pass meaningful immigration reform. Somebody has to take the blame, and the guys who have to go out on the campaign trail and explain themselves don't want it to be them. So why not blame the immigration agents?

It takes courage to push back against the institution that pays your bills, but Julie Myers, who heads Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has publicly (and commendably) called upon Gutierrez to apologize for his attacks. "These [Gestapo] comments cross any line of decency and are an affront to the men and women at this agency who perform their sworn duties, often at great personal risk," she wrote to Gutierrez last week. "Most troubling, irresponsible comments like these, vilifying law enforcement officers, can have a significant impact on officer and public safety."

One senior ICE agent told me that attacks by elected officials send a dangerous message to the public. "My biggest fear is that these groups will continue to dehumanize our agents to the point that some unstable whacko will think it is acceptable to attack an agent," he said. "What will they say to the agent's widow?"

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Immigration agency vows more enforcement

Federal immigration officials vowed Friday to intensify efforts to track down illegal immigrants after scrapping a trial "self-deportation" program that attracted only eight volunteers. Though the 2 1/2-week effort produced few volunteer deportees among illegal immigrants who are under court orders to leave the country, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said his agency will arrest more of them this year than last - and still more next year as more agents are assigned.

"We are going to continue our enforcement of immigration law whether it is convenient for people, or whether it's not convenient," Jim Hayes, ICE's acting director of detention and removal operations, told reporters. "Congress has mandated that we enforce these laws and that is what we intend to do," he said.

Immigrant advocates accused ICE of using the failure of the "Scheduled Departure" program to justify raids that have caused many illegal immigrants to live in fear of a pre-dawn knock on the door. They ridiculed the self-deportation program, saying it gave people no incentive to surrender. "It seems to me ICE used this as nothing more than a publicity ploy as a means to justify their harsh enforcement of immigration law," said Charles Kuck, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Kuck said he supports enforcement but that ICE could handle cases in a gentler way after arresting people at home. Instead of jailing them, for example, they could allow them to wear ankle bracelets while preparing to depart.

The self-deportation pilot program gave illegal immigrants up to 90 days to leave the country and was intended to quell criticism that its enforcement is heavy-handed and disruptive to families. Critics noted that those who participates were barred from returning to the United States for as long as a decade. The program applied to only about 457,000 of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants nationwide. It was open only to those who have ignored judicial orders to leave the country but have no criminal record. The program was offered in five cities: Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego and Santa Ana. ICE estimates that 30,000 eligible immigrants live in those areas.

ICE has been steadily expanding the number of agents charged with finding fugitive illegal immigrants. Its fugitive operation teams made more than 30,000 arrests during the last fiscal year, nearly double from the previous 12-month period. Hayes said that during the time the self-deportation program was going on, the teams made 1,300 arrests.

Critics say ICE often arrests others who just happen to be at home when agents come looking for fugitives. About 31 percent of immigrants arrested by the teams last year had no order to leave the country or criminal record. ICE has also been increasingly raiding workplaces, including nearly 400 people in May at an Iowa meatpacking plant, the largest single-site raid in U.S. history.

The eight volunteers include an Estonian man in Phoenix, a Guatemalan man and Indian couple in Chicago, a Salvadoran man in Charlotte, a Mexican woman in San Diego and a Guatemalan man and Lebanese man in Santa Ana, according to ICE. ICE spent $41,000 to advertise the program. Hayes said the government saved money because the cost of detaining the eight who turned themselves in would have been $54,000.

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22 August, 2008

Hispanic-dominated L.A. school grapples with worst dropout rate and gang problems

The children of THIS immigrant group are not entering the mainstream

Amid the verdant lawn and leafy trees of the tidy Jefferson Senior High School campus, a police officer patrols the grounds and a sign warns that guns are illegal. Students in this inner-city school say gang members frequently disrupt class, and teachers spend much of their time dealing with troublemakers.

The biggest problem here, however, may be what you don't see - all the dropouts. With a 58 percent dropout rate, Jefferson has the worst dropout record in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest. "It's horrendous," said Debra Duardo, director of the dropout prevention and recovery program at the district, which averages 33.6 percent dropouts. While half the students typically quit inner-city schools nationwide, Jefferson is at the lower end of the spectrum of so-called "dropout factories" because of a concentration of factors that are rarely all present at schools in other cities.

Located in South Los Angeles, where new immigrants mostly from Mexico and Central America settle, the area has a large minority population and high poverty. Of its 1,977 students last school year, 45 percent qualified as English learners. More than 90 percent qualified for free or reduced-price lunches. The newcomer population means families shift quickly, following jobs or fleeing immigration raids. The school has a 57 percent transience rate, compared to a 38 percent average across district high schools. "There's a lack of well-paying jobs in the area," said social studies teacher Nicolle Sefferman. "When folks have a chance to move on, they move on."

A vast number of students are raised by single parents who struggle to support their families, financially and emotionally. Principal Juan Flecha noted that many students do not live with their parents, who work in other cities or even in other countries.

A shift in demographics has spurred racial divisions that peaked three years ago when blacks and Latinos clashed in several bloody melees. A quarter-century ago, Latino students totaled 31 percent of the student body; now they account for almost 90 percent. Blacks comprise about 10 percent and a sliver are Asian or white.

While ninth-graders spend a week learning conflict resolution and peer mediation, violence, particularly gang-related, frames students' lives. Gang rivalries are minimal in school because one group - the 38th Street gang - dominates school turf, but the undercurrent is ever-present. Flecha recently had to deal with a freshman who got shot in the leg on his way home from school.

Students say the gang problems divert teachers from teaching. "Teachers pay more attention to people messing around than people who want to learn," said Jeanette Garcia, 14. Such factors mean that academic failure starts long before high school. Kids arrive in the ninth grade woefully unprepared and manage to cling on until they're old enough to get a job.

"There's a psychological effect of failure," says Russell Rumberger, director of University of California at Santa Barbara's California Dropout Research Project. "Kids who experience failure start to give up."

For Sefferman, the biggest challenge is re-engaging those students. She believes Jefferson is on the right track with a new model that lets students choose a focus among creative arts, global leadership, business, and teacher preparation. There's also the academically rigorous New Tech Academy, where students wear business attire one day a week, and do assignments by computer.

Some students professed a sense of hopelessness at the lack of opportunity. "The only way to make money is selling dope on the corner," said Kahyla Love, 15.

Last year, the district launched a $200,000 marketing campaign to convince kids school is worthwhile. Promos on hip-hop radio, cell phone text messages, a MySpace Web site and You Tube videos hammered home that graduates earn an average of $175 more weekly than dropouts followed by the message: "Get your diploma." Administrators are evaluating if the ads were successful, but the campaign sparked interest across the country, inspiring a similar program in New York City public schools.

One of the most effective ways of keeping kids in school is simple - home visits, which the district has been doing for years. The visits are now conducted by "diploma project advisers," guidance counselors who work with dropout-risk students. "It gives a really powerful message that if you're not in school, we're going to your home," Duardo said. "Most of the time, we find dropouts not working and not happy with life."

There are signs of turnaround. This year Jefferson qualified for $1.9 million in state funds for disadvantaged schools and plans to hire 10 teachers to reduce class sizes, a psychiatric social worker, and more security. The campus is getting a new athletic field and cafeteria. Academically, there are glimmers of improvement. Three years ago, 50 percent of 12th-graders passed the graduation exam, LAUSD's lowest rate. Last year, 73 percent passed.

It's a far cry from a half-century ago when Jefferson was renowned as an athletic powerhouse and graduated notables such as actress Dorothy Dandridge, jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ralph Bunche. But for Flecha, who grew up in South Los Angeles the son of a housecleaner, it's a start. "Education is truly an equalizer. I want our youngsters to have that opportunity," he said. "But it's one day at a time."

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Immigration pushes British population to record high

Immigration and a sharp rise in births by non-British mothers have pushed the population to almost 61m, figures show. The total number of people in Britain grew by 388,000 to 60,975,000 in the year up to mid-2007, leaving it more than 2m higher than in 2001. A record 605,000 long-term migrants - those staying longer than a year - settled in the country during the year, according to the Office for National Statistics - 21 per cent more than did in 2001.

However long-term migration out of Britain also reached a record high of 406,000 in the year. This means the number of people leaving Britain is now 30pc cent higher than it was just seven years ago. Statisticians said they were "surprised" to find that net migration - the difference between comings and goings - stood at 198,000 - 11,000 more than in 2001.

Meanwhile rising fertility rates and an increase in the number of women at childbearing age - many of whom are recent arrivals - saw a sharp increase in the birth rate. A total of 758,000 children were born - an increase of more than 12pc on the year before.

The population was also boosted by a fall in the number of deaths, which has decreased from 599,000 in 2001 to 571,000 last year. For the first time ever, there are now more people in Britain of a pensionable age than there are children. Men aged 65+ and women aged 60+ now make up almost a fifth of the population. The oldest age group - those aged 80+ - is also the fastest growing in Britain, and has increased by more than 1.2m since 1981.

The figures also showed that the changes in population vary dramatically across Britain. The areas that have experienced the highest increases to their populations are Westminster, Camden, South Northants, Forest Heath, Colchester and South Derbyshire. All have seen jumps in their total populations of more than 12pc since 2001.

In the same period the largest reductions in population occurred in Sefton, Burnley, Middlesbrough, Rushmoor, Wirral and Sunderland - all of which have seen their headcounts drop by 2pc. Researchers found that Cambridge had the most mobile population in the country - a higher proportion of people have moved in and out of the city since 2001 than in any other part of Britain.

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