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Hopefully Governor Brown signs it! A bill against ICE Secure Communities. WASHINGTON -- A bill that would drastically reduce California's participation in a key immigration enforcement program passed through the state Assembly Friday and will now head to the desk of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. Under the bill, called the TRUST Act, California would no longer cooperate fully with Secure Communities, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program meant to net criminals who are undocumented immigrants. Secure Communities hasn't worked as hoped by officials in California and elsewhere, and the California is trying to mitigate the negative effects of the program, including high costs and concerns that it prevents immigrants from coming forward to report crime. The TRUST Act would mandate that California law enforcement offices ignore requests from ICE to hold immigrants they otherwise wouldn't. Secure Communities uses fingerprints taken upon arrest to find undocumented immigrants. When there is a match, ICE asks officers to hold the immigrant for two days -- but that often is extended. A recent report based on data from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department found immigrants were held based on ICE requests for about 20 days longer than was typical, at a cost of more than $26 million a year. The TRUST Act passed through the Assembly in May, but came back for a final vote after it passed the Senate with some amendments. The Assembly approved it Friday in a 48 to 26 vote. It's not yet clear, however, whether the bill will become law. Brown hasn't given any indication about his views on the matter, and his office declined to comment Friday since the legislation is not yet on his desk. Other California Democrats are more vocal in their support of the TRUST Act. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa repeatedly spoken out about the need for the bill, and told HuffPost in an interview earlier this month that he hoped the program would be reformed nationwide to match the bill's changes. "When Secure Communities was first established, I thought it was established on those grounds" targeting felons, he said. "As time went on, we've taken the position that it hasn't been working the way it was proposed." Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who first introduced the TRUST Act, applauded the passage of the bill. "This is a bill that speaks to humanity," he said in a statement. "It prevents unjust treatment of productive Californians, while allowing local law enforcement to continue to focus on dangerous criminals." For anybody interested here's the video of the debate on the Assembly floor. The video is here at time marker: 25:34: http://www.calchanne.../2012-archive/ Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/24/trust-act-bill-california-governor_n_1829125.html

First new DACA applications approved in final weeks of 2020 ABC NewsView the full article

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will resign from her position on Friday, a U.S. government source told Reuters. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security could not be immediately reached for comment. Source: http://news.yahoo.com/homeland-security-chief-set-resign-source-140653896.html Thoughts??

First New DACA Applications Approved in Final Weeks of 2020 NBC10 BostonView the full article

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First new DACA applications approved in final weeks of 2020 The San Diego Union-TribuneView the full article

First new DACA applications approved in final weeks of 2020 Olean Times HeraldView the full article

First new DACA applications approved in final weeks of 2020 Madison.comView the full article

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Monday that it would be a "big mistake" to chase more 70 or more votes on immigration reform in the Senate. The second-ranking Democrat in the Senate said both sides have already made concessions, and expressed worry that making more concessions on border security to win over Republican votes could weaken the bill. Asked whether the bill needed more than 70 votes, Durbin responded with a flat: "No." "We need 60 votes by the Senate standards," he said. "The more the better though. I just don’t want to compromise the values in this bill," he told CBS. Durbin went on to stress that there had been concessions and negotiations on both sides before the bill was first unveiled. "We worked for four months, had 30 minutes, [sens.] John McCain [R-Ariz.], Chuck Schumer [D-N.Y.], Lindsey Graham [R-S.C.], Marco Rubio [R-Fla.], myself, Bob Menendez [D-N.J.], we worked all this time to come up with a basic framework and if we’re going to abandon this now to pick up 2, 3, 4 or 5 votes, that’s a big mistake," Durbin said. The senators he named are all in the bipartisan group that crafted the bill. Those pushing to win more GOP votes argue a big vote in the Senate would increase pressure on the House to take up the legislaiton. The delicate Senate negotiations have been strained in recent weeks as Rubio (R-Fla.) has sought to push the bill farther to the right, in hopes of gaining cover with his base and securing more Republican votes. Durbin suggested that Republicans could pay a political cost if their maneuvering scuttled the bill. "There’s no question in my mind that American is changing, more diverse, the voters are changing, and they’re going to look to those parties and candidates who are receptive to this change," Durbin said. "If your party candidate for president is saying leave, as in self-deport, it really says well you don’t care much for immigrants. And people say, well that means the Hispanic vote." Still, Republicans remain optimistic about the bill rallying support within the party. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Sunday that he believed the bill would get the large majority. "I think we are going to get plus 70 votes” in the Senate, said Graham, predicting a “political breakthrough, that Congress is going to pass immigration reform.” Source: http://thehill.com/video/senate/305897-durbin-we-dont-need-70-votes-for-immigration-reform

Since everyone is on the verge of buying a car or in the process. We would like to know how much you pay for your car insurance. Also be sure to say what company you are with and if your on the plan by yourself or joined. Just looking for rough estimates. It also does vary on your driving record.

Welcome Back UC DavisView the full article

Welcome Back UC DavisView the full article

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) has set an end-of-month deadline for Senate passage of immigration reform, giving the chamber three weeks to debate legislation on the floor. “We are going to finish the bill before the July 4 recess,” Reid said Thursday. “We need to finish this bill and we’re going to do it as quick as we can.” Reid added that the issue has already been thoroughly discussed in committee. “There are very few pieces of legislation that we’ve had come to the floor in recent years that has been [as] thoroughly discussed, debated and presented as this,” he said. Reid has met with Republicans and told them they have already had weeks to review the legislation during the Judiciary Committee’s markup last month. “Everybody knows pretty much what this bill is about,” he said. “No one can complain about not having had time to read the bill. They’ve read it, they’ve studied it and there’s no reason we can’t finish this debate quickly.” The July recess will begin after the last week of June. Senate Democrats met Thursday afternoon to discuss their strategy for handling amendments to the legislation, President Obama’s top domestic initiative. The Senate will vote to end debate on the motion to proceed to the immigration bill at 2:15 pm Tuesday and then vote to proceed at 4 p.m. Members of the Senate Gang of Eight, which drafted the bill, have set a goal of passing it with 70 votes, but Reid is more focused on clearing the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster. Reid downplayed speculation that Democrats must accept an amendment by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) strengthening border security in order to push the bill to final passage. Rubio is a member of the Gang of Eight. “We are interested in getting as many votes as we can and getting as many votes as we can does not depend on any one amendment,” he said. “I am totally convinced that there is tremendous momentum to get this legislation passed no matter what people are saying on the record, off the record.” Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the lead Democratic sponsor of the bill, said “the momentum is getting stronger every day,” citing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, agribusinesses, evangelicals and the high-tech community. He said those groups are contacting undecided senators to urge them to support the bill. Schumer said Democrats are willing to strengthen the border-security provisions but do not want to give anti-immigration opponents a chance to block the path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants in the country illegally. Source: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/303961-reid-wants-senate-to-finish-immigration-before-july-recess

WASHINGTON – The Republican-controlled House voted Thursday to resume the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children, the first immigration-related vote in either chamber of Congress this year and a measure of the daunting challenge facing supporters of a sweeping overhaul of existing law on the subject. The party-line vote of 224-201 was aimed at blocking implementation of President Barack Obama's 2012 election-year order to stop deportations of many so-called DREAM Act individuals. Democrats on the House floor reacted with boos when the provision was added to a routine spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The vote was largely symbolic, since the administration has threatened to veto the overall legislation on budgetary grounds. It nevertheless stood as a stark warning from conservatives who dominate the ranks of the Republican House majority about attempts in the Senate to grant a chance at citizenship to an estimated 11 million immigrants residing in the country illegally. And the White House reacted sharply, saying the House-passed measure would affect "Dreamers" who are "productive members of society who were brought here as young children, grew up in our communities, and became American in every way but on paper." Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said in a statement that the vote prohibits the administration "from implementing executive amnesty" without congressional action. "Bipartisan support for my amendment is the first test of the 113th Congress in the House of Representatives on immigration. My amendment blocks many of the provisions that are mirrored in the Senate's `Gang of Eight' bill. If this position holds, no amnesty will reach the President's desk," he said. The vote took place as Senate leaders set Friday for the opening of debate on White House-backed legislation that would create a chance at citizenship for those in the country unlawfully, at the same time it takes steps to assure the borders are secure against future illegal immigration. The measure was drafted by a bipartisan group of eight senators, then approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last month on a vote of 13-8. It also creates a new low-skilled guest-worker program, expands the number of visas available for high-tech industry workers and reorders the system for legal immigration that has been in place for decades. Debate is expected to consume weeks on the Senate floor as lawmakers of differing views try to change it more to their liking. Notably, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who was part of the group that drafted the legislation, is saying he wants changes before he will support it on final passage. His office did not respond to a request for reaction to the House vote. In the House, 221 Republicans and three Democrats voted for King's proposal, while 195 Democrats and six Republicans opposed it. "I can't believe they just did that," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a leading supporter of the DREAM Act. Ana Avendano of the AFL-CIO, said in a statement that King and his allies are playing to "a dwindling base of anti-immigrant Republican primary voters. We hope and expect that the leadership of the Republican party will understand that this is not only abhorrent policy but suicidal politics." Speaking to a group of reporters, a White House official, Cecilia Munoz, said, "If part of what is driving this debate is a recognition, particularly on the Republican side, that they need to do better with the Latino community, this is really not the right way." Obama announced a new policy in June 2012 that puts off deportation for two years for many of those brought to the United States as children, specifically if they were under 16 at the time and are no older than 31 now. They also must be in school, graduated from high school or have served in the military and have no criminal record. The order offers relief from deportation from many young immigrants who would be covered by the so-called DREAM Act, which has repeatedly failed in Congress. Democrats argued vociferously against King's proposal when it was debated Wednesday evening. "We should not hold children responsible for the actions of adults and their parents. We should give them an opportunity," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat who has been involved in a sputtering attempt to produce a compromise immigration bill in the House. Those efforts were dealt a potentially fatal blow on Wednesday, when Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, announced he was leaving the group because of a dispute over health care. House GOP leaders have not yet announced a plan for considering immigration legislation, although it appears likely that several smaller bills will be considered rather than a comprehensive measure that covers the elements that are combined into one in the Senate. One of them, introduced during the day by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., permits state and local authorities to enforce federal immigration laws. There is little, if any, support among the GOP rank and file for a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million or so immigrants estimated to be living in the United States illegally, although there appears to be some sentiment to allow many such individuals to remain in the country. Speaker John Boehner has said privately he hopes to have committee action complete by the end of June, with a vote in the House by the end of July. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/06/house-votes-to-resume-deporting-young-dream-act-immigrants/#ixzz2VTjNjslu

Durbin himself created a petition to ask Brewer to reverse her policy, and more than 1000 signatures have been collected: This is from an email, so I don't have a URL source. Please check it out anyway....and sign the petition.

I'm sure we all have a favorite singer(s) SO lets go ahead and say your favorite singer as well as a favorite song by that singer/rapper P.S. include a youtube link?

Immigrants in US both hopeful and wary of Biden Borneo Bulletin OnlineView the full article

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today marked a significant milestone in its efforts to provide relief to victims of crimes by approving the statutory maximum 10,000 petitions for U nonimmigrant status, also referred to as the U-visa. This is the third straight year USCIS has reached the statutory maximum since it began issuing U-visas in 2008. Each year, 10,000 U-visas are available for victims of crime who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to help law enforcement authorities investigate or prosecute those crimes. A U-visa petition requires law enforcement certification of assistance in the investigation or prosecution of crimes. “The U-visa is an important tool aiding law enforcement to bring criminals to justice,” said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “At the same time, we are able to provide immigration protection to victims of crime and their families. Both benefits are in the interest of the public we serve.” In recent years, USCIS has greatly expanded its public education and outreach effort through partnerships with law enforcement agencies and service providers. As part of this effort, USCIS officers have traveled to more than 40 cities, including Denver, New York City, Newark, and San Antonio, to train federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and immigrant-serving organizations on immigration protections available to individuals who are victims of human trafficking, domestic violence and other serious crimes. The program was created by Congress to strengthen the law enforcement community’s ability to investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other crimes while at the same time offering protection to victims. More than 61,000 victims and their family members have received U-visas since the implementation of this program in 2008. USCIS will continue to accept new petitions as they are received until the end of the current fiscal year, and will resume issuing U-visas on Oct. 1, 2012, the first day of fiscal year 2013 when new visas are available. Source: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=5cd8f03530a49310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

The Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act (DREAM) is a bi-partition bill introduced to Congress in 2001 and reintroduced in 2009 by Utah Senator Orion Hatch and Illinois (D) Senator Richard Durbin created to help youths brought the United States by undocumented parents as children who are now graduating from High School not only find a path to citizenship for themselves, but also be allowed to continue their education into college and beyond. To qualify for the DREAM Act an applicant must adhere to several very strict guidelines that include the following: The applicant must have entered the United States prior to their 16th birthday. The applicant must have been in the United States for at least 5 consecutive years prior to the bill passing. The applicant must have graduated from High School, obtained a GED or currently be enrolled in College, a Trade School or another type of Institution for Higher Learning. The applicant must currently be 30 and under at the time they are applying. The applicant must have good moral standing (no previous or current convictions). With all of those requirements met and The DREAM Act is passed a person will be granted a temporary, conditional allowance to remain in the Untied States for up to 6 years provided they follow the next set of guidelines.

Stephen Santa-Ramirez: Faculty Expert on Higher Education Access, Equity UB News CenterView the full article

Biden must save DACA and TPS, and make a pathway to citizenship a priority, as he promised | Opinion Miami HeraldView the full article

Biden must save DACA and TPS, and make a pathway to citizenship a priority, as he promised | Opinion Miami HeraldView the full article

Young undocumented immigrants who want to apply under a new federal policy for a reprieve from deportation could be inadvertently turning themselves in to authorities for deportation if they are deemed ineligible, several immigration experts are warning. "You don't want to go to a zoo if a cage door is open, because it can bite back. And you don't want to walk into the maw of a federal agency if you have a history," Casey Wolff, an immigration attorney in Collier County, said of illegal immigrants who may meet other qualifications for Deferred Action, but have been arrested. Wolff and other local immigration specialists said the program still is too new to understand if it will take a twist and work against applicants and their families under certain circumstances. They have tried to temper the excitement of young would-be applicants. The over-arching message if you think you might not make the cut is "Don't apply yet." Samuel Blanco, an immigration attorney with an office in East Naples, said this skepticism comes from immigration enforcement programs like Secure Communities, which originally was framed as a way to identify high-priority deportees like violent criminals, but yawned much wider and resulted in low-priority deportations nationwide. The deferred action policy, also known as DACA, went into effect Aug. 15. It expands the previous deferred action program, allowing for undocumented youth under the age of 31 to apply for a renewable two-year temporary reprieve of deportation proceedings under certain conditions. Details emerged between the June 15 announcement by the Department of Homeland Security and when the policy went into effect last week, with the agency elaborating on what type of criminal background could compromise eligibility. Undocumented immigrants who arrived as children but have felony, "significant" misdemeanor (including DUIs and domestic violence, but excluding minor traffic offenses), or multiple misdemeanor convictions are ineligible for deferred action, except under "exceptional circumstances," according to the Department of Homeland Security. Blanco, Wolff and an immigration specialist from Catholic Charities of Collier County said they are advising clients with an arrest record to proceed carefully before turning over to the federal government the application, $465 fee, and evidence documenting their life in the U.S. for the past five years. The supporting documents to prove eligibility and identity could include passports, birth certificates, school transcripts, and medical, financial and military records. "Unless you believe you have a very simple, straightforward case with no complications ... get legal advice," Blanco said. "Don't apply first. Don't be the guinea pig." It's a concern U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services tries to address in a question-and-answer section on its website. The agency states: "If your case does not involve a criminal offense, fraud, or a threat to national security or public safety, your case will not be referred to ICE for purposes of removal proceedings except where DHS determines there are exceptional circumstances." It also notes that if the agency doesn't approve deferred action in someone's case, it will apply its policy regarding the referral of cases to ICE and take into account if the applicant falls under a 2011 Citizenship and Immigration memo that outlines policies and the issuance of Notices to Appear, which are charging documents that initiate removal proceedings. "We really don't know what's going to happen to these folks once some of them start getting denied," said Blanco, who along with Wolff reported that the majority of calls to their practices regarding the deferred action policy were from Latin Americans and Eastern Europeans. In central California, one group has been warning farmworkers and their children not to sign up for the program at all. "Immigration agents could haul them off that same day," said Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League. "Even if they don't, if this policy is disbanded, now ICE has the addresses of all the families. Why would you want to squeal on your parents?" Laura Lichter, a Denver attorney who heads the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said everyone takes a risk by applying. "I would say that people are between a rock and a hard place. In most cases, people can take (the government) at their word that their intent is to administer this policy in a fair and appropriate manner but there are going to be people that are going to find themselves having problems," she said. Source: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/aug/20/immigration-experts-new-federal-policy-could-on/

As many as 1.76 million unauthorized immigrants could gain temporary relief from deportation and be authorized to work legally in the U.S. under President Barack Obama’s deportation deferral program announced earlier this year, according to the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration think tank. Long lines of young, potential beneficiaries formed in several cities across the country last week when the program’s first applications were issued. The program is open to undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. before age 16. They must be in high school, have graduated from high school, earned a GED or served honorably in the military, among other criteria. What will the possible flood of new job applicants mean for small business owners? And how should small employers deal with existing employees who present work authorizations along with admissions that they were not previously authorized to work? These questions are likely to arise as applications are processed and work authorization cards issued, says Bill Flynn, an attorney heading the immigration practice at Fowler White Boggs in Tampa. That will be particularly true for companies in California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois, home to 57 percent of the total population of potential beneficiaries, three out of four of whom were born in Mexico or Central America, according to the MPI. “A lot of information is yet to be determined as the details of the procedural aspects of the program come out over the next couple of months,” Flynn says. There is also uncertainty around whether the program will move forward if President Obama is not reelected this November and what will happen after the program’s stated two-year deferral period expires. Additionally, how states will handle the program is up in the air: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer last week instructed her state to deny driver’s licenses and other state benefits to immigrants who qualify for the program. Nevertheless, attorney Michael Wildes, managing partner at Wildes & Weinberg in Manhattan, is busy prepping his business clients about the program and says a majority of the newly authorized immigrants will likely find work with small businesses in both skilled and unskilled positions. The MPI estimates that 80,000 of the potentially eligible beneficiaries have an associate’s degree or higher, 44 percent have a bachelor’s degree, and 8 percent have advanced degrees. Once they start getting hired, they will present employment authorization document (EAD) cards to verify their employability on the I-9 forms that employers must complete and file. The cards look like driver’s licenses and should be accepted as legitimate documents, similar to green cards or American passports, says Jay Starkman, CEO of Engage PEO, a Ft Lauderdale, Fla.-based company that provides human resources to 50 small and mid-sized business owners. The trickier situation will present itself when existing employees, who may have passed off phony documents, come to their bosses with EAD cards, Starkman says: “That puts employers in a really tough situation that may be damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t.” Some employers will not take kindly to such news and consider the lie grounds for termination, particularly if the employee works in a sensitive position of trust. Others may value the employee enough to overlook the past deception and continue their employment. If an employer chooses to terminate based on the employee’s admission, he should be aware that he could face a potential discrimination claim, Starkman says. “They’re out of work because you fired them, and there are lawyers out there ready to pounce.” The main defense in such a case is documentation that the business owner requires the same standard of honesty from all employees, whether they are “the blonde, blue-eyed secretary born in Ohio or the employee with a Latino surname,” Flynn says. For employers willing to keep an employee who used false documentation, it’s important to keep all paperwork – old and new – in the employee’s file, Flynn says. Immigration authorities have been “very enforcement-oriented” in recent years and audits are “busting people right and left,” he says. To be on the safe side, he instructs clients to prepare a memorandum explaining the situation, documenting the paperwork presented initially, why they believed it to be legitimate, and including the new paperwork and date it was presented. “State that on a certain date, you did the following and you now believe in good faith that you employee is in compliance with federal work authorization rules,” Flynn says. One final detail for employers to note is a confidentiality provision in the law, Starkman says. It’s not yet clear whether that provision applies to both government authorities dealing with applicants as well as employers. To be on the safe side, he’s telling clients not to discuss the immigration status of their employees – period. “’Congratulations to so-and-so who’s just received their papers!’ is not an item for the company newsletter. Keep it in the HR file,” he says. Source: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-20/lawyers-expect-young-immigrants-to-flood-small-employers