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As immigration arrests increase, more and more immigrants are being detained.  However, few people are examing the conditions that exist within immigration detention centers.  In a three part series, DemocracyNow discusses healthcare inside of immigration detention facilities following the death of Jason Ng who died of cancer in early August while being held at a facility in Rhode Island.  Instead of recieving medical attention, Ng was told to stop faking his illness.  See part one of the video above.

An electrical manufacturing plant in Laurel, Mississippi was raided yesterday by ICE Agents, resulting in the detainment of more than 350 workers suspected of being illegal immigrants.  No official charges have been filed at this time, but many of those arrested have been questioned, fingerprinted, and photographed, thus readying them for deportation.  While 50 or so workers have been released for humanitarian reasons, the rest are currently being held at an ICE detainment center.

The plant belongs to Howard Industries, who released a statement acknowledging the raid, as well as outlining its hiring practices.  The statement reads,

“Howard Industries runs every check allowed to ascertain the immigration status of all applicants for jobs. It is company policy that it hires only U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.”

An ICE agent has said that all of those arrested will receive their due process under the law, but immigration lawyers and activists are already speaking out against the events that took place in the small Mississippi town.

Shuya Ohno, who works for the Immigrants Rights Alliance in Mississippi told the New York Times, “It’s horrific what ICE is doing to these families and these communities. It’s just hard to imagine that this is the United States of America.”

Bill Chandler, of the same organization, also added “We’re very disturbed at what’s happened. It’s a real contradiction between our proclaimed values of hard work and family in Mississippi and the actions of local law enforcement, and ICE. I think it’s a real affront to our values. They’re creating their own terrorism by going after workers.”

The feelings of terror have spread since the first massive raid more than three months ago in Postville, Iowa.  Immigrant communities in small towns similar to Postville and Laurel, where Hispanics now make up close to a quarter of the population live in a state of almost constant waiting.  The Associated Press’ Henry C. Jackson wrote a story published today in which he spoke with people living in Perry, Iowa, a town located 200 miles from Postville.

Angelica Cardenas, a resident of Perry, and employee of the local school system was quoted as saying, “We are more vulnerable now.  There is always fear of something like this, but with these raids, we know now it’s real.”

Others have said that the raids are very disruptive to the small towns because they remove such a sizeable chunk of the population.  In addition, there are questions surrounding whether or not those arrested truly understand their legal rights, or the charges brough against them after the raids.  In Postville, many workers pleaded guilty in the absence of an interpreter.

We will keep you posted on the developments surrounding this story.

The question of assimilation is always crucial to immigration policy discussions.  An effective integration into American culture and society is important for the success of immigrants and their children.  Some authors and pundits have argued that today’s immigrants are not assimilating as well as past generations.  However, a newly published study has revealed that the case is actually the opposite, at least for NYC.

The study, titled The Second Generation Project,  was conducted over a ten year span and included a sample of more than 3,000 young adults.  The study explicitly examined the lives of immigrants from five ethnic groups:  Russians, Dominicans, South Americans, Chinese and West Indians.  Researchers then compared and contrast their levels of achievements with those of U.S.-born whites, Puerto Ricans and African-Americans.

Researchers found that:

“Researchers found that most in the second generation were fluent in English and working in the mainstream economy. When they looked at economic and educational achievement, they found that West Indians were doing better, in general, than African-Americans; Dominicans were doing better than Puerto Ricans; and the Chinese and the Russians were doing as well as or better than native-born whites.”

NPR recently featured a piece on the study, which you can listen to right here. The NPR piece also features an excerpt from a similar study titled Inheriting The City. Read the full story here.

Three weeks ago the government setup a pilot program in which immigrants who were issued deportation orders could surrender themselves in exchange for up to 3 months of planning time before they were kicked out of America.  The hope was that the program would help people make plans, secure their family’s well-being, and been seen as an alternative to those raids we keep hearing so much about.  It’s kind of like when people cheat on a test and the teacher says, ‘if you admit it now, it’ll be cool,’ but then after you admit it, you still fail the class and have to serve detention.  Meaning, there was truly very little incentive for anyone to turn themselves in, as anyone in that position has already been hiding and living under the radar all for the hopes of carving out a quiet existence in the United States.

Well, the pilot part of the program is over, and to borrow from “Talladega Nights”, “That’s it, they’re not doing it anymore.”  The Self-Deportation program has been tabled, and deemed as a large failure.  This comes after ICE launched a $41,000 campaign to promote the program.  Out of 457,000 eligible participants, only 8 people took advantage of ICE’s deal. That is 00001751 percent, perhaps making this government program the most unsuccessful of all government programs.

Why didn’t this work you ask?  In theory, you’d think that more people would have registered, accepted their fate, and planned adequately to leave.  But, US immigration reform from the 1990’s makes it so that anybody deported from the United States must wait approximately ten years (give or take depending on circumstances) before they can re-enter.  The program offers no true incentives, such as giving those that come forward a chance to cut short that time period, or even enroll in some sort of alternative program that would give them the chance to stay if they meet pre-determined criteria.

Some fear that the backlash of this program’s failure will be even more raids, profiling ordinances, and tighter border security.  They feel that it will add fuel to an argument that immigrants do not want to compromise.  I wouldn’t be surprised if that was their intention all along, just like the kid who makes you a ridiculous trade offer in a baseball card deal knowing that its no good, just to say he tried.

Have a great weekend.

Why are the results of the Olympic Freestyle Wrestling competition making news on Fronteras?  Well, when Henry Cejudo took the gold medal a few nights ago in Beijing, he perhaps fully realized the American Dream that is at the heart of the American psyche, and possibly best turned into cartoon form in the movie “Feivel Goes To America.”

See, Cejudo is a Los Angeles born son of undocumented immigrants who has scrapped just as much outside off the mat as on it.  His parents split up when Cejudo was four years old and his mother relocated with Henry and his five siblings, first to New Mexico, then to Arizona.  Throughout childhood, Cejudo shared a bed or couch with one of his siblings, and found wrestling as a way to stay out of trouble.  Beyond being a societal underdog, Cejudo had to battle very hard just to make it Beijing.  He barely made the cut to be on the Olympic roster and came from behind in all of his wrestling matches on Tuesday prior to the championship.

I’m not saying that Cejudo should be a posterboy for illegal immigration, but I’m wondering if Bill O’Reilly or Lou Dobbs will mention him on their television shows.  Will they link his ability on the mat to his hard upbringing, and say that because he’s had to battle for everything he appreciates the win and America that much more?  Will they applaud his love for the United States, and use this is a positive example of what undocumented immigrants can contribute to America, as they so readily point out a crime committed by an undocumented immigrant and use it as a rallying cry for stricter immigration enforcement?  Or will they turn a blind eye to this, just as they so conveniently look away when a Hip Hop artist does something positive for his or her community.

This really should be celebrated, not just by proponents of immigrants rights, but by all those who still believe in “The American Dream.”

I was scoping Youtube for a video to post today, and came across this debate between two of Fox News’ most unbiased reporters, Geraldo Rivera and Bill O’Reilly.  It’s weird for me to say this, but I actually agree with Geraldo Rivera and commend him for standing up to Bill O’Reilly’s twisted logic.  After the 5 minute mark Geraldo goes on a Fox News love fest, but for a good 4:30 seconds he is deeply rooted in reality.  The two men are discussing a year’s old case in which an illegal immigrant drove drunk and had an accident that resulted in the death of a young woman in Virginia Beach.  The whole incident is nightmarish, as drunk driving is a senseless act that results in far, far too many deaths in our country.  However, O’Reilly’s attempt to use this accident as a call to arms against illegal immigration is ridiculous and cheap, and I give props to Geraldo for calling him out.  It’s something that I’ve also been saying right here on Fronteras.  The fact that illegal immigrants are arrested for committing crimes such as these has less to do with the fact that they have crossed into the United States, and moreso with their personal behavior and morals.  This guy easily could have gotten drunk and had a fatal accident in Mexico, and the problem of drunk driving, and over-serving should be the main topic here, not immigration.

Geraldo surprised me even further when he mentions the fact that the United States basically invites people to cross the border illegal and assume low-wage jobs.  A very entertaining discussion.

Last week we reported that the city council of Hartford passed an ordinance that would prevent police from arresting someone solely on the basis of their immigration status.  In addition, city employees are also prohibited from inquiring about immigration status when an individual is requesting services.  The ordinance went through the city council without any problems, but there was some uncertainty regarding whether or not Hartford’s mayor, Eddie Perez, would sign the ordinance into law.  The uncertainty was cleared up yesterday, as Perez signed the ordinance.

Perez released a statement about his signing of the ordinance yesterday as well, saying that it would not prevent Hartford from complying with federal law.  Perez seems to be caught between a rock and hard place when it comes to this piece of legislation, and his statement reflects his desire to stay somewhat on the fence. He said,

“Our obligation to comply with federal law has not changed.  The ordinance requires that the police notify federal authorities if an arrestee turns out to be undocumented. It also requires that city employees deny any federally funded services to illegal immigrants if required to do so under federal law.”

Hartford’s councilman are happy, and hope that the ordinance will increase residents’ cooperation with police.  Councilman Luis Cotto told the Hartford Courant, “We’re just jumping on the side of saying, ‘Hey, this is not our jurisdiction. Hartford has way too many things to worry about..If you are a law abiding resident of the City of Hartford, you should have no fear of reporting a crime to police and you should be able to utilize the city’s services,” he said. “People are here. We can’t do anything about that.”

It will be interesting to see if this passing sets in motion any other events or legislation, as there are many who do not have ‘more to worry about.’  We will keep you posted.

In an article published today on Small-biz-advisor.com, Neal Hollday presents an argument that programs such as E*Verify, and the No-Match rule could potentially drive small businesses, well, out of business.  Many small businesses in the manufacturing, construction, and food service industries rely on readily available immigrant labor, and such verification programs present many challenges that could potentially stop the work flow and prove too costly.

Holladay writes from experience.  He is currently an HR specialist, and former hiring manager in the Poultry Industry.  In his article, he tells of people being turned away due to complications with the E*Verify system, even though they were eligible for employment.  In addition, many potential employees did not meet qualifications, and never returned to clear up any errors.  It could be that those workers were undocumented and here illegally, and decided to move on to another job.  Even so, his business still relied on those workers because of the larger system that the United States has constructed that utilizes cheap immigrant labor to fill low-skilled positions.

Holladay writes,

“Employers in industries such as construction, facilities management, and agriculture who depend greatly on the availability of the immigrant workforce find themselves “caught between a rock and a hard place”. Many small businesses just can’t afford to turn away immigrants, who are often the only ones able and willing to fill manual labor positions…Despite paying prevailing wages, offering excellent benefits, and intensive recruiting efforts extending to a 60 mile radius, we would only seem to attract Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants. I found very few U.S citizens who were willing to work in poultry processing”

Holladay is not arguing for amnesty, nor supporting illegal immigration.  He’s concern is for small businesses that may be forced to use an ineffective verification system that is expensive, time consuming, and cumbersome.

“If more states continue to pass legislation requiring employers to participate in the federal E-verify program, a program which the government admits is inadequate, it will make it virtually impossible for small business in key sectors of the economy to survive. Tighter enforcement in the workplace will backfire unless it is counterbalanced by an increase in the supply of legal workers to meet the demand.”

So how do we increase the supply of legal workers?  One thought is to change the way America views higher education.  Our current system attaches a lot of worth to a BA.  It is almost a necessity in today’s market.  Along with higher wages, social esteem also comes with earning a degree.  It’s even in the language we use to descibe jobs and workers such as “high” and “low” skilled.  If we change the way we look at construction, poultry, and manufacturing jobs we may make them more attractive both financially and socially, and thus more Americans may seek such positions.  Why not create more trade schools and offer certificates for construction, and working in a meat-packing plant?  Why not treat people that do so with more respect, and recognize how essential they are to our economy, as well as everyday lives?

Immigrants will always fill the jobs that “Americans don’t want to do” until we change the language we use to describe them, and the way we treat such workers.  Thus, as Holladay knows all too well, these verification programs and restrictions will not only eliminate undocumented workers, but many small businesses who can’t find anyone else fill empty positions.

Read the full article here.

I thought I would end the week with another book preview.  Earlier today I read a story about this book in the San Francisco Chronicle, and decided to do a little bit more research.  The book was edited by Peter Orner
of San Francisco University, and was published in June of 2008.

Underground America is a collection of interviews with undocumented immigrants who shared their stories and struggles with the book’s editors.  The idea for the book was first hatched when Orner, who is also a lawyer, agreed to serve as counsel for an immigrant in need of asylum.  According to the story, Orner lost the case, and the experience changed his life.  He has said that the loss was devastating, and triggered a curiosity to explore the way that the law influences story-telling.

The book tells 24 stories, while Orner and his team conducted more that 60 for the book. Featured in the book are immigrants from Mexico and Latin America, as well as other countries such as Iran.  The immigrants featured include young adults who have entered the United States as children and now struggle to come up with money for college since they are ineligible for financial aid, as well as an Iranian man who married an American, yet found himself in a detention center following the events of 9/11.

Below are  excerpts from an e-mail exchange between The Chronicle and Lorena, one of the featured storytellers in “Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives.”

The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (what a name) has enlisted 17 museums worldwide to take part in a two-year pilot program aimed to add historical context to contemporary issues concerning immigration. The over arching goal is to create dialog and further explore how immigration has been shaped by many players over a long span of time. Museums occupy an interesting space in the fabrics of society. They are able to simultaneously take root in the present as well as the past.

Chicago, Illinois will have three participating museums, as The Field Museum, The Cambodian American Heritage Museum, and The Jane Adams Hull House will all be taking part in the program. Check out the video above, and visit CSC’s website for more info.