Greg Siskind on Immigration Law and Policy

REMINDER: TELECON ON IMMIGRATION ISSUES IN LAYOFF SITUATION

Just a reminder that I'll be hosting a teleconference today on the immigration consequences of downsizing and layoffs. If you have been laid off, are worried about being laid off or are an HR employee with a company or institution that may have to downsize and you're worried about how to not make a bad situation worse for your foreign employees, you'll want to listen to the call.

You can register for the free program here.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: KARAN KLER - IMMIGRANT ADVOCATE

Indian-born Karan Kler is the executive director of the Coachella Valley Immigration Service and Assistance Inc., a nonprofit immigration counseling agency in Palm Springs, California. My friend Dan Kowalski forwarded me a really nice article on Karan's journey from an influential business and military family in India to heading a non-profit agency assisting immigrants in need.

BORDER ARRESTS AT LOWEST LEVEL IN OVER 30 YEARS

The Washington Post reports on data released from the Border Patrol. Among the findings:

- The number of Border Patrol agents has more than doubled from 9,000 in 2001 to 20,000 this year
- 626 miles of the border with Mexico are now covered by fencing and vehicle barriers which is about half of the planned coverage on the 2000 mile border.
- Border arrests are down from nearly 1.75 million in 2000 to 723,000 over the past year

While the economy obviously plays a role, the dramatic uptick in enforcement sure is playing a role and Senator Schumer's contention that we can make a credible claim that real enforcement is occurring is truthful .

SCHUMER: BORDERS NOW SECURE ENOUGH TO MOVE ON IMMIGRATION REFORM

There are basically two big camps in the immigration reform debate and each has subsidiary interests that diverge in important respects from the bigger grou[. There is the pro-immigration camp which generally favors immigration reform proposals introduced over the last few years. Within the pro-immigration camp, there is the labor left which is in favor of legalization but balks at provisions that would provide temporary or permanent visas to workers that might come in the future.

In the anti-immigration camp, there is the major group which opposes any form of legalization and is of mixed thinking on future worker provisions. And then there is a more moderate group that is against immigration reform but is not against the concept of legalization out of hand. Rather, they want to proceed with immigration reform in stages. First secure the border, then move forward with legalization.

It is this last camp that Senate Immigration Subcommittee Chair Chuck Schumer (D-NY) seems to be courting when he told CBS News that the border was now secure enough to proceed with immigration reform this year. Being able to report to constituents significant progress in cutting down on illegal entries to the country will provide critical cover for legislators that are likely in favor of immigration reform, but dealing with skeptical voters.

As I've reported on this blog, the data backs up what Schumer is saying. The number of illegally present immigrants has been dropping and DHS is reporting significant decreases in illegal border entries. A surprising (and likely hostile) source of support could be groups like the Center for Immigration Studies which have been touting the evidence of decreasing illegal immigration as evidence that tough enforcement tactics are working. Of course, they would like the next step to be .... more of the same. Their end goal is getting rid of all illegally present immigrants followed by a virtual ban on all new immigration.

Pro-immigration groups can take CIS' claims, however, as giving critical support to Schumer's argument to the anti-CIS moderates. The borders ARE under control and the federal government is finally able to report significant progress on reducing the illegally present immigrant population in the country. It's time for the next stage of the reform process.

NURSE BILL INTRODUCED IN HOUSE

H.R. 2536 has been introduced in the House by Congressman Robert Wexler. This is the first step in what will be a very tough process. The bill's text has not yet been released, but it is going to be highly similar to H.R. 5924, introduced last year. The bill would allocate 20,000 additional green cards per year for three years for nurses and physical therapists. Spouses and children will get green cards and will not be included in the 20,000 figure. Employer petitioners will pay a $1500 fee in addition to regular green card fees. The fee will support nurse training programs around the US.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: RAM RAMANATHAN - CLIMATE SCIENTIST

I was listening to BBC News last night and heard an interview with a scientist described as one of the world's leading experts on climate change. That scientist is Indian-born Ram Ramanathan, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego. He recently won the Tyler Prize which is awarded to the top environmental scientist in the world.

UCSD describes Ramanathan:

One of the world's leading atmospheric scientists, Ramanathan was the first to show that ozone-depleting aerosols could aggravate the greenhouse effect. In 1980, he correctly predicted that global warming from carbon dioxide would be detectable by the year 2000.

More recently, Ramanathan showed that South Asian "brown clouds" caused by the burning of fossil fuels could lower ocean temperatures, slowing down monsoon circulation and reducing seasonal rainfall. In a pioneering study with agricultural economists, he linked the phenomenon to a significant decrease in the Indian rice harvest. He has also linked the combined heating effect of greenhouse gases and brown clouds, which contain soot, trace metals and other particles, to the recent retreat of Himalayan glaciers that supply drinking water to billions of people.

Ramanathan also showed that black carbon particles in brown clouds absorb far more solar radiation than previously thought, contributing to the warming of the upper atmosphere.

"I currently consider Dr. Ramanathan to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, climate researcher," wrote Paul Crutzen, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and a former Scripps researcher, in support of Ramanathan's nomination.

 

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: CARLOS SANTANA - ROCK ICON

Mexican-born Carlos Santana is definitely music royalty in his adopted country. He was inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and Rolling Stone Magazine listed him as #15 on the 100 greatest musical artists of all time. Tonight he was on American Idol's finale show. He's about to start a two year engagement at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. And, most importantly, he's about to be the honored guest at the annual benefit dinner for the American Immigration Law Foundation. See you at the event.

OBAMA SETS DATE FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM WHITE HOUSE "CONVERSATION"

President Obama recently mentioned plans for holding a White House meeting to discuss proceeding with immigration reform legislation. And now he is keeping that promise by setting June 8th, just three weeks from now, to hold the meeting.

According to Politico:

"The meeting will be an opportunity to launch a policy conversation that we hope will be able to start a debate that will take place in Congress later in the year," the official, who asked not to be named, said.

Asked if the session would be billed as a summit or a forum, like similar meetings on health care and fiscal responsibility earlier in the year, another official said, "This isn’t a forum or a summit with outside groups, this is solely a meeting with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the issue."

Another aide said about possible labels for the meeting: "I don't know that we're going to brand this in any particular way."

5/26 TELECONFERENCE - THE IMMIGRATION CONSEQUENCES OF A LAY OFF

My next teleconference will be on Tuesday, May 26th at 4 pm eastern/3 pm central/2 pm mountain/1 pm pacific and will provide information for immigrant workers who have been or may be laid off as well as employers trying to figure out how to handle a potential lay off of an immigrant worker. I will also be answering questions that listeners may have.

You can sign up for this free program by going here.

STUDY: NO LINK BETWEEN IMMIGRATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT

From Business Week:

A report released on Tuesday makes the case that increased immigration is not a cause of increased unemployment in the U.S. The study, “The Unemployment Disconnect: Untying the Knot,” was issued by the Immigration Policy Center, the research arm of the American Immigration Law Foundation, an association of immigration lawyers that generally supports pro-immigration policies.

The study sets out with the assertion that if immigrants are taking jobs away from native-born workers, “one would expect to find high unemployment rates in those parts of the country with large numbers of immigrants.” Examining state, county, and metropolitan area data, the study finds no correlation between levels of immigration and native-born unemployment. “The numbers of recent immigrants in an area provide no indication of what the unemployment rate might be.”

Other factors, like an area’s mix of industries, are better indicators of unemployment than immigration numbers, say the authors. In fact, the report concludes that the highest unemployment rates are found in counties located in manufacturing centers and in rural areas, which tend to have relatively fewer immigrants.

Business Week's Moira Herbst does raise some questions regarding the results including the question of why illegal immigrants are leaving the country in droves as unemployment has risen. Nevertheless, the report does raise real doubts about just how close a link there is between employment and immigration numbers.