FAIR Legislative Update November 5, 2012

Obama, Romney: Where Do They Stand on Immigration?

Just one day before the November elections, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney remain deadlocked in major national polls. To provide the American people with a picture of where the presidential candidates stand on the critical immigration issue, FAIR has researched and collected statements each has made on immigration policy. Below is a sample of those statements, which will appear in FAIR’s post-election report.

Immigration Courts Slow to Process Deportation Cases

Last Thursday, the Department of Justice Inspector General released a report criticizing our nation’s immigration courts for delays in processing deportation cases.  (Justice Department Inspector General Report, Oct. 2012) According to the Inspector General, between FY 2006 and FY 2010 the most significant delays in deportation cases occurred at the first level of adjudication, which occurs in administrative courts housed in the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) within the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

While the Inspector General (IG) identified a variety of reasons for delays in removal cases, he highlighted requests for continuances – requests to continue the proceedings at a later date – as the primary cause.  (Report at p. 33) Altogether, continuances added on average 132 days (over 6 months) to the processing time of deportation cases. (Id.)

Not surprisingly, the large majority of continuances (62%) were requested by the aliens, either to find counsel or to prepare their cases.  (Id. at p.30) And while delaying a case to allow the alien to seek counsel initially may appear benign, the IG pointed out how this process can be, and frequently is, abused.  For example, the IG noted that even though the average time between when an alien receives a notice to appear in court and the initial hearing is over two months (69 days), immigration judges often grant aliens multiple continuances to find counsel.   (Id. at p. 32-33) The IG described one case in particular in which an alien received 11 continuances to seek counsel. The case took 884 days (nearly 2.5 years) to complete and even then, the alien never obtained counsel and was ordered removed. (Id. at p. 35)

While requests by aliens largely drove the number of continuances, the IG also explained that the Department of Homeland Security, whose attorneys represent the government in removal cases, requested 18 percent of continuances.  (Id. at p. 30) However, one of the major reasons DHS requested continuances was to conduct background checks so immigration judges could grant aliens relief from removal.  That is, 39 percent of DHS continuance requests were due to time needed to conduct a background or security check of the alien so a court could allow a deportable alien to stay in the United States. (Id. at p. 34)

Finally, the IG noted that EOIR had such poor practices in maintaining data that it was clear the agency had over-reported the number of “completed cases.” Thus, the IG said, it was difficult to get an accurate picture of the entire process of removal cases, suggesting the real story may be worse than what the report portrays. 

Report Finds Majority of New Jobs go to Foreign Born

Last week, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a report showing that most new jobs added to the U.S. economy in the past four years went to foreign born individuals.  (CIS Report, Nov. 2012)  Foreign born, as defined by the Census Bureau, means persons who are not U.S. citizens at birth, including naturalized citizens, green card holders, guest workers, and illegal aliens.  (Report at p. 2) 

While employment data may be analyzed in many ways, the CIS report examines the number of foreign born employed in the first quarter of 2009 and the third quarter of 2012. It then compares it to the number of native born Americans employed during the same time period.  Overall, CIS reports that both groups experienced a significant deterioration in employment after the president took office, which was then followed by a faster recovery for the foreign born.  During this recovery, foreign-born employment increased by 1.94 million while native-born employment increased by only 938,000.  (Id.)  Thus, foreign-born individuals took 67 percent of the jobs added between January 2009 and September 2012.  (Id. at p.1)

Moreover, CIS notes that most of the jobs were taken by new immigrants, i.e. foreign born individuals who were not already in the United States looking for work.  (Id.)  Between 2009 and September 2012, about 1.6 million workers arrived from abroad, of which somewhere between 70 and 90 percent entered the U.S. legally.  (Id.)  These immigrants “made gains across the U.S. labor market” including low-skilled and high-skilled jobs.  (Id. at p. 5)

Having examined the data, the CIS report concludes that there is no general labor shortage.  (Id. at p. 1)  In job categories where foreign born individuals made the largest numerical gains – building cleaning and maintenance, farming/fishing/forestry, personal care, and manufacturing – there were also 2.2 million native born Americans out of work.  (Id. at p. 5) And even regarding higher-skilled jobs that would generally require college graduates, there are 9.2 million native born college graduates out of work.  (Id. at p. 2)

Berkeley City Council Votes to Ignore ICE Detainer Requests

Last week, the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to compel the Berkeley Police Department to ignore all U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests. (See October 30, 2012 Berkeley City Council Meeting Annotated Agenda) The newly instated policy simply reads, “The Berkeley Police Department will not honor requests by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain a Berkeley jail inmate for suspected violations of federal civil immigration law.”

Under federal regulation, ICE can request state and local law enforcement agencies to maintain custody of an alien for up to 48 hours (excluding weekends and holidays) to allow ICE agents time to pick up the alien. (See 8 C.F.R. 287.7(d)) Prior to Tuesday’s vote, the Berkeley Police Department jail’s policy regarding ICE detainer requests was to honor all such requests. (See Memorandum from Christine Daniel, City Manager to Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council)

Originally, Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan proposed to the City Council a policy would permit the detention of illegal aliens in limited circumstances, similar to the recently vetoed Trust Act. Specifically, his proposal would have authorized his jail to detain an alien pursuant to an ICE detainer request where the alien is in custody pursuant to an arrest for a serious or violent felony and the individual either: 1) “has been convicted of a homicide;” 2) “has been convicted of a serious or violent felony within 10 years of the request;” or 3) “has been released after having served a sentence for a serious or violent felony within 5 years of the request.” (Id.) The serious and violent felonies referenced in the draft policy included crimes such as murder, rape, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, sexual abuse of a child, and kidnapping. (See Cal. Penal Code §§ 1192.7(c) and 667.5(c)). 

The City Council rejected Police Chief Meehan’s draft policy as too restrictive and unfair to aliens, including serious and violent felons. (Berkeleyside.com, October 31, 2012) One City Council member protested, “I don’t understand why we’re not treating everyone the same, citizen or non-citizen” as “[h]alf of my family came over to this country without papers.”  (Id.). Other advocates of Berkeley’s new policy rebuked ICE for allegedly picking up arrested aliens and deporting them before they had their day in court. (Id.). However, federal law generally requires that aliens in the U.S. get their day in immigration court prior to being  deported. (See 8 U.S.C. §§1229(a) and 1229c)

Smuggling Ring Demonstrates Continued Weaknesses in Border Security

Last week, Canadian officials shut down a human smuggling ring that brought Romanians through Mexico and the U.S. on their way to Canada. The smuggling ring provides further evidence that despite assurances by the Obama Administration, U.S. borders are far from being secure. (National Post, Oct. 25, 2012)

According to the National Post, smugglers had been charging Romanians between $10,000 and $30,000 to take them through the U.S. to get to Canada, where they allegedly seek the welfare benefits associated with refugee status. (Id.; Globe and Mail, Oct. 26, 2012) Sources report that the Romanians had been able to obtain falsified travel documents in Mexico that allow them to enter Texas at the Mexico border. (National Post, Oct. 25, 2012) They then traveled through a route in the U.S. that takes them to the greater Toronto area. (Id.) The smuggling ring is suspected to be the cause of a recent spike in Romanian refugee claims in Canada, which have increased from just 57 in 2007 to 258 last year. (Id.)

Alarmingly, the smuggling ring’s ability to both illegally enter and exit the U.S. illustrates the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) findings in two separate reports detailing the continued lack of operational control of U.S. borders. According to a 2011 GAO report, only 873 miles of the 2,000-mile Southwest border could be deemed under “operational control.” (See GAO Report, Feb. 15, 2011) A separate GAO report from December of 2010 discovered the situation along the Canadian border to be even worse, with only 32 of the 4,000 miles of border with Canada fully secured. (See GAO Report, Dec. 2010; see also ABC News, Feb. 1, 2011) Congress defined “operational control” in the Secure Fence Act as “the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.” (emphasis added) However, according to Border Patrol, “operational control” does not mean nor “require its agents to be able to detect and apprehend all illegal entries.” (See GAO Report, Feb. 15, 2011)

Nonetheless, the Obama Administration has continuously claimed that the border is more secure than ever. Just last year during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, “There is a perception that the border is worse now than it ever has been….That is wrong. The border is better now than it ever has been.” (CBS News, Mar. 25, 2011)

Illegal Aliens Get Out the Vote

Thousands of illegal alien minors are campaigning this election cycle in the pro-amnesty lobby’s latest efforts to maintain control of the Executive Branch. (Wall Street Journal, Oct. 31, 2012) Reportedly, these individuals — referred to by amnesty advocates as “DREAMers” — are turning out in droves to help campaign efforts for President Obama and other pro-amnesty candidates for office in “swing-states” key to winning the Electoral College. (Id.)

Focusing on potential Latino voters, they are allegedly running phone banks, knocking on doors, and approaching students on college campuses in order to boost turn-out for pro-amnesty candidates this Tuesday. (Id.) “For people who aren’t supposed to be in the country in the first place to be deployed for partisan advantage is the last straw,” decried said Dan Stein, FAIR’s President. (Id.)