Thursday, December 19, 2024

President Obama says GOP Stalling Immigration Reform

During an online roundtable on Wednesday addressing key issues in the Latino community, President Barack Obama reaffirmed his commitment for comprehensive immigration reform but said lack of GOP leadership on the issue is hurting any progress. At the roundtable, which was moderated by Jose Siade, Yahoo’s editor in chief for U.S. Hispanic and Latin America, […]

Alabama Announces New Verification System ahead of Immigration Law Ruling

Alabama state officials announced the details of a verification system that will instantaneously return the legal status and citizenship of motorists in the state yesterday, even though a judge has yet to rule whether the tough immigration law will be allowed to take effect. The state says the “ALVerify” system solves the problem of how […]

New Mexico Gov. Tough on Immigration despite own Family History

So here we go, again: the staunchly anti-immigrant New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez admits that, well, her grandparents came to the U.S. without papers. So all of this anti-immigrant work on her part was, what? An attempt to overcompensate for the fact that her ancestors once broke the law, like she’s going to “prove” herself, […]

Report reveals Latinos Majority of New Incarcerations due to Immigration

A new report released by the government on Tuesday shows that Latinos made up the majority of new federal inmates sent to prison so far this year, largely due to immigration offenses. During the first nine months of fiscal year 2011 Latinos accounted for 50.3 percent of those sentenced for felony crimes, whites made up […]

DHS Reviews Thousands of Deportation Cases Under Obama’s New Immigration Policy

On Friday, a working group from the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department began its review of approximately 300,000 deportation cases currently in our system to distinguish between those who pose a threat to our national security and those who have committed immigration violations, also known as civil offenses. “This is a great […]

Obama Administration announces New Immigration Policy

A move by the Obama administration on Thursday, which calls for case-by-case reviews of deportation cases, will provide relief to undocumented immigrants facing the threat of deportation. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sent a letter to US Senators yesterday informing them about the decision and saying it will allow immigration officials to focus their resources […]

Judge Denies Challenges to Recall Election of SB1070 Sponsor

An Arizona judge has agreed to move forward with the recall election of Sen. Russell Pearce (R), sponsor of the state’s controversial anti-immigrant law SB 1070. As reported in La Plaza earlier this summer, the group Citizens for a Better Arizona filed a petition for a recall election against Pearce and his divisive politics. They […]

Arizona takes Battle over Anti-immigration Law to Supreme Court

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer appealed to the Supreme Court Wednesday to overturn the ruling that put a hold on key provisions of the state’s immigration law. The law, which requires state and local police officers to check immigration status during routine stops, has been the center of an on-going debate between the state and federal […]

Federal Authorities say Secure Communities Program not Optional

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security informed dozens of states that they cannot opt out of the controversial fingerprinting program known as Secure Communities, designed to identify and deport undocumented immigrants with criminal records. In a letter sent to 39 Governors, federal officials informed them that any previous agreements over the program were now […]

Hazelton Anti-immigration Laws Revisited

A pair of anti-immigration laws in the town of Hazelton, Penn., declared unconstitutional by a federal appeals court last year, are getting a second chance. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed its ruling from last September that declared the laws unconstitutional because they conflicted with federal immigration laws.  The court’s decision stems from […]